“He’s not in Findias,” Nemain told Cameron as she appeared inside the Dagda’s castle.
“Not in Falias either,” Thor confirmed.
“That leaves only one city where he could be,” Cameron said. “I’ve never even been to Gorias.”
Athena smiled at him then waved a hand toward the fields stretching endlessly before them. “In that case, welcome to the New Olympus.”
“Oh. So apparently we’re going right now,” Cameron said smartly.
“Why would Ukko bring Loviatar here anyway?” Ares asked. “The only gods who live here now are the Tuatha Dé’s oldest allies.”
Cameron shrugged. “Dude’s pretty pissed. He probably doesn’t want us to know what he’s doing to Loviatar.”
“And if he kills her now, we’ll never get her to undo the curse she’s put on New Orleans and we’ll never get answers as to how Loki escaped or where he might have gone,” Thor said.
“I found him,” Cameron announced. “And Loviatar is still alive. Barely.”
“How did you find him?” Nemain asked. “I still can’t sense him at all.”
Cameron shrugged again and pointed toward a castle on the horizon. “I just know he’s there. Don’t ask me how I do most things I do.”
“I actually completely agree with that,” London added helpfully.
“You are hereby permanently Little Goddess,” Cameron told her.
“Obnoxious asshole,” London reminded him.
“For God’s sake, I’ll go to the palace alone,” Thor mumbled.
“Hold up,” Cameron said, grabbing the giant god’s arm, “which god?”
“Not sure if it’s me or you,” Thor sighed.
“Close enough.” Cameron brought them to the palace’s door before he remembered to ask Athena, “Whose palace are we about to break into anyway?”
“Um… Poseidon’s,” she answered.
“Great,” Cameron groaned. He arched an eyebrow at Ares and nodded toward the door. “You open it. You’re Greek. He probably won’t drown you.”
“He has a trident, Cameron,” Ares retorted. “He doesn’t need to drown me. He’d just impale me.”
“Ok,” Cameron said, “then open the door and hope he doesn’t impale you.”
“You are an obnoxious asshole,” Ares muttered.
The Greek war god approached the door anyway and carefully pushed on it until it swung open then gestured for the other gods to enter.
Cameron watched the others walk past him and asked, “Doesn’t anybody ever lock their doors around here?”
Ares blinked at him then walked inside the palace, too, leaving Cameron standing outside by himself.
“Seriously!” he called after them. “Lock your doors!”
“Walk, Sun God!” Nemain called back to him.
“Make me!” he called back to her. “Selena’s still on Earth so good luck with that!”
Poseidon poked his head out of the open doorway and asked, “What are you all doing here, and why are you still standing outside?”
“Looking for Ukko,” Cameron answered. “Inside your palace, not outside with me. Obviously.”
“Ukko?” Poseidon repeated. “Why would he be here?”
Cameron lifted a shoulder at him. “He’s hiding from us, I guess. And he is here so we kinda had to break in to your palace. Actually, we probably could have just knocked. Sorry about this.”
Poseidon laughed and shook his head, his blonde curls bobbing with the movement. “You must be mistaken, Cameron. If he were here, I’d be able to sense him. And no one unusual is in my palace, except for you and your friends.”
Cameron stepped inside and summoned Ukko. The Guardians stopped walking and turned around to gawk at Ukko then Cameron.
Ukko gawked at Cameron, too.
“How the hell did you do that?” he murmured.
“Dude,” Cameron sighed, “I rarely know how I do anything! You gods really need to stop asking me this.”
“But I was masking myself!” Ukko persisted.
“Where’s Loviatar?” Athena interrupted.
“How’d you get in my palace?” Poseidon asked Ukko.
“Didn’t lock your doors,” Cameron answered smartly.
“Loviatar,” Thor repeated.
“She’s upstairs,” Ukko answered slowly. His pale blue eyes remained on Cameron as he gestured toward the staircase.
“Cut it out,” Cameron warned. “You’re giving me the creeps, you perv.”
