by Brey Willows
Selene flushed at the thought of Alec’s enormous, soft black wings, reminded of the dream she’d had that had involved Alec’s wings wrapped around her…
“Selene?”
She snapped back to the moment. “Sorry, I drifted for a second there. What did you say?”
Alec grinned and flexed her back again, laughing when Selene looked away. “I said, are you ready?”
Selene looked at the house and saw people inside, milling around talking. Like Alec said, just another party. Sure. “As ready as I’ll ever be. Just stay close, okay?”
Alec lifted Selene’s hand to her lips and gently kissed her knuckles. “Without question.”
*
The feel of Selene’s hand in her own was like holding electricity. And given that she’d tried to hold it when it was invented in usable form, she knew the feeling. Alec tried to concentrate. She couldn’t fathom what Selene must be feeling or thinking.
They stepped inside, and there was the usual hum of conversation, a few voices too loud, a few laughs too high-pitched. Alec glanced over her shoulder at Selene and nearly laughed at her wide-eyed stare. Alec followed the direction of her gaze and understood immediately. Durga stood talking to Ganesh, her eight arms octiculating, pressing whatever point she was making, several times nearly poking him in his elephant trunk.
Alec pulled Selene beside her and whispered in her ear. “Gives new meaning to ‘talking with your hands,’ doesn’t it?”
“I don’t know if I can do this.”
Selene looked almost panicked, and Alec hated to see her so distressed. “Selene, it’s not like you don’t know a ton of stuff about the people here. You’ve studied most of them throughout your career. Use your knowledge. Yeah, of course it’s a little different when you get to actually talk to someone rather than just read about them, but—”
Selene held up a hand. “If you had any idea how ludicrous that statement sounds right now, you’d stop speaking. There’s a Hindu god and goddess, standing in a living room…is she drinking beer? And what on earth is he eating?”
Meg swept up beside them, her hands over her heart. “Oh my god, you came! I thought for sure you’d skip out. Alec always skips out. Well, not always, but most of the time. And she’s never brought anyone before. This is a celebration for sure.”
Meg put her arm around Selene and started walking her toward the kitchen, and Alec followed behind dutifully, careful not to step on Meg’s trailing white gown.
“I hope I’m dressed okay? I wasn’t sure what someone wears to something like this.” Selene blushed and looked away.
Alec’s stomach flipped, and she felt her wings twitch with the desire to pull Selene against her.
“Are you kidding? You look fantastic. I love that top. There’s no dress code for these things, usually. Unless it’s a costume party, obviously. Everyone comes in whatever they’re comfy in, or sometimes what they come from work in. Whatever, as long as they’re here. What would you like to drink? Soda? Wine, beer? Ambrosia?”
Selene blinked. “Ambrosia?”
“No. That was just a joke.” Meg grinned and Selene began to laugh.
Alec was glad to see Selene’s shoulders relax slightly. Maybe this won’t be so bad after all.
“Guinness, if you have it?”
“We’re gods, Selene my dear, we’ve got everything.”
Meg took care of pouring Selene’s drink, and Alec gently touched her shoulder. “You doing okay?”
She nodded. “So far. Thank you for asking.” She took a sip of her drink and sighed happily. “That’s perfect, Meg, thank you.”
“My pleasure. Now, shall I introduce you to people, or do you want to stand here and chat for a while?”
Selene seemed to consider the question for a moment. “Can I ask you something personal? Well, I don’t know if it’s personal, but I think it might be.”
“Shoot. I’m an open book.”
“Do you have wings too? Like Alec’s?”
Meg shot a glance at Alec. “She showed you her wings?”
Selene nodded, frowning slightly. “We were being attacked one night, and she…changed, in order to protect us. Me. To protect me. And then I got angry and made her show me them the next day.”
Meg stared at Alec for a long moment, looking thoughtful. She turned back to Selene. “I do have wings, yes. But they’re not really like Alec’s. Hers are all broody and dark, like she is. Mine are bright, passionate. Like me.” She looked around the increasingly crowded room. “I can’t show you in here, but I could show you outside later, if you like?”
