Cernunnos resembled a bull waiting to charge, and the Morrígan's mirth-filled eyes fanned at him like a red cape. "I'll turn your head until I hear a crack, you demonic slut."
The Morrígan beamed at her consort as he came to stand next to her. Polydegmon's Gaelic was rusty, but he understood enough from her smug manner. "My lord, I'm so glad you enjoy my new toy. Isn't he diverting?"
"I am not amused. If you must have revenge for a slight thousands of years old, then just kill Cúchulainn and be done with it."
The Morrígan's eyes narrowed to dangerous slits. "No. He is mine, and I will only dispatch the mutt when I have tired of him."
Cernunnos looked away from her. "When did you become so petty? You were a warrior once, Macha of the Morrígna. When did you learn to hold honor and mercy so cheap?"
The Morrígan glared at Cernunnos, probably for his unsanctioned use of her true name. When she did reply to him, her tones sounded icy, measured, "A god is only as good as the people who believe in it." The palpable bitterness inside her washed through the hut to poison the very air. Her vitriol clung as an insidious growth on Polydegmon's heart. A part of him understood what the Morrígan believed--he had even thought it himself a time or twelve. He rubbed sweat-drenched palms against his tunic and fought his empathy for the tired old goddess.
"No one follows me," she whispered, her beautiful, lilting voice going hoarse. "No one honors me or pays me tribute. No one believes in me, so I believe in no one. In nothing."
Cernunnos went to the Morrígan and held his hand out to her. "Macha--"
She stared at his hand and something flashed in the glowing embers of her eyes. The emotion, brittle and sad, flared there then died all in a second.
Her mouth pinched tight, and her eyes were wet as fresh blood. She looked unhinged, and she might have stirred pity if she had not stirred fear so much more strongly. "I am the Phantom Queen, and I will do as I wish in my own court. Go back to your woodsy revels and your stinking huntsmen if the pleasures of my court offend you." Her bloodstained hands marred the white of her skirt when she lifted it to breeze out of the hut.
Cernunnos hissed out a ragged sigh and passed one shaking hand over his face, then he looked at the Hound. The Hound gazed back out of pain-clouded eyes, and the old comrades faced each other a long moment without speaking.
The Hound looked drained to Polydegmon. Drained and done. Dead already. Polydegmon wished Cernunnos to the darkest realms of Tartarus. The steady and persistent passing of time gnawed at him. He had perhaps minutes more to get the Hound free before Freddy would charge into camp after them. Cernunnos, of course, seemed inclined to linger.
The stag-god stepped toward Colin. "Old friend--"
Colin's eyes darkened with hate. He worked his mouth, and he spat on the intricate embroidery along the neck of Cernunnos' tunic. He muttered something, too, but Polydegmon's Gaelic was not up to muster in this instance.
He could, however, make certain assumptions at the way Cernunnos' face contorted in rage at the words. "How dare you--"
Colin whispered huskily, like the scratch of dry leaves against each other before they fall. "I owe you my life, stag-god. I know it. I would have given it to you gladly. But not Freddy's. Not Freddy."
Cernunnos drew himself up. "My daughter has been provided for, and she is no concern of yours any longer." He started to leave but turned back at the last, and the stag's eyes softened. "Don't despair, old friend. I will make provision for you later this night. My queen will not get another day to enjoy your misery."
Colin's energy drained out of him, and he sagged hard against the ropes that bound him. "I wish you had let her kill me two thousand years ago instead of sparing me only to see my daughter suffer."
Cernunnos' mouth pursed with anger, but he choked whatever hasty words had sprung to his lips. He sighed instead. "I will tell my men to make it quick tonight. You will not suffer."
"Whoopee-fuckin'-doo," Colin rasped at Cernunnos' back as the stag-god left the hut. Once the stag departed, Colin's last strength seemed to leave him. He closed his eyes, a husk of a man once more.
Polydegmon ducked his head out the hut entrance. After he was certain no one else would come, he stepped forward and began to hack at the ropes that held Colin.
Colin jumped. His eyes snapped open and stared around the room. He could not, of course, see the invisible Polydegmon. "What mischief is this?" Colin thrashed against the ropes, and Polydegmon's invisible blade slashed a red line on the other man's arm.
