by Angie Fox
My roommate thumped a clean set of military fatigues onto my lap. “Time to get dressed, Cinderella. Come on,” he said, easing me off the chair. “Less counting. More moving.”
I ran a hand through my raving-crazy-woman hair. I hadn’t left the lab in three days. “I need a shower.”
Rodger sniffed. “Er, yes, I would have thought you’d have taken a shower in the last three days. Obviously, I was wrong.” He rechecked his watch. “Nine minutes.”
“Stop pressuring me,” I said, fingers unsteady as I dragged off my scrub top. There was a moist towelette packet with my breakfast utensils. I ripped it open and gave myself the most pathetic sponge bath of all time.
“I talked to my rock-club buddies,” he said. “Guess where titurate comes from?”
“Now is not the time for twenty questions,” I ground out, trying to locate the towelette under my arm.
“Transylvania, but it’s all mined out. You want to know the only other place you can find it?”
“I’m breathless,” I said, realizing my moist towelette wasn’t all that moist anymore.
“Limbo. It’s formed when layers of rock are compressed by the heat of Hades.”
So what was up with the hush-hush mining operation? “Why keep it a secret?”
Rodger had his back to me. “Are you almost ready? Six minutes.”
I struggled into the clean shirt. “You know I hate the uniform.”
“Sorry to break it to you, but first impressions count,” Rodger said as I tried to fit my feet into my pant legs.
I really did need to sleep.
A bang at the door made both Rodger and me jump. “Robichaud!”
I yanked my pants up and struggled with the button as Kosta burst into the lab, followed by General Argus looking even pastier than before.
“Excuse me, sir,” I said, saluting, hoping my pants would stay up. “I was under the impression I was meeting you.”
Kosta strolled up to me, his nose wrinkling. “The general here decided he’d like to inspect the lab for himself.”
I could tell neither one of them was impressed.
Rodger made a quick escape while I focused on General Argus. He wore an impeccably pressed uniform and a chest full of shiny medals. His hard eyes dissected me from head to toe. Then he turned, and I saw that he literally had eyes on the back of his head—two of them. They canvassed my tables like something on the bottom of his boot. “I thought you were hard at work.”
“I am, sir. Here,” I said, heart racing as I gathered the notes on my desk, “let me walk you through what I’ve been doing.”
He wasn’t listening. He picked up a used test tube. “This isn’t impressive at all.”
He held the test tube up to the light, which was a really bad idea since we were talking about lanterns and lighter fluid.
I shot a look to Kosta, who moved in on the side.
“Can I see that, General?” Kosta asked.
Argus handed off the explosive tube. “I take it you don’t have my anesthetic.”
For Pete’s sake. “Not yet.”
He raised a brow. “Can you provide me with inarguable proof that you’re close to an anesthetic?”
My stomach clenched. I desperately wanted to lie. “No. Not exactly.”
“You’re working too slowly.” He fingered through my notes. “You need help.”
He wasn’t walking out. At least not yet. “Let me show you what I have so far. I think when you see it, you and your superiors will agree that this project is worthy of funding.”
“You will have a partner.”
No. “With all due respect, sir. I don’t work well on a team.” I’d hated group projects in school, and I despised the thought of one now. Having to work with someone else, having to explain things, would only slow me down.
He continued as if I hadn’t spoken. “You will relieve her of all her other duties,” he said to Colonel Kosta.
“We can put her on emergency backup only,” the colonel said, guarded. “If the fighting starts up again, I’d like to have as many docs as I can on the roster.”
“I’ve been tasked with a peacetime responsibility,” the general said with a barely disguised sneer. “The New God Army is to work with the Old God Army on…special projects. This will be one of them.”
“Okay.” I wasn’t against sharing research. In theory. Anything that helped alleviate suffering on both sides was ideal. Still, “I don’t see how I can work with the enemy on this.”
I glanced at Kosta, who gave me the shut-up-and-do-it narrow eyes.
“Perhaps if you’ll allow me a week to come up with a workable plan,” I added.
One week to try to get out of this.
“I already have a solution,” the general said, in the way of out-of-touch big bosses. “The Old God Army has volunteered a top researcher to work with you, in this lab.”
“Perhaps we can talk about some better equipment,” I said, digging for the report I’d already given the army. It detailed what I’d need.
“You will discover an anesthetic within the month.”
Sure. Why not? “Listen, sir. I can’t guarantee—”
“You will discover the anesthetic,” the general said, daring me to contest him again. I didn’t.
The general stared me down. “Do not disappoint me. Or make me look foolish for trusting you.”
I took a deep breath, the rush of fumes making me a little dizzy. “Of course not, sir.”
Kosta crossed his hands over his chest. This was over his head and we both knew it.
Argus grunted, satisfied. “Now you will meet her.”
My mouth slacked open. She was here now? So much for even pretending I had a choice.
I might have been better off before the army had taken an interest in my work. At least then I had autonomy, the freedom to come to my own conclusions at a reasonable, human pace.
Kosta opened the door to admit my new team member. So he was in on it, too.
