Chapter Thirteen
Selena immediately checked the time on the motel clock, and then the day on Cameron’s phone, to ensure they’d only been gone a few minutes. When her concern that their time traveling abilities had failed them this time were alleviated, she grabbed the pizza menu from the nightstand and tossed it to Cameron then dug through her purse for cash to pay for it.
She sighed heavily and Cameron looked up at her. “What?”
“Broke,” she said. “I’ll get us more money after we get the others in here and tell them what we learned.”
“All right,” Cameron agreed, “but I’m not letting Jasper vote on pizza toppings.”
“You can each order your own damn pizza and then you don’t have to argue.”
“What’s the fun in that?”
Selena laughed and told him to just call Jasper and Anita already. Minutes later they knocked at their door, and Selena immediately watched Jasper to see if he was still acting like Anita might drop dead on them at any moment. He lumbered in and stretched lazily into one of the chairs by the window, and Selena guessed his fears about Anita Granger’s death had been assuaged.
“So you’ve got something that couldn’t wait?” he asked. “The LSU game just started.”
Cameron waved a hand in his direction and gave Selena a look that she interpreted as “See what I mean? No pizza for him.”
“Jasper,” Selena sighed. “No, we can’t wait for football.” She glanced at Cameron and asked, “It’s football, right?”
Cameron made a grunting sound then rolled his eyes. “You’ve been demoted to caterpillar again.”
“Tell me I didn’t leave while LSU was on Florida’s twenty yard line to listen to you two… being you,” Jasper said.
“Twenty yard line? Already? What channel?” Cameron asked.
“Cameron!” Selena hissed. “Focus!”
“I am!” he protested. “That had to have been one hell of an opening drive, and we’re in the red zone! I’m completely focused.”
“CBS,” Jasper answered.
Cameron reached for the remote, and Selena groaned and grabbed his phone away from him. “Anita, I’ll tell you about Cameron’s theory, and how we confirmed it. It has to do with why Badb thought you’d be able to help us…”
“Yes!” both men shouted. Selena sighed again and looked at the television as men in white and yellow got covered in a huge pile by different men in blue and orange.
Jasper yelled a few names at Florida in general, and Cameron nodded along in agreement then added some of his own. She shook her head then tried again, but Cameron nudged her with his arm and pointed to the television.
“LSU got a touchdown, and now, they’re lining up for the point after. If the kicker gets the football through the uprights, they’ll get another point.”
“Cameron… there’s no beer. There was supposed to beer and plenty of it in order for me to fake enthusiasm. I’m completely sober and I have more important things to worry about.”
Cameron waited until the ball sailed through the goal posts before grinning at her again and asking her if she wanted him to go down to the gas station and buy her a six-pack.
“Say yes,” Jasper said.
“No,” Selena insisted. “Besides, you have no more money, remember? And if neither of you are even going to pay attention, then at least let me talk to Anita without any more interruptions. If I go back to her room, you know you’ll just come with me, Cameron, so you won’t get to watch the game at all.”
“Let me get this straight: if I stay here but I’m mostly quiet, and don’t look at me like that, Jasper, I am capable of keeping my mouth shut… sort of… I can actually watch the game?” Cameron asked.
“Dude,” Jasper laughed, “you’ve officially become even lamer than before. You have to get permission from a woman you’re not even sleeping with to watch a football game?”
“Jasper,” Selena warned, “I will get Athena down here if you say one more word. Cameron can’t leave me alone because it’s his job to keep me alive.”
Jasper squinted at her but kept his mouth shut, probably because he was worried Athena would actually return, not because she’d convinced him that Cameron was being the bodyguard she needed him to be right now. The commercial break ended and both men turned their attention back to the television anyway, so Selena tried to explain Cameron’s theory and their trip to the Otherworld. Again.
