by S. E. Babin
Sure enough, the shield slid over both of us.
Marie smiled. "Someone has been training you," she said. She stirred a little sugar in her tea as she studied us. "Let us chat."
"I don't think there's much to chat about," I bit out. "You want something I don't have."
"We want something everyone wants. Just imagine," Marie said, her voice full of zeal. "Imagine what would happen if no one grew old. No one got sick. No one ever died."
"Overpopulation and resource exhaustion?" Jack said from behind me.
I snorted with laughter, even in the wildly dangerous position I was in.
"Clever," Marie said mildly. "I think I'll kill you first."
"No more grief. No more hospital bills bankrupting you. Plus, riches beyond your wildest dreams. You'd never have to work again, Eve. You'd never be sick. You'd never have to worry about anything ever again."
While I couldn't deny the possibility of that had its appeal, the cost to obtain it was way too high. "I'll never work with you," I said quietly.
Marie and Isha exchanged a glance, and moments later, Isha began to murmur a spell under her breath.
"You can't hurt me." My shield was holding strong.
"We aren't trying to," Marie said with an evil smile.
Hermes' scream rang out through the room. Anguished and tortured, blood spilled faster and faster through the net. Jack let go of my shoulder, and I spun. "Jack!"
He was on one knee with a gun pointed right at Marie.
"Imbecile," she hissed. "You cannot harm an immortal."
I studied the woman, trying to keep Hermes' screams from breaking me. There was something in her eyes. A flicker. Was it fear?
"Take the shot," I advised Jack.
The bullet rang out in the room.
The sound was a boom of noise over the screams of the man I cared about. Marie held a hand out and stood up, the bullet slowing and beating against the shield she had erected. Jack fired again and again, but the bullets fell harmlessly to the floor.
And still, Hermes screamed.
I felt hopeless and useless. Was there nothing I could do to help him? As long as Marie and Isha were together, there wasn't much recourse. My shield was still holding, but how long could I maintain it?
Quickly stepping over to Jack, I touched his shoulder, and the shield morphed around him. I inhaled, shut my eyes, and focused on the strange new magic within me. I didn't know how to use it, but I had to try. Something. Anything.
Isha's low voice continued its evil muttering until Hermes' screams grew hoarse and turned into moans.
I was going to kill these women.
The magic flowed through my veins, beating a golden color inside my body. I touched it, familiarized myself with the strange sensations, focused my thoughts on Isha, and murmured a word.
"Harm."
My body bowed as the magic flowed from my fingers. With a gasp, my eyes flew open, and I watched as power blasted Isha right off her feet. Her choked shout cut off as her head bounced against the wall. Marie dropped her shield and spun. Her mouth thinned in displeasure, but she didn't seem terribly afraid.
"Little girl thinks she's all powerful now. Is that it?"
My gaze flicked to Hermes. His wicked green eyes were open, bright against the pale skin and deep red of the blood pouring over his face. He licked his lips. "Eve," he whispered. "Stop."
My gaze narrowed at him.
"Yes, Eve," Marie crowed. "Listen to your lover. Stop." She grinned at me then, a terrible thing against the prettiness of her face.
I shook my head. "He's out of his mind right now."
"Stop," he whispered.
Jack turned the sight of his weapon to the thin netting suspending Hermes from the ceiling. Marie's eyes widened, and she stepped forward, her hand out.
"No!" Her voice was shrill and high.
Jack ignored her and let a barrage of bullets fly.
I stared at him open-mouthed. I wasn't sure what the hell kind of job he held during Vietnam, but the guy was no slouch in the marksmanship department. The net swayed violently back and forth, and I prayed his aim stayed true.
A blast of magic sent us both sprawling backward. We were unharmed, thanks to the shield, but Jack's aim went wild. A bullet struck the unconscious Isha in the upper shoulder, and I gasped in shock but felt no sympathy for her.
The damage was already done. With a resounding crack, the ceiling above Hermes crashed down, sending him and the net sprawling. Releasing my hold on Jack, I crawled as fast as I could and dragged him away from the net.
A hoarse shout of pain rang out. With Hermes in my arms, I was helpless to assist Jack. Marie held him up by the throat, murmuring something.
"Hermes," I pleaded, but he couldn't hear me. I laid him gently down and rushed over to Jack. Marie spun to me and held up a hand. "One more step forward and I crush his throat."
I halted in my tracks.
Jack's eyes were wide open as he struggled to breathe.
Thwip, thwip, thwip.
Marie's body jerked once, twice, three times. Staring at me in shock, she dropped Jack, and he fell to his knees, racked by a coughing fit.
Marie Laveau slumped to the ground.
Robert stepped into the room, his automatic weapon held at his shoulder.
"Not. Dead," the voice whispered.
I spun to Hermes. His mouth worked through the blood coming from him. "Hermes?"
"She isn't dead," he whispered. "The fountain. Get—" he struggled to breathe and promptly fell unconscious.
My gaze skimmed around the room. "The net," I whispered, more to myself than anyone. "Get the net."
