Hunger: Goddesses of Delphi

by Gemma Brocato

  Ben stroked his hands tenderly along her spine, as if he knew she was emotionally overwrought. “You okay?”

  “Yeah. I think this whole thing, this stupid challenge is getting to me.” She bit back a heavy sigh. “I want it to be over, but…”

  He speared his fingers into her hair, easing her head up until he held her gaze. “Lia, I’m not letting you go when this challenge is over.” Icy determination changed his blue eyes to gray steel.

  “What if you don’t get a choice?” Hades, she sounded whiny. She straightened her back and lifted off his cock. Settled on the floor next to him. “What if the second I defeat Hunger you vanish? Or worse. Christ, Ben, what if I lose?”

  Shushing her worries, he laced their fingers together, and pulled their joined hands to his mouth. He gently teased kisses over each of her knuckles. When he finished, he sucked the tip of her index finger between his lips. Gave her a tiny but sharp nip. “That’s defeatist mentality. We aren’t caving to it.”

  “You’re not. But maybe I am.”

  He bit down harder. “I’ve already set a reminder on my phone for one week from Friday to track you down and make you mine again.”

  “Okay, devil’s advocate here,” she sucked in a breath before continuing, “what if once you find me again, you don’t like me?”

  “Lia, I don’t like you.” He grimaced then replaced the harsh expression with his irresistible smile. “That came out wrong. I don’t just like you. I love you.” His smile got bigger when he stroked his thought directly into her head. “I’ll love you forever.”

  Lia allowed hope to rise in her chest. Maybe, in their case, love would conquer all.

  Chapter 19

  Emma waited for him in the anteroom to the lab. Her animated expression and nervous fidgeting were a dead giveaway to her excited state even if her hands hadn’t launched into motion.

  Ben, Ben, Benny! Gaia’s doctor told me I could hear. Signs flew so quickly from her fingertips, Ben had trouble following.

  He grabbed both her hands in one of his, and cupped her chin with the other. “Slow down.”

  He released her hands and they flew back into action. Yeah, yeah, sorry. I saw Gaia’s doctor yesterday. He told me he could fix my hearing. If I want.

  “Why didn’t you tell me yesterday? And what do you mean, if you want?”

  I tried to reach you, but Gaia said you were in Lia’s apartment, which was shrouded. She gave him a knowing wink. Heat flushed into his cheeks. He might be thirty-seven, but he didn’t need his little sister knowing he’d been getting busy with a certain Muse. Em patted his cheek with a smirk before she took off signing again. I keep asking myself if I need to hear. What am I missing?

  “Music, laughter, the sound of someone whispering they love you into your ear,” he offered.

  Em’s eyes widened, but she merely shrugged. Anyway, Gaia said I had time to decide. Nothing can happen until after Lia’s challenge is over. Something about making sure you guys stick. Is there a chance you’ll break up? You’re perfect for each other.

  It’s complicated.

  You love her?

  He nodded.

  Doesn’t seem so complicated to me. You’ll stick.

  From Emma’s fingers to God’s ears. A yawning ache grew in the pit of his gut, worry that they might not end up with a happily ever after. Lifting one shoulder, he shooed her away. “I have work to do.”

  It’s okay. Gaia is taking me shopping. She has a favorite shoe store in Delphi I’ve never visited. Em bussed his cheek, thumped his shoulder and scurried out of the small room to meet her retail therapy destiny.

  Ben let himself through a door on the left that led to the locker room. He should have been in the lab thirty minutes ago. Making breakfast for Lia, or rather, making Lia eat the breakfast he’d prepared, had distracted him. She wanted Lucky Charms, a thought still capable of sending shivers down his back. While she’d been in the shower, and by the way, she couldn’t hold a tune, but the sound was still magical to his ears, he’d made a special version of pancakes, loaded with protein.

  He zipped his clean-suit and a slight chuckle rattled around his belly. The way her lip had curled when she sniffed at the plate he’d deposited in front of her. He’d cajoled her into smearing peanut butter on top, instead of syrup.

  To his relief, she’d liked the breakfast and had focused on showing her gratitude. The end result: he was running late, but almost didn’t give a flip. Booties in place, he stepped into the sanitizing chamber. Germ killing fog misted over his face for the requisite thirty seconds before the opposite door slid open.

