by S. E. Babin
Eliza scrambled to pour Marie a cup of tea, and I watched as her hands shook the entire time.
I held my tongue and withheld judgment. For now.
Marie sat across the table from me, accepted her tea with a gracious nod, and took a sip. "Refreshing," she murmured, "even though it has been reheated."
Eliza paled and stepped away from the table. I chewed on the inside of my cheek to keep from reprimanding this woman. Hermes stood behind me, silent and still.
Marie's gaze first flicked to the tall blond. "Curious," she murmured in her thick, Creole accent. "Pray tell why I have an ancient standing in my kitchen?"
I didn't think it was actually her kitchen, and I was feeling a little bit petty, but still, I held my tongue.
"I'm just the messenger," Hermes said.
"I think not," Marie said, her voice laced with amusement. "I wager you're here because of this dark little thing sitting in front of me." She picked up her teacup and held it, her long fingers curled around it protectively. "Wouldn't you?" she asked him.
Hermes remained quiet.
"Ah, hiding it. Understandable considering your father's policy on human interaction."
The top of the chair at my back cracked with the weight of Hermes' hand on it. I said nothing but stared at Marie openly. She made me wary. I would need to watch my tongue around her.
"No matter," Marie said as her eyes trailed away from him and down to me. "Now, aren't you a pretty thing," she said. Her eyes were whirls of magic and power that made me a little sick to my stomach. I blinked and looked away from her gaze, my eyes firmly on her chin. "New to magic, I'd wager. Sent to find me." She set her cup down and applauded quietly. "Good on you, little rabbit. I sense there's a brain rattling around in that pretty little head of yours. Now, do tell me about Isha, if you please." Her red lips curled into a sardonic smile. "Oh, how I've missed her." Sarcasm dripped from her words.
There wasn't much I could tell. Hermes and I filled her in on the message he was sent to deliver and the magic given to me. She stopped us then.
"You weren't given any magic," Marie snapped. "Your magic was merely ripped open and freed."
"So I've been told," I murmured. "We suspect she is trying to oust you. At first, we thought it was because of you stealing business—"
Marie laughed then, a cheery sound at odds with her appearance.
"But now we think it has to do with your youth formula."
"Of course it is," she snapped. "This is no youth formula, you whelp. It is a powerful spell with an ingredient only found in one place of the world." Her gaze flicked to Hermes. "Isn't that right, Messenger?"
Hermes stiffened behind me. I tilted my face to look up at him. His head jerked in a quick nod.
"She wants the fountain. Not the formula. She's smart enough to figure that out."
"So, why does she want me then?"
Marie's nails clacked against the ceramic cup as if she were bored. "Because you were the last link. You had the knowledge and the books. She knew you would find me."
Thunder sounded outside. I frowned and looked over to the window. Seconds before, it had been sunny.
"Oh, look," Marie said lightly. "Looks like she's found us."
7
Hermes
With one hand, I plucked Eve out of her chair and forced her behind me. If things got too bad, we'd get out of here, but this was probably our fault. I'd done everything I could to prevent Eve's vehicle from being tracked. I—
I turned slowly to look at Eve. She stared at me wide-eyed as I placed both my hands on the side of her head and concentrated.
There.
Exhaling softly, I reached into her body to pluck out a small piece of dark magic. A tracker.
Damn it.
I crushed the magic in my fist and turned back to see Marie Laveau staring at me, one dark eyebrow lifted. "Well," she said gently, "I guess we know who's fault this is then, don't we?"
I gave her an apologetic smile, whisked a squawking Eve back to her apartment, dumped her, and headed back to Marie's home.
Isha stood outside the wards, her hands raised in an offensive position. She was ready to take us on.
"What do you want me to do?" I asked Marie.
"Get rid of her for now. I'll deal with her permanently later." Her gaze flicked over to the other two women standing there, their lips pinched tight and faces screwed up in concentration. "Get back to Eve. She will need you soon. There is darkness within her today. Help her. She struggles with her magic and new place in the world."
I nodded, opened the door, and stepped outside to meet Isha.
Her hands lowered slightly as she saw me. A confused expression flickered over her face. I supposed it was a little odd for a tall unfamiliar blond man to be inside a stranger's home. But her face cleared once she recognized me.
"I thought I'd never see you again," she said, her voice husky and dark.
I shrugged. "I guess you never know what's going to happen, do you?"
"Where is Eve?"
"Safe."
"Pity," Isha murmured. "I was hoping Marie would take care of her once she realized Eve led me straight to her door."
"Perhaps the fountain has changed Marie's temper."
Isha growled at that.
I grinned at her and steadied myself. Isha was an unpredictable opponent, and I wasn't quite versed in how voodoo worked. But I also wasn't a hundred percent sure what Isha was using was a hundred percent voodoo or if she was working with other darker forces. Nothing would surprise me. I studied her aura, noting the black streaks interlaced with the fiery red and oranges of it. She was an angry woman, a person who never felt like she belonged. Her aura warped in certain places, leading me to believe it was not only her magic she drew upon.
