Out of Sanity Aphrodite (The Goddess Chronicles Book 7)

by S. E. Babin

  But I knew when they were finished with me and I walked out there, broken in spirit and exhausted, that I had my answers. I knew what I was going to do. I wasn't always the brightest crayon in the box, but I was pretty crafty.

  And I had a good feeling where the rules were kept now, too.

  Stupid Zeus.

  I was going to have to figure out a way to break into the palace.

  Chapter 8

  The last time I broke into Zeus’ place, he was a wee bit angry with me. He might have even threatened my life if I ever did it again. He also told me to just ask him if I wanted in, but I think we were past the being nice to each other part of our relationship. So I had to step up my game here and get seriously smart fast because last time I was in there, he knew the entire time.

  So I guess the question was...how did I sneak in without tipping a single immortal off to my presence?

  The last time I needed to do anything sneaky I had to die.

  That wasn't the most fun I've ever had while wearing clothes, but I made it back. And found a new mommy in the process. So maybe that was the ticket.

  I'd been messing around with my new magic quite a bit lately, getting the feel for it, trying to use it properly. It went well sometimes and other times...well, I didn't really want to talk about it.

  But I had managed to figure out how to dim my power signature. If I could just tweak that a little bit more, perhaps I could learn to walk among immortals without tipping anyone off. Granted, the Fates helped us out last time we needed to sneak around, but I really didn't think they were going to help me any further, especially if they thought I was trying to tip the games in my favor.

  Which I wasn't. I was merely trying to grab a copy of the rules, and I was darn near positive Zeus had either the originals or a copy of them. This was one of the keys to winning this thing. I could feel it. Plus, since Zeus was adamant about wanting Typhon and me to marry, and Typhon knew the rules, it didn't take a genius to figure out someone he knew had access to them.

  Thus, me standing in front of Zeus' palace again sweating like a pig in a bacon store.

  I studied the massive stone outside perimeter. It wasn't that it was hard getting in. It's just immortals tended to know everyone's business because we all walked around with power humming about us. So everyone could sense everyone.

  I could dim about halfway. I just needed to figure out how to dim to such a level that my magic appeared as a lower level servant, possibly a dryad or a nymph. There were enough of them running around the castle that I thought I could get away with going incognito if I could nail it.

  The disguise was the easy part. After the last few months, I was practically an expert in it. I stared at the guards in front of the castle doors. They looked like mountains. Really grumpy ones. I knew how they felt. Working for Zeus wasn't an incredibly life-affirming or rewarding position.

  With an idea forming in the back of my head, I blinked back to my house and into the backyard.

  I had work to do.

  After the fortieth try, I ended up facedown in the sweet smelling North Carolina dirt feeling sorry for myself.

  "You can do this, Abs," I mumbled to the grass. "Mind over matter."

  "I can't imagine the dirt is going to help you."

  I sniffed and turned my head at the voice. "It's good to see you," I muttered, but I didn't move to get up.

  "Likewise," Hermes said. "I apologize for just showing up, but my father is back so I can't go around announcing my plans anymore. He's bound to have seized the place if he thinks there are any open opportunities."

  "Family. Am I right?"

  Hermes snorted and leaned down to help me up. I let myself be lead and soon stood next to him brushing the grass and dirt off of my pants.

  "What in the hell are you trying to do?" he asked as he leaned over and plucked a leaf out of my hair.

  I waited for a beat. "Plausible deniability, Hermes."

  His whiskey gaze held mine. "Perhaps I can help."

  I narrowed my eyes. "Why would you do that?"

  Hermes shrugged. "I'm not sure I would unless I knew what you were doing."

  I threw a little nugget of truth out there. "It's about the games."

  "Ah," he said and fell silent.

  "Still feel like helping?"

  Hermes sighed and leaned against one of the tall pine trees. He looked good but tired. A rarity for us since we never aged. Unless there were extenuating circumstances. And with us, you could never tell what kind of craziness would happen.

  "Why did you sign up?" I asked him. It was a bit of a sticking point with me. He flat out refused and dumped me, which he had every right to do. But with him signed up to win my hand, I couldn't help but feel a little bit betrayed.

