Heliope was not amused by Agrios’ appearance. Neither was I, actually, but there had to be a reason why Ramara had brought him here. Heliope screeched at him as he tried to hug her. “I’m not taking you back, you dirty old man.” Then she turned to me. “Why is he here? What have I done to make you hate me enough to drag this thing up?”
“Hey! We need allies. Meri brought him here for a reason.” My heart hurt at saying her name. I had gone looking for her, but the mermaid was nowhere to be found. Perhaps she had enough sense to make herself scarce while all this went down, but I kind of doubted it. I had never known Meri to back down from a fight, even with Roxana. Even to her own detriment.
“I don’t want his help. Get your filthy hands off of me!” She picked up a glass decanter and slung it at him. He gracefully ducked but didn’t seem to get the hint.
“Please let the anger go, wife. This was so long ago, and you know you alone will always hold my heart.” Agrios turned on the charm now, but Heliope wasn’t having any of it.
“Why would I want that booze-soaked organ?” she yelled, looking for something else to pitch his way.
In typical Agrios fashion, he misinterpreted her comment as an invitation. “Then what other organ would you like to possess, my dear?”
Standing upright like one of the statues of her that used to line the walkways of her ancient temple, she brooded with anger. “How about your tongue? Or your eyes! Is that an organ? I think that would be a proper offering! I am sick of looking at you. I am going to end this right now!” I saw her hand rise as if she were ready to cast him a blow; I had to intervene. If I let this go on too much longer, there would be an all-out war of the gods happening right here on Dauphin Island. So much for anonymity.
“You two cut it out right now, or I’m going to drown you both myself!” I didn’t know what came over me, but they shut up at least for the moment. “Here’s how this is going to go—no more fighting until Roxana has been defeated and the gate is secure. No more breaking things in my house!” That comment I directed to my stepmother. And then I wheeled around toward Agrios. “And you! No more trying to sex up everything that walks. If you are not willing to help us, Meri can take you back right now. We have enough to worry about besides you!”
About that time my cell phone rang. I pulled it out of my pocket and stared at the screen. It was Cruise again, calling from his cell and not the Pirateer. I wondered what else he had to tell me about Roxana. “Cruise, are you okay? You didn’t try to be a hero, did you?”
“Hello, pretty girl.” Feeling frozen to the spot, I tapped on the screen to put her on speaker phone. It was Roxana. This wasn’t good. Not at all.
“Where is he?”
Heliope listened carefully; Agrios sat on the bed and watched me pace around the room.
Roxana said in a sick-sweet voice, “Cruise? Say hi, sweetie.”
He came on the line, and his voice was shaking a bit. “Hey, Nik. Sorry about this.”
“No, it’s fine. Did she change her plan? Are you…okay?” I chewed my fingernail nervously as I listened to him. He was in pain, but he was as calm as could be expected.
“Don’t do anything foolish. Don’t listen to her, Nik. She’s got—”
I listened in horror to the sounds of a struggle.
I screamed into the phone as Ramara came and stood behind me. “No! You bitch! Don’t you touch him!”
“Aw, so sad, pretty girl. Listen to me, and he will live. Don’t listen to me, and he will die. Meet at the gate at sunset.”
“I got the message the first time, sister.”
“I wanted to make sure you were actually coming. I grow anxious to hold my husband again. Come alone. Make peace with whatever god you serve, Thessalonike, for tonight your blood is required. I will exchange your life for his. That is the deal.”
Heliope shook her head, but I did not pay any attention to her. I closed my eyes and agreed. “I will be there at sunset. Alone. But if you harm one hair on his head, I will hurt you in ways you could only imagine.”
“Oh, now you are speaking my language. See you then.” She hung up, and I was left to stare at the blank screen.
“Why did you let her take Cruise? Didn’t you think keeping him safe was important?” I railed at Ramara.
“Don’t take it out on me, and no I didn’t think it all that important. He is not on my task list. Protect you, protect the gate. Those are the wishes of the Order. I care nothing about this man.”
