by Lisa Kessler
Lia nodded. “Yeah, he took Agnes back to the Village.”
Clio worried her lower lip, but she didn’t say anything more. She had met Zeus, the ruler of all the gods, and she couldn’t tell anyone. Lia and Trinity walked toward the waiting room, and Clio shook her head. They’d all met him. But she was the only one who had recognized him.
Tera walked around to the opposite side of the bed from Reed and gave Erica a hug. “She’s beautiful.”
Erica smiled up at Reed, and something in her eyes swelled a fresh wave of emotion inside Clio. The love in their eyes, the adoration when they stared at their tiny baby—she wanted that. But until now, she had never given it much thought. She had her books; she didn’t have time for romance or a family.
Mason rested his hand at the small of her back, his touch grounding her in the moment. Watching the new family bond, she realized that life was for living, not just studying from a distance. She slid her arm around his waist, the warmth of his body comforting her.
Tera came over with a rare smile. “Go meet Hope. She’s amazing.”
Clio dropped her arm from around Mason, but he caught her hand, following her to Erica’s bedside. Reed stood on the other side of the bed with one hand on Erica’s shoulder, his thumb stroking her skin.
Erica pulled her eyes from Hope’s face and grinned up at Clio. “I never would have dreamed I’d be someone’s mom.”
Clio smiled, reaching her finger down to touch the baby’s tiny, perfect hand. “She’s gorgeous.”
Reed chuckled. “Gets that from her mother.”
Clio nodded. “She sure does.”
Mason shook Reed’s hand across the bed. “Congratulations, man. She’s beautiful.”
“Thanks, Mason.” But Reed’s gaze was fixed on his baby girl. “She’s a gift, for sure.”
“Hope is a perfect name,” Clio murmured.
“It was Reed’s idea.” Erica glanced up at him and then back to her baby. “She gives us hope for the future and a reason to live long enough to see it.”
Reed looked over at the door. “Someone’s with Trinity, right?” he asked Mason.
“Yeah,” Mason replied. “Hunter’s in the waiting room with her. Nate and Cooper are still at work.”
“Good. We can’t lose anyone else.”
Clio looked up at Reed. “I agree.” She turned, her gaze locking on Mason’s. “Battling immortals is above my pay grade.”
Mason didn’t break eye contact with Clio. “We’re going to stop Pamela.”
Clio swallowed the lump in her throat and turned back to Reed and Erica. “Do you guys need anything?”
Reed shook his head. “We got more than enough at the baby sh—”
“Chinese takeout,” Erica interrupted. “I’m starving.”
Mason tipped his head with a spark in his eyes. “Yes, ma’am. When are y’all getting out of here?”
“Tomorrow morning, hopefully.” Erica ran a finger along Hope’s hairless head. “Could I get a minute alone with Clio?”
“Sure.” Reed bent to kiss her cheek. “I’m going to see if I can find some coffee.”
He offered Tera his arm. “Shall we?”
She nodded with a tentative smile. “Sounds good.”
Mason brushed a kiss to Clio’s temple. “I’ll be right outside.”
She couldn’t take her eyes off him as he walked away. Everything about Mason called to her: his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and damn if his jeans didn’t hug his backside just right.
As the door closed behind him, Erica grinned. “You slept with him.”
Heat flushed Clio’s cheeks. “What?”
“I’ve seen that look a million times.” Erica tilted her head toward the door. “You were undressing him with your eyes, and he hesitated at the door because he could feel it. Wanted to give you a second look.”
Clio shook her head. “Okay, Erato is going crazy inside you. You’re reading into everything.”
“But you did sleep with him.” She waggled her eyebrows until Clio laughed.
“Yes.” She rolled her eyes. “But I wasn’t undressing him with my eyes.”
“Bullshit.”
Clio gasped, pointing at the infant. “Child present.”
Erica took Clio’s hand. “Mason is a good man. I’m glad he’s your Guardian.” A mischievous smile curved her lips. “And what good is destiny without passion, right?”
Clio grinned. “There’s plenty of passion.”
