Out of Patience Aphrodite

by S. E. Babin

  I woke up the next morning feeling positive for the first time in months. It should have been my first clue that the shit was about to hit the fan. I walked out of my bedroom, leaving Draco still adorable and crashed out in his crib.

  The door clicked shut behind me and when I stepped into the living room, all I saw was bed head and grim faces. I was about to grin and make a joke when I smelled something strange. My steps slowed and stilled.

  Fear stole into my heart and froze my blood. "Where is he?"

  Clotho stood and came over to me. Her hands were cold as she touched my arm and tried to guide me to the couch. I yanked away. "No!" I snapped. I shut my eyes, counted to three and opened them to look at my friends. All of them were miserable.

  "He's in the bedroom," Artie finally said.

  "No one thought to wake me?" My voice came out in sort of a screech hiss.

  "The end result would still be the same," Hermes said.

  I held his whiskey colored gaze for longer than I was comfortable with. There was grief, pain and a whole lot of regret.

  "Take me to him," I demanded.

  Death was in the air, and the plans I had while waiting to fall asleep last night were shattered.

  In death, Atlas was still handsome and larger than life.

  "How did someone get in here?" I demanded. Rafe stood beside me, his mouth a grim slash against his face. He shook his head but spoke softly. "I - I should have thought of it," he whispered.

  "What? Thought of what?" I demanded.

  "Your warding. It's for immortals. Not angels. I didn't think anyone would come here." His face was anguished.

  I stood straighter. "You think an angel did this?"

  "It makes the most sense."

  I stepped closer to him, studied the wiry strength of his body and the way he was staring at my friend. Or his shell.

  "Did you do this?" I asked quietly.

  His gaze flew to mine and his tan face went even paler than it already was. "Of course not! How could you even ask that of me?"

  "He knows I'm getting close. He knows I'm trying to get to Hades. Did you tell him what we had?"

  Rafe shook his head. "Abby, I know you're growing desperate, but I would never do this. Never. If I have the power to track a nephilim, so does every one of my kin. It could have been anyone."

  Atlas lay with his arms crossed over his chest, a pose written into every single bad vampire movie. There was no evidence of any kind of wound, but he wasn't breathing and his skin had taken on a waxy sheen. I might not be able to tell what happened, but he was most definitely dead.

  I slammed my hand down on the nightstand and let out a frustrated scream. Atlas hadn't deserved to die. If I were being honest with myself, this was all my fault.

  Again.

  I would grieve later. I noticed I was justifying my actions a lot these days by choosing to deal with things later, but I couldn't afford to slow down. I couldn't grieve the loss of Atlas right now, because if I sat down and really let the things I was thinking about come out of me, I'd wind up in the fetal position with puddles of melted ice cream around me.

  "Where can I find another nephilim?"

  Rafe stared at me open-mouthed.

  "Where, Rafe?"

  He crossed his arms over his chest and took on a defiant stance.

  "I don't have time." I waved my hand around. "We don't have time. Tell me where to find another."

  "And what are you going to do? Endanger every single nephilim walking the Earth and hope you can keep them safe long enough for you to get into Heaven?"

  "Yes," I told him with heartbreaking honesty. "I will plow through as many nephilims as I need to get my husband back."

  Silence fell as we stood there at an impasse.

  He spun on his heel and walked out, with me following close behind. When we'd gotten back to the living room, my son was standing there in his rocket ship pajamas. But there was...something off. He was -

  "You're glowing," I said stupidly. "Why are you glowing?" I rushed over to him and brushed his hair off his forehead, but as soon as I touched him, awareness jolted through me.

  Hades.

  I didn't dare break the skin-to-skin contact, though I was very worried why my son was suddenly acting as a conduit to his father. Words began to whisper through my head.

  "Walk away, love. Go somewhere you can keep our son safe and leave me to this fate. He will rebuild the world."

  I couldn't say anything. Hot tears began to fall down my face as he talked to me.

