by Nicole Thorn
Aster let go of me, crossing his arms. “My dad was there?”
“He was,” Micha told him. “The entire time, as far as I know. Artemis was there too. Hermes showed up to try and help out, but Newall didn’t seem to care about his father. It only made him more upset, and they got a little rough.”
I winced, imagining what a god might have done as torture. Especially when the situation became desperate and time sensitive. I would have had to screw up pretty badly to be on the wrong side of the gods, but a shiver of terror shot up my spine at the idea of looking into the eyes of an angry god.
“What did they learn then?” Aster sighed. “Again, my dad didn’t think it was important to come and let us know himself.”
“You didn’t want to be part of this,” Micha said. “Trust me. Newall wouldn’t give up a damn thing. They worked on him for days, and he said nothing.”
“Nothing?” I asked with doubt. “Why would someone be so stupid? Did he not know the gods would . . . do what they did?”
“There are a couple options,” Aster said. “Either this guy was insane and thought that the gods couldn’t do something worse than whoever he’s covering for.”
“And the other option,” Micha went on. “The option we all came to, is that whoever he’s covering for, made it so he couldn’t talk. Which is way scarier, because that means whatever they did to him, the gods couldn’t break down. I don’t know who’s capable of that.”
I thought hard for a minute or so, trying to figure out who would have that sort of power. One of the other Olympians might have been capable, but they wouldn’t have done something like this. It had to have been someone who would dare go down to the underworld and mess around with Hades’ set up.
“Are they trying to get that information out of Newall still?” Aster asked. “Maybe they can find something that could break the magic holding him back.”
Micha made a face. “Well . . . that’s the thing. Newall is sort of, a little bit, incredibly dead right now. He couldn’t handle three gods going at him for a few days, and his body gave out. Our lead is gone, and Artemis sent me back here. She wanted to make sure Callie wasn’t in danger.”
“So, we’re all in danger,” I stated. “We have no idea who stole souls from the underworld, and they know exactly who we all are. And where I live.”
Aster rubbed my back soothingly. “You know nothing is going to happen to you.”
I would have normally agreed, but the last Oracle had died horribly. I didn’t want to end up like that. Apollo couldn’t protect me from everything, and he could have always found himself another Oracle if he needed. I knew he didn’t want to, but the gods only ever thought of themselves. I didn’t want to think about how little my life might have meant to him.
“Do we have a plan?” I asked the boys. “I assume Newall’s boss might be coming for Aster and I pretty soon.”
“Maybe,” Micha admitted. “We can keep doing what we’re doing, staying out of trouble. The gods are looking for the person responsible, so it’s not like the whole thing is on us.”
Aster rolled his eyes. “But how much of a priority is it to them? Not even all the gods care what’s happening.”
“True, but your father, Hermes, and Artemis care what’s happening. Artemis is very capable.”
“Are you saying my father isn’t?”
“No, but Artemis is a badass who gets shit done. Apollo . . . hangs out.”
“Buddy . . . ”
“No offense.”
I turned to face Aster, putting my arms around his neck. “Hey, we should think of something fun to do since we’re stuck for a while. Like, we could send Micha downstairs to play cards with my parents, and you can let me take your shirt off again.”
Micha sighed. “I’ll pretend I’m not upset you aren’t inviting me to play in your reindeer games . . . ”
Aster patted my hip. “As much as I would like to let you take my shirt off, I’m a little anxious, what with everything going on.”
Ah, so I had to fix the problem if I wanted fun semi-naked time with my fella. I could probably hook something up to soothe his sweet brain for a little while.
The idea shot into my head like a bullet of demi-godliness. I squeaked, jumping up and down where I stood. I still held onto Aster. “Oh! I have a friend that talks to ghosts.”
Aster stared flatly at me. “Hmm?”
I stopped bouncing. “Verin. He’s dating Juniper Nelson—one of the seers. He’s a son of Hades, and he can communicate with the dead. He can try and talk to those souls and see if they know who took them.”