“The genes we inherit from the gods get expressed in different ways than those genes from our human ancestors. Cameron figured it was possible you’re related to more Irish deities than just Badb, but she is the strongest tie you have to the Tuatha Dé, or maybe one of her descendants married one of Nuada’s. But Cameron thought you might be related to this person we’re looking for.”
Anita scrolled through the list of names and shook her head. “I don’t recognize any of these names, Selena. How would we even know if we found the right person?”
“That’s where my idea comes in. It seemed awfully coincidental that we’d stumble upon a monster who used to be one of Nuada’s descendants, and then Cameron freed her from her curse, so I don’t think it was a coincidence at all. Actually, the Tuatha Dé may have moved her to Black Lake just to put her in our path, and…”
“Selena, focus,” Cameron said, his lips curled up in that smartass grin even though he never looked away from the football game.
“Jasper,” Selena sighed, “what kind of pizza do you want?”
“Hey!” Cameron protested. “You fight dirty.”
“Pepperoni and sausage,” Jasper answered, his eyes not leaving the television either.
“Add mushrooms to it,” Cameron said. “Just to piss him off.”
Anita folded her arms and fixed him with her best mom-glare. “Can I hear the rest of this story now?”
“Sorry,” Selena said. “Cameron and I went to the Otherworld and found Murna…”
“Wait, just now?” Anita asked.
Selena nodded. “Yeah, I don’t know how we do it, but we can. So anyway, we went to Findias where all these spirits apparently live…”
“I take it back,” Jasper interrupted, “this may actually be worth getting called over here during the LSU game.”
Selena shot him a sharp look and scolded, “Then don’t interrupt me.”
Cameron snickered, and Jasper flipped him off. Anita sighed and rolled her eyes, and Selena began to wonder if Cameron would help her get back to the Otherworld just to escape the constant rivalry between those two.
Selena turned back to Anita and tried to finish her story. “We found Murna and she was able to narrow this list down to those relatives of yours she is certain are also descended from Nuada. All we have to do now is figure out which one is the heir to Nuada’s power.”
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Anita asked. “You and Cameron sense things, but even the gods don’t know who this person is so I doubt showing up on their doorstep and hoping we pick up some sort of signal with our Spidey senses is going to work.”
Cameron kept his eyes on the game but gave Anita a thumbs up for using the correct terminology.
“Well, we were thinking the Unbreakable Sword might be the key after all. Lugh’s Spear didn’t burst into flames or anything when Macha tried to give it to Cameron, but he felt something. He knew it was somehow related to him, and there was some kind of powerful connection. I think I was wrong about looking for Nuada’s heir first. I don’t think we can do this without the Unbreakable Sword.”
Jasper snorted but didn’t look away from the television either. “You’ve found yourself a keeper, Cameron. A woman who admits she’s wrong. She won’t sleep with you, but she admits she’s wrong and that may be better.”
“You are an obnoxious asshole,” Selena told him. She glanced at Cameron to see if he was hurt by Jasper’s comment, but he’d put his poker face on.
“So, if our knights in shining armor,” Anita began, but Cameron interrupted
her.
“Still want my own shining armor,” he said.
Anita took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “If our armorless knights can tear themselves away at halftime, that gives us about an hour and a half to figure out where to go next so we can try to find this sword.”
“This is such an impossible task,” Selena sighed. “The Norse have it and they’re lying, but they must know about this prophecy and why it’s so important to the Tuatha Dé to get it back. If there’s one good thing I can say about the Norse…”
“There’s nothing good about those backstabbing bastards,” Jasper mumbled.
Cameron nodded then flinched, but Selena suspected the second reaction had more to do with one of those LSU players getting knocked down. “Ok, tell me. I know you’re dying to,” she told him, even though she still didn’t care. She just wanted to make him happy.
“Our quarterback just got sacked.”
Selena smiled at him and teased, “He got fired?”
Cameron snickered and smiled back at her. “He should be fired.”
“Too much talking,” Jasper said. “Trying to watch.”