  "Abby, my strength is fading. I won't be able to reach out to you anymore. I need you to keep my son safe. Ensure my legacy."

  "I cannot ensure your legacy, Hades. Penelope is pregnant with your heir." I rubbed my shaking hand across my face. "An heir. Crap. I don't know. This whole thing has me very confused. I can't just waltz in and proclaim our son to be the heir of the Underworld, when you're already married to someone else! I am alone. There's no one who can help me with this. No one who would even believe me. Not even the immortals. It's too much."

  "You will never be alone. He is a piece of me. Protect him. Protect yourself. I'll love you forever and always."

  Our connection broke off abruptly and the glow in my son's eyes faded.

  Clotho put her hand on my shoulder, but I shrugged it off. I clasped my son by the shoulders. "Are you okay?" I whispered.

  A beatific smile crossed his face. "You're right. I do love him."

  I rested my forehead against his. "I promise you, Draco. I will bring him back."

  I picked him up and took him to the kitchen. I popped a bowl of instant oatmeal into the microwave and, when it was finished, topped it with a little brown sugar and some blueberries. When he was eating, I went to face my friends.

  "He wants me to leave him. He wants me to find a safe place for our son and live without him."

  None of them said a word. I could only assume they knew what I was going to say.

  "There is no living without him. I will find him. With or without a nephilim." They all slowly nodded. "Good. Now watch my kid. I need a shower."

  I didn't wait for them to answer. I headed right to my bedroom and turned on the scalding hot shower and stepped in.

  I was going to murder Hades when I saw him. Totally kill him and then kiss him all over.

  How dare he tell me to leave him.

  Murderous rage fueled my shower and the rest of my day. I just kept repeating "stupid Hades" over and over again while I tried to come up with a plan that wouldn't get any of us killed.

  When I went to bed that night, I didn't feel much better, but I was still angry, and that was way better than being sad.

  10

  When I woke up the next morning, I realized Draco wasn't in the room with me. Knowing him, he was probably somewhere picking daisies with trolls. I snorted in amusement and was just about to roll out of bed to find him when I saw a note on my nightstand.

  Despite me being super creeped out someone was able to get in here without me knowing about it, I was still more curious about the note. I grabbed it, opened it up, and my heart began to pound with excitement.

  There was only a name and and address. Rachel Cline. She lived in Texas.

  Yeehaw, bitches. We were about to catch us a nephilim.

  The note was unsigned, but I recognized the familiar messy scrawl of the angel I was currently shacking up with. I grinned, carefully folded the note, and put it into the drawer of the nightstand. With a lead like that, I could stand to face the day.

  When I walked into the kitchen for coffee, all of my friends were sitting there with a large box in the middle of the kitchen table. All of them were staring at it so intently that I screamed, “WHAT’S IN THE BOX??!!” Just like that Brad Pitt movie that had scared the bejeezus out of me and Artie years ago. Everyone startled and turned to glare at me. I couldn’t stop chortling on my way to the coffee pot.

  “Atlas is in the box,” Artie murmured, but her lips were twitching an
d I could tell she was trying really hard not to laugh.

  “Christ,” I said and snorted as I saw Rafe wince out of the corner of my eye. “Jesus,” I muttered in frustration only to see him wince again. I opened my mouth to try and apologize, but Hermes interrupted.

  “Kindly shut up now, please.”

  I pressed my lips together and focused on making my coffee. It was only when I turned around that the dam broke on the tension we’d been holding for weeks.

  Artie let out a snort and the entire table followed. It started out small, but within moments all of us were holding our stomach and cracking up. Even Rafe joined in even though I’d just taken his lord’s name in vain. Twice. He’d been getting on to me about that for months now, but I just wasn’t versed enough in his pantheon to know how offensive it was. Also...they were kind of holding my husband prisoner so I couldn’t say I cared too much about offending them. Or anyone affiliated with them.

  However, I liked Rafe, so I usually tried for his benefit. Until this morning. When my friend whispered that my former friend was somehow in a box. That deserved a disloyal epithet.

