Their eyes turned to Waldo, who waved amidst the pulsing color, a teeny pinwheel wizard in his oversized shades.
“Once the wellspring Chaos joins the key, Eros, the next step is to insert balance.” I sucked in air and touched my throat. “Tartarus, come forth, join Chaos and Eros. You are the counterbalance of love, the despair that makes love’s sweetness a goal for every soul. This balance creates the secret of peace’s value to the world.”
Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades swapped a glance, and Poseidon grinned at me. Gold letters etched across my arm.
Not bad, Hottie.
Gaia shrieked as Tartarus flowed from her, a formless cloud of density that absorbed the light as it moved, easing toward Waldo. Ribbons of Eros’ love threaded the mass, and the cloud’s color shifted from matte to opaque, then shook everyone with a low chuckle.
“That tickles.”
“What is my role?” Gaia’s voice filled the whirl.
“You are the vessel. Once you sucked in all the components, you completed your return to wholeness. Look inside your heart.”
“I’m, hmm, not sure why that matters. My heart never seemed as important.”
“When we feed our hearts, the act sets each of us free. The sensation within yours is peace, Mother. You dwell in symbiosis with your world, so let’s try to keep it that way.”
Vapor symbols raced along my skin.
Connection. Birth. Joy.
“Balance,” I gestured to my forearms. “We’re finished here. Hades, could we return to the underworld to hammer out our details?”
Glenna’s “No!” cut across the space.
But it was too late. I really need to give up cockiness for Lent.
Chapter 31
“Once you diffused Gaia’s power in that space, it became neutral,” Glenna hissed. “Now you are nothing, a human in the underworld.”
“Why didn’t you consult us?” Chelsea growled.
“I thought,” I began, then touched my throat to reduce the volume. No point in broadcasting, right?
“You thought,” Chelsea’s fingers waggled in air quotes. “Pish, thinking can kill you. Logic says to access the greatest available knowledge. Do you believe we took the risk to support you so you could think? Survive this and your hair is on the table again.”
“She had to,” Parker protested. “An act of faith.”
“Shut up, Kid. Leave this to us.” Chelsea’s eyes deepened to green and mean.
“No! I know I’m right.”
Chelsea snapped a spell. Parker’s protesting mouth moved, but no sounds emerged.
“Better,” Chelsea looked at Glenna. “I’m open to suggestions.”
An act of faith? Parker knows stuff he doesn’t understand. Maybe I can use this.
We stood around the shattered railing that Ballard and I leapt from… when? An hour ago? Who knew? I pulled him from my bra and touched my navel, shrinking to puny.
“Are you insane?”
If a hiss could cut, I’d be bleeding out. I glanced at Chelsea. “Nope, and you aren’t the only smart one here.”
Fists balled into the small of my spine, I leaned waaaaay back and stared at Hades, who took his time pushing that gorgeous hair over his shoulder before dropping his gaze to me. I put my hands up in a shrug, maintaining eye contact.
“Shall we adjourn to my patio?” Hades purred.
What is up with him? He’s acting even weirder than normal. Chelsea cocked her head my way in a warning.
She gets it too. He’s up to something.
While the gods reduced their size, engaging in a stupid ‘who’s going to be small last’ race, I waited, checking out the trashed, former resting place of Tartarus. Perhaps the underworld could use a super deep swimming pool.
Resized, Hades led the way, and I jockeyed to keep space between me, still in Gaia mode and Gaia, still in semi-pissed mode. Her ego realignment might take a while, so no point in pushing my luck.
As we moved through the path of souls, one radiated brighter than any other. My feet slowed, unbidden, and I stared at the glowing center.
“Keeper?” Hades’ tone was somber, but off. He sounded almost excited. Odd, even for him.
I looked at the soul, disquieted. A pull emanated from within and my heart jumped in my chest, even as I struggled for breath.
“Babe?” Ballard’s arm slipped around my waist and I sagged against him, legs as useless as noodles. “Are you alright?”
“I, no, this soul, it’s calling me,” I whispered.
Ballard’s other arm wrapped around my waist, and he tugged me against him.