“If I have to spend much more time with him, I’m going to reconsider my whole I-don’t-drink thing,” Cameron warned. “And I don’t think a drunk bodyguard would be very effective.”
“Anita,” Selena said, “I was going to say the Norse tend to put the interests of their pantheon first, which means no matter how badly Thor wants Mjölnir back, they won’t act until they become desperate. But even Murna thought they’d eventually be willing to lead us to the Unbreakable Sword in exchange for Thor’s weapon because they can’t go into this war without one of their greatest fighters. In the meantime, your psychic abilities…”
“Spidey senses,” Cameron corrected.
“Can I go back to Murias?” Selena asked.
Cameron shook his head. “Nope. Ninurta’s about to launch an invasion in the Otherworld. Oddly enough, you’re safer here.”
“That’s debatable,” Selena argued. “My sanity is in great jeopardy here.”
“To be fair,” Cameron countered, “you spend all of your time with me. That would be the case no matter where we are.”
“I’m going to the lobby,” Selena laughed. “We need money and I want to order that pizza now. Anita, we’ll talk about your Spidey senses helping us when I get back.”
Cameron started to get off the bed, but Selena waved her hand at him. “I’m not leaving the building, and the ATM is right by the elevators. And my Spidey senses aren’t telling me the Norse are anywhere around here.”
“I’m still coming with you,” Cameron insisted.
“Less than five minutes. The longest part of this excursion is the elevator ride. Watch your game. I’ll be right back,” she promised him.
Cameron got off the bed anyway and followed her to the door. Selena smiled at him but felt guilty about pulling him away from a game she knew he wanted to watch. “Ok,” she said. “It’s a commercial. We’ll hurry.”
“It’s just a football game. It’s no big deal,” he assured her.
And you’ve given up everything for me. You shouldn’t have to give up all of your favorite pastimes, too.
Selena hurried into the hallway and pushed the button for the elevator, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited. She couldn’t force it to arrive any faster though because people might be in the car, and she didn’t want to terrify anyone or have the damn thing shut down because the management thought it was malfunctioning. Cameron laughed at her and told her he really didn’t care if he missed part of the game. They likely wouldn’t be around to see the end of it anyway.
“Yeah, well, I have to get back to figure out why the quarterback got fired,” she teased.
“Because he sucks,” Cameron answered.
The elevator dinged and the doors opened, revealing an empty car. She pushed the button for the lobby and as soon as the doors opened again, she hurried to the ATM. Cameron waited by her side as she went through the ritual of pretending to insert a card and type in her PIN. She heard the elevator ding again as the car returned to the lobby.
“Oh, go hold the doors, Cameron. I’m three seconds away from getting our cash.”
Cameron sighed but listened to her, walking the fifteen feet from the ATM to the elevator to keep his foot in the open door, but he watched her the entire time. Selena stuffed the money in her pocket and smiled at him as she turned to join him, but Cameron’s own smile disappeared as his eyes widened then clouded with a frightening and deadly anger.
Selena didn’t have time to register this new sensation, this knowledge that something had found her, but its signature wasn’t Norse. She heard Cameron yelling her name as he ran away from the elevator, but an arm wrapped around her and the motel lobby disappeared. With it, so did Cameron.
And Selena was on her own.
Chapter Fourteen
A man, whom Selena was sure wasn’t really a man, dressed in a black suit with dark hair and eyes and olive skin pushed her into a corner of a large, empty room. His vacant expression unnerved her, and she shuddered and wrapped her arms around her stomach.
“Who are you?” she asked him. “You’re a god, but who?”
“And you’re no ordinary demigoddess,” he told her.
“Obviously, I am. I can guess that you’re a god by the simple fact that you somehow transported us out of my motel.”
“Selena,” he purred, “do you think I’m stupid? I can sense you. And you’re no ordinary demigoddess. Why else would I have come for you?”
“I don’t know,” Selena answered weakly. “I still don’t even know who you are.”
