The Gods Defense (Laws of Magic Book 1)

by Amie Gibbons

  I grabbed the sports bra and pulled it on my arms.

  A finger pressed into the middle of my spine.

  “Um!” I jerked straight, holding the bra to my chest. The finger trailed down, tracing each vertebra and I shivered, biting back a sigh.

  “We need all the help we can get,” Apollo said, making my breath catch. “That’s why I’ve been trying to get you since I met you. After you spurned my advances, I thought if you saw this as a job offer, you would take it and then I could get you used to all of this, explain it over time.”

  His finger paused on my tail-bone and started a slow journey up. I shivered again.

  “I should have told you the truth a long time ago. And this, even after I was short on time and resorted to kidnapping, this was not supposed to go this way. I was supposed to explain, join my magic with yours, then go to the meeting. I did not see their betrayal until that moment in the bedroom.”

  “But...” My breath escaped in that damn sigh I’d been holding back. I licked my lips. “Why didn’t you offer me my mom before? All those times you tried to get me to talk to you since…?”

  He took his finger away, resting his hands on my hips, thumbs grazing my bare sides.

  “I needed to know how powerful you were before I offered to diminish my powers by giving you your mother. Which meant testing you; getting you to the doorway to see if you knew what it was worked. Of course you passed, you’re… I was stupid. I wanted to prove to myself I could get you, I think. It was more pride than anything else.”

  Wow, how often did any guy, especially a god, admit that?

  “Cassandra, that night in your car-”

  “Don’t try to apologize, especially since you’re pulling this.”

  “I don’t know what happened back then, but that night, I wasn’t thinking of any of this, I just wanted you. It wasn’t about this.”

  He sighed. “I do need your powers, though. I set the trap with this lawsuit because I ran out of time and you wouldn’t speak to me. I still didn’t know the extent of them. I suspected, though. And you’re more powerful than I dared dream. You’re on par with Ravena.”

  I shook my head. “Humans can be as powerful as even a lesser god?”

  He paused. “Even with the defectors out of our calculations, we will have the power to save humanity. It’s after that that I’m worried about. Magic has already started to increase, building under this reality in the curse, ready to explode.”

  I could practically hear Tyler saying her patented, “Dirty.”

  I wish she was here.

  Nothing scared Tyler. Nothing fazed her. Ice water ran through her veins. She wouldn’t be turning to goo over some guy, she’d be turning him to goo.

  “There’s magic going into the curse?”

  “Yes. It’s negative magic that draws energy in and turns it dark.”

  “Energy just is, how can it be dark?”

  He didn’t answer.

  “Apollo?”

  “We don’t know.”

  Apollo kissed the top of my head and let me go.

  I didn’t realize I wasn’t breathing until I started again.

  I pulled on the sports bra and turned around. Apollo was at the edge of the partition, looking out at the field.

  “Why is the magic in the curse growing? Doesn’t that violate the laws of conservation of energy?”

  “The curse was built to draw energy from the world and store it in a container, so to speak.”

  “A metaphysical container. I get it… kind of.”

  “The energy has been slowly siphoned from the world, stored, and shaken. In nine days, the container will explode.”

  “And you guys are hoping to put a cap on it and siphon it out?”

  “Yes, which of course takes a tremendous amount of power. Not just our magic, but parts of ourselves. We will be permanently crippled.”

  I walked up to him. “So, million dollar question. Who put the curse on us?”

  “Who, not why?” Apollo just kept staring outside our little changing room.

  “Apollo. Come on.”

  “We don’t know. It was before our time.”

  “Before…?” Before the gods? “What was before you?”

  He smiled, still facing the field. “Doesn’t every civilization wonder that? None of us are old enough to know. Not even the Titans. We have stories, just as humans had stories about us thousands of years after we went into hibernation. And ours are probably about as accurate as humanity’s stories.”

  “How old are you?”

  “Now that I will not answer without something in return.” He did look at me now, tossing me a wink.

  I rolled my eyes. “I’ve noticed there seems to be an uptick in magical activity lately. Does that mean it’s already started?”

  “Yes.” He looked back at the field. “There were unexpected levels of magic when we woke up. That means more than originally calculated was pulled into the curse. Not much, just enough to make it bubble up early, which is another reason we must get on top of this now. It could stop leaking and explode before it’s supposed to.”

  I nodded. I wasn’t sure any of this made sense but for some reason it seemed… reasonable? Scientifically sound at least. I’d have to ask Millie.

  “My dogs stumbled onto a magic, sentient flower thing today. It shot these quill things. Got my poor baby in the paw. Weirdest thing I’ve ever seen.”

  “Just wait,” Apollo said, then straightened to attention. “They’re arriving.”

  I walked around him to see. The stands built into the wall filled by the second with more and more materializing gods.

  “And this whole fight thing is about pride and appearances, right?” I asked, hands flying.

  “Yes. Ravena insulted my father. He can not let the slight go without appearing weak. If we want any chance of convincing the defectors we will kill them even after our powers are lessened, we can not look weak. But none of us can fight without risking losing too much power in it. So our humans will.”

  “Why can’t you guys do a plain physical fight?”

