by Jasmine Walt
“What the hell?” I said. “How the hell?”
Loren grinned. She was dressed in a simple T-shirt and jeans. She looked rumpled and worn, but still a glorious, welcome sight. Instead of her usual blade, she swung a metallic hammer in her hand.
“I was led to believe this wasn’t hell,” Loren said, “but some kind of angel spa? And you didn’t invite me.”
She pouted at me. I flew into her arms. Holding her to me. Testing her realness.
It was her. She was here and real and alive.
She was solid and flesh and fine material, like she’d been the last time I’d seen her. But she was stronger than the last time, when she’d been on her deathbed. She was tanned and muscled and here.
“How is this even possible?” I asked, still unable, unwilling, to let her go.
Loren shrugged one shoulder, looking not in the least bit contrite. “I may have borrowed the hammer of a god that allows me to break through the nine realms of the earth.”
“Borrowed?” I pulled away and eyed her suspiciously.
Loren clucked her tongue. “Are we seriously going to argue about how I got the getaway car?”
“Ladies, this reunion is great, but we should start the engines.”
Beyond Loren, Tres stood backlit by the lava flow coming down one of the volcanic mountains of the core. His brown skin, tinted copper, cast a shade over him that made him look like a god. His brow was quirked in that expectant way of his, that way that said he’d have his way and you would like it. His tone brooked no argument that his edict would not be followed.
I didn’t do as he said. I never did. I never had.
I’m sure he expected my rebellion because, when I flew into his arms, he held onto me for a moment instead of steering me where he wanted me to go.
“You came,” I said.
“Of course I did.”
He smelled so familiar: the musk of frankincense, the salty sweat of the earth, and the spice that was uniquely Tres. It had only been a day since I’d last left him, weeks since we’d been lovers, centuries since we’d been friends, but I’d missed him.
As I stood in his embrace, memories flooded to the front of my mind. Just as Zane was always near me, Tres was never far from his best friend. I didn’t doubt that Tres had feelings for me, but those feelings had never once come close to what he felt for Zane. Which was why Tres’s feelings for me had caused him to suffer so in his life.
Tres was in the skin he’d been born with, so his light wasn’t in direct contact with mine, which meant I didn’t know what he was thinking in the moment or in the past. But I still felt him. Holding him, I didn’t feel the suffering over his illicit feelings any longer. Just relief.
And then he stiffened.
Tres looked behind me. I knew who was there without turning, but I turned nonetheless.
Zane and Tres faced off. Silently for a moment. I wanted to echo Tres’s edict to get a move on, to jump in the getaway car and out of this place.
Even now Elohim surrounded us. Moving in quickly and quietly. But I couldn’t interrupt this moment for the two men.
Tres reached out his hand to Zane. Zane looked down at it. Zane took one step, then another, and then embraced his Tres.
Tres sighed, heavily enough for the stream of air to jostle my sheath. The weight of hundreds of years fell off his shoulders and left his heart. And then a dark shadow broke the moment.
“You’re just in time, son,” said Michael.
Tres stepped out of Zane’s embrace. Both men’s dark gazes alighted on Michael. Zane held his brother’s forearm. I wasn’t sure if it was to hold Tres back or to offer him support for this big reveal.
“Son?” Tres looked Michael up and down.
Tres hadn’t come here the normal way, by death. He was fully intact with the same thick skin he’d left this garden with originally. But still, by the look on his face, I felt certain the memories of Michael were rising to the forefront of his crowded mind.
Tres’s features contorted with doubt as he took in his father. Like with Zane, there was no resemblance. But I knew Tres could feel the likeness in their shared light.
“Now we see that six Ishim have been cast down by humans,” said Michael, his gaze landing on Loren. “I need no more evidence. We need to get on with it.”
Michael turned toward Eden, who watched the exchange between the four of us with interest.
“What’s he talking about?” asked Loren.
