Goddess

by Julie Anne Lindsey

  Mason blocked her path. “You can’t work tonight. You probably have a concussion.”

  “What am I supposed to tell them if I call off?”

  Liam and Mason suggested a number of well-worn lies. “Fender bender, tripped walking Chester, fell hanging Christmas lights…”

  She laughed. “After the day I’ve had, a few hours in the hospital might help me sort things out. I can’t stay here, and I don’t want to be alone.”

  Mason walked backward, eyes on Mom. “At least let me walk you home and try to convince you to call off.”

  She stepped back. “You can’t use your influence on me.”

  He smiled wider. “I’d never dream of it.”

  I rubbed my aching forehead. “I can walk her home.”

  Mason waved me away. “Nonsense. I’m halfway out the door.”

  Mom pursed her lips and anchored hands over narrow hips. “Chester needs a walk, and I need a shower. If you walk him while I clean up, I’ll put on something for us to eat.”

  She threaded her arms into my coat. “Care if I borrow this?”

  “Sure.”

  He held the door as Mom passed through to the porch. His eyes twinkled. “I’ve got a great recipe for organic butternut squash soup.”

  I stared dumbstruck as Mom, donned in my coat, walked out of sight with Mason. “Well, I don’t know what I think about that.”

  Liam kissed my head. “Mason’s a perfect gentleman. He likes to brighten a lady’s mood.”

  “I bet.” I turned in place, searching the crowd.

  No sign of Justin or Nym.

  Zoe carried a tray of breads, cheeses, and fruit to the dining room table. Lisle delivered baskets of wine bottles and cases of soda. “Who’s hungry?”

  For the first time in weeks, not me.

  Chapter 22

  Perky jingle-bell music poured through hidden mall speakers, fueling already frenzied shoppers. The mall wasn’t my favorite place on a quiet day. From Thanksgiving until New Year’s, it ranked up there with port-a-potties at outdoor concerts. Not someplace I wanted to go. Still, Allison and I needed to talk, and the mall was her happy place. She’d need a happy place for the crazy headed her way.

  She sucked on a jumbo green straw protruding from a theater-sized iced mocha latte and flipped through a rack of ball gowns. “I missed coffee so much. I wasn’t allowed coffee while I was under the doctor’s care. Which is so stupid.” She stopped to admire a shiny silver number. “Sequins are probably too much for a New Year’s Eve party, right? Do you think I’m too old to join the pageant circuit, because I could live in these.” She tugged a handful of shimmering material around her shoulders and sighed.

  I laughed. “I thought your filthy softball uniform was your favorite thing to wear.”

  “I’m a complicated woman.” She released the dresses and moved to a less formal rack. “What do you think Oliver has planned for New Year’s Eve? Another party for sure, right? I hated missing Halloween. People still talk about that party. What are you wearing?”

  I followed Allison to a dressing room. “I haven’t thought about New Year’s Eve yet. I don’t think the Hales have either. Actually, there’s a reason I came shopping today. I need to talk to you.”

  She wedged herself into an open dressing room toting a double armload of little chiffon numbers and closed the door. “What’s up?”

  “Okay.” I rubbed sweat-slicked palms down my thighs. “I’ve thought about how to do this a million times. I don’t want to freak you out, so I’m going to try an indirect approach.” Mostly because I’m a coward and also to preserve your memory in case I eff it up.

  The door popped open. Allison twirled out and stopped before the three-way mirror in a nude-colored minidress composed of endless layers of chiffon and a heaping helping of tulle. “What do you think? Is it too Femmebot?”

  “No. It’s adorable. I love it.”

  She disappeared behind the door again. A puff of chiffon flipped over the door’s top edge. “I’m going blue next. Go on. What were you saying? Is it about you and Liam? Is that why you’re taking so long to say it?” She gasped. Her fingers appeared over the door, wiggling and stretching into the air. “Did he tell you he loves you?”

  “What? Yeah, but…”

  Allison squealed and the door burst open. “I knew it.” She held her dress on with one arm and hugged me with the other. “Can you zip me?”

