Hisses and Honey (The Venom Trilogy Book 3)

by Shannon Mayer

  I stared around me as I walked, noting that the birds fell silent as I approached. I grimaced. “I’m not that kind of snake.”

  Of course, there was no answer. They didn’t know that I wasn’t going to eat them in one jaw-unhinged bite. I moved from tree to tree, using the trunks as props to keep from sliding back into the snow, and the snow around the trees was thinner too. The cold and wet soaked through my jeans and made each step that much more difficult, only raising my ire. My breath misted and fogged in front of my face, freezing in the air in tiny droplets. Maybe I could survive the extreme cold, but that didn’t mean I liked it. Not for one dang second. I rubbed my hands over my arms and drew in a big breath. The smell of woodsmoke pulled me forward. Hermes had said that Zeus had a cabin, so it made sense to head in the direction of the smoke.

  I hurried my steps, wanting the warmth, but wanting to get to Zeus more. How I was going to convince him, I had no idea, but I was going to convince him. One way or another.

  “There is no try. There is do or do not,” I whispered to myself, warming to the words. Yoda had it right. There was no try; I could do this. I was going to do this.

  I wove my way through a thicket of frozen brambles and trees, and stepped out into a clearing where a cabin stood. Okay, “cabin” might have been an understatement. The structure was two stories high, and from what I could see it was probably five thousand square feet on each floor, and that was being conservative. I shook my head. “Hardly a hideout, Zeus.”

  There was a grunt to my right, and I spun away out of sheer instinct as a spear slid right through where I’d been standing. A Bull Boy stared back at me, his eyes slowly widening as recognition settled in. I’d faced his kind when I’d first been turned into a Drakaina. Half man, half bull, they’d been Achilles’s thugs and a major pain in the patoot.

  “Don’t kill me!” He threw his hands over his head and went to his furred knees.

  At least he wasn’t going to try to fight me. “What are you doing here? Helping Zeus?” I asked.

  “He gave me a job. I needed one after Achilles went down.” He shook where he kneeled. “You aren’t going to kill me?”

  “Not unless you give me reason to,” I snapped, using my best kick-the-kids’-butts-into-eating-veggies Yaya voice. “I need to speak with Zeus.”

  “He’s not going to like that you’re here,” Bull Boy muttered.

  I put my hands on my hips and stared down at him. “I don’t care. Take me to him.”

  He got off his knees and stumbled away from me for the first few steps. His wide eyes kept flicking back to me, as if he expected me to shift into my snake form and eat him right there. “I was at the stadium,” he said. Well, that made the weird looks make sense. The stadium had been the place of my showdown with Achilles, and the Bull Boys there had taken a pretty good beating. Mind you, I had too. But I’d put Achilles out of commission in front of everyone. Something that no monster had ever done before.

  I hunched my shoulders. “I hate fighting.”

  He blinked several times. “Me too. It’s why I held back. You’re good at it, though. You have a good instinct. I don’t. As you can maybe tell.” He laughed, the pitch high and wobbly. He swallowed the last of his laughter down in a large gulp.

  I followed him through the open area and up onto the front porch of the cabin mansion. I thanked him and then waved him away. I could do this part on my own at least. I thought about knocking on the door. No, not this time; I needed Zeus to see me as strong, as strong enough to give me some credit. I put my hand on the doorknob and twisted it hard. It wasn’t even locked. I shook my head and stepped in.

  “Well, we were wondering when you were going to get here,” Zeus called out, and I blinked at the oversized bed that dominated the main entrance of the house. There were limbs in every direction, and lots of skin. Lots and lots of skin. Oh my Lord in heaven. I’d walked in on an orgy.

  I stilled my squeamish side, tried to soothe the fire burning in my cheeks. I cleared my throat. “I highly doubt that you were waiting on me, Zeus.”

  His head jerked up out of the pile of bodies, his eyes as wide as the Bull Boy’s had been. “Drakaina? What are you doing here?”

  How was I going to play this? How was I going to convince him that he had to help? His ego was the size of the entire world . . . the world . . . The thoughts rumbled around, bouncing in my skull like tiny Ping-Pong balls as they fought to show me the idea. And there it was. The way to convince him.

