Greed: Goddess of Delphi (Goddesses of Delphi Book 3)

by Gemma Brocato

  “You’re late.” Clio offered her cheek for a kiss.

  Polly made sure when her lips contacted Clio’s face, she slobbered a little, sending a nudge to the woman to shut it about her timeliness. “Par for the course.”

  Clio grimaced, probably more from the mental prod than the extra-wet buss. Polly hugged Jax and then slid across the banquette. “No Ian yet? He texted me he was on his way. I figured he’d beat me.”

  “Do you see him?” Clio’s voice held a huge dollop of sarcasm.

  Jax tugged one of Clio’s curls playfully. “Play nice.” He turned to Polly. “Unless he ran into trouble with that oversize jalopy he drives, he should be here shortly.”

  Just mentioning Ian’s Rover made Polly shiver with delicious memories. The vehicle’s back seat had been comfortable and sex on it had attained a new level of eroticism for her. After six thousand years, that was saying something. Or maybe, it was due to who was in the car with her. Either way, she vowed she’d repeat the performance soon.

  She cleared her throat. “He was cleaning the carburetor yesterday when I dropped by. Hopefully, he was thorough.” Goddess, if he paid half as much attention to the engine as he’d paid to her body in the shower this morning, the thing was pristine.

  The door swung open again, waning sunshine backlighting Ian as he rushed across the threshold. A smile lit his face and the aura around him glimmered silver. Funny, most mortals’ auras weren’t so easily observed. Perhaps since Zeus had granted some immortal powers to him his appearance in the humand plane was heightened.

  Ian arrived at the table the same time as Polly’s wine. “I’ll have a St. Pauli Girl,” he told the waitress as she deposited the drink in front of her. When the girl departed, he bent and whispered a greeting just before he pressed his lips to hers. “Hi.”

  “Hi, yourself.” Polly stroked her palm on his cheek, urging his mouth down again. She let her lips cling to his, relishing the tender-firm feel of his mouth.

  “Okay, we get it,” Clio teased. “You’re a couple. Knock off the PDA, please. You’re embarrassing us.”

  “Not me! You two are great role models.” Jax laughed. He wrapped his hand around Clio’s neck and pulled her forward and laid a lusty kiss on her as well.

  The cushioned bench whooshed as Ian slid in next to Polly. He rested his hand on her knee, curving his fingers along the inside. “Jax, my friend, you’ve been holding out on me.”

  “Huh?”

  Ian pointed at Jax’s forehead. “Didn’t think immortality was something you should mention to the guy who’s been your best bud since college?”

  “It really wasn’t something I could share. You’d have thought I was crazy.” Jax leaned back and laid his arm on the back of the booth.

  “Maybe at first. But when you eliminate every possible option, the remaining unbelievable choice is suddenly the most likely explanation. I’d have believed you.”

  “The entire scenario is crazy, so I’m going to call bullshit on that.” Jax reached for his beer. “In my defense, I was sort of sworn to secrecy. This isn’t the kind of thing Zeus would appreciate me blabbing about.”

  “I suppose not.” Ian tightened his hand on her leg then stroked his fingers on the sensitive skin behind her knee. The back of his arm grazed the side of her breast. Shivers ran through Polly as he continued. “I can’t believe I’ve known this family for as long as I have and I never guessed. Not even once. You all seem so normal.”

  “Ian, we are normal.” Polly laid her hand over his. “We all work for a living. Our dad owns a respectable and successful family corporation. We eat, drink, sleep and fall in love the same way mortals do. We just come with a couple of extraordinary gifts.”

  His eyes flashed hot in the dim light in the booth. “I like your extra gifts.”

  “Ah, young love.” Clio’s words were devoid of any hint of sarcasm.

  Love? Did her sister believe Polly was in love? Polly had brought it up first, but Clio called it. She shot a fast glance at Ian, losing her breath at the perfection of his profile as he smiled at something Jax said.

  Now wasn’t the time to fall in love. Not with the possibility of becoming a magpie for all eternity hanging over her head. She drew a deep breath and forced the thoughts to the back of her mind. “Can we get to work here?”

