Out of Patience Aphrodite

by S. E. Babin

  Artie.

  She lay in a heap beside her bed. Flames licked close to her body and were quickly beginning to climb the curtains. Next to her lay a tipped over shelf. It must have knocked her out briefly, and as that thought occurred to me, I shut my eyes for a second and cursed. It wouldn't have harmed an immortal, but Artie was perilously close to being human.

  I touched her, sent up a prayer to someone who probably wasn't listening, and whispered a word to transport her outside and to the outskirts of the land, praying my magic would hold. She might get cold, but she would be safe from Hellfire. For now. Over the roar of the fire came a shout. It sounded like my name, but it was difficult to hear. I shouted back and rushed out of the room, holding Draco as close as I dared. I thanked my lucky stars I didn't have to breathe as much as a human did. I could see how smoke inhalation could do them in pretty quickly. In the hallway, a shadow stumbled in front of me. I took a startled step back.

  Hermes fell to his knees before me. His eyes were wild and he was cradling his forearm.

  "Hermes!" I knelt to the floor and inhaled sharply. His arm had been damaged by Hellfire. I helped him up. "Clotho?" I shouted.

  He shook his head. I let go of his arm and pushed past him through the house, screaming for him to get out. When I finally made it to the kitchen, Rafe stood by the sink, a look of stricken anguish on his face, tears rolling down his cheeks. I screamed at him to get his attention, but it was like I wasn't even standing there. I yanked on his arm and when his gaze finally met mine, I whispered a sharp word and sent him outside with Artie.

  Hermes was shouting for Clotho. I stopped, lightly sent my magic out, and tried to track her.

  She was not in the house.

  I bolted out of the kitchen only to be stopped by a massive wall of Hellfire. I spun away from it, cradling Draco against my chest. We were under a shield, but I would be a fool to underestimate the power and potential damage Hellfire could cause me, but even more importantly Draco. I'd seen its catastrophic damage firsthand and needed to do my best to escape from the house. Plus...I'd been holding my shield too long. It was beginning to fail. I screamed for Hermes and went the opposite direction to escape the kitchen.

  I felt the hole in my shield before I saw it. Blistering heat roared through it. A final scream tore through me as I blinked out of the house to where my friends were.

  Safety. If there ever was such a thing anymore.

  12

  I repaired the holes in my shield and let the magic drift from me gently. Only when I finished did I notice all three of the Fates standing there with my friends. Instead of looking tired and relieved, their skin was glowing and their eyes were pools of pure magic.

  I took a step away and pulled Draco tighter against me. I stared at them for a moment trying to remind myself these were my friends and they probably wouldn't hurt me.

  Probably.

  I whispered for Draco to stay put and took a few steps closer to them. I opened my mouth to speak but was interrupted by Clotho. But she didn't sound quite like herself.

  "We are damaged."

  Atropos spoke next. "We took a direct hit from Hellfire."

  Lachesis spoke then, "They knew we were here."

  The Fates stood close together and looked more like spooky wax figures than the weirdos I knew them to be. But their skin. And clothes. Oh the Gods, I could see how damaged they were. Hellfire bubbled from their skin and as I watched in horror, the tattoos binding their magic began to pulse with an unearthly light. Draco rushed up beside me and before I could grab him to keep him close, he brushed past me and stopped directly in front of the three most powerful women in the world. I clapped my hands over my mouth and rushed forward to take him back to my side, but when I tried to step forward I couldn't move.

  "Draco," I said in a warning tone. My heart pounded with fear. I struggled against the magic binding me, and if I was the type of mom to tan someone's hide, this would be my chosen moment. It was his magic preventing me from moving.

  He was endangering himself and did not want my interference. "Hermes!" I shouted for my friend in the hopes he could prevent what was about to happen.

  To their credit, the Fates did not move, nor did they try to strike him in any way. But their gazes held him captive. They stared at each other, three immortal and ancient beings and one small immortal with unfamiliar and powerful magic.

  This was one hundred percent a disaster waiting to happen.

