“I don’t know, Cameron. It won’t hurt to try. Last time, we were probably only thinking about getting back to Justin and the others. What’s the harm in us both thinking about a specific place and time when Badb sends us to Earth?” Selena said.
Cameron scowled a little less as he thought about Selena’s request. “Fine. You know I’ll try it for you, but that old crow is still hiding something from us.”
“About the glass castle or the ability to travel back to Earth without huge chunks of time passing?” Selena asked.
“Both. And probably other things I’m forgetting at the moment because I’m pissed off at her, but give me a little while. They’ll come back.”
“Think about it on Earth because we need to leave. You won’t see me, but I’ll be around,” Badb said. “Oh, and you’re going to Larken, Iowa.”
“Whoa, what?” Selena asked.
“Better hold on to each other,” Badb said, ignoring her question. Cameron reached for her hand before they could inadvertently become separated and the palace disappeared.
Selena looked around the small town sidewalk they were standing on. A storefront that looked like it hadn’t been updated since the 1950s sat nestled between two smaller buildings, a florist and a drycleaners. Cameron snorted and Selena looked up at him. He pointed to the building behind them.
“An actual hardware store. We’re in Smalltown, U.S.A. standing in front of a hardware store. Where’s the soda fountain?”
“Um… back in 1956? Why the hell did Badb send us here?” Selena asked.
“I think you’re right. She sent us back in time. Hold on. Let me see if I can still pull up Wikipedia on my phone.”
Selena let go of his hand as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. She peered into the window of the hardware store where a man with a slightly protruding belly that hung over the edge of his jeans helped a customer who must have been torn between two different drill bit sets.
“Huh,” Cameron said. Selena glanced over her shoulder and waited. He held up his phone to show her. “If this is right, we were only in the Otherworld for like an hour. Quinn and my other asshole traitor friends couldn’t have even gotten out of Louisiana yet.”
“Maybe that’s why Badb sent us here,” Selena guessed. “Give us a good head start on evading all the gods and demigods who are going to try to kill us now.”
Cameron nodded toward the pudgy employee inside the store. “Only problem is we’re in the middle of nowhere. Worse. We’re in the middle of nowhere in Iowa. We have no money, no contacts, no transportation, and I don’t even have my wallet on me, which means no ID.”
“Maybe there’s a reason we’re in Larken, Iowa, though,” Selena countered. “It can’t be random. You may not trust her, but you have to admit: she wants something and gods who want something don’t take chances on luck handing it over.”
The hardware store door opened and an actual bell that hung over the top jingled as a woman and her small son stepped onto the sidewalk. She glanced at the young couple then gripped her son’s hand and walked briskly around them.
Cameron leaned closer to Selena and whispered, “Do I smell?”
Yes. God, yes, why do you always have to smell so good?
She knew exactly which god she was directing that to this time.
“It’s a small town,” Selena said. “Smaller than Villa Rica. These people all know each other, and we’re strangers standing around staring in store windows. Let’s find out if there’s a motel somewhere nearby and get off Main Street.”
“This is literally Main Street,” Cameron said, pointing to a street sign. “This is the most Rockwellian place I’ve ever been.”
The door opened and the bell jingled again as the man with the drill bits left the store. He eyed them suspiciously then pushed the button on his car key that unlocked the doors on a maroon Toyota Tundra. Cameron touched her arm and whispered, “Any chance you can use your telekinesis and just steal a car?”
“No!” Selena laughed. “Not yet anyway. We’re not that desperate.”
She didn’t tell him she was going to have to steal money in order for them to stay in a motel or eat. And she had no idea how they were renting a room considering she didn’t have her fake ID on her either.
Cameron held the door open for her and the middle-aged store clerk who was putting the unpurchased sets of drill bits back on the shelf glanced up at her. He looked at the drill bits again then back at Selena, the realization that this beautiful young woman didn’t belong in Larken, Iowa seeming to dawn on him.
“May I help you?” he asked cautiously.
