The love of a mother. It had cost her something to do that.
Except now that brief purpose had been ripped away. Because he no longer had boyhood needs. Like any young man, he was trying to find his own way. It was ironic that now that he was more self-sufficient – which she had originally preferred – she was more uncomfortable than ever. And the fact that it messed with her… messed with her.
I realized Dean, who had many problems with Carl, namely his penchant for wearing high heels and leaving dead skin around the house, was now pretending the two beside him didn’t exist, his face a deep red color as he focused on polishing the wood.
I heard a loud slap and spun to see Carl gripping his cheek and the Huntress storming away with fire in her eyes. Luckily, she hadn’t noticed Talon and me or she might have wandered over to give us a similar display of affection. Carl turned to us, his lizard mouth seeming to frown. He blinked his clear eyelid several times and flicked his tongue out upon seeing us.
“She wouldn’t tell me of the D. She just struck me.”
I couldn’t even come up with a response.
But Talon could. “If it is such a closely guarded secret, perhaps you just need to keep trying. Ask the others. Temple has many women on the grounds.”
“That makes it sound like I have a dungeon of naked chicks stashed away here,” I argued. I turned to Dean, who was staring at me. “I don’t, do I?” I asked him, and was rewarded with an even darker blush to his cheeks. I sagged my shoulders in mock disappointment.
Talon ignored me. “The best answers are found through quiet contemplation and determination. Perhaps meditation will help you learn the secret on your own.” Talon pointed at the stick in Carl’s hands, the one that he had picked up outside before leaving us to find the Huntress. “Elders are powerful. Try using your natural gifts to make this D grow. Or to learn if this wood even is this magical D.”
Carl nodded absently. He looked at me, and seemed to remember something. “Did you upset the sparkly one? He left without saying goodbye to me. I specifically remember you telling me to always say goodbye to friends when they left. And something else when they arrive…” he added, scratching his scaled lips thoughtfully.
“Hello. You say hello when friends arrive.”
He pointed the stick at me. “That’s the word! Hello,” he mused, as if getting a feel for the strange word. “Sparkula said neither. He just left.”
“Don’t worry about it. He’s got some stuff to work out. Hey, can you keep an eye on the house with Talon tonight?”
Carl shook his head. “I will be here, but I will be busy with my D. If anything…” he glanced at the walls thoughtfully, well aware of Falco’s pregnancy, “strange happens, I’ll be available, but I must not be disturbed unless absolutely necessary. I’m sure Talon understands.” Talon muttered darkly under his breath, but Carl cleared his throat. “Goodbye.” Then he spun around, crouched low, and sprinted away from us down the hall at a dead run. I was pretty sure I heard him talking to his D as he ran.
“No running in the house!” Dean shouted, but he sounded resigned, knowing it was futile.
I turned to Talon to find him smiling proudly. “I do not understand why this D is amusing to Alucard, but now I’m in on the joke, right? I did the funny.” He sounded very pleased.
I sighed. “Sure, Talon.”
Carl was simply too easy to tease. Even those who didn’t understand a joke could tease him about them. I was pretty sure this was Talon’s way of not becoming the brunt of the joke. To team up with us rather than admit his ignorance about… whatever this D was. But if Carl wanted to go find a quiet spot in the house and talk to his stupid stick, I was going to leave him to it. Better than him pestering more women. He was weird enough that no one would expect someone had put Carl up to it, simply thinking he was being his usual weird self, talking to a stick.
I wanted to go yell at Alucard and make him take it back and explain the joke, but…
Alucard had already left.
“If we hadn’t let Alucard play this joke on Carl,” I muttered out loud, “maybe he could have helped us tonight. That’s called Karma.” I turned to walk backwards down the hall as I attempted to explain it to Talon. I sensed Dean watching me with a disbelieving frown. “When you play a joke on someone, the universe has an uncanny ability to turn around and—”
I bumped into something solid and heard a grunt before ice water splashed all down my back.
