Selena groaned and buried her face in her hands. Doug laughed and pulled his plate of beignets closer. “You’d better finish those,” he warned Selena. “I’ve got one left and I’m already eyeing your plate.”
Selena pushed it across the table and told him he could have them if he could figure out how to keep her boyfriend from making any more sex jokes.
“He can’t,” Cameron answered for him. “You could threaten not to sleep with me again, but come on… we both know that’s an idle threat.”
Selena gave Anita a beseeching look and asked, “What am I supposed to do with this?”
Anita’s green eyes sparkled when she answered her. “Go back to the Otherworld and marry him. The union of gods is different than humans. It binds you for eternity.”
Selena inhaled slowly and felt Cameron’s arm slip around her shoulders. “I’m not a goddess,” she whispered. “If we don’t find the Cauldron…”
“We will,” Cameron insisted. “I promised you, Selena. I’m not losing you.”
Doug wiped the powdered sugar from his fingers on a napkin then tossed it on the table. “Anita didn’t tell me anything about this cauldron, but first things first. You need to find the Norse’s new Asgard, and I’m going to get you in. Buckle up, kids: we’re going god hunting.”
Chapter Four
Athena stood in the doorway to Cameron and Selena’s hotel room in Baton Rouge with her arms folded over her chest and a shamefaced Jasper standing by her side. He watched his shoes as the beautiful goddess, dressed in dark denim jeans and a Georgia Bulldogs sweatshirt, glowered at Cameron who refused to let her into his room.
Cameron pointed to her sweatshirt. “No admittance. Go home and change. Or use some of your goddess magic and transform that ugly dog into a glorious tiger, and then you can come in.”
Athena pinched the fabric of her sweatshirt between her fingers and lifted the mascot for him to see. “I have to be a Georgia fan. You know what city the university’s in, right?”
“You know that’s not Athens, Greece, right?” Cameron retorted.
Athena waved him off. “Namesakes and all that. Selena, talk some sense into your boyfriend.”
“Is this another football thing?” Selena teased.
“This is about not allowing such vulgarities in your presence, Selena. Still protecting you and shit like that,” Cameron said.
Athena grunted at him but let go of her sweatshirt then opened her arms. “Better?” she asked. The mascot and letters had disappeared from her pale gray sweatshirt so Cameron stepped aside to let her and the demigod in. Jasper wouldn’t meet anyone’s eyes and just collapsed grumpily into a chair by the table. Selena actually felt sorry for him.
Cameron didn’t pay attention to the disgruntled demigod though. He was still messing with Athena. “You’re going to make this a thing, aren’t you? If I go back to the Otherworld and find red bulldogs all over the place, I will burn them all down.”
“I don’t think the Dagda would appreciate you burning down his palace.”
“I don’t think Dagda would appreciate you defiling his palace,” Cameron countered. “The only way to purify it after something like that may be through flames.”
“Are we going to…” Jasper tried to intervene, but Athena snapped, “You shut up.”
Jasper closed his mouth and stared at the table in front of him.
“You ever show up in my palace wearing purple and gold, and it’s on, Sun God,” Athena warned.
“Where is your palace?” Cameron asked.
Selena sighed and sat on the edge of the bed. “Does it matter? Just leave your sports rivalry on Earth and let’s drop it.”
Athena grinned at her and shook her head, her dark hair spilling over her shoulders. “Sorry, Selena. You’ll be putting up with this for a long time.” Her smile disappeared as she glared at her young demigod. “And you don’t run off again. I told you to stay with them until the Treasures of the Gods were found.”
Jasper nodded in silent acquiescence.
Athena tilted her head and studied Cameron for a moment before asking, “You really think this Norse demigod is trustworthy? I wish you and Selena would at least check into a different hotel… just in case.”
“I don’t know, Athena. There’s something unusual about him, but I don’t think it’s a bad thing. I could tell he was a demigod, but not Norse.”
“Ah,” Athena responded. “He’s disowned them. That’s what happens when a demigod disowns his ancestors.”
