The Phantom Queen (The Guardians of Tara Book 3)

by S. M. Schmitz

  “They probably don’t,” Nemain pointed out. “But if riots break out, how will that help? They obviously know gods stepped in to save people in Austin. The best they can do is hope those same gods return now.”

  “How long do we stand in front of the New Pantheon’s headquarters arguing before looking for Tarhunt and Nergal?” London interrupted.

  “As long as it takes for Thor to go kill Illuyanka,” Cameron answered.

  “We could be here a while then,” Thor informed them.

  “Did you really have to bring Loki along?” Cameron asked.

  “What else was I supposed to do with him?” Thor shot back.

  Loki just grinned at the young sun god. “That was quite a show you put on in the Basin. I hear these mortals have anger management classes now.”

  “Please let me smite him,” Cameron begged, although he wasn’t sure whom he was begging.

  Tyr crossed his arms, glaring at Loki, and told Cameron, “If you can smite him without killing him, I’m all for it.”

  London pointed to the sky. “Pretty sure you need to smite Tarhunt and Illuyanka first.”

  Cameron groaned as the god and giant winged serpent approached. “No way he’s alone. There are too many of us.”

  “Don’t you find it strange,” Loki cooed, “that you keep battling one or two gods at a time rather than the full force of Huitzilopochtli’s allies?”

  “Spill it, Perv,” Cameron demanded. “Or we might as well let that huge flying snake eat you.”

  “But you won’t,” Loki insisted. “Because for some inexplicable reason, you care about this world and the people in it.”

  Cameron was about to threaten again in the hopes of getting him to reveal what he knew about Huitzilopochtli’s allies, but Tyr punched the Norse trickster god before he had the chance to respond. Loki fell to the ground, moaning and covering his face with his hands. Cameron noticed a few streams of blood trickling down the god’s cheeks, but even Selena didn’t feel sorry for him. And for once, she didn’t want to heal a god they weren’t actively trying to kill.

  “I’ll totally let Tyr kick you, too,” Cameron warned.

  “All right,” Loki groaned, his voice muffled behind his hands. “I think he broke my face. Any chance your healer can help me first?”

  “Talk first,” Selena answered. “And quickly because we’ll have to deal with Tarhunt soon.”

  Loki sat up but kept one hand over the center of his face. His maniacal eyes drifted from Tyr to Selena, and Cameron thought even this crazy god couldn’t help but soften a little when his attention settled on her. “The Thirteen Heavens aren’t completely gone. When the Aztecs were largely forced out of this world, a civil war erupted among them. Many of the realms were destroyed, but the Seventh Heaven remains, and that has always been Huitzilopochtli’s. But what is a god with no one to worship him?”

  Cameron eyed the Hittite god and his annoyingly enormous snake riding closer to them and snapped, “Does it look like we have time for Twenty-One Questions? Just tell us!”

  Loki sighed irritably like all of them should have figured this out by now. “The Otherworld is the only home of the gods that’s still fully intact. That alone confers power to the gods who live there. All other worlds have been promised to his allies, including the few Heavens, even his. He is obsessed with amassing power for himself. His intention is to somehow get you and Selena into the Seventh Heaven where he waits for you because he believes he’ll be stronger than you there.”

  “What does that have to do with these half-assed attacks?” Cameron shouted, but Loki didn’t have time to answer.

  Tarhunt and Illuyanka had arrived, and they weren’t alone after all.

  Chapter Twelve

  “That’s a lot of snakes,” Cameron mumbled.

  Thor stuck out his hand with Mjölnir in his grip. “Here,” he said. “Take it. And good luck.”

  “Totally not letting you leave,” Cameron told him.

  “I was afraid you were going to say that,” Thor sighed.

  Selena reached down and pulled Loki to his feet. His broken nose had healed by the time she let go of his arm. “How do we kill them?”

  Loki’s crazed smile lit up his face. “I imagine a spear or hammer would do the trick.”

  “God, he’s annoying,” Macha muttered, quickly peeking in Cameron’s direction and adding, “I’m invoking Loki. Obviously.”

  “See?” Cameron responded. “I’ll get you all trained sooner or later.”

  “You’re not far behind in the annoying gods department,” London told him.

