Fangs and Fennel (The Venom Trilogy #2)

by Shannon Mayer

  “Ohhh! Dessert! I can’t wait!” The high-pitched voice cooed and giggled. I couldn’t decide if it was male or female. I glanced at Ernie, and he shrugged as if he didn’t know either. More like it didn’t matter, and I had to agree. If it wasn’t Zeus, it didn’t matter.

  The gate in front of us slowly slid inward, and Yaya drove us through. Okay, the Granada limped through, if I was being honest, but at least it was still moving.

  “That was far easier than I thought it was going to be,” I said.

  Ernie tapped on the dashboard, leaning forward on his elbows. “Yeah, that is making me nervous. If he’s just letting people in, either this is a monstrous big party or he’s expecting you.”

  “Why would either of those be bad?” I asked.

  Yaya and Ernie exchanged a glance I didn’t like. “A monstrous party, Alena,” Ernie repeated.

  “Oh dear. You mean, like me?”

  Ernie nodded. “And possibly some of the other pantheon. They all have their pets they bring with them for the entertainment.”

  I shrunk in my seat. “You mean like . . . Theseus and Beth could be here?” As much as I knew it was coming, I didn’t want to face him. Not yet.

  Ernie shrugged and tugged on one wing, straightening the feathers. “Possible, but I mean, more like your new boyfriend Smithy, and maybe his wife?”

  Spiked snickerdoodles, this was bad. “Then we’ll just sneak in. Ernie, you can scout it out, right?”

  “Too late,” Yaya said. “They’ve seen us.”

  We were being waved up to a large covered area right in front of the doors. I looked up at the twisted white marble columns that held the roof, which was easily thirty feet high. I hoped it wasn’t a sign of what kind of monsters would be waiting for us. I mean, I was big when I shifted, but there was no reason to believe that all the monsters were like me in size. I hoped.

  I grabbed the container of cupcakes and did a quick count. I had sixteen left. I pointed at the two separate ones I’d originally done up for Merlin and Zeus. “Hide them under the seat, Ernie.”

  He saluted me, and I took the fourteen remaining cupcakes with me.

  “You aren’t really going to bring them all, are you?” Ernie whispered.

  “Yaya told them we were bringing dessert. What do you want me to do?”

  We stepped out of the broken-down car. I found myself looking into the most gorgeous brown eyes I’d ever seen.

  “Hello.”

  My mouth dropped and no sound came out. Okay, a squeak came out.

  Ernie floated around so I could see him behind the youth. “This is Narcissus. Good looking, ain’t he?”

  I blushed and Narcissus smiled. “I can take these cupcakes for you.”

  I tightened my hold on the container. “No, no, I’ll personally deliver them to Zeus.”

  “He’s not here,” Narcissus said, a slight frown only heightening that perfect beauty. Good grief, I couldn’t stop staring.

  I made myself look over his shoulder so I only really saw half his face and Ernie’s wide grin. It helped, but only a little. “I was told he was at home, and so I made this dessert to his specifications.”

  Narcissus shrugged. “He’s not here. He opened his house up for the party and then left. Said he had business he had to handle. Actually, you only missed him by ten minutes.”

  I looked at Yaya. She frowned and shook her head. “If he had a police scanner, he would have heard all about the wreck. It’s on the only road that leads here.”

  In other words, Zeus had run the second he’d realized I was headed his way. Was he scared of me? Or was he just avoiding the fact that I would hold him responsible? I was betting on the latter. What a jerk face.

  My chest tightened with a sudden bout of anxiety I couldn’t tamp down. What the heck did I do now? If he had business, he could be anywhere. “Is Hermes here?”

  “Last I saw, he was out by the pool with the rest of the guests. He was given the day off.”

  “Who gave him the day off?” Ernie swept between me and Narcissus.

  “Hera,” the young man said.

  I took several steps back, the youth’s beauty no longer dazzling me. “Is . . . Hera here?”

  “Oh, goddess no! There’s only a few gods here. Hephaestus, Hermes, and Achilles.”

  “Achilles isn’t a god,” I pointed out, even as I realized that him being here wasn’t any better, really, than Theseus.