  I put my hands on my hips. “I’m here to . . . to kick your ass into gear. The world needs you, Zeus. The world. Not me. Not Hera, not Seattle. The world.”

  Zeus stared at me, then frowned, his brows creasing. “How did you find me?”

  “I was told you’d head for the hills. Panacea said you always go north.” I didn’t want to implicate poor Hermes in this if I didn’t have to, but Panacea could take care of herself. I hoped. Surprising me, the messenger floated to my shoulder.

  “I brought her. She’s right, boss. The world needs you. Not like this, humping anything that moves and managing the Blue Box Store. We need the Zeus that defeated the Titans to show back up and kick ass,” Hermes said.

  I wanted to hug him for standing up with me. I had a feeling his words as a neutral party held more weight than Ernie’s would have if he’d been with me. Zeus shoved a few bodies off him and stood up. His potbelly was gone, and I didn’t look lower than that. It took an effort not to blush, to pretend only that I needed his help and he wasn’t standing there completely naked with a mass of hands and mouths working their way up his legs.

  “As you can see, I’m on . . . vacation.” He pointed at the bed and then swept his hand outward. “I don’t think the world needs me at all.” That was what he said, but I heard the doubt in his voice. I forged on, as if I were making a ten-tiered cake that threatened to topple. If I got it right, I’d have a masterpiece, and if I balanced it wrong, the entire thing would come toppling down. I strode forward and met him as he stepped off the bed.

  “You do care about this world, don’t act otherwise. I know you do. And we both know I’m not wrong.”

  He smiled, but it was tired and more than a bit cynical with the way his lips twisted off to one side. “You are so young and stupid, Drakaina. This world wants nothing more than to be coddled. I don’t do coddling. None of the pantheon does.”

  I dared to grab his arm, right around the biceps, and dig my fingers in hard. “Here’s the thing: you would be in charge of the Super Dupers. They are the ones who need you. And besides that, if you don’t come back, Hera is going to win. She’ll take the throne of Olympus, and where will you be then? Just a sorry excuse of an ex-husband begging for scraps from her table.”

  He pointed at the floor, and I mistakenly followed the motion before snapping my eyes back up to his grinning face, though his eyes sparkled with anger. “I will be right here, enjoying the favors of whoever would like to be in my bed. Would you care to test out the mattress with me? I bet I could show you a thing or two that vampire hasn’t.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Zeus. You are better than all this. You were a god once, so why are you running from it now?”

  He yanked out of my hand. “Because no one wants the gods alive. We ruled hard and fast, we took as we pleased, and I won’t go back to wanting that and not having it.”

  I didn’t understand. “Why can there not be a middle ground? We can find a balance, Zeus. If I can find a way to be a good monster, you can be a good and fair god. Right?”

  He laughed and rubbed his hand over his face. “Let me be very clear, then. I need more of the pantheon on my side. Hera has been building this plan of hers for far longer than I even realized. I am too . . . late to turn the tables on her.”

  I grabbed him again, and Hermes groaned. I yanked Zeus so we were nose to nose. “You have some of the pantheon on your side, you fool. And you have me on your side.”

  His eyes flickered with lightning, and the air arou
nd us charged. “And my son?”

  I blinked, wondering who he meant for a split second. “Hercules?”

  “That would be the one,” he drawled.

  “He seems . . . conflicted.” I tried to blink away the sudden tears. “He helped dig my mother out of the bakery.”

  As if that would explain everything. I fought the growing onslaught of tears, the image of my mother suddenly right in front of me, and I was unable to shake it. I tried to turn away from Zeus, but he caught me by the arms. “Tell me what happened, Drakaina.”

  The story spilled out in spits and starts until the end, when I told him that his son had helped me move the cement blocks, that Hercules had apologized for my mother’s death.

  “I don’t think he wants to help Hera, but he’s in charge of the Hydra. Why would he help her after all she’s done to him?” I wiped at my face, and someone handed me a tissue. I blew my nose and used a clean edge of my shirt to wipe away the last of my tears.