I stood still, as if ready to face the firing squad. This doctor had better be good. She’d better not slow me down or screw me up or make this impossible task even worse.
She’d better not be an I’ve-got-all-the-time-in-the-world immortal.
But nothing I could have imagined prepared me for what I saw.
Marc walked through the door.
Chapter Seventeen
I stared.
It was Marc. In the flesh. A walking, talking Marc. At least I thought he was saying something. His lips were moving. But it wasn’t registering. I thought I’d killed him.
Deep down, I’d known. I’d been ready for the fact that I’d shot him to death.
My pulse beat wildly against my throat. I wanted to run up and hug him, kiss him, tell him I was so relieved to see him. But he was the enemy. It would be dangerous to admit I knew him.
I exhaled as the tight fist around my heart loosened. It was enough to know he was whole and alive…and standing next to some strange woman.
She had to be a goddess.
She was supermodel-gorgeous with long brunette hair that belonged in a Pantene commercial. Her floor-length, filmy gown was made of dew or spiderwebs or something equally see-through. The thing clung to her to the point where it left little to the imagination. She preened, fully expecting Marc’s undivided attention. She got it.
I couldn’t have been more shocked if she’d leaned over and kissed him. Which would get me instantly smited because I’d have to at least try to haul her off him.
Get a grip.
My mouth slacked open. I had to do something, say something.
“Oh my god.”
General Argus bristled. “What did you say, Captain?”
Kosta waved him off. “A mortal term of endearment,” he said, glaring at me. “Dr. Robichaud, you have the great honor of meeting Nerthus of the sacred grove. She’s a four-star general in the Old God Army.”
Sure. I could tell by the uniform. “It’s an honor to meet you,” I said, going f
or a bow rather than a salute.
She licked her lips. “This is my special associate,” she said, leaving off his name.
You couldn’t even tell I’d shot him.
Marc looked amazing, as usual—lean and powerful in old army tan. The cocky goddess might be enjoying the view, but she had no idea how I’d once had every hard-muscled, drop-dead-sexy inch of him memorized.
She drew a polished fingernail down Marc’s arm. He stood there and took it, almost acted like he enjoyed it. What the hey?
It sliced me to the core to be this close, yet have to act like I didn’t even know him. Then watch her touch him on top of it.
I had no idea what was going on with her—or why he wasn’t breaking her immortal arm. Okay, maybe it would be a bad idea for him to resist like that, but he could have at least managed an eye roll, if only for my sake.
Sure, I’d shot him, but he was the one who’d thrown himself so willingly at death. He’d stood in front of that gun, knowing it was coming. Now after he’d just put me through the ringer thinking he was dead—again—he had the gall to take part in this little show?
I crossed my arms over my chest. If this was his way of getting back at me because he’d found out I’d dated when he hadn’t, he could bite me.
Nerthus turned sour when she looked at me. “This is your lab?”
“Yes.” It was a dump, but it was the best I could do on my own.
Nose wrinkled, she strode down the aisle between my cafeteria-style lab table and the desk.
Meanwhile Argus started pawing through the research notes on my desk. I stifled the urge to snatch them back. It wasn’t like he knew what he was looking at. Worse, he was getting them all out of order.
Nerthus peered at my ethanol test like it was a dead rat. Holy heck. It was about to boil over. I hurried over to my workstation and flipped the burner off.
The goddess held up a hand. “Let me handle the rest.”
And with a nod from her, Marc donned my thick rubberized gloves and moved my caustic sample over to my cooling rack like he owned the place.
Yeah, she was really helping.
“It’s a little overcooked,” Marc said, my safety glasses over his eyes as he double-checked the sample. “But it’s stable.”
Fan-fricking-tastic. Another lab spared.
While my personal life got even weirder.
“What’s this?” the goddess asked as she touched the cool white pad stretched out underneath my sample rack.
“Icy Hot patch,” I answered quickly. “It was the only thing I could find.” Unless you counted the two-ice-cube allotment I was given at the mess tent.
She inspected the bread ties holding it in place. “How can you expect to do real research in this…hovel?”
Marc moved to stand next to her. “It’s a disgrace, my lady.”
Of all the—I didn’t mind Miss Gauzy trash-talking my place, but Marc?
At least my lab wasn’t haunted.
I held my temper in check. “I’ve been doing this on my own. My funding application was denied.”
“That’s not true,” General Argus bristled. “I approved it myself.”
That sneaky, lying…
I shot Kosta a look.
He ignored me.
Fine. It took everything I had to keep my face pleasantly blank. “I appreciate your foresight, General Argus. Funding this project would serve both armies,” I reminded them. “I’ve already established that sphinx venom is safe to use on immortals. If I can determine a delivery vehicle to administer the proper dosage, we can begin volunteer testing.” It wasn’t like this was going to kill anybody. “I have a report—”
“I saw it,” she said, flicking her gaze up at the lanterns overhead like they were hairy, fang-toothed bats. “That’s why we’re here.” She leveled a look at me designed to make me feel both inferior and grateful. “You’ve been chosen to take part in a peace initiative between our side and yours. Our sides will work on the anesthetic together. I have already been in contact with Old God Army acquisitions.” She sneered at Argus, as if she knew he was full of it. “They will provide you with everything you need.”
