Out of Patience Aphrodite

by S. E. Babin

  I gave him a nod because my throat was too full to speak.

  The Fates came rolling in next, even though I hadn't called them. They were good at that. I let them each in and they all embraced me, but Clotho held on the longest.

  I poured them all a cup of coffee using the mismatched and chipped cups Hermes had never replaced. We gathered around the living room and I went into the other room to fetch my son who was spending most of his time coloring and putting together LEGO sets that were supposed to be way too advanced for him. He was a quiet, charming kiddo. For the most part.

  He stepped out, carrying a soft blue blanket, and stuck his thumb in his mouth.

  There was a collective inhale of breath as my friends stared at the son who was still supposed to be in a swaddling blanket.

  "Is that normal?" whispered Artie.

  Clotho reached over to grip her knee, but I didn't miss the quick shake of her head.

  Hermes, the gods bless him, didn't miss a beat. He rose off the couch, dropped to Draco's level and stuck his hand out. "My names is Hermes."

  Draco stared at him for a moment. "You are the messenger God. The servant of Zeus. You carry a mighty caduceus and call my mother your friend." My son tilted his head. "You are also the god of thieves, but you choose not to acknowledge this."

  What. The. Hell?

  Everyone was staring at my son. Including me. I knew he could speak and speak well. But where in the world had this come from?

  Hermes looked uncomfortable and disconcerted before he shook his head and laughed out loud. "Of course you would be Abby's son. Of course." He looked at me and laughed again before he stood.

  I wasn't sure what that meant, but I wasn't sure it was a good thing.

  "Uh, Draco?"

  My son was staring at Artie and didn't respond. I called his name again. He skipped over to me, a total reversal from his weird psychic vibe from a moment ago. He looked up, curious.

  I bent down to his level. "How did you know about Mr. Hermes?" I wasn't sure why I called him mister. I just knew that's what mortals did and it seemed to convey respect.

  He shrugged. "Sometimes I just know things."

  Yeah, like a 40-year-old’s vocabulary. My lips started a twist into a frown, but I schooled my face as best I could. Teachable moment. Isn't that what they called it?

  "It's good to know things, honey. But sometimes we should keep that knowledge to ourselves."

  "Why?"

  "Well sometimes when we give someone too much information it can scare them."

  Draco's attention turned to Hermes. "He doesn't look scared," he whispered.

  I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing. "That's because he's a very good friend of mine and he doesn't scare easily."

  "What about the woman with the lavender eyes?" he whispered. "She is one of us. But...not."

  I sighed and ruffled his hair. "You're right. But the thing about Artie is that no matter what she is or who she becomes, she will always be one of us."

  "Why?" he asked again, his silver eyes focused on her.

  "Because we love her. And sometimes our choices in life come down to that one simple fact."

  He made a noise in his throat, but his attention didn't waver from her. He skipped away from me and stood in front of her.

  My beautiful friend smiled at him and reached up to stroke his cheek. "You are a beautiful little boy. My name is Artemis." She winked at him. "But my friends call me Artie."

  A heartstopping grin filled his face. "Then I will call you Artie because my mother says we love you. So that means I will love you, too."

  Artie's gaze flicked to mine. Her eyes were shiny. "And I will do the same, son of Aphrodite."

  My son was completely and utterly charmed by my best friend. Instead of coming back over to me, he plopped down right next to her and rested his dark head on her shoulder.

  My heart was as full as it could be without my husband. His absence was a deep, dark ache in the core of me. I could exist, but I could never fully live.

  I had all of my friends here except...Hera.

  "Does anyone know where Hera is?"

  "I can only assume in Olympus, Abby. Did you contact her?"

  I tapped my chin with my finger. "I wasn't sure I should."

  Hermes gave me a measured look. "She considers you a friend. For someone like Hera to acknowledge this in way of deeds rather than words, sometimes I think there is no treasure greater."

  "Wow, Hermes, is this your rather indirect and poetic way of telling me I should call her?" I winked at him.

  He flushed pink and averted his eyes. "I'm just saying if you held the friendship of someone as powerful and...fickle as Hera, I would nurture it."

