“Trickery will get you only so far,” Hercules grumbled as both hands gripped the table, wood creaking beneath his fingers.
Alucard handed me the ball and I sunk one, despite Hercules waving his arms wildly to distract me.
Hercules was forced to drink the super-potent booze with almost every shot I threw. He sunk a couple, forcing me to drink, but was unsurprisingly clumsy with the game. And I had been chugging water all day and eating a ton of food just in case Mallory’s spell wasn’t as good as he claimed. Such a big guy, not known for his finesse, trying to throw a weightless ball as big as his fingernail was already difficult for him. But the booze was definitely strong, because it was hitting Hercules hard, making his coordination even worse.
He began boasting about what he would do to me. Then he directed his taunts to Ashley and Tory, letting them know he had very specific plans for them after our game. But his throws grew wilder, and he began to realize that although he was drunk and having fun, there was now a crowd, and they weren’t cheering for him.
They were cheering for me.
The guy who had mocked his city, his country, and his achievements.
Very slowly, he lifted his eyes to mine, his lip curling up in anger. I flashed him a grin, and then I meticulously unclipped my cape, and set it down on a nearby chair, making sure it hung neatly, as if it was priceless. Then I stepped back up to the table, making a show to wipe sweat from my neck. Hercules grunted, taking off his own cloak and tossing it on an empty table, mocking me. He was also sweating, and had two cups left on the table before him. I fumbled my throw, missing, which earned a groan from the crowd as the ball rolled underneath a nearby chair. They knew that although I was winning, Hercules didn’t have as much to fear from a successful toss since he was so much bigger than me and could handle the booze better.
Or so they thought.
He had to walk a few paces away to retrieve the ball, but he came back looking eager to end the game and get to the smashing part of the night. He nailed a beautiful shot, and I was beginning to realize that he played better drunk. That wasn’t good. I drank, and even though Mallory had spelled me, I felt the alcohol beginning to slowly hit me. I set down my mug with a dramatic breath, and used the motion to glance up, sheepishly staring out at the crowd. I pretended not to notice the faint blur creeping across the back of the room. I shook my head violently, laughed, and then tossed the empty mug over my shoulder with a triumphant grunt.
Hercules was preparing to throw, and I used my peripheral vision to see the chair beside him was now empty. I barely hid my grin.
“Do your nipples have biceps?” I asked as Hercules threw again. He flinched, and the crowd burst into laughter as his shot went wild, bouncing off the wall behind me, and then…
Falling right into a cup before me. I groaned at the luck, but no one heard me over Hercules’ hooting laughter. He threw his thigh-thick arms up into the air, encouraging the crowd. I took my drink. It hit me almost immediately and I began to grow nervous. The drinks were hitting him, but he was just so damned big. And I wasn’t.
I was tempted – very tempted – to use my magic, but I feared he might be able to sense something like that, which would turn this place into a drunken brawl. And cheating was the last thing I wanted to do with an already emotional – and now drunk – demigod. Hercules was still holding up his arms, turning to accept the cheers from the crowd.
And he hadn’t noticed the pink lion cape draped around his shoulders. Or that his real lion cloak was suddenly missing. I saw several confused faces, but most of those here were drunk, and simply accepted that Hercules had donned the cape in his drunken stupor simply to be funny.
None of his minions seemed to notice yet, too enthralled by the game, rooting for their boss.
I lined up, squinted with one eye as the room tilted, and threw as hard as I could.
I hit him right in the forehead with a wet smack.
Then I staggered, belting out a laugh as I overacted my drunkenness – which wasn’t hard.
Hercules’ face had instinctively shifted to violence at the blow, but as he saw me gripping the table for support, a slow smile crept back over his face.
He wiped his forehead with the back of a massive hand, and licked off the booze. Then he aimed, using his other hand to encourage the crowd to cheer louder.
“What’s it like being Hera’s bitch?” I asked right before he threw.