"Let go of this madness," I said.
"There is no madness here. Only need."
"Need turns quickly to madness," I told her. "Especially when it cannot be fulfilled."
Isha threw a ball of black and purple magic directly at my heart, and I sidestepped quickly. Her mouth began to move, but I couldn't make out the words of her spell. Whatever it was, it was dark. I cloaked myself, disappeared, and reappeared right in front of her. With a touch of my finger, Isha disappeared.
With a wave at the house, I left Marie Laveau and headed back to Eve.
The spell would only serve to anger Isha, especially when she realized I'd left her without a car. A fifty-mile cab ride wasn't going to be cheap, and one thing I knew about voodoo was no one could teleport where they wanted to be.
I guess us Greeks were lucky like that.
When I arrived back at Eve's, she threw open the door, gave me the evil eye, and yanked me into her apartment. Stumbling, I fell right into her arms and barked a laugh because it was so opposite of what I wanted to do, but she caught me even as she staggered backward with my weight.
"Aren't you supposed to dip me and kiss me passionately now?" I asked her.
She dumped me on the floor with little ceremony, and I blinked up at the ceiling. "You are a harsh woman," I lamented.
"How could you just leave me here?" Her voice came out a little shrieky.
I spread-eagled myself on the floor. "Wait, I'm woozy. It must have been my fall. I think I have a concussion."
Eve kicked me in the ribs.
I laughed out loud.
"Hermes!"
I rolled over on one elbow. "You're human, Eve. Sort of. Human enough to become a casualty in an event like that. You have no idea how to use your magic. Right now, you're just a pawn. And I…am not."
"Goody for you," she said with more sarcasm than I'd ever heard from her. "So, I'm just supposed to run away every time?"
"You didn't run away," I reminded her. "I took you."
I could tell she wanted to kick me again and held up a hand. "So violent." I stood up and dusted off my pants. "I'm here to help you, remember? Part of helping you is keeping you alive."
Eve flung herself on t
he couch. "I want this to be over."
I wanted the whole voodoo thing to be over too, but I didn't want to leave Eve. "It will be soon."
"I'm sorry," she said quietly.
"For dropping me on the floor, kicking me, or yelling at me?"
Eve snorted. "Would you like some dinner?"
"I don't know. Does it come with a side of abuse?"
"Stop," she said with a laugh. "I'm sorry. I'll cook for you."
I tilted my head to the side. "Without the poison?"
"Har har. Keep it up. I'm bound to have some poison here somewhere."
I bowed my head. "I would love that, Eve."
Her mouth quirked up on one side.
"Just the food. Not the poison."
"Good," she said. "Wine?"
"Always."
Eve stood, and I took her place on the couch. She poured herself a large glass of red wine, then one for me, and brought it over. She sat down beside me. I could feel her less than a foot away. The heat of her skin and sweet smell of it made me want to touch her.
"Do you really want to be here, Hermes?" she asked.
"More than anything," I answered honestly. Too honestly.
She blinked. "Was what Marie said true?" she asked.
I sighed inwardly. Crap. I didn't want to frighten her off.
"Which part?" I asked, stalling for time.
A dimple peeked out from one side of her mouth, and I wanted to kiss it.
"About me."
"Gods are not allowed to be with humans," I said.
"You didn't answer my question."
She was right. I hadn't. "There is no way for us to be together. Even if it were something we both wanted."
"You still haven't answered me. Is it something you want?"
I swallowed hard, stifling the urge to squirm in my seat. Eve was the most direct woman I'd ever known. She didn't want flowery words or a speech. She wanted the truth, and she wanted it spoken plainly. "Do you really want to know the answer?"
Eve laughed, a half-choked sound of despair. "Knowing the answer is my life's curse. I have always sought knowledge. And the truth. No matter how hard it is."
"It's one of the traits I really like about you," I told her.
Eve blushed, a pretty tinge of color on her tan skin.
"Are you still dating Ian?" It was none of my business. I knew it, and so did she.
"No," she blurted. Eve bowed her head. "I couldn't see us being together for any long period of time."
"Is there someone, in particular, you see yourself with?"
That dimple peeked out again. "We sound like we're interviewing each other for a job." Eve looked up at me with those strange green eyes, piercing my soul with her look. "Why don't we both just take what we want?"
Stunned, my mouth fell open. But I was not a man to dally. "What about dinner?" I asked stupidly.
Eve began opening her shirt one button at a time. "How do you feel about dessert first?"
I liked dessert just fine. In fact, I liked it even better than dinner. In two short strides, I reached her, taking her hands away from her shirt and tearing the rest of it open. She flushed, her mouth open in an O of surprise. I claimed her mouth, even as I pulled her against me.
We would regret this. I knew we would.
But I couldn't make myself stop, especially with such an eager participant.
"Well," I gasped. "That escalated."
Eve lay beside me; her skin damp with perspiration. "In a good way," she said sleepily.
