She caught sight of the sign on the tomato stand. This was the farm in Hingham where she’d worked for a very brief stint when first arriving from Maine. She laughed. They had a particularly nasty and recalcitrant ram named Merlin that they might not be too heartbroken to part with. Sacrificial though? She changed her mind; even he didn’t deserve that fate. She wouldn’t mention it to Kulla.
She did decide that she’d shop this farm to fill her bags, before doing anything else.
Tess chose tomatoes, cukes, beets, and carrots, while listening with half an ear to Erra conversing with the clerk. Was he actually giving her advice on how to keep her squash from dying of fusarium wilt? Well, hell, he was the god of death. Tess just hadn’t realized he covered flora as well as fauna.
With her purchases finally tallied, Erra made a courtly bow to his latest conquest before Tess grabbed his arm and maneuvered him back to the car.
“Next stop, grocery store. And don’t try to eat anything there. They won’t be as forgiving as the farmers.”
Erra had clearly enjoyed the outdoor market, but now Tess saw a calculating look come into his eyes that she’d recognize anywhere. The god of war wasn’t any good at hiding his intent…although he probably didn’t have to if all he did was rain down death and destruction. She could see the wheels turning. Tess got into the car and waited for him to start.
“One question. Please.” He had been told by Tess that “please” would get him more results when asking for something.
She looked at him now with suspicious amusement. “Ask away, but you may not get an answer.” She turned the car onto Newport Avenue.
“Large energy entered…” he searched for a word, “…abode. Energy disappear. Where go to?”
Tess knew exactly what Erra asked and did a quick, private sidebar with Kulla.
It might get him off our backs if we told him the idol has gone to the Underworld, especially since the witches think the threat to us arises from there.
Hmph. The witches know nothing. Kulla was so touchy when it came to the two magical women. Tess hadn’t yet figured out why, but she would.
Whatever. She wasn’t about to get into his prejudices now. Do you think it will hurt if I tell him?
Kulla spaced out for a full minute before answering. Marduk says it’s okay.
If Tess had wanted her husband’s approval, she would have asked. One of these days she would remind him that their life was not a monarchy. She dove right in. “I believe what you’re referring to is a small stone idol,” she began. “We procured it from an antiquities expert in the area, and then Enlil brought it back to the compound before he took it with him to the Underworld.”
Tess sensed the next big question coming.
“What Enlil in Hell?” His big brow creased in confusion.
“Oh, just something to do with Nergal,” Tess replied airily. “I’m sure he’s back by now.” Tess didn’t know whether Enlil was, or not, but kept things purposefully vague. “I do know that he was to leave the idol there.”
“Ask question me,” he stated, putting his fist to his chest.
“Ask you a question?” Tess quirked her mouth. “I don’t suppose you’ll tell me who you’re working for besides Nergal?”
He looked at her, unblinkingly and remained quiet.
“I didn’t think so. All right, let’s try an easy one. Do you have a girlfriend?”
“Girlfriend.” Erra took a minute to compute that. “You? New girlfriend?”
Tess laughed. “That’s very nice, I’d love to be your new friend, but that’s not what I meant, and Marduk wouldn’t be too keen on that.”
Erra waited patiently, as if knowing she looked for a way to reword her inquiry.
She snapped her fingers. “Do you have a particular lady that you…desire? One who might someday be your Chosen?”
His copper eyebrows drew together and a scowl crossed his face.
Come now, Erra. Kulla intervened on a channel that covered all three of them. I seem to recall, back in the day, that you had quite an interest in Ishtar Dinitu.
A bright flush crawled up Erra’s neck. She was not interested in me.
That’s funny, replied Kulla. When I spoke to her the other day and invited her to the dedication of the new buildings, she was only slightly interested until I mentioned your name on the guest list.
Erra gaped. His mouth moved, but he seemed unable to form words.
Yup. Right away, she asked if it was Erra from the old days, whom she hadn’t seen in several thousand years…the god of war. When I said yes, she told me she looked forward to attending.
