Treasures of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 3)

by S. M. Schmitz

  “Damn it, Cameron, answer me!” she yelled.

  Cameron grabbed her hands and gently pushed her away from him. “It’s me, Selena!” he yelled back. “I don’t trust myself around you anymore!”

  “You would never hurt me,” Selena said, as confident of that as she was that Badb would die to protect her.

  “You don’t know that,” Cameron insisted. “Selena, I almost killed Badb. I was ready to kill her just now! And it’s so easy. No one should have this much power. No one.”

  “I agree,” Selena said. “But we can’t change who you are. And if you think going off on your own is somehow going to protect more people…”

  “I only care about protecting one,” Cameron interrupted.

  “Then shut up and listen to me. You can’t do this on your own, Cameron. Before you showed up I grabbed the only god I could think of to help us, and I’ve never seen Ukko like that before. It was terrifying.”

  “Yeah, speaking of Ukko, what the hell did he do with Anita?”

  Selena sighed and rolled her eyes. Now he wanted to act like the Cameron she knew so well. “One problem at a time, and the Norse are a far bigger problem, so would you stop interrupting me and let me finish?”

  Cameron glanced at his watch and the corners of his lips twitched as he tried not to smile at her. Selena’s heart skipped and she wished he wouldn’t hide that smile, not now, not when she needed to see it so desperately. “Sixty seconds,” he said in a pretend compromise.

  “Two minutes,” Selena countered. “And I’m adding more minutes on every time you make me stop.”

  Cameron held up his wrist to show her his watch. He’d even started the timer.

  “You’re sleeping on the floor for this,” Selena pretend-warned.

  The corners of Cameron’s lips finally pulled higher into that mischievous grin and Selena knew he wanted to tell her there was little chance of that happening, but he kept his word and didn’t speak.

  “My point in bringing up Ukko,” Selena said, “is that he’s learned how to control it. Mostly. Think of everything we’ve been through with that asshole and how many times he’s ever lost his temper or seemed out of control. I seriously think he was contemplating grabbing Anita and running out on us when some water horse stabbed her first and that’s when he lost it. She said she’d only seen him like that once before, and she’d never been scared of him. When all the water horses were dead, she dragged me over there with her to prove a point to me.”

  Cameron gave her a look that she translated as, “You’re really trying to convince me I’m not an asshole by comparing me to Ukko?” But his two minutes weren’t up. He checked the time on his watch then waited for her to finish.

  Selena resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him again. She put her hands on his chest and wished she had more eloquent words, more powerful words that could convey how certain she was that as long as they walked this new world together, they could survive it without losing their sense of self. “When she reached for his hand, I stopped her because the guy had lightning shooting from his fingertips. But he looked at me like I was nuts and said he would never hurt Anita. And she agreed with him. You were on fire, Cameron. And maybe you would have burned down the whole damn world, but you wouldn’t have taken me with it. I saw Ukko’s eyes when he looked at Anita, the recognition in them, the way she grounded him and immediately brought him back to the present. You’re destined to be the world’s greatest warrior god and you need me.”

  “Of course I need you,” Cameron replied softly then quickly added, “Goddamn it, my two minutes weren’t up.”

  Selena crossed her arms and smiled at him. “Which god?”

  “Uh… me?”

  “I’ve seen what you do when you damn things. I don’t suggest you start up again unless you intend to burn this place down.”

  “That’s not funny. How does someone ever apologize for almost killing someone? Why would Badb ever forgive me?”

  Selena put her arms around him and hugged him closely. She leaned her head against his chest and listened to his heart as it accelerated in the same excited way as always when she put her arms around him. “She was born a goddess, but that doesn’t mean she can’t understand that you have to learn how to be a god.”

  Cameron’s arms tightened around her as he sighed, “And what if I can’t learn? What if I never learn to control it and I end up killing someone you love?”

  “Then I’ll bring them back. So don’t even think of trying to take off on me again because no one else can bring them back.”

