I gotta say, Zeus looked awfully pissed at the mere mention of Yahweh and Rabbi Joe’s impression of superiority, but he didn’t raise a lightning bolt in the holy man’s direction. That might have been due to Apollo putting a hand on Daddy’s shoulder right then, but I can’t say for sure.
“None of that matters.” John stepped forward, shrugging off Marlowe’s hand and slipping past Abner. “The gates being open and the barriers being down don’t matter either. Your pantheon made an agreement with the Peacekeepers, Zeus, and I’m in lawful pursuit of a suspect, now suspects.” Though he didn’t look at me, I had a pretty good idea I was on his list now. Maybe Gabby too, for that matter. Still I had to grant that the guy was standing on his convictions, but that was all I was going to grant him.
I’d never seen a god cringe (hell, I’d never seen a god before a few minutes now) but when I saw Apollo flinch in anticipation, I clamped my hands over my ears. Gabriela, smart as a whip, did the same thing as Zeus’s eyes literally shot lightning and his chest expanded before he shouted his response.
“YOU DARE?” After the initial near-deafening outburst, punctuated by a thunderclap and a sudden darkening of the skies, the thunder god toned it down … slightly. “Your so-called treaties were only forced upon us after you had sealed the doors to your world. Yes, it is easy to force whatever terms you can think of when you threaten to destroy us, to seal off the very lifeblood of faith. You would ask me to bow to you even now, when your own authority is that wrung from threat and coercion?
“NO! The seals are broken, Peacekeeper, and while the diminished faith of our followers flows, I and my kin will not grovel at your feet!”
I wasn’t entirely sure what to make of it all, but there were enough pieces for a big old doubt sandwich to start forming as to just how good the Peacekeepers were turning out to be. Then again, having gods faffing about the world might not be good either. What I was sure of, though, was that Zeus’s tirade had an effect on John.
That twitch in his left eye I thought I had imagined was back, but more evident was the crack of that steely demeanor. Doubt had entered into what had been a total surety of moral superiority and John was starting to realize that maybe, just maybe, he might not be one hundred percent in the right on this. I knew all that because I had sure as hell seen that face in the mirror when I first started to doubt some of the orders I had been given. What was shocking is that Johnny boy had never reached that point before.
He took a step back, glanced furtively at Gabriela for a moment, before setting his jaw and doubled down. “The past is the past and there’s more at stake here than your petty concerns.” John stabbed a finger at Joe across the shrine. “That man has vital information to stem off the Great Old Ones and he needs to come with me now.” That finger moved over and up at Zeus. “You’re going to turn him over now and we’re going to leave, understand?”
Joseph smiled in response, backed by the celestial chorus around him. “Your Highness, you know better and you know your place under gentle Yahweh.”
“Both of you are being irrational and confrontational,” Apollo said, stepping forward to try to intercede. “We will listen if you have a fair case to–”
Maybe I was too captivated by the drama to realize how indiscriminate the ending of this little argument would be, but Gabriela did. She grabbed me and pulled, twisting me in front of her before tucking her arms in. “Close your eyes!” she shouted as she moved, though if it was to me or to everyone in the room, I wasn’t sure.
I clamped my eyes shut, but the tremendous flash of lightning nearly burned out my eyeballs anyway. My skin tingled as squirmy-wormy static electricity crawled and the crash of thunder followed a split-second later, giving me a killer headache as my ears started to bitch up a storm.
Ozone filled my nose as I dared to open my eyes again. Gabby was still alive since I could feel her breathing, thank God, and while her head was still tucked protectively against my chest, her hair crackled with static pops.
“Good riddance,” Zeus rumbled from behind. I cradled Gabriela’s shoulders and turned, my skin still crawling, to see exactly what the agitated god had done.
The space where John and his little squad had been was now empty space. Likewise, Joe and his spinning escort were gone too. The marble where they had stood was now smoky and charred, wisps of smoke drifting upward. Apollo was shaking his head, massaging the bridge of his nose in a very human gesture, while Zeus had folded his brawny arms over his impossibly broad chest. I don’t think I was reading him wrong to say he looked awfully pleased with himself.