  Tarhunt grunted at them, also losing his patience with the bantering gods, and jumped down from the back of Illuyanka. “Hand over your prisoner, Sun God, and you won’t have to confront my serpents.”

  “I’m going to kill them anyway,” Cameron said. “Snakes are bad enough, but unnaturally large snakes are just begging for extinction.”

  Thor nodded in agreement, and Illuyanka hissed its disapproval.

  Tarhunt shrugged. “At least we don’t have traitors in our own families.”

  Cameron glanced at Badb, whose sword reflected the afternoon sun as she stepped toward the Hittite god.

  “Badb,” Selena whispered. “Wait. We’ve been surrounded.”

  Badb’s eyebrows pulled together in obvious confusion because only Cameron and Selena seemed to sense the arrival of the other gods, but those gods hadn’t come alone either.

  What the hell is with them? Cameron asked Selena.

  I’m not sure, she answered. I’ve never felt anything quite like it.

  “Cut that out,” Badb ordered.

  Cameron turned around and called out, “Nergal, only cowards hide like this!”

  A pride of lions roared in response then materialized on the empty Houston street.

  “Well, this is new,” Cameron announced smartly.

  “Better than the snakes,” Thor added helpfully.

  “Ah, but wait,” Loki added just as helpfully. “I suspect Tarhunt has more surprises for you.”

  Before Loki could even finish, the sharp clacking of hooves announced the arrival of another group of animals. Cameron blinked at them then blinked at Tarhunt. “Are those bulls?”

  “I believe they are,” Loki sang back.

  “Dude,” Cameron threatened. “I will knock you out. And it won’t just be a broken nose this time.”

  Loki’s smile never faltered. “Oh, I’m sure.”

  “Okay,” London said slowly. “We have snakes, lions, and bulls. Obviously, Cameron will be taking the snakes…”

  “I hate you,” he interrupted.

  “We Greeks can take the bulls,” she continued, ignoring him. “After all, the Minoans did have that whole bull vaulting thing.”

  “They weren’t Greek,” Athena pointed out.

  “That leaves us Norse to handle the lions,” Thor hurriedly finished. “Sounds like a great plan. Let’s do this.”

  “I hate you, too,” Cameron told him.

  “No, you don’t,” Thor responded.

  “Fine,” Cameron hissed. “Come on, Mórrígna.”

  As the triune of goddesses advanced toward the army of serpents, Cameron held Selena’s hand and stayed still. The Irish war goddesses had only made it fifteen feet before realizing the young gods weren’t with them.

  “Selena!” Badb called over her shoulder.

  “Still cheating!” Cameron yelled back.

  “We have to help them,” Selena said. She tugged on his hand, and he reluctantly let her pull him toward the goddesses, which meant he was being pulled closer to all those massive snakes.

  Cameron pretended to focus on Illuyanka, but really, he was sizing up Tarhunt who watched him back. The Hittite god seemed to suspect Cameron would attempt to come after him first, and with only a few words in a language almost no one would be able to identify, the winged serpent lifted into the air again, hissing at the young sun god.

  “That’s a bad sign,�
�� Cameron muttered.

  Macha chewed on her bottom lip as she surveyed the rest of Tarhunt’s snakes. “He fights with a mace. We’d better not need a mace to kill these demons from Hell.”

  “Oddly enough, I did kill a huge snake in Hel,” Cameron informed them.

  “Not now!” Badb scolded. “Kill the huge snakes here in Houston!”

  “You should turn into an old woman because you’re cranky like the old Badb,” Cameron responded helpfully.

  “Selena,” Badb begged.

  “Time to shut up now, love,” Selena said.

  Cameron lifted his Spear, which fit perfectly in his hand as if it were made specifically for him, and threw it toward Illuyanka’s wing, hoping to at least ground the flying serpent. The Spear pierced Illuyanka’s wing and lodged into a bone.

  “Oh, come on!” Cameron exclaimed. “You can’t do that! Lugh’s totally going to kick my ass if I don’t get his Spear back.”

  “Probably,” Badb agreed. “You’d better go get it.”

  Cameron narrowed his eyes at the war goddess and reminded her again, “I hate you.”