Tess thought they’d set this one up perfectly. But had they overplayed their hand? They had explained everything to Ishtar of the Dawn and begged her help. But oddly enough, she actually had sounded quite interested that the god in need of interrogation was Erra.
“Ish-Din will come?” Erra obviously used the goddess’s nickname. Perhaps the two knew each other better than Tess had been led to believe.
“Oh yes, she said she wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“I will attend also.”
Good. That was done. Tess had been a little nervous up until this point, but now it was on to the supermarket.
Erra’s mood improved dramatically as the day wore on. When let loose in the grocery store, Tess could only liken him to a small child. He bounded from one shelf to another, putting things in Tess’s cart without her knowledge. She okayed some, ignored others, but had to put the nix on a jar of pickled herring. Just the thought of them made her want to barf.
Many items defied explanation, and had to be purchased to assuage the god’s curiosity. Marshmallows were high on that list, but if he didn’t quit pinching the fluffy confections through the bag, they’d be nothing but mush. After what seemed like hours, they headed out to their vehicle.
Tess saw Erra glance at the bags in the back for the fifth time since getting in the car. “Fine, open them.” He knew just what she was talking about and right where to find them. Gods didn’t always have to use their extra senses for life-and-death situations, sometimes they simply kept track of items of interest, which right now meant marshmallows.
The god’s eyes went wide as he popped one in his mouth, and before he even had a chance to chew, he inserted two more. His face was blissful.
“Good,” he mumbled around the confection. Tess gave him the thumbs up, then listening to his grunts of pleasure, drove to the nearest drug store. Time for that pregnancy test.
Erra refused to let her go into the store by herself. He was too curious as to what wonders he would behold behind these new doors. She figured he might not be as interested in women’s makeup and teen magazines as he’d been the food, but she was wrong. Everything amazed him. If she heard, “What is this?” one more time, she’d be looking for the earplug aisle.
Kulla, he’s just hit the “as seen on TV” shelf. Would you answer all his questions while I buy my test stick and use the ladies room? There was no need to wait until she got home. She was so curious that she’d decided to make it official. Tess had let both the god-architect and Erra hear her and the response she got surprised her.
I want to see stick. Erra demanded. His English was improving.
Tess did her thing, and five minutes later opened the bathroom door to the war god’s massive presence. It seemed there was a line of three women waiting to use the restroom, but he’d held them off until Tess emerged.
“Sorry,” She said, shrugging her shoulders, but was interrupted by the impatient god.
“What does the stick indicate?” Wow! Nice sentence structure, but was he clueless that they had an audience?
“Umm…see the little pink plus sign?” Tess pointed. “That’s a yes. I’m definitely pregnant.” She smiled and impulsively threw her arms around his neck for a quick hug. How could she not be ecstatic?
The first woman in line grabbed both her arm and Erra’s. “Oh, congratulations you two! You must be so e
xcited. Is this your first?”
“Yes. Yes, it is, but…”
“Go ahead and kiss your wife,” said one of the other onlookers. “This is such a big moment.”
Tess looked up at Erra uncertainly, and he looked confoundedly down at her. The third woman had to get in on things.
“Wait! Let me take a picture. Give me your phone.”
Tess dutifully handed over her cell and shrugged. What the heck. This was certainly awkward, but kissing Erra would be easier than trying to explain to three women why the big hunky male had been so anxiously protecting the bathroom door.
She reached her arms up again, but this time pulled his head down. He parted his surprised lips as she moved hers up against them. Hey…was that his tongue? Hmm. Tess must have been mistaken. A tongue would definitely not be good. Tess actually sighed getting a load of his firm, yet soft mouth. Not too wet, not too dry. He was no Marduk…but Tess wouldn’t hesitate to recommend Erra to any woman who asked. She heard a click.
“There. Now you and your husband have a picture to show your baby when he or she wants to know how mom and dad felt when they heard the news.”