“Good.” Erica sobered. “Now, I wanted you alone to ask you for a favor.”
“All right.”
“I know Mason has been sweet on you since he started working for us, and now he’s your Guardian. You obviously have a connection growing, and no one knows better than I do that when you find the right guy, you want to go all in.”
Clio nodded slowly. “It worked out for you, right?”
“Yeah, but not so much for Trin.”
“Oh…” Clio understood where this was going now. “We’re planning to keep an eye on her. She won’t be without a Guardian.”
“No, that’s not it.” Erica shook her head, her gaze intent on Clio’s. “I have no right to ask this of you, but I’m going to anyway. I’m saying, don’t move in with Mason. Not yet. Trin lost me and then Lia, and she’s lonely. I can see it in her eyes and hear it in her music. She’s losing hope.”
“That’s not the only thing.” Clio squeezed Erica’s hand. “When we got back to the house today, she had already finished a couple glasses of wine. And then Ted came by.”
Erica groaned. “Why won’t that loser leave her alone?”
“He’s looking for Rhea, the mother of Zeus. He has it on good authority that she’s the only one who can stop Pamela.” Clio smiled as little Hope squeezed her finger. “I gave them background on her, so we’d have a place to start looking.”
Erica’s shoulders tensed, a crease lining her brow. “Who told him Rhea could help? We don’t even know if she’s around.”
Clio shrugged. “Well, if Philyra is walking among us as Pamela, it’s not too farfetched to think Rhea might be, too.”
“I guess not.” Erica met her eyes. “Just be careful. I don’t trust Ted Belkin any farther than I could throw him. He’s always got an angle.”
“He seems genuinely worried about Trinity. He confirmed that Pamela is targeting her and Tera since they’re the only ones without Guardians now.” She glanced at the door and then back to Erica. “As for the favor, I just got moved in. I’m not going to abandon Trin.”
“Good.” Erica stared down at her baby girl. “My only regret is that I left Trinity alone. Music and lyrics are a team, you know?”
Clio gave Erica’s shoulder a squeeze. “She’s happy for you. We all are.”
Erica rested her head back on the pillow. “Thanks, Clio.” An exhausted smile curved her lips as she closed her eyes. “I’m glad it’s Mason. Destiny put him in your path, but only you can let him in your heart.”
The new mother drifted off to sleep with the sweet, snoozing bundle in her arms. Clio turned to go with a knowing grin. Mason was already in her heart, and brick by brick, he was building a home there. She snuck out of the room, and Reed slipped back inside to take her place as Erica’s sentinel.
Mason smiled. “Can I buy you dinner?”
“I’d love that.” She looked up and down the hall. “Where’d Tera go?”
“She’s in the waiting room. Why?”
Clio took his hand. “Ever since I sat at that table with Ted and heard him say that Pamela expects Tera and Trinity to be eliminated…” She pressed her lips together, searching for the right words. “They’re just pawns to her, but they’re my sisters. This might be a game to the gods, but it’s life and death to me.” She met his eyes. “I’m afraid, Mason.”
He drew her into his arms, kissing the top of her head. “You’re not alone.”
She clung to him, his steady heartbeat calming her nerves. Finally, she looked up into his eye
s. “You’re afraid, too?”
“Yeah.” He nodded, bringing a hand up to caress her cheek. “It was easier before because I didn’t have so much to lose.” He kissed her forehead. “But I also have more to live for now, so maybe that balances the scales.”
“I hope so.” Zeus’s warning that Mason was the only one who could stop Pamela haunted her, and she had no one to confide in. If she told Mason, she’d lose him. She had no doubt he’d make that final shift if it meant stopping the nymph. And if she told anyone else and somehow Kronos or the Order found out, Zeus could lose his only advantage against Kronos.
The pounding in her head surged.
Mason caught her chin, bringing her attention back to him. His voice was gentle but firm. “My father used to tell me that worrying was like riding a rocking horse: you work up a sweat, but it doesn’t get you anywhere.”
