Earth Bound: A Hidden Novella

by Colleen Vanderlinden

  Meghan smiled. "Then how about just saying it, and trust that I'm not inclined to believe the worst of you, Hephaestus?"

  The smile he gave her then set her heart racing. Partially boyish, partially devilish.

  "I think I'm crazy for you," he said, and she smiled back.

  "And I feel the same for you. Now stop stalling," Meghan aid, and he laughed.

  "Very well. It starts with the day of my birth, I guess. My mother, Hera, and my father, Zeus, anxiously awaited the birth of their next son. Already, I was bestowed with great gifts. They knew I would be powerful. They knew I could do amazing things. And they expected me to be yet another golden-haired, blue-eyed statue, like the rest of Zeus's get."

  "Did Hera cheat on him?" Meghan asked, in shock, running her fingers through his nearly-black hair. Hephaestus laughed.

  "No. My mother was faithful to him, bastard that he is. She spent a lot of time in the Nether with Persephone when she was pregnant with me. You've seen Molly. All Nether beings have that dark hair."

  Meghan nodded. "So... what? It rubbed off on you or something?"

  He shrugged. "I'm guessing so, yes. It's the closest estimation anyone has for why I'm so different. Personally, I suspect that my father did yet another thing to piss of my mother, nailing a nymph or something along those lines, and she ensured he'd see none of himself in me as punishment. Hera has plenty of her own magic. People forget that. Beyond that, everyone figures I'm so damn ugly because Aether and Nether were never meant to mix—"

  "You are so far from ugly it's not even funny," Meghan said, going back to massaging his leg. "You are the most mouthwatering man I've ever laid eyes on."

  He was staring at her, and she just smiled.

  "Continue, please," she said. "Leaving out the digs at yourself, though."

  He shook his head, a hint of a smile on his lips. "You are amazing. Anyway. I was born, and I was dark-haired and not as perfect as the rest of them. And my father accepts nothing less than perfection." He paused, and Meghan waited, massaging his knee. "He saw me, and he threw me out of the Aether. Cast out."

  Meghan watched him, speechless with rage.

  "You mean he sent you away with someone? Who?"

  He gave a wry laugh. "No, love. I mean he quite literally threw me off of Olympus and into the mortal realm. The fall resulted in that leg being broken multiple times," he said, glancing down at the leg she was massaging. "And once you're cast out, you become not entirely mortal, but much more like a mortal than a god. So it broke, and I felt it, and it never has healed quite right."

  Meghan put her hands in his. "How did you survive? You were an infant."

  He shrugged. "Some kindly mortals took me in, raised me as their own. The woman, Alea, nursed me back to health as well as she could. I mourned when she and her husband died." He paused. "And I lived for many years among mortals, and it was all I wanted. I didn't know who or what I was, only that I outlived everyone else. I could do things no one else could do. And then one day, I felt power. Real, actual power, and it turned out to be Hades."

  "Molly's dad?" she asked. That had been a revelation when she'd overheard it at the loft. The Hades she knew existed in Disney cartoons, and here, her employer (and someone she was starting to see as a friend) was related to the real deal.

  Hephaestus nodded. "And he realized who I was, and he told me everything. The whole story."

  "That must have been a crazy day," she said, and he laughed.

  "That's putting it mildly. So he told me, and I was pissed off. And this is Hades, and Hades can't stand Zeus, so Hades asked me if I wanted to go home, and I said yes." He paused, and Meghan watched him. There was a smile on his face. "The thing about being exiled is that there's a way around it. If you can find your way back, it makes the exile null and void. So Hades showed me how to get back, and he practically pissed himself with glee when he saw Zeus's face. And I marched back into the Aether, and there wasn't a thing Zeus could do about it. The old bastard got back at me, though."

  "How?"

  "By marrying me to Aphrodite. He knew that would be a nightmare, and he spent centuries laughing. The prick," he finished.

  "I kind of hate your father," Meghan said.

  Hephaestus was about to respond when lightning struck further down the beach, out of nowhere.

  "Ah, fuck," Hephaestus muttered as Meghan leapt into his arms. She could feel the crackling energy of the lightning, smell the sulfurous smell burning her nostrils. "We were just talking about you, you old bastard," Hephaestus called derisively toward the lightning.

