Except for the fact that the world would end.
Just a minor hiccup.
Ugh.
There Kala went thinking again. She needed to stop that. It wasn’t helping anyone.
“You wanted me to tell you not to do it,” Roberta deduced.
“Yeah, pretty much.” Kala leaned back on the couch and sighed heavily. “I have no doubt that my mission restores some kind of balance or whatever it’s designed to do, but I don’t want to do it. Who would?”
“I’ll do it for you,” Roberta volunteered suddenly.
That made Kala sit up. “What?”
“I have the access. I know where he keeps his research. I know why it should be done. I have no problems or reservations. I want to destroy it.” Roberta’s eyes were on fire with enthusiasm.
Kala was speechless.
Could someone else perform the Atlas duties? If the deed was done, the deed was done, right?
But if Roberta did it now, then Kala’s clock would reset and she’d have to do something else horrible! She definitely was on board with Roberta taking on the burden, but she wanted a chance to break the curse first.
“I’m thinking, yes.” Kala could hear the relief in her own voice. “But give me two days. I don’t want you to reset the clock.”
“You give me the word and I’m on my way.” Roberta appeared positively elated.
Kala wasn’t sure if it would work, but part of her needed to try. Maybe she could find people who wanted to do the horrible task. It would be a win-win for everyone, including the world! Kala didn’t even want to tap into her Atlas memories to see if he had already tried this tactic. Somehow, she knew a weasel like Atlas would have thought of this long ago, making her a weasel by default. But after murdering Jack, Kala could handle being a weasel at the moment. The sane part of her mind knew it was too good to be true, but knowing that Roberta would do what Kala had no desire whatsoever to do lifted a huge weight off her shoulders.
Kala exhaled a large sigh of relief and stood up. “I really should go. I need to get back to my father and Talan, or at least get them to come to me.” Her brain felt focused again, like Roberta’s volunteering was why she had teleported to her in the first place. A part of a plan she could live with. “Are you sure you’re okay doing this?” Kala wanted to make sure that Roberta was on board.
Roberta stood up facing her. “I’ve never been more certain in my entire life.”
Kala knew she meant it.
Really meant it.
It surprised Kala a bit. Delving into other people’s motivations and thought processes really wasn’t her thing. So she just nodded and tapped her head. “I’ll contact you when I want you to do it.”
“I’ll be here.” Roberta leaned forward and embraced Kala.
Kala wasn’t much for physical affection, but the hug felt nice. It reminded her that there was still a part of her that was human, as weird as that sounded.
Pulling out first, Kala smiled and gave Roberta a small salute. “Wish me luck.”
“Good luck,” Roberta replied encouragingly.
Kala concentrated on the location of Zeus. She knew she didn’t have much time before she became a fountain of blood, but Kala had to know if Owen or Talan found out anything.
In and out.
Turner’s house disappeared.
When her new surroundings came into focus, Kala was not in the mystical cave that housed the king of the Olympians.
She was in a hotel suite.
And from the neon skyline outside Kala figured out pretty quickly that she was in Las Vegas.
“Well, hello, gorgeous.”
Kala turned around to see Asmodeus in a bathrobe holding a glass of champagne.
Really?
Chapter Eighteen
“I certainly wasn’t expecting you.” Asmodeus positively beamed.
“I have no idea why I’m here,” Kala confessed honestly. “I was trying to get back to Zeus.” The last place on earth she wanted to be was with Asmodeus. He was like dealing with a teenager in his constant need for affection and desire to get into her pants.
Asmodeus took a sip of his champagne and sat down on a leather armchair. “Where is the old bird anyway?”
“Wouldn’t you like to know?” Kala wasn’t about to spill the location of the Titans Most Wanted to their number one lackey.
Kala figured she might as well eat something while she was in Vegas, so she plopped down on the matching leather couch across from Asmodeus. “We ordering room service?”
“This is becoming a thing with us.” Asmodeus grinned.
“Except the actual eating part. We never ordered last time,” Kala reminded him.