  Ernie swept around to me. “Hey, Narcy, back off a second.”

  Narcissus did as he was asked, a sweet smile plastered on his face. Ernie grabbed my cheeks and turned me to him.

  “Look, this is your chance.”

  “Chance for what? I was hoping to get info on Theseus from Zeus. Like a weakness I could exploit, you know, his Achilles’ heel?”

  “Ha-ha.” Ernie rolled his eyes. “But he isn’t here. So use your charms on Hephaestus and get him to spill about Theseus.”

  “But I don’t want to use my charms on him,” I squeaked out. “That is the last thing I want to do. You said it yourself that Aphrodite is upset—”

  “That is an understatement, but she’s already upset. You might as well make the upset worth it.” His eyes were serious, no longer teasing.

  “You really think encouraging his interest is a good idea?” I grabbed Ernie’s hands and pulled him so we were nose to nose. “I do not need more Greek goddesses trying to remove my head from my shoulders. I’m deep enough in pig slop as it is.”

  Ernie pressed his nose to mine. “Here’s the thing. Theseus worked for Hephaestus for years, learning the craft of blacksmithing. If anyone can give up the goods on your rival, it’s going to be him. Things happen for a reason, Alena. Take this and run with it.”

  I let him go, my mind racing with possibilities. “Yaya, what do you think?”

  She grabbed my hand and marched us forward. “I think you’re overdressed for the occasion.”

  Narcissus’s eyes widened as Yaya dragged me forward. She waved a free hand at him. “Flora, priestess of Zeus, we need to get cleaned up.”

  He bowed. “I didn’t realize. You’ve aged since I saw you last, Flora.”

  She swatted him on the butt as we hurried past him into the house. “That’s enough out of you, boy.”

  We stepped into the mansion, me gripping the cupcakes and Yaya gripping me. Ernie floated at my shoulder. “I think the extra clothes are this way.”

  “Wait, extra clothes?”

  “Well, with all the orgies he has, there’s always clothing left behind,” Ernie said as though he were telling me about the weather.

  “Good grief, you want me to wear something that someone else cast off in the middle of an orgy?” I gripped the cupcake holder hard enough that the plastic creaked. I made myself ease off. “Why can’t I just talk to Hephaestus and ask him my questions?”

  “Because you want him so stunned by your beauty he doesn’t realize what secrets he’s giving up,” Yaya said. She pulled me up the double-wide staircase. At the top she turned to the left. As if she knew where she was going.

  “Yaya, when were you here last?”

  She didn’t turn around. “After the Blue Box Store incident. I came to talk to Zeus, to try and get him to help you with Hera. He gave me the grand tour.”

  Ernie snickered. “Is that so? The grandma tour?”

  Yaya whipped around and smacked him on the cheek so fast I was shocked.

  Ernie squawked and flew up to the ceiling. Yaya pointed a finger at him. “Don’t you imply that I slept with Zeus. Bad enough I was a fool as a young priestess. I’m not that child anymore.”

  I kept my mouth shut. Tad had been smacked more than once for mouthing off at Yaya, and I’d seen her handprint on his cheek. She had an arm on her. Ernie stared with big eyes.

  “Won’t happen again.” He floated down, but not within reach.

  “Here, this room.” She pushed a door on our right open and flicked on a light. The room lit up, revealing a glitte
ring array of different materials and even some jewelry. I put the cupcakes down. “Put this on.” She tossed me something that looked like an oversized thong. The outfit, if that’s what it was, was all strings with the odd patch of material holding it together.

  “Yaya, you’re out of your mind if you think I’m going to wear this.” I flung it back at her.

  She caught it, turned it around, and held it up. “It’s a bathing suit, Alena. A stringy, flimsy one, but you need a bathing suit for a pool party. And you want Hephaestus blinded. That much is true.”

  Reluctantly, I held up the supposed bathing suit. “Ernie, go see who is here.”

  He saluted me and sped out of the room. I shut the door, stripped, and slid the bathing suit on. The patches of material covered, barely, my breasts and bottom. The strings of material attaching the three small pieces were hardly what I’d call coverage.

