by Jax Garren
It rolled shut behind them, leaving them in sudden quiet, broken only by the steady strum of Coyote’s guitar.
For a moment, there were only breaths as Giselle rematerialized. Then Rawan let out a whoop of relief and celebration as she, Shawn, and Bryn collected their dropped items. The next set of gates began to open.
Mictecacihuatl’s power felt dimmer than it had, but still present. What felt really bizarre, though—and not just from the woman’s extra-firm grip—was Sofia’s hand on her arm. Giselle hadn’t moved, frozen in her emotional turmoil.
Her birth mother’s hand.
The one that’d shoved a spike into Pope Maui’s head and spun his death wound toward the camera for all to see.
Giselle slipped away from Sofia’s touch, trying to stay casual about it. The woman’s hot fingers gripped her arm for just a moment, then let her go.
Numbly, Giselle picked up the stupid crap she’d dropped from her pouch, along with Coyote’s broken earrings, as she proceeded to the second gate. Coyote looked longingly at his skirt dropped in front of the next gate as he continued to use both hands to play. Poor guy. She scooped his clothes up off the dirt and came up to him as the third set of doors opened, making it a tiny bit easier to breathe with each successful breach back to her world. “Want some help?”
He gave her a playful smile. “If you wouldn’t mind. I never thought I’d see the day I’d be happy to have that on.”
She chuckled as they made awkward progress walking through the gate as she draped the skirt around his hips. He lifted his guitar enough, without missing a beat, that she could get the skirt against his middle. Her fingers shook as she redressed him, too aware of his proximity and the warmth of his skin. It was times like these she wished she could handle a fling. It sure would feel nice to celebrate being alive by falling into a good-looking man tonight. Or at least, it would in theory. Reality rarely lived up to the idea of something.
New topic. “We raided the underworld,” she said, voice trembling in wonder.
“We did,” he responded, his own voice full of heat.
“And we survived.”
“Miraculous, eh?”
She blushed as she did up the two buttons at the side of his skirt, then looked up to find Ishtar studying her carefully with the expression of someone who’d received a serious shock.
Oh. Shit. Mom. She’d called Bryn Mom. It hadn’t dawned on her until this moment that although she’d immediately known who Sofia was, Sofia’d had no idea who she was until she’d yelled that one word. It would’ve been nice to stay anonymous from someone as dangerous as Sofia Messner. No could do anymore.
Feeling very cold, she relaxed into Coyote’s side, behind his guitar, wanting his strength as she tried not to think about what problems would come from Ishtar’s resurrection and release—both personal and in the world. Should she demand Sofia give her the godstone back? What would she do, then, when Sofia said no? Because she was going to say no. Sure, with the power of two gods activated simultaneously, Giselle had felt like a next-level badass, but based on how Ishtar had handled Nergal, the woman was nigh unstoppable, even with just that one stone. How had the police even caught her?
She glanced back at Bryn, who was staring at her ex with a deep worry that couldn’t hide the longing beneath it. Bryn had turned her in. Bryn had helped the police take down the most wanted woman in America, even though she had been in love with her.
All alone now, Bryn picked up not just her own dropped item but Giselle’s and Coyote’s as well, letting Giselle stay in the comfort of Coyote’s presence. In that selfless act was a lot of love. Giselle needed to reach out to her mother—she just didn’t know how.
Coyote’s head landed gently against hers with familiarity as the next gates started to open. “You okay?” he asked softly, the tone announcing that he knew she wasn’t.
She swallowed and tried to nod anyway. Her voice wasn’t really working.
“I’d really like to stop playing and give you a hug right now.”
A laugh almost choked her. “Please keep the galla on task. I’m not sure who’s controlling them, but I think it’s more you than her.”
“Aww...” he said, his voice teasing.
“I’ll take you up on that hug when we’re out of the cave, cool?” Just a few more gates, a few short walks closer to freedom.
“Isn’t the hag out there?”
“Yup. I’ll hug you in front of Ande. She’ll think the absolute worst.”