  Hermes gave me a sharp shake of his head. He couldn't move either.

  You little monster, I thought to myself. But then I immediately wondered what kind of kid I would have been if I had parents to disobey. Probably a whole lot worse. "Honey, please let me go."

  Draco ignored me. Artemis took a step toward him and called his name, but Draco's attention was solely on the Fates. I began to cry, knowing this moment would change something irrevocably and unable to even for a moment be calm about it. The Fates power began to leak from the places the Hellfire touched, burning us with their power. It stretched into the sky and around the beach. My child began to step closer and closer and ignored my screams.

  When he was merely inches away, his hands stretched out to the three women and magic flowed from him like an open tap.

  I stared in horror as Draco began to rapidly age.

  "No, no no no nonononono.” As he aged the Fates' power grew and burned through the air. Their binding tattoos began to fade and sink into oblivion, erased from their skin.

  Tears of horror rolled down my face, but Draco still stood.

  Different.

  But still standing.

  When the magic had faded and my tears had dried my emotions into numbness, three ethereal women stood in the Fates' places. They were still Clotho, Atropos and Lachesis. But they were different. Draco turned toward me, releasing his magic. He had aged several years and his face, which once held the youth and weight of a young child, had thinned and become more angular and sharp. His eyes burned the quicksilver of magic. His magic released its hold and I fell to my knees.

  13

  No. Draco walked toward me, magic beating into the stand with every step he took. He stopped in front of me and placed his hand upon my bowed hand.

  "Mother."

  I sobbed with grief and terror. "No. NO DRACO. You cannot spoil your youth by saving others! You cannot throw it away! I forbid it!"

  "It is not yours to command."

  I reared back and met his gaze. "You would defy me?" I wondered if this was how every parent of a teenager felt. Numb, pissed off, and a little dead inside.

  "This is my destiny."

  I shrugged off the hand that landed on my shoulder. I didn't know whose it was, but I wanted no one to touch me right now. I stared at my son, his face so painfully like his father's it rendered my heart in two. The silver drowned out all the traces of blue I had given his eyes.

  No more diaper changes. No spoon feeding. No collecting shells on the beach. Was it my destiny to have a child who shed the vestiges of youth faster than I could stop to enjoy it? It was only days ago when I held his tiny body in my hands and this boy who stood in front of me now...I didn't know who he was.

  "When does it end?" I asked him. "When you've given everything of yourself? Do I have to watch you age years even as I never age a day?"

  "I am immortal. It will end." His smile was sad and way too old for him.

  "End? Your aging or your life?" I shook my head. "I don't even know what just happened here. I don't know what you did or where the Fates' tattoos went or why they're still glowing with crazy ass magic or WHY YOU SUDDENLY LOOK LIKE YOU'RE ABOUT TO GO THROUGH PUBERTY!!" I looked around wildly and my friends were just standing there with bewildered expressions. Much like the one I assumed I was wearing.

  "I am the first of my kind," he said as he sat down beside me. "There are no rules."

  My lips pressed together in a thin line. "I like rules. They keep shit sane."

  "Don't say shit," Artie w
hispered.

  "Give it a fucking day, Artie, and he'll be twenty five and smoking pot in my basement."

  "You shouldn't say fuck either."

  Hermes let out a coughing snort of laughter. I sighed, rubbed my forehead and looked at him. "Can we not do this, Draco? Can you explain to me what just happened? Will they be okay?"

  The Fates were still standing in the same position looking like alien glow sticks.

  "They are going through a...metamorphosis."

  Okay...first. I never used words like metamorphosis, so I know I never taught him that. And second...how the heck did he know what just happened? My magic wasn't just ingrained into me. I still didn't know how to use it half the damn time.

  "Okay," I said because what the hell else was I going to say in this dramatically screwed up moment?

  "They will be what they were always meant to be."

  And...that was a wee bit terrifying. Because they were already scary as hell. I mean, it would be awesome if they suddenly turned into adorable kewpie dolls, but after what I'd just witnessed, I was kind of leaning toward them becoming land walking magical great white sharks or something. I sighed.