  When the laughter died down, Clotho wiped her eyes. “You’ve always been such a lovable mess, Abby. How did Olympus go so wrong?”

  I tilted my mug at her. “Considering I have some of the most powerful Olympians sitting here drinking coffee and joking about a head in a box, I’d have you rephrase that question to ‘Gosh, how did we go so right’”?

  She shook her head, but she was still smiling so I took that as a good sign. I gestured to the box. “Do I dare ask how Atlas got in the box?”

  Rafe’s smile fell. We were being a teensy weensy bit disloyal, but Atlas had been a spy. So maybe he deserved it. At least a little.

  “I had to dispose of him by the nephilim traditions. If I hadn’t, other...entities could abuse the ashes.”

  My mug dipped from my mouth. “Entities? Like dirty necrophiliacs?”

  Artie spit out a little bit of her coffee.

  “No,” he answered with infinite patience. “Like Reanimators.”

  I leaned forward. “Holy crap. Necromancy? Those guys exist?”

  Hermes burst out laughing. “You’re sitting here with the Olympians, the Fates, an angel, and a nephilim in a box and you’re still asking that question?”

  “Heh,” Hera said with a deeper chuckle than I’d ever heard from her. “Nephilim in a box. That could be the name of a restaurant.”

  “Only if you were a dirty necromancer,” chimed in Artie.

  “Or you liked your nephilim well done,” piped in Atropos.

  Rafe was looking slightly green around the gills.

  “Children,” Clotho piped in, “let’s maybe give it a rest.”

  “You aren’t my mom,” said Hera.

  Artie and I snickered.

  “So,” I said, once we started to act our age again, “what’s everyone up to today?”

  “Taking over the world,” Artie said with a shrug.

  Clotho and her sisters exchanged glances. “Figuring out how to kill an omnipotent being,” Lachesis said.

  Hermes let out an aggrieved sigh and took a drink of his coffee. Rafe chuckled.

  I eyeballed him. “And what are you up to?” I still needed to thank him for the lead.

  “Trying to survive in my new life, “ he said, and I was pretty sure he wasn’t joking. Much.

  Draco came shuffling out of the guest room, dark hair sticking up everywhere and his silver eyes swirling. Everyone greeted him and he stared at them like they were total weirdos.

  They were, but they were my weirdos.

  He held his hands up and I picked him up. “Hey, guy.”

  Draco laid his head on my shoulder and I sucked up all of the little baby goodness. Though he wasn’t so little anymore. It pained me some, but he was still mine. Even if I didn’t get to see his little butt waddling around in too big diapers and fat rolls.

  “How about we go to the beach today?” I whispered in his ear.

  His silver eyes widened. “Can I pick up seashells?”

  I nodded. “As many as you want.” And tonight we’d plan the trip to retrieve the nephilim.

  I set my son down and told him to go put on swim trunks. As I was walking to my room to get dressed, Rafe came up beside me.

  “It’s the last one I’ll give you,” he said quietly.

  He was speaking about the note. “Why?”

  “I can’t condone killing my brothers and sisters.” He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked uncomfortable. “But if I ever managed to find something like you and Hades found, I would never want to let it go.”

  I stopped mid-step. Rafe halted, surprised when I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him to me. “I’m glad you’re here.”

  He patted my back awkwardly as if he’d never been hugged enough. “I am too, you weirdo.”

  11

  Within twenty minutes, Draco and I were dressed and out the door. I held his hand, shut my eyes and transported us to the closest beach I could find. As soon as we arrived, the cool breeze blew our hair gently and I sighed as the sun soaked away some of the tension I’d been holding. Draco had a death grip on a bright blue bucket and he ran ahead of me and onto the beach. Sometimes magic was awesome. Less than five minutes and we could dip our toes into the bright azure waters of the ocean.