  Hermes tilted his head toward the sky and swallowed hard. "I didn't have a choice," he finally rasped out before he lowered his head. His gaze drank in my face. "But I guess I can't argue with the prize, can I?"

  I was going to cut off Zeus' head and feed it to him. "Zeus?" I asked, already knowing the answer.

  "Who else?" he murmured.

  I pondered for a moment. "Well. I think we have a fine opportunity to throw this back in dear daddy's face if you're game for it."

  Hermes sighed. "Abs."

  I held up a hand. "I'm serious. I know we've had our..."

  "Issues?" Hermes supplied even though he didn't look angry.

  "Caused by me mostly," I agreed. "But I think if we band together, we can give Zeus double middle fingers."

  "So you can be with Hades?" His voice was flat.

  "So I can choose," I snapped.

  I sank down to the ground and waited as he sat down too.

  "I'm no one's property, Hermes."

  He held his hand out and I let my fingers rest inside of his hand. Warm, just like I remembered. "I know," he said.

  "So I guess you have to weigh this out. If you win, yes, I'm your prize. But do you want it to happen like that?"

  His laughter was raw. "It won't happen at all."

  I couldn't deny it. "But if you win me that way, it won't be a victory. I promise you that. I chose, Hermes. Because you gave me no choice. And I'm glad for it."

  He shut his eyes, the golden lashes sweeping down over his eyes. "I'm not."

  "You forced my hand."

  "I know I did. But did you have to pick Hades?"

  I snorted. "I'm not so sure I actually picked him. More like got bludgeoned until I gave in and started liking him." I laughed, but it was a little true. Hades was even worse than Hermes in his pursuit plus...he had poetry. Swoon. "But, I never said I would end up with him. Hades hasn't given me any indication he plans to step in for me. If I can't win this on my own -" My voice trailed off. "I could very well wind up as a dryad's wife sweeping wood chippings out of a tree house for eternity."

  "I'd like to see that," Hermes said with a chuckle.

  "I wouldn't.” I shuddered at the thought of it.

  “I know your power, Abs. There’s no way it would happen.” He turned to me. “Tell me now as we sit together, alone and unheard. Is there any chance for us?”

  Tears gathered in my eyes as I thought about what could have been, but while the future ahead of me lay uncertain, there was one set of silver eyes I knew I belonged to. And whether it was him I had the child with or another, I knew I would do anything to try to make Hades and me a team for as long as we could make it last.

  Hermes chuckled and tore his gaze away. “That look. You don’t have to answer me. What did you have in mind?”

  And just like that, I knew that I might have had a fighting chance. I grinned at him.

  “Help me break into the palace and steal something.”

  Hermes’ laughter rang loud and free throughout my backyard.

  We might have even been friends again. For true this time.

  Hermes stayed for dinner that night as we continued to hash out our plans. He would help me lower my power signature, or at least try to
, and he would get me into the palace. I would get in, snatch the rules, get out, and share my findings with him.

  It was a win-win situation.

  Clotho had conveniently skipped dinner once she overheard us talking about our plans. She’d raised her arms, started yelling “LALALALALALA,” and made herself scarce.

  It was that whole plausible deniability thing again.

  Hermes was finishing up his coffee when he asked me the question. “How do you think knowing the official rules are going to help you?”

  I hadn’t told him about my visit with the Greek Dickens story yet, and I didn’t think I was going to. Something about it made me feel like I needed to have all of my ducks in a row before it all began.

  I shrugged. “Just a feeling I have. Plus, I like to be prepared.”

  Hermes snorted. “Since when? Normally you just run in like a crazy person and see what kind of trouble you find.”

  I glared. “I’ve matured.”

  “Sure,” he admitted, “but a tiger can’t change its nature. It’s still going to make a kill if it gets hungry enough. You like to just waltz in and see what’s going on.”

  “I’m not a tiger,” I growled.

  “Certainly not,” he said. “You’re like an angry kitty cat. Confused and hissing at everything.”

