by Amy Sumida
But I wasn't done. I sent my love magic into Garvin and altered his twisted version of love for Jackson into something benign; friendship. I wanted Garvin to feel pain for what he'd done, but I didn't want him stalking Jackson and attempting to renew his spell. I'd considered turning his love to hate, but that could have even worse consequences. Better to just tone it down into something harmless.
Garvin dropped to his knees. “Who are you?” he whispered with wide eyes.
“Erzulie Freda,” I said with a grin.
I didn't think the Lwa would mind my impersonation of her. I was protecting one of her followers after all. She should have been the one to do this. Jackson sacrificed to her regularly; she owed him.
“Erzulie?” Garvin's gaze went panicked.
“Pack your things and get out of this house, Garvin,” I commanded. “If you ever try to hurt Jackson again, I will destroy you. He's one of mine, and I protect my own.”
“Garvin!” Jackson roared as he burst into the room.
I eased to the side as Garvin flinched.
“What did you do to me?” Jackson demanded.
“I... I'm sorry,” Garvin stammered as he stood. “I'll pack my things right now.”
“You're fucking right you're packing!” Jackson snapped. “In fact, I'll help you, you traitorous bastard!”
Jackson started yanking out drawers and emptying them on the bed. Garvin ran for some bags and started packing his more precious items before Jackson could get to them. I chuckled to myself and traced away. My work there was done.
And it was done within five minutes! Pride Palace was still yawning awake when I returned. I had enough time to text Tristan that he should expect a call from Jackson soon and to go easy on him because Garvin had enchanted him. Tristan was beyond amazed and grateful. I brushed it aside and apologized for not being there for him sooner. In the future, I'd be more diligent with my friends.
“Who are you texting?” Trevor asked as he came downstairs with Vero.
“Tristan,” I said brightly. “I think he's getting back together with Jackson.”
“Really?” Trevor asked as he handed me the freshly diapered baby. “That's fantastic.”
“I think so.” I smiled down at my son. “Friendship is important, baby. Never lose sight of the people who are there for you.”
“I think it's a little soon to be teaching Vero life lessons, Minn Elska.” Trevor chuckled as he headed toward the kitchen.
“Nope; never too soon for that,” I declared before I kissed Vero's soft cheek. “He can sense what I'm saying even if he doesn't understand the words.”
“Whatever you say.” Trevor smiled indulgently as he set the coffee to brewing.
I went to sit on the bed and feed my son. I didn't have to worry about how Trevor made the coffee, or even tell him how to fix a cup for me with cream and sugar; he knew me well enough to make it perfect every time. I may not be as picky as Jackson, but I still counted that as proof of love.
Chapter Twenty-Two
The God Squad showed up later that day. We sent the older kids outside to play under the supervision of some of my lions while Vero slept in his bassinet near the fireplace. We were in the dining hall; our usual spot for meetings.
My group went over what we'd found with our investigations into the three missing gods we'd been assigned, and the rest of the Squad reported what they had found; nothing.
“Did any of you find fliers for Sampo?” I asked them.
“We found one.” Hades glanced at his wife and nodded.
“Anyone else?” I asked.
The other gods shook their heads.
“It's a god-run club,” Thor pointed out. “Gods are going to be interested in it for that reason alone. I don't think we can condemn the Finns based on that evidence by itself. But in combination with Qaus returning there, and his likely connection to the War Goddess we're after, I'd say it's a good idea to keep an eye on the place.”
“Vervain has already sent her lions to watch Sampo,” Arach said proudly. “My wife is very wise, you know?”
I chuckled as Thor rolled his eyes.
“There's something else.” Pan leaned forward in his seat. “More gods have gone missing; the latest ones are Chinese.”
“From Greek to Chinese,” I mused. “Where's the connection? Besides great food, I mean.”
“This could have nothing to do with a vendetta.” Blue ignored my joke. “It could simply be a case of opportunity.”
“Why would the War Goddess want Ananke?” I murmured to myself.
“What's that, V?” Morpheus' misty eyes focused on me.
“Ananke; the Goddess we saved,” I explained. “She said that Qaus told the other god that the Goddess wanted her. Why? What was so special about Ananke that the War Goddess would want her, in particular?”
“Ananke is the Goddess of Inevitability, Compulsion, and Necessity,” Hades offered. “Her magic isn't terribly strong, but it has its uses.”
“Compulsion would definitely come in handy for a goddess looking to persuade other gods to join her cause,” I said in a tone of revelation.
“She could amass an army of magic-stealing gods,” Odin's tone matched mine.
“Acquiring that magic could be important enough to force the War Goddess to give it another shot,” Finn noted grimly.
