Polly picked at the rim of her paper cup as she scanned the trees on the square. “Not really. Just a couple of glimpses until yesterday. She dive-bombed me while I was conducting an interview with the mayor. Bill caught it on tape and insists he’s going to use it for the station’s holiday blooper roll.”
“Has she started to molt?”
“She lost as many feathers as I lost hair.” She touched a finger to the sore spot on her scalp. It still stung a bit from when Greed had tangled her claws in Polly’s hair and tried to fly away. Polly tenderly prodded the area. “The rim of her eyes were blue instead of the normal black. But nothing like the change Clio and Nia noted. Not yet anyway.”
The door to the shop opened and the drone of the frothing machine filled the quiet late summer air.
“Good morning!” Lia called. She waved as she approached.
The wrought iron legs scraped concrete as Lia pulled two chairs over to their table. “What’s going on?” she asked as she settled on the one next to Polly.
Polly leaned forward and greeted her sister with a kiss. “Just discussing whether Greed has begun her transformation.”
“You know, our conversations used to be a lot more interesting before this challenge started.” The corner of Lia’s mouth turned down. She twisted a hank of her auburn corkscrew curls around her finger, a sure sign she was annoyed. “I miss talking about shoes.”
Laughter ripped from Polly’s mouth and she pointed at the ratty sneakers on Lia’s feet. “Girl, you never talked about shoes.”
“Maybe I would if we could focus on something besides Pierus and this damn challenge.”
Aerie joined them and settled a coffee in front of Lia. “But this is our reality now. Better get used to it.”
The dimple in Lia’s left cheek peeked out as her sister smiled. “I hope I get Sloth for my challenge.”
Callie eased back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest. “We all hope we get that lazy bitch. Chances are she’ll be the worst challenger.”
“Why would you say that?” In the morning sunlight, strands of gold glinted in Aerie’s red hair when she tipped her head to the side and studied Callie.
“No advance warning. Everything will be last minute. Won’t be able to plan anything, just react.”
“So not much different than any other challenge.” Lia blew across the surface of her coffee.
“About the challenge,” Polly began. “We’re focusing on a new Eos employee as a possible beard for Pierus. Ms. Cronin showed up right after the merger talks opened, replacing a very popular staff person. According to Ian, Cronin keeps Peltier on a short leash and isn’t the most likeable person in the corporation.”
“So you think she might be Pierus’s silent partner in the challenge?” Callie’s knuckles whitened as she clutched her coffee cup. “He’s had partners before, but they were never visible. This is new.”
“Cronin?” Lia tapped her chin. “I heard a couple of the regulars at the club last night talking about working with her. You’re right. She isn’t held in the highest esteem.”
If Lia was hearing things about the woman at the Greek Chorus, her comedy club, Cronin had to be involved somehow. Polly leaned in and propped her elbow on the table. “Lia, if they come in again, can you nudge them for information? What do they know about her, odd habits, that sort of thing.”
Lia nodded. “They’ll be back. Their buddy is headlining the schedule tonight. I’ll be sure to find out everything I can. You should come by. The act is super funny and you can nudge the Eos guys yourself.”
“Maybe. Depends on what Ian finds out today.” Hopefully, he’d uncover some information Polly could use to defeat Greed before she got out of control.
Polly downed her last sip of coffee and then carried her cup to the trash stand near the door. After depositing the used cup in the bin, she turned, intent on heading back to collect her belongings and get back to the station.
A large black and white bird alighted on the crest of the ornate light at the corner of the Daily Grind patio. Polly froze for a moment. The only sound she heard was the thudding of her pulse in her ears. Greed’s eyes were fully blue and glinting with supernatural light. The bird cocked her head to one side, the motion jerky and sharp. That blue eye studied Polly, like it was inspecting its soon-to-be dinner.
She was not going to let a disgusting, dirty bird beat her. Polly doubled down on her intent to win this challenge. With the support of her family, and Ian, she could do this. She could…no, she would triumph. Greed flapped her wings, and damned if Polly didn’t experience a rush of hot, fetid wind against her cheeks.
