Fallen Gods: Lotus Blooming

by Lorie O'Clare

  The cassette was playing back when she returned to the living room, her Gramma watching wide-eyed, obviously hearing for the first time what she’d said while in her trance.

  “This town was cursed,” Gramma informed them. “They murdered some poor gal and she cursed the lot of us.”

  “I wonder who she was,” her mother said, and then glanced at Thena. “I didn’t know this when we sought you out. You had to come home. Your Gramma and I knew you had to be here. But now I know why. It was more than sharing the truth of your birth with you. The three of us have a lot of work to do here.”

  Thena didn’t say anything until she had tea ready. She prepared sandwiches too. Her Gramma needed protein after the strength of the spell had worn off. Performing magic at that level always depleted the body. Thena prepared the table and then helped her Gramma into the kitchen where they sat and ate.

  “I saw it happen in the glass,” she announced after a few moments of silence.

  Her mother and grandmother stopped eating, both of them looking up at her.

  “You saw the violence.” Gramma nodded, her glassy, dark eyes moist as if she wished Thena hadn’t seen.

  “What did you see?” Margaret looked at both of them, putting her sandwich on her plate.

  Thena had lost her appetite too. “There were four…maybe five men.” The images she’d seen in the glass resurfaced, plaguing her emotions as she talked about it. “And a woman screaming, begging them to stop.”

  Her heart suddenly seemed too heavy for her chest. She glanced from her mother to her grandmother, the silence in the kitchen weighted down with sadness.

  “Are we sure this happened here in Barren?” Margaret asked. “I’ve never heard of such a crime.”

  “Too often crimes like this are never reported to the authorities.” Thena shook her head, willing the ugly scene to leave her head. “And in this case it wasn’t just rape, but murder.”

  “We will go out tonight and search the souls at the cemetery,” Gramma decided and then reached for her sandwich.

  Thena knew she could get faster answers if she talked to Priapus. She believed now that he was truly a god, capable of so much more than she was. It dawned on her that possibly he held back, allowing her to come to terms with her own powers. He’d told her it would take time to come to terms with being a goddess—that her work was cut out for her.

  That thought in itself unnerved her. It would be opening a can of worms if she asked Priapus to share everything he knew. She didn’t believe she was meant to know everything. Not to mention, messing with powers that she didn’t understand would render her out of control. And Thena didn’t like not being in control.

  She would gather her answers on her own. But she would do more than wander a cemetery.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Thena almost shrieked when she reached to open her mother’s car door and it was opened for her. Priapus stood to the side so she could get out.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, trying to regain her wits about her.

  It bothered her that she’d been so lost in thought she hadn’t sensed his strength until he’d been right next to her.

  “I was about to ask you the same.” Priapus took her arm, moving her so he could shut her car door.

  He turned so they faced each other, his brooding expression making her feel he could search through her thoughts to gather any information he wished. She hated that, and did her best to clamp down on any thoughts in her head, any emotions, and meet his stare. Such concentration made it really hard to comment though, so she simply stared up at him.

  The slightest twitch of his mouth gave her cause to believe he sensed what she was doing, and thinking. Damn.

  “You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into,” he told her, pulling slightly on her arm, willing her to move so that they touched.

  Thena fought for calm, offering him a smug smile. “You don’t know what I’m doing at all. Therefore, you don’t know what I’m getting into either.”

  She prayed she was right, hoping with everything she had that he wouldn’t sense she was searching out the source of evil in the town. Doing this on her own would help her come to terms with her powers. She just knew that in her heart to be true.

  Priapus’ look hardened.

  He didn’t like the way she’d successfully pulled her thoughts from him. And he liked it even less that she openly admitted to it, and challenged him at the same time.

  “I will not allow you to walk into trouble.” He would damn well see to it that she didn’t.

  No matter that she succeeded in keeping her thoughts from him. It was obvious by her expression that she was up to something she knew he wouldn’t approve of. Determination showed in the way she pursed her lips. She stood tall, daring anyone to challenge her. Knowing she’d taken on challenges most of her life, and more than likely often won, had its appeal. He gazed down at her soft features, still so feminine in spite of her willful expression.

  A gentle breeze had picked up since morning, countering the heat of the midday sun, and lifting Priapus’ hair around his head. She decided she liked this latest look he sported, casual and carefree, with an expression that let anyone know he wasn’t a man to be messed with.

  “I’m a big girl,” she said, adding a teasing tone to her voice. She batted her eyes at him purposefully. “I can take care of myself.”

  “You are a lady, my dear, not a girl. And I will see to your protection.” He cupped her chin, lifting her face so he could brush his lips over hers.

  Although the town was quiet during this part of the day, more than one inquisitive soul would see her kissing a man they’d never laid eyes on before. She had a feeling that Priapus knew this, and didn’t give a damn that he was making a silent statement to the community. Granted she was thirty years old, and had been away from Barren for years, but this was a small town, word traveled. If she’d come back home with a man by her side that would be one thing. But she hadn’t. And no one in town knew Priapus. He didn’t seem to care that she was openly showing affection to a man that no one in town knew.