The room was spectacular. The thing about Vegas was that they did everything big and gaudy. This suite was no exception. Space-wise, it was huge, well over 3,000 square feet and every inch of it was decorated and furnished. The color theme was brown, tan, and gold. It wasn’t tacky like most of the Vegas abodes Kala had visited; the décor was tasteful, classy.
Seeing Asmodeus drinking champagne in a bathrobe started to annoy Kala. “Could you get dressed or something?”
“I can get rid of the robe,” Asmodeus suggested.
Kala rolled her eyes. “Something casual will do just fine, thank you.”
With a snap of his fingers, Asmodeus looked like a model again, with a black t-shirt and jeans. He still held the champagne glass, of course, but a second later one magically appeared in his other hand. Reaching across the gap between them, he handed her the drink.
Kala took it, thinking she could use a drink right about now. This was the third time she had tried teleportation, and it was the third time she had ended up in a place she hadn’t expected.
But Asmodeus?
She couldn’t fathom why her brain had sent her to him. Kala’s only desire was to torture Zeus until he released her of the curse. Why would her mind send her to the one guy who had no idea where Zeus actually was? What could Asmodeus possibly do for her cause? It made no sense.
After ordering room service and pigging out on filet mignon and lobster, Kala felt more herself. Maybe this meal was the reason she had come here. It was almost worth it. She glanced at the clock.
1d 19h 21m 43s: 9:39 AM.
At least it was still morning. Kala was amazed at how much comfort that brought her. It reminded her of nights when she’d wake up thinking it was time to go to work, but really had five more hours to sleep. Kala tried to appreciate the little moments, since she rarely had them nowadays.
“So why are you here?” Asmodeus eyed Kala, suspicious but intrigued.
The guy was so readable. Kala wondered how any girl had ever fallen for his charms. But then she looked at him and shrugged. Because he was ridiculously sexy. It pained her to admit it, but there was no denying the fact that the king of Demons had some serious game. Kala just happened to be the kind of girl that was immune to bad boy appeal.
That was why she loved Jack so much. He was so good.
Her heart squeezed and she leaned back on the couch, closing her eyes.
Before she could open them, Kala felt Asmodeus sit next to her. “Did I upset you?”
Kala was ready to say something snarky when she opened her eyes to see Asmodeus looking genuinely concerned. It was the last thing she expected. “Aren’t you supposed to be a Demon? You know Demons are evil. Why should you care if I’m upset?” Snark won out, she guessed.
“Haven’t you figured it out yet? I’m entirely smitten with you, Kala Hicks. And now that you’re a Titan… let’s just say we aren’t limited in our options anymore.” His grin almost got her, he was so damn charismatic.
“You wish.” Kala could always rely on her big mouth to shoot down a would-be-suitor. In this case, she was happy her attitude was running the show. Forget-all-your-troubles-sex was tempting and Asmodeus would definitely fit the mark, but Kala wasn’t interested. Her heart always went back to Jack.
“There’s that look aga
in. What are you thinking about?” Asmodeus asked.
He was way too perceptive for his own good.
And Kala was too weak to fight it. She had to confess to someone, it might as well be a Demon. “I’ll never forgive myself for killing Jack.” Saying it aloud made it real. She wouldn’t. The world would thank her if it could, but nothing could make her feel justified in murdering him. Nothing.
“You had to. It was your job. I would have preferred it if you hadn’t, but that’s because I want this world to end. Or at least be in chaos.” He shrugged. “I’m a Demon, what can I say?”
“You’re not helping.”
Asmodeus tucked a piece of Kala’s red hair behind her ear. “Did you really think I could? I am evil as you say.” He smiled.
Kala shook her head at his sarcasm. “I don’t know what to think anymore. I have no idea how teleportation works. I seem to always show up in the last place I expect. All I want is to go back to Zeus and make him destroy this curse. I can’t even do that!” Her frustration was mounting by the second.
“And where is Zeus again?” Asmodeus asked gently.
“Really? I’m a soldier, Demon boy. I’m not going to slip, no matter how much charm you lay on. I’m the girl that doesn’t fall for it, remember?” She appreciated his effort, but seriously.