It felt like a longshot, since we didn’t know where those souls might have been. Had been told that the souls probably hadn’t left the underworld, but we could have been wrong on that one. The person behind all this was powerful enough to make someone deny the gods themselves. Who knew what else they could do.
“You’re friends with a dude who can talk to the dead?” Micha asked.
“Yeah. Well, when they have the time to come see me. I don’t know if Verin is even gonna pick up the phone to be honest. Let’s cross our fingers.”
Aster gave me a sad look, and I had no idea why. I let it go so I could get it from the dresser. I had all my friends’ numbers in it, though I hadn’t heard from them in a while, other than when I’d called Jasmine. They must have been stressed out about things happening at home.
The phone rang, and I expected to have to leave a message with the demigod.
The call rang all the way to voicemail before I heard a chipper Brit answer, “Hello there, luv. And how are we today?”
I smiled as I turned to the boys. “Not all that great, actually. I don’t suppose I could borrow you for a little while?”
“Everything all right?”
“Nope. Someone is trying to kill me and my boyfriend, and they’re pulling some underworld shenanigans that could be really bad for . . . everyone.”
“Oi, well that’s a lot to take in. I can pop ‘round in about twenty minutes. Juniper is bleaching the tub and she’s kicked me out of our bedroom anyway. Let me slip away and I’ll see you soon.”
I thanked him before hanging up.
My boys followed me down to the living room, because I thought my mom and dad might have wanted a heads up. Seemed like the kind of thing that they would have been interested in, and I didn’t need anyone to die of a heart attack.
I found them both in the office. My dad was working at the computer while Mom sat on the couch, her laptop open as she typed. I had to clear my throat to get their attention. If not for the people flanking me, I might have lost my nerve.
“Verin is coming over,” I let them know.
“Which one is he?” Mom asked.
“The English one. He’s dating Juniper, and his Dad is Hades.”
The groaning sound my father made reminded me of a buck that had been shot in the neck. He looked half dead too, and I felt awful that he stressed out so much.
“Hades,” Mom said in a breath. “Wow, that’s . . . interesting. You have lots of interesting friends, honey.”
“Thank you. We’re going to go ghost hunting with him, because he can talk to the dead.”
Dad didn’t say anything, but he gave another buck-like groan as he covered his face with his hands. I frowned, sighing at the sad sight of him. I didn’t think it was a big deal that the son of Hades could talk to the dead, but you would have thought I’d told my dad that he could straight up make zombies. As far as I knew, Verin couldn’t do that. It would have been cool though.
“Your daughter is in no danger,” Micha informed him. “Artemis has entrusted me with her life, and I take that very seriously. I’ve killed hundreds of people, sir.”
Dad cursed, pinching his brow. Something told me that Micha hadn’t made him feel any better.
“Wow, and you’re only twenty,” Mom said with a tight smile.
“Yeah,” Micha said, smiling back. “My parents were pretty impressed wi
th me. Then the whole war thing happened. Things got messy. It’s fine though.” He rubbed the back of his neck, his fingertips touching the bow there. He relaxed when he made contact.
I held my hands in the air. “Hey, let’s not worry about it. I’ll be with two demigods and a Hunter, so I would be shocked if something managed to murder me.”
“Everything you say horrifies me,” Dad said. “Literally everything.”
“Sorry,” I said as the doorbell rang.
Dad flinched like I’d hit him or something. “For the love of god, find some human people to hang out with, Callie. Just one would be fine. I can’t handle a bunch of demigods in my house all the damn time.”
Then he would probably be upset when Aster and I eventually had a bunch of heartbreakingly adorable little quarter god babies that my mom and dad had to watch sometimes.
