by J. P. Rice
How was the rose alive? It defied all odds. Completely out of its element, yet it survived. No. It thrived. The vibrant green stem stood erect, taunting the rules of nature. The gleaming bud started to form into a face. I took a few steps closer to make out the features.
“Hey. Are you okay?” Titania’s words brought me out of my flashback. I tried to push those memories aside and focus on the task before me. As I got a closer look at the wolves, I watched Caesar chomp into an arm that had been cut off at the elbow and I gagged.
“Gross,” exclaimed Titania.
I turned to the side and dry heaved. I’d witnessed some gruesome deaths in my day, but I wasn’t down with cannibalism. The wolves were feasting on the vampires they had killed during my last visit. As disgusting as it was, their feast would afford me an easier mission. Octavius emerged from behind the flames of the bonfire with a bloody thigh in his hand.
I knew it was time to strike, and we moved back around to get to the front of the house. Titania had to be a good luck charm because there weren’t any guards at the front door. They were closed for business to focus on the meal.
As I scanned the driveway, I noticed my Jeep Wrangler parked outside the garage. Dented and dinged. Those sons-a-bitches had beaten the hell out of my beast. Now I didn’t feel bad about this mission. Fook these wolves.
I walked up to the front door with Titania right behind me. I pointed to a tall rectangular window next to the door. “Look through there and see if anyone is in there.”
Titania flew up to the window and smashed her face into the glass. She shook her head to get the cobwebs loose. “Coast is clear from here, my dear.”
Expecting a locked door, I turned the handle, and much to my surprise, it twisted. The deadbolt wouldn’t be as easy, but when I put my weight against the door, it opened. Huh. I pushed open the massive wooden structure, and we entered the house.
I whispered, “Can you smell anyone in here? Their magic ironically smells like burnt meat. A little gamey too.”
Titania bobbed her head around before shaking it in silence. She whispered, “Just the nasty raw smells from out back.”
We worked our way down the hallway and came to Octavius’s office. If he had the spear, I’d bet my life it was in here. I checked the door. Locked. I conjured up a glob of a gelatinous substance and jammed it into the keyhole.
Once I filled the slot, I injected more magic into the substance, turning it into a solid. I turned my hand and heard the sweet click of the door unlocking. I twisted the knob, and we entered Octavius’s office.
There were still signs of the flamethrower damage, but someone had cleaned up and redecorated the room with a new couch and coffee table. As I searched around, my eyes landed on the coffee table in front of his couch. Covered with hairpieces, I couldn’t believe Octavius was considering toupees.
Instead of laughing like I wanted to do, I concentrated on finding the spear. Or half. Checking the windowsill for the spear, I found my car keys. Bonus. I snatched them up and kept looking for the spear.
Titania announced, “Found it.”
I turned toward her voice and raced over to meet her near the couch. She gestured with her head. “Right there in between those cushions.”
I reached in and clutched the spear that looked like an exact match to the one I’d held all those years ago. It didn’t have the same magical burst as the first time I had handled it, but it was only half. Besides, I didn’t have time to worry about that now.
“Nice find, my friend,” I said as I stood up. “Now let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Let’s do it,” she said, her wings buzzing with excitement.
We turned around to get out, and Octavius stood there in wolf form, shaking his head in disgust. “What do you got there, June?”
I put my hand holding the spear and my keys behind my back. I extended the dagger, the point aimed right at his chest. “Do you mean this enchanted knife that’s been blessed by an angel?”
Towering over me, he stared down at the glowing blade and replied, “Nonsense. You know what I mean. Now stop lying about your knife and give me the spear before I have to kill you.”
“Did you just threaten to kill my friend?” Titania shot across the room and smashed into Octavius’s hairy shoulder. “Wrong choice of words, sir. Now apologize this instant,” she demanded, flailing away at his chest with her miniscule fists.
Octavius casually swatted her away with the back of his hand as he said, “Get the fuck outta here.”
The fire of friendship burned inside me, and the flames danced in my vision.