Wow. Okay. In that case, “I’d really prefer direct funding.” I could order things myself through Shirley.
The goddess turned a scathing look on me.
Argus dropped my notes all over the floor. “Do not curse her,” he ordered, his beady eyes on the goddess. “We need both the mortals to work.”
My stomach curled.
Kosta approached Nerthus, placing himself in between me and the goddess. “She knows your will is divine.” He glanced back at me. “And that the report lists her needs.”
I didn’t dare speak.
A curse from a goddess could mean anything from blindness to being turned into a pigeon for all eternity.
Wisps of smoke curled from Nerthus’s ears.
Marc leaned close to her. “One tragedy is enough, my lady.”
She puzzled at that. “One?”
He drew a hand down her arm. “The greatest tragedy is that I will miss you.”
She softened. I couldn’t believe Marc had actually spouted that inane horse puckey. Or that she bought it.
I bristled. In the Old God Army, the women had to play slave to the men. But what about the goddesses? Did they have the right to demand services of the mortal men?
She looked ready to take him into my back room and christen the lab.
A new thought curdled in my stomach. What kind of price had Marc paid to come back to me?
I cringed inside as she ran her fingers through the hair above his ear. “I’m sorry to leave you in a place like this.”
He inclined his head toward her. “If it’s what you wish me to do, I’ll manage.”
Oh, barf.
She turned her attention to me. “You will greet your new partner.”
Nice of her to get around to the rest of the introductions.
“This is Captain Belanger,” she continued.
“Good to meet you, Captain.” I kept my voice even.
He gave a swift, impersonal nod. He was so close, I could have touched him.
Nerthus eased a gleaming lock of hair over her shoulder. “General Argus will be your contact on the ground,” she said to both of us. It seemed she had better things to do.
Argus studied Marc, then me, with the appraising kind of look a gambler would give a racehorse at the track.
I kept my chin high and my eyes forward.
“We expect results,” he said.
Impossible ones.
Argus folded his hands behind his back, making a show of it. “You’ll send me a daily report.”
That he wouldn’t understand.
His eyes narrowed, as if he could read my thoughts. “You will make this joint venture a success.”
The or else was implied.
Chapter Eighteen
I kept my back straight and my voice even. “I’ll begin updating Captain Belanger immediately.”
It was the only thing I could do. Marc and I stood facing each other. The air lay heavy, soaked with everything we couldn’t say.
Marc cocked his head, watching me. “I look forward to working with you.”
“It’ll be interesting,” I told him.
The goddess paused, as if she could sense the energy between us. “I’ll be watching you.” She gave Marc one last glance before following Kosta to the door.
“Understood,” Marc said as the door slammed closed behind them.
He grinned at me.
“What the?—” I began before he silenced me with a kiss.
“I thought I was never going to see you again,” he said, kissing me again.
I pulled away. “I thought I killed you.”
“Evidently, I’m hard to kill.” He grinned. And when I didn’t smile, he added, “I went into asystolic arrest due to an immediate and simultaneous depolarization of my myocardial cells.” He held up a finger at my horror. “B
ut the good news was no intracranial hemorrhage. My burns were superficial. And they got me into emergency treatment before I got worse.”
My heart sank. “I really did almost kill you.” He’d gotten so lucky.
“It was basically like getting struck by lightning,” he admitted.
“Can I see your burns?” Had I hurt him by hugging him?
“They’re mostly healed, or at least they don’t hurt anymore,” he said, releasing the top three buttons on his uniform and displaying part of a shiny, red scar. “In a month, you won’t even be able to tell. We have a burn serum that is out of this world.”
“Our side doesn’t.” But I supposed he knew that already.
“They put me in a ward usually reserved for the gods,” he added quickly, as if trying to get it out of the way,
Ah. “Is that where you met your goddess?”
He had the good grace to blush. “She took an interest in me,” he said stiffly. “But come on, you know it’s nothing.”
“She didn’t seem to think so.” Marc tended to act first and think of the consequences later. “What did you promise her?” I drew my fingers down his arm in the exact same place she had. I wanted to erase her.
“Nothing,” he gritted out.
“You’re playing a dangerous game,” I warned.
“She’ll lose interest soon,” he insisted. His gaze locked with mine. “In the meantime, I’m here for you.”
The peacekeeper will find love as a hideous new weapon is born.
A horrible thought crossed my mind. “What if you were supposed to stay back on your side and prevent Dr. Keller’s research from being weaponized?”
He caught my hand. “I searched the lab again before I came here. There’s no trace of the formula we were working on. Whoever killed Dr. Keller took it and is long gone from MASH-19X.”
It was bad news, but not exactly a surprise. Plus, the second prophecy had already been announced. That meant, for better or worse, the first had come true. “What do we do now?”
He drew me close. “We make your anesthetic work. We do what we can to make a real difference in this war. I thought a lot about that while I was laid up.” His fingers caressed the nape of my neck. “I thought a lot about you.”