“You interrupted the apocalypse,” I said. “They were just debating whether or not to wipe humanity off the surface of the planet.”
“What?” said Loren. “Like hell. My family’s up there.”
“You can perish with the rest of your kind,” said Michael. His lip curled.
It was the first bit of emotion I’d ever seen on his face. Behind him, Gabriel remained stoic. Eden looked entertained, like a play she’d written was taking on a life of its own as the actors improvised.
“Are you talking to me?” said Loren. “’Cause you don’t know who I am.”
I groaned as Loren began an impersonation of a psychotic taxi driver from the movies. Now was not the time. This place, which had no notion of media, was definitely not the right venue.
“I’ve brought gods to their knees,” she continued. “You need to ask somebody, Mr. Glow Stick.”
Then her gaze raked over the crowd and her eyes lit.
“In fact, ask him.” Loren pointed to Cronus, who stood beside his long-suffering wife Rhea. “Help him to recognize.”
“I recognize that you smell delicious,” said Cronus. He stepped forward, angling to get closer to Loren, who was half human, but Rhea held him back.
“All right,” said Loren. “Everyone who needs a lift up top, grab onto the blonde witch.”
She swung the hammer round and round, but on the third go around it flew off her wrist and into Eden’s palm. Loren turned to face Eden, stepping into a fighting stance. I wrapped my hand around my best friend’s forearm and held her still.
“That’s not a god,” I said. “That’s the god.”
“That’s a woman.”
I nodded.
“So, God doesn’t have balls?” said Loren. “I think we may have finally met our match.”
Eden laughed. “I like her. She has spunk. Is that the right word?”
Eden looked over her shoulder at Bryn for confirmation. But Bryn was too busy sneering at Loren.
“You again,” said Bryn.
“Hey there, Brian,” said Loren.
“You two have met?” said Eden.
Bryn sighed. “I already told you, Mother. She came to Asgard and stole Father’s hammer.”
“I didn’t steal it,” Loren insisted. “I borrowed it.”
“And she opened the doors to Valhalla, letting loose a horde of our army.”
“Yeah,” said Loren. “That was my bad. Really sorry about that.”
“Oh, you will be sorry.” Bryn took a menacing step forward.
Eden stuck her hand out to stay her daughter. “No, no. I’m going to keep this human.”
Bryn’s smirk fell, and her eyes blazed at her mother.
“I’m no one’s pet,” said Loren.
“Oh but you’ll have your own domicile,” said Eden, “decadent foods, servants.”
“Wait.” Loren cocked her head to the side. “What kinds of foods?”
“Loren,” I hissed.
“What? I’m just asking a clarifying question.”
“Here.” Eden handed Bryn the hammer. “Take this back to your father. Tell him to mind it better.”
“But Mother—”
“Run along now, Bryn. Mother has to get back to work.”
Bryn’s pretty face looked as though someone with big fingers had pinched her features together. Once again, she stomped her foot. She yanked the hammer out of her mother’s hand and stormed off.
12
We were shoved unceremoniously into a dim room with
four walls. But they weren’t exactly walls. On one side, the boundary was web-like strands, golden and woven like the intricate workings of a spider’s web. Getting close to them, I felt the heat radiating from them.
On the other side of the energy web, a lush forest of green treetops reached up to the faux sky. Down below were the colorful vines and fronds of a jungle. The view was beautiful, literally breathtaking.
Two of the opposing walls were earthen stone, but cool to the touch. The fourth wall was the same curtain of shadow that led in and out of Eden’s lab. Only this time, when I reached out and touched it, it was solid.
“We’ve all been held captive before,” said Loren. “But you have to admit, this is the nicest place we’ve ever been trapped in.”
The interior was just as lush and dazzling. There was an assortment of seating areas made of wood. But the wood wasn’t taken from the ground; it was still rooted into the ground. Moss of different colors acted as cushions to the arboresque appendages. A shelving unit made of branches crawled up the wall. Precious stones and plants rested on the limbs.