Oh yeah. Tess snickered. Marduk was going to be overjoyed at that one.
Erra obviously felt the same way. Without warning, he looped his arm around Tess’s waist, and giving the ladies his brightest smile, swooped her down aisle seven and out the door.
“I sorry, Lady Tess. Never…liberties taken… Marduk’s Chosen…” He’d obviously lost his newfound command of the English language. Tess put him out of his misery.
“You’re a great kisser, Erra. Don’t apologize. And I promise that Marduk will only try to remove one arm when I explain.” She laughed at his consternation, and punched his chest. “It was a joke, Erra. Lighten up. It’s time to haunt the home improvement store for Kulla and then on to the place that sells all the organic stuff to see if we can find a few of those dedication items. After that, we can hit the road home.”
Erra’s brow cleared. “Hit the road. I like those words…I like it better than having to make new arm once Marduk pulls off old one.”
Tess winced in sympathy while the god flexed his fingers and made a repeated fist, as if already missing the appendage.
Emerging from the drug store, Erra went around to Tess’s car door first, and opened it for her, bowing slightly.
“Why thank you, Erra.” Tess didn’t have to wonder too long what had prompted the chivalry.
“Open door for pregnant wife.”
By the gods. Erra had just made a joke.
Chapter Thirty-One
With Erra occupied, the invisible gods at the Blue Hills had no trouble distracting and restraining all the PP who would have intercepted Hux and Dani-Lee as they entered the compound. As a matter of fact, it might become the sport du jour if they could be sure the war god wasn’t going to hang around.
The rental car pulled up to the T-Taj and Dani scrambled out before Hux barely had the thing in park. Marduk watched from an upstairs window, and wondered what had gone on between the two as Huxley stood back with a sour look on his face.
By the time Marduk got to the infirmary, Dani had already made it to where the gods had set up her office and surgery. Enlil was in one of the two beds, lying on his back and staring at the ceiling. She waved silently at Marduk and then coughed to let Enlil know she’d arrived.
He turned his head and gave her a weak smile. “I’m always getting holes in myself, aren’t I?” He tried for a laugh, but ended up wheezing.
Collapsed lung? It could be. Marduk raised a brow at the doctor. Peeling back the sheet that had been draped over his nakedness, Dani bit her lip. Marduk crossed his arms and took up a waiting stance. Time and a thorough examination would tell.
“Sorry you won’t be getting a look at my better side this time.” Enlil joked about his previous gunshot wound to the ass. “You’ll have to make do with my rock-hard abs.”
Snapping on gloves, the doctor poked at the gaping cavity in Enlil’s upper gut, and pursed her lips. She then moved to look at the limbs Marduk had successfully put in light traction, and gave a more satisfied nod. The thunder god nodded. He’d done it correctly.
“I’m a leg man, anyway,” Dani soothed at Enlil. She glanced up at Marduk, showing him her concern, but remained unflustered with her patient. She’d been around to see gods heal, but―Marduk huffed―Enlil’s legs, twisted in unnatural ways, were literally in pieces.
“Don’t worry about me.” The wind god groaned as Dani poked. “Once you get the chest to stop bleeding, the broken bones will knit together just fine.”
Signaling for a brief, sidebar consultation, Dani told Marduk she wasn’t so sure. “I need to operate.” She whispered. “If any bone fragments—and there are many—lay too far out of place, they won’t find their way back to their original positions without intervention.” She turned to Enlil.
“Let’s put you under and take care of your injuries.” She pointed at the bleeding gap on Enlil’s chest, but didn’t mention his legs.
Marduk was very glad now that they’d experimented with various cocktails of drugs over the past few weeks, although Anshar and he hadn’t liked being guinea pigs. Dani had been able to devise a compound that actually knocked them out; something they had thought impossible before.
“Can’t we do locals like last time?” Enlil clearly didn’t like the thought of being asleep and helpless.