“Cameron,” Nemain groaned, “let’s question Loviatar without all the smartass remarks.”
“Why would you even think that’s a possibility?” Cameron retorted.
“Did you know there are still at least three gods on Earth who will continue to kill people unless we all shut up and find them?” London asked.
“Where’s Selena?” Poseidon interrupted. “And Badb?”
“Selena is healing people in New Orleans and Badb is with her,” Cameron said. “And I’ll shut up for once because I am anxious to get back to her.”
London snickered and started climbing the stairs. “Still don’t think keeping your mouth shut is possible, Sun God.”
Cameron glanced at Poseidon and asked, “On a scale of ‘Being Eaten by Your Own Father’ to ‘Battle of the Gods Part Three,’ how pissed would you be if I smite her in your palace?”
“I… don’t even know what to say to that,” Poseidon admitted.
“Sounds like you’re cool if I smite her then,” Cameron said. He followed the young goddess up the stairs while Ukko continued to steal baffled glances in his direction.
“I told you to knock that off,” Cameron warned.
“But you shouldn’t have been able to find me, let alone summon me,” Ukko insisted.
“Sometimes, I wish I couldn’t find you,” Cameron shot back. “Like right now.”
“I can sense Loviatar now that Ukko’s no longer trying to hide her,” London interrupted. She paused outside of a closed door on the second floor of Poseidon’s castle and grimaced. “What have you been doing to her?”
“I’m just going to wait out here,” Cameron decided. No matter how much he needed his enemies to believe he could be ruthless, he’d simply never be the kind of god who was all right with seeing suffering—even if those gods were responsible for mass murder. He was perfectly fine leaving the retribution in somebody else’s hands.
“No, you’re not,” Nemain said. “The faster we get her to talk, the faster we can get back to Selena and Badb.”
“You don’t need me for that,” Cameron complained. “Clearly, Ukko has been quite busy in there.” Cameron flinched then shook his head. “Totally didn’t mean that in the pervy way.”
Ukko grunted at him then explained, “I’ve weakened her. That’s what you’re picking up on. It’s not the same as torturing a person.”
“And I’m assuming you should know,” Cameron said.
“Cameron,” Ukko sighed. “For the last time, the New Pantheon has never been the villain you so badly want it to be.”
“No,” Cameron teased, “I’m just referring to you. I mean, you tried to get your own girlfriend to spy on the CIA.”
Ukko threw his hands up and exclaimed, “How is that the same thing as torturing people?”
“Dude!” Cameron exclaimed back. “Don’t kidnap people and don’t spy on your own government!”
“Dudes,” London interrupted. “There’s a goddess in there we need to talk to so we can save an entire city. Both of you shut up and get in there.”
“So I won’t see any missing body parts or anything?” Cameron asked Ukko.
Ukko rolled his eyes at him and pushed the door open. Loviatar sat unrestrained in a chair in the middle of the room. She lifted her eyes as the gods entered but otherwise, didn’t move.
Cameron almost sighed in relief when the goddess didn’t appear to be bleeding, bruised, or missing any body parts. Sure, he’d threatened to burn her alive in the French Quarter
, and he’d burned gods before, but defending himself and those he loved was far different than hurting a god just to extract information. And he’d summoned Ukko to the Quarter because he hadn’t really wanted to watch the goddess slowly burn.
Beneath all of his smartass remarks and constant bantering with his friends, his heart had always belonged and would always belong to helping others, and he couldn’t shake the suspicion that there had to be a better way of saving the world without bringing more misery to it.
Thor pushed forward and stood in front of the silent and immobile Finnish goddess, his large hands clenched into tight fists. “Where is Loki?”
Loviatar didn’t answer him.
“Where is Loki?” he shouted.
Loviatar never lifted her head. She continued to stare at the floor by her feet, her breaths shallow and occasionally catching in her lungs. Cameron glanced uneasily at Nemain who glanced back at him, reflecting the same look of What the hell is wrong with her?