A power shift caught her attention, and she turned to see the final stage of Rawan’s transition from Persephone back to Sekhmet.
Coyote gave the woman a bemused smile as she stretched her claws. “I don’t think we’re going to get that godstone away from her.”
“Do you know who she is?”
To her relief, Coyote shook his head. “No, she introduced herself wearing a cloak-like veil—a chador I think she called it.” He narrowed his eyes at her. “You know though, don’t you?”
She let half of a smile show through her tiredness. “Maybe.”
“Dammit. Now I want to know.” Then his eyes widened. “Wait, does she know who you are?”
“Uh.... maybe.” Giselle slipped away from him and through the fourth set of gates.
“Wait!” he called after her, chasing her down as she caught up with Rawan and Shawn, standing in front of the fifth gate.
Shawn looked sick to his stomach, but he smiled weakly at her as she neared them, the determined expression a far cry from the shocked fear he’d worn as they’d fought their way in. With some training and practice—combined with his already substantial intelligence—he could end up a force to be reckoned with after all.
Rawan yanked her into a joyous hug. “This is living!”
“Glad we’re not dead,” Shawn added wryly.
Coyote joined them as they made their way through the fifth gate. Giselle looked around and found her mother standing alone, dividing her attention between her daughter and her ex. Giselle motioned for the woman to join them, and with another look at Sofia-Ishtar, she strode over to the group of young people.
“That was brilliant what you did with the water,” Rawan said, clapping Shawn on the back.
“Thanks.”
Coyote dipped the neck of his guitar at him. “I dunno if you’re glad you came along, but I am. Great work.”
Shawn’s cheeks darkened further with a blush. “I’m not sure how much help I really was. I know I froze up.”
“You came through when we needed it most,” Coyote reassured, once again making Giselle think about how important a team was to him.
He’d brought extra people in for the crazy dangerous mission to rescue her, but had he also been recruiting more members? Were they no longer partners, but a team? Mixed emotions filled her head about the potential implications. She loved the thought of working with Rawan, but the weird thing she felt resistant to was sharing the lair. It felt like her space with Coyote, their private retreat. She didn’t want anyone else tromping through it.
Which was dumb and selfish and not really even her choice anyway. Coyote was paying for it. He could invite anyone he wanted to his place.
She took a deep breath as they walked through the sixth gate and faced the seventh and final wall separating them from the outside world. Would she have to fight Neti again? Was something else waiting for them?
Concerns for the next few moments and the next few months wormed through her mind as she caught Coyote’s gaze. He gave her a relaxed wink and, as if he could read her mind, said, “We’ll figure it out. Together.”
The last set of gates opened. Neti stood before them with a line of red-eyed galla, ready to fight. Coyote’s fingers fumbled on the strings.
The god of the gates set his hands on his hips. “The Queen of Night has not given her permission for all of you to pass. Return the musician and—”
Rage snapped Giselle’s body straight up. “Over my dead body.” She drew her ax.
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“That can be arranged,” Neti said.
“I beat your ass once, and I’ll do it again.”
Neti stepped back into a fighting stance. “I won’t underestimate you this time, little girl.”
A battle cry keened from Sofia as she charged. Neti shifted his stance toward the unexpected attack, but he was too late. Sofia’s sword—now a regular straight sword—rammed through the god’s abdomen, spitting him.
Blood spattered across Sofia’s face and dress, giving the fury on her face a demented frenzy. “Threaten my daughter, will you?”
Neti’s eyes bulged as the sword handle shifted to the one Giselle recognized. With disgust, she realized Sofia had just transformed the straight sword she’d attacked with to the hooked sword Ishtar favored while it was inside the man’s body, essentially making a blender in his guts. Gross.
“Let’s get out of here,” Giselle yelled. “Run!”
The galla swarmed as they dashed forward, surrounding Coyote. Giselle struck with axes as Rawan used Sekhmet’s claws to rip into anyone in their way, and Bryn cast more of the green fog from her fingers. Coyote thrust his hands out, and arrows shot down onto the galla, clearing the path before them.