“How can I forget? It’s what makes you so fascinating.” Asmodeus leaned in closer.
Kala stood up. “No more touchies.” She had no idea where that word came from, but it seemed appropriate.
Asmodeus raised his hands in surrender. “No more touchies.” He leaned back on the couch as if he didn’t have a care in the world. “You won’t tell me where Zeus is, and you don’t want any of this.” He waved his hand over his body like it was on display. “So, why are you here?”
Kala slumped down on the couch next to Asmodeus. “I told you, I have no idea. I focused on the last location of Zeus and I ended up here.”
“I see.” Asmodeus looked thoughtful. “Maybe he’s in a place you can’t go to?”
He phrased it like a question, but it jolted Kala that he might be correctly guessing where the Angel-gang was. Unfortunately, her jolt only confirmed Asmodeus’s suspicions.
He grinned. “So they’re in a place you can’t go to?”
“I never said that,” Kala defended lamely. “I was there before obviously.” That was the only argument she could think of.
“True. But you’re not there now, which means…” Asmodeus took a sip of his champagne. “It’s a place where humans aren’t allowed.”
“I’m not human, remember?” Kala freaked out. He was way too close to figuring it out.
“Oh, but you are.” Asmodeus’s eyes lit up. “It’s another thing that makes you a walking mystery.”
Kala pondered this for a moment. It seemed like Asmodeus knew more about her than she did. She was less worried about Zeus’s location in that second than she was in finding out what Asmodeus knew. “What do you mean? What am I?” Kala asked.
Asmodeus leaned in closer and Kala didn’t fight him off, she just wanted answers. “It means: you’re half-human, half-god. You swallowed Atlas, which is troubling the Titans to no end, by the way, but you’re still you. No one knows what the consequences of that are yet, but the real question is: how did you consume him?”
Kala felt baited. He had designed the conversation to lead back to retrieving information from her, and not the other way around. She’d interrogated enough people in her day to recognize the tactic. Kala moved away from Asmodeus and gave him an exasperated look. “You don’t know any more than I do. You’re so transparent.”
Asmodeus’s eyebrows crinkled in utter surprise and disappointment. He wasn’t used to people seeing right through him.
“Cronus,” he began.
Kala cut him off, nodding. “Cronus wants to know how I almost consumed him, doesn’t he?” She knew her leverage. “Well, you tell that big boy that if he tries to hurt any of my friends, I’ll eat him too.” That sounded bad even as it came out of her mouth, and of course, Asmodeus was enticed.
“You can eat me first, if you like?” he suggested.
Kala really hated that he was attractive. He was a Demon! Why couldn’t he be butt-ugly with some kind of skin disease?
“We’re obviously not going to divulge any of our secrets to one another, so do you want to go gambling?” Kala said, suddenly feeling the urge not to be in her own life anymore, and gambling seemed like the best solution.
Asmodeus shrugged. “Sure.”
So a Titan and the king of Demons partied and gambled in Vegas in the early afternoon. It was fun and pathetic all at once. Asmodeus used his telekinesis at the roulette wheel and Kala used hers at craps. The best part of the whole experience was the fact that casinos had no clocks. No glaring reminder that she was neglecting her duty – and it felt amazing. By the end of it, Kala had over a hundred thousand dollars’ worth of chips. She was so adrenalized by the rush of it, she turned to Asmodeus and kissed him.
Kala didn’t know who was more shocked, Asmodeus or herself. She almost pulled away. But, dang! The boy could kiss! Apparently, it was so mind-blowing she couldn’t think straight! His lips were forceful, but not in a smash-your-teeth kind of way. More like a desperate need to devour her.
When all the warning bells officially chimed their way back into Kala’s sanity-center, she yanked herself away.
Asmodeus was positively grinning.
“Wipe that smile off your face. I was just happy I won.” Kala tried miserably to play it cool.
“Of course, beautiful.” He kissed her forehead and she let him, surprisingly. “It was everything I imagined.”
