by Staci Hart
Josie nodded. “Thank you.”
“But, please, if you ever want to talk about it—”
Jon cleared his throat from behind Josie with his eyes on Tori. He’d practically dumped a drawer directly into his bag in the rush to get the two women out of the same room. Josie glanced at him and then back at Tori, who looked mildly cowed but mostly challenging. He wouldn’t be surprised if she stuck her tongue out at him.
“I’ve got my stuff, Jo. You ready?”
“Yeah, I’m ready.”
Tori jumped up. “Hang on, let me get your tea to go. Sugar?”
“Just a little,” Josie answered.
Jon watched from the threshold of the kitchen as Tori poured out tea into a paper to-go cup with a little spoon of sugar and handed it over to Josie, who looked like she had a porcupine in her pocket. Tori gave Josie a knowing smile, and Jon shot Tori what he hoped was an authoritative look as Josie thanked her and turned to face him.
Tori gave him two thumbs-up with a stupid grin on her face behind Josie’s back.
He rolled his eyes. “I’ll text you and let you know how things are going.”
“All right. You two be careful, okay?”
Lola ran to Jon, and he knelt down.
She looked at him with the biggest blue eyes on the planet. “Bye, Daddy.”
He scooped her into his arms and kissed her cheek, squeezing her tight, holding her close, not knowing how long it would be until he held her again, until he smelled the sweet scent of baby soap and lavender or felt her tiny arms around his neck or her weight against his chest.
Life seemed so much more dangerous when you had something to lose.
“I love you.” He kissed her hair.
“Love you, Daddy.”
He passed the little girl to Tori along with a good-sized portion of his heart. “Call me if you need anything.”
“We’ll be fine, Jon. You just take care of yourself. Come back in one piece.”
They smiled at each other, and he nodded.
Josie watched the whole exchange with her heart in her stomach.
Thinking about Jon having a baby and seeing him with her were different things. He was a father. That tiny person was his, and she seemed to make up nearly his entire universe. As desolate as his leaving her had been, she understood why with sudden clarity.
“Let’s get this show on the road.” Jon slung his bag over his shoulder and brushed past Josie to open the door.
“Thanks again, Tori,” Josie said as she picked up her bag.
“Anytime, Josie.”
“Bye-bye.” Lola waved her chubby little hand.
“Bye-bye, Lola,” Josie said as she wiggled her fingers at the little girl.
They left his apartment in silence, neither of them speaking until they reached the Jeep in the parking garage. The fluorescent lights hummed above them, and their feet echoed against the concrete as they walked around to her door.
Jon unlocked it but didn’t open it, instead taking the moment to search her face. “I’m sorry, Josie.”
She looked down at her paper cup of tea that the mother of his child had given her, unable to keep herself in check with his eyes on her like that. “It’s fine, Jon.”
His hand moved like he meant to touch her but fell back to his side. “I mean it.”
“I know.”
They stood in silence for a few seconds until it almost broke her, but before she could reach for him, he opened the door and waited for her to climb in. She sat in the Jeep, trying to find composure as he walked around and slipped in beside her, firing his engine with a rumble, and she stared out the window as they drove away.
Before long, the city was behind them as they chased the sun across the sky, relaxing into easy conversation, forgetting the awkwardness, the heaviness that had brought them to that point. Josie felt herself unwind even though she was overly aware of him as he sat next to her, could feel him there, pulling her attention like he was magnetized. But her emotions were muddled, leaving her confounded, because over the course of a few hours, everything in her heart had been rearranged into something new, something she didn’t recognize.
Dita’s mind slipped into consciousness, her limbs heavy, her bed so soft, so warm. She didn’t want to move, didn’t want to do anything but lie there forever and ever and ever to the tonal sound of the sleep machine.
The sleep machine.
Her eyes flew open, and she sat up in surprise, her heart racing. She glanced at the clock.
It was two in the afternoon.
“I slept,” she breathed her awe, a smile creeping onto her face.