Polydegmon hissed. "Be still, it is hard enough doing this without you twitching."
Colin jumped at the sound of Polydegmon's voice. "The Greek?"
Ah, how sweet the Hound should recognize Polydegmon at once. "Yes. Be silent and let me do this."
Colin shook his head and thrashed against his bonds, trying to twist away. "No. Stop this. You'll ruin everything."
Polydegmon ignored the Hound as best he could, but the man's fretful thrashing made it hard to cut the ropes without cutting him.
Colin stilled and turned his head away. "Don't you understand? I've done what I needed to. The Morrígan got my daughter out of that dank pit. Leave me to Cernunnos' boys. They'll put me out of my misery tonight like the dog I am. Or slide your knife in now and save them a trip."
"I rather think your daughter would object to it if I left you here to be euthanized by Cernunnos' lackeys. And I like this knife and would rather it not be stained further."
"It doesn't matter. I failed to keep her safe. I am justly rewarded." Colin rolled his head back and forth on his neck, a listless pendulum.
With an irritated huff, Polydegmon ducked down his head and tipped his father's prized helmet off. He ruffled his sweaty hair into a more comfortable state. "The Phantom Queen did not rescue your daughter. I did. I got her out. The Morrígan did nothing but take advantage of the opportunity."
Colin blinked at him owlishly through worn, red-veined eyes.
"Your girl is fine, old Hound." Polydegmon took advantage of Colin's fleeting stillness to free both his hands. When Colin toppled forward, Polydegmon braced him with a hand on each of the man's shoulders. "She's safe, waiting for me to bring you to her."
Joy shone out and transformed the Hound's beaten and haggard face. The tortured horror rolled off him as if it had never occurred. He was still dirty, bloody, and broken all over, but now hope shone in his eyes instead of dreadful self-loathing. Polydegmon passed his spare knife over, and Colin hefted the weight. He bent to cut the ropes on his right leg as Polydegmon knelt to do the other.
Colin paused and glanced sideways at Polydegmon. "Why are you helping me?"
Polydegmon did not even stop cutting. "Why do you think?"
Colin straightened and kicked his legs free. He worked his arm muscles as he supported himself against the torture rack, his legs too weak or injured as yet to take his full weight. He stared at Polydegmon's knife. "Maybe you shouldn't have given me this. I might kill you."
"It is a risk. But your daughter most definitely will kill me if I do not." Polydegmon steeled himself. For this bit of foolishness, my father is going to feed me to Cerberus. In pieces. "Here." He held the Helmet of Invisibility out to the Hound. "You will require this if we are to escape."
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Freddy had played the patient, good little girl.
She had waited the whole five minutes.
Every last second of the five minutes.
Mom had timed it.
Then, and only then, Freddy had scampered into the fringes of Cernunnos' camp.
Unfortunately, Mom tagged along. And she didn't want Freddy to set any of the huts on fire. "I said no, Frederica."
"Mom, what part of creating a distraction don't you get?"
"The part that necessitates you burning this place to the ground and barbequing half the Wild Hunt in the process."
"If they're extra crispy, they won't worry about looking for us, will they?"
"
Freddy, if they're extra crispy, they won't be worrying about anything at all ever again."
"Mom--"
"No."
"But--"
"No."
So. Freaking. Unreasonable. "Okay, what should we do?"
A familiar voice boomed out from behind them. "You could start by explaining what you are doing here."
Freddy's stomach dropped. Despair. Anger. Frustration so sharp all her nerves stood to tangled attention at once. Mom froze while Freddy slowly pivoted to face Cernunnos.
The Lord of the Hunt smiled at Freddy. She had a premonition the shit was working its way toward the fan.
Then the stag-god looked at Mom.
Mom grew rigid under his stare, her chin jutted out even as it crinkled with emotion, grief, sadness. Freddy couldn't tell which.
Cernunnos' eyes slid over Mom at first as if he did not see her. Freddy found that pretty cold, even for him. But the next instant his mouth fell open and he stared at Mom in shock. "Abigail?"
Mom dipped him a shaky curtsy. "Cernunnos."
Freddy wasn't prepared for his next move. He swept Mom into his arms, so high and hard her feet left the ground. He planted a sound kiss on Mom's lips, and she emerged from his embrace flushed and breathless.