“Yeah,” Cameron answered, and Selena groaned before he could even finish. “Why is everyone in this town so distrustful of strangers? We’re from Louisiana, for God’s sake…”
“Which god?” Selena interrupted.
Cameron snickered but the man just stared at them. “Gelos,” Cameron decided. “If he were ever real.”
Selena nodded. “I don’t think we’d find him here.”
“This is a hardware store,” the man said slowly, enunciating carefully in case they were both stupid and hard of hearing.
“Ah,” Cameron said. “That explains it. Back home, I just go to Lowe’s.”
“Cameron,” Selena sighed, “don’t be an ass.” She offered the poor man her sweetest smile and asked him if there was a motel in town.
His eyebrows pulled together as he studied her. “Miss, does this look like the kind of town that would have a motel?”
Cameron looked up from his phone and held it in the air. “Wikipedia, my friend. Says there’s a bed and breakfast somewhere in Larken, Iowa.”
“Larken, Iowa has a Wikipedia page?” Selena asked.
“Everything has a Wikipedia page,” Cameron answered.
The man sighed and pointed out his window. “Go four blocks down Main then take a left on Howard. Mrs. Granger runs the bed and breakfast, but I don’t know if she takes customers who walk-in.”
“Are there really a lot of tourists coming to weekend in Larken?” Cameron asked.
“Thank you,” Selena told the man, grabbing Cameron’s arm and pulling him from the store before they both got kicked out, not just from the hardware store but from the entire town of Larken, Iowa.
Back on the sidewalk, Selena sheepishly admitted her plan about stealing money from an ATM since Badb hadn’t dropped off any credit cards or bundles of cash. Cameron just shrugged and pointed to a bank down the street. “It’s on the way. And think of it this way: we’re being compensated by the humans of this country for defending the government, because let’s face it. If Ukko had his way, he’d be ruling us all.”
An elderly couple they passed stopped and glared at them, and Selena smiled at them but wondered again if her telekinesis could make her disappear. “We’re not in New Orleans anymore. Maybe we should watch what we say in public,” she suggested.
“Yeah, this town is kinda uptight,” Cameron agreed.
“This town is normal.”
“Says the woman who is choosing to live in a world where time passes whenever it feels like it, and some weird creature is trapped in a glass castle.”
Selena gave up on locals not staring at them like they were crazy. “Let me know if you see a black crow,” she mumbled. “I’m going to throw this red rock at it.”
“Give me the rock,” Cameron said. “I’ll throw it.”
“No way. You’ll kill her.”
Cameron shrugged again. “She can fly. She’ll have her chance to escape.”
Selena shook her head at him and stopped in front of the ATM at the bank. She stared at it for a few seconds then glanced at Cameron, suddenly ashamed about what she was going to do. But Cameron wasn’t even watching her. His eyes were fixed on a building across the street, that sexy playful grin pulling at his lips.
Selena looked over her shoulder at the quaint cottage style diner then hurriedly forced the ATM to dispense cash. She handed half
of it to Cameron then stuffed the other half in her pocket with the red stone.
“What’s so fascinating about a diner?” she asked as they began walking down Main Street again.
“It’s this town,” Cameron said. “How do people stay sane here? How much do you want to bet there’s an honest to God cornfield right outside Larken, Iowa?”
“First of all, which god? If we’re sticking with the Greek theme, you should have said goddess, since Demeter is a woman.”
“We should really knock this off. At this rate, we’ll never be able to say god again.”
“And secondly,” Selena said, having no intention of knocking off the teasing he had started about her use of the word ‘god’, “you’re from Louisiana. It’s not like every town in that state isn’t surrounded by agriculture of some sort.”
“True,” Cameron agreed, “but I’m from Baton Rouge where we have actual hotels and restaurants, not just cottage diners. And we don’t grow corn.”
“Maybe the Unbreakable Sword is buried in a cornfield,” Selena suggested.