  “Because we are magic. Everything we do is powered by magic. If we start to fight in earnest, magic pours out of us.”

  I could see him looking at me through the corner of my eye, but kept my gaze glued to the stands. “So Ravena and his people really don’t want humans to die, because they’ll fade, but they want the rest of you weakened while they keep all their powers?”

  “So they claim.”

  “So you saw it, too?”

  “Saw what?” He placed a finger on my chin and pressed, turning my head towards him.

  “I think he was lying. I have no idea about what, but yeah, something.”

  He looked me in the eyes. “Thank you.”

  “For what?”

  “Trusting me with what you saw.”

  I had to look away. “And they can pull this freeloader crap because there’s more magic than originally expected?”

  “There was some wiggle room anyway, but that makes even more, so yes. I still would have needed you though,” he said quickly. “Just to make sure.”

  “How weak will you be after the solstice?”

  “About on par with a demon like Ravena, maybe less. About a tenth of my powers.”

  A tenth! “So after the solstice...?”

  He laughed, but there was no humor in it. “It’s going to get ugly. It’ll be less if we can convince some of the defectors to come back before then. Because then each of us will lose that fraction of magic less.

  “For instance, if we can prove to them we’re a threat even without our magic, or with less magic, and that we will kill them after the alignment with whatever we have left.”

  I rolled my eyes. “And you convince them you’re strong by winning pride matches through your humans. I get it. What happens if I lose?”

  “It means Ravena has the right to insult my father. It won’t be the end of the world, pun intended, but it will mak
e us look weak.”

  “But if I win, we’ve answered the challenge and taken back the honor Ravena put into question? Proving we’re not weak, right?”

  “Yes.”

  That one word held warmth and hope, and spread them through my middle.

  I put a hand on my stomach and Apollo faced me. His eyes shone the brightest I’d ever seen them and he smiled. It was boyish and innocently happy. It made me smile back.

  I was about to beat someone into a bloody pulp, probably get pulped myself. I didn’t want to smile.

  “What?” I asked.

  “You said we.”

  My smile dipped into a frown. Can you say Freudian slip?

  “This is as much your fight as mine, Cassandra. That’s why I needed you here. That’s why I waited for you.”

  “Why?”

  “You know why.”

  “No… no, I don’t.”

  “Cassandra, I told you you are on par with a demon. Draw your own conclusions.”

  “I don’t know what that means.”

  “You will.”

  We stared at each other.

  “Contestants,” Zeus’s boomed around the stadium, making me jump, “take your places in the center of the field.”

  “Be careful,” Apollo said, stepping out of my way.

  “Don’t think that’s an option.” I straightened my back and walked to the grassy area in the middle of the dirt.

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  Thousands of eyes watched me. There must’ve been gods from all over the world. Apollo did say they were all meeting soon. Apparently some came early. Kind of like the cartoon before the movie.

  Gee, where was the popcorn?

  The woman walking from a similar partitioned area on the other side of the oval was almost as short as me and much slimmer. She looked like a Bollywood princess, not a champion for the gods. She was dressed like me, toned muscles on display.

  We met in the middle of the grass. I reached with my mind, feeling her out. The ground, stands, and air itself sizzled with pure energy. A rainbow of silk glimmering in sunlight. She was a tear in the fabric.

  So they found a martial artist, but couldn’t find one with magic.

  Or they didn’t want to for some reason.

  “Welcome,” Zeus said. I searched the stands but couldn’t see him. “Contestants, you are fighting for your gods. Fight well and honorably.”

  Gong!

  We circled each other, eyes glued, bodies crouched.

  She darted in with the speed of someone who’d been honing their skills since they could walk and threw a low kick. I spun out of the way, turning it into a roundhouse. She stepped into me, ramming my thigh so hard I almost fell.

  I bounced back with my hands up, heart racing.

  Nice move. If she wasn’t trained in aikido, I’d eat the grass at my feet. She was good, way better than a black belt who practiced maybe once a week, but I had speed.

  She came in low again, probably used to fighting taller opponents. I went low, ready to block...

  She snapped her leg up in a swinging kick, catching me under my chin.

  “Ugh.” My head snapped back and I stumbled, jaw exploding in pain.

  So that’s what getting hit, really hit, in the face felt like.

  Little birdies danced around my head with black polka dots and only my training kept my hands up as she closed in again and punched at my face.

  I focused my speed and caught her arm, twisting it behind her and yanking up. A broken arm would end this fight real fast.

  She stomped my instep and I stumbled back, dropping her arm. She threw her head back and I jerked away. I punched her in the kidney as she turned and she made a small noise.

  I punched her again in the same spot and she said something harsh in what I was guessing was Hindi before dropping and sweeping my feet.

  I hopped over her leg and she slammed a fist into my gut as she came back up.

  The air left me in a rush and I doubled over.

  Her knee came up almost in slow-motion and I caught her shin and twisted.

  Pop! went the weasel, which in this case was her knee.

  “Urggggggg!” she howled, crumbling to the ground.

  About damn time. I clutched my stomach, gasping for breath. Now what? Did Zeus have to officially end the match, or what?