  “No, you don’t,” she reminded him back.

  “Here,” Selena said, producing another spear from their room in the Dagda’s palace.

  Cameron took it from her but whined about it. “It’s not the same.”

  Macha and Nemain ran their swords through one of the serpents that had lurched toward them, and as it bent its head, that sticky bifurcated tongue slithering between its teeth, Nemain swung her sword and separated the snake from its tongue, which fell directly on her.

  “Not again!” Nemain screeched.

  “Snake tongues do seem to fall on you a lot,” Cameron added helpfully.

  Selena gestured toward the spear and suggested, “Maybe you should try that.”

  “I’d better not lose this one, too,” Cameron muttered.

  Unlike his normal Spear, its tip didn’t light up in blue flames, and he sighed at it again before throwing it at Illuyanka’s other wing. Like his original Spear, this one also seemed to lodge in a bone and remained stuck there.

  “Are you kidding me?” Cameron yelled. “That’s cheating!”

  “You accuse gods and their creatures of cheating a lot,” Selena said smartly.

  “Because they do,” Cameron insisted. “Usually when snakes are involved.”

  Macha and Nemain finished killing the serpent on his left while Badb fought the one on his right. But apparently, if he actually wanted to kill Illuyanka, he’d have to get closer to it.

  Behind them, the roaring of lions and stampeding of hooves reminded him their friends needed his help. And he didn’t really want to get closer to a bunch of huge-ass snakes anyway.

  “Mórrígna,” he called, “back up!”

  All three goddesses immediately disappeared then reappeared by his side. But Tarhunt obviously knew what the sun god was about to do because he disappeared as well. Flames spread down the street and engulfed the shrieking serpents, which tried to get away but only Illuyanka had been able to fly and both wings were useless to it now.

  The farther the snakes retreated, the farther the flames followed until all of them had been trapped in the inferno. As the last of their screams died with them, Badb tapped his shoulder and nodded toward their allies.

  Cameron shook his head. “I’m getting my Spear back first.”

  “Fine,” Badb relented. “Just hurry. The Norse are trying to fight lions and babysit the most untrustworthy god in supernatural history.”

  “We’ll join you in a few minutes,” Selena promised.

  Cameron watched for any sign of movement among the smoldering remains of the serpents before allowing his fire to dissipate completely. The charred skeleton of Illuyanka still had two spears protruding from the numerous, thick bones of its wings, although the spears themselves appeared untouched by the flames.

  As they neared the body, Cameron pointed to one of the wings and asked Selena, “How do you think this thing flew? Its bones look awfully heavy. If it were a bird, it would never get off the ground.”

  “Um…magic?”

  “We’re gods. It’s not magic…just a bunch of weird and unexplainable shit that defies all Earthly laws.”

  Selena snickered and pulled the second spear free while Cameron retrieved his favorite—the Treasure of the Tuatha Dé that had transformed him into a god.

  The young couple was about to turn around so they could tackle the two other animal hordes, but Houston suddenly shimmered like a mirage, the skyscrapers becoming translucent and the sky an odd mixture of sea green and baby’s breath blue.

  “Uh,” Cameron stuttered. “What do you think was in those snakes? I’ve never done drugs, but this is…druggy, right?”

  Selena lifted a shoulder and absentmindedly replied, “Never done drugs either. But yeah…this is druggy.” She gasped and grabbed his arm. “Cameron, the bodies. The snake bones are gone!”

  “Selena, Houston is gone! I don’t know where we are, but this whole city is just an illusion.”

  A man’s familiar voice answered them both as the skyscrapers finally disappeared altogether. “You’re right,” he agreed. “This isn’t Houston.”

  And there, standing before them, was Huitzilopochtli.

  Chapter Thirteen

  “You know,” Cameron told Selena. “I think I actually preferred Hel.”

  “Don’t blame you,” Selena said.

  “This guy needs a nickname, too,” Cameron decided. “Let’s call him Wheaties.”

  “That’s trademarked,” Selena pointed out.

  “Okay, Wheaties™ then.”

  “Do you two ever shut up?” Huitzilopochtli asked.

  “Nope,” Cameron answered. “And if you harvest our hearts, you get this part of us, too.”