Freddy looked away. Her mom and Colin had never been demonstrative when they were together. They had never even kissed--not that she could remember. As she looked at the way Cernunnos held Mom, and the way Mom's body instinctively molded against the god--she had an inkling why.
But how on earth had Abby the Flaky Artist and Cernunnos the Stag-God ever gotten together to make her--Freddy the Terminally Confused? The contrast between her mother's all American normalcy and Cernunnos' ancient Otherness startled her with its profoundness. Her mom macking on somebody was practically surreal. Not to mention gross. She was suddenly a little glad she hadn't grown up with sex-crazed parents.
Cernunnos raised one huge hand and smoothed the chocolate curls of her mother's hair back. "Abigail. Abigail. My beauty. My love. You've returned to me at last. By the gods, you've not changed one bit."
Well, that's a lie.
Mom swallowed, still suspended in the air. "Cernunnos, put me down." She pushed against his chest. She might have had more luck pushing against a concrete wall.
Cernunnos didn't let her go, and he didn't put her down, he only gave Mom a confused frown. "Abigail?" He glanced at Freddy. She glared at him. He glanced at Mom, who just looked uncomfortable.
Cernunnos set Mom down so suddenly she almost fell then held her away from him to search her face. "You have not returned to me. Something else--someone else has brought you back to the Otherworld this day." Cernunnos turned his back on them, and his voice sounded rough, harsh even. "You should leave, Abigail. Now. I wish you the best, but you cannot be here."
Mom put her hands on her hips. "I don't want to move in, I just want my husband back."
Cernunnos rounded on Mom. Freddy stepped toward the stag-god. He might be the size of a bull, but she wasn't going to let him hurt Mom.
He stopped his advance and weariness crept into his face. He rolled his eyes and spoke to Mom as if she were a very stupid child. "You are not married to the Hound, Abigail. You were never married. He is not your husband, and he is not Frederica's father."
"He is in all the ways that count," Freddy snapped.
"You." He loomed over her. His antlers were menacing spires of bone atop the head of a man who didn't need any extra intimidation tools. Freddy swallowed her fear and stepped up to him. He caught her by the arm. "You are going back to the Greeks and your marriage bed."
Mom jumped in and pried at his fingers. "So you can keep your new slut?"
"Did it never occur to either of you that Freddy being kept away from the Morrígan by monsters, moats, and all the power of the Greek pantheon is no bad thing? I did it for you, Frederica. To protect you." He dropped his voice, looking from Mom to Freddy and back again. "I was not god enough to protect you as a child. I have been forced to live with that knowledge, that fear. That she would find you. Hurt you. When the opportunity to let you live amongst all the protections the Greek Underworld can boast appeared, I admit I was unrepentant in jumping at the chance."
"You and I have always had very different ideas about how best to protect our daughter." Mom's voice chilled, but her eyes teared up.
Freddy met Cernunnos' gaze. "I'm supposed to buy this 'I did it for your own good' shtick? Puh-lease."
A muscle ticked in Cernunnos' jaw, but he released her. "Do you really think I would have sent my only child to the Greeks if it did not suit me? If I could not see some higher purpose to it?"
"Your higher purpose was to keep Kore."
Cernunnos snorted. "There are always other women to be found. Other lovers to be had." Mom flinched, but the god did not notice and continued in even, reasonable tones. As if it was perfectly logical to sell your kid into marriage with a total stranger. "The trade for Kore became a quick means to force the Greeks' hands and speed things along without entering into endless negotiations." He threw his hands up. "And now you've undone everything. They might not even take you back."
Freddy wrinkled her nose in distaste. "Who wants them to?"
Cernunnos' lips pulled back in a snarl over his teeth, and his antlers rattled as he yelled, "You know nothing, nothing about what I have gone through for you. What I have suffered not knowing where you were all these years. What I have sacrificed to keep you safe." His eyes flickered toward Mom. Mom flushed, and Freddy tried hard not to be too grossed out. "Some gratitude, some understanding, would not go amiss."
"I'm supposed to thank you for kidnapping me and shipping me off to spend eternity with that useless ass Clymenus?"
"Idiot child, how could you expect to make half so brilliant a match living on earth?"