I was trying to process this, wondering if Thunder King had gone and vaporized all the parties involved or not, but it was Gabriela who actually asked, having come to her senses while I was staring like an idiot.
“Seven spirits, what did you do to them?” I’m no idiot. She was really meaning to say ‘”John” instead of “them.” You could hear the near-panic in her voice. Couldn’t blame her, not after she’d just found him again, and here I was hoping she’d still pick me in the end. Sigh. I was a jackass.
“Be calm, fair doctor,” Apollo soothed. “Trust in me, as a founder of your art, that my father only banished them from the shadow of Olympus.”
“I meant to throw all of you out, to be honest.” Zeus turned his flashing eyes onto us. “Though you are here by rightful means, you two strange mortals brought this conflict into my realm intentionally or not.” He took an earth-shaking step towards us. “Yet here you remain, untouched by my power.”
Worried Zeus might try to blast her, I started to pull the doc behind me, but she dug in her heels, winding up by my side instead. As much as I would have wanted to be shielding her, I guess it made more sense for us to face this down together, partners and equals. “Yeah, and what of it?” I snarked back.
Apollo raised a hand, about to tempt fate himself as he stretched out to restrain his father, but Zeus glanced back. “Hold your boundless compassion, my son. I remember your counsel and your visions.”
Fuck, I was about sick of this whole oracle business, but if it was going to keep us from getting slapped down by the gods, I guessed I could roll with it.
As Zeus turned back to us, Gabriela took the initiative. “Oh, mighty Zeus, we don’t know what visions of which you speak, but my companion Frank is the Bearer of la Corazon. It was its power that staved off your own.”
I nodded automatically. “What Gabby’s saying is we didn’t mean any offense by not being zapped off to who-knows-where, your godship.”
That craggy, wind-scarred face did something I hadn’t seen yet as lips curled into a smile. Zeus rumbled with a short laugh. “As the world spins and the winds spiral, there will always be heroes.” He gave Apollo another glance. “Indeed, it is just as you said it would be.”
I gave Gabriela a nervous glance and she responded with a shrug. “Soooo … does that mean we’re all good? No harm, no foul?”
Apollo waved his hand and the threatening clouds overhead fled, warming the air and clearing the sky with shafts of sunlight. “You could describe it in such a fashion, Bearer, but that is only the smallest portion of it.”
“Look, you guys really don’t have to do anything else," I said disarmingly. I was being honest. I was starting to reach my limit of divinities for one day. "We’re good.”
Another rumbling laugh from the big guy seemed to shake the room. “A bold sense of humor, I see. You will need it, both of you.” Zeus’s smile flattened. “Fear not, for we have no gifts to burden you with beyond what you have already learned from the Pythia. What raises its head will only bring danger and treachery ahead and that is more than enough burden.”
Gabriela’s eyes narrowed and flashed. “I just want to get my son back.” To her, it was a mantra, reinforcing the belief that while Max was the most important thing in her world, he wasn’t important to the universe. I sure wanted to share her belief that Max was just some kid, but I’d seen him through the lens of La Corazon.
The thing is that reason wouldn’t fly anymore, not with the Old Ones gathering their forces. Max was important. I just didn’t know why. If he wasn’t, we’d have never been permitted to see the Oracle to begin with.
Zeus gave us both a long, appraising look before he proclaimed, “Then pursue your noble quest. I will not incite my wife’s wrath to deny a spurned mother her righteous path.” I think he rolled his eyes a bit at that, but I wasn’t going to point it out. I sure as hell didn’t want to test out just how much the heart would protect me if the king of the Greek gods actually gave it his all.
Gabby took that as our cue to leave, starting to walk to the exit of the shrine. I started to follow her, but as we got to the door, I stopped, tapping her shoulder for her to wait a second.
Apollo quirked a smile as I turned my head back to the two gods and said, “There’s one thing I want to ask though.”