Within a blink and with no conscious effort, I was standing in front of Octavius, the blade of the knife held steady above my head, within an inch of his throat. “You move and you’re dead. In fact, you’re lucky I don’t kill you for putting your hands on my friend.” The blessed blade had already caused a red rash on his neck, clearly visible under the hair.
“You all right, Titania?” I asked, not moving the blade a centimeter.
“I will be.” She groaned and did a pushup to get back on her feet.
I turned back to Octavius. “You feel that burn, big boy. Move one muscle and the pack will need a new alpha. We are going to leave in peace and you aren’t going to do anything about it.”
Octavius swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bulged. He inched backward with his hands up. “I can’t just let you take the spear.”
I turned the dagger and lowered it to his chest. I had made my point. He realized that I could end his life at any time, so it wasn’t necessary to keep the blade near his neck.
I said, “You can. And you will let me take it. Besides, it’s only half. Unless, of course, you want me to start telling everyone about your little secret over there.” I thumbed in the direction of the coffee table full of toupees.
He rolled his eyes and took a deep breath, sighing in disgust through his nose. “Well played, you fucking bitch. You’re lucky that object didn’t really cost me anything.”
I laughed. “I’m the lucky one?”
I gripped the knife tighter and turned to my friend, floating near my shoulder. “You hear that Titania?” I faced Octavius again. “Oh no, I think you are the lucky one. I don’t even have to hit you with the sharpened edge of the blade. I could tap you with the flat and that would be all she wrote.”
“You’re playing a dangerous game, June.”
I cocked my head to the side and spoke in an English accent, “Danger is my middle name.”
Octavius squinted in confusion. None of my associates got my amazing movie references. Their loss. He said, “What the hell is that supposed to mean? It’s a dangerous game, June. Half my guys are terrified of you and the other half wants to tear you to pieces.”
“Oh yeah, which camp are you bunking with?” I asked.
“Which one you think? You don’t want to play a game where the pack is your enemy,” he threatened.
“Ooohhh, I’m so scared. I know the business I’m involved in is supposedly a man’s game. You all look in the mirror and see testosterone-filled giants, not realizing that the reflection is only that of a scared little boy pissing in his pants. I guess it’s a good thing I always beat the guys then.”
Octavius pursed his lips and nodded as he spoke, “It’s easy when you’re playing with a stacked deck. But there will be a time when the cards aren’t all aces for you. I never should’ve let you out of that cell.”
“You didn’t let me out. Tyr rescued me. You could take notes from a real man,” I reminded him. He was lucky Tyr hadn’t killed him in my honor.
“Sure. He let you out. Keep telling yourself that. You better hope we don’t meet again when the chips are down for you,” he threatened. Enough with all the gambling references already.
I smirked and tried to remember how many men had threatened me over the years. Countless. And here I stood, about to put another tough guy in his place. “You know, you’re a real sweet talker. Keep talking p
retty like that and you just might end up dead.”
“Maybe we should split, BFF,” Titania reminded me. I’d almost forgotten about her.
Titania’s words were the slap I needed to get back on track and stop the trash talking session. “It was nice seeing you again, Octavius. Tell the family I said hi and I’ll see them at the next get together,” I joked and stepped back, pulling the dagger down near my hip, tempting him to make a move.
Octavius of the Tainted Blood flexed his fingers and I could tell he was fighting away the urge to attack me. He curled his fat fingers into a fist and shook it in front of his chest as he said gruffly, “Only one person will get the last laugh.”
Ignoring his threat, Titania and I stormed out of the house and jumped into my dinged-up Jeep Wrangler. At least the battered vehicle started right up. I stood up the spear in front of the passenger seat and nestled it against the center console.
Since the wolves had messed up my ride, I decided to return the favor. I turfed his front lawn, spitting a chunky stream of soggy soil against the front of his house.
“Get some of that, fooker,” I screamed out the window and honked the horn. I straightened out the Jeep, and we cruised down the winding driveway.