“Hades, whose soul is this?” Ballard used his cop voice; with one long pale finger, Hades shoved his glasses up, unimpressed.
“I don’t answer to mortals. If I didn’t think the Keeper had a chance at today’s little party, you’d already be lighting the way to my bathroom.”
My head slumped against Ballard’s shoulder, and pain spiked through my chest.
“Hades, please. Who is this light? Why is it affecting her?” Ballard shifted to his good cop voice, which was amusing. Well, if I weren’t having a heart attack, it would be.
“Fine. It is her child, Aegeus.”
“WHAT!” Poseidon’s roar shook the pathway, and the soul brightened, adding a faint blue shade. “How dare you not tell me, brother?”
The punch landed, its ferocious crunch bidding sayonara to the metallic purple frames. A faint bruise purpled on Hades’ cheek and he squared off, all pretense of suave gone, hair snapping violet sparks as the black ivy-shaped tentacles exploded from his palms. Poseidon whirled, ready, gold threads spreading into nets of death on either side of him, his trident materializing in one hand.
“That’s low, even for you, Hades,” Zeus laughed. “How’d you steal her?”
“I never steal souls,” Hades roared, a black tendril whipping a welt across Zeus’s cheek.
“Um,” Glenna murmured.
Chelsea opened her mouth, then closed it with a snap, brows pinching together from the effort.
Parker shifted his weight, then spoke. Well, his lips moved. Chelsea’s spell was still intact, but I knew what he was about to say.
“That’s not what the record says,” I rasped.
Gaia threw back her head and laughed. “What a liar you are, you little prima donna of the dead. Doesn’t steal souls. That story is complete crap.”
“I did not steal her! Aegeus died at the blade of the mer. When she arrived, I treated her well, escorted her myself, and placed her soul in a position of honor,” Hades’ weapons zipped back into his palms and his shoulders drooped. “I’m sorry, brother. I know you loved this child of yours.”
“His? And Patra’s?” Ballard’s eyes shifted between us. “How does that work?”
“The usual way,” Zeus chortled. “First they get naked, then…”
“That part I understand,” Ballard cut over Zeus, whose brows leveled at the impudence. “How can a god’s child die?”
Poseidon turned, eyes heavy with grief. “She was half mortal, and that dictates her lifespan.”
Waldo peered up at Poseidon and Eros’ voice spoke. “She loved you with great depth. And you made sure her love extended to the Keeper.”
With an effort, I pulled my head up from Ballard’s chest. “I never had a child! None of this makes the slightest sense. How?”
Poseidon reached over and tapped my forehead with a long finger. Memories flooded across my mind, of being pregnant, holding my sweet daughter, leaving her as a toddler, then returning for a visit when she was nine. Each memory expanded, a warmth within my heart, and I looked into Ballard’s eyes. His gaze, steady, firmed up my legs and I stood, shaky, lips against his ear.
“I can save her, but I can only save one.”
Ballard’s finger lifted my chin. “To preserve a child’s life, whether known or stranger, is the right decision. Whatever happens, finding you and sharing a day in your weird ass life was worth it, Babe.”
I sucked in air and stuck two fingers into my waist sack, locating the ornate vial by touch and sliding it out. Eyes on the blue glowing soul, I staggered toward it and pulled the stopper.
“You are certain?” Hades’ low voice slipped into my ear and I nodded. “Place the vial in the light, Keeper, and step back.”
After tucking the potion into Aegeus, I waited, tears rolling as the soul light ignited, expanding in increasing intensity. A head formed, then a neck, shoulders and trunk, followed by thin arms and legs. The glow shimmered and faded, taking on color and features. Blond hair, my shade, eyes an impossible blue, lips curving in a smile known to my heart, and an impish wiggle. In the pale light of the unselected souls, Aegeus solidified. Her flying hug knocked me back into Ballard, and she scampered to Poseidon, leaping into his embrace.
“Well done, Keeper. I’d have won that bet.” Hades rubbed the welt, then waved his hand. Behind me, Ballard staggered, skin greying in the gleam of the lost.
“Why is he dying?” I swung on Zeus, horrified. “You promised to protect him!”