  The hum of activity assaulted his ears, and he welcomed it. All around, the gods and goddesses working in the lab looked happy and relaxed as they joked with one another. After yesterday’s breakthrough, they ought to be happy. They were one step closer to ending Hunger’s run at beating a Muse.

  Ian stood in his fish-bowl office with Enlil and another man, er, god. The newcomer was diminutive; a spare, slight frame, and curls waving down to the middle of his back. A crown of what looked like seaweed circled his head.

  “Ah, Ben. Just in time,” Ian greeted him. “This is Poseidon. He was curious about our plan for seeding the ocean with an antidote for Pierus and Enki’s pollutants.”

  “Pleasure to meet you, sir. Um, my lord.” How the fuck did you address a god? Ben extended his hand and struggled to keep from wrinkling his nose. The god smelled like fish and had the dampest handshake Ben had ever experienced.

  “Now, none of this my lord. That bullshit went out in the sixteenth century, right around the time of the Spanish Armada. Just call me Don.” The guy’s voice was garbled, like centuries of existence underwater had altered his vocal chords. “I have some questions about how your compound will affect the natural vegetation of my domain.”

  Ben rubbed his hands together, in part to eliminate residual moisture from the god’s greeting, and in part because he warmed to his task. He got down to explaining their plan, what would happen when they created and dispensed the healing fog this morning.

  Lia and Zeus had checked into the lab before heading to SecCom for an update. While Ben explained what they’d settled on, Zeus had clapped Ben on the back at least a half dozen times. There were probably bonus points for Ben for formulating, with help from the goddess Demeter, a rapid release option that might even reverse the effects on this year’s harvest, not just condition the soil for next year’s crop.

  Suddenly, humanity did not seem to be in as much peril as they had been. Lia’s chest had puffed up with pride at the appreciation Zeus had showered on the man she’d fallen helplessly in love with.

  And hoped to keep.

  Now, in the confines of SecCom, she paced, aggravated because nothing was happening. Ben and Ian had begun distributing the cure an hour ago.

  “Lia, sit down.” Zeus’s words were quiet, but there was no mistaking the command in his tone.

  They’d been sitting in the darkened control room for three hours. It was stuffy, and one of the partisans had consumed enough ale last night to have a serious case of beer farts. The stench was bad enough to curdle milk. The air freshener Shelly sprayed surreptitiously only choked the room with cloying sweetness each time the stinky man squeaked one out. Smelled like a goddamned frat house.

  Obeying Zeus’s direct order, Lia threw herself into a theater seat at the back of the room. Slouching low, she swung her leg over the arm of the chair and sulked.

  Shelly took the seat next to her. “It will be over soon.” She patted Lia’s knee.

  That was another thing chapping her ass at the moment. She liked Shelly, but the woman had stayed glued to her side the entire day. Like a frickin’ shadow. “Maybe. But what happens then? We go through this five more times? It’s bullshit,” she muttered.

  Her complaint drew Zeus’s attention. A hard pinch gripped her neck accompanying his scowl.

  She jerked a hand to her neck and tried to rub the painful nudge away. “Well
, it is. Something better happen soon, or I’m going to make like a firecracker and blow up.”

  With a pronounced limp, her father claimed the chair next to hers. He sat with a groan. “Do not wish away the time we have. This unexpected quiet allows Ben and Ian to spread the antidote wider. It is an advantage for us.”

  Yep, it was possible to feel lower than a snake’s belly in a gutter. “I know. The inaction is killing me. If I’m going to become a damn ugly bird, I’d just as soon get it over with.” And Zeus’s infirmity worried her. Perhaps, once she was done, Zeus’s health would return to normal. She fervently prayed she wasn’t fooling herself about that.

  Mortals without the influence of the Muses would be in sorry shape. But mortals might not continue to exist, or worse, exist in a state of slavery, without Zeus’s love and protection.

  “That is what mortals call a defeatist attitude.” Zeus echoed Ben’s words as he trailed his hand along her arm, pushing confidence and calm into her body with the simple motion. “Gods and goddesses do not give into such emotions. We are above that.”