  A movement on the other side of me startled my attention from the ravenous Fate sharks. "Thank the gods," he murmured next to me. "I'm so glad everyone is alright." He gestured to the Fates. "Does Draco know what happened to them?"

  "Draco is being super cryptic. Apparently that's his thing now. All the parenting books I'd read said to be prepared for bluntness and scheduled poop viewings during potty training. They never said anything about rapidly aging, overly powerful preteens."

  "Rafe said you should have put away the human parenting manuals."

  "Shut up, Draco," I said. Artie gasped. "Relax," I called. "I think this is what parents do when they're frustrated with their sarcastic teenagers. Right, Draco?"

  He rolled his eyes, but a dimple peeked out from the small smile on his mouth. Well. At least he wasn't immune to humor.

  "From what I can tell the bindings suppressing their magic are gone."

  "Woo," Hermes breathed. But it wasn't a good woo. It was a holy crap are we all going to die woo.

  "Yeah. But did you see my kid?"

  Hermes snorted. "I'm still processing."

  He gave Draco the side eye. "Hey."

  My son laughed. "Hey."

  I rolled my eyes. Man talk. One syllable words making the world go round since the dawn of time.

  "So how old are you now?" Hermes asked.

  "In immortal years?"

  "I don't even want to know what that means," I blurted.

  "Is this going to happen again?" Hades asked, managing to make it sound way nicer and cooler than I did.

  Draco shrugged. "Depends on my magic expension. But possibly."

  "What about the bindings?" I asked.

  "Mom," he said with an epic eye roll. "They're just tattoos. What little magic they possessed burned away when I helped the Fates."

  "Great," I said, with a false chirp in my voice.

  "I have someone helping me with my magic."

  Dread and fear fell like lead into the pit of my stomach. I sat up straighter. "Who?" I demanded.

  He blinked a couple of times. "Dad," he said quietly.

  Before I could react to that shattering an announcement a quiet hiss began. As soon as it caught our attention, an explosion rocked through the air, throwing us all back.

  I woke up with a mouth full of dirt. Clotho was on one knee before us. Her two sisters were gone.

  I scrambled to my feet, heart pounding, looking frantically for Draco.

  "Are you okay?" she demanded, her voice harsh but sounding more like Clotho than she had earlier. She looked....aware. But her eyes. Her eyes were the color of pure prophecy. She stared at me unseeing and took my hand in hers.

  The land fell away.

  War. Blood. Fire. Olympus in ruins. Heaven falling. Hades tortured. Rafe's anguished face. Nephilim bodies scattered everywhere. These were the visions she showed me before I ripped myself away to conserve my sanity.

  "WHAT THE HELL, CLOTHO?" I screeched.

  She blinked, her eyes bleeding back to their normal honey brown. "I - I'm sorry. Are you okay?"

  "No freaking thanks to you."

  "I - I don't know what happened."

  Oh, I knew what happened. I held her arm up. “Check your arms.”

  "My tattoos," she gasped and stared at me in horror. Magic sparked from her fingertips. "Oh gods," she whispered.

  Clotho blinked away without saying goodbye.

  14

  Alrighty then. Three Fates loose in the world with uncontrolled powers. Super. That won't come back at all and bite me in the ass. I let out a deep and aggrieved sigh. Rafe sat several feet away from me. He looked positively shell shocked. My gaze lingered, but when I opened my mouth to say something, Draco leaned over to touch my arm.

  "He didn't know," he whispered, quietly enough so Rafe wouldn't hear it.

  "How do you know?"

  He shrugged. Exactly what kind of being was my son?

  I got up anyway and went over to him. Rafe didn't react until I reached out to touch him. He flinched away from me.

  "I don't know how they found us. I did everything right." He wrapped his arms around his knees. "Everything. I did everything right."

  "It doesn't matter. Everyone is okay."

  He slid a disbelieving glare my way. I corrected my stance. "Mostly."