“Well, I do, you rotten bastard. You were going to let him die!”
“The chances are good that he will die regardless of whether I help him or not. We cannot trade you, no matter what. That idea is off the table; I can see it running through your mind, princess, but we cannot do that.”
“You don’t decide what’s off the table, eloi!”
“Stop this!” Agrios commanded. It was his turn to pace my bedroom now. “This is some kind of witchcraft that has us all arguing! Are there witches nearby?”
“In fact, there are, and there’s one other thing.” We waited to hear what the one other thing was. Ramara lowered his voice. “Nemesis is here, and she’s helping Roxana. The police officer called her Lucy.”
Lucy was Nemesis? Now my head was really spinning.
“What have I gotten myself into here?” Agrios wiped his lips with the back of his hand; his eyes were red. “Do you have any wine? I think better when I have wine, and I am going to need it.”
I shook my head. “No, she drank it all.” Heliope looked at her sandaled toe but otherwise didn’t seem the least bit embarrassed by all this. “I think I might have some beer in the refrigerator. I guess the liquor store is out of the question?”
Ramara nodded, “Definitely. I’ll get the beer. It will have to do.”
“Very well, for now. Where can we sit together?”
“In the kitchen. Come on. First let me take care of any curse that might be hanging around. And there’s no telling who’s listening, either.” I flipped the dial on the small transistor radio and tuned in to a vibrant jazz station. I could pick up only a few stations out this far, and this was my favorite. Music, especially instrumental music, provided relief from curses—at least some of them.
Ramara paused as he leaned into the refrigerator looking for the lone bottle of beer I had stashed there. I could see by his tense jawline he was also mentally scanning the area outside, a special skill that only angels of his kind had. I had this skill to a limited degree, but mine was always more accurate in the water. “No one is here. Not yet. Won’t be long, though.” He popped the top on the beer with his bare hand and set the bottle down in front of Agrios. Agrios stared up at him as if he’d committed some major crime. Ramara waved his arms in frustration.
“I’ll handle this. Honestly, you are being ridiculous, Agrios.” I opened the cabinet and retrieved a beer glass for him. He sneered at the plain glass but poured the drink, watched it foam and then took a big swig.
“Oh, that’s horrible. But any port in a storm.” Heliope snorted at his comment but said nothing. She cocked her arm back over the chair and watched us, the anger still flickering in her eyes.
“We have only a short time, so let’s work the details out,” Agrios said with a smile as he rubbed his hands together.
“Why are you so gung-ho now?” I asked him suspiciously. No way would I ever trust this man…god…thing. Whatever he was or thought himself to be. “Just a short time ago you were looking for the exit. Now you want to lead the charge?”
“That was before he knew Nemesis was involved.” He gestured toward Ramara, who crinkled at hearing her name but kept his mouth shut.
“That matters to you?” I asked Agrios, still unsure.
“It should matter to us all, Thessalonike. If Nemesis is on this island, she had to have broken free from her prison to get here. I know for a fact she was imprisoned. I stood as one of the judges at her trial.”
“You mean like you were imprisoned?” Heli
ope questioned him as she took a sip of his beer.
“No, not like I was. I wasn’t imprisoned, only detained on a veiled island. She was in the place Under the Earth.” Collectively we shivered. Although I had no clear understanding of what the phrase actually meant, I knew it was not a place I wanted to visit. “Her escape can mean only one thing: the Order has lost its power to confine. If that is the case, then we have bigger problems than Roxana and Nemesis to worry about. This is bigger than that.” He lifted the glass and drained it. “Tell me, eloi, what have you seen?”
I noticed Ramara didn’t correct Agrios over what he called him. He related what he’d told me earlier about Faydra, and we all mentioned things we’d seen. Things that weren’t right. We were cast-off beings in an ever-changing world, but now the change had escalated in new and dangerous ways.