  Clio’s gaze on her face was speculative, but when she spoke, she was all business. “I talked to Callie this morning. She told me of Pierus’s reckless appearance in the square today. He’s getting bolder.”

  “Or more desperate. Maybe he believes he can split your focus, thereby weakening your position.” Jax toyed with the label on his beer bottle. “It wouldn’t be the first time a crazed despot attempted to make an opponent fight a war on two fronts.”

  “Look at Hitler. When he engaged the Americans on one front and Russians on the other, he was defeated,” Clio said. Polly remembered how Clio had crowed about being instrumental in supplying that strategy to the Allies. Then she’d sat back and recorded the fruits of her efforts. The war had started while she’d been in her dormancy phase, before she’d regained her powers, but it ended soon after she came into them.

  “So you believe Pierus’s strategy is to distract me from the battle with Greed by making me work to keep us invisible to mortals?”

  Jax nodded. “Not every mortal is as accepting of the supernatural as me or Ian. Perhaps Pierus believes the arrangement is a solid, rational option. Most mortals would fear domination. There are entire sections of libraries dedicated to mythology. Not every book tells the truth about immortals as benevolent deities.”

  “Not in my library,” Clio scoffed. “I don’t allow that kind of trash on my shelves.”

  Conversation stopped as the waitress delivered Ian’s beer. A bit sloshed over the rim. She wiped it away with a rag then left.

  Polly’s reporter side flared to life. “That’s called censorship. And that is what many mortals fear most. Being stripped of their free will. Being spoon-fed ideas and rules for existence—not allowed to make choices for themselves.”

  “Kind of like what’s happening to me at Eos.” Ian steepled his hands under his chin and continued. “They’re crushing every attempt to make them see reason on my project. I managed to avoid signing off on the formula today, but tomorrow, I might not be so lucky. Argran is rushing toward getting the product finished and in play.” His knee bounced, shaking the bench seat.

  Polly stroked her hand over his thigh, nudging calm into him. The erratic movement stopped. She left her hand in place. “Did you discover anything when you searched the files?”

  “Yeah. Argran is already taking profits from Eos. Accounting files I managed to access show massive debits and transfers of funds where there shouldn’t be any. I had to call Sybil because the sheets didn’t make sense to me.”

  “You used the link she gave you?” It surprised her. She didn’t think he’d actually have a need of that little trick.

  “Hang on!” Clio’s glance darted back and forth between them. “In addition to Zeus gifting Ian with the ability to nudge, Sybil gave him a linking gift as well?”

  Oh, crap! “Shh! That’s a secret. Sybil’s on the hot seat already. We weren’t supposed to mention she’s done it.” Worry churned in her belly as Polly thought of what her protector might face in the next existence.

  “I didn’t realize partisans could bestow gifts.” Clio shook her head. “But then, until a few weeks ago, we didn’t know our guardians existed.”

  “We won’t tell.” Jax drew an X over his chest. He looked to Ian. “What else did you find?”

  “While Sybil was in my office, Patricia Cronin arrived unexpectedly. Sybil popped out before Cronin discovered her, but I’m nervous that Cronin suspects something. She threatened me—”

  “What?” Polly demanded. “Tell me what happened.” If the woman harmed a single lock of Ian’s shaggy hair she’d ask Zeus to turn the bitch into a grain of sand and then cast it into the ocean, thus end
ing Cronin’s big fish, little pond existence.

  “She basically ordered me to sign off on the experiment so they could go into production. Or my employment with the corporation would be ended.” Ian’s hand was warm when he covered hers. “I was careless and left a note on my desk. It was about how to locate files in the accounting drive on our mainframe. A drive my pay grade wouldn’t allow me to access. She saw it before I could hide it. I swear she’s one of you.”

  “One of us?” Clio asked.

  Ian’s fingers tightened on hers. “Immortal. A god.”

  Polly straightened. “Why do you say that?”

  “You might think I’m crazy, but the woman’s eyes were weird. The pupils looked more reptilian than human, and they flashed red when she threatened me.”

  “Could she be Pierus’s silent partner this time? Like he used the Tainos.” The sneaky deity bastard had enlisted weather gods to help defeat Clio. Thankfully, their mission had failed.