Ukko stepped around Thor and stood close to the goddess who refused to answer him. Cameron had no idea what he told her because it wasn’t in English, but Loviatar’s eyes flickered up to Thor’s face and she swallowed. She inhaled a ragged breath that caught in her lungs again and hiccupped from her lips.
“I don’t know where he is,” she rasped. “He ditched me in New Orleans after taunting all of you with those hawks.”
“Yeah, that totally wasn’t cool,” Cameron interjected. “I’m fine with fighting one hawk, but being able to trick us into seeing over a dozen? Totally smiting him for that.”
All of the gods, including Loviatar, ignored him.
“Where is Sigyn?” Thor asked.
Loviatar almost smiled at him. “Hopefully, getting exactly what she deserves.”
Thor growled at the goddess and stepped closer to her, Mjölnir appearing in his right hand.
“Sigyn has guarded that cave for two thousand years. What she deserves is vengeance against you and the wicked god Fate stuck her with.”
“Well then,” Loviatar replied, “I suppose you’ll want to find her before Loki does.”
“How did you even get him out of that cave?” Cameron asked.
Loviatar never looked away from Thor, but that almost-smile pulled a little higher. “Surely your giant friend here knows the only way the enchantment binding him in the cave could be broken.”
“Oh, my God,” Thor whispered.
“What?” every other god asked at the same time.
Thor took a deep breath and Cameron resisted the sudden urge to return to New Orleans now and disappear with Selena. He didn’t even know where they could disappear, but he had a sickening feeling that what Thor was about to tell them would make him want Selena far away from the planet where they’d both been born.
“Don’t you know our legends?” Thor asked weakly. “We were joking in the cave, but…”
“Thor, I’m not in the mood for any cryptic bullshit,” Cameron warned.
Thor took another deep breath and rubbed a hand over his mouth and beard. “In the cave… we were just making jokes. I always imagined it would begin instantly, but… Loki is supposed to be bound until the beginning of Ragnarok when earthquakes become so violent, they loosen his restraints,” Thor explained.
“But there haven’t been any earthquakes in Norway,” London said.
“No,” Thor agreed. “But the earthquakes part was added in by man, maybe to explain things they couldn’t possibly understand.”
“Thor, just tell us how Loki escaped!” Nemain yelled.
Thor took another deep breath and finally looked away from the Finnish goddess who had helped trigger something far more catastrophic than an outbreak in an American city. “The enchantment could only be broken at Ragnarok,” he explained again. “If Loki is no longer in that cave, then the process has been started. Somehow, she’s initiated the end of the world.”
Chapter Eight
The hospital had thinned out considerably by the time Cameron returned for Selena and Badb. He’d waited in Poseidon’s palace until Ukko finally managed to wear down Loviatar enough that she agreed to end the outbreak in exchange for a quick death. He’d wanted to wait outside in the hallway, but since none of the other gods left the room, he couldn’t be the only one too freaked out about what he might see so he’d stayed.
As soon as Cameron put his arms around his girlfriend, she sensed he’d witnessed something he’d never be able to forget.
“I don’t want to know, do I?” she asked, hugging him back tightly.
“No,” he sighed. “Remember when we first realized we’d been underestimating Ukko and that he was far more powerful than we’d originally thought? We continue to underestimate him.”
Selena pulled away from him and said, “Ok, well, now I have to know.”
Cameron kissed the top of her head and nodded toward the hospital bed where a healed patient was looking around the room, disoriented and confused. She couldn’t see or hear any of the gods around her, but so many of these patients had been delirious or unconscious when they’d been brought to the hospital. She likely couldn’t remember how she got here.
“How many have you healed?” he asked.
“Three hundred ninety-seven,” Selena replied. “And you didn’t answer my question.”
“You must be exhausted,” Cameron deflected again.
Selena pulled a little farther away and fixed him with her best stop-screwing-around look so Cameron sighed and relented.
“He can weaken gods just by touching them,” he said. “It was like I could literally see the power draining out of Loviatar. Ukko insists he can only do that to gods who are weaker than him, but it still scared the shit out of me just watching him. I mean, how many gods out there can kill us just by touching us?”