  The community would just have to get over it. At the moment, all she wanted was to be in his arms.

  Mine. The thought that he would make such a public claim on her sent a rush of chills over her skin. She went up on tiptoe, deepening the kiss before she gave too much thought to the consequences.

  Over the past day or so, spending all of her time with Gramma and her mother, she’d missed this cocky man. His arrogance, his self-confidence, and those damn sexy good looks of his, hadn’t left her thoughts the entire time she’d been away from him. He was becoming more than an infatuation.

  But there was work to do. She broke off the kiss with a sigh. “Isn’t there something you should be doing?” she asked before she bothered to open her eyes.

  “I’m doing it,” he breathed into her face.

  Thena chuckled, although his words sent a hot flush over her skin. It had been several days since they’d fucked, and with a mere kiss he had her body in an uproar, her pussy throbbing while her nipples hardened with an ache that she knew he could appease.

  She slipped around him, moving toward the front of her car and the sidewalk of the quiet downtown area.

  “Then you need to find something else to do,” she said quickly over her shoulder. “I have errands.”

  Priapus knew she was up to something. She headed toward a hardware store, but he doubted she was shopping for supplies to do home improvement. The shop was full of demons, and she was walking into their lair. He didn’t like this—things could get ugly. They would see her for what she was, before she realized who they were. He crossed his arms, watching her tight ass sway away from him, and wrapped his protection around her.

  There was no way she could look back, and she didn’t have to. Priapus’ powers swam around her protectively, and she had to admit she liked the feeling of knowing he was so close at hand.

  She would do this w
ithout his help though. She had to. The only way a witch came to terms with her powers was to walk the path alone, feel her strength, not allow it to mingle with others. She had no clue what a goddess might do, but knew in her heart that this was what she had to do.

  The bell on the door rang cheerfully when she pushed it open and entered the store. Shelves of nuts and bolts greeted her and she glanced briefly at the posterboard sign, Willey’s Hardware, everything you need with one stop.

  Thena could only wish everything she needed would be here with one stop.

  “Hi, Randy,” she said cheerfully, when she spotted Randy Poller behind the counter.

  “Well, Thena Cooke!” Randy’s face lit up with a sincere smile. “When did you get back in town?”

  She searched his face, seeing the sincerity of his greeting. Randy didn’t remember her being at his house the other day. Well, this would be interesting.

  He also showed no signs of hostility, or anger, or hatred. The evil she’d cast out of him was gone, but apparently so were his memories of it. Oddly though, there was a cold evil lingering in the store. Its coldness hit her hard, making the otherwise cheerful-looking shop seem dangerous. Trepidation seeped through her.

  “I’ve been home for several days now.” She decided it was best not to question why he didn’t remember.

  Sunshine streamed through the large bay windows at the front of the store. Dust bunnies floated through the air, giving the area a relaxed appearance. The look was deceiving though. Hostility sat heavy in the air. One or two customers lingered in the long aisles, and several men chatted at the counter. Thena was the only woman in the store. She smiled at Randy but kept her guard up, trying to locate the source of the evil that chilled the place.

  “You running this place now?” She noticed the men standing around the counter turned and watched her warily.

  Randy frowned as if trying to remember something. “No. I just work here. Is there something I can help you find?”

  She was focusing more on trying to read the feelings of the others in the store and his question took her off-guard. With a quick gesture of her hand, she tried to make a show of not remembering the name of the item she needed.

  “Mom has a drip in her bathroom sink that is driving me nuts. I thought I’d try and fix it for her.”

  Randy nodded and led the way down one of the aisles, putting her within a few feet of the men at the counter. Hostility swarmed around the lot of them. Turning her attention to the small group, she tried to recognize them. For the most part they were older, out of her peer group. Their faces were vaguely familiar but none of them were men she had known when she lived here before. Thena guessed that each of them possessed one of those demons in them that she’d cast out of Randy.

  He didn’t seem to notice their hostility. “More than likely you’ll need to take off the cover on the faucet handle and replace the insides to stop that leak. It’s not too hard to do.”

  Randy held up a see-through plastic faucet handle, trying to show her what needed to be done.

  “Seems the like of her would just cast a spell on it,” one of the men at the counter mumbled.

  Thena turned her attention toward them to see the three men hovering around the counter scowl at her.

  “Do you think that would work?” She wouldn’t let them intimidate her. “Maybe I should just cast a spell on one of you so that you’ll come out and fix it for me.”

  They all straightened, realizing she wouldn’t cower, yet noticeably upset by her comment.

  “I have the right to refuse service to anyone.” The man behind the counter sucked in his thick belly, his black eyes glowing with fury.

  Thena smiled. Their blatant outrage over her comment had let down all of their guards. Emotions surged toward her. They hated her, despised her, and that didn’t surprise her in the least. But there was more. Fear, worry, concern that she could hurt them. Those were the emotions she focused on.

  Her heart raced but she would do this. Randy looked rather hesitant as he held the pieces she needed for her mother’s sink in his hand. She nodded for him to put the items on the counter and stepped forward so that she stood between the two men leaning on her side of the register.