  Pop!

  What was that?

  Her leg wasn’t bent at a funny angle anymore and she lurched to her feet.

  “What the...?”

  She clocked me across the jaw. I went down.

  “You have to knock her out,” Apollo breathed through my mind. “Otherwise she’ll heal. So will you if she breaks anything.”

  “And it didn’t occur to you to tell me this earlier!”

  She kicked and I caught her foot, twisting again. Her ankle snapped and she went down. I hauled to my feet too slow. She crawled away and was back up again two seconds after me.

  “Use your speed.”

  “I am!”

  “No, you’re using the bare minimum to make you a fast human. Use your speed!”

  We circled each other again. Her nearly black eyes glared at me, flat and emotionless. A fighter to the core. I had to respect that.

  “I don’t know what you expect me to do,” I thought at Apollo.

  “Stop holding back your magic would be a good start. Use your speed!”

  “How!”

  “Pretend you’re fighting me. What did you do in my bedroom? Tap into that.”

  I focused on the girl, superimposing Apollo over her in my mind, imagining power breathing through my muscles because I’d need it to take him on.

  I went in with speed coursing through my muscles, making them fast and fluid as a cat’s. I hit her face with a jab-hook combo and my knuckles split as blood flew from her nose. I’d be feeling that one tomorrow. I kneed her in the stomach and she doubled over. I fisted her short hair and slammed her head into my knee.

  She staggered back the second I let go, still standing.

  Damn, no wonder they chose her. The girl could take a beating.

  I breathed deep, limbs shaking.

  She came at me and did an outside-inside kick at my head. I jerked back, ready to pour speed into my legs and...

  She reversed mid-kick and nailed me with a side kick right in the gut.

  “Ehh...” I choked, pain blooming in my left ribs. I held my side and a second later something warm and wiggly went through it.

  Crack!

  Huh, my ribs were still sore, but the sharp pain of the break was gone.

  She came at me with a series of punch-kick combos and I blocked the best I could. A hook caught my right eye and I retreated as pain blasted.

  Adrenaline made my legs shake as I backed up.

  She followed, throwing careful kicks and punches.

  I focused speed into my legs and rushed forward as she threw her next punch, slamming her stomach with a front kick. I followed as she fell back, punching her in the face. I grabbed her arm, swung around and pulled it up.

  Crack!

  She howled and I kept pushing my speed. This was the most I’d ever used it. I’d probably pass out as soon as the adrenaline receded.

  I grabbed her neck and wrapped her in a choke hold.

  Her arm cracked back into place and she flailed as I squeezed her neck harder.

  Slowly she stopped moving. Her arms dropped, then her legs collapsed. I held on for a few more seconds to be sure, snuck to my knees to lower her to the ground, and dropped her the last foot or so.

  She stayed on the ground as I stood, knees knocking together and hands shaking.

  “The winner,” Zeus’s voice boomed above, “is my surrogate.”

  Cheers filled the stadium and I scowled. I didn’t even have a name to most of these creatures. I was just a tool.

  “Ravena’s challenge has been answered,” Zeus said. “He has been proven weak by the brave and powerful Cassandra Berry. Cheer for our champion
!”

  And they did.

  Okay, I guess I was more than just a tool.

  Apollo appeared next to me on the field. “You were marvelous.” He smiled, reaching for my face.

  “Whoa, what are you doing?” I stepped away. “I’m your magical security blanket, but that doesn’t make me your pet, your slave or your sex toy. We clear?”

  His smile stayed in place. “Crystal.”

  I started back towards the partition and he followed. The crowds were still cheering. I couldn’t help but grin.

  What? You don’t become a litigator without a love of performing.

  My eyes swept over the first few rows of seats and the multitude of colors and styles the gods wore.

  One in Egyptian garb toasted me with his glass and blew me a kiss, making sunbeams shoot out.

  Ravena stood up in the first row, staring at me with wide eyes. White sparkled around his head like a mini fireworks show. Surprise? Maybe he didn’t think I could possibly beat his champion?

  He disappeared.

  “Wonderful,” I said, turning back to Apollo with a shiver. “Since this whole thing was just to get my powers, I don’t have to work for you either.”

  “That, I do not agree to.”

  “Why not?”

  “I still need a good criminal attorney.”

  I blinked, stopping behind the partition. “I thought you needed a corporate one. Why would a god need a criminal attorney?”

  “Our people are charged with crimes sometimes. And we do want to work within your system, you remember.” He grinned, leaning forward. “So we pay for their defense in your courts. We are also setting up our own court systems like we used to have, and need prosecutors for that. Not sure how to train you in our laws though, and we need to update some of them. We’re still working out the kinks.”

  My ears pricked up at the training in the gods’ laws thing. That’d be cool. But I kept a lid on it. Freedom was more important than education… even in something most people didn’t know… I was pretty sure.

  “But you don’t need me. Get someone else.”

  “I want to keep you close. You already agreed.”

  Deal with it, his voice said.

  So he was going to get someone to teach me the gods’ laws and system of justice? I could live with that. I kept it off my face, I think, but Apollo smiled wide and bright like he knew exactly how excited the idea made me.