The god folded an arm across his stomach and bowed to her. “I am Ninurta, Daughter of Danu.”
Selena shuddered again and backed into the wall. “And what do you want with me? You’re going to invade the Otherworld. I had no intention of trying to stop you.”
“No,” he agreed, “but the Tuatha Dé won’t fight me if the only way to get you back alive is to negotiate with me.”
Oh, no. Cameron. What if Ninurta’s followers came for Cameron, too?
He tilted his head and studied her, a small smile tugging at the corner of his thin lips. “You’re worried about the other demigod?”
Psychic. Goddamn it.
Ninurta laughed and shook his head. “I’m not damning anything. Not right now. Your… friend has been left alone to ensure he will stay on Earth. He’ll have no way of letting your crow goddess know about your abduction. His fate is irrelevant if you are dead, Daughter of Danu. And once the Dagda and Badb have turned over their kingdom, you will die.”
Ninurta waved his hand toward the empty space beside him and a table filled with fruits and breads and wines appeared. “I can be hospitable though,” he said. “You have thirty-two hours left on this planet. Enjoy it.”
Ninurta left through a door rather than vanishing, and Selena stared at the door handle, wondering what kind of enchantment he had on the locks because if he knew so much about her, then he knew she was also telekinetic.
You have thirty-two hours left on this planet.
She didn’t bother looking at the table again. She slid onto the floor and inhaled slowly, deeply, imagining Cameron’s face, the panic and fear and hatred as this unfamiliar god abducted her right in front of him.
He’ll never forgive himself. This will kill him.
If I die, it will kill him anyway. And he will spend eternity blaming himself.
Selena buried her face in her arms and wished their increased power, their unusual connection, had at least come with the ability to communicate with one another telepathically. She could at least assure him she was still alive for now, even though she had no idea where she was. And she could warn him about what Ninurta had planned. She didn’t know how far Ninurta’s telepathy stretched so she tried not to focus on their ability to travel to the Otherworld without the help of a god, but it may not matter: without her, co
uld he do it on his own?
Holy shit. Could I do it on my own and get away from Ninurta?
She still wasn’t sure how they’d managed to get to the Otherworld before. The first time had been a complete accident, the combination of too much power or the initial result of the fusion of their prophecies beginning. But the second time? Nothing had happened until Cameron started teasing her about the Otherworld then reliving one memory in particular.
The tapestries. It was the memory of being in the Otherworld that pulled us there the second time. Focus on the tapestries.
Selena squeezed her eyes closed and imagined the Dagda’s Cauldron, the way the tapestry appeared to get caught in a breeze as she approached it, the flames lighting beneath the pot and leaping from the weave of the fabric. She recalled the distinct, intoxicating smell that emanated from the Cauldron. She still couldn’t place whatever was inside, but she felt drawn to it, and her stomach rumbled in agonizing anticipation of the magical stew of the Tuatha Dé.
Her fingers remembered touching the tapestry, the expert craftsmanship that Lugh had employed to make such masterpieces. And she thought of Cameron standing beside her, his original concern alleviated by Badb’s assurance that the tapestries wouldn’t hurt her. She brought up every detail of his beautiful face as it filled with wonder when he touched the Spear, the bright blue flames that surrounded the handle and danced beneath his fingertips, the sexy grin he flashed at her as he watched her, too.
Selena heard the doorknob twisting and the door opening, and she jerked her head up. Ninurta stood in the doorway, confusion clouding his features.
“You haven’t touched the food or wine,” he said.
Selena shook her head. “I don’t want it.”
“Selena,” he scolded, “don’t make me force you to drink at least. There’s water on the table as well. I’ll make sure you’re alive on Samhain Eve, so if your plan is to try to die of dehydration in only a day…”
Selena sighed and stopped him. “It’s been like ten minutes. I know gods can be impatient, but…”
“Ten minutes?” he asked. He sounded so genuinely puzzled that Selena didn’t argue with him again.
Cities of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 2) Page 14