  “You are really worked up. Are you okay?” Allison’s normal exuberance seemed on the verge of a breakdown or an eruption. “How much coffee have you had?” I pulled the zipper and it stuck between her shoulder blades.

  “I overdid it on the coffee. I know. Caffeine and me.” She made a crazy face. “I was up late with Ollie. This dress is puke.” She ducked into the dressing room and closed the door.

  I leaned against the door. Maybe the mall wasn’t the right place to do this.

  Across the store, a man with a white beard and ponytail tried on hats in a wall mirror.

  “Zeus?”

  “What?” Allison called through the door.

  “Nothing. Hey. I’m going to go grab something to try on. I’ll be right back.” I ghosted through the crowd, keeping visual contact with the man who felt more like a dream than reality. His steel-gray eyes caught my attention in the mirror.

  “Hello, Calypso. I see you had some time on your hands and thought maybe a trip to the mall would be useful somehow.”

  I craned my head back. Seriously? An insult. “You think I’m not doing anything?”

  “Oh, finding the perfect dress can be difficult. I suppose it’s wise to have priorities.” He gave me an irritated stare. “No wonder Gaia challenged me now. With a woman at the helm, how could she lose?”

  My jaw ached with words I dared not say. “Gaia is a woman.” Make up your mind.

  He removed a black fedora from his white hair and turned to face me directly. “Her Jotunn are men.”

  Under sudden pacifist inspiration, I focused all my energy on my pinkie fingernail, while staring at him. I visualized the shape, color, and texture, as if it were the most important pinkie nail on the planet. I shut out the rampant emotions coursing through the store and my veins before I made a mistake I’d regret. I bit the insides of both cheeks for double insurance.

  Zeus looked me over, starting with my beat-up Chucks and stopping at my oversize beanie. “It’s time you unite with your partner. Make it official. Spend your free time with Justin, not that girl. A dress probably wouldn’t hurt.”

  Another girl dig. Did they not have feminism where he came from? Equality? Ferocious female-warrior beasts? Maybe they did and he was just a natural dick. Focus. “I’m not hooking up with Justin or anyone else. I’m in love with Liam Hale.”

  He scoffed. “Get in line. Those Hale boys have had eternity to coin their advances. They’re interchangeable, and you’re smarter than that. A Watcher is a Watcher. Justin is your counterpart. Unite with him. Bond. Make it official and permanent before the Jotunn move.” He grabbed another hat and stuffed it onto his fat head. “The sooner you see it’s unavoidable, the easier it will be.”

  “What?”

  “All of it. Life.” He waved his palms wide as if every frantic holiday shopper was predestined to buy discount outerwear and overpriced formals today. “It was no accident Justin went with the Stians. You assumed that was a response based on your flawed counsel after his transformation, but it was fate. Destiny. He camped with the Stians and he brought many of those into the fold for you. They trusted him because he spent time with them. There are no accidents.”

  Humility flattened my lungs. “They followed his lead.” Not my words. “You said you weren’t raising Justin to help me lead. I asked you the night I changed.”

  He removed the new hat and looked through the open doorway into the mall. “I told you I’d give you what you need, and I have.”

  That reminded me of another question
. “Is Hades the one who really raised Allison that night?”

  Zeus’s eye twitched. “He wouldn’t have if I hadn’t asked, so you owe me. Leave the mall. Join with your true partner. The correct Guard. Get ahead of the Jotunn.” He pointed across the room to Allison, carrying a pile of dresses she could barely see around. “You have plenty to lose if you don’t.”

  Allison teetered to the rack and deposited the dresses where she’d found them. Her face lit up and she waved both hands overhead. I followed her attention to a pair of gorgeous demigods in the store doorway. The expectant look on Liam’s face fell and took my heart with it. His head snapped left, scanning the room.

  I waved and he started toward me, the distress in his brow easing. I turned, concerned for Zeus’s possible response to Liam’s arrival, but he was gone. Surprise. Surprise.

  Liam’s hair was wet. His clothes were dark with water, as if he’d dove into his pool head first before driving to the mall. “They’re here. We need to go.”