Bisoux stretched out on his side next to her, his limbs straight and trembling as he locked his muscles. She picked him up, holding him in the air as she laughed like a crazy person.
“I slept!” she crowed, giggling, hugging him to her chest.
She felt like a million bucks. Her body was rested, and for the first time in days, the aching pressure in her chest was gone. She kissed Bisoux and set him down. Then, she hopped out of bed and to the mirror. Her eyes were clear, not a sign of redness or a single shadow under them, and her cheeks had color that had been absent for what felt like ages.
“I fucking slept,” Dita said to her reflection. She and squealed as she did the Flashdance maniac dance all around her bathroom.
She hadn’t had a single dream, not one. No torture, no torment, only sweet, blissful sleep. She had all but forgotten what it was like to be rested.
Bisoux jumped off the bed and ran to her, hopping and barking as she danced.
She scooped him up, unable to stop giggling. “Come on. Let’s go thank your daddy.”
Dita bounded into the elevator humming, bouncing out into Heff’s foyer when the doors opened. She set her dog down, and his nails clicked on the brushed concrete floor as he followed her around, but she couldn’t find Heff. She trotted down the stairs to his workshop, and when she saw him behind a workbench, she took off running.
Heff looked up to see Dita beaming as she flew across the room with her golden hair swinging behind her. He barely had time to put down his soldering iron before she slammed into him, almost knocking him over.
She threw her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his around her waist, spinning gently from the force, the scent of honeysuckle and roses in every molecule of air, and he closed his eyes, breathing her in, aware of every inch of her pressed against him.
Her arms relaxed a hair, and he took the cue to loosen his grip and drop her to the ground. If she hadn’t let him go first, he would have kept on holding her forever. Her cheeks were flushed, her smile so bright, it could have put the shine on the sun.
“I slept,” she said, breathless, her face full of wonder.
He smiled so wide, he thought his face might split open. “It worked.”
“It worked.” She grinned. “I knew it would. Thank you.” She reached for his hand, slipping her long white fingers into his clumsy, dirty ones.
He squeezed them gently. “I started working on the machine and bracelet after you came to me. I’m sorry I didn’t get it finished sooner, but I had a little trouble with the algorithm to sync it to you.”
“It was perfect. I don’t know how to thank you.”
He brushed her cheek with his free hand and slipped it into her hair, cupping her neck to pull her into his chest. “You don’t have to thank me. I’m just glad it helped.”
Her arm snaked around his waist, and she sighed her contentment. “It did. I needed that so much, and now I feel shiny and new and amazing.”
“Did you tell Perry yet?”
“Not yet. I came here first because I couldn’t do anything until I thanked you.”
He kissed the top of her head, needing to send her away. If he held her too long, he’d start wishing for things he could never have. “Go on. She’ll want to know.”
“Okay,” she answered as she unwound herself. She stretched up on her tiptoes to kiss his cheek before tur
ning and running out of the room, calling “Bye!” over her shoulder.
He watched her go until she was out of sight. And when he picked up his soldering iron again and got back to work, he smiled at his hands until his cheeks ached.
Dita stepped into the elevator again with Bisoux at her heel, toying with her bracelet, relieved that Heff was on the other end of it. Two little clicks, and he would find her. And if he was there, she would be safe.
Safe.
It was a word she barely knew the meaning of anymore.
Armed with that and legitimate sleep, she felt like she could move mountains.
Ares was no match for her. She wouldn’t have to hide or worry or be afraid.
She was free.
When the elevator doors opened into the underworld, her dog ran out, and she followed him, calling Perry’s name.
“Hey,” Perry answered from her living room.
Dita did the Dougie into the room. “I slept, I slept, uh-huh, I slept.” She clapped and got low.
Perry laughed and hopped up. “That’s amazing!”
They danced around, giggling, until they couldn’t breathe and fell down on the couch.
“How?” Perry asked.