“He’s like Mithra?” Selena asked. “Is he taking on this power himself?”
“No, I don’t think so. If that were the case, he’d be more powerful than us, right? At any rate, he claims the other god’s power just disappears.”
“What just disappears?” Badb asked as she entered the hospital room.
“A god’s power that Ukko can apparently suck out of them,” Cameron answered. “Wait. That sounded totally pervy. Let me try this again.”
Badb snorted and shook her head. “No way. In fact, I’m asking him just what the hell he was really up to all those years in the New Pantheon.”
“Did you know he could weaken gods by touching them?” Selena asked her.
“No,” Badb replied. “Although it’s not uncommon for heads of pantheons. It’s partly how so many prevented coups. Zeus could do the same thing. As far as I know, the Dagda can’t but lately, I’ve begun to wonder just how much he’s never told us.”
“Badb, you losing your faith in the Dagda just might be the most disturbing thing to happen to me yet,” Selena admitted. “And this is coming from someone who’s been killed three times.”
“I haven’t lost my faith in him,” Badb responded. “Not exactly. I’ve known him for close to three thousand years, and he’s earned the name ‘The Good God’ for a reason. He’s good to us and men alike. But we Tuatha Dé have always revered him, held him to a higher standard than we expected of one another, and I’m just starting to think maybe he’s not that different after all. Believe me: I still love him and would give up my life for him. And I still believe that whatever he’s hiding from us now doesn’t necessarily mean he’s the one we need to be suspicious of.”
“Oh, thank God,” Selena breathed.
“Which god?” Cameron asked. “Badb or Dagda?”
“Dagda,” she decided. “And Badb. I guess I should have said, ‘Thank gods.’”
Cameron nodded smartly. “We should get in that habit when invoking multiple gods.”
“If we’re done here, can we work on finding Huitzilopochtli now?” Badb asked.
“Um… not quite,” Cameron said. He pulled Selena just a little closer again and bit his li
p nervously as he tried to figure out how to tell the two goddesses Loviatar had somehow set in motion the events that would bring about Ragnarok. But Selena and Badb saved him the trouble by listening to the troubled thoughts tumbling through his mind.
“Holy shit,” Badb mumbled.
“That was exactly my first thought, too,” Cameron admitted.
“But we can stop it, right?” Selena asked. Her voice seemed to beg him to reassure her, and even without the connection they shared, he could have guessed why. If Ragnarok became their fate, their child may never even have the chance to be born.
“Thor doesn’t know,” Cameron said. “He’s gone to get Tyr to fill him in on what we learned, and the Norse will have to assemble to figure out how to reverse what’s already been set in motion.”
“Loviatar couldn’t have been strong enough to trigger this on her own,” Badb reasoned. “She had to have help. And I have a strong suspicion we know exactly who helped her free Loki so the world would flood and kill out most of mankind.”
“I don’t understand,” Selena countered. “If Huitzilopochtli wants to rule the Earth, why destroy it?”
Badb’s nostrils flared at the mention of Huitzilopochtli’s name and she closed her eyes briefly to regain control of her temper. “Because he’s not interested in ruling over humans. They’re weak. He wants to rule over us. Perhaps he’s planning on wiping the slate clean. He can’t defeat us in the Otherworld, so he’ll create his own world here.”
“Holy shit,” Cameron mumbled again. “Most of the old Norse gods are fated to die at Ragnarok and only two humans are supposed to survive. It’s a rebirth of the world, but he intends to rebuild it his way.”
“Exactly,” Badb agreed. “And I’m afraid we’re already running out of time.”
New Orleans still bustled with military personnel who kept the city under martial law. Few people understood yet what had caused the sudden outbreak, and even fewer understood why it had abruptly ended. Fortunately, local law enforcement and the military had decided not to publicize the events surrounding the soldier’s death, and rumors of giant hawks circling over the French Quarter were being debunked as the hysteria of a frightened population.
The Battle Cry (The Guardians of Tara Book 2) Page 7