  “Yaya, I feel like a streetwalker.” And there it was. I didn’t want to use whatever beauty I had to force people to do what I wanted. I didn’t want my siren abilities to come into play, not with someone I was beginning to think of as a friend.

  I stripped the bathing suit off and put my own clothes back on. “I’m doing this my way, Yaya. No matter what happens.”

  A soft smile touched her lips. “All right, my girl. All right.”

  I paused, a thought hitting me hard. “Wait, Yaya, why did you ask if I was sure this was where Zeus lived when you’ve been here? And why didn’t you tell me?”

  Her eyes closed and a shudder rippled through her. “I am his priestess, Alena. Even now. And he forbade me from telling you anything about his whereabouts.”

  “Yaya, that’s awful that he can control you like that,” I whispered, wanting nothing more than to cut the ties between her and Zeus.

  “It’s been my life for many years, Alena. I will be all right.” She winked at me, and a smile crossed her face. “Go on now, we don’t have a lot of time to get this done. It feels like the timer is about to go off on our oven.”

  I knew what she meant. The feeling that I raced some unseen opponent pushed me. I scooped up the cupcakes and hurried back down the way we’d come, Yaya trailing me now. The sound of laughter and splashing drew me through the house. I tried not to freak out, tried not to think about how badly this could go. But what else did I have? Theseus was playing a game that I wasn’t sure I could match. He was slowly taking my friends and pitting them against me in a chess match where I couldn’t see all the pieces. He had Beth and Sandy. It was apparent he was working with Santos, so it stood to reason Theseus was behind the vampire attacks on me. Not to mention the fennel oil that he’d had made specially for me and that was no doubt in his stupid hands even now. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Beth had given the oil back to him.

  I stepped through a pair of French doors and into the backyard. Though “backyard” might have been the wrong descriptor. The pool was Olympic size, if a rather irregular shape, and all around it were lounges with different species in them. I saw satyrs, nymphs, flitting fairies that dodged between hands swatting at them, more than a few deer that were talking, and a pair of werewolves in the nude and getting rather amorous, and then there were some that looked like your average people in bathing suits, though I doubted they were just humans. Another sweep of the area showed me that the majority of the attendants were nude, actually. Or at least topless. I shouldn’t have been surprised.

  Flowering trees, bushes, and exotic plants scented the warm air . . . warm? I drew a breath in, filling my lungs. The air was warm enough that I’d have said it was high summer and not the end of January. A fountain of Zeus stood over the pool, the water flowing from his . . . I blushed and looked at Yaya. “Who would want to play in a pool that was being filled from that?”

  She laughed and shook her head. “Oh, Alena. You make me smile. Go on now. Hephaestus has seen you.” She gave me a gentle push, and I stumbled going from the stone patio to the lush grass.

  A big pair of hands caught me before I could go to my knees. I looked up, and Smithy looked down. The ice in his eyes wasn’t as severe as I’d seen it. Though he didn’t look happy to see me there.

  “Alena.”

  “Smithy.” I pulled myself up and away from him. “I was hoping to talk to Zeus, but he seems to be missing.”

  “Probably at the store.”

  I shook my head. “No, he’s taken a leave. Pretty much as soon as he knew I was headed this way.”

  His eyebrows shot up, and it was then I noticed he was wearing nothing but a pair of swim trunks. What drew my eye, though, was the large scar that ran down his right leg, from midthigh to midcalf. It was raised as though the scarring was relatively new.

  “Thanks to Zeus.” His hand brushed the top of the scar. “And thanks to medical advances, it rarely bothers me now.”

  I nodded and looked up and to the right, over his shoulder, but it was too late. The image of a smooth chest with the barest dusting of hair that trailed between a six-pack into the top of his shorts was burned in my mind. Though I didn’t feel anything for him, I wasn’t blind or immune to the sight of a well-chiseled body.

  “What do you need Zeus for?” he asked, tipping his head so he was within my line of vision again. I kept my eyes on his, trying to ignore the fact that he was pretty much naked. Maybe I’d been wrong, maybe I should have worn the bathing suit.

  I closed my eyes and drew in a breath, but that didn’t help. Eyes closed, I could still too easily see his body, and the deep breath drew his unique scent into my mouth: basil and mint. I fought not to roll the smells around my tongue.

