“Conceded,” the Dagda agreed.
The good god of the Irish slumped lower in his chair as he rubbed his forehead. Cameron had no idea if they’d given the poor god a headache, or if he were deep in thought, weighing two impossibly difficult options. Badb knelt beside him and held his other hand.
“We have to make a decision soon,” she said gently. “While killing Huitzilopochtli will prevent us from losing the Otherworld, it won’t stop the events that will lead to Earth’s destruction. And Cameron and Selena can’t be in two places at once.”
“But do they really need to search for Loki?” the Dagda asked. “The Norse could probably handle him on their own.”
“And all of the people they hurt in the meantime?” Selena interjected. “What good is my ability to heal if I’m unable to use it?”
“Oh, Selena,” the Dagda sighed. “Not even you can save millions of people at once.”
“Fortunately,” Cameron said, “we’re not talking about millions of people yet. Right now, the epidemic has affected more like ten thousand. The population of Baton Rouge doesn’t even hit one million.”
“She can’t heal even ten thousand at once!” the Dagda exclaimed.
“True,” Selena acknowledged. “But Cameron and I could focus on those patients whom doctors have attempted to treat with antibiotics but treatment has failed. Unlike the smallpox outbreak, there are treatments for plague.”
“And if Chalchiuhtotolin is causing…” the Dagda tried to counter but Cameron interrupted him.
“Totem Pole.”
The Dagda blinked at him then returned his attention to Selena. “Severe manifestations like Loviatar did with smallpox?”
“I don’t know,” Selena sighed. “If it’s possible for some gods to make so many people sick at once, why isn’t it possible for a goddess like me to heal thousands of people at once?”
The Dagda shrugged. “We’re assuming Chalchiuhtotolin…”
“Totem Pole!” Cameron interrupted again.
The Dagda ignored him again. “Is spreading the plague to everyone. Once unleashed, disease can spread rapidly on its own.”
“Conceded,” Selena agreed.
“First of all,” Cameron interjected and all three gods sighed at him. “It’s Totem Pole. And secondly, it wouldn’t be spreading this quickly without supernatural intervention. All diseases have an incubation period, and the plague would take at least twenty-four hours before making a person symptomatic.”
“Why do you even know that?” Badb asked.
“Looked it up the first time a goddess threw people with the plague at me in my old apartment,” Cameron answered. “You know… to see how long I should wait before feeling reasonably confident I didn’t contract the plague.”
“If only there were druids still,” the Dagda lamented. “Knowing the likely outcomes from either decision would make this so much easier.”
“Or if Lugh were still alive,” Badb agreed.
“Lugh…” the Dagda repeated. He stood up suddenly and grabbed Badb’s hand, pulling her from the floor. “That’s exactly who we need! And no more of his or Uscias’s bullshit about being left alone. I’ll demand to see him.”
Badb pulled her hand free from the Dagda’s grasp and paled. She stepped back from the good god and glanced nervously at the door. “I’ll wait here with Nemain. Once you’ve made your decision…”
“No,” the Dagda interrupted. “You’ll come with us, Badb. He owes you answers, too.”
Badb shook her head but wouldn’t look at any of them. “He doesn’t owe me anything. Please, just…”
“Badb,” Selena said quietly, “if Cameron did something like this to me, I’d want to know why. I’d suspect he had a good reason for it. If Lugh is really the remarkable god everyone claims he is, then perhaps he has a good reason for shutting everyone out. Including you.”
“Or maybe,” Badb countered, “he gets angry like everyone else and really doesn’t want to see me ever again.”
“Five hundred years is an awfully long time to be angry,” Selena countered. “We all know now something suspicious is going on, and Uscias needs to come clean with us.”
“Can he lose a spirit?” Cameron asked. “Maybe Uscias lost him.”
“I don’t even know what to say to that,” the Dagda admitted.
“Nobody ever knows how to respond to Cameron,” Badb provided helpfully.
“Sometimes it is better to just pretend we understand and move on,” the Dagda provided just as helpfully.