  Zeus sighed. “Hercules . . . he is complicated. He wants everyone to like him, and that isn’t possible. But mostly, he wanted his stepmother to like him.”

  “But why would that be so important? You know that hating your stepmother is a normal thing in the human world, right?” I wiped my nose and clutched the tissue in my hand.

  “Because he never knew his birth mother. She died, and Hera was all he had. I didn’t see what she was doing, how she was hurting him, until it was far too late.” He shook his head. “She played us against one another for years, all because . . .”

  “Because she was angry at you,” I finished for him. He grunted.

  “Yes. Bitter. She’s been bitter for far longer than I ever realized.”

  My heart hurt for Hercules. I couldn’t help it, and I could see now why helping me dig my mother out of the rubble had been something he would do. If he couldn’t hold his own mother and say good-bye, then he could help me. None of that changed what I was facing, though. What Zeus was facing.

  I reached out and put a hand on his bare shoulder. “Will you step up, Zeus? Will you help me stop Hera?”

  He was quiet, something so unlike him I almost wondered if I’d pushed him too far.

  “Who all do you believe is on my side?” Zeus strolled away from me, clenching his butt cheeks several times, changing the mood in an instant. I glanced at Hermes, who shrugged.

  “Nothing I can do about it,” the flying messenger said.

  Zeus bypassed the bed and went to a large dining room table I’d not seen beyond the mass of still-writhing and occasionally groaning bodies. He took a wooden chair, spun it around, and sat on it. He spread his legs and leaned forward to put his elbows on his knees.

  I didn’t look away; instead I just raised an eyebrow and answered his question. “Artemis. Panacea. Smithy.”

  “You mean Hephaestus?” Zeus’s lips quirked, and I ignored the subtle implication.

  “I mean Smithy. Ernie. Me. Sandy.”

  He frowned. “Who is Sandy? You say her name like I should know her.”

  “The surviving Stymphalian bird.” I took a breath and tried to think who else there was. Not too many more. “Remo, and his vampires if we need them. I’m sure I could get the SDMP on board.”

  Hermes zipped forward. “You know, you need Hades on your side. Your brother could help you turn the tide. The rest of the pantheon is just watching, waiting to see who will take the throne before they declare their allegiance.”

  “Why?” I blurted out even as I put the ingredients together. “So they won’t fall with whoever loses?”

  Zeus nodded. “Yes. But . . . Hermes is right. If Hades would side with me, the others would fall into line.”

  “Then talk to him.”

  “Well, that’s not going to happen,” Hermes muttered.

  “Why not?” I wished I had paid more attention to my Greek mythology.

  Zeus rubbed a hand over his chin. “Simple. I’m the one who bound him to the underworld.”

  Hermes nodded. “And if the rumors are true, Hera has promised him the one thing he craves.”

  Zeus’s blue eyes were as serious as I’d ever seen them.

  “Let me guess,” I said. “She’s offered him freedom?”

  Zeus nodded and pointed a finger at me. “Bingo.”

  CHAPTER 11

  “Do you think you could put some clothes on? I’m getting a crick in my neck staring at the ceiling,” I said. Zeus strolled by me, and I stepped back. “Seriously? I thought you didn’t like the cold.”

  He shook his head. “I don’t.”

  “Then why do you always run north when things get ugly?” I bent and grabbed a pair of pants from the floor and flung them at Zeus. He caught them in midair, then slowly put them on. I wasn’t sure if he was being reluctant or still trying to put on a show. The last hop he took to get his butt into them made me think it was more the latter. Typical Zeus.

  The wink over his shoulder sealed it. “I run north because, while I don’t like the cold, it’s an incentive to stay inside and out of view. Of course, I didn’t think I’d have to worry about Hermes invoking his messenger license to bring me a visitor.”

  Hermes flew backward, and I immediately put myself between them. “I forced his hand, Zeus.”

  He gave me a dismissive wave. “I’ll deal with him later, seeing as technically he didn’t break any rules. Right now, we need to get you to the underworld.”