The ball almost took my head off – even though it was just a ping pong ball. I ducked and it hit a patron behind me. The ball splintered and he fell, momentarily stunned. His friends helped him up, staring at the red mark where the harmless ball had struck. The room was silent and I saw Hercules panting, eyes bloodshot as he stared at me with pure murder on his mind. I chuckled, turning to the crowd as if not understanding why they were silent. I shrugged, and accepted a replacement ping pong ball from a suddenly terrified patron. I think he was a werewolf, but I didn’t recognize him.
“I am no friend of Hera,” he growled. “Now, toss the pong ball, wizard. I grow weary.”
I nodded. “Using your brain is hard. I get it.” Then I stuck out my tongue and threw. The ball sunk into the cup like a magnet. The crowd went silent, unsure whether they should cheer or not. I smiled, motioning for Hercules to drink.
He stared down at the table in confusion, slowly lifting his hand to his forehead while the other gripped the table. Then he looked back up at me and calmly reached for the cup. In the process, he knocked over the last cup and I spun to Alucard, our referee, pointing. “Foul! He has to drink both! I win!”
Alucard looked very uneasy as he met Hercules’ glare and nodded. “He’s right. You… lost.” Then my vampire pal poured another stein, and handed it to Hercules with a shaking hand, looking ready to bolt. Hopefully, he was just acting, and not really that scared.
Hercules downed both drinks, staring straight at Alucard the entire time. Then he walked over to the jug and began drinking straight from it, locking eyes with me, showing everyone how much of a badass he was, I guess.
He slammed the jug down, panting angrily, staring at me as if waiting for me to collapse. He began to frown when I didn’t flinch, as if not understanding how I wasn’t already dead from alcohol poisoning. “How?” he mumbled.
“I drink a lot,” I said. Then I let out a hiccup. “I like your cape,” I said, waving a hand.
Hercules stumbled a bit, then latched onto the bar. He didn’t even glance at his pink lion cape, looking as if it took all his willpower to remain standing. “I must find your brewer.”
I shrugged. “You might want to sit down. You really shouldn’t have finished that off,” I said, pointing towards the jug. Alucard was watching the two of us, as was the rest of the crowd. Hercules muttered something agreeable, eyes glazing over. Shit, he was about to pass out.
“Hey, deal’s a deal. Who’s in charge of the Greeks? Hera? Apollo? Who woke up?”
“Woke… yes. I think…” he stumbled, gripping the bar tighter. “I think,” he said, falling to one knee, now. His eyes began to slide closed.
“Hey! Answer. You agreed.”
“Right. Must honor…” Then he crashed onto his face like a felled tree. The room was silent for a moment, and then I began to hear angry mutterings from his crew – that they needed to restrain me until Hercules woke. So that he could honor his agreement, they said, but I was pretty sure my brief stay with his hospitable pals would involve pointy spears stabbing me. Politely.
I shot Alucard a look and reached into my pocket. Alucard took two urgent steps as if preparing to flee, attracting everyone’s attention, and then he simply vanished into thin air. Everyone gasped in disbelief and began to shout, searching for him, momentarily forgetting about me. The girls had also disappeared, much to everyone’s surprise. I bit the cap off the sharpie in my hand and drew a male… appendage on Hercules’ forehead. I slapped my Make Greece Great Again baseball cap on his head, and leaned in to take a quick selfie.<
br />
Then I grabbed my glass of water and Shadow Walked out of the bar before Hercules’ thugs could turn their attention from the vanishing vampire back to me.
Chapter 3
I appeared in an alley a few blocks away from the bar, and checked to make sure I hadn’t spilled my stolen water. Seeing it was safe, I crouched down and instantly shoved my finger down my throat to throw up Mallory’s magical booze. I continued until I was confident it was all gone, rinsed my mouth out with every last drop of the water, and then stumbled to my feet, leaving the glass on the ground. I studied my jeans and white tee, making sure I was still clean, and let out a deep breath of relief. I pulled out my phone, and chuckled at the picture as I started walking a block away to meet Alucard and the girls at our prearranged destination.
I finished my business and pocketed the phone with another chuckle. All in all, tonight had gone off about as well as could be expected. Especially Yahn, the only candy-painted dragon I had ever heard of. His skin had the ability to blend with his surroundings, making him all but invisible when he so chose. And he had used that to our advantage tonight.