“That’s new,” Giselle commented, skewering another demon as she went.
“Mictlantecuhtli special.” He shuddered, looking a little green. “Don’t think I’m going to last much longer.”
She nodded. “Me neither. At least, not with both of them.” They reached the crawl space, and she grabbed her mother. “Go. Protect everyone on the other side.” After Bryn disappeared into the hole, Shawn went next, then Rawan.
“Go,” Coyote said, but his eyes were on Ishtar, still hacking away at the god of the gates.
Giselle shuddered at the violence. “I can dematerialize. I’ll be right behind you.”
The look that crossed his face showed a painful reluctance, but he listened to good sense and dropped to his knees to enter the cave.
Across the cavern, Sofia smiled at Giselle. “Go. I have this under control. But I’ll see you soon.”
Giselle swallowed heavily, every nerve firing at the thought of what that smile meant. They weren’t going to get along. Even the mere minutes she’d spent with Sofia had convinced her that there was no mistake. Her birth mother was evil.
Bryn. She needed to talk to Bryn and get answers.
After waiting another few seconds for her friends to get farther into the cavern, she disappeared into the rock. The last thing she saw before the salt closed around her was Ishtar, blood on her face and sword as she gleefully massacred anything that came near.
Chapter 19
THE CAVE OPENED UP to standing height, allowing Giselle to return to the material. Immediately she released Mictecacihuatl and near collapsed into Coyote.
He caught her, and she felt the power surge as he too released his god of the dead. For a moment, they just leaned on one another, glad to be alive.
Rawan let out another cry of joy and piled onto them, her arms stretching around both of their torsos. Giselle reached out to her mother, and Bryn smiled, tears in her eyes, as she transitioned from Hekate to Idunn and joined the group hug, leaving Shawn awkwardly standing near the cavern’s entrance.
“Come here,” Coyote called to him. “You faced the land of the dead. You’re now required to face the group hug.”
Looking shy but not completely like he hated the idea, Shawn came over to them and let Coyote pull him into the tangle.
“We need a team name,” Rawan insisted, not letting go. “Because we’re not Incompetents.”
“Oh, gods, I hate coming up with names,” Giselle said, wondering what the incompetent comment was about.
“You sticking with?” Coyote asked the group, but Giselle had a feeling he was mostly talking to Shawn.
“Oh, yeah!” Rawan enthused.
Bryn hugged Giselle tighter. “Where goes my girl, so go I.” Instead of making her feel awkward, the proclamation made Giselle feel warm. Nothing like a death-defying—literally—adventure to speed up an emotional reconnection.
Shawn pulled out of the group first, and everyone loosened up at his exit. But his expression was still smiling as he nodded his head. “If you’ll have me. I would still like to look for Osoosi, though. I feel like that’s who I belong to.” He looked at the rest of them with an envious hope. “I see the connections you have to your gods, and it’s inspiring.”
Coyote clapped him on the shoulder. “If we’re a team, we’ll help with that. Meanwhile, keep Osiris, or we can look at who else is available.”
“Freyja?” a voice called from outside the cave.
Bryn reached into Shawn’s pocket and yanked out a stone, then shoved it into his hand. “Hide your face.”
Though he looked a little nauseous at the thought—it felt sickeningly awful to have the god forcibly leave instead of letting it go—he quickly pricked his finger on a pocketknife and transitioned in a fiery burst to a muscular, shirtless man in a bright red tribal skirt carrying a double-bladed ax.
“Hey!” Coyote announced cheerfully. “I’m not the only shirtless guy in a skirt!”
Shawn gave him a dirty look as lightning coated his hand, but the irrepressible Coyote just winked at him.
Andromeda cautiously stepped into the cave. She raised a brow at the collection of conduits in front of her, calculation in her face as she seemed to log how many people she was looking at who weren’t supposed to have godstones. She sighed. “Well, shit.”