I yelped, spinning to see Alex holding an empty glass of water. He stared at me, face turning from initial anger to fear as he realized who he had just dumped water on.
Dean cleared his throat, and Alex’s face paled even further. The young man ripped off his shirt and crouched down to begin mopping up the mess, forgetting me entirely as Dean began storming closer. Alex’s muscled chest was soaked as well, and I heard Talon grunt behind me – whether amused by the karma or impressed at Alex’s drastic change in body type, I wasn’t sure. Or maybe my bodyguard had fled the scene rather than risking Dean’s wrath.
With a last hurried swipe, Alex scooped up the ice cubes and turned to run back the way he had come. “I’ll be right there, Pegasus!” he shouted. And then he was gone, leaving me to face the legendarily temperamental Butler God.
Dean stared down at the still slightly wet floor and then at me. My shirt continued to drip onto the floor, making a bigger mess. Even worse, it was mixing with the dried dirt on my boots, leaving the floor muddy. I sighed, muttering under my breath as his eyes burned through me.
I realized Talon was no longer behind me. The coward.
“This was not my fault,” I said. The Butler God arched a brow, pointedly glancing down at my dirty boots. I let out a breath and bent over to untie them. Dean sniffed, not mentioning the fact that I had obviously worn my dirty boots inside when I knew very well he had told me not to dozens, if not hundreds, of times. He folded his arms, silently watching me. I tucked the offending boots under my arm and stormed towards the front door to leave them outside – like I should have done in the first place. I was going to go take a long, hot shower.
“Fucking coward, running to your winged horse rather than face down my butler.”
“Language, Master Temple…” Dean warned from over my shoulder.
I turned to bare my teeth at him – but only after I verified he was no longer looking at me – and stomped away.
I made sure not to run. Because, rules.
I fantasized about the Fight Club tonight, wondering who I would have the chance to murder.
Chapter 22
I had chosen to take a long bath instead, hoping the soak would help clear my head. Then I had spent a few hours reading a few of the gathered books on King Arthur we had collected. My frustration had quickly returned as I found nothing useful in the stories.
This Knight saved this damsel. That knight fought that monster. Lady of the Lake. Merlin. Guinevere. Blah blah blah.
Not that they weren’t fun stories, but when I was looking for hard facts, they lost their value.
Now, I sat on bleachers packed with a hundred or so Freaks from St. Louis. Wolves, dragons, robed mystery guests, vampires, and a mess of Greeks from Achilles’ bar. A fiery sunset hung on the distant horizon like a ball of molten fire. A ring of flickering torches around us held supreme darkness at bay. I’d never really learned what was beyond the ring of torches, but I knew monsters lived out there. When I had first met Grimm, he had been hanging out in there, murdering things, before introducing himself to me by attacking me.
Luckily, since I was the last Temple, his horn hadn’t harmed me. Something about unicorns not being able to harm virgins or the last of a bloodline. I definitely wasn’t saved by my v-card, because I had misplaced that thing a long time ago.
Grimm and I were now pals. Hell, he was my Ride. Capital R. Because I was the Fifth Horseman of the Apocalypse – the Horseman of Hope. At least, I had been offered the job. Because the Four Horsemen were dicks, they had
n’t told me whether I was officially a Horseman or not, but I definitely had some new powers as a result. My magic could turn white with Heavenly Fire of some kind, basically, supercharging my wizard’s power with Bible Juice.
And if I put the Mask on – which was currently disguised as a coin on a necklace hanging from my throat – my skin turned to some kind of diamond grit and I grew skeletal wings and claws. But that had only happened once.
Death had told me that I would know when the position became official, and since I was still questioning it, I considered myself still on the bench while the Varsity Team managed the field. I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a destroyer of men during Armageddon.
But maybe that was what the whole Catalyst thing was about. My unique birth in Fae.