“I’m all good,” I told Dad. I wasn’t very happy with his problems against the people I chose to spend my time with. Even if they scared him a little. It probably wouldn’t have made him feel better to know that Aster was always very gentle and careful when we made out. “You guys should stay in here if you don’t wanna be all twitchy around Verin. I wouldn’t want to hurt his feelings.” Though I’d never seen him less than confident in himself.
Aster and Micha followed me to answer the door, and I took my boyfriend’s hand as I skipped along. He seemed okay with getting dragged along, and I could only hope he stayed okay with it, since I had no intention of lightening up on the cuddly stuff. In fact, I planned on drowning him in it every chance I got. Aster was too adorable and pretty for me not to.
Verin was leaning against the doorframe when I saw him, and he had that smirk on his face. I noticed the garrote sticking out of his pocket, making me wonder what he thought might come for us. It also made me wonder what he might have told the others.
“Afternoon,” he said to me. Then he waved at the boys. “Verin.”
“Aster,” my sweetie said. “This is Micha.”
“Hey,” Micha said.
I invited Verin into the house, closing the door after I did a quick check for monsters. I didn’t see any, and I thanked the gods for that.
“What’s the situation?” the demigod asked. “My father hasn’t said a word.”
I stood in front of him, figuring out how to say it without things sounding too dramatic. “Someone is stealing souls out of the underworld, and we have no idea who did it. That someone knows that we’re onto them, so they’ve been trying to kill me and Aster. I thought that since you talk to the dead, you might be able to see if you can speak to one of the souls and get us a name. Our only lead just got murdered.”
Verin’s black eyebrows popped up as he chuckled. “Well, and here I thought you got to live all safe and happy like. All right then. I suppose we can begin.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN:
Does She Know No Ugly Boys?
Aster
CALLIE BOUNCED AROUND on her feet, grinning at Verin. Meanwhile, I wondered if she knew anyone that didn’t have godlike beauty other than me. Every time I turned around, she introduced me to someone else that looked much prettier than me. And sure, she had told me that Verin was dating one of the seers. I tried to let that comfort me, while also finding it strange that he had dropped everything so that he could come help her . . . without hesitation. I understood my own insanity, but that didn’t stop me from feeling certain that she wouldn’t be interested in me for very long.
“What do we do?” Micha asked, also eying the demigod.
Verin rubbed his hands together dramatically. “You do nothing. Also, stay out of my way.”
“Hey,” Micha said, putting his hands up. “I’m the one that’s been protecting Callie. Maybe don’t get an attitude with me. She’s supposed to be your friend, right?”
Verin smirked, opened his mouth, and Callie slid between them. “Let’s not. My parents are somewhere in the house, and I don’t think it would be good for them know what a demigod is capable of.”
The demigod turned to look at me, and I knew that he thought me a pathetic waste just by the way one of his eyebrows raised. I stared back at him, waiting for him to point out all the things wrong with me.
“Well, just don’t get in my way,” Verin said, shrugging. “I’ll go around back and see if I can’t sense any souls around that shouldn’t be. Meaning any, to be perfectly honest. Dad doesn’t like ghosts wandering around. Not that it stops them, but . . . ” He shrugged by way of explanation.
Since he’d only met Callie once before, he didn’t actually know how to find his way around back. That didn’t stop Verin from walking through the house like he owned the place. I found myself being grateful that her parents had gone upstairs, so that they could process what happened to their lives for the tenth time that week. Their brains would implode eventually.
Callie managed to get Verin on the right track, and then we all stepped outside, into the dull light of the afternoon. I’d gotten used to being without the sun already, but that didn’t make me miss it any less. I could feel the light trying to break through the clouds, trying to burn them off.
“What exactly are you going to do?” Micha asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “Cuz if I have to defend Callie against something that you did, I won’t be happy about it.”
“I’m terrified,” Verin said dryly, squinting up at the sky as a light rain started to fall. “Bugger all, this is going to complicate things.”
“What, can’t do it?” Micha asked.