“Heff made me a magical, glittery, mystical machine of epic brilliance to help me sleep, and it worked. And now I am back. I’m back!”
“This is the best news.”
“Yes!” Dita threw her fist in the air from where she lay slumped into the couch. “I just woke up.”
“Oh gods,” Perry said with big eyes. “You missed this morning.”
Dita hadn’t even thought about the competition. “Shit.” She looked in on Jon and Josie as they drove through Pennsylvania, and her mouth hung open. She couldn’t comprehend what she was seeing. “What the fuck? Oh my…what? How did they…”
“Your plan played out. Jimmy Li called Jon this morning with all of Rhodes’s info.”
“I fucking did it,” she breathed.
Perry nodded with delight. “You fucking did it. I’m glad Heff waited until after you set Jimmy up yesterday with the guy who had gotten Rhodes his papers. You could have cocked that whole thing up.”
“Please. I wouldn’t have passed out until I had my plans in place.”
“Right, like you wouldn’t have slept through all the things that happened this morning.”
“Why didn’t you wake me, ass?” Dita tossed a throw pillow at her.
“I thought you were watching.” Perry threw her hands up, laughing.
“Tell me what happened.”
“Well,” Perry said as she re-situated herself, “Li called Jon with the info on Rhodes. And then Josie had a breakdown when she realized she was at a dead end and called Jon, but he was already on his way over.”
“Yesssssss,” she hissed.
“Yeah, but then, when they went to Jon’s apartment, Tori was there.”
Dita’s chin dropped. “How did that go?”
“Surprisingly not bad. I mean, as good as it could go. Josie had an epiphany about Jon and the baby and everything. Oh, Tori wasn’t supposed to be there. Artemis intercepted and gave Tori an allergy attack to send her home. I think that’s everything.”
“Ha! I love a good backfire.”
They glanced in on Jon as he laughed at something Josie had said.
“I hope Artemis feels like an idiot. This is so freaking perfect. They’re going to be alone in a car for days, staying in hotels. Together.”
“It’s your chance. What are you going to do now?”
“I don’t know. I feel like I’ve been living in a vacuum for a week.” She let out a breath. “Perry, I can’t tell you how much better I feel. It’s like I was buried alive.”
“Well, what do you want to do first?”
“Man, I don’t even know.”
“Well, I was about to go see Daphne. Wanna come with?”
Dita clapped her hands, which was totally ridiculous and she didn’t even care. “Yes!”
“Okay, let me go say bye to Hades,” Perry said as she peeled herself off the couch before heading to his office off the living room.
“Aw, you guys are so cute.”
“Yeah, King and Queen of the Dead. Adorable.” Perry rolled her eyes as she pushed open the massive, carved mahogany doors and disappeared inside for a moment.
Dita hummed, smiling as she watched the fire from the couch, feeling silly and light and amazing, and when Perry appeared again, Dita stood, and they made their way to Apollo’s apartment.
They found Apollo and Daphne lying on the floor, playing backgammon. The sunshine poured in through his wall of windows, and Central Park stretched off into the distance.
Daphne smiled as she stood to embrace Dita. Daphne’s curly red hair smelled like sunshine and wild basil.
“Aphrodite, how are you feeling? You look like you might have finally gotten some rest.”
“I did, thanks to Heff. I’ve missed you.” Dita held her at arm’s length to look her over. “You look amazing. This dress.”
Daphne looked down at her loose white slip dress, lined with lace chevron stripes along the bottom third. “Thank you. I’m learning,” she answered with a smile.
Apollo hugged Dita, landing a kiss on her cheek. “How are you holding up?”
“I’m good. Just been watching Jon and Josie after getting the best night’s sleep of my life.”
Dita and Perry sat on the couch, and Apollo and Daphne took their spots on his white shag rug.
“What have you two been up to?” Dita asked.
“Not a lot,” Apollo answered. “Been watching the game. This morning was pretty epic, and Jon, well…he’s something else. I don’t know that Josie really stands a chance.”