Selene looked like a kid being given a present. “I’d love that, thank you.” She motioned at the guests around them. “There are so many people here who aren’t hiding any aspect of themselves. Like the Hindu couple. Why are you both hiding your wings?”
Meg looked at Alec, clearly expecting her to answer.
“We’re not hiding them, exactly. As you noticed, they take up a lot of room. And they drag on the floor when we relax, which means people stepping on them, or getting beer spilled on them, or dragging them through whatever muck has been left on the floor.” Meg was nodding her agreement and Alec laughed. “Remember the first time you got gum in yours, Meg? I thought you were going to burn down the city.”
Meg grimaced. “Gum is the most disgusting invention yet. Worse than Spam or that boxed mac and cheese stuff with the fluorescent powder. And it’s made more disgusting by the fact that people just spit it wherever. Imagine getting something someone’s been masticating for who knows how long stuck to your feathers?”
“No, I can’t imagine that.” Selene looked like she was giving the issue serious consideration.
“Come on, Selene. I’ll introduce you to some of my friends.”
Meg laughed. “Friends might be too strong a word. But go on and have fun, and I’ll catch up with you later. Be sure to try my tiramisu. I got the recipe from Carmin Antonio himself, back in the sixties.”
With a vague wave, she headed off to talk with other guests, leaving Selene and Alec on their own. Alec watched Selene carefully, wondering what was going through her mind, but too afraid to ask. She tried to imagine what it would be like, to not know any of the beings around her existed, and then to be surrounded by them. She couldn’t, though. It was a denial of her world, and she couldn’t imagine for a second that it didn’t exist. It won’t, if I don’t get Selene’s help. The thought was sobering. All the people around her would cease to exist if she didn’t succeed.
“You’re looking more serious than I feel.” Selene lightly touched Alec’s hand.
“I’m sorry, you’re right. I’m not being a very good host.” Two people walked in and Alec felt better. “I see someone we can talk to.” She took Selene’s hand and led her over. She gave Ama a big hug and kiss on the cheek before turning to Selene. “Selene, you remember Ama.”
Ama’s eyes grew wide and she looked back and forth between them. “Really? Wow, that’s amazing. I can’t believe she talked you into coming here tonight. I thought after coming to the office you’d be scared away.”
Selene frowned slightly as she shook Ama’s hand. “I’m not that easily frightened. It’s confusing, and…and…bewildering, but there’s no way I’d rather live in ignorance.”
Ama glanced at Alec, who subtly shook her head, and Ama put on a bright smile. “It’s just that Alec hasn’t brought someone to a gathering in years. Like…fifty, maybe? Has it been that long?”
Alec laughed. “No, it hasn’t been that long. Well, not since I was with someone, anyway. But yeah, I haven’t come to a party with anyone in a while. It’s not like it’s a normal Friday night date scene, is it?”
Selene didn’t seem to be paying attention, but rather scrutinizing Ama. “Given that Alec has told me that most of the people here aren’t…people, in the traditional sense, I’m guessing you aren’t either. But I can’t place your name.”
Ama’s smile was slightly forced, and Alec win
ced. She whispered quietly into Selene’s ear, “It’s not really polite to ask a god who they are, or say you don’t recognize them. It’s like telling a celebrity you’ve never heard of them.”
“Alec, that’s being a bit unfair.” Ama seemed to relax slightly, and she lightly touched Selene’s arm. “It’s true, we all have egos. You do, you know, when people worship you for centuries. It gives you an unhealthy sense of expectation and entitlement.” She raised her arms slightly and tilted her head. “I am Amaterasu, the Shinto goddess of light.” Light radiated from her entire body, and Selene squinted against it.
The light faded and Alec grinned. “You always did put on a hell of a display.”
“You’re…that’s incredible. Truly.”
Ama’s chin raised slightly until she looked at Alec, who was rolling her eyes. She began to laugh. “You see? A bit of worship and we instantly become full of ourselves. If it weren’t for Alec I would have been an awful person, but she keeps me grounded.”
Alec felt herself flush. “That’s my job. Goddess tamer.”
Ama wiggled her eyebrows. “More than once, old friend.” Another Japanese person walked in, and she made her apologies as she went to speak with him.