Robert lowered the gun, nodded once, and took Marie underneath the arms. Jack, shaking off his injury, did the same to Isha. Both men laid the women in the net. I fastened it together the best I could and hoped it would hold. If it held a being like Hermes, it should hold these two women.
A shimmer in the air like that of a desert mirage went over Hermes and he disappeared before our very eyes.
"Shit!" I exclaimed, wondering what the hell I was going to do with the two women in front of me.
But I didn't need to worry about it. Seconds later, the shimmer fell over them as well, and they disappeared.
"We need to get the hell out of here, Eve." Robert stepped up and took me by the elbow.
Jack coughed and straightened. "It's a damn miracle we haven't heard any sirens yet. We made enough noise in here for WWIII. I can only assume she had the entire house cloaked somehow. With her gone, I don't doubt we're going to see activity very soon."
I nodded. The room was in complete shambles, and there was blood everywhere. I didn't think any of it was ours.
"Let's go."
Robert and I helped Jack down the stairs, and we rushed out of the house. Chuckles sat on the steps in the back and jerked when he saw us.
"The hell?" he said. "I couldn't hear a godsdamned thing in there. Silent as a tomb in there. Strangest damn thing I've ever experienced."
I smiled, but I was having trouble finding anything funny.
"Light it up," Robert barked.
With a nod, Chuckles stood and crept around the house. Every once in a while, he'd bend down.
"What is he doing?"
"Burning the place down," Jack said, his voice raspy.
I blinked. "What about the other people?" I asked, appalled.
"A call will be placed to the fire department as soon as we are back in our vehicle headed home. By then, the blaze will have just caught on. Everyone should be fine."
I didn't really like the should part of that statement, but I also didn't like the thought of prison. With a nod, we gathered the leftover supplies and headed back to the vehicle, still covered by the thick black of night.
A few minutes into the car ride, Jack spoke. "That was some crazy shit back there."
I snorted in amusement. "I told you so."
"You did well, Eve."
I shook my h
ead. "No. I didn't."
Jack's gaze lingered on my face. "Look. You didn't panic. You protected me. And we took everyone down without a single death."
I laughed out loud then. "Robert shot Marie at least three times!"
Jack grinned. "Yeah, but she's immortal. Or something. We aren't counting intentions, just results."
Robert grunted. "That would have killed even the strongest man."
"She's not entirely human," I said.
"No shit," Chuckles chimed in.
"Where do you think they are?" Jack asked me.
I shrugged. "Assuming they're in Olympus answering for their actions."
"Man. That'd be cool," Jack mused.
"Yeah," I agreed. "It would be."
The rest of the ride home was in silence.
14
Hermes
I had never been so close to dying. The time I spent in the net on top of the magic proofed room had taxed my healing ability. I lay on an uncomfortable bed, the healer fussing over me as he padded my wounds with a salve and something that felt like cotton.
Through it all, he kept muttering, "Grievous."
Just what every patient wanted to hear when they were pretty sure they were dying. I hadn't been able to take a deep breath in what felt like weeks. Everything just hurt too badly. Cuts covered my skin from head to toe. Deep, purple bruises lay on almost every area of uncovered skin.
Isha and Marie would pay for this.
With the last of the magic I could spare, I dumped Mother and her surprising biological daughter, Isha, into a magic dampening cell in the bowels of Olympus. They wouldn't see the daylight for many, many years. Maybe never again. It was the least of what they deserved.
Once the healer finally stopped poking and prodding at me, he stood, adjusted the spectacles on his face, and proclaimed he could do no more. I would either heal, or I wouldn't.
Perhaps I could speak to someone later about firing this guy and bringing in someone with a better bedside manner.
The odds of me dying were low. The odds of me killing this healer out of sheer frustration were high—if I could move. But everything hurt, so this guy was safe for one more day at least.
I let my eyes drift shut, and nightmares overtook me almost immediately.
I jerked out of a fitful sleep and groaned as my wounds stretched uncomfortably. I'd sequestered myself in a room far away from everyone else. The last thing an immortal should have done was show weakness to anyone around here. It had the potential to result in a swift and brutal death. To the victor went the spoils and all that.
Throughout my ordeal, my thoughts stayed with Eve. Her beauty and intellect had charmed me initially. Her passion and zeal for life. But when I lay trapped in the net of Hephaestus, it was her bravery that made me love her.
When I was strong enough, and once I recovered all my magic, I would return to her, consequences be damned. If she would have me, I would stay with her forever, regardless of the judgment of any of the immortals.
It would be me and Eve against everyone if it needed to be that way.
I drifted into a pain-induced sleep and dreamed of the woman with the dark hair and strange new magic.
Several days later, I could take a few steps out of bed without falling over or crying out in pain. My magic was slowly returning. I'd recovered the net surrounding Marie and Isha from their cells and ordered it to be destroyed immediately. A tool like that should have never made it into the world, and how it wound up in the hands of two voodoo priestesses, I would never know. Nor did I really want to. They were disposed of, and the fountain of youth was safe. I would not worry about the machinations of others. Not when I had so many other things to worry about.
I would return to Eve within the week. I would lay my heart at her feet and hope she accepted me the way I was, faults and all.