He had been lurking in the bar, using his chameleon abilities to hide in plain sight and keep an eye on the situation, ready to swoop in and steal the Nemean Lion Cloak if the opportunity arose. But his most important objective had been to make sure my friends made it out of the bar in case things went to hell. Which he had, swooping in to hide the girls and Alucard. Because if he was touching you when he went incognito, you went incognito, too, instantly camouflaged. Alucard disappearing into thin air had really been Yahn grabbing a hold of him and then sneaking out while trying not to bump into anyone and accidentally revealing his trick.
I entered our designated alley to find the four of them staring in my direction, waiting nervously. The girls darted forward with a bag of fresh bagels and a bottle of water as soon as they saw me.
“You’re alive!” Ashley belted out, shaking her head incredulously. “We thought something had gone wrong when you took so long to get here.” She punched my arm, scowling. “Follow the plan next time,” she warned.
I nodded woozily, still shaking off the watered-down effects of the Wild God’s hooch. “Mallory’s spell wasn’t as foolproof as we had hoped. I needed to walk off the effects. And throw up. A lot. Herc handled his booze better than I anticipated, too,” I added.
Tory nodded, waving the bag of bagels under my nose. “Eat. As much as you can handle.”
I nodded, and began shoving the carbs into my mouth. “Great job tonight, Yahn. I only caught you at the end, but didn’t notice you taking the girls or the cloak, and I was watching for it,” I said between chews, not even bothering to cover my mouth. “You stole it right after he took it off, when he had to go pick up the pong ball, right?”
The tow-head beamed, grinning from ear to ear as he nodded. “I did toe-tah-lee awesome and stuff, yah? Dragon powah!” he squealed. Then he slapped a hand over his mouth in embarrassment.
I grinned at his enthusiasm. Yahn was the happiest son of a bitch I had ever met. Literally. “Dragon powah,” I agreed between mouthfuls.
Alucard gripped my shoulders. “Did you actually do it?”
I nodded. “Pay up, Glowsferatu,” I grinned.
He shook his head in disbelief. “We’re all going to die.”
I shrugged. “He was bound to try and kill us soon, anyway. Figured I would give him a legitimate reason.”
He sighed, handing me a fifty-dollar-bill. He had bet me I wouldn’t draw on Hercules. Or that I would even have the chance to do it. I turned to Yahn. “You have it? Safe?”
He nodded proudly, patting the satchel at his hip. He lifted the flap to reveal Hercules’ Nemean Lion Cloak folded neatly inside.
“Well, we got the cloak, but no answers. Were you able to steal his club?” Alucard asked.
I shook my head. “No.”
“Maybe if you didn’t waste time drawing a wang on his face…” Ashley shook her head in disapproval. Tory looked torn between amusement and backing up Ashley.
I shook my head at Ashley. “It had nothing to do with that. I couldn’t get close enough. His boys were waiting beside it.”
Ashley sighed in defeat. “At least we have his blankie. What’s so special about it, anyway?”
“Makes you super strong. It lets you shrug off more pain than your body could normally handle. Like an adrenaline shot.” I didn’t tell them that it should have been locked away in the Armory inside Chateau Falco, and that I didn’t know how he had gotten it back out in the first place. I didn’t need them staring over their shoulders, expecting an army of Greeks to come pouring out of the house. Besides, I had already set up precautions for just that possibility. Nasty precautions.
Tory let out a breath. “This is batshit insane. Did you at least find out which god it is?”
I sighed, plucking out another slice of bagel. “No. It looks like we move to phase two of the plan.” I turned to Alucard. “You down?”
He slowly unzipped his jacket to reveal a shirt that said, Sounds like a terrible plan. What time? Then he zipped his jacket back up without saying a word, a smug look on his face.
“How about right now?” I asked, sharing a quick look with Yahn, who nodded subtly. I hadn’t told anyone my timetable, or even my plan. Well, except for Yahn.
Alucard blinked at me, and then let out a laugh. “Why not?” He sounded resigned. Yahn would have held a pep rally for me in the vampire’s place, but I couldn’t ask Yahn. He had other things to do tonight.
“How long have you worn that shirt, waiting for the perfect time to use it?” Ashley asked.