  “Watch it, dude. This kitty has claws.”

  “My father wants you for some reason, Abs. You need to think about that. Examine it and once you figure that out, then you might stand a better chance at taking him down. It’s not me or Typhon you really have to worry about.” At my squawk of indignation, he held a placating hand up, “Okay, maybe you have to worry a little. But at the end of the day, there’s no way Zeus is so concerned about a marriage that he’s forced everyone into it. He has never cared this much about anything in recent years. There’s a reason for it. And once you find that out, then you go in with that knowledge.” His eyes glittered.

  “And destroy him?”

  He held up a fist and I bumped it.

  “And destroy him,” he agreed.

  I held up my mug. “To annihilating your dad,” I said.

  “Hear, hear.” Hermes clacked his mug against mine and took another swallow of coffee.

  I stared at him in thought. What did I have that Zeus could possibly want? It must have been something big. But I didn’t have a clue.

  Of course, that was basically my entire life. If being clueless was the new black, I was the super glamorous it girl.

  Chapter 9

  Hermes slapped himself in the face in aggravation. “What in the hell, Abs?”

  I was still holding my fingers up and waggling them around like I was a Hobbit trying to perform magic. Hunched over and angry, I’d been trying to get this right for what felt like hours. The magic was pouring off of me like lava, but it just wasn’t cooperating.

  “I’m trying!” I said through clenched teeth.

  “You look like you’re constipated,” Hermes added unhelpfully.

  I blew out a breath and stood up. “I don’t think I can do this. At least not long enough to get into the palace and find what I need.”

  My mother stepped out of the bushes in full Crone glory this time, and I couldn’t help it. I cringed. She was a seriously scary old woman. “Mom,” I said, once my heartbeat settled down into normal territory. “How much of that did you hear?”

  She rolled her eyes. “Enough to know you are in a world of hurt, daughter.”

  My shoulders slumped. I wasn’t sure I wanted her knowing all of my plans. She’d helped me when I needed it, but I still wasn’t a hundred percent sure I could always trust her, even though I was getting there. I was still a little wary of the darker gods and goddesses. Plus, she was terrifyingly powerful.

  “I got this,” I told her, only to be rewarded with husky laughter.

  “Sure you do,” she said and crossed her arms to watch me.

  I glared, hunched over again and waggled my fingers, willing the magic to flow.

  “What is she doing?” my mother whispered to Hermes.

  My friend, to his credit, did not automatically crap his pants at the site of Hecate standing there oh so casual. He did, however, swallow hard a few times, blink rapidly and blow out a couple of deep breaths. “Ah,” he said, “I’m not quite sure.”

  “You look like you need some medication for stomach trouble, my dear.”

  I screwed up my face and tried harder. I didn’t care if I looked constipated as long as it worked. Most people who worked for Zeus didn’t run around with happy faces, so maybe I’d fit right in.

  I had it for a little while, but slowly the magic would trickle away. This wouldn’t work at all.

  My mother watched me for awhile until she pushed away from the tree and headed my way. She pushed my hands down and forced me to stand up straight.

  “Close your eyes,” she said in a tone that had me doing exactly what she asked.

  “What do you want?” she asked.

  “Like...for dinner?”

  Her snort was one of annoyance. “No, idiot. For your magic to do.”

  “I want to conceal my power signature for awhile.”

  “Ah, an old trick.”

  I cracked an eye open. “I had to ask the Fates last time!”

  “It’s old magic, Abby. You didn’t have to ask them.”

  I huffed in annoyance. “Great. Why doesn’t someone just write a book with all the crap that exists so I can just flip through it like a thesaurus before I get myself into debt with all kinds of magical entities?”

  Hecate reached over and clamped my lips together with her fingers. “Shut up,” she said, not unkindly, “and listen.”

  “My magic is ancient and walks the line between life and death. To conceal, you must relax and allow Death to enter into your body.”

  “That doesn’t sound fun at all,” I muttered as she released me.

  Hermes snorted and quickly choked it off. No one wanted to garner the attention of Hecate. Not even me, but here I was.