  “So far, his partners haven’t manifested on the mortal plane. We’ve never seen them. But he’s crazy unpredictable.” Polly sighed. This wasn’t going to be easy. “We need to figure out who she really is. Ian, did you find anything in the personnel files?”

  “Not a damn thing.” The corners of his mouth sagged. “She’s been there long enough there should be some documentation on her.”

  Jax rapped his knuckles on the table. “When did the cash withdrawals start?”

  The skin on Ian’s forehead puckered as he paused, then his jaw dropped and his brow shot up. “Almost to the day when Patricia Cronin first appeared at Eos.”

  “Hang on! Her first name is Patricia?” Clio demanded.

  “Yeah. Although I heard Scott call her Patty. No one else calls her anything but Ms.”

  “Polly, are you thinking what I’m thinking?”

  Wherever her sister’s thoughts had gone, Polly’s hadn’t followed. “Not a mind reader, Clio.”

  “Patricia? Patty? It’s too close to Apate to be coincidence.” Clio fidgeted in her seat.

  “I know that name.” Jax twisted to face Clio. “Goddess of Deception, right?”

  “And fraud. She’s a lesser god, really more like spirit than goddess. She was the first bitch out of Pandora’s Box.” Clio spread her hands wide, palms up. “Polly, it fits. Pierus has teamed up with the one deity who could remain invisible as she manipulates the mortal world. That’s how he hid her in plain sight from us.”

  Polly pulled her hand from under Ian’s and gripped his forearm. “Ian, you haven’t felt any kind of pressure, physical or mental from her, have you?”

  “When we were talking in my office, I felt a weird sort of tension, like I was surrounded by fast drying concrete. But it didn’t last.”

  “You think she was trying to compel him to do something against his will?” Clio leaned into Jax’s side, like she needed the comfort. He slipped his arm around her shoulders.

  “I think it’s worth mentioning to Mars.” Polly poked Ian in the ribs. “Move, I need to make a fast trip to Olympus.”

  “From here?” Ian asked as he slid off the bench.

  Polly glanced around. Too many mortals around to risk stepping into the Hollow, even with masking charms in place. “I’ll just run to the bathroom and leave from there. I’ll be right back.”

  “Can’t you just call him? I saw a cellphone clipped to his belt the other night. Or open a link to him in your mind?”

  “It’s after seven. His phone will be on silent. And the link isn’t always secure. In light of our suspicion that Apate is in cahoots with Pierus, I’d rather not trust this information to the ether. It’s hard to fool her.”

  “Do you need an escort?” Ian arched a brow at her.

  “Come if you want. It will be fast though.” Polly glanced at her sister. “I’m famished. Would you order me the Rowan burger and fries? We’ll be right back.”

  Clio nodded.

  Lacing her fingers through Ian’s, Polly set off toward the tiny hall at the back of the pub. She poked her head into the ladies room. The space was empty, so she jerked Ian through the door with her. She moved into one of the stalls and then twisted the latch.

  “Put your arms around me and hold on. You’re going to feel pressure as we step into the Hollow. It might be disorienting. But I have you, and I won’t let go.”

  Ian complied and pursed his lips as Polly sped through her transformation to mist.

  She slipped into the ether, dragging Ian’s mortal form with her. His fingers dug into her hips, like he was holding on for dear life. Which was probably exactly what he was doing. His form glowed silver in the dimness as she transported them to Mars’s wide country style porch.

  Polly pressed the button next to the soaring arch that was his front door. Ominous chimes sounded over her head. She’d always hated the timbre of his doorbell. It reminded her of the bells of the Chapel of Saint-Hubert tolling during da Vinci’s funeral. She brushed the familiar melancholy away and focused on the here and now. She had an enemy to defeat and a man she was falling in love with at her side.

  The door flew open and Mars filled the doorway. His T-shirt and athletic shorts were soaking wet. He blotted sweat away from his forehead with a bright blue towel and eyed Ian. “Not only have you brought a mortal through the Hollow, you’re interrupting my workout, goddaughter. What up?”