Alucard smiled at her. “With him as a friend, the opportunity pops up often. I got this last week. Sooner than I had hoped, to be honest.”
“Enough chit-chat. Let’s move on,” I said, brushing off my hands.
“Nate, you’re drunk,” Tory argued.
“Nah. And even if I was, it’s probably the best time to do something like this. I don’t have to use my own wheels for this,” I said, pointing at my feet.
Ashley and Tory shared a look, silently discussing the futility of arguing with a drunken idiot wizard. I let them, and polished off my water bottle. Then I called my Uber driver.
Black lightning cracked the night, and a low rumble of thunder – like a passing train – reverberated off the walls of the alley. Twin points of fire pawed at the pavement a dozen paces away, and a murderous whinnying noise crawled across the night’s shadows like hungry tentacles, making my friends shiver. Yahn disappeared with a muffled squeak on instinct, which he did whenever startled.
“Easy, Yahn. Grimm’s a pal. You know that,” I said reproachfully.
He reappeared, looking embarrassed. “Yah, I know,” he admitted. “Just startled me.” He fidgeted from foot-to-foot as he watched my unicorn approach. “He just looks so stabby.”
Grimm snorted in pleasure at the compliment. “Ready to go see your brother?” I asked my murderous, pet unicorn – slayer of rainbows and all things happy in the world.
“Fuck yes,” he snarled. Grimm really didn’t talk much. But when he did, he sounded like a sadistic executioner. “Pegasus and I need to have words.”
“Groovy. Yahn, is Camilla ready?”
Everyone turned to face him, stunned that he was privy to something they weren’t. Yahn nodded after glancing at his phone for a second. “She’s still there. Nothing has changed.”
“Perfect,” I said, nodding to myself. “Text her that we’ll be there in ten minutes.” Alucard looked anticipatory, but nervous. Probably excited to see the famed Pegasus, but terrified at the imagined what else’s that usually popped up. Ashley looked to be planning on what exactly to tell Gunnar. Tory shared a look with Alucard, silently telling him to be careful and to look out for me. Then she held out a hand to Yahn. Ashley did the same, and the three disappeared. “Head to Chateau Falco, and under no circumstances are you to leave,” I called out. “Keep the kitt
y blankie safe, Yahn,” I added.
I heard him agree, and then they were gone. I knew they would pester Yahn to death, but maybe he would find a little backbone from this. We would see. It really wasn’t that big of a secret, I just hadn’t felt like sharing too much, in case I changed my mind. Grimm had first located my target, and then Yahn had helped Camilla keep eyes on him.
“Mount up, Sunshine.”
“All this to find a name. Are you sure there isn’t some magical, respectable way to find out which god she woke up?”
I slowly turned to face him, incredulous. “We’re two dudes about to ride bareback on a fucking unicorn to meet Pegasus. How much more magical can you get?”
He cocked his head. “You really see things like that, don’t you?” Then he shook his head and mounted Grimm, scooting back to give me room. I scowled at him before placing a hand on Grimm’s horn – a gnarled, barbed protrusion of bone designed for one thing… removing blood from squishy things.
Like the other times I had touched his horn, I felt a low thrum of power call out to me. I ignored it, and Grimm seemed to chuckle under his breath. He knelt down slightly, and I climbed onto his back in one quick motion. I didn’t like grabbing his mane to use as a handhold, because it was made of long, peacock-like feathers, and I always imagined that it might hurt him, even though I was sure it wouldn’t.
“Let’s ride, Grimm.”
“As you wish, Rider.”
Chapter 4
We sat astride Grimm in the shadows of the park, staring out at an open field between the trees. “This reminds me of an action flick I once saw,” Alucard murmured.
I frowned, turning to look at him. “I’m trying to be stealthy. What are you babbling about?”
“Brokeback Mountain.”
I rolled my eyes. “Not my kind of action, I guess.”
He grunted behind me as a figure entered the edge of the field, glancing both ways before crossing out into the open. A young girl, and she looked wary. Not scared, but alert.
Wild Side: A Nate Temple Supernatural Thriller Book 7 (The Temple Chronicles) Page 2