  Cameron smiled at her, not his mischievous and playful smile, but his rarer, heartfelt one, and kissed her. “I never wanted to. Sometimes, my head feels all messed up and I can’t think straight and I was convinced you’d be safer without me.”

  Selena had a dozen more reasons Cameron should never lapse into thinking that way again, but Jasper’s voice reverberated down the hallway and prevented her from sharing any of them.

  “Would you two stop making out down there and get to work? I’d like to find this damn Sword and get the hell out of here.”

  Cameron squinted at him and asked, “Still no smiting?”

  “Nope,” Selena answered. “We can’t be short a demigod right now. Apparently, this Sword is harder to find than we thought.”

  “Seriously,” Jasper retorted, “what did you expect? That they’d just leave it lying on the coffee table?”

  “That would have been considerate,” Selena responded.

  “Go help Athena upstairs,” Jasper said. “If I have to go up there, I probably won’t make it out of here alive.”

  Cameron nodded. “We don’t have anyone outside watching for the Norse anymore. There’s a good chance none of us are making it out of here alive.”

  Jasper waved him off as he headed back toward the ruckus caused by Doug destroying another room in search of the Sword. “Just do what you did before. That seemed to work.”

  Cameron glared at his back and reminded Selena, “Obnoxious asshole.”

  Selena laughed and pulled on his hand. “Let’s go upstairs and help Athena. If Thor lied to us and that Sword isn’t anywhere in here, you should burn this palace to the ground.”

  “Noted,” Cameron said.

  As they climbed the stairs to the second floor, with Cameron wondering aloud why gods couldn’t install elevators, or at least escalators, considering this was the twenty-first century and they were gods and all, they heard Athena knocking over furniture at the far end of the hall. Selena let go of Cameron’s hand and pointed to the other end of the hallway. “Let’s start there. And these are the same deities who insist on fighting with spears and swords. Why would they use something as modern as an escalator?”

  Cameron looked above them and gestured toward the ceiling. “They have electric lights.”

  “Huh,” Selena responded. “Well… they’re Norse. They’re a bunch of dumbasses. What do you expect?”

  Cameron snorted and followed her toward the end of the hallway but they never reached the room at the far end. He grabbed her arm and stopped her, his eyes fixed on a closed door that looked just like the other doors that lined the long, wide hall.

  “Do you feel that?” he whispered.

  Selena was about to tell him she didn’t feel anything unusual, but decided to concentrate on sensing whatever had caught his attention first; he hadn’t been wrong yet when his Spidey senses got triggered. She bit her lip and moved closer to his side in case some Norse god had been hiding up here, just waiting to ambush the first intruders to pass by this room.

  But it wasn’t a god she sensed.

  That didn’t stop her from invoking one.

  “Oh, my God,” she whispered.

  “Yeah, and I know exactly which god this time, too,” Cameron whispered back.

  “Nuada…”

  “It’s him. That’s what we’re feeling. His power is also part of that Sword just as it’s part of his heir. That’s why taking Lugh
’s Spear changed me. That’s why I backed away from it when Macha first tried to give it to me. Some part of me knew Lugh’s power was somehow contained in that Spear.”

  “I’m opening the door,” Selena said. She pulled Cameron away from it and blew it open, and perhaps it was only her imagination, but even her telekinesis seemed stronger, mightier, more godly. She turned her face away as splinters of wood and chips of stone flew past them and as the debris began to settle to the floor, they both stepped into the large, windowless room.

  It was empty except for a table in the middle with what looked like a glass box lying on top, but Selena already knew how deceiving appearances could be. They approached the table carefully and peered inside at the Sword trapped within, at its gold and red hilt with a red jewel symbolizing its connection to the Otherworld, its importance to the gods themselves. Cameron placed his hands on the glass box and tried to lift it, but it didn’t budge.

  “Enchantment,” Selena sighed.

  “Can you break it open with your telekinesis?” Cameron asked.