I really needed to get some damned answers from my parents. They had read an old text while on a trip in England, and it had led them to their brilliant plan of robbing the Fae Queens for that Hammer and Hourglass. I needed to find out what they learned. What they read. What events led to my birth.
Because all of those super powerful gods and legends – Pandora, Achilles, Shiva, Ganesh, and basically anyone I had ever met who had lived a few centuries or more – spoke of a War that was coming. The All War.
And if I was this Catalyst, and possibly a Fifth Horseman…
I had never been a fan of coincidences.
“Tomorrow,” I reminded myself under my breath.
I felt those beside me shift uncertainly at my random comment. I looked up at them, ready to laugh it off, and found them averting their eyes. Some of them even grimaced, as if not wanting to be seen near me. Some even got up and walked away.
I opened my mouth to ask a question and then stopped. Alucard had mentioned White Fang turning people against me, but I didn’t want anyone knowing he had done so. Or knowing that I cared if they were turning against me, because even that might play into White Fang’s plans. So, I kept my trap shut and tried to ignore the veiled glances I was getting from the various Freaks sitting in the stands outside the Dueling Grounds.
I let my eyes scan the crowd outside the ring. Dirty Gerty was here with her Council, and Tory wasn’t far away from her. Not a part of her circle, but hovering just outside it and looking agitated. I didn’t spot anyone else I recognized – or, at least no one that I personally knew or was friends with, but I hadn’t seen everyone. And with the tight crowd, I would have had to walk the perimeter of the ring to get a look at every face. Not caring to do so, I stayed in my seat, wishing I had a friend to chat with while I waited.
But I knew I would be poor company, so hadn’t bothered to ask anyone. I had considered asking Callie, but with her friendship with Roland, and the fact that he had been in the meeting with Alucard, I had decided not to. I also hadn’t wanted to bring her into the politics apparently bubbling up in St. Louis. Especially not if her name was already being mentioned by this White Fang as another concern. I definitely didn’t need everyone seeing us together and perhaps making her an even bigger target.
All this pleasant drama condensed into a white-hot fire in my belly.
I was ready to fight.
Leonidas and Achilles were currently sparring in the ring, sparks flying as they fought spear to spear. They both sported gashes and cuts, but neither looked near exhaustion. They were actually laughing as they spun, twisted, lunged, and leaped into the air, spears whistling around in a lethal blur before whipping out in a flurry of stabs that rarely seemed to strike home.
An even match, or close enough to it. This fight could go on forever.
As if coming to the same conclusion, Achilles finally lowered his spear and stepped back, grinning at Leonidas. “Let’s let someone else play for a while. They didn’t come here to watch us fight for four hours.”
Leonidas grunted. “I’ll get you one of these days, Myrmidon,” but a whisper of a smile split his bearded cheeks. Achilles rolled his eyes good naturedly before turning to Asterion and signaling for him to announce the next contenders.
The Minotaur glanced down at a paper in his hands, rubbing a sausage-sized finger down the list before stopping and grinning. He lifted his head to the crowd.
“Nate Temple!”
“About fucking time,” I muttered, climbing to my feet.
I entered the ring like a starving lion. At this point, it wasn’t even about winning or losing. I just wanted to hit something. And since no one could actually die at the Dueling Grounds, I could cut loose without consequences.
The crowd was eerily silent, as if not wanting to be heard cheering for me. This only proved Alucard’s warning about White Fang. I looked at Asterion, wondering why he hadn’t called my contender. He was frowning at me.
“You want two on one?” he asked in a low tone.
I nodded.
“That’s… unfortunate.”
I ignored him, walking to the center of the ring, wondering which two unlucky bastards were about to get bitch-smacked by one grumpy Master Temp—
“Raego Slate!” Asterion bellowed.
This time, the crowd went even quieter. But only for a moment. Then they burst out in a frenzied roar.
I spun to see Raego, the Dragon King, step into the ring, frowning at me. He didn’t look pleased at the bad luck. I wasn’t necessarily happy with the pairing either, because Raego was a badass and I really didn’t want to lose against him. But… he was also involved in this shit show going on in town. Somehow. And his whole investigation thing with Tory smelled fishy.