Loren was right. This place beat the cold underground cave in the Gongyi when we met in search of dragon bones. It was definitely a prettier sight than the ruins of Eleusis when we faced off against a rising Titan. It was far more peaceful than the mortar and shells raining down over Mosul as we searched for the Holy Grail.
“It’s still a cage,” said Tres.
“A gilded cage,” said Loren. She ran her hand over the knickknacks on the shelving units. I expected her fingers to come away sticky and for something to go missing. But all items on the shelves were still there after Loren removed her hand.
“Only you would care about the decor of your jail,” Tres said.
Loren grinned at him, waggling her eyebrows. She turned her attention to the solid door of light, but not before tossing Tres a wink over her shoulder as she turned.
Tres’s look of stoicism slipped. He let out a sigh as he rolled his eyes skyward. The sound wasn’t one of annoyance. It was part resignation, part amusement, with a touch of indulgence.
I knew that sound well. It was how he’d reacted to my shenanigans when we were on the road to mending our fractured and forgotten love affair. Tres’s eye rolling at Loren ended its circuitous path on me. His throat worked, as though he were gulping down something he had no business consuming. His chin dipped low as if to cover the evidence.
“But we wanna escape this beautiful jail,” said Loren as she eyed the door. “Okay, let’s brainstorm. Maybe I can open a ley line. This place is pure energy.”
“No.” Tres shook his head vehemently. “I’m not going into another one of your holes anytime soon.”
“Though out of context, that was deliciously dirty,” Loren purred.
Once again Tres rolled his eyes. But this time he made sure not to look my way at the other end.
“Exactly what have you two been up to during your rescue mission?” I asked.
“We traveled through the Bermuda Triangle, which happens to be a passageway into the realm of Asgard,” said Loren.
“Asgard?” I asked. There it was again. I supposed that’s where she met the lovely Valkyrie, Bryn. “Did you meet Loki and Thor too?”
Tres groaned.
Loren grinned. “They’re both very much real, that I can tell you. Oh and I kinda got engaged.”
My head jerked to Loren. “Engaged?”
“She’s not engaged,” growled Tres.
My head whipped to Tres.
“I’m thinking about it,” said Loren.
“You can’t be serious,” said Tres. “He’s a lunatic.”
“Which one?” I asked. “Who is the lunatic you’re thinking about getting engaged to?”
Tres and Loren ignored me and glared at each other, a silent showdown of wills. And then they were not so silent, launching into what appeared to be an argument already in progress. Zane came to stand beside me. His head went left and right from one side of the court to the other as Loren and Tres swung their invectives back and forth.
“You know,” said Loren. “For all your bad boy image, you’re such a baby.”
“You’re insane,” growled Tres.
Loren shrugged and mouthed Duh.
Zane had trouble hiding his smirk as he watched the two.
“You two are awful chummy after spending only a day together,” I said.
“You two have been down here for weeks,” said Loren.
Weeks? It had barely been twenty-four hours. Though I had yet to see a clock, or anything that kept time. It certainly didn’t feel like a full day. With all that had happened, I didn’t feel in the least bit tired.
“It’s been nearly a month,” Loren continued.
“We’ve been to the ends of the Earth trying to find a way to get down here to you two,” said Tres.
Zane looked just as perplexed as I felt. Weeks? Nearly a month? Maybe it was as long as they said. Perhaps time moved differently in the core of the earth.
And now, here they were. Here all of us were. Trapped thousands of miles in the center of the earth.
They’d followed me on another one of my adventures, and we’d wound up trapped. Tres, Zane, and I wouldn’t die. But what about Loren? Though she now had a witch’s powers, she was still permanently breakable. It was the Gongyi, Eleusis, Mosul all over again.
“I’ve put you in danger again,” I said to her. “Like always.”
“Isn’t that what friendship and family is all about?” she said. “Saving each other’s ass when we do something stupid. Like die.”