An unexpected smile crept up on her. “We’re supposed to pretend there aren’t immortals out there trying to cut the cord on our lifelines?”
His gaze soft, filled with… She wasn’t sure. “Part of why I love my work is because it makes sense,” he said. “I can build something that didn’t exist before. I can’t control the rest of the world, but give me a stack of wood and some tools, and I can shelter you in storm.”
“I…” She placed her hand over his heart, her emotions choking off her voice. “You’re turning my world upside down, and I don’t know what I bring to the table. You could build me a shelter in a storm, and I could, what? Tell you about the history of storm tracking?”
He chuckled, and the sound soothed her soul. “Do you know what I saw the moment I met you?”
She shrugged. “I honestly have no clue.”
“I saw another person who was hiding, just like me.”
“How so?”
He rested his hand over hers. “My first thought was that you were beautiful with kind eyes, but when you got bashful on me, I caught a flash of something else.”
She raised a brow. “Like what?”
“A lion. You were hiding your courageous heart, and I wanted to know why. The couple of times I drove you to rehab for your ankle after the fire, I saw it again. They told you to move to a single-level place, and you told them you’d walk your stairs. And then you’d visit the jobsite loaded down with books, and I realized they were your shield. Joan of Arc; Anne Boleyn; Mary, Queen of Scots—you have all of them in your heart, but you buy into the others treating you like a baby sister.”
Clio shook her head slowly. “How is any of that like you? You showed up in Crystal City and accepted a project no one else would take on, you’ve saved my life twice, and you’re chasing an immortal we both know could kill you.”
“Don’t you see?” He lifted her hand to his lips, pressing a kiss to her knuckles. “My curse is my shield. It keeps everyone at arm’s length, just like your books do for you. I’ve had relationships, but I was always protected from getting too close because of my secret.” He lowered her hand, his voice dropping to a whisper. “I’m all in with you, Clio. For the first time, I don’t have a shield. I just hope you’ll trust me enough to drop yours, too.”
Before she could reply, Trinity came into the hallway. “Oh, sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”
Clio took a step away from Mason. “You’re not interrupting.”
He didn’t look like he agreed, but he didn’t say anything.
Trinity glanced at each of them. “Tera’s going to hang out with Callie and Hunter tonight. Nate has a friend who used to work for the department and runs his own security firm now. We’re going to see about a full-time bodyguard for her until we have the Pamela situation under control. I’m just wondering if I should get one, too.”
“I can stick around your place.” Mason was focused on Trinity. “I hurt Pamela on the pier. Hopefully seeing me around will keep her away.”
“Okay, I’ll let everybody know.” Trinity stopped at the door and smiled. “Thanks, Mason.”
“Guess we’d better get out of here.” Mason followed Trinity, leaving Clio behind.
He’d given her the perfect opening to tell him how she felt, to tell him about Zack. But she hadn’t. She peered through the small window in the door into Erica’s room. She was resting peacefully. Reed was holding the baby, all his attention on his new little girl.
Erica’s advice taunted her. Destiny had put Mason in her path, but if she couldn’t figure out how to open her heart to him, to trust him with it… That was the path to a real relationship, wasn’t it? Lia had once told her that to love someone, you had to know all of them, the good and the bad.
Until now, Clio hadn’t considered that her books were protecting her heart, keeping everyone at a distance and keeping her from being hurt. She walked toward the waiting room, kicking herself. In her confusion, Mason had bared his soul, and she, in turn, had lied and told Trinity she hadn’t been interrupting.
Her whole life, Clio had always been one of the smartest people in the room, but when it came to matters of the heart, she apparently still had a lot to learn.
CHAPTER 13
Ted waited until after breakfast to make the call. Tracking down Maria Spanos’s number had been easy enough. She was old-school and still listed in the phone book.
“Hello?” The voice that answered didn’t resemble that of an elderly woman in an independent living facility.
“Hi,” Ted said, “I’m looking for Mrs. Spanos.”
“This is her. Who’s calling?”