  Selena shrugged. “I can try.”

  She focused on the Unbreakable Sword’s prison but the only thing that broke apart were more fragments from the thick, stone walls.

  “Maybe we should get Badb,” Cameron suggested. “She may know what to do.”

  Selena stared at the beautiful sword, trapped for centuries in their enemies’ cell, and shook her head. “No. I have an idea. It’s the Norse’s enchantment. They must have planned some way to get the Sword out if they ever needed to. And I’m willing to bet we already have the key.”

  Cameron smiled at her and Selena blushed because she knew that sly smile. That was his, “Damn, you’re so hot when you show off how brilliant you are,” smile.

  “Just get the hammer,” Selena laughed.

  Cameron held up his hand. “This one?”

  Selena eyed Mjölnir for a second then stepped back from the glass prison as her sun god lifted Thor’s weapon and brought it down on the encasement. Flaming glass shards flew throughout the room as the box disintegrated, and Selena hurried to the table and pulled the Sword from its resting place. It was heavier than she’d expected, but as soon as she held it in her hands, she knew they’d found the first piece toward the end of the Unbreakable Sword’s journey.

  Cameron placed Mjölnir on the table where the Sword used to lay and grabbed Selena’s other hand. “Well, my Sweet Goddess, we’ve got the Sword. Let’s bring it home.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  The morning sun in the Otherworld wasn’t that different than the sun Selena awoke to on Earth, only here, this world didn’t rotate so the sun didn’t change positions in the sky. When it was day, the sun appeared, and when it was night, the moon replaced the sun.

  Cameron’s arm draped over her side and he nestled his face against her neck, kissing her until she giggled and told him early wake up calls should come with coffee.

  “How do I know if it’s early?” Cameron protested. “My watch is useless here and there is no time here.”

  “If I’m still sleeping then it’s early,” Selena countered.

  “Noted,” Cameron said, kissing the back of her neck again until she laughed and rolled over to face him.

  She ran her fingers over the stubble growing along his jaw and swallowed back tears from a pain and fear she hadn’t had time to express the day before. Once they’d returned to the Otherworld with the Sword, a celebration had erupted and the entire island of Murias had spontaneously appeared in the Dagda’s palace to participate in the festivities. One of their lost Treasures had been returned to them, and it reminded Selena of welcoming home a long lost family member. Gods stood in line to approach the Sword and see it for themselves, eyeing it with reverence and awe.

  With the unusual passage of time in the Otherworld, Selena lost track of how long the party lasted. And because she was still a demigoddess, the constant flow of the Greek’s wine they brought over soon affected her senses. She vaguely remembered Cameron carrying her to bed.

  She smiled at him and let her fingers brush along the stubble on his chin. “You were healing me, weren’t you? That’s what all those kisses were for. Taking away my hangover.”

  “My Sweet Goddess,” Cameron answered, “you can’t hold your wine for shit. You should give up drinking.”

  Selena laughed and promised him she’d only over-indulge in the event more Treasures were returned home.

  Cameron flashed that mischievous smile and asked her, “Even for the rock?”

  “Stone,” she corrected. “And yes. Even for the Stone of Fál.”

  “They’re going to make me hunt down the rock, aren’t they?”

  Selena stretched and asked him if his almighty godly powers had given him the ability to make coffee magically appear.

  “Turns out, yes. Sort of. Watch this.” Cameron pushed the covers off of him and hurried to the door, pulling it open and calling into the hallway, “Hey, Dagda! The goddess needs coffee for her hangover!”

  Selena heard the Dagda laughing and his deep, friendly voice called back, “She’s a healing goddess. She shouldn’t get hangovers.”

  “Demigoddess!” Selena yelled at them both.

  “Close enough,” the Dagda yelled back. He chuckled again but the sound of his laughter moved closer and she heard him asking Cameron, “How does she like her coffee?”