I'd never been with a human before. Granted, our bodies were exactly the same even though we weren't the same, so everything fit the way it was supposed to. But never had I been with someone so warm, so passionate, so...beautiful.
The women of Olympus could be cold and cruel. I thought I was like them, but as I lay next to dark-haired Eve, I began to wonder. She was changing me. In ways I didn't really want to think about. Would I be the same when I was forced to return? Would I even want to be?
I sighed.
"So serious, Hermes?" Eve murmured next to my ear.
I pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "Many things on my mind right now."
"Want to talk about them?"
I smiled in her hair. An Olympian would never have asked me that. "No. But thank you." I tugged on a long strand of hair. "How about that dinner you promised?"
She groaned. "Do I have to get up?"
I toyed with her hair. "You humans have something called delivery?"
Eve snorted and waved her hand around. "Hand me my cell. Delivery is magical."
And so it was. We were forced to get up and answer the door, which also forced us to get dressed, but now we sat around eating something Eve called "pizza". It was delicious and melted. Cheese was a human miracle, and I couldn't even speak about the pepperoni. I ate more than my fair share of the large she ordered, and when I was finished, I sat back against the couch and sighed a happy sigh.
Eve grinned at me as she wiped a swatch of grease off her face with her napkin. "That good?"
"I like pizza."
"Pizza will make you fat if you eat it too much."
I shook my head. “The gods don't get fat."
She glared at me then. "Well, bully for you."
I couldn't help the chuckle that burst forth. "Perhaps your new powers will allow you to eat all the pizza you want."
She sighed and plopped her piece down on the plate. "Not if I have no idea how to use them."
"Eliza will come through. She seems genuine."
Eve rolled her eyes. "I'm sure any promises she made were broken as soon as Isha set foot on their property." She stared at me curiously. "Speaking of. Where is Isha?"
I shrugged. "About fifty miles away and probably very angry."
"You didn't deal with her?" Eve said, her eyes wide.
"Deal with her?" I tilted my head and studied her. "As in dispose of her?"
"Well, yes," she said. "Wasn't that what we were planning on doing?"
"I had no idea you librarians could be so bloodthirsty," I quipped.
"Hermes!"
I laughed and held my hands up. "Marie seemed not to want her harmed. She just wanted her removed for now. Perhaps that will change. Perhaps not. It is not for me to say."
"So, is it over?" she asked, hope flaring naked in her eyes.
I shook my head. "I do not think so. There's little to no chance Isha will allow you to walk away from this." I sighed. "I believe she expected your death when she showed up to Marie's."
"But you were there."
"Yes."
Eve sighed. "I bet she wasn't expecting a Greek god hanging around with me." She laughed, but it was a bitter sound.
I stilled. "Or maybe she was," I said slowly. Why had that message come to me to be delivered when it would have been much easier for Isha to use a normal delivery service? Who did she have in her pocket to make that happen, or what bargain had she made?"
She lifted her gaze and stared at me. "Hermes?"
"Perhaps it is not Marie Laveau who is the target," I mused, the idea rolling in my mind, sour and bitter.
The fountain of youth was not something mortals had access to. There were few ways to travel to it, and all those ways involved a death or a deal. Or...a god. Isha was bound to have known this, saw Eve as a good way to get started, and made a deal with one of my brethren to get me here.
I was the Messenger, the carrier of information, and the son of an all-powerful god. If anyone knew where the fountain was, it would be me.
"That clever witch," I muttered to myself. If I didn't leave now, I was opening myself up to all kinds of magical attacks. If I did leave now, I would be leaving Eve behind.
And she would still be in danger.
I stood up, leaving Eve sitting there with her cold pizza, looking beautiful but utterly confused. "Did I do something wrong?"
I bent to sweep my lips over hers. "No. I must leave for a little while, but I will return."
The look on her face wrecked me. I knew how it must have looked. To have shared something that powerful then vanish wasn't the most gentlemanly thing I'd ever done, but it was necessary.
I traced a finger down her face. "You have my word. I will return."
I vanished from the room, her stricken look haunting me.
8
Eve
It wasn't every day I had sex and got abandoned moments later. Especially after I paid for dinner. I grabbed the remote, slumped down on my couch, and began to flip idly through the channels. I had no idea what happened. What I did know was I'd just had the most incredible sex of my life and now I was sitting here alone with pepperoni pizza congealing mere feet away.
Way to go, Eve. Life goals and all that.
But I did have to admit it seemed like Hermes had figured something out with Isha. Why he wouldn't involve me in it, I wasn't sure. I would ask when he came back.
I sighed. If he came back.
He would come back, wouldn't he?
I groaned and settled on reruns of Wheel of Fortune. Words games were my jam, even if my heart wasn't in them.
A few hours later, a sharp knock outside had me leaping to my feet and scrambling to undo the locks on the door. Hermes hadn't popped into my place since he'd shown up and saw me half naked earlier, but after what we'd just shared, I thought that was kind of weird.
I shook my head to clear those thoughts and opened the door.
Isha stood there.