He glanced at his notes. “This is Ted Belkin. I was on the Crystal City Business Alliance with your husband, Don. I was hoping we could meet later today.”
“I’m sorry, but my husband died a few years ago. I don’t think I’d be of any help.”
Ted scrambled for an excuse. He couldn’t just ask if she was the Mother of the Gods. Could he?
“You’re actually the one I wanted to speak with,” he said. “I’m also trying to find Mrs. Mardas and Mrs. Zervos.”
“I’m sorry. I can’t help you.” Her voice was clipped, eager to end the call.
“Wait.” Ted interrupted. “Maybe you could just tell me if Ida Industries was named after Mount Ida, where the Mother of the Gods, Rhea, hid her infant, Zeus.”
He waited, holding his breath.
Finally, she replied. “Why would it matter?”
“Because I need to find her.”
“Who?”
Ted paused. Was this a test, or was his hunch wrong? “Rhea, the wife of Kronos and Mother of the Gods.”
He expected laughter, but it never came.
Mrs. Spanos lowered her voice. “Meet me in the garden of the Blessed Mary’s Village in one hour.”
Mason swung his hammer, beating the framing nails into submission. He’d spent the night on the couch in Trinity’s house. Clio invited him to stay in her room with her, and although he longed to hold her in his arms, he resisted the temptation.
He’d laid all his cards on the table with her, something he’d never done with anyone before, and instead of meeting him halfway, she’d taken the first out she could find. He shouldn’t be disappointed, but he was.
He told himself it was for the best. He’d hunt Pamela tonight and finish his quest to avenge his family. And Clio would be safe.
He wiped his brow as a familiar car pulled into the theater lot. Clio parked and got out. He spun around the other direction and dug a nail out of his tool belt pouch.
“Mason?”
He gathered his emotions, boxing them up tight, and turned around. Clio, his beautiful, history-loving bookworm, stood before him in a pair of blue jeans, a T-shirt, and a brand-spanking-new tool belt hanging low on her hips, complete with a hammer, measuring tape, and a retractable razor knife.
Despite his mood, he caught himself starting to smile. “You went to Home Depot.”
“Yeah. It’s probably all crap, but I went by myself and wasn’t sure what to get.” She checked out her new tools. When she met his eyes again
, the ache in his chest eased. “I was hoping I could talk you into teaching me to build things.”
He crossed his arms, still not ready to surrender the chip on his shoulder completely. “Since when do you want to work construction?”
“I don’t.” She rested her hand on the head of the hammer. “But I want to be able to build you a shelter in a storm, too.”
He dropped his hands to his sides, his tone softening. “Your smile is enough.”
She shook her head. “I realized last night that I may be book smart, but I’m pretty stupid when it comes to this whole relationship thing.” She tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and looked up into his eyes. “I want to let you into my heart. I guess I’m just not sure how to do it.”
He chuckled, eyeing her tool belt. “You thought pounding some nails might help?”
“Well, it couldn’t hurt, right?” She pulled the hammer free from its loop on her belt. “I figured it might give me an excuse to spend more time with you.”
He couldn’t resist her for another moment. His hand slid into her hair as he bent to kiss her lips. She moved her hands up his chest, and he rested his forehead against hers. “I’ve never had a woman buy tools to make up with me before.”
“Good.” She grinned, and his heart pounded. “I’ve never bought tools to impress a guy before, either.”
“Good.” He winked and handed her a nail. “Let’s get busy.”
Ted found an available bench in the garden of the Village and scanned the area, even though he’d never seen Mrs. Spanos’s face before. A tall, slender woman who was maybe in her seventies approached him. She had another woman of a similar build trailing behind her. Maybe her sister?
“Ted Belkin?”
He stood up, offering her his hand. “Mrs. Spanos?”
She shook his hand. “Call me, Maria.” She turned to her friend. “And this is Tessa Mardas.”
He nodded. “Great to meet you both.” He gestured to the bench. “Thanks for agreeing to talk to me.”
They sat down, and Maria started by asking, “How did you find us?”
“Your husband’s obituary.”