Selena folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow at the Greek war goddess. “You didn’t let me finish. I was going to say we just need more help.”
Ares threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, “From whom? Everyone who can fight in the Egyptian pantheon has already pledged their allegiance to us. It goes without saying we’ll stand by the Tuatha Dé until the end. Selena, there’s no one left! It’s been so long… too many gods have died off and have never been replaced because there’s no one to believe in them anymore and no family to protect them and keep them alive.”
Selena mimicked him and threw her own hands in the air. “Would you Greeks stop interrupting me and let me finish?”
Even Poseidon, who hadn’t said a word, looked sheepishly at his feet and shuffled them awkwardly.
Selena knew what she was about to say would cause an immediate protest and argument amongst her friends, but it was the only idea she had, and she wasn’t letting them give up. Nothing is lost as long as we have hope.
“There are people we can turn to for help,” she said then quickly shook her head. “Not just people. Gods and demigods.”
“Oh, God,” Cameron groaned.
“Which god?” the Dagda asked.
“Pretty sure he means Ukko,” Badb answered.
“Oh, God,” Athena groaned.
Poseidon finally stepped around Ares and Athena so he could get closer to Selena. For some reason, even though she knew the Greeks would die on the battlefield with their Irish friends, he still intimidated her. Maybe it was his formidable size or maybe it was just the terrifying legends associated with him, but whatever the reason, she stepped back until she bumped into Cameron, who immediately put an arm around her.
“Selena,” he said gently, his voice so incongruous with his appearance and demeanor, “Ukko won’t help us. I understand he helped you out a couple of times because Anita was with you, but she’s with him now. He has no reason to endanger his entire agency on our behalf. And to be honest, if I were him, I wouldn’t do it either.”
Selena smiled at the sea god and pointed out his obvious oversight. “Anita is with him now. Once we get her back, he’ll come to her rescue as many times as he has to, and he’ll put his entire agency behind him to keep her safe.”
Badb sighed and rubbed her forehead. Selena seemed to be giving her a lot of headaches lately. Or maybe it was her boyfriend. Or both of them. “You’re staking a lot on the love of a god who’s known for being fairly heartless, Selena.”
Selena just shrugged at her. “I don’t know. He’s held up to the bargains he’s made so far, and I’ll always think he’s untrustworthy because he has to be ordering the murder of innocent demigods and gods who refuse to work for the New Pantheon…”
Badb sighed again and glanced at the Dagda who just lifted a shoulder at her. Badb’s gray eyes turned back to Selena and she flinched a little as if anticipating Selena’s response. “He’s not having anyone murdered for refusing to join the New Pantheon. Never has. Don’t get me wrong. As you know all too well, he coerces those he really wants in his agency into working for him. He gives them a choice: work for his agency or leave.”
Cameron unwrapped his arm from around Selena and stood beside her. “Leave? And go where? Mexico?”
Badb bit her lip and her gaze shifted between the Children of Danu, the future of their race. “No,” she answered quietly. “A long time ago, we made a deal with him. If he promised an alternative to their servitude in his new agency, we would allow those gods and demigods and their families to live in the Otherworld. They’ve been coming to Gorias for decades now.”
Selena waited for Badb to add, “Ha! Just kidding,” but the expression on her face was so serious, she knew that she was telling the truth, which meant she’d lied to them yet again.
Selena gasped and twisted on her heels to grab Cameron’s arms and force him to look at her. He blinked and looked down at her, confused and surprised. She blinked back at him.
“You’re not about to turn into the Incredible Hulk, are you?” she asked cautiously.
“You really read too many comic books,” Cameron responded.
“I don’t get it. The last time you found out she lied to us, you almost killed her. Not that I want you to try to kill her again,” Selena said.
That sexy mischievous grin slowly spread across his lips and Selena’s stomach fluttered as she thought about kissing those lips and how they felt on hers when he kissed her back… and then she remembered Badb was psychic and let go of Cameron’s arms and stepped away from him.
Cameron laughed and shook his head. “You get embarrassed way too easily by stuff we all do. And yeah, I’m pissed she lied to us, but it’s different. I don’t know, I guess because it doesn’t directly involve you or your safety. That’s when I lose it.”
Selena narrowed her eyes at him and pushed him playfully. “How did you know what I was thinking? You swore you couldn’t read minds, too.”
“I can’t,” Cameron insisted. “I just know you. And I know the way you were looking at me and then you blushed. I don’t need to be psychic.”
Selena felt her cheeks get even warmer now that her boyfriend had so casually spelled it out… just in case anyone in the room had missed her source of sudden embarrassment.
“Selena,” Badb said, “you might want to protect me from your boyfriend for this.”
Selena turned around and eyed the beautiful war goddess for a second before gripping Cameron’s arm so he’d stay by her side, not that he needed to touch Badb to kill her. She would have to hope her presence and physical reminder that she was next to him was enough to prevent a catastrophe.
“I never told you the truth because I didn’t want you to think escaping to Gorias was a possibility for you. I knew from the beginning how you felt about Cameron and how he felt about becoming one of us, and I always suspected you’d make the choice to try to escape with him. If it had come down to that, if you’d tried to hide on Earth, I would have come for you and told you about Gorias and let you decide where you wanted to go. But it would have made it so much easier for you both to decide not to take your place on our pantheon if you’d known you’d at least be safe from Ukko here.”
Selena glanced up at Cameron who had closed his eyes and was taking slow, deep breaths. She reached for his hand and squeezed his fingers. “I believe her, Cameron.”
“You always do,” he retorted, but his voice had taken on that hard, cynical edge that didn’t belong to the man she loved.
“Because it’s too late for us!” Selena yelled. She pulled on his hand until he opened his eyes and looked at her. “You’re already a god. You’re one of them. And I won’t lose you. Not again.” Selena inhaled sharply and Cameron’s anger shifted back into confusion.
He shook his head slowly and murmured, “No. Not again.”
“Who are we?” Selena whispered.
Cameron’s fingers brushed along her cheek and that spark of familiarity ignited between them, but with it, a recognition of an eternal, inextinguishable love. They both caught their breath and fixed Badb with a determined, fierce gaze, but she backed away from them.
“I can’t,” she pleaded. “I swear to you, it has nothing to do with your safety. But I can’t tell you the truth. I gave my word.”
“To whom?” Selena demanded.
Badb just shook her head again.
“Goddamn it, Badb!” Cameron yelled. “Enough with your games!”
“It’s not a game!” she yelled back. “We are all bound by the same secrecy, and we vowed not to interfere. You had to find each other on your own, and you have to discover one another on your own. That was your deal. And that’s all I can say.”
Badb gave Selena one last look, something between a desperate craving to throw her arms around her and hold her tightly and a betrayal of the fear she seemed to carry with her all the time now, then turned on her heels and left the Dagda’s great hall.
Athena let out a slow, careful brea
th and approached the young god and demigoddess. “She has been my best friend for longer than either of you can imagine. Have faith that what she does is for your own good, even if it doesn’t seem that way. She’s been waiting so long for you both. She’s not only the guardian of the Tuatha Dé but yours as well. Trust her, Cameron. She pledged her life for you.”
Athena took her brother’s arm and led him from the hall as Selena and Cameron stared dumbfounded at their backs. What the hell was any of that supposed to mean? And how were they supposed to uncover their own pasts when they were so unsure they would even survive tomorrow?
“We’re on our own then,” Cameron finally said. “Not in the Battle of the Gods, but in our battle to reclaim our own lives.”
Selena nodded slowly and brought his hand to her lips. “Yes, love. We’re on our own.”
Treasures of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 3) Page 19