I wondered why the hell he felt the need to pester the demigod. Did he think that he could take a demigod on? Me, sure. I was a pretty useless waste of power. Verin, on the other hand, could probably rip through Micha like he was made of tissue paper, then keep going through the rest of us until we all laid on the ground in bloody heaps.
“I never said that I couldn’t do it,” Verin said, smirking at Micha. “Believe me, there isn’t much that I can’t do. Ask my girlfriend.” And he winked.
“Juniper would smack you in the head for that,” Callie said, nodding.
“I’d deserve it too,” Verin said. “But she loves me, so she wouldn’t do anything permanent.”
“I wouldn’t be sure about that,” Micha said. “Women are definitely more violent than you ever think they are.”
“I’m not sure if I should be insulted or flattered,” Callie said, frowning at the ground.
Verin pulled a knife from his pocket.
Micha jumped forward at the same time that I grabbed Callie and pulled her in against my chest. It all happened within two seconds, so she barely had time to register the knife. Why he needed a knife and garrote, and who the hell carried a garrote around in their back pocket all the time? I didn’t know.
“Juniper has a crossbow, too,” Verin said. I noticed for the first time that Micha had pulled his weapon out and had it pointed at the demigod. I thought the fond smile on Verin’s face looked mocking. He could have at least pretended to be scared of us, instead of amused by the choices that we made.
“What’s the knife for?” Micha asked.
Verin rolled his eyes. “Are you always this jumpy?”
“When I’ve got to be.”
“Hmm. I suppose not everyone could have the skill and abilities to protect those they love like I do,” Verin said. “Well, all right, be jumpy, but point that thing somewhere else, would you.”
Verin set the blade against his hand and sliced through his palm. Blood dripped onto the ground and Verin knelt down to place his hand over the blood that had fallen. He had to move quickly, so that the drizzle of rain didn’t dilute the blood. Or, I assumed that was why he moved quickly.
The second his hand buried in the grass, the air around us became more charged. Like someone had dropped a live wire into a pool of water. I still had my arm around Callie, who hadn’t complained when I grabbed her. She did complain when I pulled her in closer to my chest.
“Would you two stop?” Callie said, pullin
g forward. I let her go reluctantly. She straightened out her shirt, glaring at me and Micha both. “Verin is my friend. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt me, and I don’t appreciate the implication that he would.”
“Ah, don’t be worried about them,” Verin said, twisting his hand around. That electric feel started to thrum the air even more. All the hair on my arms stood up, which shouldn’t have happened in the rain. I hunched my shoulders some more, trying to hide from the power he displayed so freely.
Callie stepped forward more, and I had to resist the urge to pull her back again. At least she still stood between me and Micha, so one of us could protect her if needed. Micha even kept his crossbow up and aimed at the other demigod. It might’ve worked against werewolves, but it would never kill a demigod. The arrow would be a mild inconvenience before Verin pulled it out of his flesh, turned around, and fucked up whoever had dared to touch him.
“What are you doing?” Callie asked. I felt like we had all asked this at some point, but Verin answered this time.
“What I told you before. I’m looking to see if there are any dead that shouldn’t be here. Now hush.”
We all fell silent, watching Verin work. Callie began to shiver, because even in the spring, Seattle rain was still cold. I held my hands about a foot apart and allowed some light to pour out of me. Warmth spread from the light, combating against the chill of the air. I held my hands out so that the warmth could spread to Callie.
Her eyes brightened as she stepped backward, into the circle of heat. The light wouldn’t hurt her, but I still pulled back. I wanted to make sure she stayed safe from my power. She was human, and it wouldn’t take much to break her body down. One wrong move, and she’d be dead.
Verin finally pulled his hand up. The wound had healed completely, not even leaving a puckering scar that would vanish in a few days. Just smooth skin. He stood up, shaking the rain out of his hair. “If there are spirits who have escaped, they certainly aren’t nearby.”