Polly squared her shoulders and snapped her fingers. “Girls, we have company.” She pointed to the lamppost.
One by one, her sisters rose and moved to her side, until they formed a solid wall of Thanos women, strong and determined. Facing down their common enemy. Polly slid a glance around the square. No sign of Pierus. And the rest of the people dotting the city’s plaza on a workday morning seemed oblivious to the action on the coffee shop patio.
“Are you going to nudge her away?” Aerie asked.
“I’d like to, but she isn’t doing anything.” Which was curious. Other than the initial aggressive flap of her wings, Greed was eerily silent. No screeching, no commotion. The bird sat atop the lamp’s finial crown, as still as the light itself.
“Okay, that’s weird. Why doesn’t she do something?” Lia clapped her hands loudly. But still the bird didn’t react.
Polly opened a door in her mind, looped her sisters in, and spoke directly to Greed. “Why are you here?”
Tipping her head to the opposite side, Greed blinked and danced her talons on the light, right, left, right. A corner of Polly’s mind tingled, as though the fowl tried to answer, but couldn’t command the words to form. She flapped her wings again and bobbed her head, finally admitting a squawk.
Pressure built around Polly’s body and in her head, a sign that some other immortal was about to arrive on the scene. A cloud of black mist swirled around the base of the pole.
Pierus was coming.
Gods, the idiot was going to materialize in the open, not bothering to mask his arrival. “Aerie, Lia, cloak the area, now!” Polly commanded. She reached for Callie’s hand, finding comfort in the fact her big sister was present. She found herself wishing Ian were standing at her side as well. “Callie, contact Mars. We might need reinforcements.”
Laughter boomed from the ominous mist, but no form coalesced. Pierus was going to stay just the other side of the barrier between the mortal and immortal worlds. That would seriously strain her sisters’ efforts to keep the incident masked from humans.
Polly laid her other hand on Lia’s shoulder, forcing energy through the point of contact to shore up their expenditure of power. Lia stiffened her spine, and grasped the base of Aerie’s neck. Power flowed from Callie through Polly and into the other pair. Their illusion held firm. Mortals around them would only see a group of women, staring at a big bird on a lamp.
Putting the channeled power on auto-pilot, Polly spoke to Pierus. “Not cool, Pierus. You are already in plenty of trouble for challenging Zeus. You are only making matters worse by not disguising your arrival.”
“I care nothing about that. Mortals are going to be aware of the existence of us as gods soon enough. When I defeat the first of you, the next step after taking over Olympus will be world domination.” The god’s face solidified in the center of the mist. The imbecile flashed her a twisted smile. “Will it be you that reduces mortals to our slaves? Greed and I think so.”
“Not in this lifetime. Greed is going down, and so are you.” Polly would have pointed a finger at the mist, but her hands were occupied funneling power to her sisters. She locked her knees, refusing to waver in front of the asshole deity.
Above them, the bird finally emitted a screech and with a furious flap of her wings, descended into the mist, hovering about the spot that might have been Pierus’
s shoulder. The glow from the blue eyes of the monster intensified until it was as bright as the base of a flame.
Pressure increased around Polly’s body, and suddenly, two hands dropped onto her shoulders. A quick glance over her shoulder revealed a scowling Mars on one side, and Sybil on the other.
Mars’s voice boomed in her mind. “Pierus, this infraction has been noted and will be held against you at the tribunal.”
The mist stirred, like the god had waved his hand dismissively. “There won’t be a tribunal once Zeus is vanquished. He is the only one with the power to summon me to that kind of kangaroo court.”
Polly’s energy stuttered and the four sisters rocked forward as one before she corrected the flow from a bolt of power Mars had bulldozed into her. The spot he touched on her shoulder stung beneath his palm.
Zeus vanquished? That was nearly proof Pierus was behind her father’s failing health. “What are you talking about, Pierus? Zeus is fine.”