A minute later, we were out on the open road, Titania screaming in excitement and pumping her tiny fist. “Woo hoo. We are two bad bitches.”
I pulled out of the wolves’ driveway and worried that they would have someone follow me. Titania went into the back and kept watch while I drove. Ten minutes went by, and she hadn’t detected anything suspicious.
“Why don’t you come back up here,” I said and flicked on the interior light as we pulled onto a bridge.
As I held the wheel steady with my left hand, I grabbed the spear and took a good long look at it. It had all the right little markings that I remembered. We stopped at a red light on the bridge and I looked at it much closer.
I opened my window and hung my arm out. I shifted the three-foot spear in my hand and swung my arm over the hood, tossing it into the Allegheny River.
“Why’d you do that?” Titania asked, incredulous.
“It was a fake. A decent one, but it wasn’t real.” I closed my window, and the light turned green.
I’d just made the situation with Octavius a hundred times worse. For nothing. Add another faction to the list. I was feeling safer after my meeting with Zeus, but now I had to watch my back for wolves. It was like a game of Whack-a-mole, as soon as I hammered one problem into the ground, another sprouted out of nowhere.
Admittedly, I’d caused this problem because of my infatuation with the spear. It hadn’t just popped up out of nowhere. I felt it was my duty to return the artifact to Lugh.
Who sold Octavius the fake?
Dammit. I thought I had secured half of the spear and made the deal with Arawn null and void. But I was right back at square one.
I had valuable information about Arawn coming to Pittsburgh. But it was a big city, not to mention the surrounding areas. Visions of the destruction that Arawn and Maeve could achieve with the spear in their possession made my head spin.
The deal to reattach the spear was going down soon, and I needed to stop it. I knew what resource I had to check on.
Chapter 18
Owen greeted me at the door and whisked me inside his house and out of the cold. Dressed in his normal suit and tie, he led me into his living room and gestured for me to take a seat on the black leather couch.
“Would you like a drink?” he offered, playing the perfect host.
I was too excited about his intriguing phone call from earlier so I sat down without taking off my coat. “No. I want to see this footage that you’re talking about. Can you give me a hint what it’s about?”
He was acting strange and avoiding eye contact. He stared into his touch pad and said, “I believe it’s best if you watch it for yourself. I don’t think you’d believe me.”
My curiosity shot through the roof. Why was Owen being so coy about the Cat Cam footage? He also seemed nervous, which was strange for my dear old friend.
He tapped the touch screen a few times and an image appeared on the flat-screen TV hanging on the wall across from the couch. It was Tyr dressed in all black. I didn’t recognize the dark location, but it was certainly the God of War. Tyr’s name wasn’t on the list Owen and I had made up. My feline friend had apparently gone rogue.
“Where is this?” I wanted to know.
Owen answered, “This is the Stone Tree. It’s the bookstore he has a share in.”
Tyr walked up to a register and pressed a few buttons on the electronic keypad. The drawer popped open and Tyr swiped the cash from inside, stuffing it into his back pocket. He pulled out a cell phone and swiped the screen a few times.
He put the phone to his ear and began pacing. “Loki. It’s me. Just wanted to let you know that the plan is a full go. Arawn and Maeve will be here on Saturday. As soon as the deal is done, I’ll bring the briefcase to you. Unless you want to come here and get it.”
That lying piece of shit. He was playing me the entire time. The flames of rage fanned through my body and I slid out of my jacket to avoid overheating.
“Don’t worry, Loki. Everything’s taken care of. The only weird part is that Arawn asked me to bring my girlfriend to the deal. I’m guessing he wanted to make sure I wasn’t pulling a fast one. Little does he know I couldn’t care less if something happened to her.” He laughed, and the fact that he was showcasing his callousness fired me up even more.
Owen put his hand on the back on my neck and gently massaged my tense muscles. “I’m sorry a lovely creature such as yourself had to see that Loki’s hand is planted firmly inside Tyr’s anus.”
I gave him a weird look.