  “I am trying to get information on Theseus. I don’t suppose”—I opened my eyes finally—“you could help me?”

  His blue eyes narrowed. “No offer?”

  “What?”

  “You aren’t going to offer yourself to me in exchange? I see you didn’t even bother to dress yourself for seduction.” He brushed a hand over the bottom edge of my shirt, which drew my eyes down. And once more I was staring at his waistline. I squeaked and tipped my head back so I stared at the sky.

  “Look, I don’t have anything to offer you. Even if I wasn’t married, I’m not that kind of girl. I thought we were friends. I thought . . . I thought you would help me. I guess not.” I shoved the cupcakes at him. “Here. Enjoy.” I turned and took a step, but a hand settled on my forearm.

  “Stop. I’ll tell you what I can.”

  I spun around, and Smithy was already walking away, the cupcake container in one hand. “Really?”

  “Yes.”

  That was him, all straight to the point. I hurried after him, stepping around the lounging people and creatures that were sprawled at the water’s edge. A woman popped up out of the pool, huge blue eyes blinking up at me, and a tail flipping out behind her. A mermaid. I wondered if she was one of the ones Merlin had turned. It had been an option for me.

  I shook my head and almost stumbled on a blond satyr. “Sorry . . . Damara?”

  The healer turned my way, a pair of sunglasses covering her strange eyes. “Alena, I wondered if you’d come.” She wasn’t wearing much, really just a pair of bikini bottoms, her furred goat legs stretched out to one side of her, and nothing else. Her two boyfriends, Tim and Gavin, were wearing less than her and obviously rather happy about it. I flushed and kept my eyes on hers. “Thanks again for the other day.”

  She gave me two thumbs up. “Anytime, Alena. You know that.”

  Smithy cleared his throat, and I hurried after him, waving back at Damara.

  He led me to the far side of the pool, where a small covering was set up, like a sheik’s tent, open on only one side. He stepped into the shadows, and I glanced back, looking for Yaya. She wasn’t even watching me. She’d found a young faun and was chatting away with him as she dangled her feet in the water.

  “I think she misses the life,” Smithy said, drawing my attention back to him. I made myself step under the covering.

  “Why woul
d you say that?”

  He shook his head, a half smile twisting his lips. “Because she seems determined to find a way to put you in the middle of things with Zeus and Hera. Think about it, before the changes in the world, she was a priestess of the most powerful god around. Lightning and thunder and controlling the world. She was one of his last to leave his side all those years ago. He sent her away, actually, if I recall. She didn’t go willingly.”

  I sat on a footstool, unable to wipe the frown from my face. “She’s human. But you say all that like she’s been around for longer than normal.”

  Smithy laughed and shook his head. “You don’t know much about your family, do you?”

  A chill swept through me. “No, I don’t.”

  He leaned forward, muscles bunching, and I realized he was doing it on purpose. Trying to draw me in the way Yaya had wanted me to do to him.

  That was all it took for me to steel myself against the lovely view. “Tell me what you know about her. About my family. About Theseus.”

  He raised an eyebrow. “Sounds like you wanted to say ‘or else’ at the end of that sentence.”

  I raised an eyebrow right back at him. “Or else I’ll tell your wife you were showing skin at the pool party.”

  He barked a laugh. “You think she’ll care?”

  “She will if I tell her you were throwing yourself at all the women.”

  His smile fell. “That’s dirty pool.”

  I shrugged. “Apparently it’s all you and the other pantheon know. I came in here, thinking I was talking to a friend, and you just jump all over the fact that you’re half naked and try to use it against me.”

  “I can’t help it if you like what you see.” His eyes shot to mine, and I glared at him.

  “I am otherwise attached.” I bit the words out.

  “Your husband doesn’t think so. You don’t think so.”

  I drew myself up, feeling the shift of power, feeling the shift of everything I believed shimmer in front of me. “I meant to Remo.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Smithy’s eyebrows shot up, and he leaned back in his chair. “To the vampire? I never would have pegged you for liking the bad boys, Alena. That’s disappointing, I’d thought better of you.”