Zeus shook with laughter, silent at first then expanding from chuckles to full-blown guffaws.
“Damn, that feels good. Keeper, you’ve been a persistent, colossal pain in my immortal ass. Turns out, you’re a pain I no longer have to tolerate. Thanks for fixing several long-term issues for the Olympians, but going forward, meh.”
Lightning cracked from his fingertips. “I don’t need you. After that night on the beach, it was a mere matter of time until I handled your shitty, arrogant, overzealous sense of importance. Your happiness meant nothing, and now, even less.”
“Brother,” Poseidon interjected. “She initiated an apology, tried to right the slight.”
“Not going to do it, Sea Urchin. She asked me to offer protection in Tartarus, remember? Which, by the way, was unnecessary since the potion that persuaded Campe also kept, um, what’s your name again?”
He waved a vague hand at Ballard, restoring a modicum of color to his face.
“Ballard,” he ground out, struggling to stay on his feet.
“Whatever. That draught, and some crap of Eros’ making, protected you while inside the void. She asked for the wrong favor, and after the bullshit this bar tending gnat put me through, it’s funny as hell.”
Zeus wiped his eyes, then slapped a heavily muscled thigh. “Best of luck, Keeper. Nah, I’m kidding; zero fucks today, Brat. You’re on your own.”
Chapter 32
Panic gripped my chest. Heart attack hard and no bacon to blame. Shit.
The gods are done playing, Patra. They got what they needed, and you are no longer necessary. What might appease? An eye for an eye? A soul for a soul? And why the hell not, you expected to die.
It took all my strength, but I frog walked Ballard to Hades and we fell in a messy tangle at his feet.
“Hades, I beg you, take me in his stead. The next Keeper is in place and the record instilled within him. The line, the Triune, hell, the Earth itself, will heal and become more.”
Expressionless, Hades’ face gave a slight horizontal shake.
“This plan worked,” my tone slid into stubbornness. “You won’t be swamped with souls, and can continue as you please. Ballard is a solid human, whose appearance here is out of love for me. I love him so much I’ll trade my life force for his.”
Next to me, Ballard groaned and shook his head. “No, Babe, don’t do this.”
I pushed up to sit on my shins, Ballard’s head heavy in my lap. “As originals, he had no choice. If prophesied, we’ll find each other again.”
A faint shadow crossed Hades’ expression. He knew as I did that the Vapors’ wheelhouse was also in my blood.
Well? Care to dance, Death?
Hades’ chuckle filled the space. “You are persistent, Keeper. And one of the best we’ve ever had, but granting this request opens things you neither see nor understand.”
He bent toward me, extending a finger. “Yet.”
The forehead tap unleashed images so rapidly they blurred. I struggled to understand it all, but only an idiot would miss the fact the Triune was a war zone and the humans were literal lunch. Yikes.
“Parker is not ready,” Hades’ whisper filled my ear, a message meant for me alone.
Behind him, Parker grabbed Chelsea by the shoulders, shook her and pointed to his throat.
Hoo boy, Kid. That will cost you. She’ll give you Chihuahua balls without missing a beat, then order another bottle of wine.
Chelsea snapped, and Parker bounded across the path, ending with a skidding stop before Hades. He wobbled, but avoided crashing into the god of death.
“Careful,” Hades laughed. “Touching me doesn’t end well.” He waved at the glowing souls behind him. “Did you wish to speak?”
“Please, Lord Hades, if I’m not the answer, take me instead of him. Let the Keeper have her lover. Everything we saw and accomplished today is based on love and peace, the foundation for the world of our future.”
Hades blinked, gears turning.
Wait, what? Did I miss something?
“I have a better idea, brother. Accept the souls of the Keeper and her lover, and I’ll make this one,” Zeus jerked a big thumb at Parker, “Keeper for eternity.”
“You’d bestow eternal life on a mortal? How the hell do you plan to do that?”
“Oh, he’ll die, but to a human, a witch’s lifespan is forever. I can pull that off with my eyes closed.”
“No need to share your sex life,” Poseidon laughed. “And your half-assed plan is not the solution. The record has specific rules. You’d be breaking at least three of them.”