Asterion let out a blood-curdling Moo, silencing the crowd as he held up a hand. The crowd hushed, murmuring to each other in small pockets, wondering what Asterion was waiting for.
“And… Alucard Morningstar!”
The roar of the crowd was deafening this time, and a red film of rage washed over my eyes as I saw the Daywalker enter the ring beside Raego. He also didn’t look pleased, but he was masking it for the crowd, not daring to show anything in his eyes. Because if he did, it would only show his friendship with me, which he apparently no longer wanted.
“Authentic,” I said loudly, but casually, reminding him of the word he had used. I studied the two of them lazily. “This will be fun. The location could be better,” I added with a dark smile.
A subtle hint that it was unfortunate we were about to fight in a place where none of us could actually die. Raego and Alucard’s faces grew harder.
“We three kings…” I sang in a soft tone. Then I flicked my hands, not even glancing down as white whips of fiery lightning erupted from my palms. They were made of pure magic, and since this fight was going to be much harder than I had bargained for, I wasn’t about to play games. They wanted to show the city they could stand up to me? That they were big boys?
Okay.
The whips scorched the earth as I strutted closer in a fluid stroll.
“Heavy is the head that wears the crown,” I said.
And then I struck out at both of them simultaneously to the sound of the roaring crowd.
Chapter 23
I muted the crowd with a mental effort as I lashed out at the two of my friends. Two friends who – whether for good or bad – thought they needed to step out of my imagined shadow, or at least make everyone in town think so.
They thought I was trying to take over St. Louis? Whether they truly believed it or not, enough people did, and now here we were.
My whip crackled through a sudden cloud of black smoke where Raego had stood. My other whip struck only a cloud of embers as Alucard darted out of the way in a flash of golden light. I saw him zip to the other side of the ring, so I focused on the black cloud before me. From the depths of that shadow, a hulking figure suddenly appeared, black wings flaring wide as the dragon roared and then launched himself at me.
I laughed as I spun, flinging out a handful of dust.
Raego’s massive jaws snapped onto the dust and then his mouth flared wide as he gagged, trying to spit his black vapor – a thick, roiling fog that wou
ld turn me into an obsidian statue. I knew he could also spit fire, an almost liquid black flame, but I wasn’t concerned anymore.
Because thanks to my dust, he wouldn’t be doing much of either.
I flung my hands wide as he continued to gag and cough, still trying to spit flame while ignoring the searing pain in his mouth. A powder I had devised at Grimm Tech that essentially – when combined with saliva – turned to a gooey, waterproof paste.
Basically, I had slapped a big wad of bubble gum over his fire holes, or whatever it was that let a dragon spit flame.
Two flames from the flickering torches outside the ring suddenly zipped through the crowd, interrupting the cheers as the fireballs whipped past their faces, maybe even hitting a few of them if I was lucky. The fireballs struck my palms and then doubled in size before turning an icy blue.
I slapped them into Raego’s cheeks, gripping his massive head with both hands as the flame splashed over him, burning. Acrid smoke billowed up as Raego tried to scream. I dipped my head close and kissed him right on the snout before jumping back, laughing at his pain, embarrassment, and fury.
Which was when Alucard struck me like he was Helios running late to work.
I felt my ribs crack – a muted, popping sound – as I went cartwheeling through the air. I saw Alucard standing in front of Raego protectively. I managed to fling out my hands, summoning two clear whips – not elemental destructive power, but more like elastic cords – and threw them.
They cracked over Alucard’s shoulders, and I saw him grin.
But I hadn’t been aiming for Alucard. The clear whips hit Raego’s outstretched wings.
They latched on like anchors, halting my flight, and suddenly whipping me right back at the two opponents like a pebble in a slingshot. I held my legs up and released my whips, smiling as my boots lined up with Alucard’s stunned face.
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