  Did her older-than-the-Christian-God uncle just use street slang with her? She rolled her eyes. “We are pretty sure we know who Pierus has enlisted as his silent partner.”

  Mars stepped to one side and swept his arm wide, inviting them in. Their footsteps echoed in the cavernous marble foyer. Beside her, Ian let out a low whistle, clearly awed by his surroundings. Polly squeezed his hand, warning him to silence. Even though he was aware of the existence of immortals, Mars hadn’t kept it a secret that he disapproved of her shifting Ian through space and time to the foothills below Mt. Olympus.

  Surprisingly, Mars preened a little at Ian’s appreciation of his digs, his broad chest puffing up even more. Mars led them through the mansion to a patio lit by torches. His view of the rugged terrain was more awe-inspiring than his home. Overhead the sky glowed with stars and a larger than life moon. A moon rehung in its proper place after Nia’s challenge. The iridescent orb was haloed in light. In the corner, a sound dock played softly, a drinking song Polly recalled from ancient times.

  A breeze stirred the ends of her hair as they followed Mars to the balustrade separating the paved patio and the wild vegetation growing on the steep hillside.

  Mars held his hand out, and closed his eyes briefly. An instant later, a bottle of water appeared, clenched in his fist. A stupid parlor trick to impress the mortal in the group. “Well, who is it?”

  “We’re certain it’s Apate. She’s masquerading as Patricia Cronin. But…Ian believes she’s onto him.”

  Pinning a hard stare on Ian, Mars asked, “Why do you believe this?”

  Ian dipped his head, but kept his gaze locked on Mars’s face. “First, let me say that cloned laptop was slick. Got right into the mainframe and had instant access to all the files I needed. Although the accounting drive was password protected, Warbringer, the override password you supplied worked like a charm.”

  Scowling, Mars mumbled, “One of my employees will spend a good part of his day tomorrow in supernatural time-out.” He swiped his towel over a rivulet of sweat trailing down his face. “Continue.”

  “My departmental accountant gave me instructions on where to look. Instead of committing the information to memory, I wrote it down. Cronin, or Apate, saw the paper on my desk. I was… I have no defense. She surprised me with her visit to my office, like she knew I was up to something. I didn’t have time to hide it. Sybil barely had time to disappear.”

  Mars growled, the sound rumbling in his chest like a Kraken. “Why was Polyhymnia’s guardian present?”

  Damn, she hated hearing her full name from her godfather’s mouth. Well, from anyone’s mouth.<
br />
  “I, uh…I had to call her once I was in the system. I’m a scientist, not an accountant. I needed help deciphering a spreadsheet.” Thank the goddess he hadn’t mentioned linking directly to the partisan. Best to let Mars believe he’d used a mortal phone, versus an immortal summons. “Right before Cronin saw the note, I felt like I’d been frozen in place.”

  “Do you believe she knows you have an immortal gift?” Mars leaned against the railing and took a long drink from the water bottle.

  Ian shook his head. “I don’t think so. I believe seeing the paper on my desk would have the opposite effect. She’d think I’m just a dumb mortal.”

  “Stand by.” Mars stared at the plinth of the statue of Aphrodite at the edge of the patio and dipped his chin.

  While he sent out whatever instructions he relayed to his staff, Ian tugged Polly close. He pressed his lips to her ear. “Why is Mars the only guy with a Roman name? Everyone else I’ve met goes by the Greek equivalent.”

  “He hates being associated with an animal even if it is a ram with a bigass rack of horns.”

  “Gotcha. Weird.” He leaned away but his dimples made an appearance on his cheeks, even though his lips seemed to fight a smile.

  Mars looked back toward them. “My security team will investigate Apate and her known associates. But they have informed me that in their monitoring of mortal communications, Argran has just announced the closing of two subsidiaries of Eos.” He drained the last of his water and then crunched the plastic in his huge fist.

  Her challenge was in full swing now. “Damnation! They are moving faster than I expected.”

  Clio’s voice boomed in her head. “What’s taking so long?”

  “Bad news from here. Back shortly,” she replied. She turned her eyes to Mars. “We’ve got to get back.”

  “My snooping didn’t provoke the closures, did it?” Ian asked, a stricken look on his face.