“Then the Norse will know he’s lying,” Selena said. “They’ll kill him!”
“Not necessarily,” Athena argued. “He’ll most likely claim he’s heard about this impending war and given his background, knows he can be an asset to them. But he’ll say he wants something in exchange for his help. Now that they’re reunited with Odin…” Athena sighed and closed her eyes. “It’s changed the entire game. When Badb told us she’d found you both, we were so sure of our victory…”
“I don’t care how powerful Odin is,” Cameron insisted. “I’ve got something he doesn’t.”
Athena opened her eyes and looked at him, waiting for some revelatory news to lift her fallen spirits. Cameron nodded toward Selena. “I’ve got her.”
A small, breathy laugh escaped Athena’s lips and she exhaled slowly. “I don’t underestimate you, Cameron. Or Selena. But I still wish you’d go somewhere else for the…”
Athena stopped, her thin, dark eyebrows pulling together as she looked around the room.
“What now?” Cameron groaned.
“You mean who now,” Athena corrected.
Selena stood up and Cameron immediately put an arm around her, his dark brown eyes scanning the window and doorway for a threat Selena could feel but couldn’t hear or see. She wondered if the gods sensed it differently, if their greater powers gave them the ability to tell who was approaching this room.
Cameron stepped back, pushing Selena toward the warrior goddess. “It’s me,” he whispered. “He’s come for me.”
“What?” Selena squeaked. “Who?”
“Mithra.”
The hotel door blew open, fracturing and sending splinters of wood flying throughout the room. The ancient Persian sun god stood in the doorway, his dark eyes settling on Cameron, the new sun god, the deity whose fate had forewarned the supernatural world that he would be one of the most powerful gods ever known. And no god wanted to end up the servant of some smartass twenty-seven-year-old demigod turned god.
Cameron pointed to the splinters of wood lying on the floor and told the other sun god, “You’re paying for that.”
Mithra clenched his fists and seethed. “Athena,” he hissed. “What are you doing here?”
Athena placed herself in front of Selena before answering him. “Visiting my friends. You are the one with no business here, Mithra.”
Mithra spread his hands and offered her a disingenuous smile. “Not true. I’m simply welcoming a new… member to our ranks.”
Cameron snorted and shook his head. “Dude, we’re not in the same rank. Not even close. Nobody cares about you anymore. I’m kinda surprised you’re even alive.”
Selena peeked around Athena to see how Mithra would respond. His nostrils flared and he flexed then clenched his fingers into fists. He tipped his head to the side to look at Selena. “The demigoddess everyone is talking about.”
Cameron tensed but Mithra held up a hand. “I’m not interested in her. I didn’t even take part in the last war and have no stake in this one.”
“So you seriously just showed up to size up your competition because you don’t like other sun gods?” Cameron asked. He glanced at Jasper and added, “You know what? You’re no longer the most obnoxious asshole I know.”
Jasper’s eyes flashed between Cameron and the angry Persian god, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Mithra finally stepped inside the room and smiled at Cameron, but it wasn’t a friendly smile. It was the smile of a god wh
o had been waiting a long time for something far more sinister than Selena could have imagined.
“Size up?” Mithra repeated. “What for? You have everything I’ve been waiting for. And once I have it, I’ll once again be the most powerful sun god in the world.”
Mithra’s dark eyes skirted to Athena before he backed out of the room and disappeared. Cameron sighed heavily and motioned toward the destroyed door. “What the hell was that all about?” he asked Athena.
Athena swallowed and stepped away from Selena, seemingly more concerned about the demigoddess’s reaction than Cameron’s. Selena folded her arms around her stomach and tried to quell the nausea that worsened every time she looked at Athena’s worried face. “Mithra has a unique ability,” Athena said slowly. “He can subsume the power of any god he kills.”
“What?” Selena shouted.
“She said Mithra can subsume…” Cameron repeated, but Selena gave him a look that made him shut up.