  “What?” I squawked. “I don’t know anything about the underworld. Or Hades. I can’t go.” Wait . . . my mom was there. And Orpheus had said that if I took a flower, maybe I could get her back. I looked around the room. No flowers here. No, Orpheus was mad, out of his mind. My yaya had to have been wrong; there was no way to bring my mom back. I knew it in my heart that there was no changing what had happened.

  That kind of magic didn’t exist.

  “I didn’t ask you if you wanted to go; I said you’re going. If you are on my side, you will do as I say. I will run this show, not you,” Zeus drawled as he tugged a white button-down shirt over his head.

  “You could have unbuttoned that,” I pointed out.

  “I’m lazy,” he said.

  I burst out laughing, unable to keep it in. “Well, that’s the first honest thing I’ve heard come out of your mouth.” He glared at me, but I didn’t stop smiling. “I’m not going to the underworld. Hercules and the Hydra are the ones I’m dealing with. You deal with your brother. We need to split our forces carefully.”

  “Shrew,” he grunted.

  “Show-off,” I bit back.

  He glanced at Hermes. “Take her back to Seattle. I’ll go chat with Hades and see what I can do. Then I will meet with those who support me at the Blue Box.”

  Hermes zipped to my side, and I lifted a hand and gripped his foot. There was no time for any other words, as we were off and flying through the air. The time passed quickly, and it wasn’t long before we were back in Seattle, touching down at house number thirteen.

  “Hermes, I need to find everyone and bring them up to speed . . .”

  “They are all here. You might think you live in that big house on the other side of the Wall, but your signature is here. This is where your people are waiting for you,” he said.

  I let go of his foot, expecting him to zip off, but he didn’t leave. “You sticking around, then?”

  “Looks like a big fight is coming, Drakaina . . . and . . . you’re right. I need to choose a side too.” His lips twisted up. “I’m with you. Not Hera. Not Zeus. I’m with you.”

  My lips trembled, and I held a hand up to him. “Thank you.” He took my fingers, turned my hand over, and kissed the back of it, and then he gave me a shy smile. “Don’t tell anyone. I can be your spy.”

  I smiled back and nodded. “Just be careful. I don’t want you to get hurt on my behalf.”

  He shot ahead of me, but something held me back from going in. At the door I stood. There were several heartbeats I recognized, and I could smell c
innamon and honey, even through the door. Which meant Remo was there along with Tad, Yaya, Sandy, and Ernie.

  I looked down the street toward Merlin’s house. There were cars parked all over the road and his lawn, even right up to his door. Now that was weird. I jogged down the steps of number thirteen and hurried to Merlin’s. Surely he wasn’t having a party when there was so much going on . . . then again, it was Merlin we were talking about.

  As I got closer, people started getting out of the cars, lurching toward me like B-movie zombies. A woman with dusky skin and huge brown eyes approached me. She wore a hat, but even with it I could see that her hair was falling out.

  “Are you Merlin? No . . . you’re the girl from the TV!” She grabbed me, her hands strong despite the obvious fragility of her body. I put my hands over hers, not afraid so much as upset.

  “You have the Aegrus virus, don’t you?” I asked.

  She sobbed, and I caught her against my body. I knew what it was to be denied the simplest of human touch when that was all you wanted.

  Around me, people circled, all of them in various stages of the virus. I realized then that I could smell it hovering around me, like a burnt caramel, sickly sweet, death curling its grasp tight around them. “Merlin isn’t here?”

  “We can’t get in. The door is steel,” someone said.

  Of course it was. I gently took the woman’s hands from me. “Let me see if I can get it open.” Damn Merlin. I thought he was better than this. And what the H-E-double-hockey-sticks had happened that all these people were not only sick, but not in quarantine?

  I ran to the door and with one well-placed kick busted it down. The door banged open, the handle and lock torn from it. I stormed inside, ready to drag Merlin out by his heels to help . . . but the second I stepped inside I knew the place was empty except for one person, and it wasn’t Merlin. I could smell her. She sat at the table, her blond-and-black ringlets cascading down her back as she played with a deck of cards.

  I jerked to a stop and immediately braced myself for her to launch at me.