“I know you guys all consider yourselves super macho and all, but even you wouldn’t be able to stand what I’m going to do. There’s dirt and rocks deep inside you. I’m going to have to spread you open and wash you from the inside out. I’ll fix any bleeders I come across, and only then will I stitch you up.”
Marduk could almost feel her thoughts. Ethically, she had to tell Enlil that he might find his legs sliced and pinned when he woke up.
“I know you think your legs will do fine on their own, but I’m not so sure.” She shook her head. “I wish I had an x-ray machine to find out.”
The last thing she must have expected was Marduk’s chuckle. “I’ll call Ninurta. You know he’s our excavation expert, but what you don’t know is that his gaze can penetrate through the walls of any substance, including flesh. He’ll tell you what he sees.”
“Really,” Dani chortled. “X-ray vision? How cool is that. Call him.” She hustled about now, prepping the operating area. “If Ninurta sees any bone fragments that are too far from the mother-bones to be drawn back in, I’ll remove them. And if he sees any large sections that, in my opinion, won’t rejoin on their own, I’ll put in some pins.”
Enlil frowned. “Marduk, you agree with this? Ms. Frankenstein wants to drill metal into my bones.”
The thunder god thought about it for a second-and-a-half. Fuck it. He wouldn’t like it if it was him.
In the end, after much arguing, Dani gave up the idea of pinning anything. Marduk assured her that, if she moved errant pieces in close enough proximity, they would take care of themselves. But she did win the battle over knocking the god out.
Enlil was eventually sedated, and for the next hour, Dani chortled her amazement to Marduk. As she operated, everything inside the god mended as fast as she could stitch. She’d joined two ends of a severed tendon with one loop of her needle, and before another was needed, his body would complete the fix. Marduk was simply amused.
By the time Dr. Dani had the gaping wound cleaned and closed, Ninurta—who had shown up on cue—took a long, hard look into Enlil’s legs and then acquired pencil and paper to draw Dani-Lee a comprehensive picture of what everything looked like. Once finished, he unacquired it back to Marduk, who handed it to the doctor.
She pointed things out to him. “There are four fragments in this one leg,” she tapped on the paper, “and two in the other that will need to be removed.” Dani wasn’t through. “Then there’s this one big chunk of his right fibula that has rotated 180 degrees.”
Marduk nodded. It would all need s
ome help.
She positioned him by Enlil’s head to keep track of her patient’s sedation and picked up her scalpel to make the first incision, revealing skin, then fascia, and finally muscle. Marduk heard her knife hit the first bone chip. Turning and putting her blade down, she chose a pair of forceps and turned back to extricate the fragment, only to find that the incision had completely closed.
“What the…” Dani looked up at Marduk’s amused face.
“I was afraid of that.” He shook his head. “Nice clean slice like you made…I had a feeling it would heal instantly.”
Dani was not to be defeated. “Ninurta, are you squeamish?” She couldn’t hear his answer, nor could she see the “shit, no” look on his face. She didn’t wait for a translation from Marduk. “I’m going to make an H-incision this time, and while I grab my forceps, you’re going to hold things open. Got it?”
“He’s got it,” answered Marduk.
The thunder god could tell that Dani marveled at her new, invisible clamps. Ninurta was everywhere she needed him. Dani worked fast slicing, removing, and stitching with Ninurta’s assistance. Putting the chunks of bone back in place without pinning them clearly went against everything in the good doctor’s body, but she did it on Marduk’s nod, and eventually closed up the last incision.
“You can bring him back now,” Dani told Marduk. “You’ve proved to be a very effective anesthesiologist.”
Marduk held back a grin. What the doctor didn’t know was that, on his days when it was his turn to pick her up at the hospital, he always arrived a few hours early, and made a point to sit in on various operations, learning jobs like this one that he might have to perform some day.
Enlil’s eyes blinked up at him once, then twice. “Feels like…waking up after demons….have finished with me.”
Dani flashed him a huge smile and patted his shoulder. “You did great.”
“Huh. Prettiest demon, ever.”
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