  Zeus ended his stroke with his hand wrapped around hers. She left it there, and willed tiny healing nudges through the point of contact. Zeus gave her an approving look and then settled more comfortably into the plush chair.

  “Mars, I believe we have found something.” At the bank of computer terminals, the last partisan on the left raised his hand and motioned the war bringer to his side.

  Mars’s face was set in hard lines. The black T-shirt he wore stretched across his broad chest as he bent to peer over the seated partisan’s shoulder. The black and white camouflage pants had scads of pockets and the legs were tucked into the deity’s combat boots. The god of war had dressed for battle today.

  “Load that to the central display,” Mars instructed.

  After a beat, the massive screen at the front of the dark room flickered to life. Dropping her leg to the floor, Lia leaned forward. Zeus’s hand tightened on hers. On screen was a vast field with a green crop. After studying pictures of dying fields, the color took her by surprise.

  Mars’s voice was gruff as he ordered, “Zoom to five-hundred.”

  The plant looked familiar, but different. And it didn’t appear to be affected by Enki’s poison.

  “Where is that?” Lia scooted to the edge of her chair, holding her breath at the sight of all the healthy plants.

  “What is it?” Shelly murmured.

  “Lia, please summon Ben and Ian. We need to know what this is.” Mars prodded the partisan’s back. “Coordinates?”

  Squaring her shoulders, Lia opened a link to Ben in her mind. “We need you and Ian in SecCom.”

  After a short pause, his voice filled her head. “Be there in ten.”

  Lia snorted. “Not to go all bossy Bess on you, but um, not soon enough. Prepare to enter the Hollow.”

  Frantic emotion accompanied Ben’s loud curses in her mind. “Thirty seconds. Got to finish something, then hand it off.”

  The digital clock above the main viewer blinked the hours, minutes, and seconds. Lia eyed it and replied, “Fine. Time starts now.”

  The seconds dragged. In preparation for moving Ben and Ian into the Hollow, Lia joined hands with Shelly and Zeus, pulling the partisan’s energy more heavily than what she took from her dad. The last second ticked off the clock, and Lia focused her power, drawing the men through the void and straight into SecCom. The men jolted forward at the suddenness of their transport. Or more accurately, the end of their trip. She set them on their feet in front of the railing separating the seating from the rest of the room.

  A deeply frowning Ben thrust his hand through his hair, kneading his fingers at the base of his neck. “Not gonna lie. That hurt.” He turned a tight circle, letting out a low whistle as he did. “I know this isn’t my first trip here, but it never gets old. Like something right out of a sci-fi novel.”

  Ben bounded down the steps into the area resembling an orchestra pit. Looking at it through Ben’s point of view, Lia agreed it was pretty space age. Two rows of desks were arranged in a semi-circle like an orchestra pit. Instead of music stands, a sea of monitors cast bluish light over the faces of all the partisans.

  Ian remained in front of Lia. “What’s up?”

  Without a word, Lia pointed to the display. On screen, long thin plant leaves stirred and rippled, as if a stiff breeze had blown across the field.

  “What the actual fuck?” The words exploded from Ian’s mouth.

  Lia shot a glance at Zeus. On the edge of his seat as well, he let Ian’s profanity go without a single grimace or reprimand. “Come on, Zeus. Fuck is much nastier than bullshit.” Lia’s voice edged straight to bitchy.

  Her father didn’t even turn his head. “Now is not the time for discussion on degrees of vulgarity.”

  “Fine. I’ll put a pin in it, but we’re coming back to this discussion.” Lia redirected her attention to the screen.

  Ben stood below the bank of monitors, squinting, head cocked to the side, arms crossed over his chest. Even though he wore the baggy clean-suit, the hump of his delectable tush was outlined clearly, making Lia’s mouth water.

  “That field looks healthy. Like you could harvest the crop tomorrow and eat it.” Ben tossed a question to the techs over his shoulder. “Can you focus in on some of the actual plants? I want to see what crop this is.”

  While the tech complied, Lia and Ian joined Ben in front of the viewer. The image resolved to show several stalks of plants that resembled corn.