The screech of police cars slinging gravel in my driveway brought the conversation to a halt. This wasn’t just the Podunk local cops. These were county police cars, four of them, with probably more on the way. Chief Belloc stepped out of his car with a bullhorn. “Attention in the house. This is the Dauphin Island Police Department. We have the house surrounded—come out with your hands up. You have sixty seconds to comply.”
“What the hell?” I whispered. “I thought we had until sunset. No way is this a coincidence.”
“Roxana must know I’m here. They want to make sure you don’t escape.”
Heliope stood in front of me as if to shield me. “We need to get you out of here now.”
“To where? They say we’re surrounded!”
Ramara and Agrios exchanged glances, and the bad feeling I had a minute ago returned. “Which one you want?” Ramara asked.
“I’ll take the front.” Agrios’ grin had disappeared, and he licked his lips thirstily. I wondered how much good he was going to be in this fight. What was the advantage of having a booze-powered being on your side if he had no booze?
“Hold on a second.” I sprinted across the room and slung open the half-size Tiki bar.
“For god’s sake, Nik, we don’t have time for this!” Ramara growled at me.
I didn’t remind him that only my friends called me that. He was risking his life to save mine. Didn’t that make him my friend? “Got it!” I pitched two small bottles of whiskey to Agrios, who immediately began cracking them open.
“Oh, that’s awful. Thank you! I’m ready!”
“Time is not on our side! Agrios, don’t kill anyone if you don’t need to. Get free from the officers and meet us at the gate. Sun won’t be down for a little while. Nik, if you have to hide…where should we meet?”
I ignored Chief Belloc and his bullhorn as he began a countdown like we were about to blow out some candles or something. He even sounded happy about it. “Let’s meet at the town clock. It’s at the East End before you get to the fort. There are some pavilions, but beyond that is a concrete tunnel. We can meet there. Okay?”
“Right. Follow me. Take my hand; I’ll cover you.” Without waiting for permission, he grabbed my hand and practically dragged me to the back door.
“I don’t need you to cover me. I think I’ve got this under control, Ramara.” The idea was to give a quick blast or two of song, but before I could vocalize the sounds, bullets began flying. Agrios started to laugh stupidly. He grabbed Heliope and kissed her before he shoved her to the side and walked to the front door.
“I’m coming out!”
“Where’s the girl?” Belloc called to him as we flew out the back. Ramara’s enchantment covered us, hiding us from the human cops who flanked my house.
“I’ve got her here. She’s coming out with me!”
The three of us ran for the neighbor’s backyard and kept running until we were at the corner of Cadillac and Lemoyne. We had about a half mile more to go, but we had to run across traffic to get to the other side of the highway. “Screw this. Let’s swim.”
“Damn. This is going to mess up my hair,” Heliope complained, but she was the first in the water. We slid in without drawing any attention. Meri appeared and took my hand with a smile. I squeezed her hand, and together we swam through the small harbor to the other side of the island. With each kick of my feet, I thought about Cruise and what he might be going through. How could I leave him to deal with Roxana on his own?
I wasn’t. I couldn’t. And I wasn’t going to wait until tonight, either. As Ramara and Heliope swam ahead of us, I tugged on Meri’s hand, compelling her to slow her pace.
We must go find Cruise, Meri. He was at the Pirateer. Do you know if he’s still there?
She paused and frowned at me. She sent me a wave of fear, but I shook my head.
No fear for me. Cruise needs me. Where is he? She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. It was a funny sight considering she had barely any hips to speak of and no feet. Any other time, I would have been rolling with laughter.
Please, Meri. I have to help him or she’ll kill him.
She sent me waves of love and with an expressive wave told me to follow her. In a minute we were at the shore behind the Pirateer. Bobbing my head up from the water, I could see an open back door.
I didn’t have a plan, but I had a burning desire to rescue Cruise. He deserved better than this.
You protect from here, okay? Meri gripped my forearms and shook her head furiously. She was going to make this difficult. I knew it was crazy and reckless, but I had to take the chance. He would do the same for me.