“How safe is Olympus?” I asked the Greek Gods at the table.
“If you come in from another sub-territory, such as the Underworld, you can simply sail up to the mountain. But that would mean getting into my territory first. If you want to trace onto Olympus directly, you have to know the chant to get past the wards,” Hades sounded as if he were calculating the safety level as he spoke. “The only god I know of who can get past wards is Torrent.”
Torrent smiled brightly.
“There is one way around the ward,” Hekate murmured.
We all went silent and stared at her.
“If you're a part of the Greek Pantheon, the ward recognizes you.” She stared around the table as if that were a bad thing.
“And if these gods are taking Greek magic?” I asked.
“The wards will likely recognize them as Greek,” Persephone confirmed as her husband cursed.
“Someone text Athena,” Odin said urgently.
“Already doing it.” Hades had his phone out and was texting as he stood. “I'm going over there. Anyone care to join me?”
We all surged to our feet.
Chapter Twenty-Three
We rushed through the streets of Olympus with Athena in the lead. Greek Gods jerked out of our way, exclaiming in shock as we passed. Athena didn't spare them a second glance. We started off speed-walking but by the time we reached Ananke's Greek mansion, we were running.
“Ananke!” Athena burst in the front door shouting. “Ananke, it's Athena. Are you here?”
“What the fuck?!” I shrieked—completely forgetting to use a creative curse—and flinched back, out of the doorway and down the steps.
“By the flame!” Arach declared and lurched back with me. “What is that horrid smell? It burns and not in a good way.”
“Bleach,” Hades snarled as he moved past us. “They're onto your tracking abilities.”
“Qaus,” I growled.
“Why didn't he just use his rainbow magic again?” Odin scowled with a pensive look.
“Maybe he wasn't the one who came, but he warned those who did,” Azrael suggested.
“Ananke!” Athena's voice carried out to us.
“We have to look, even though we know she's not there,” Trevor said. “But I can't go inside either.”
“Nor I,” Kirill added. “Smells bad.”
I grimaced; dearly wishing I could appreciate Kirill's Labyrinth quote. But I was too busy trying to blow the smell out of my nose. All of us shapeshifters had been crippled by a cleaning product.
The rest of the God Squad went in and helped Athena search every inch of the place. As we suspected, they d
idn't find Ananke.
“Can't you search for her scent out here?” Athena asked.
“Yes!” I exclaimed as I hurried away from the house and started breathing deeply of the lovely, bleach-free air. “I've got it! She's headed toward the tracing temple.”
“Who's with her?” Athena asked. “Can you catch their scent?”
“No; there are too many smells here for me to differentiate when I don't know what I'm looking for,” I explained. “I can pick out Ananke's but not the particular scent that was with her.”
“It doesn't matter,” Arach growled as he grabbed my hand. “We follow Ananke, and she'll lead us to her captor.”
Arach started running down the streets, dragging me along with him. We went straight back to where we'd come from; Olympus' tracing temple. Then Arach and I stood there, staring into the Aether with our dragon senses; smelling the way through.
“I've got it,” I said as I looked at Arach. “You?”
“Yes.” He let go of me and reached blindly behind him, as did I.
The Squad and my men latched onto us, and we traced away. We lurched out of the Aether and into a burning building. Fire blazed all around us.
“Fuck!” I shrieked.
Arach calmly drew in the flames; pulling the fire energy into his body like a vacuum. I quickly followed his lead and between us, we sucked up the fire within seconds; revealing a blackened room. Every wall had been on fire but, luckily, the flames had just started to crawl inward across the floor. The room was large enough that none of my flammable men or friends had been hurt.
I stepped forward gingerly. Under the cloying scent of smoke, I picked up the sharp odor of gasoline. Whoever had taken Ananke had traced into the room we all stood in, doused the walls in gasoline, set fire to the place, and traced away. Without Ananke.
At least, I assumed the body was her.
A charred, humanoid shape laid propped against one wall; obviously the fire's point of origin. The wall and floor around the body were the blackest in the room.
“Damn it all!” Athena screeched as she rushed forward and dropped to the floor before the corpse.
I blinked in surprise; I hadn't realized she'd hitched a ride with us.
Arach went to a door and opened it to help air out the room. A picture window was already cracked and partially broken, but I went over and kicked the larger pieces out onto the lawn. I didn't mind the smell of smoke, but the others were coughing.
“Athena”—I laid a hand on her shoulder—“take Ananke back to Olympus. With her so badly burned, we won't be able to find any scent on her. We'll look over the house and trace over to let you know what we find when we're done.”
Athena turned to stare up at me with tear-filled eyes. “She was my friend.”
“I'm so sorry,” I whispered. “I thought she was safe.”