  I spun for Allison. Oliver had her hand. He led her in our direction, a look of consternation on his face. “Ready?”

  “Yep.” I grabbed Liam’s hand and followed them into the mall. “Giants?”

  “Yes.”

  Allison pointed to all the stores she wanted to visit before leaving. Oliver towed her along at a near sprint. He leaned in my direction. “Did you talk to her?”

  “No.”

  He gave me the stink eye.

  “Hey. My grandpa showed up. I was distracted. Plus, she drank a gallon of coffee.”

  Allison laughed. “Coffee is so much fun since the surgery. I was all detoxed and now I get the full impact of caffeine. It’s been years since I’ve had the real benefits. Too many all-nighters desensitized me to the bliss. Did you say your grandpa was here?” She looked over both shoulders as if he might be following us. “I thought your grandpas were dead.”

  “One still lives in Florida.”

  “Oh, we should visit. Spring break in Florida sounds amazing.”

  Thunder shook the building. Lightning flashed over the skylights. Mall lighting fuzzed in and out before regaining itself.

  Oliver growled. “Faster, please.”

  I stutter stepped. “Is that Justin and Nym?”

  They stood on the floor above, looking a freakish amount like a couple. They leaned against the railing, laughing and sharing an ice-cream cone.

  Allison blew a raspberry. “Jeez, buddy. Spring for a second cone.”

  I leaned into Liam’s side. “Doesn’t he realize what the weather means? We have to get him out of here.” Nym probably blinded him to the storm so he’d die and she could dance around his dead body. Why else would the heinous bitch laugh?

  Oliver elbowed me, prodding me forward. “You two ladies are our priority.”

  Allison laughed. “It’s only a storm. I think we’re supposed to stay inside when it’s like this. What’s the hurry?”

  I grabbed Liam’s arm with my free hand. “Wait. We have to warn him.”

  Liam huffed. He stopped short. “Fine. Call to him.”

  The decibel level in the mall was insanity. “They can’t hear us from up there.”

  “He can hear you.”

  Allison dragged Oliver back to my side, erasing the few yards of space he’d gained since her last protest. “Justin!” She waved her hands. “Justin!” She stuffed purple-passion-painted nails into her mouth and split my eardrums with a whistle loud enough to bring his horses from the farm.

  Nothing.

  Liam’s sullen expression broke my heart. “Try.”

  I opened my mouth and spoke as if he stood beside me. “Justin.”

  Justin’s smile fell. He straightened and looked around.

  Holy cow. He did hear me. “Down here. First floor.” I made no effort to raise my voice.

  He pushed his eyebrows under the rim of his hat. A moment later, he saw us.

  I lifted my hand waist-high. “The weather. It’s the frost giants again. We’re all here. We need to get back to the manor where we can fight.”

  “Did you say fight?” Allison stepped into view. “Are you two fighting now?”

  Justin’s voice filtered through the noise. “We’re leaving. We’ll meet you there.”

  I grabbed Allison’s wrists. “Remember I needed to talk to you?”

  “Yes. Is that why you and Justin are fighting? Because Liam told you he loves you? What about Nym? When did they start hooking up? I swear I’m missing everything. I used to have all the scoop.” She shoved Oliver. “You’re supposed to fill me in on this stuff. Did you know any of this?”

  Oliver gave me the evil eye.

  “Justin and I aren’t fighting.”

  Liam tapped wildly on his phone, hopefully warning Mason and the others.

  “Come on, sweetie.” Oliver pulled Allison away from me and headed for the rear mall entrance. “Can you take me home? I feel sick.”

  Allison crunched her nose, dragging her feet. “I guess.” She looked to me.

  I nodded. “No problem. Liam will drive me. We’ll meet you there and talk later.”

  “O-kay, I guess, but I parked outside Macy’s.” She half jogged to keep up.

  Oliver hooked a left at the next opportunity and they disappeared under a fifty-foot arch of elves climbing candy canes.

  Liam and I sprinted to the back door. I pressed the door open with all my strength. Liam leaned into it with me. Rain sheeted across the lot, sending rivers into drains and splashing waves over the curb. When the door finally opened, the wind grabbed it and slammed it against the wall before cramming it shut. Streetlights swung dangerously over the intersection.