“Are you okay?” Alec asked, steering Selene toward a quiet corner. She hoped Selene didn’t notice the many stares she was getting as people learned who she was. Alec needed time to explain. She wanted to take it slowly, show Selene the world and how important it was, before she dropped the other bombshell on her. As long as she kept anyone from saying anything stupid to Selene tonight, things would be fine. Sure, right. Easy.
“I think so. I keep thinking I’m dreaming, and I’ll wake up any time with a wonderful story to write down. But I don’t seem to be waking up, and you feel very real.” She stroked Alec’s arm, locking her gaze on Alec’s. “Very real, ‘goddess tamer,’ Did you two—”
A booming laugh interrupted their conversation, and they turned to look. An enormous man with a goatee, followed by three satyrs and three beautiful women, drew everyone’s attention. People greeted him as he passed, all looking genuinely pleased to see him. He spotted Alec and made his way over, his entourage separating to mingle.
“Alec, you old bat. It’s been years. How the Hades are you?”
He scooped Alec up in a massive hug, one of the few beings who could do so.
“Bach, put me down. How many times do I have to tell you I’m not a bat?”
He winked at Selene. “Have you seen her wings? Tell me she’s not an overgrown bat with a poor sense of proper femininity?” He motioned at the women who had come in with him, all of whom were incredibly tall, thin, busty, and half-naked. “That’s the way a woman should look.”
“Bach…as in, Bacchus, right?”
He opened his arms wide. “That’s me! I don’t think we’ve met. Are you a Noogie?”
“Noogie? I don’t think so. Am I?” She turned to Alec.
“No, you’re not a Noogie. Unless you’ve got a cult of followers I don’t know about.” At Selene’s puzzled look she laughed. “A Noogie is a new god, one who’s been created by a new cult of believers large enough to bring a new god into existence, but one who doesn’t really fit one of the other, already existing gods. So they’re not an offshoot, so to speak. They’re totally new.”
Bach looked between them before taking Selene’s hand in his own massive one. “And you are?”
“Selene. I’m Alec’s—”
“Date. She’s my date. MY date. So don’t go throwing your charm this way, big man. Stick with your nymphettes over there and leave us with our puny little selves, will you?” Bacchus was nearly as old as Alec, and she’d seen him seduce every type of human there’d been. Sex and gender didn’t matter, as long as he was having a good time. The humans, though, rarely fared as well, unable to keep up with the god of gluttony and hedonism.
“My nymphs are beautiful, it’s true. But there are times I’d give a barrel of ambrosia for a regular woman. A human one, flawed, with morning breath and pimples. You know what I mean, old bat?”
Selene put her hands on her hips and tilted her head. “Excuse me, I think we’re more than that.”
He leaned forward and whispered loudly, “Why don’t you prove it to me?”
Alec was about to step between them, highly irritated, although she knew him well enough to know he was mostly joking. But the thought of anyone making a move on Selene made her want to flex her wings and let her snakes loose. Before she could intervene, however, one of Bach’s satyrs clattered up next to him and whispered in his ear.
Alec nearly laughed out loud as Selene bent and tilted, trying to get a better look at the satyr’s body. Bach stilled and his eyes narrowed as he looked at Selene.
He turned to Alec, his teasing manner gone. “You brought her here? Without telling us? Without allowing us to prepare and show her our best side? Is this how you work?” His presence seemed to fill the room, and it became dark and quiet. “How dare you spring this kind of thing on us, Fury?”
Alec moved in front of Selene and let her wings drop open to shield her. “Bach, everything is under control. There’s nothing wrong, and she’s here with me. Not alone. Back down, big guy. Let it be.” She lightly punched his shoulder, to get him to focus on her instead of trying to see behind her. “I’ve never let you down before, have I?”
He seemed to shrink down to his regular-enormous size and his demeanor once again became jovial. “You’ve never let me down, that’s true. Sorry about that. You know how much I dislike surprises of that nature.”
She remembered the time he’d been imprisoned by another god for refusing to poison wine at a dinner party. “I know. But everything is cool. Just go join the party, and maybe we’ll see you later, huh?”