The sun god nodded. “What is that, Bearer?”
“How do we get to Heaven?”
12
I felt a combination of exposed and stupid sitting on the bench of a San Diego Metropolitan Transit Service bus stop. We had been here for hours now, and it was well after dark. Gabriela was sleeping, leaning on my shoulder, and I was about to pass out myself. Waiting for something to happen was boring. I would have been fine with crazy cultists, death mobiles, or even John’s smug mug to liven things up at this point.
I had honestly been about to question the Greek gods when Apollo said to come to this secluded corner of town and wait at this particular bus stop. I’ve lived in sunny San Diego for a long time and drove its streets behind a delivery truck wheel for awhile to boot. You’d think that if there were a bus going up to Heaven with stops at Purgatory and Limbo I’d know about it.
That was a stupid thought of course. If a bunch of human sorcerers could hide in the shadows of history for, like, ever, the Big Man Upstairs could definitely keep out of the line of sight.
The doc had been scarily silent on our way out of Olympus and back through the El Gato. It was obvious she had locked up a raging torrent of emotion behind a steel wall, shoving it all back to focus on the one thing she knew she could cling to. I couldn’t blame her and I wasn’t going to force her to open up. Call me selfish, but I was content that she was with me, even under these conditions.
With half-lidded eyes, I mulled over the Pythia’s prophecy. Now, I’m no stranger to the idea of ancient oracles and shit. I’ve watched Lord of the Rings and Star Wars and plenty of fantasy epics alongside but, while I could untangle bits and pieces of the oracle’s words, a lot remained pretty damned unclear.
The whole bit about “hubris unbound” and “peace unfounded” had to be about the Peacekeepers and the other clans, especially if I believed Joe. Oddly enough, I did, at least that there was a good bit of fact in his story. No doubt it was colored by his own agenda, but it was still something. The “corrupted” part made sense too. The damage to the tapestry of magic was still there and worsening by the minute.
But the “center thread in Heaven” bit lost me. Did we need to talk to God? Or did it have to do with Max somehow? If so, what did he have to do? And where exactly did the Great Old Ones hunting us figure into this? Fuck, this was a mess. Why the hell couldn’t people just talk plainly for once around here? Maybe it would make sense once I had slept on it.
I shook myself as I threatened to drift off once more. The cups of coffee we had bought from a street vendor as we had crossed town were long gone and I really wanted to get more, but I didn’t want to disturb the doc. She needed her rest more than I did, especially as I figured we’d need some more magic before we were done.
Speaking of long gone, the last normal bus had rumbled by over an hour ago. There should have been another one, but nothing had come. In fact, to be quite honest, I couldn’t remember even seeing someone walk by or a car come down the road. That was damned near impossible in a bustling town like this.
Trying to keep still for Gabby’s sake, I wormed my arm free to glance at my wristwatch. Being a dinosaur, I had an old-fashioned jewel-action mechanical baby and it read 10:47 PM. That was fine, except the seconds hand wasn’t moving a tick. That couldn’t be good.
I gently shook the doc. “Hey, Gabriela, I think something bad is happening.”
“Mmmph, is the bus here yet?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes.
“No bus yet, it’s just … a bad feeling.” That sounded awfully damned childish. “You know, old Army instincts.” There, that sounded a bit more badass. “Also, time seems to have stopped.” Or my watch was broken, something I only realized after I had opened my mouth.
Gabby yawned deeply and looked around. “It’s awfully quiet, but that isn’t anything that…” Her voice trailed off. “Wait, I don’t hear anything. No cars, no birds, not even a gust of wind.” That seemed to wake her up, and it woke me up too.
“So what do you think? Is our stairway to Heaven coming or are we about to get screwed again?” I'd like to say I said that with a smirk acknowledging my clever play on words, but I was tired and, to be totally honest, a little bit scared. Our options were drying up, our resources were drained, and we were fresh out of friends to lean on. I don't think I was out of line for that fear to be there, ya know?