“Can we move on?” Selena groaned. “At this rate, if I find Lugh, I might go into hiding with him.”
“If we find Lugh, he won’t be in hiding anymore,” Cameron pointed out.
“Conceded,” Selena sighed.
“Did the Dagda seriously just leave us?” Cameron asked.
“Can you blame him?” Badb asked back.
“No,” Cameron answered. “I’d leave me, too, if I could.”
“Cameron,” Badb groaned. “Go to Findias.”
“Is this like telling me to go to Hell but since we don’t have a Hell, I have to go to Findias instead?” Cameron asked.
“Did Badb just leave?” Selena asked.
“She just left,” Cameron confirmed.
“We should probably follow them,” Selena said.
“Or take a nap,” Cameron suggested. “Our room is right down the hall.”
“Are you ready to confront your father?” Selena asked quietly.
Cameron grabbed her hand and tried to force a smile in her direction. “We should see what Badb and Dagda are up to in Findias. I’m kinda anxious to meet Lugh, actually.”
Selena smiled back at him, but her smile seemed just as forced. She glanced at the open doorway that could lead them to his parents’ room but didn’t attempt to convince him he should at least talk to his father. Instead, she brought them to Findias and immediately found the Dagda and Badb standing on the marble path in front of the red palace. And it looked like they were arguing with Uscias already.
Cameron crossed his arms angrily and snapped, “What did you really do with my letter?”
“Cameron,” Uscias responded, holding his hands up as if attempting to stall the altercation, “I was just explaining to the Dagda and Badb that I am obligated to honor the wishes of the dead. This city offers them their permanent desires, and…”
“And you’re forgetting you’re talking to one of the most powerful psychics among the Tuatha Dé,” Badb retorted. “So cut out the bullshit and bring us to Lugh.”
“Badb, I can’t, and you must know that’s true,” Uscias insisted.
The Irish war goddess kept her defiant stance and angry glare, but some of her bravado faltered as she continued to study the wise man of Findias. “Ok. You can’t bring us to him but why?”
“Can’t you go fishing in that brain of his and find out?” Cameron asked.
“Unfortunately, no,” Badb replied. “The wise men of our cities were once powerful druids. That’s how Semias is able to offer his own predictions. Uscias knows how to keep me from prying too deeply in his thoughts.”
“He’s a druid?” Cameron repeated. “Why do we need Lugh then? Just get him or Semias to advise the Dagda.”
“We’ve been out of that world too long, Cameron,” Uscias explained. “And we’re not gods. We no longer age because we agreed to live in the Otherworld as counsel to the Tuatha Dé, but when it comes to Earth, I’m of no help to you, I’m afraid. I can only help you with this world.”
Cameron grunted at him and threw his hands up. “Then for God’s sake, just go get Lugh.”
“Which god?” the Dagda asked. “Lugh?”
“Obviously,” Cameron said.
“I’m sorry,” Uscias said firmly. “I cannot help you.”
Cameron glanced at the Dagda and asked, “On a scale of ‘stealing the other half of your po-boy from your kitchen while you were busy talking to Poseidon’ to ‘ready to maul the asshole
Slavic god who traded your Cauldron,’ how mad will you be if I smite him?”
The Dagda stroked his long red-brown beard as he pretended to think about it. “Somewhere around ‘bringing the spirit of Fúamnach into my palace.’”
Cameron pointed to Badb and insisted, “That was her fault.”
Badb rolled her eyes at them then took two steps toward Uscias, grabbing his long green robe and pulling him closer to her face. “Let the Dagda get mad at me then. I will smite you if you don’t stop playing games with us.”
“Um…” Cameron mumbled. “Should we stop her?”
“I have a better idea,” Selena offered.
Cameron opened his mouth to ask her about her idea, but Bridget’s arrival answered his question.
“Why am I in Findias?” Bridget asked. “And why is Badb about to beat the shit out of Uscias?”