“It’s not permanent,” Athena went on. “Eventually, the power he steals from the other god wears off, but that’s why he’s targeted you, Cameron. That’s why he’s going to try to kill you.”
Selena slipped out of bed and closed the door to the bathroom as quietly as she could. After Mithra destroyed the door on their old room, they’d decided to take Athena’s advice and get a new room after all. In a new city. But despite Cameron’s cavalier attitude about Mithra wanting to steal his soul or godly power or whatever the hell he planned on doing, Selena hadn’t been able to stop obsessing about it all day.
She kept the lights off in the bathroom and leaned against the counter as she tried to slow her racing heart with deep, calming breaths, but her heart must have gotten the opposite message. It felt like it was going to explode. She could heal bodies that were damaged, but she’d never even heard of a god being able to subsume someone’s power like this. She was almost positive she couldn’t heal that injury.
The door to the bathroom creaked open and Cameron sighed as he entered the dark space with her. “Selena, you’ve got to stop worrying about this asshole.”
Selena choked out a laugh. “Cameron, he wants to kill you and… hell, I don’t know what he’s going to do, but I’m pretty damn sure it’s irreversible!”
“Well, to be fair, death is usually irreversible.”
“Cameron,” Selena groaned.
“Selena, someone is always trying to kill us, and they’re usually targeting you. The only difference this time is that some god has decided I’m the one he wants dead.”
“I prefer it the old way,” Selena said stubbornly. She even crossed her arms and pouted about it, as if Cameron could somehow convince Mithra to try to kill her instead.
“Now that this whole Samhain Eve thing is over, Athena seemed pretty confident they could keep Mithra out of the Otherworld if you want to go back,” Cameron offered.
“If we go back… how could we ever find the Cauldron or the Sword?”
“Um… I said if you want to go back,” Cameron clarified.
Selena gaped at him and let her arms fall by her sides. “You would leave me there?”
“Temporarily!” Cameron said, holding up his hands to placate her before she could start yelling. “The entire Greek and Irish pantheons would be around to guard you, and Badb would get me the second there was any kind of threat, so I’d almost feel safe about it.”
“How long have you been thinking about this?” Selena demanded. She could hear the pitch of her voice rising just slightly, the way it always did when she got scared or nervous or indignant. At that moment, she was pretty sure it was a combination of all three.
“Ever since this crazy Persian god blew up our hotel door and threatened to suck out my soul. Wait. That sounds pervy and creepy.”
“It is pervy and creepy,” Selena said. “You’re not getting rid of me, Cameron.”
Cameron put his arms around her and kissed the top of her head, and Selena wrapped her arms around him. She rested her face against his chest and listened to the normal, steady beating of his heart. Hers still hadn’t slowed down. She closed her eyes and breathed deeply, his scent of cedar and spices momentarily offering her comfort until she realized if Mithra were successful, she’d never smell this scent again or feel his arms around her or hear his voice. He sighed again and pulled her back toward the hotel room.
“Some god should be able to figure out how to make people fall asleep, right? Who do I need to call in?” Cameron asked.
“Even if I knew, I wouldn’t tell you,” Selena grumbled.
“It’s three o’clock in the morning. I’ll totally Wikipedia this.”
Selena let him pull her into bed beside him and she immediately wrapped her arms around him again, but more than ever, she wished she knew how to reach her Aunt Tara, just so she could hear her voice in that thick Georgian accent as she patiently and lovingly reassured her that somehow, everything would work out. She closed her eyes and thought of her aunt’s pretty face, her own blonde hair that she kept in a shoulder length bob, her bright blue eyes. She could still remember the last time her aunt had pulled her into her arms and held her and reassured her that somehow, everything would work out as long as they didn’t give up hope.
That had been three years ago when they’d both left Villa Rica forever after learning that Ukko and the New Pantheon had discovered Selena was a healer. It had been the last conversation she’d had with her Aunt Tara.
“Hey,” Cameron said gently. He pushed some of her hair away from her face and rolled onto his side.