  As Meghan watched, a man strode out of the smoke. Well, not a man, clearly. One of his kind. A god. He was tall, broadly muscled, beautiful beyond reckoning. His long golden hair and beard flowed down his body, and he was dressed in a navy blue suit.

  "Insufferable, as always," the man/god said, and his voice was cold, unfeeling.

  "I wonder where I get that from." Hephaestus stood up, pulling Meghan with him and then moving her behind him. "You must be truly stupid if you think you can hide much longer," he said, and Meghan wished she was anywhere but there, stuck with two gods in an obvious pissing match.

  "Your mother and I have been running like common criminals. Make her stop," the god said, and Hephaestus laughed, a bitter, biting laugh that was so different from the one Meghan was used to.

  "'Make her stop?' Seriously? You think anything on the face of this earth can make Mollis stop? You deserve everything you have coming to you, father. I only hope I'm around to watch it when it happens."

  The god made a movement, and Meghan got the feeling he was about to do something that would put a damper on her evening. She focused, and, full of Earth magic as she was, it took no effort at all to open the Earth below the god and let it swallow him. It was almost comical, the way he fell into the soil.

  "Sorry. He was doing to do something," she said, staring at the spot.

  "Yeah. Er. He's going to be good and pissed when he gets back out, so stay back."

  "Sorry," she said again.

  He grinned. "Don't be. I'm going to enjoy this." At his words, another lighting bolt hit, on the opposite side, and the god came striding forward again. This time, his suit and hair were coated in soil, his face dirty. His eyes glowed blue, and he held a staff in his hands.

  "Insolence!" he shouted.

  "Oh, cram it, you pompous windbag," Hephaestus said, striding forward.

  When the two gods clashed, the earth trembled. Zeus threw lightning, roared insults, and Hephaestus brought fire from the coals of the small blaze they'd started, wound it in snaking tendrils around Zeus' body, formed it into searing arrows to attack the god. The smell of sulfur and smoke in the air made it hard to breathe, and, to Meghan's dismay, a row of nearby trees caught fire in the chaos. Meghan could feel their anguish as tied to the natural world as she was at that moment. She diverted her attention to the trees (it was better than watching the two gods destroy one another, and she was smart enough to know she'd be nothing but a distraction to Hephaestus) and she focused on bringing earth up around their burning trunks, extinguishing the flames before they could go any higher. The trees seemed to sigh in thanks, and Meghan made the earth settle again, even as it shook with the gods' fury.

  "You have always been my least favorite child, blacksmith," Zeus roared, and Hephaestus laughed.

  "There's something to be grateful for," he said, shooting more fire (this time it looked like cannonballs made of flame) at Zeus, who howled when he wasn't able to get out of the way. Zeus threw more lighting, this time, near her, and she let out an involuntary scream as she bolted away.

  Hephaestus roared, and she swore the air trembled with the sound. He was doing something, and, as she watched, it seemed that he combined his own fire with the energy of Zeus' lightning, thew it back at him with a stream of curses, some she recognized and some she didn't. Zeus tried to dodge, didn't manage it, and, as she watched, he was incinerated on the spot.

  Where h
e'd been standing, there was ash.

  "Whoa," was all she could manage. She looked at Hephaestus. His shirt had burned off of him, his upper body covered with soot and ash. His eyes glowed deep blue, just as Zeus's had, and he had an angry, almost feral look on his face. She absentmindedly drew the soil up to quench the small fires that remained from the battle, still staring at him, aware that she was terrified and feeling more than a little attracted to Hephaestus all at once. "Is he dead?" she asked quietly.

  Hephaestus shook his head, took a breath, trying to draw his power down. "Only Molly can actually kill a god for good. He'll resurrect in the Aether, and he'll be trapped there. I have no idea what will happen to him there, and I do not care."

  He was staring at her, a hungry look on his face, and she barely had time to react before he was reaching for her, pulling her toward him, his lips claiming hers in a hungry, wild way she hadn't felt from him before. Hephaestus was in full-on battle lust, and she was benefitting from it — he crushed her to him, kissed her in a possessive, demanding way that had her entire body thrumming, then lowered his lips to her throat, kissed and sucked the delicate skin there, and she whimpered. He squeezed her to him, gentled his kisses, and slowly backed away, releasing her.