  I grinned as he ran around picking up every shell to catch his eye. When a shiny stone attracted my attention, I’d take it over to him. Whether or not he accepted it was another story, though, so I’d tuck those stones into my pocket for later. He had particular stone proclivities. They had to be shiny. But not too shiny. And pink was completely out of the question. White and black were the most popular choices, followed by certain shades of blue. I finally gave up and spread a blanket out for us.

  When he finally wore himself out, he came over to where I was sitting on a blanket I’d spread out and collapsed beside me. I smiled at him, lightly pinched his cheeks, and began to tell him about his father. And me. And all of our successes and failures.

  Phrased in an appropriate way for a kiddo, of course. Telling him the truth of our violent escapades would have traumatized him. I’d wait until he was a teenager. He stared up at me with those silvery blue eyes so very much like his fathers. Rapt attention and didn’t even interrupt once. This kid...was something.

  And when I finished with that, I told him how I’d fallen in love with Hades. A little bit at a time until I accidentally stepped right off the cliff and fell into a massive pool of it. He giggled at that and squirmed around until he eventually demanded food.

  I pulled out the sandwiches I'd made for us - his peanut butter and jelly and mine a salami and ham with chipotle mayo. It always grossed Hermes out but he just didn't understand what flavor town was all about.

  We munched for awhile and slurped down the iced tea I'd snagged from the fridge, and I lay back against the blanket with Draco curled up beside me.

  It was the best day I'd had in awhile, and while I longed for Hades to be beside me, I felt good in knowing that soon enough, if everything went my way, we would be back in each other's arms.

  I lay there for a little while, but nudged Draco once he started to nod off. He'd be difficult to get back to the house if I let him fall asleep. Draco was a cranky pants when he got tired. He didn't argue much, just popped his thumb in his mouth, grimaced at all the sand on it, wiped it off and stuck it back in his mouth.

  He grimaced again but didn't take it back out. Sand - 1. Draco - 0.

  I gathered up our stuff, put everything into the basket I'd brought and took his hand. Draco grabbed his blue bucket of trusty rocks and we were off, me with some sun on my shoulders and a relaxed attitude. Draco with a bunch of rocks and a stomach full of pb&j.

  We didn't talk much when we made it to the edge of the property, but as we were drawing closer to the house, something from the sky caught my eye.

  Something that looked completely out of place
in an area like this.

  I stopped and held Draco back. My heart was beginning to pound in my chest as I watched the trajectory of the light.

  It was heading straight for the house. Hermes’ house.

  And it wasn't a meteor or heaven forbid even a plane.

  It was Hellfire. Pointed right at my friends.

  An anguished scream broke from my throat as I dropped everything and tore my hand away from Draco's. I sent a massive boom of magic up in the air to try to force it away.

  But it was too late. The Hellfire ripped into the farmhouse, sending a massive boom into the air and sending debris everywhere. I threw up a protective bubble and drew Draco closer to me.

  "Mommy? That looks like God's magic."

  However in the Hell he knew that, I didn't want to know. I kept the shield over us, scooped him up in one hand and rushed directly into the fire.

  Draco held on tightly. He was quiet, but I could feel him tremble against me. Or maybe that was just me. I was too terrified to tell.

  The first thing I heard was the screaming. The flames were so loud it was hard to tell what direction it was coming in, so I ran to the right first. I could barely see anything past my hands. The heat of the Hellfire beat at my shields. I screamed for Artie first. Then Hermes and clotho. Anyone.

  Anyone who was still alive.

  Draco's calm exterior broke. Loud, hiccuping sobs of fear echoed through the bubble and I pressed him against me. I whispered fervent and urgent words into his ear until his sobs subsided. I could not leave him outside. If God was trying to take my friends out in order to get to me...if he knew I wasn't inside the home, Draco must be his target. Or both of us.

  My son clung to me with a death grip. I stepped quickly through the house, kicking doors open and cursing my stupid choice in footwear. I didn't dare use magic right now. Not with my fear, not with Hellfire, and not with my magic currently protecting my son. I came to what I thought must be one of the bedrooms. I forced the door open with my foot and found a prone body there with long brown hair.