Selena opened her eyes and blinked and realized she’d been crying. “I lost my mom… my Aunt Tara…” she sobbed out.
“Selena, you haven’t lost your aunt. Not permanently. We’ll defeat Ukko and we’ll find her. And you aren’t losing me. I haven’t forgotten about your mom either. We’ll go back to Finland, and…”
Selena sobbed out a laugh and corrected, “Findias.”
“…I’ll annoy the hell out of Uscias until he tracks her down. Mithra only thinks I’m some badass sun god. He doesn’t know my real superpower is annoying the hell out of people to get my way.”
“You’re not annoying, Cameron. You’re charming. Even Badb would admit it if it weren’t for me.”
“Please don’t ever say that again.”
Selena laughed again and nestled closer to him. “But Ninurta said…”
She felt his arms twitch as the muscles flexed, and she caught her breath. She tried to look into his eyes to see if they’d shifted again, displaying that fearsome inhuman anger, but the room was too dark. He inhaled slowly and ran his fingers through her hair. “Don’t listen to anything that bastard told you, ok?”
“But Cameron…”
“Selena, please.”
Selena swallowed and nodded, even though it hadn’t been her mother she wanted to tell him about now, but her fears over his own destiny, his own soul, and what changes may await him in his future. In their future.
Because if Ninurta was right, then Cameron had given up what made him part-human to become a god, and it was impossible for him to remain the demigod she had first fallen in love with. But like everything else in her life, she had no one to turn to, no one to hug her and cry with her and assure her that everything would be ok as long as she didn’t give up hope. And Selena was running out of hope.
Chapter Five
Selena groaned as a sharp knock on the metal door woke her up. Cameron pulled a pillow over his head and mumbled something about burning the whole damn hotel down.
“Won’t work,” she mumbled back. “I’m not a fire god, remember?”
“I’ll protect you,” he promised into his pillow.
Selena didn’t find that particularly reassuring. The knocking became more incessant so she sighed and lowered her feet onto the ground then turned around and grabbed Cameron’s pillow away from him. He protested but she gave him her best serves-you-right look, even though she wasn’t sure why other than she didn
’t want to be awake at seven o’clock in the morning.
Selena peeked through the peephole then thumped her forehead against the metal door. “Badb,” she moaned, “why are you here so early?”
“Open door,” Badb’s archaic voice answered.
Selena moved the locks out of place and arched an eyebrow at her. Badb swept into the room and shooed Selena away from the door then locked it behind her. The old woman, who wasn’t really an old woman, put her thin, bony hands on her hips and glared at Cameron’s back since he refused to get out of bed.
“It’s a mistake not to take Mithra seriously,” Badb cautioned.
“I am taking him seriously,” Cameron insisted. “That’s why I was trying to get much needed battle rest.”
“Oh, really?” Badb asked, and Selena didn’t like the sly tone in her voice. At all. “Tell me. How early did you go to sleep last night to get your much needed battle rest?”
“Eight,” Cameron lied.
“I thought you never lied,” Selena teased.
“Almost never lie,” Cameron corrected. “And you’re both talking an awful lot, which is preventing me from getting my battle rest.”
Badb pointed one of her thin, bony hands at the bed and gave Selena an impish look. “How do you put up with this?”
Selena returned the impish look and smiled. “I think you already know how I put up with it.”
Cameron laughed and Badb gaped at her then her thin lips spread into a smile. “I’m not sure which one of us is rubbing off on you, but I like it. Probably him. Lit…”
“Badb!” Selena interrupted.
The goddess’s dark eyes sparkled as she shrugged at her then smoothed out the black robe she always wore when pretending to be an old woman. Cameron finally rolled over and sat up, running a hand through his brown hair and a different hand over his tired eyes.
“Seriously, Badb, why are you here?” he asked.
“Athena told me about the plan you all came up with involving this Norse demigod, then the same day you all meet him, this Persian power-stealing god shows up threatening to kill Cameron. And no one else thinks it’s suspicious?”
Treasures of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 3) Page 3