“I don’t know, Frank.” I hated when she didn’t know things. “It could be a dimensional tunnel, a time bubble, or a perception exception spell.” She saw that look of disappointment in my eyes and frowned. “I’m a talented doctor who loves to study. I’m not a magical encyclopedia!”
I sighed and nodded. “I know, sorry.” I was about to reiterate how I only expected so much because of my utter faith in her capabilities, but a sound finally echoed in the utter silence.
It was a footstep, a shuffling footstep. Followed by another and another.
My hand went to my side and caressed the tucked-away grip of my pistol. My eyes moved to follow the footsteps from down the street.
A slightly hunched over figure, silhouetted against the next closest streetlight, was making its way slowly down the sidewalk toward our stop. There wasn’t much else I could make out yet, other than it had a shapeless hood or cowl or something over its head, making it even harder to make out exactly what it was.
The doc was looking as well, her head peering over my shoulder. She whispered, “It could be someone catching a late bus or it could be about anything.” She settled back and I could hear her whispering Latin under her breath.
Other than keeping an eye out, what else could I do but act casual and be ready? It’d be a real kick in the crotch to accidentally shoot a homeless guy trying to get across town because I was spooked. Sure, something supernatural was going on, but it didn’t mean it had to be this guy. All the same, I did give him a peak through la Corazon.
The figured didn’t have any magic, that much was sure. He, she, whatever seemed okay at first glance, even if the stitches and weave looked a little funny. I couldn’t be sure if it was anything. It wasn’t like I scoped out each and every person I knew. We were all a little different when it came to the heart’s vision, so I couldn’t be quick to judge.
We waited in tense silence as the figure finally came into the circle of light shed above the MTS stop. I honest to God couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman, bundled under layers of grubby, threadbare clothes, topped off with a Chargers’ hoodie. It was a bit much for sunny California, but the sad thing was a lot of the homeless folks I had met found it easier to carry their wardrobes around by wearing them. You couldn’t make a judgment by that.
The scarf that wound around the lower face was a bit more suspicious, as well as the clicking of its feet on the pavement, but it still wasn’t enough.
The hunched figure stopped right inside the light and his yellowed eyes glanced between the two of us sitting there, what I could see of the face outside the scarf and hood was pale white and dirty. Those eyes made me wary. That color wasn't totally inhuman, but it wasn't normal either. Maybe this guy w
as a tweaker or jaundiced from alcoholism or maybe he was a bloodthirsty demon, I sure as hell hadn't a clue.
It was another tense second before anyone made a sound.
“Mind if I sit while I, meep, wait?” he said in a muffled, high-pitched voice. A mittened hand pointed to the space on the bench next to me.
I was sorely tempted to tell him to shuffle on, but I was honestly trying not to be as much of an ass as I usually was. Being around Gabriela tended to bring that out of me. “Uh, sure thing, pal.” I glanced over at Gabby. “You don’t mind, do you, honey?” Best to present the impression we were together, close together. Strength in numbers, right?
Gabriela gave the guy a long look, but eventually she gave me a nod, still trying to subtly keep a spell on her lips and at the ready.
I slid over a bit to give the guy some room, but I never took my hand away from the gun. He bobbed his head in a nod and shuffled onto the bench. The guy smelled pretty damned awful and it wasn’t just the usual smell associated with life on the streets. No, there was a distinct scent of rancid meat beneath it all.
“Isn’t often I find folks like you at this stop, meep.” His voice was unnerving, but that wasn’t a criminal offense. “Going up or down?”
I had an idea of what he was hinting at, but I figured I’d play dumb. “Don’t you mean uptown or downtown?”
“Don’t play dumb, man.” Something about the way he said it made it sound more clinical and less familiar than normal. “The doors are open now. Lots of new buses lately. Lots of us coming up.” The more I looked at the rubbery flesh between the yellowed eyes the more unsettled it made me feel. It was like a subtle version of the primordial ooze from the Cube.
I don’t know if Gabriela saw it, but I know I did. Still, I wasn’t going to make trouble until I had to. “We’re trying to go up then. Know when the next bus is?”
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