Cameron snorted and pointed to a street sign. “There’s Howard. And did you ever see Children of the Corn? I’m not going to start digging around any cornfield. Sorry, Selena. You’re on your own.”
“There has to be a reason we’re in Larken, Iowa. Just wait. Maybe it’s not the corn, but we’ll figure it out. Assuming you don’t drop me at the first sign of murderous children who worship a genuinely terrifying deity from Hell.”
“Was it from Hell? I don’t remember that part.”
“Well, they’d better not have a god like that in the Otherworld,” Selena countered.
Cameron thought about it then said, “I’m pretty sure it was just from Nebraska.”
Selena laughed and pointed to the pale blue Victorian style house with a sign in its front yard that identified it as the town’s sole bed and breakfast. They stepped onto the porch and Selena knocked on the white wooden door. If she thought Main Street was eerily still and quiet, then Howard Street resembled a ghost town. The door opened and a woman who looked to be in her late fifties peered over her glasses at the young couple standing on her porch.
Selena realized they didn’t even have any luggage and were about to ask to rent a room and felt her cheeks flushing again. Her brain knew it should be forming words, but it became fixated on the thought that this woman was going to think she was either a prostitute or that they were having an affair. She shuffled her feet and stared at the floral doormat that proclaimed Welcome, Friend.
“Our car broke down,” she heard Cameron saying, “and we were told this is the only place in town to rent a room. Any chance you have one available?”
Selena looked up at the woman whose eyes darted between them then drifted down to their hands. Ringless. Not married. Asking for one room.
Goddamn it.
She was tempted to look behind her to see if the red-eyed deity from the cornfield was back there, demanding the people of this town enforce some archaic rule of propriety.
Cameron obviously noticed as well because he sighed and asked, “Ok, any chance you have two available?”
“Perhaps. I only rent out three rooms,” the woman said. “Where are your bags?”
“Um… we weren’t exactly planning on an overnight trip. We don’t have any,” Cameron answered.
The woman glanced at Selena and asked her, “How old are you?”
Selena blinked at her then looked at Cameron. What difference did her age make? She was clearly over eighteen and so was Cameron. She was beginning to think she’d take her chances with the children in the cornfield.
“Twenty-six,” Selena answered, although by now, she’d surpassed embarrassed and had barreled into indignant.
The woman sighed and stepped back from the doorway. “All right. I’m Mrs. Granger. I normally only take reservations, but seeing that you’re in a bind, I’ll make an exception.”
Selena entered the woman’s bed and breakfast, and presumably her home, first and Cameron followed behind her. Mrs. Granger closed the door and pointed toward a desk with an actual notebook and pen rather than a computer. Two upholstered chairs with dark green fabric stretched tightly over the plush stuffing were placed in front of the desk with an identical chair behind it. Mrs. Granger sat down and picked up the pen, using it to gesture toward the empty chairs.
“Have a seat. I need your driver’s licenses, please.”
Shit.
Selena shot Cameron a panicked look, but he didn’t seem worried. “What are you more likely to believe? That we were mugged but can still pay for a room because we had cash hidden in the car, or that we can’t hand over any identification because we’re in the Witness Protection Program?”
“Cameron,” Selena hissed.
“Sh,” he whispered back. “Don’t use my real name. She may be going with the witness protection thing.”
“Oh my God,” Selena groaned.
“Cut that out,” Cameron warned. “Quetzalcoatl may be dead, but I’ve lost track of how many other deities want to kill us, and you have some crazy magic voodoo that can make asshole gods appear.”
“I am so sorry,” Selena told Mrs. Granger. “My friend here thinks he’s funny. He’s not.”
Mrs. Granger lifted an eyebrow at her then looked at Cameron. “I don’t know. He’s a little funny.”
“I like her,” Cameron told Selena.
“Who are you two?” Mrs. Granger asked. She tossed her pen on the table and leaned back in her chair, her green eyes carefully studying them both now.
“Selena,” Cameron said, “focus on her. You’re not picking up something familiar?”