I hugged her and pushed away to climb onshore. At least the beach was steep and I couldn’t be easily seen from the bar. I squeezed the water from my hair as I crept up the side of a log of driftwood.
I heard the sound of screaming coming from the open door of the Pirateer.
It was Cruise.
Chapter Fifteen—Nik
Violent Urge
I heard Meri splash behind me, and I waved my hand at her without looking back. Our movements had to be limited, but it wasn’t likely that we were going to get the jump on Roxana. Unless we were lucky. If Meri wasn’t more careful, she’d give away my position; the element of surprise was about the only thing I had going for me. I became aware that someone was on the other side of the log shimmying up the beach with me. I turned my head slightly.
Ramara! He rolled his eyes at me to let me know I had his full disapproval, but his tattoos glowed slightly. He must have felt excited about the impending fight. Eloi and sirens didn’t communicate telepathically, except in extreme circumstances, but I didn’t need that to know he wasn’t happy with me in the least. Well, if he was going to be my friend, he’d have to get used to that. I was an impetuous woman. Ramara stifled a groan and pounded his fists in the sand. This was more than impatience with me—he was in pain.
“What is it?” I whispered.
“The Order calls me to the gate.” So the Order had abandoned me. Whatever. When had they ever helped me?
I didn’t know what to do, how to help him. “Then go. I’ll get Cruise.” I scrambled up a few more feet as sand stuck to my damp body.
Ramara hung back slightly for another minute, but he appeared to get a grip on the pain. When he reached the top of the beach, he nodded toward the bar, asking me to take the lead. This was my idea, wasn’t it? So what was my idea? A beer truck rumbled into the back parking lot; I watched the driver roll to a stop, blocking the doorway and our view inside. Great.
“Hey, can you tell where they are?” I whispered to Ramara.
“If I use my powers, she will know I am here.” He was talking about Nemesis. He’d been intimate with her, and because of her nature, she would always have a general idea of where he was. Someone from the bar walked outside, and I heard the jukebox cranking Creedence Clearwater Revival’s Suzie Q.
“No deliveries today, Bill. Come back tomorrow.”
“What?” The young man with the red hat jumped out of the truck. “You can’t just refuse a delivery, Lucy. I have other places to be.” He clearly didn’t realize that he
took his life in his hands. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“You’ll just have to deal with it. We’ve got freezer problems, and I can’t accept the delivery. Come back tomorrow. I can accept the order then.”
Fortunately, Bill wouldn’t take no for an answer. I walked as lightly as I could up the small hill and scrambled to the truck. I stood by the rear tire on the passenger side. Ramara hissed at me, but I didn’t listen to or look at him.
I couldn’t see Lucy—Nemesis—but I felt her pause. The tone of her voice changed too. “You know what? I don’t have time to argue with you, Bill. Put the beer in the closet over there. I’ll have one of my guys move it later.”
“Really? That doesn’t look too secure. You’ll have to sign to show you’re responsible.” She muttered something under her breath, but I could hear the pen scratch across the paper. Bill must have gotten the message, because he rolled up his truck’s rear door and began wheeling out beer as he whistled victoriously.
A few minutes later, the truck rolled slowly away and I walked beside the rear tire, hopefully hidden from the view of the supes inside. So now what, Thessalonike? You managed to sneak to the front of the bar. Is that so amazing?
I hid behind the oversize pirate statue outside the front door. I tried to get the lay of the land through the colored glass window, but I couldn’t see a thing except distorted light from a few candles. Carefully, I tugged on the door, and to my surprise it opened. Taking a deep breath, I slid inside the dank foyer of the dim bar and stood flattened against the wall. For the second time today, I wished I could send Ramara a message telepathically. Maybe I could, but I wasn’t willing to risk it. Not with Cruise yelling in pain. Or was that anger?
“I told you I’m a law enforcement officer. Do you realize the consequences of hurting me?”
Escape to Sirens Gate: Sirens Gate Books 1-3 Page 10