  “Two teaspoons of sugar and a splash of milk,” Cameron answered. “And as quickly as your magic chef can make it or your new sun god may not-so-mysteriously die. For the record, I’d play in the bedroom with a Spear by a beautiful, young demigoddess.”

  The Dagda laughed again and Selena imagined his long red beard brushing against his thick chest. “I don’t even know what that means, but it doesn’t sound like any game I want to play. Or maybe it does.”

  “Coffee,” Selena sighed before Cameron could run with the innuendo.

  “Yeah, if you don’t get Selena coffee soon, Cameron won’t be the most dangerous deity in Murias by a long shot,” Badb interjected.

  Selena sat up and pushed the blankets off of her, too. Badb and Cameron had talked since yesterday, of course, but between the excitement of finding the Sword then the spontaneous celebration that broke out once they returned with it, they hadn’t actually talked. Not about Cameron’s attempt to kill her or how easily his anger seemed to be controlling him lately – and what a threat that made him to everyone except Selena.

  Cameron stepped aside to let the goddess into their room, but he was clearly uncomfortable and uncertain as to what he should do or say. Selena wanted to defend him somehow, but she was just as lost. Badb closed the door behind her and faced her prodigies, the young man and woman she had rescued in a swamp in Louisiana from an angry Aztec god.

  “Now that the party is over, we have to get Anita back. Jasper and Selena were right, of course. If she wants to stay wherever she is, that’s her choice. But if she isn’t being given a choice, then she’s a prisoner and she’s one of ours. And we don’t abandon our own.”

  Cameron nodded in acknowledgment but still wouldn’t look at her. Badb tilted her head at him and sighed. “I told you before you took the Spear that you would become the most powerful god we’ve ever known. You’re still only just beginning to see what you can do. But nobody can harness that much power and think like a human. It’s a trade-off, Cameron. Be careful when you use it.”

  “But I didn’t choose to use it either time,” he insisted. “The thought of Selena in danger… seeing her in danger, I just lose it and one day, what if I kill the wrong person?”

  “There’s a right person?” Selena mumbled.

  Cameron and Badb gave her a strange look but neither answered her. “Perhaps the fates knew what they were doing then, Cameron. You need her just as much as she needs you and this may be why.”

  Cameron rolled his eyes and crossed his arms defiantly. “You’re still lying to us. You know something else and are hiding it from us.” />
  “And have you told anyone where you went when you disappeared?”

  Selena watched him carefully as he shifted his feet, his momentary confidence evaporating just as quickly as it had returned. His chocolate brown eyes flickered to Selena then he kicked at an invisible spot on the floor and shook his head. “No,” he said quietly.

  “Then perhaps you should consider that sometimes, we keep things to ourselves to protect the people we love.”

  “Wait,” Selena interrupted. “Where were you?”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Cameron hurriedly answered.

  Selena put her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “I swear to god, Cameron, if you were with another woman…”

  Cameron snorted and let his arms fall by his sides. “First of all, which god? Not me this time. Not for infidelity. And, secondly, are you still drunk? Selena, there isn’t a woman in any world I want to be with except you.”

  Selena scowled a little less but didn’t like that he kept this secret from her, or Badb’s unnerving lecture about keeping some things private to protect others.

  How does Badb know? How does she always seem to know everything?

  Both gods were watching her so she deflected. “Well, for your ‘first of all,’ I’d say Zeus, but he’s dead. And secondly, what could possibly be so bad that you don’t want me to know?”

  “I almost killed Badb then I abandoned you. That’s a lot of guilt. Can’t we just leave it alone? Isn’t it enough that you know I’d never cheat on you? Not even Aphrodite herself could tempt me.” Cameron glanced at Badb and asked, “If she’s alive. Because if she’s dead, that’s just weird, and I’m good at making things weird, but not that weird.”

  “Already made it that weird,” Badb responded. “And she’s still alive anyway. She was here last night. She really wanted to meet you actually, and I kept her away. You both owe me.”

  “Well, I didn’t invite her,” Cameron mumbled.