“Is he?” More of the maniacal laughter spewed from the mist, joined by Greed’s screechy caw. “Time will tell.”
The dark, nasty mist collapsed in upon itself, diminishing in size until only a black dot was visible. Her vision narrowed on the remaining spot. Dark, noisome energy tugged on Polly’s body, as if she were being sucked into the ether with Pierus and his daughter. She leaned back and Mars shifted his hand until he gripped her upper arm, holding her in place.
With a poof of bright light the miniscule dot that signified where the god had been vanished.
Aerie, Lia and Callie all gasped, as if just surfacing after a long time underwater. They released each other, but remained clustered close.
“Are you all okay?” Sybil’s glance bounced from one sister to the next.
“Who are you?” Callie looked down her nose at the woman.
Polly tsked her tongue against her teeth. “Callie, play nice. This is Sybil, my partisan.”
“Your partisan is a girl? That’s awesome.” Lia beamed a bright, but tired smile at Sybil.
Mars grunted and spared a walleyed look at Sybil, almost like he dared her to get comfortable with the Muses. Business was business after all.
Sybil propped her hands on her hips. “Yeah, well, it’s not like we’re going to gab late into the night and comb each other’s hair. We have work to do.”
“We certainly do.” Polly checked the time on her phone. She looked toward her godfather. “Mars, I have to get to the station. I’ll check in later when I hear from Ian. He’s all set with access now.”
Mars nodded. “I emailed the last of the details to him late yesterday. Our techs found a backdoor into the Eos system that is undetectable, even if the system is being monitored by another immortal based corporation, as we suspect is the case with Argran.”
“We found a link between the company and a faction of the gods who are focused on personal wealth instead of mortal welfare.” Twisting her thick hair into a bun, Sybil wrapped a hair tie in place as she faced Polly. “I compiled a spreadsheet of the individual deities and their known mortal aliases. We believe these hooligans are involved with the merger, either supplying cash, or talent. Security is looking hard at them, but I’d like you to review the list with Ian and see if he recognizes any of them.”
“We’re getting together later. I’ll let you know so you can join us,” Polly offered to Sybil, then gestured to Mars, to let him know he was welcome to tag along. Turn me down. Please have other plans.
“Just let me know what time,” Mars responded gruffly.
She’d never learn. She shouldn’t have invited him if she didn’t want him there. Mars was a great guy, just never really knew when to leave.
Sybil covered her laugh with a cough. “Oh, Hades no. I do not want to be a fifth wheel. I’m sure you’ve got this.” She cocked an eyebrow at Mars. “And don’t you have some charity event on your calendar tonight? I’m sure I saw something when I was trying to schedule a meeting with you.”
“What?” Mars scratched his chin. “Damn, I forgot. Aphrodite invited me to join her table at the Delphi Foundation dinner.”
Relief climbed up Polly’s spine. “It’s okay, Mars. We can manage without you. Either Sybil or I will get a report to you on anything we think needs to be covered.”
“Make sure you do.” Mars squeezed her shoulder on his way out of the patio area.
Sybil followed right behind him. She leaned over to whisper into Polly’s ear. “You owe me one.” A large grin graced the woman’s generous mouth as she waved goodbye.
Polly was going to do her damnedest to convince Mars to send Sybil back as a woman in the next rebirth cycle. She liked the partisans who’d been assigned to Clio and Nia, but neither of them had the sense of humor Sybil displayed.
And in the life of an immortal, a sense of humor was a really good thing.
Chapter 15
When Ian arrived at work, he dropped his briefcase in his office in the lab, and then headed to the break room to grab coffee. He’d seen his buddy’s car in the parking garage, so he poured an extra cup. He shoved packets of sugar and two cream pods in his pockets, and headed to IT.
Polly had given him a lesson in using the gift Zeus had bestowed. He’d tried it out on her, trying to nudge her into shower sex this morning. She’d just laughed at him and said she’d have done it with him anyway.