  Huitzilopochtli arched an eyebrow at him and retorted, “It doesn’t work that way, Sun God. I only retain your power.”

  “Dude, did you seriously eat your brother’s heart? That’s like…incestuous cannibalism.”

  Huitzilopochtli blinked at Cameron before looking at Selena. “You’re only with him because he used to be your husband, right?”

  Selena folded her arms over her chest and snapped, “He’s still my husband. Sort of. And you could never be half the god he is.”

  “Probably half if he ate my heart though,” Cameron added helpfully.

  “What is wrong with you?” Selena hissed.

  “Still not sure,” Cameron answered.

  “Xipe Totec asked for a truce and you refused to give it to him,” Huitzilopochtli said.

  “Don’t remember that,” Cameron interrupted. “In my defense, I was apparently…dead or imprisoned or something.”

  Huitzilopochtli waved him off. “Doesn’t matter. Now that you and Selena are here, I’m not concerned about Loki or the fate of your planet.”

  “No, just the fate of our world,” Selena seethed. “Even if you managed to kill Cameron and me, you’ll never win the Otherworld from the Tuatha Dé. They’ve defended it from far better gods than you.”

  Huitzilopochtli’s laughter cut her off, and she looked nervously at Cameron. Please tell me you have a plan for getting us out of the Seventh Heaven.

  Um…can you summon your powers here? Because I have to admit: I feel more human than I ever did when I was actually part-human.

  Oh, my God…this is how we’re actually going to die.

  This god? Cameron asked.

  Obviously.

  Huitzilopochtli tilted his head at the young couple and snapped, “What are you doing? Are you actually telepathic?”

  “What other reasonable explanation would you be willing to believe?” Cameron asked back.

  Huitzilopochtli just blinked at him again.

  So Cameron tried again. “Okay, if we say ‘No, we just like staring at each other,’ would you believe that?”

  “What is wrong with you?” Huitzilopochtli asked.

  Cameron threw his ha
nds up and exclaimed, “I don’t know! Stop asking!”

  Huitzilopochtli shook his head then addressed Selena again. “Telepathy is a myth, a creation of human imagination. Even psychics can’t converse privately.”

  Selena nudged Cameron with her elbow and whispered, “Am I supposed to say something? Because that wasn’t actually a question. What exactly are the rules when you find yourself kidnapped and hauled off to another god’s realm?”

  “Love, you’re the one who’s been kidnapped, not me. Although I’m pretty sure you were just brought to Iraq.”

  Selena nodded smartly and added, “That asshole literally had the Hanging Gardens of Babylon outside his mansion. Wonder what happened to it?”

  “The Hanging Gardens of Babylon or Ninurta’s mansion?” Cameron asked.

  “Both,” Selena decided.

  “Would you shut up?” Huitzilopochtli demanded.

  “Sure,” Cameron replied. “Send us back to Houston and you’ll have all the quiet you want.”

  “Or,” he spit out, “I’ll just have you both killed now.”

  Xipe Totec and Tonatiuh materialized, and Xipe Totec narrowed his eyes at Cameron, hissing, “I’ve been looking forward to watching this.”

  Cameron shrugged. “A sick bastard like you would enjoy watching someone’s heart getting cut out. By the way, I’m going to call you XP, okay?”

  Xipe Totec grabbed the young god’s arm and twisted it behind his back, pushing him toward Huitzilopochtli. In the distance, a tall, stucco altar somehow reflected the bright sunlight of the Seventh Heaven even though it didn’t appear to be covered in anything glass or reflective. If he weren’t being led to his death, he would have admired the beauty of this Aztec world and its unusual sea green and baby’s breath blue sky, but he was a bit preoccupied with his impending murder…and worse, Selena’s and their child.

  Her pregnancy hadn’t gone unnoticed by Huitzilopochtli either. The Aztec god’s eyes kept trailing to the small bump on her body and his lips would curl into a thin grin. Cameron’s stomach turned because he couldn’t seem to summon his power like he’d finally managed in Hel. What was keeping him so powerless here? Tonatiuh grabbed Selena’s arm and pulled her closer to Huitzilopochtli, who nodded toward the temple.