  I gestured for everyone who was left to come over. I spoke to them in whispered voices and when everyone agreed, I had them join hands. Second later, we were transported to the place of my birth.

  The Aegean sea always made me feel better, but could Draco swim? I wondered if he would shoot me with Hellfire if I tried to put floaties on him. Did he even like the water anymore? I should have thought this through a little better, but it was one of the only places we couldn't be tracked. The magic was too thick here. Too confusing. This was the place where I worked out all of my problems.

  With a shimmer of magic, I changed into a modest blue one-piece swimsuit and dove into the sea. Seconds later, Artie, Hermes, Draco and Rafe were floating beside me. Draco was not wearing floaties, for the record.

  Artie's brown tresses tangled with my blonde ones. "What are we going to do?" I wondered out loud.

  "What can we do?" Hermes asked.

  "We need to find the nephilim," I said.

  "And if she doesn't want to help?" asked Rafe.

  "We make her," I said.

  My son made a disappointed noise.

  "You're going to be making that sound a lot,"I told him. "I'm a constant disappointment."

  Hermes snorted.

  "She will help," Hermes said. "I can be very persuasive."

  I couldn't help the pink tinge that crossed my cheeks. He was.

  "Is this place protected?" Artie asked, her lavender eyes looking around at the scenery.

  I didn't think it used to be until I met my mother. I looked up at the sky and saw the tell tale silver of my mother's magic in the sky.

  "We're safe," I assured them, even though the pang of not knowing where my mother was hit me in the stomach with the force of a baseball bat. She was one of the casualties of this whole debacle. But I had to keep the faith that she was still around somewhere. Hecate was crafty. She had to be.

  "There's a familiar magic here," Draco said. "Whose is it?"

  Oh how to explain the joys of Grandma death goddess. All of us laughed. "Let me tell you about your grandmother, Hecate," I said as I floated on my back.

  Draco asked a thousand questions. I answered what I could. When he asked when he could meet her, tears swam in my eyes. My mother couldn't leave the Underworld. When Hades was taken captive, I had no idea what happened to her. She hadn't shown her face after I came back when I lost him. If she was still hiding there, I had no way to know. If she was gone, I didn't know that either. I tried not to think about it.

  "I h
ave hope we can meet her again one day. But I have to save your father first."

  "He said you'd say that. He also said you shouldn't come for him. It's more important to save us than him."

  "Well," I said sweetly, while my teeth felt like they were grinding into dust, "isn't he just so selfless?"

  "He also said you'd say that, too."

  Artie snorted with laughter.

  "I'm glad you get to talk to your father, but he isn't around to ground you, and I am."

  "He said you'd say that too."

  I sighed. "Shush and float. We will go get Rachel tomorrow."

  "Yes, Mother."

  "That's what you should always say."

  "Yes, Mother," he said again.

  At least he got his knack for sarcasm honestly.

  15

  Rachel was not happy to see me. Neither was the state of Texas.

  Texas probably didn’t mind as much as Rachel though. We ran into her in a bar in downtown Houston. We’d gone to her house first but once we realized she wasn’t there, we let Rafe track her power signature. As soon as we stepped into the bar, there was enough magic to let us know we were about to nab the right person. But, that was where our luck ran out. Much like we could sense her magic, she could sense ours. And after a frantic glance around the bar from her, and locking eyes, she burst out of her stool and fled the bar.

  I’d caught enough of her to know she had a sheet of straight blonde hair and a dancer’s body, but after that I had to rely on my other senses to find her. Plus Rafe. Thank the gods he was there. When we finally tracked her down, she made her stand in an alley with only one exit.

  The one we were standing in.

  After a massive street brawl I was sure would make the six o’clock news, I finally resorted to knocking her stubborn ass out with a metal trash can I’d blown toward her. Once she was out cold, I hogtied her and threw her in the trunk with some magic dampening ties I'd nicked from Olympus last time I was there. We'd rented a suite with two bedrooms, hauled Rachel in the room under the dark of night and sat around her in a creepy immortal circle waiting for her to wake the hell up.