“We can no longer allow Lugh to hide,” the Dagda explained. “Humans stand to lose their world, and we stand to lose ours. Lugh was a great prophet, and his advice could lead us in the right direction now.”
Bridget shrugged and looked at Uscias, whom Badb still held dangerously close. “So go get him,” she ordered.
“I can’t,” he answered weakly.
“Let me try again,” Bridget said, her voice taking on an authoritative edge Cameron had never heard from her. “Go get Lugh. Now.”
“I really can’t, Your Highness,” he whispered.
“Put him down, Badb,” Bridget ordered. “And Uscias, you’re going to explain exactly why you’re failing to help the Tuatha Dé when they need it the most.”
Uscias shook his head slowly and sighed. “Oh, Bridget. If I could help you, I would. This has been my home for over two thousand years.”
“Where is he?” Bridget asked again.
All of the gods of the Tuatha Dé watched her carefully, as if their will alone could provide the answers she sought. Cameron wondered if Uscias felt the same compulsion to obey her, to please the queen of their pantheon, their rightful leader who instilled so much pride and honor in each of them. He finally forced himself to look at Uscias and the wise man’s head had dropped, his shoulders sagged, and his eyes remained on the marble pathway in front of him.
The wise man of Findias could no more ignore the Queen of the Tuatha Dé than one of her gods. And whatever secret he’d been hiding for over five hundred years was about to be revealed.
“Uscias,” Bridget said softly, “we’re running out of time. You need to tell us the truth.”
“Yes, Your Highness,” he responded just as softly. “I cannot bring Lugh to you nor can I direct you to him. Everyone loved and respected him, and I didn’t have the heart to devastate our entire family. But I can’t bring you to Lugh because I don’t know where he is.”
“No,” Badb breathed.
Uscias wouldn’t look at the goddess who had held onto a lost love for half a millennium. He kept his head bowed but closed his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Badb.”
“He can’t…” she started, but Badb couldn’t finish the horrifying truth.
If Lugh wasn’t in Findias, then his spirit had ceased to exist.
Ukko rose from the hotel bed as soon as the Irish gods, plus one, returned. Bridget arched an eyebrow at the Finnish thunder god and told him, “For someone who vowed never to leave Findias again, you spend an awful lot of time here.”
Ukko grunted at her and retorted, “Cameron’s been a bad influence on you.”
“Stop accusing me of being a bad influence on everyone!” Cameron protested.
“I’m going home,” Ukko responded.
Cameron stopped him before he could leave. “Ukko, you need to know the Otherworld could be invaded. Again. And I doubt even Findias will be safe from these asshole Aztec gods.”
Ukko’s eyes clouded with that now familiar anger, but he closed them and took a deep breath, his nostrils flaring slightly as he attempted to regain control of his temper. “And what has the Dagda suggested we do?”
Cameron and Selena glanced nervously at one another, but Bridget saved them the trouble of trying to think of a delicate way to break the bad news.
“He suggested we return to Earth and defend the people here,” she said. “In the end, nothing is worth the lives of over seven billion people.”
“And the lives of his people?” Ukko yelled. “My wife’s life?”
“Anita is a spirit now,” Selena gently reminded him.
“I know that,” Ukko interrupted. “Which means she can only exist in a realm for the dead. And she’s Irish so it’s not like she can just pack up and move.”
“You couldn’t get her into your land of the dead?” Cameron asked. “You know, something like VIP benefits?”
Ukko blinked at him then repeated, “I’m going home.”
This time, Cameron let him leave although he made sure to announce, “He’s still an obnoxious asshole.”
“There seem to be a lot of those around here,” Jasper added.
Cameron nodded seriously. “Says the original and always greatest of them.”
“God, I can’t believe I have to listen to you two constantly bickering again,” Badb mumbled.
“Which god?” Cameron asked. “Me? Because you already know if you invoke me on this, I’m going to tell you to get over it.”
“Which god could make you get over it then?” Badb asked.
Cameron pointed to Selena. “That was a stupid question considering you also already know she’s the only one who can make me do anything.”