“Like I care. The book can bite my perfect immortal ass.”
Holy crap. He wants to control the line, even after today. Freaking megalomaniac. But how did Parker know he wasn’t ready? The mind reading trick only goes one way.
Parker’s eyes slid to mine, one lid dropping in a slow wink.
Whoa.
“Your cheek is tiresome,” Gaia waved an impatient hand at Zeus. “No hierarchy places you on top, at least none based in reality. You have a role, Zippy, but it ain’t setting up a new world order with you getting the goods. If you’d prefer, discuss it with my sweet Hekatonkheires. Their hundred hands should keep you occupied for a millennium.”
“I didn’t release your children to wage eternal war, Mother. They are ready to initiate peace!” I hugged Ballard’s head, clammy and cooling, and stared up at Gaia.
She glanced my way then closed her eyes, drawing in a long slow breath before opening her mouth. The Vapors crept out in tendrils, forming a second halo of curls around her head, a continuous stream of entities. Zeus shifted his weight, uneasy as the Vapors filled the spaces between us and flowed in an inexorable march toward him. Inches from his bearded face they stopped, a wall of writhing spirals.
“I speak a prophecy for the ages to come,” Gaia’s mouth did not move, it remained open, Vapors whisping from her core, but her voice boomed throughout the passageway, and the souls blinked in a humming response, an eternal orchestral accompaniment.
“How fascinating,” Glenna said, looking around in delight. “Even in death, a soul is sentient and reactive.”
“No messing with my realm,” Hades muttered. “I don’t need your potions mucking up my system.”
Glenna’s eyes twinkled over her cat eye glasses. “Me? I’m hurt you’d suggest such a thing.”
“Yeah? We’ve met,” Hades shot an ivy feeler and wagged it like a father correcting a toddler.
“Excuse me? Are you two finished?” Gaia’s mouth was closed and her face infuriated.
“Uh, yes?” Hades waved a hand and pulled new sunglasses from the air. “Carry on, please.”
Additional Vapors flowing from her reopened mouth, the prophecy continued.
“In the real and magical worlds, the joining must continue unmolested.” Gaia opened her eyes and glared at Zeus before squeezing them closed and conti
nuing. “Provided the line and record remain guarded by two keepers, Zeus will reign as a sage and beloved ruler of the gods.”
Zeus stuck his tongue out at the Vapor curling before him. It bunched back and whapped him on the nose with a smack that made Aegeus clap, giggling. Poseidon grinned and laid a finger across her lips.
“If Zeus’ negligence causes the loss of a Keeper, as punishment the exalted shall fall from the sky, riding the night as an eternal shooting star, never to return to Olympus. The future is foretold.”
Ballard’s chest hitched, death imminent, and Parker stepped closer to Hades.
“Please, take me. Another Keeper will come. We always do.”
A tiny, fully formed Eros emerged from Waldo’s beard and grew with each step taken toward Hades, Ballard, and me. I held my breath, afraid to even ask, but I knew my heart was begging for redemption. The revolving faces flowed in an endless parade, and a thought tickled my mind.
The last time they formed as an entity, I felt Eros in every cell. My entire body thrummed with love, each particle of me became energy, and in the same moment, that energy was love.
I knew what to do.
“Ballard, open your eyes, and feel the love coursing in your veins,” I crooned. “This is how we live.”
Green eyes struggled to focus, but they found mine and I gripped his hands, completing the circle. Tingles blasted across my heart and core, racing through my arms and into our interlaced fingers. Color returned to his skin in tandem with the path of the energy, pinking up hands, forearms, and flowing over his chest. Lights burned from his eyes, a heatless fire felt only by us. Life flowed into his hips and legs; with a grunt, he pulled me onto his body in an embrace, vitality pulsing through every point of contact, two hearts healing.
Ballard’s irises shifted from translucent emerald fire to the steady, sexy as hell green I loved, and he smiled, leaning in to whisper, “Now I know what to shoot for the next time we’re naked.”
“They healed themselves,” Eros stated, moving in a shrinking walk and folding back into Waldo’s beard. “They achieved balance. The universe requires nothing else.”
Salt Shaken Page 18