  “Closer, please,” Ben requested. “Can you narrow to one plant, near the stalk?”

  Another pause while the tech tapped the touchscreen before him. The resolution zoomed near enough to display what looked like tiny ears of corn dangling from the central shoot.

  “Teosinte.” Ben flicked a glance at Ian. “It looks like teosinte.”

  Ian took a step closer to the display. “Like maize?”

  “A precursor. Do we know where that field is?”

  The tech consulted his display. “It’s in Nicaragua.”

  Mars moved in to flank them while the three studied the zoomed-in image. Lia remembered eating the plant way back in the sixth century. B.C.,that is.

  “Makes sense. The crop has stayed abundant in South America.” Ben spun and faced Ian “That’s a healthy field. My guess is the relative health of the crop has to do with the genetics. It’s probably from the original strain. It’s never been genetically modified.”

  Ian shifted from one foot to the other. “So, it isn’t impacted by Enki’s rain the same way GMO crops are?”

  “Doesn’t appear so.” Ben took up pacing, muttering as he did. “Which also makes sense. Whatever Enki filtered into ground water, it is geared toward the modified grains. It’s like he found a chink in the natural defenses of crops, cereal grains to be exact, and he slipped in a back door. Non-GMO crops have a different set of defenses, which is why this field has survived.”

  “We need to modify our formula then to reknit the defenses.” Ian pulled his phone out and opened the screen. Peering over his shoulder, Lia saw a display of the formula schematic lit up.

  One of the partisans cleared his throat. “Um, Mars, there’s a disturbance just outside the zoom area.”

  “Pan out!” The war bringer’s voice cut through the atmosphere like a razor sharp cutlass.

  As the image resolved to the bigger picture, Pierus and Enki came into view.

  Pierus stared directly and coldly back, his eyes somehow pinned to hers. Revulsion shot through her chest at the sight of Hunger cradled in his hands. The bitch’s eyes were human but dim, her black and white feathers singed and curled into clumps at the ends. The bird’s grotesque toes were blackened with a bad case of frostbite. Lia had put a hurt on her in Norway.

  No doubt Hunger’s injuries had driven Pierus to this desperate measure.

  Feeling like a lasso had been snared around her, Lia’s body shifted into a time-out, but her heart po
unded. Drawing even a shallow breath was a struggle. Pain lanced through her head. She opened her mouth, but no words came out. Trying her supernatural link to the occupants of the room, she blasted out a thought. “He can see me. He has me in a thrall.”

  “Lock down the room now!” Mars’s shout thundered.

  Pandemonium broke out as the guards stationed by the door hustled to comply.

  Zeus bellowed behind her. “How is he doing this?”

  Behind Pierus, Enki had raised his hands, his face contorted like he called down acid rain from the sky. The leaves of the plants surrounding them steamed and shriveled.

  “Lia!” Ben’s voice came from far away.

  Under Lia’s skin, fire burned along frayed nerve endings, but she couldn’t even cry out. Pressure built in her head, escalating painfully. She flicked her fingers, attempting to break the hold so she could squeeze her hands over her ears and diminish the heavy compression.

  “Hold her!” Mars’s shout was muffled.

  An enormous ache shot through her chest. Any stronger and her heart would burst. Ben stepped into her field of vision, concern and panic in his expression. Something tightened around her arms and she lowered her eyes to see he’d gripped her. Oh, God! The unseen force holding her had levitated her.

  “Ian! Help me!” Ben yelled.

  Her body jostled as Ian seized her legs. Too little, too late.

  Her mortal shell misted, the orange of her aura strangely muted, and she was rudely yanked from SecCom and into the Hollow.

  Chapter 20

  “Shelly, Stewart! Follow her,” Mars ordered as Lia’s partisans were already halfway shifted into the Hollow.

  Terror gripped Ben’s throat, making words difficult. “Where did she go? I thought we were safe here!”

  Mars tipped his head back and roared. The massive growl was dominated by frustration and anger.

  “Mars, we have no time for this kind of display. Are the trackers still in place on all my daughters?” Zeus limped down the steps. One of the partisans stationed by the door hurried to assist him. Zeus leaned heavily on the man until he reached Ben’s side.