Selena gaped at him and started to protest, but Cameron wouldn’t let her.
“Yeah, I know, we’re not supposed to be able to detect other demigods, but I’m sure she’s one. You are, aren’t you?”
Mrs. Granger’s eyes widened, and she nodded. Selena gaped at her now.
“Cameron,” Selena breathed, “how did you do that?”
“Don’t have a clue. I’m willing to bet if you stopped worrying so much about her thinking we’re just here to hook up, you’d be able to sense it, too, though.”
Selena tried to clear her mind and focus on the woman like Cameron had asked, but Cameron had done the impossible. Again. She couldn’t stop fixating on how he’d managed to tell he was in the presence of another demigod when no other demigod could do something like that. And how the hell did he know what she’d been worrying about?
“What pantheon?” Cameron asked. “I don’t think she’s Norse or Slavic. My Spidey senses aren’t telling me we should run or anything.”
“You have Spidey senses now?” Selena asked.
“Apparently. But if I start shooting spider webs from my wrists, I’m going home. That’s also a deal breaker for me.”
“So no digging in cornfields and no superhero powers. You’re putting a lot of qualifiers on helping me here, Cameron.”
Cameron shook his head. “I never said I’m against superhero powers, just turning into a half-spider. I like spiders almost as much as snakes.”
“Again,” Mrs. Granger interrupted, “who are you two?”
“Demigods, obviously,” Cameron answered. “And we’re running from the New Pantheon, which is how we ended up in Larken, Iowa with no ID and no belongings.”
“I see,” the woman sighed. “And does Ukko know you’re here?”
“Holy shit,” Selena exclaimed. “You know Ukko?”
The woman nodded and stood up. “Honey, you aren’t the only demigods who’ve run from that bastard.”
“Yeah, but…” Selena stammered. “You know who he is. We only found that out because Quetzalcoatl abducted me and then Cameron had to get Ukko’s help to rescue me, but then we had to escape from Ukko and…”
“Selena,” Cameron interrupted. “She gets it. She’s psychic.”
“You’re…” Selena crossed her arms and stared at Mrs. Granger. “
Then you knew we were lying standing on your porch.”
“Yeah, and I still let you in,” Mrs. Granger countered. She looked at Cameron again and asked, “So I guess you’re psychic, too?”
“Uh… no, actually. More like a firestarter. This has never even happened to me before.”
“We know who we are,” Selena whispered.
Cameron gave her one of his are-you-sure-you’re-not-going-crazy? looks. “Haven’t we always known who we are?”
“No, I mean, we know our ancestry now. We know who we’re related to and we’ve begun connecting to our pasts. It’s making us stronger, Cameron. Or at least you.”
“And you. I can tell. You’re just too busy worrying about what everyone else thinks.”
Selena crossed her arms and scowled at him. “Are you sure you’re not psychic now?”
Cameron shook his head, but Mrs. Granger had grown tired of listening to them, just like everyone else usually did. “Look. I could tell you kids were in some kind of trouble, but if you want to stay here, level with me. Cameron mentioned not being Norse or Slavic, so which pantheon do you come from, and why is Ukko wasting so many resources on a firestarter and… whatever Selena can do?”
“We’re Irish,” Selena started, but Mrs. Granger gasped and stopped her from telling her she was telekinetic.
“So am I,” she said. “According to my family, we’re descended from Badb.”
“Oh, God,” Cameron groaned.
“Goddess,” Selena corrected. “And don’t act so surprised. Has she ever really struck you as a virgin goddess?”
“Selena,” Cameron warned, “keep it up and I’m walking into that cornfield to look for that red-eyed monster.”
“Wait,” Mrs. Granger said, “you’ve met Badb?”
“She’s the one who saved us from Quetzalcoatl the second time,” Selena explained. She decided to leave out the parts about their fates and intended roles among the Tuatha Dé and just how well she knew the war goddess.
“Seems awfully coincidental that you’d end up here,” Mrs. Granger said.
Cities of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 2) Page 4