"Did I say I ever wanted to make a brilliant match?" Freddy leveled a finger at his nose. "And can I just say--if Clymenus is your idea of a good husband, I'd hate to see what you'd consider a bad one."
"You should thank your father, child, not rail at him so." A woman's voice filled the air behind them. "But for him you might have perished as a tribute to my greatness long ago."
Wonderful, the bitch is back. Irritation, laced with fear, shivered over Freddy's spine. She and her mom turned toward Morrígan and her sisters.
Morrígan looked at Mom and for the briefest moment, her face was naked, fury and outrage writ large in her flaring nostrils and narrowed eyelids. Then she ironed her features out and raised one hand in a greeting, floating forward, all courtesy and curiosity, slipping herself between Freddy and Cernunnos. "My lord, you did not tell me we had more guests in our midst."
"Enough," Cernunnos barked in Morrígan's face.
The Phantom Queen didn't think so. She leaned around the stag-god and lowered her voice, her eyes bright and gloating as she looked at Freddy. "As it is, you have had a few stolen years. I hope you enjoyed them."
"I'm so frightened." Freddy braced herself and crossed her arms. "We want my dad back."
Morrígan grimaced as she looked Freddy over from head to toe, no doubt taking in her dripping clothes, the ratty red Chucks on her feet and the violent disarray of her curls. Freddy gave the Phantom Queen a wide grin.
"I take it you mean Cúchulainn?" Morrígan said at last.
"Duh. You didn't do jack for me, lady. So cough up Cúchulainn. He's coming home with us. Give him back."
"Why should I?" Morrígan towered over Mom, but found herself nose to nose with Freddy.
Cernunnos just looked perplexed. He shook his head, antlers whipping around to endanger innocent bystanders. "That is impossible. He gave himself in service to my queen. It is not my place to interfere."
"Who asked you to?" Mom tore her eyes away from the stag-god and squared up with Morrígan. "Look, you didn't lift a finger for Freddy. I know it. You know it. So no deal, and no deal means no Colin. Save yourself the hassle and let him go with us now."
"He traded himself for the girl's freedom. She is free, he is mine, and you have both made a grave mistake in coming here."
Bony fingers seized Freddy from behind, and sharp nails dug into her flesh, painfully yanking her arm backward. She bit back a cry and looked over to see Mom in similar condition, Nemain pinning her arms behind her back and holding her wrists together. Freddy turned and Badb grinned at her. Freddy stuck her tongue out but stopped resisting.
Cernunnos turned on Morrígan. He grabbed his wife and shook her, looking angrier than Freddy had yet seen him. "Tell those two harpies to unhand them."
Morrígan gave him a nasty smile but nodded. Badb and Nemain released Freddy and her mom.
Freddy stepped away and rubbed her bruised wrists. She turned back to Badb. "Thanks." Freddy cranked her fist back and planted it in Badb's gut, sending the air out of the goddess's lungs with a satisfying whoosh. Freddy shoved her, and Badb lost her balance and crashed into Nemain. Mom sidestepped the pair of them and took a place next to Freddy.
"You dare touch my sister?" Morrígan barreled into Freddy and knocked her down. Freddy hit the ground hard and lost her breath, a sharp stinging in her knees and palms. Morrígan pulled her head back by the hair and grabbed Freddy's chin, fingernails digging in as she turned Freddy's face to hers. "You're mine. I shall have such fun with you and Cúchulainn to play with."
"The hell you will." Mom shoved Morrígan on the side and the two of them toppled into a pile on the ground on top of Freddy. Badb and Nemain had caught their breath and tried to pull Mom off Morrígan. Morrígan refused to let go of Freddy's hair and her other hand had now moved to Freddy's throat.
Freddy rasped for breath. Cernunnos bounded toward the two goddesses and grabbed Badb and Nemain by a fistful of hair each. He yanked them away from Mom. "Leave your sister to fight her own battles." He threw them both about twenty yards, and they crashed together into the side of one of the straw huts. The whole thing collapsed on top of them.
Cernunnos grabbed Morrígan's waist and lifted her off Freddy. Freddy gasped for breath and nodded her thanks to him. Cernunnos beamed at her as he held a thrashing Morrígan aloft by the waist. "Go and do what you came to do."
Heir to the Underworld Page 28