“She really doesn’t, does she?”
Apollo chuckled. “Artemis is even worse at the game than I am.”
“Nobody’s perfect.” Dita smiled.
“True, though Artemis won’t hear logic on Josie—or anything else for that matter.”
“Oh?”
Apollo sighed. “She’s not speaking to me.”
Daphne laid her hand on his knee and leaned into him.
“I didn’t know you fought. What happened?” Dita asked.
“She implied that I chose you over her,” Apollo said as he wrapped his arm around Daphne.
Anger and guilt stirred in Dita’s chest at the thought. “Apollo, I would never put myself between the two of you.”
“You didn’t. I stuck up for you and called her on her shit. She didn’t take it well.”
“Well, thank you. But you didn’t have to do that.”
“I did, and it’ll be fine. It’s not the first time we’ve disagreed, and I doubt it will be the last. She knows that I will always back her up, but she used you as a diversion when I mentioned Orion.”
Dita shook her head. “She’s never going to get over it if she doesn’t face it.”
“Pot, kettle.”
She scoffed. “This is different. All of this just happened to me. Artemis has had thousands of years.”
“You know that she doesn’t accept change very well, and she doesn’t talk about anything—ever—just makes her judgments and buries all her feelings like rotten seeds. She feels justified. You can’t talk sense to someone who’s been rightly pissed off about something for thousands of years. I think we both can attest to that.”
“Yeah, I guess we can.” She tugged at her hair. “I mean, I kind of get it. How do you face such loss? All we can do is try to get through each day, face each challenge that we come across, and listen to ourselves. Time. That’s what people keep telling me. But if Artemis has been ripped to shreds for thousands of years, what hope is there for me?”
Apollo spoke cautiously. “Do you think that your feelings for Ares and Adonis are the same as the love Artemis felt for Orion?”
She considered that, and a heavy, cold feeling snaked through her chest, into her stomach. “No, I suppose you’re right,” she an
swered, her voice flat. “I’m coming to realize that my feelings are wrapped in fear and guilt, and the love that I thought I had for Ares and Adonis was false. Artemis and Orion had a pure love, based on respect and companionship.” The words made her sad at all that she had missed, though there was a glimmer of hope that her pain wouldn’t last tens of centuries.
“Well, you’re the universal expert on love. How does she get over it?”
“Normally, I would suggest dating, but that’s off the table for Artemis. I’m sure her feelings for Orion were a one-time occurrence for her.” She ran a finger across her lip. “Really, she needs to talk about it or find a way out of the fog and to her truth. Maybe we could help her—talk to her, try to guide her.”
“We’d have better luck trying to teach a goat how to tap dance like Gene Kelly.”
“If anyone can do it, it’s you.”
“Wait.” Apollo’s eyebrow quirked. “Are we talking about the goat or Artemis?”
“Both,” she said with a laugh.
Josie’s bare feet rested on the dash, and her computer lay open on her lap as they drove through Pennsylvania. The sun had slipped down in the cloudless sky, burning a gradient of tangerine and yellows to purples and blues, up and away behind her. Her hair whipped around her face, and she twisted it up into a fresh bun before checking her hotspot connection.
“Want me to put up the windows?” Jon asked over Waylon Jennings wailing about a good-hearted woman.
When she met his eyes, she knew he’d been watching her and felt herself flush. “No, it’s so nice out.”
He smiled at her, and she couldn’t help but smile back. Because she had purpose once more. She had a goal and a task and a busy mind and full hands, and it was absolutely, utterly glorious. And she had Jon sitting a few feet away, looking at her like he was, with one hand hooked casually on the wheel and his hair fluttering around his face.
She cleared her throat and shifted in her seat. “Well, I just sent the fax to all the cash motels along both routes and marked all the ones where I think he might have stopped based on travel speed and the time of day he might drive through. I’m about to call those directly and see if I can get someone on the phone.”