  "Done," I said. I closed my eyes for a moment and brought Hera's cool Patrician beauty to mind.

  "Good gods," a haughty voice said from behind me. "Are we farmers now?"

  I turned to see Zeus' former wife and my newish friend standing there way overdressed and wearing an utterly disgusted look on her face.

  "I so rarely come to Earth," she said as she wrinkled her nose, "I forget how much it smells."

  I puttered into the kitchen, popped a pod into the coffee pot and let it go. Once I poured enough cream and sugar into the mug to make it unrecognizable, I handed it to her. She took it gingerly, but her eyes were sparkling. "As gracious of a host as ever," she said, only a little sarcasm in her voice.

  Her gaze traveled over the room, skimming over Draco, stopping immediately and coming back to him where it stopped. "And who is this darling child?" she asked just as her face whitened. The mug clattered to the floor splashing our feet with hot liquid.

  "Aphrodite!" Her shocked gaze found mine. "What - who." She shook her head and pressed her lips together until they formed a white slash against her face. "Start at the beginning."

  I went back to the kitchen, got her another cup of coffee while she disposed of the remains of the other, and once it was fixed up, I handed it back to her.

  "I think you should sit down."

  "I'm not sure why I should ever be surprised when you are involved." She kicked off her heels and curled up in the large armchair next to Hermes. "I'm preparing to be amazed."

  I sat on the floor next to Artie and Draco, took a deep breath, and told her and everyone else everything that had happened.

  When I made it to the part of Atlas being a nephilim, you could hear a pin drop. Clotho's face went bone white and she muttered something under her breath before she let out a deep breath.

  "I should have known," she murmured to the room and the sisters who were nodding beside her. "He smelled funny. He always did."

  I'd never noticed anything off about him besides his constant disappearing act, but I was off on some harebrained mission ninety percent of the time anyway, so I wasn't surprised I didn't catch it.

  Rafe jumped into the conversation finally. He was intimidated by my friends sometimes, but I hoped after our conversation today, he'd be more willing to hang out with us. "Nephilims are more powerful than a normal angel. You must approach him with caution, and I would not be surprised if he is unwilling to help. God is not someone people or even immortals normally trifle with."

  All eyes rested on me at that point.

  "Yeah, yeah. I get it. I'm a fly and he's a flyswatter." I made two finger guns. "Pew pew," I said. "He won't expect laser guns."

  Artie rolled her eyes. "When you get a laser gun, let me know."

  "Not a literal laser gun. It's a metaphor for doing the unexpected."

  Hermes burst into laughter but tried to cover it with coughing.

  "Well the unexpected has the potential to blow up the world, Abby, so maybe try to have something of a plan."

  Artie laughed then. "Now, come on. Does anyone actually expect Abby to have a plan when she rolls up into Heaven and demands her husband back?"

  Hera laughed then, a merry tinkling laugh. "She's kind of an idiot."

  "Abuse," I muttered und
er my breath and glared at them all. "I've been sitting on my hands for six months. All I've been doing is trying to come up with a plan."

  "So your plan is Atlas?" Clotho asked.

  "Yep."

  "And then..." Hera drawled.

  "And then I go in and kick ass and take names.”

  Dead silence.

  "You probably shouldn't say ass in front of your kid," said Artie.

  "He heard a lot worse in the womb and since he seems to be smarter than me already, should we maybe worry about that later?"

  Artie shrugged. "If you don't correct things now, you can expect to have some very interesting teenager years."

  "Artie," I snapped. "Focus. I won't say ass anymore."

  "You just did," she pointed out.

  "Starting now."

  A small grin peeked out from her mouth. She leaned over and whispered something to my kid.

  A dimple peeked out from one of his cheeks as he giggled up at her. Awww. I was going to miss Artie like nobody’s business when she finally went back to Asheville. She’d have to leave us behind soon, but I couldn’t help but want to cling to her side and scream at her not to go.