“Besides shut up,” Jasper added helpfully.
“Or be serious for more than thirty seconds at a time,” London added just as helpfully.
“Do they always do this?” Magni asked his father.
Thor sighed and patted his son’s back. “You get used to them. Eventually.”
“I think Ragnarok will start before then,” Magni muttered.
“Quite likely,” Cameron agreed. “Unless your Valkyries can actually get Loki back in that cave.”
“What should we prioritize?” Athena asked. “We can split up to try to tackle all of our problems at once, but I have a feeling we need to work together to combat the strength of Huitzilopochtli’s army and allies.”
“And there’s only one Cameron, and he doesn’t even know how to use all of his power yet,” Ares added.
“So now it’s my fault that I wasn’t blessed with all this knowledge when I took the damn Spear?” Cameron snapped.
“No,” Badb answered quietly. “It’s Lugh’s fault for committing whatever sin prevented him from living in Findias.”
“What?” Nemain demanded.
Badb shook her head slowly, and her sister seemed to understand she couldn’t talk about it. Nemain put an arm around her instead and murmured to her in ancient Gaelic again. Cameron watched her for a few moments, wanting to give her time to grieve all over again, but he had so many questions and she was the only one who could potentially provide answers.
“Badb, you knew him better than anyone,” he said. “Do you think it’s possible his spirit simply went to live in the realm of the dead for Fomorians? Maybe his ancestry was more closely tied to them?”
“There isn’t a land of the dead for Fomorians,” Badb responded. “The Otherworld was batted back and forth between them and the Nemedians. There are plenty of Fomorians in Findias, just as there are plenty of Nemedians. You wouldn’t know because dying has a way of putting old rivalries into perspective and those spirits have long since abandoned their hatred of one another. I know quite a few who have become close friends.”
“So much for that hope,” Cameron sighed.
“It was a good idea, love,” Selena tried to assure him.
“If at least most of us can agree that Chalchiutotolin…” London began, but of course Cameron couldn’t let that go.
“Totem Pole,” he corrected.
“I’m not going to keep calling him Totem Pole,” London replied.
“Then
we clearly can’t agree on anything ever again,” Cameron teased.
“Obnoxious asshole,” Jasper reminded London.
London nodded and tried to ignore the sun god who really didn’t like being ignored. “As I was saying, if we can agree that…”
“Totem Pole,” Cameron hurriedly interjected.
Everyone in the room groaned and Selena reached up to Cameron’s face, gently caressing his cheek as if she intended to convey her millennia of love for him… then covered his mouth with her hand.
Everyone in the room applauded her.
“I’ve been waiting for you to do that for over three months,” Badb admitted.
“Can I finish?” London asked.
“Think so,” Jasper told her. “As long as Selena doesn’t move.”
“It’s likely that Chalchiutotolin is the god causing this outbreak. We need to end it first then concentrate on killing Huitzilopochtli once and for all. No more distractions.”
Everyone in the room groaned again.
“Why did you say that?” Nemain asked. “Every time someone says something like that, something even worse happens!”
“What could be worse than the plague?” London shot back.
“Um…” Athena answered. “How about a giant mutant horse terrorizing some small town in Georgia?”
“What?” Selena whispered, letting her hand fall from Cameron’s mouth as she twisted around to see the television. The aerial footage showed what appeared to be an eight-legged horse trampling an upscale neighborhood in a town whose name Cameron immediately recognized.
“Oh, my God,” he breathed.
Badb put a hand on his arm and nodded. “Yeah, and we both know exactly which god is destroying Selena’s hometown.”
Chapter Fifteen
Cameron had never been to Villa Rica, Georgia, but he thought he would have been able to find it easily enough even if he couldn’t just teleport himself there. After all, how many cities had giant eight-legged horses wreaking havoc through neighborhoods?
As the Guardians stood at the entrance of the neighborhood, London tilted her face toward the sky and mumbled, “That is one big horse.”
The Battle Cry (The Guardians of Tara Book 2) Page 13