  “This is all I need,” she said, taking her time to look at each man next to her.

  The man to her left balled his fists, creases increasing in his forehead as he glared at her. There was no justifying this amount of anger. All she’d done was come in here to make a simple purchase. But if each of them had the same evil in them that Randy had been possessed with, that would explain their animosity.

  That knowledge didn’t ease her tension.

  “I’m not selling you shit.” The man behind the counter waved a hand at Randy. “Put it back on the shelves.” And then he turned a hateful eye at Thena. “And you need to get out of here. We don’t want your kind around here.”

  Anyone overhearing his words might have thought the man a bigot. But Thena understood his meaning. His animosity had nothing to do with the color of her skin. The demon inside the man spoke, hating her for the powers she had.

  Well, his hatred could only mean they feared her. Doing her best not to start shaking, even though her heart raced way too fast in her chest, she inhaled slowly, daring to meet his gaze.

  “You are the ones who need to leave,” she hissed, hoping and praying she stifled her fear, and the creatures inside these men didn’t sense it. “The men you possess are tired of you being inside them.”

  Her breath caught in her throat when the men on either side of her, and the man behind the counter started laughing.

  “She’s an absolute nut,” the man next to her hooted.

  Sweat trickled between her breasts, although it wasn’t warm in the hardware store. The front door chimed, and she felt the power of Priapus surround her before she looked his way. His green eyes were dark with emotion as he sauntered easily toward her and the men. The confidence emanating around him would have anyone thinking he had known the lot of them all of his life.

  His look turned hostile when he reached her side. “You’re dead. All of you!” he hissed, placing one hand on her shoulder while waving his other hand at the men.

  His controlled strength was so raw, so carnal, Thena’s pussy swelled with a primal ache before she could control her reaction to him.

  The man behind the counter fell backwards, losing his footing and rattling everything on the shelves behind him. The men on either side of her stiffened, then started coughing, as if someone had been choking them and now they gasped for breath.

  Priapus had stood back as long as he dared. He’d give Thena credit for being willing to walk into a nest of demons, but she didn’t have a clue how to call forth her powers to get rid of them. Her confidence in her strength still didn’t exist.

  He glanced over at Randy. “Sell the lady the parts she needs,” he said quietly.

  Randy hurried around the counter, giving the other man a worried look before stepping in front of him to work the register.

  Priapus curved his finger around Thena’s shoulder and then caressed her arm. He’d frustrated her, but he sensed her fear ebb. The damn woman just wanted to take on too much, too quickly. Her stubbornness to try and do everything on her own would get her seriously hurt, and he realized she didn’t see that.

  It was time again to give her a serious eye-opener.

  Waiting until she’d accepted the small bag and paid for the items, he then slid his hand down her back. “We have other errands to run. Shall we go?”

  Thena glared at him, but then turned a curious look to the men at the counter.

  “Are you okay?” she asked the man who refused her sale at the register.

  The older guy laughed, an embarrassed sound, and ran thick fingers over his forehead, wiping his hair back. “Just fine, miss. Not sure what came over me. You have a good day, you hear?”

  Randy looked beyond baffled.

  Thena wondered if any of them remembere
d anything that had just happened, or if they had known all along the demons had been in them and were now just trying to cover up for the terrible behavior they’d displayed while possessed by the creatures.

  “I’ll have a good day.” She shrugged free of Priapus, and smiled reassuringly at all of the men. “If any of you need anything, you let me know.”

  The men turned to her, smiles fading. A sadness almost appeared on their expressions. They had been aware of their atrocious behavior. She realized that at that moment. Their pride and confusion toward the matter wouldn’t allow them to discuss it with her, but she could see it plain as day on their faces.

  Nothing else was said, and she turned, knowing Priapus waited, more than likely so he could lecture her for not letting him handle the matter in the first place. Well, he could lecture all he wanted. She’d been doing fine. Just because she’d been a little scared, didn’t mean she couldn’t handle getting rid of those nasty creatures.

  “You’ve got all the answers, do you?” Priapus whispered when they’d left the store.

  “I doubt anyone has all of the answers.” She turned on him, putting her hands on her hips. “Even a god,” she added under her breath.

  It was all Priapus could do not to lift her off the ground and give her a sound shaking. She was more intelligent than this. Her stubbornness was blinding her, making her say things he doubted she really believed.

  He moved into her, not taking his gaze from those beautiful brown eyes while he backed her into the car parked in the street next to them.

  “Maybe I should remind you exactly what a god is capable of,” he whispered, pressing her arms against her sides.

  Her breasts pushed together, accentuating some very nice cleavage. “What are you doing? People will see us.”

  Letting go of her arms, he gripped her breasts, enjoying how her nipples hardened instantly against his palms. His long shaft grew instantly and he leaned into her, letting her see how damned horny she made him.

  “Priapus!” she hissed, unable to stop the way he turned her on. A flush of embarrassment rushed through her though. “You can’t do this in the middle of downtown.”