  Rafe drew the conversation back to Atlas by reminding us to be wary of him, but also to remember the good things he'd done for us. Atlas was unable to help the position he was in, but it was very possible his loyalty was divided. God probably arranged it to where Abby would release him from his servitude, putting him exactly where he wanted him.

  "I can locate him for you, but I think it would be better for everyone if I wasn't there when you spoke to him. He will know someone is looking for him when I release my magic."

  "Do you think he'll be angry?" I asked.

  Rafe shrugged. "Depends on his loyalties. I guess." He shut his eyes and long, thin cord of magic trickled up and out through the roof. Moments later it dissipated and he opened his eyes.

  "He's in Asheville."

  "What? He's not hiding out?" My lips twisted to the side in confusion.

  "Why would he?" Rafe asked. "Until now he probably had no idea you were on to him."

  I guess that was true enough. This whole thing was weird. We'd had an nephilim. A spy. Living right underneath our noses for months now.

  "Go," Rafe said, waving a hand at us. "I'll watch the little guy."

  I stood, headed over to Draco, and dropped a kiss on top of his head. "Love you, guy. I'll be back soon."

  He gave me the carefree wave of a child, though everyone in this room knew Draco wasn't exactly what you'd call a child, and jumped up from the couch no doubt to go play LEGOS again.

  Or travel to another dimension.

  I wasn't sure how limited his magic was. He wasn't setting fires anymore, but sometimes he really made me wonder how effective those magic dampening tattoos worked.

  I stood. "Let's go." If I stopped trusting Atlas now, everything would fail.

  We showed up in force outside of a familiar place. The Squawking Parrot was just as outrageously painted as I remembered. I wondered if the bartender I almost seduced was in here. Hopefully not. I'd had all the awkward moments I could handle over the last couple of years.

  Atlas was sitting at the bar looking pretty unsurprised to see us. He'd felt Rafe's magic and knew we were coming.

  I cast away any pretenses and sat down beside him. "Can you open the door?" I asked.

  Atlas shrugged. He didn't look at me. "No idea. Maybe. I can't say I've ever tried."

  "Will he know who opens the door?" Artie asked as she sidled up beside us. There was a look of distaste on her face as her gaze traveled around the hideous decor of the bar.

  Atlas didn't know the answer to the question, although he seemed to think he wouldn't. "Maybe. Not right away," he said, his look lost in thought. "The power signature of a nephilim is...odd. Once the power surge fades, they will realize the door was opened and infiltrated."

  I nodded and turned to my friends standing there. We looked for the most part normal, but Clotho almost always looked like she'd stepped out of a Ren Faire. "I should be the one to go in," I said

  "No," said Hermes, barely giving me time to finish the sentence.

  "Yes. I have a better chance of getting in there and getting out undetected."

  "You also have a better chance of getting captured and held with Hades! If we're there with you and something happens, you have a better chance of getting out with one of us there."

  I grinned at all of them. "We do this every single time."

  "That's because you're an idiot prone to refusing the good advice and assistance of your friends," said Hera from the back. She stepped a little bit closer to Hermes when she noticed a bunch of motley looking truckers giving her the once over. With a tiny shudder, she continued. "It's beyond stupid to enter Heaven by yourself. You tried to do it last time and we ignored you. We plan to ignore you again. In fact, I think we should all make a pact to ignore Abby every time she decides to fall on her own sword."

  Nods all around. Though it warmed my heart, it was also really annoying.

  "I don't have a sword," I grumbled.

  "A metaphorical sword," Hera scoffed. "No one is dumb enough to give you a real sword."

  She made me belly laugh with that one. "You're an asshat and I have no idea why I'm friends with you."

  "Because I tell you the truth."

  "You hurt my feelings all the time," I said.

  "Same thing," she said and motioned for the bartender to come over.

  "Alright," I said once the silence stretched. "You're not only my friends, you're my family. I'm asking you to wait for me at the entrance. If I don't come out in a timely manner, you can come in and retrieve us. But I'd rather you didn't."

  My friends agreed, but I didn't think they were going to heed the wait at the entrance demand.