  “Of course it isn’t fun,” she snapped. “Life isn’t fun either, but it happens whether we want it to or not. Same with death.”

  I kept my mouth shut this time. She was the Jedi and I was her Padawan. I didn’t think she’d appreciate the reference, so I kept it to myself.

  “Close your eyes again,” she instructed me. “Now, begin to breathe slowly.”

  I relaxed my shoulders the best I could while under the scrutiny of a scary being and allowed my breathing to slow down.

  “Good, now keep going and while you’re doing that, picture what you want to occur.”

  I envisioned myself getting into the palace with no issues, walking past people with total concealment, finding what I needed and getting the heck out of dodge before anyone was the wiser.

  “Now, focus more on the magic portion. Tell your magic what you want. Let it wrap around you.”

  The silvery pink of it slid from my body, wrapping me in its cool cocoon. I was breathing so slowly now I almost couldn’t tell I was inhaling at all. I envisioned myself with a faint power signature, that of a servant or a dryad, one of the weaker immortals.

  “Holy shi-” Hermes began to whisper before Hecate cut him off with a hiss.

  “Good, good. Hold it, hold it…” She put her fingers to the side of my face.

  “Now increase the magic, Abby. Wrap this spell up like a ball and hold it inside of you until all you have to do is touch it to activate it.”

  From the side of me, I could hear Hermes shifting.

  “Hecate,” he whispered.

  Her fingers didn’t budge from my face, nor did she acknowledge him.

  I took the magic I could feel specific to this spell and I wound the threads of it around inside of me until they glowed bright and -

  “Hecate!” His tone was urgent.

  “Shut. Up,” she hissed and while I couldn’t see what was happening, I felt one of her hands slip from my forehead. A powerful blas
t of magic came from her.

  All was silent.

  I struggled to open my eyes.

  “He’s fine,” she assured me, though I’m not actually sure I believed her. “Just...indisposed.”

  “Keep going,” she urged.

  I continued wrapping the threads. The glow of the magic rested at my core, a small knot of power, separate from the main pool at the heart of me.

  “Good. When you are finished with your task, you can release it back into the pool.”

  She removed her hands, and I opened my eyes.

  Hermes lay against the tree with his mouth and nose sewed up, staring at me with wide, whiskey eyes.

  “Holy - Mom!”

  She rolled her eyes and with a wave of her hand, the stitches from his mouth fell away. He fell forward as he gasped for air.

  “That was not nice.”

  “He was interrupting me.”

  I stared at my mother in horror. “Maybe it’s a good thing you didn’t have to raise me,” I told her. “I don’t think you have any idea of what it’s like to have a child asking you a thousand questions an hour.”

  One silvery eyebrow rose. “And you do?”

  She had me there. “I watch tv!”

  Hermes sat back up and watched us arguing. “You weren’t breathing. Abs,” he said quietly.

  I turned to my mother.

  She shrugged a thin shoulder. “It’s how our magic works. We channel Death.”

  “You don’t find that weird at all, do you?” I asked her, genuinely curious.

  “It isn’t weird. It’s just how it is. You make people fall in love. You don’t think that’s weird?”

  I guess I never thought about it that way. “Everyone’s magic is weird, I guess.”

  Hermes sighed. “I don’t know if I’m going to get used to that,” he muttered more to himself than me.

  “You and me both.” I turned to say goodbye to my mother, but she’d already disappeared.

  Hermes looked at me with wide, freaked-out eyes. “Your mom is super weird,” he said quietly.

  “Yeah,” I agreed. “She sure is.”

  I sat down beside him and we chatted for awhile before he made his way back to Olympus. I’d meet him there later tonight when only the nighttime servants were up and moving through the castle. There were only a few of them so it was less likely I’d get caught. This gave me time to work on my disguise. Hermes had given me some pictures of some of the servants in the castle so I knew what clothing to create and how to style my hair. It shouldn’t be too big of a deal. I just had to keep my head down and get to business. And maybe someday soon I could stop skulking around in places I didn’t belong just asking for trouble.