  She was trembling, needy. When she looked up at him, his eyes had stopped glowing, and he was rubbing his hands over his face. "Fuck," he muttered.

  "What?"

  "I'm sorry," he said, looking up at the sky. "I lost control there for a moment. Are you all right?"

  "I am not complaining, Hephaestus," she said, and he looked back at her, raising an eyebrow.

  "Well, you'd be the first," he murmured. "Don't do that again, love. Don't try to go toe-to-toe with one of my kind. They will destroy you without a thought. I appreciate that you were trying to save me, but if I lost you I'd lose my mind as well."

  "You would?" she whispered.

  "I would." He paused, rubbed his hands over his face again. He looked around. "How is everything not burning?"

  "Earth magic," she said, crossing her arms. "And I'm not helpless, Hephaestus. I'm not going to stand by and do nothing when someone attacks you. Or when someone attacks me," she added.

  He looked at her appraisingly. "You're not immortal, Meghan," he said, and the growl in his voice had her entire body reacting.

  "Maybe you'd prefer someone who is," she muttered, thinking about his wife.

  He stalked over to her, pulled her into his arms, and planted another soul-searing kiss on her lips. Turning away from him didn't even enter her mind. She clung to him, kissed him back with equal ferocity. He buried his hands in her hair, pulled her head back, forcing her to look him in the eye.

  "I prefer you, you stubborn, maddening, brave woman. All right?" he growled.

  "Yeah, because I'm such a catch compared to the goddess of love," she said, trying to shake him off. He held her tight, tighter.

  "You are worth a thousand of her, even on her best day," he said, and she rolled her eyes.

  "Right." She looked over Hephaestus's shoulder, saw the first waves of light in the sky. "Northern lights," she said softly, trying to pull herself out of his arms. After a moment's hesitation, he let her go.

  "Right," he said, echoing her. She sat down on the blanket, facing the water and the lights, and he sat beside her, his body warming her in the cool night air. "This discussion isn't over, love," he murmured.

  She didn't answer, keeping her eyes on the sky. She was in love with a god, who had just kind of killed a god. She had no idea what to think of any of it.

  Chapter Eight

  Meghan stumbled into work the next day, bleary-eyed, the remnants of the crazy amount of Earth magic and the memory of Hephaestus's kisses clouding her mind. It was like a hangover. And all she wanted was more of what had caused it in the first place.

  She parked in the underground parking structure and took the rickety elevator up to the loft. As she did, she wondered if Hephaestus would show up that day, as he sometimes did. Their date hadn't exactly ended on a positive note. They'd sat and watched the Northern Lights, and after a few attempts to get her to talk to him, Hephaestus had given up and taken her home.

  She knew it was unfair to him. She knew all of the weirdness in their relationship was coming from her. She cursed Bryant for about the millionth time for sowing so much distrust in her, for making it so hard for her to believe anything good could ever come from the man in her life.

  And she cursed herself even more, for letting him still have so much power over her, even now.

  As soon as she opened the door into the loft, she was met with the sound of Molly and Nain arguing.

  Which was much less embarrassing than the time she'd arrived early to hear them doing something else.

  "Would you just stop? All right?" Molly was saying from the kitchen. "It's nothing. I've been through just a tiny bit of shit lately and it's stressing me out. I'm allowed to feel shitty for a while without everyone making a big fucking deal over it."

  "Everyone isn't. I am, and I'm allowed to. Heph is the only one I've told about you feeling out of it, and you know his lips are sealed."

  "Well stop. It's not helping," Molly grumbled, then she seemed to notice that Meghan was there. "Morning, Meghan," she said, pouring another cup of coffee.

  "Morning," Meghan said to Molly, then nodded a greeting toward Nain.

  "Hey. If Heph was sick, would you be badgering him to have someone look at him?" Nain shot at her in greeting.

  "Um. Yes?" she said, not especially wanting to get in the middle of the two volatile demony-beings's little domestic dispute.