Giselle grabbed the arms nearest her, which happened to belong to Coyote and her mother, and started forward. Ande’s gaze zeroed in on Bryn and softened momentarily, then she looked at the group again with a frown.
“You didn’t get Macha?”
“Oh!” Giselle reached into her pouch and pulled out the toad. “Here you go.”
Ande took it with hesitating fingers. “This is...”
“Little brat,” Bryn said.
The Amazon’s mouth quirked like she found that amusing. “Can we get her back to human form?”
Bryn shrugged. “My spell. We could work something out.”
Andromeda’s expression turned thoughtful. “I only acquired the resources to instantly return Giselle and Macha—two other people. If I pulled strings to return more, I’d have to explain why.”
Coyote’s shoulders went back as he looked over Andromeda with more curiosity than animosity. “And if we find our own transportation home?”
“I suppose it’s up to my discretion what I put in the report then.” She held Giselle’s gaze for a moment, looking almost relieved. “Seeing as the mission was successful, I think it prudent to leave out a few things.
Bryn released Giselle’s hand and stepped toward Ande. “I will take Giselle’s place. She will travel with her team. There are”—she hesitated—“concerns you and I must address.”
Giselle shook her head. “No way I’m leaving you with them. They put you in a hole!”
Andromeda hissed. “That wasn’t me.”
“But you didn’t stop it.”
“I didn’t know.”
“Didn’t know? Or didn’t care to find out?” Ande’s lips pursed, and Giselle read all the answer she needed in that. “No, my mother sticks with—”
“Daughter,” Bryn said softly, “I need to speak with Andromeda. We need to discuss what happened. Who came back. There are things you still don’t know—”
“Then tell me! I’m not seven anymore.”
Bryn put her hands up. “You’re not, and I will. But the magistrates must be made aware of what’s coming, and I need an update on what’s changed since I’ve been gone. Andromeda and I don’t always see eye-to-eye, but if she swears I’ll be protected, she’ll keep her word.”
Giselle dug in. “You don’t always trust the right people.”
Bryn flinched like she’d been punched, and Giselle felt like crap for bringing up Sofia. Bryn’s voice was soft but powerful, tugging at Giselle�
��s memories of lectures from a bygone day, as she said, “Trust is always a choice that should be made with the head and not the heart. The problem comes when you confuse the two. Believe me, affection is not the reason I rely on Andromeda’s word.” She lightly touched Giselle’s arm. “But it will be why I rely on yours.”
Beside her, Coyote snorted at the backhanded compliment she’d given Ande and tugged Giselle backward. “Let them go hash it out.”
Giselle spun on him, surprised by his capitulation. “You don’t trust me with Andromeda, but you trust her?”
A flash of frustration darkened Coyote’s visage. “Don’t tell me I don’t look out for your mother. Who got her out of the compound? Who watched over her? Who paid a thousand-dollar room bill on a cheap-ass motel room she set fire to, and who got her here safely and somewhat sanely?” He flicked a small smile to Bryn. “No offense, but you’ve been, uh...”
Bryn spun a finger near her own temple, indicating her own crazy.
“I was going to say ‘a handful.’”
She patted Coyote’s cheek. “You’re a good boy.”
He barked a laugh. “Uh, thanks?”
Giselle looked away. He was right. Even if she didn’t like that he was disagreeing with her, Coyote had done extremely well by her mother—better than she’d had any right to expect. He probably wouldn’t send Bryn off with someone if he thought it was unsafe, not after how long he’d watched over her.
Coyote slid a hand down her arm. “We’ve got business to deal with too, the four of us. We’ll fill Bryn in when she gets back. She’ll fill us in. But let’s divide ourselves up intelligently.”
Noise from back in the cave startled everyone. “We should probably go,” Rawan said.
“Why?” Ande asked, concerned. “What is that?”
The four of them started forward, hustling the older women out of the cave. “Bryn will explain,” Giselle said, giving in. “But I think we need to get out of here before we have a problem on our hands.”