  I touched Atlas on the shoulder, closed my eyes and sent my thoughts to Rafe. Seconds later, all of us were transported back to the farmhouse. Atlas saw Rafe and nodded. "Thought it might have been you."

  "Sorry about that. Sometimes doing the right thing requires...sacrifice."

  Atlas gave him a long look. "And you would know?"

  "More than anyone, Brother."

  Atlas slumped onto the couch. "For the record, I never meant for this to happen." His gaze searched the room. "I never gave more information than I had to."

  I wanted to punch him. It was like I'd suddenly lost control of my body. I walked several steps over to him, my arm in the air, when strong arms wrapped around my waist.

  "Draco," he whispered and pointed to the hallway where my son was watching with wide, curious eyes.

  "Why is he holding a fistful of bacon?" I whispered.

  Hermes snorted into my hair. "Ask your pet angel," he said.

  My hand dropped and all the fight went out of me. Clotho walked over to Atlas and asked him to join her outside. Maybe she'd zap him into a pile of dust.

  Was Atlas responsible for what happened to Hades? Was he responsible for any of the weirdness lately? There was no way to tell and, honestly, if I wanted to get Hades back sooner rather than later, I couldn't dwell on it. But the thing that really bothered me was my last conversation with Nemesis. Was his status the reason she wanted him brought to her?

  I went over to my son, picked him up, and gave him a quick squeeze. "We're going to get your Dad back."

  His eyes swirled at me. "I'd like to meet him."

  "You're going to adore him," I said, right before I snatched some of the bacon out of his hand and ate it.

  His squeal of laughter made me chuckle, but not enough to feel guilty about it.

  9

  Atlas and Clotho came back in over an hour later, him looking a little shell-shocked, Clotho looking angry. I didn't ask what they talked about. Artie had taken it on herself to make a massive lunch for us. Tortilla roll up sandwiches with chive cream cheese, spinach, and black forest ham, several different kinds of chips and sweet tea. We dove into it like we were starving
puppies.

  With my mouth full, and Draco sitting beside me shoveling chips into his face, we hashed some things out.

  "Zeus is there," I said. "Rafe seems to think he's helping Hades right now."

  Hermes pulled a face. "Why would he do that?"

  Artie snorted. "Why does he do anything? He wants something."

  "He's dead. What could he possibly want?"

  "I don't know, but it can't be good," I said. We'd have to worry about this later. Zeus was dead and I didn't think he could harm me, but I couldn't stress about it. If I thought too much about what I was about to do, I wouldn't get anything done.

  "Do your best to avoid him," Rafe advised. "Do your best to avoid running into anyone."

  "I can help," Clotho said. It was so out of character for her, we all just stopped and looked at her. Not to say she never helped, but her help was almost always given begrudgingly or with dire warnings about screwing up the world.

  "No," I told her, suspicious of her suddenly benevolent and generous nature.

  "Abby. This is it. The end. If we don't step in and help you now, none of this matters. All of us will be gone." Her sisters were nodding.

  "This is your last stand," they all said in one creepy monotone voice. "With your child's life on the line, and with the future we see for him still possible, this is what we must do."

  There was...something in the air. Some finality. Some sense of this being a test I needed to pass. I look toward my friends and I thought maybe they felt it too. The air had gone somber, and even Draco had stopped his restless movement.

  I finally nodded "Okay. I accept."

  Everyone exhaled as a unit.

  "This is it," I said. "We fight together. And together we go out in a blaze of glory."

  "We are in," the Fates said as one. "For Olympus."

  Part of me wanted to scream hell yeah, but I refrained. "I'll come up with a plan and we'll go in tomorrow." I turned to the quiet, massive blond sitting on the couch. "Atlas?"

  He gave a short, quick nod. "Yes."

  "Good." We both knew he didn't have much of a choice. "Let's get some rest. Tomorrow we ride."

  Everyone groaned good naturedly. We spent the rest of the day hanging out and doing nothing but catching up. When night fell, we retired to our rooms. Draco slept in a modified crib next to my bed. He didn't fight bedtime like he normally did. Perhaps he also realized the importance of the next few days.