  I shielded my face from the pelting rain. “It’s like a hurricane.”

  Liam beeped his key fob and a dim orange light flashed in the distance. “On three?”

  I inched away from the mall overhang, the full wrath of the storm blowing over me. “One.”

  Liam flew past me, colliding into the brick wall and bringing a cascade of broken stones on top of him.

  I screamed for a half dozen beats before my senses returned. Instinct begged me to go to his side, but I forced my feet into place and turned in search of whatever had thrown Liam. I didn’t have to look far. A trio of men approached in attack formation. Each man shimmered blue in the storm. The gentle ripple of color was a perfect match for Gil and his friends. “Jotunn.”

  “Goddess.” The man taking point smiled politely, dipping his head in greeting. “Gaia has grown impatient and it seems your grandfather is a cheat.”

  Liam groaned and a brick rolled into the parking lot streams behind me. At least he wasn’t unconscious. Two against three improved my odds.

  Maybe pleading to their warrior side would help. “This isn’t a battle. This is an ambush.” How could there be honor in an ambush? Still, this was the third ambush they’d tried.

  He shook his head. “This is strategy. To battle you is to lose men. Capturing you saves lives. Preserving lives is my job. I am Kraven.”

  My heart splintered. “That’s my job, too.”

  The right flank Jotunn pulled his arm back and released something faster than my eyes could follow. Liam screamed and stumbled back, pinned to the broken wall with a short metal spear.

  Kraven stepped forward, one hand outstretched. “I know you understand the predicament because you’re a leader. Come with me. If we have you, your partner will come easily. Without leaders, we claim victory for Gaia and everyone lives.”

  Yeah right. How far away could my sword hear my screams? Could magical weaponry navigate the highway to the mall? “Will we live? Where? In captivity? Until you dispose of us?”

  “Whichever you choose.”

  I angled my frame between Liam and the giants. “You have no idea what’s at stake here. I can’t go with you. Even if I understand the logic. Which I do. I can’t leave my men, and I can’t lose this battle.”
r />   He performed a stage sigh. “I always try reason first, but I never get through.”

  Tom ran full speed through the storm, Viking sword at the ready.

  The flankmen freed their weapons and the battle began, nearly silent in the unbelievable storm. Wind whipped and flattened my clothes against my skin, stinging and burning with each icy touch. I grabbed the rod in Liam’s shoulder and pulled.

  He screamed again, but the metal didn’t budge.

  Tom rolled past me on the sidewalk, landing facedown in the rushing water.

  The trio of Jotunn advanced on me. I ducked through their arms and spun free of their attempts to hold me, despite the pounding, blinding rain. It was as if I anticipated their moves. Oliver’s attack routines. I mentally vowed to hug him if I lived. The Jotunn used the same formations and attacks he’d trained me to defend all those weeks.

  Liam screamed, and the world slowed.

  One of the Jotunn held him. He twisted the rod into Liam’s skin and jerked it free, spewing blood into the water at our feet. He tossed the rod aside and a river carried it to toward me.

  Liam gritted his teeth. His face grew purple with effort. “Run.”

  I stomped the end of the rod as it rolled by and caught the opposite side in my hand when it jumped into the air. “No.”

  Liam grunted. “Run. Don’t be stupid.”

  I raised my new weapon. “I won’t surrender, and I won’t leave without him.”

  Kraven pulled a sickle-shaped blade from thin air and smiled. “All right then. Lady’s choice.”

  I turned away from Kraven, crouching and spinning in one practiced move. I swept the metal rod into goon number two’s shins. A sickening crunch preceded his screams. The Jotunn fell over, gripping his bloody, probably broken shins.

  “Bitch!” Goon one launched at me, and I jammed the rod through his side. Too easy.

  Tom rose onto all fours, coughing and wheezing into the filthy drainage water.

  Impossibly huge arms wrapped over mine, securing them to my sides, rendering my weapon useless. I stomped on his feet and leaned all my weight forward, hoping to toss him over my back by lowering my center of gravity.