But there were doubts niggling at me like a worm in a rotten apple. Could she love a man who had to be saved? It wasn't every day I found myself trapped with no way out. For Eve to rush in with no skill in magic to speak of and a few geriatric saviors still boggled my mind. I found her to be both amusing and slightly terrifying.
She was the most fascinating human I'd ever known.
And if everything went according to my plan, we'd never be apart again.
15
Eve
One week later
The sight of Hermes' blood dripping to the floor was responsible for my week of sleepless nights. Where was he? Was he still alive? Was he able to deal with the two women as they deserved? I had so many questions and not enough answers. It was driving me mad.
During all of that, I realized I must have been insane to try to take on those two women, but I was driven by something I hesitated to call love. How could you fall in love with someone that quickly? Was it love, or was it madness? Would he even want me after all this?
I groaned and let my head fall into my hands.
I was an idiot—a human idiot cursed with magic I never wanted, and now left alone, trying to deal with the fallout.
A knock on the door sounded, and I stood up to peek out the peephole. I groaned inwardly.
It was Mike.
I had no desire to talk to him. I'd been avoiding Rainie too. I understood he had a crush on me, but I didn't want to encourage him whatsoever. Plus, the fire Chuckles had set made its way into the top story of news outlets across New Orleans. So far, we'd managed to be above suspicion, but with Mike hanging around, I wasn't sure how long that would last.
Maybe I could try to set him up with someone else to get him off my back.
I straightened my hair, ineffectually tried to wipe the pizza sauce off my shirt, plastered a smile on my face, and opened the door.
He took one look at me and laughed out loud.
"Rough night?"
It took all I had not to growl at him. I held the door open and let him walk inside. He shrugged off his jacket and hung it on the hook next to the front door. He wasn't wearing his uniform for once, so I assumed this was a social call. Much better than him showing up to arrest me for arson and a host of other crimes.
"How are you?" I asked, doing my best to be polite.
He plopped down on my couch without asking but didn't put his feet up. That would have just been rude.
"I'm good," he said. "Mind if I have a cup of coffee?"
I glared at him, even as his lips twitched in amusement. I wanted Mike gone, but I couldn't afford to be rude. "Sure," I said sweetly, then headed to the kitchen to make him a cup. I made myself one too, just in case I wanted to throw it at him. When they were finished, I brought them over and handed him one.
Sitting across from him, I curled my legs up in my recliner.
He took a sip and stared at me.
"I'm assuming you're here for a reason," I said, then winced at how rude I sounded.
"I am," he admitted. "Do you happen to know a man named Jack McGuire?"
I offered him wide, innocent eyes. "He comes to the library sometimes."
Mike waited for me to offer more, but I wasn't born yesterday.
"Anything else you may want to add?"
I affected a stare of confusion. "No. Why?"
"Jack is a suspect in a massive fire in a neighborhood on the outskirts of New Orleans."
My heart began to pound like a drum. Crap. Crap. Double crap. This was my fault.
"That's terrible. Why would he do that?"
Mike shrugged. "He remains tight-lipped." Leaning forward, he set his mug down on my coffee table. Sans coaster. Monster. "But the funny thing is, a day or so before the blaze, surveillance shows you going to his house and some unknown items being loaded in a truck."
I swallowed hard even as my mind worked furiously. "I had to deliver some library books to him. Jack isn't a young man any longer."
Mike sat back. "Mmmm. Funny thing about that. There was no evidence of you bringing him anything."
I was going to go to jail. Forever. So was Jack, and Robert,
and Chuckles.
All because of a stupid message that ruined my life forever.
"Do I need a lawyer, Mike?" I reached forward, set my mug down, and crossed my hands in my lap.
Mike's gaze narrowed and he opened his mouth to speak when my bedroom door opened.
I gasped and blinked in surprise.
Mike's face turned red with rage.
Hermes walked out wearing nothing but a towel and a smile.
I could have kissed him for a lot of damn reasons, but this entrance deserved the french of the century.
"Is there a problem?" Hermes asked as he waggled his eyebrows at me.
"Mike was just leaving," I said, and stood up.
"Oh, good. I wasn't quite finished with you," he said.
Mike coughed uncomfortably. "This isn't over, Eve."
Hermes' gaze went feral. "Oh, but it is."
With a flash of bright golden light, magic filled the room, and Mike walked out of my home without looking back.
When the door shut behind him, I turned to Hermes. I was too afraid to step forward and embrace him. He still looked...broken. Gorgeous, but not quite himself. "What did you do to him?" I asked.
Hermes shrugged. "Adjusted his memory a bit. We'll need to head to the police station soon and get Jack and the rest out."
My chin wobbled with relief, and my voice shook. "Thank you," I whispered.
His gaze drank me in. "No, Eve. Your thanks isn't needed. I owe you my life."
I shook my head. "It was Jack."
"He helped. But he didn't know me. He knew you and put his trust in you. You are all responsible for saving me." He took a step forward. "But especially you."
I closed the gap and stepped into his open arms.
Home. Hermes felt like home.
A few hours later, Hermes and I stepped into the police station and walked right up to the desk. Hermes leaned forward, eyes bright, and asked to see Jack.