He nodded, scanning the room. “I’ll do that.” He enveloped Alec in another hug. “Good luck with this one, old bat. It’s a long damn road you’ve got ahead of you.”
He walked away, and Alec slid her wings away again before turning to Selene. She wasn’t prepared for the glaring, angry woman in front of her.
“What the hell is going on, Alec? Why do people seem afraid of me? Or…whatever emotion it is. Why do they seem to know me? Why was a god about to go ballistic because I’m here? Jesus, Alec, tell me the truth.”
A man in a tank top, board shorts, and socks and sandals, turned around. “Pardon? I didn’t catch that.”
Selene blushed slightly. “I’m sorry. I was talking to Alec.” She paused and then her eyes went wide. “Jesus. You’re Jesus?”
He grinned. “I am. Selene, right? I’ve heard a lot about you.”
She glared at Alec as she took Jesus’s extended hand. “Yeah, that seems to be the case lately.”
He shook his head. “Things play out the way they’re supposed to, right? You have to trust.”
In an effort to change the subject before Selene got into an argument about faith with the son of God, or, worse, learned about things Alec wasn’t ready for her to know, she said, “Jesus has his own clothing line. He’s really amazing at the marketing thing. No one else holds a candle to him.”
He smiled happily at Alec’s compliment. “Thanks, avenger. I do try.” He lifted his arm and showed Selene the rubber bracelets on his wrist. “That whole WWJD, What Would Jesus Do, campaign? I started that. And Jesus sandals? Yup, those are mine too. Footwear and accessories is where it’s at. That’s how you stay in people’s minds this day and age, right? By putting your name out there, keeping it visual. It totally works.”
“But…but…why?” Selene asked. “Surely you don’t need money. Or fame, since so many people believe in you already.”
He tapped the side of his nose. “Ah, but see, you never know when people will stop believing, do you? More are straying into agnostic or atheist territory every day. Better to branch out now, fight entropy, than wait for the fade.” He ran his hand over his shaggy haircut. “By marketing myself, I make sure people remember me.”
/> Alec felt Selene lean against her slightly and was worried it was becoming too much for her. Please let her be strong enough. Please don’t let her have some kind of psychotic break. She put her arm gently around Selene’s waist and was glad when Selene leaned into her embrace. She tried not to think about how long it had been since a woman had leaned into her that way, and how good it felt to have it happening now. Right woman, wrong time. The oracle said she’s the one to save us. Not to jump her bones.
“I suppose that makes sense, in a way.”
He ducked his head like a kid about to do something naughty. “Watch this.” He waved his hand subtly, near his thigh, and then put his hand over his mouth as they watched the people around them. Various people started spitting their drinks out, many searching the room just for him.
“What did you do?” Selene asked.
“I turned their wine to salt water. It kills me every time.” He waved his hand again and this time people were able to drink again, though more than one threw him a dirty look. “I changed it back, but I never seem to get all the salt residue out. You might want to grab a fresh glass.”
Selene raised her glass. “Beer, so no worries. But thanks.”
The house grew dark, as though clouds covered the moon. Selene leaned into Alec once again as everyone turned to face the door. A massive black shadow filled the door, and the air in the room cooled noticeably.
“Who’s that?” Selene whispered in Alec’s ear.
“Death,” Alec replied. “She’s a good friend of mine.”
*
The figure stepped inside and the light returned. She smiled and nodded at people as she made her way across the room, but Selene thought she looked tense, unsure of herself. Well, look at me. Analyzing Death’s mental state. She took another long gulp of beer. Everything was surreal, and yet felt strangely normal. She guessed it was an element of disassociation; her mind couldn’t cope with the fact that her entire world was something other than what she thought, and so it accepted it as “normal.” As Death stopped in front of them, she decided to just go with it. She could deal with any psychological cracks later. Instead, she took the time to study her. She was tall, like Alec. Imposingly so. She was handsome in a clean, classic way, with high cheekbones and short brown hair. Her T-shirt was loose over a thin but not scrawny frame, her khakis pressed and neat. If Selene had seen her on the street, she wouldn’t have given her a second glance, except for her height. The thought that Death blended in and looked like everyone else was more disturbing than thinking of her with a cloak and scythe.