Loren balled her fist and hit me in the boob.
“Ow.” I doubled over. “What the hell, Loren?”
She’d grown stronger now that she had powers. That actually hurt. I wasn’t sure if it was because my skin was so thin, or she was stronger.
“I still don’t forgive you for that,” she said.
“For what?” I cradled my sore boob in my hand.
“Dying,” she shouted. “Do you have any idea what I’ve been through while you’ve been dead?” She huffed, reminding me of Bryn. Then she reached to my face. “But damn if it hasn’t done wonders for your skin.”
Now I grinned. “It’s all new flesh.”
“What? Is that like some underworld brand of face cream?”
“No. When I fell, it apparently ripped up my whole body. When I woke up, Eden, that’s God’s name, was knitting me a whole new body.”
“Shut. Up.” Loren reached out and touched my neck, my chin, my cheek with her other hand until she cradled my face. “It’s as smooth as a baby’s bum.”
“They’re both insane,” said Tres. “Stark raving mad.”
“You say that like it’s your first day,” said Zane as he regarded me and Loren with wizened understanding.
Tres glared at his brother. “No, I’m quite used to this. It feels like it’s been an eternity, but it’s the same story. Me swooping in to save your ass.”
Zane scrunched up his nose, smelling something foul. “Let’s not forget the reason my ass is in this situation is entirely your fault, which is a story that has been on repeat since we took our first steps on Earth.”
“My fault?” Tres’s nostrils flared. “I didn’t push you over that cliff.”
“No, you were too busy trying to steal my soulmate. Again. You might as well have kicked me over the edge.”
“You’re never going to forgive me for that.” Tres sighed.
“Maybe when you stop trying to do it,” said Zane.
Tres opened his mouth to respond, but Loren cut him off.
“Wait,” she said, holding up her hands for all conversation to cease. “I have to ask the most important question of the day.”
We all faced her. Her face was grave as she looked out at the energy weave of a window.
“What,” she began, “in god’s name”—she turned to me—“are you wearing?”
All eyes swiveled from Loren to me. I s
moothed my hands over the wrinkled, plain sheath that covered my body.
“It’s all Eden had available,” I said, my voice nearing a whine. “It was this or naked.”
“Which reminds me…” Loren’s short attention span hopped from me to Zane. “… I didn’t get a hug, Frenchie.”
I stepped between Zane’s nude body and Loren.
“What?” She shrugged innocently. “I’ll mind the boundaries.” She peered around me for another look. “Though that would be a wide gap between us.”
Zane laughed good-naturedly.
Tres’s features clouded over, his jaw tense. “If we hadn’t come down here, you two would still be assed out. Literally.”
“And now your ass is trapped with ours,” said Zane.
Tres’s shoulders deflated. “I figured that might be a possibility.”
“Yet you came for her anyway?” said Zane.
Tres turned and stared at Zane as though he was an idiot. “You really think I would leave you in harm’s way?”
Zane cocked his head. The affirmative was clearly written on his face.
“Okay.” Tres huffed. “I may have done that before. But I’ve always come back for you. Haven’t I?”
Zane cocked his head in the other direction.
“Come on, Zayin. That was one time. I have never left you in a situation that would’ve led to your demise. When I’ve caused you to get maimed, I’ve always come back to make amends. Eventually.”
Zane took a deep breath and his face relaxed.
Tres put out his hand, palm open.
Zane looked at the open palm for long seconds before extending his own. The moment Zane’s palm touched Tres’s, Tres pulled him in for a hug, gap be damned.
“We really are brothers?” said Tres.
“It would appear so,” said Zane as they parted.
“I always suspected as much.”
“Our father is a dick,” said Zane.
“I noticed.”
“So, I can’t blame you for how you turned out.” Zane turned away from Tres before he spoke again. “I would’ve come for you, too.”
“I know,” said Tres. He shoved his hands in his pockets. “I did have a doubt. But I had more hope than doubt.”