Owen’s eyes shifted from bright yellow to a soft orange. It was how he blushed. He stammered, “I didn’t mean to imply consensual sexual deviancy amongst two amorous adults. I merely meant Loki is the grand puppeteer, pulling the strings from afar.” He tugged on the collar of his white dress shirt and pointed to the TV.
Tyr spoke in an annoyed monotone, “I know you need that item to kill Odin. That’s why I made the deal for it. This whole thing would have been much easier if you hadn’t broken the spear in half.”
Tyr paused for a few moments and said, “I know it’s up to us to shake it up. You’re worried, Loki. I don’t like when my friend is like this.”
Tyr shook his head, moved the phone to his other ear and continued pacing. “I totally understand that you have a lot riding on this. So do I. I want to be back in the pantheon so bad I can taste it. Getting to kill Fenrir is just a bonus. Unless you are going back on your word.”
Tyr stopped for a moment. “But you won’t need Fenrir for Ragnarok because Odin will already be dead.”
He went back to pacing. “All right. Just relax. I won’t mention it again until we take care of Odin.”
Tyr rolled his eyes and shook his head. “No, Loki. Nobody is onto our plan.”
Tyr listened for about ten seconds and asked, “Who?”
He continued, “Oh, please. I’ve got Junipher wrapped around my little finger. She hasn’t a clue as to what is going on. All you need to do is relax. That would serve you best.”
That fooking jerk. I was going to kill him. I was going to stab his pretty face off with the dullest knife I could find. Or perhaps with a spork. No, I wanted to wrap my bare hands around his grubby throat and not let go until the Morrigan came to collect his soul. Then, I’d watch as her crows pecked at his eyes. “I think I’ve seen enough. And I’ll take you up on that drink offer too.”
Owen disappeared into the kitchen, and as I listened to glass bottles clanging together, I sat there in shock. I couldn’t believe someone I trusted the most in this world had betrayed me. Tyr was dead to me. In fact, I wanted to kill him myself.
Owen came back into the room with my Sazerac in his extended arm. I swiped it from him, spilling some from the overfilled glass. I dow
ned about half of it and leaned back, lost on what to do.
“What should we do?” Owen asked, unintentionally taunting me.
All I could focus on was revenge on Tyr. “I don’t know yet. I’m so mad my thoughts will be tainted. I can’t believe that jerk.”
Owen reached behind me and scratched my back with his soothing claws. “Yes, well, I usually love being correct, but not at the expense of your feelings. At least now we know where the deal is going down and when. Tyr confirms the time and location later in that conversation.”
“The problem is Tyr will have a small army backing him and Arawn and Maeve will have the same. I can’t just crash the deal and steal both halves of the spear,” I said and chased the thought with a gulp of my drink.
“Perhaps you could follow Maeve and Arawn after they obtain the spear. If we caught them in a moment of vulnerability, we could strike then,” Owen suggested, his friendly touch moving to my lower back.
My drink wasn’t calming me down at all and I set the glass on the coffee table in front of me. “Not a bad idea. My worry is after they obtain the spear, they will ramp up security. I might need to go home and take a nap to clear my head before I figure this out.”
“I’m willing to help in any manner required,” my friend pledged.
“I know, that’s why I lo...” the word got caught in my throat. I’d never said that word to anyone other than my father since Darabond had disappeared. I wasn’t in love with Owen, but the word had come out almost naturally. “That’s why I love you,” I finished the sentence.
It felt like someone had lifted a huge weight from my shoulders. Owen’s Cheshire grin told me that he appreciated the words. I just hoped he wouldn’t take it the wrong way. After being burned by Tyr, I wasn’t trying to get close to any man.
Owen removed his hand from my back and I tucked my arms back into the sleeves of my jacket. He stood up and said, “Yes, well, I know you do. Most people would have left my body in that silo in Seattle. You risked your life to get me out of there. And after your stay in the Lair of Justice, no one would have blamed you if you had taken a portal straight back to Pittsburgh.”