“Me too,” Athena murmured.
“Here.” Odin came forward with a blanket he must have found in the untouched portion of the house. “You'll need to wrap her.”
Odin handed me the blanket so I could wrap the smoking corpse within it. It was too hot for anyone else to touch. I carefully rolled Ananke's body into the blanket and then placed the bundle in Athena's arms. Then I helped the Ruler of Olympus to her feet.
“When you discover who has done this, I want in on the kill, Vervain,” Athena said in a deadly voice.
“You got it.”
Athena nodded crisply, cradled her friend to her chest, and traced away.
“Arach and I will search this room,” I said. “Why don't the rest of you look through the less smoky portions of the house?”
“I'll stay,” Hades said firmly. “Smoke doesn't bother me either.”
I nodded as the others hurried out of the room. The smoke wouldn't do them any permanent damage but it would make them uncomfortable.
“This is useless,” Arach said as he surveyed the damage. “There is something more than fire here, and it's destroyed the trail. Not that terrible bleach but close. I can't track anything.”
“It's called gasoline.” I grimaced. “They drenched the walls and body in gasoline and then set Ananke on fire.”
“Gasoline?” Arach asked.
“A chemical accelerant,” I explained. “It burns rapidly.”
“I'd be impressed if I wasn't so very frustrated,” Arach snarled.
“You and I both, Dragon King.” Hades yanked his sunglasses off and glared at the wreckage with his burning eyes; a stare so hot that I was a little surprised the room didn't re-ignite. “Someone is killing my people, and they're doing a damn good job of it.”
“They are cowards.” Arach's expression turned saturnine as he strode around the room; searching despite his protests. “They take one god at a time; culling the herd like a lone predator. It's despicable.”
“Indeed,” Hades agreed vehemently.
“It probably was a lone predator,” I noted. “One god used Greek magic to get on Olympus then grabbed Ananke and brought her here to take her magic.”
“Which means this god—or more likely; goddess—now has the power of Inevitability, Compulsion, and Necessity.” Odin came striding back into the room. “And we're wasting time here while she gets away.”
“There's no trail to follow, Odin,” I said in frustration. “She or he used gasoline; it's nearly as good as bleach for masking scent but when combined with fire, it's even better. We got nothing.”
“Did you find anything outside?” Hades asked.
“No, not even Trevor or Kirill can scent anything,” Odin reported. “I don't think Ananke and her abductor left this room.”
Sirens interrupted our conversation.
“What is that racket?” Arach asked with regal disdain.
The God Squad came rushing back into the room.
“Time to go!” Trevor announced.
“The Fire Department,” I explained to Arach quickly. “They're coming to extinguish the fire we've already put out. Come on; we need to get back to Olympus.”
I grabbed Arach and traced away.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Athena was in the middle of wrapping Ananke in white fabric when we returned to Olympus. We found her in one of the living rooms of her enormous palace on the highest peak of the mountain.
“Athena, what are you doing?” I asked as we stepped into the room.
“What does it look like I'm doing?” she huffed. “I'm seeing to my friend's body.”
“You have more pressing matters to attend to,” Hades snarled. “I'm sorry for your loss, but we have living gods to protect, and they are in jeopardy every moment you waste here on the dead.”
Athena jerked, her jaw clenched, and she straightened. “What do you expect me to do, Hades?”
“You can start by strengthening the wards!” Hades roared. “Those murdering gods used the Greek magic they stole to slip through Olympus' wards. That weakness needs to be corrected immediately. I'm heading home now to ward the Underworld completely; no one will be able to enter without the chant. I advise you to do the same here.”
Athena took a deep breath and nodded.
Hades turned on his heel, took his wife's hand, and strode out with stiff shoulders and a glower on his face. Athena followed after him, and the rest of us followed her. It was a somber, silent procession through Athena' manicured gardens with their shrubs cut into the shapes of Greek Gods. I shot worried looks at my men along the way to the elevator set into a peak of the mountain.
We all piled into the elevator that took us down one level to the main plateau of Olympus; Hades determinedly ignoring Athena the whole way. Once there, we went straight to the tracing temple. Hades and Persephone traced away immediately; Persephone casting an apologetic look at Athena over her shoulder. Athena nodded to her and waited for the couple to trace away before she moved directly in front of the temple and began chanting something in Greek. When she was finished, the temple glowed once as the new wards settled into place.
Wi
th squared shoulders, Athena turned around and provided us with the new chant so we'd be able to return. Then she hurried off to make an announcement to all of Olympus. Hades had been harsh but it had been just what Athena needed; something to jar her out of her grief and get her moving again. Leaders can't mourn in the middle of a war. You wait until after it's all over to fall apart.