  "Don't bring her into this," Molly said in irritation.

  "She's in. She's one of us. She gets a vote," Nain said.

  Her being "one of them" was news to Meghan.

  "None of you get a fucking vote," Molly growled, glaring at Nain. "How was star-gazing?" she asked after a moment, changing the subject.

  "Uh. It was nice. Hephaestus's dad showed up and they fought," she said, and then both Molly and Nain were striding toward her.

  "Really? Do you know where he went?" Molly asked, as Nain said "why the fuck didn't he tell us this?"

  Meghan took an automatic step back. Intense. The two of them were way intense sometimes.

  Scratch that, she though. All the time. They were intense all. The. Time.

  "They fought, and Hephaestus did this thing where he threw a ball of his fire and some of his dad's lightning, and his dad just kind of fell to ash. Hephaestus said he'd resurrect in the Aether?" she said, trying to make sure she was remembering it right, "because you're the only one who can make a god stay dead. Or something," she added.

  Molly and Nain both stared at her, and then a huge grin spread across Nain's face and he clapped his hands once and laughed.

  "Son of a bitch," he said, pumping his fist. "Always knew he had it in him to be a nightmare."

  Molly was less jubilant. "Was he okay?"

  "Who, Hephaestus?" Meghan asked, and Molly nodded.

  "He was fine. He said he didn't care what happened once his father resurrected in the Aether. He was pretty full of adrenaline for a while. Or whatever the god equivalent of that is," she finished, blushing, remembering Hephaestus's heated kisses after he'd defeated his father, his bare muscled chest, his arms like iron around her body. She shook her head a little.

  "One less thing for us to have to deal with," Nain said.

  "When his dad appeared, he told Hephaestus to tell you to stop, because he and his wife were tired of running like common criminals, and Hephaestus laughed at him and told him that would never happen, and then they fought," she said.

  "What was that like?" Molly asked her. She put the kettle on to boil, knowing that unlike everyone else at the loft, Meghan was a tea person.

  "Terrifying," Meghan breathed. "Lightning and fire and everything was shaking and burning. They were both so angry. Knowing Hephaestus is what he is and seeing it are two different things complete
ly," she said.

  "Yeah. Being involved with a god isn't for the weak," Nain agreed. "And Heph is one of the less violent among them."

  Meghan studied the demon, who was watching her with a little concern on his face. Then she glanced at Molly, who was watching her husband with a mix of love and amusement on her face. She'd only ever seen the Angel soften, just a little, there at the loft. In public, and with most people, she was hard, distant.

  "But the sex is great, so..." Nain said, and Molly thew a kitchen towel at him.

  "Go. Now," Molly threatened, but there was a laugh in her voice. Nain smiled at her, then took his leave, heading out on patrol.

  Once he was gone, Molly turned back to her. Meghan busied herself pouring her tea, then she grabbed the pile of mail that had arrived that morning.

  "Do you have any questions?" Molly asked her.

  "About?" Meghan asked, knowing full well what the goddess was asking.

  "Christ, I feel like a mother giving 'the talk' for the first time," Molly muttered. "About Hephaestus, or what he is, or his parents, or whatever. This must be overwhelming," she said, taking a seat on one of the stools on the other side of the kitchen island. "And Heph is so wrapped up in you, he's probably not even realizing what a shock all of this might be."

  "Is he wrapped up in me?" Meghan asked quietly. When she looked back up, Molly was watching her, empathy in her features.

  "You have no idea," Molly said with a small smile. "He's nuts about you. He's told you that, though," she added.

  Meghan sighed. "He has. I just don't quite believe it."

  "Heph isn't a liar," Molly said.

  Meghan sat on the stool next to the Angel, her tea forgotten. "If I ask you stuff, do you promise not to tell him? I don't want him to think I'm prying, but I just—"

  "It's okay," Molly said. "It's between us."

  Meghan took a breath. "Aphrodite."

  "Was a coldhearted bitch who never brought him any happiness and murdered two of my closest allies right in front of me," Molly said, ending with a snarl.

  "That whole goddess of love thing, though," Meghan pointed out. "And she must have been gorgeous, right?"