Kala grunted and walked toward the cash-out booth. It wasn’t as if she needed a hundred thousand dollars, but she wanted it anyway. And frankly, Kala wasn’t interested in making eye contact with Asmodeus right then. What had she been thinking? She hadn’t. It was that simple. Always impulsive. Always having a mess to clean up. Kala hoped Asmodeus wouldn’t get any more ideas. That was a one-time kiss and she never planned to repeat it. No matter how good it felt.
“Kala,” Asmodeus called from behind.
She wouldn’t have responded except for the fact that she couldn’t remember a time when Asmodeus had ever called her by name. He always used some kind of pet name for her.
The hairs on the back of her neck raised.
Cronus.
She could feel him.
Kala slowly turned around to face a man in an all-black suit standing next to Asmodeus.
In human form, Cronus looked like he owned the casino. He was a little over six-feet, short black hair, clean-shaven with the famous supernatural bone structure. If Kala were to guess, she’d say he was somewhere in his early forties, not the multi-millennia old fart that he was.
Asmodeus’s demeanor was subservient next to the Titan. She couldn’t really blame him. She had fought Cronus before and he almost demolished her. Not to mention the fact that he had chopped Talan into pieces. In human form, he might not be as powerful, but Kala had to assume he could still destroy her. She had almost beaten him in the 5th, though. Almost consumed him. But she had no clue as to how she did that, so a repeat of the act wasn’t statistically looking so good.
So she decided to be deferent. “What are you doing here? I thought I taught you to leave me alone.” Okay. Not so much. Submissiveness wasn’t one of her traits.
“You will learn your place, Human,” Cronus snarled.
Asmodeus gave her eye signals to shut-the-hell-up, but Kala ignored him. “You want to fight me in a casino?” She looked at him like he was an idiot.
Cronus’s eyes glowed blue like Penny’s had, but his were a lot more intimidating. “No. I want to kill you in a casino.”
Great.
Chapter Nineteen
Kala concentrated as hard as she could to teleport herself out of there, but Cronus laughed.
“Not today.” He grinned.
Righ
t.
Soldier first.
Get to higher ground.
And hopefully before Cronus attacked.
Kala had no qualms about making a fool of herself as she ran in the opposite direction of the Titan and towards the staircase, poker chips flying everywhere. The last thing she wanted was innocent by-standers to get hurt or worse, killed. And Cronus wouldn’t care if he took out most of the casino’s inhabitants just to destroy Kala.
People swarmed like locusts, diving after the chips, which to them equated to free money. The crowd blocked Cronus and Asmodeus from following her right away.
Cronus was probably over-joyed at seeing Kala run, but she wasn’t doing it to get away. She was trying to find a more defensible fighting area. The roof seemed like the best option, so Kala was about to see if her “god” side had enough stamina to run up fifty floors of stairs. With all the steps she had climbed with Derek in the Compound, Kala knew she was up for the task.
Here was to hoping, anyway.
Cutting her way through the gamblers, Kala reached the staircase and flew up the steps as fast as her legs could carry her. It felt amazing. Her body ran steadily upwards, but there was no exhaustion, no panting, just speed. It was as if she was the Bionic Woman or some kind of super soldier.
As she made her way up, Kala listened for any signs of pursuit, but she didn’t hear anything.
Fine. She figured Cronus knew her end game and was already waiting for her on the roof. She needed the element of surprise to survive this fight. Even though Kala had been reassured that it would be near impossible to kill her, she didn’t want to take any chances.
A few minutes later, Kala was at the roof entrance door.
She knew Cronus was behind it. Waiting for her. Smug. Expecting to see her spill out onto the roof and be shocked that he had beaten her there.
There was nothing like the present.
Kala kicked the door open and jumped to the right.
BAM!
A crack of lightning barely missed Kala as the doorway lit on fire.
Kala rolled behind an air-conditioner the size of a small car. “Isn’t that your son Zeus’s trick?” she yelled in the direction the bolt came from.
Grigori Returned (The Atlas Series Book 2) Page 12