He’d been grateful for the instruction. When he’d tried it before, he’d gotten way more info than he wanted from the human resources receptionist. Even now, his cheeks flooded with warmth over the details the woman had spewed. Hopefully, today’s experiment would be more successful.
“Hey, Dan.” Ian offered the beverage to his friend when he’d found him just leaving the server room. He and Dan had started their careers with Eos on the same day five years ago. Dumping the sugar and creamer on the desk, Ian asked “You catch the game last night?”
“Thanks. I was just about to go get a refill. You saved me a walk. No stirrer?” Dan ripped open two packs of sugar and poured it in. The cream went in and Dan dipped the end of his pen in the cup and finally got around to answering Ian’s question. “Nah, I was gaming online last night.”
“Too bad, it was a good one.” Not that Ian really knew. He’d been otherwise occupied hitting a home run of his own in his garage. And what a glorious win it had been. At least he’d read the box scores this morning.
Dan slurped his coffee and then gave a satisfied grunt.
Barely listening to Dan’s account of his online activities, Ian focused on Polly’s instructions. He visualized a door on Dan’s forehead. Imagined his fist raising to knock, and then tapped against it mentally in his head. He nodded his head and smiled at the physical Dan as the made-up doorway he’d visualized in Dan’s head swung open.
Dan’s blink slowed to almost non-existent and his voice died away as Ian nudged a question into the man’s brain through the open door. “Will you tell me how to find the employee roster in the HR files?”
“You have to start in the base files. Each department has its own drive on the server. HR has several, but most employee files are complete within themselves. All tax and payroll documentation, disciplinary or corrective action, benefits and the like are saved in the same file. HR decided it was easier to do it that way. But when we have to do a sweep for tax or benefit info it’s a pain in my ass.” Dan continued explaining the structure to Ian.
When Ian had the information he needed, he imagined closing the door into Dan’s mind. Polly had warned of dire consequences if the link remained open. He wasn’t sure he believed her, thanks to her goofy smile as she’d relayed the information to him. But it wasn’t worth taking the chance. The click of the shutting portal cracked in Ian’s head as he broke off his nudge.
His friend lurched in his chair, then slurped more coffee. “I played Warcraft with some really intense dudes last night. We marched through an insane number of levels by the time we were done.” Dan resumed the first conversation, as if they’d never
had a secondary discussion about the Eos server structure.
Feeling confident in his newly focused nudging ability, Ian sauntered through the hallways toward his lab. He had a new trial starting this morning and wanted to make sure his technicians had set the experiment up properly. Even though he despised the chemical option that had been shoved down his throat, he’d still make sure it worked correctly. Lingering reservations about the effect the chemical solution would have on the area population and the water table made him covertly slip a secondary study into the works. It was his one chance to demonstrate the negative impact before he was forced to sign off on the protocol.
Taking a midmorning break, he tried to act nonchalant as he ventured toward the accounting department. His goal was to obtain leads about where to look for discrepancies, or sudden outflow of capital. After an internal debate on what to use as a cover story to explain his trip to the department instead of simply emailing, he’d decided to keep it simple. He wasn’t getting enough steps in each day. It was as believable as the other options he’d considered.
The lock emitted a barely audible bleep when he scanned his ID badge on the security panel. He pushed open the heavy door. Shirley Webster, his unit’s assigned accountant, was at her desk.
She grinned at him when he approached. “Fancy seeing you down here.”
“I had some questions and I needed the exercise.” He propped his shoulder on the file cabinet inside her office door.
Shirley lifted her wrist and tapped the black fitness tracker she wore. “I struggle with the same thing. This job is so sedentary. I’m lucky to get half my daily goal. What can I help you with today?”
“Preaching to the choir, sister. I’m a lab rat.” He shrugged. “I don’t understand a couple of things on the revised budget spreadsheet you created. Do you have a minute to explain it to me?” He conjured the image of the door again and pictured it opening in toward the accountant.
“Sure thing. Let me just open it and I’ll tell you everything you want to know.”
Greed: Goddess of Delphi (Goddesses of Delphi Book 3) Page 13