by Lisa Kessler
Tera’s smoky eyes sparkled. “Hope you always feel that way.”
Clio settled back in her chair, scanning the coffee shop. “I’ve been researching the original muses’ partners to try to find our Guardians sooner rather than later.” Her gaze shifted back to Tera. “Terpsichore and Melpomene were both wives of the river god Achelous.”
“Scandalous.” Tera tapped her fingernail against the side of her mug. “I’m pretty sure Nate and Mel wouldn’t be too keen on that.”
Clio chuckled. “Probably not. And Nate doesn’t have a lot in common with the river god, but he is from Crystal City, so maybe the coastal town and living close to water plays into it. Or maybe being in law enforcement is the connection. Maybe your Guardian will be a cop, too.”
Tera nodded, glancing at the other patrons. “Even on copious amounts of Xanax there’s no way I’m walking around asking strange men if they’re police officers or from a city near the water.” She focused on Clio. “What about you? Who was the original Clio with? Hercules or…?”
Clio shook her head. “She pissed off Aphrodite, who then cast a spell so Clio would fall in love with a mortal man—Pierus, the King of Macedonia.”
“A mere mortal.” Tera lifted her chin in mock disgust that sent Clio into a fit of giggles.
“I had no idea you were funny!”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I have my moments.” Tera picked up her mug again. “So why couldn’t Mason be your Guardian? If he hadn’t broken through that security door during the fire, neither one of us would be sitting here.”
Clio stared into her coffee cup, fighting off the memories of the kiss from the night before. “I know.” She raised her gaze to meet Tera’s. “But he’s known me a few months now. Wouldn’t he have noticed if he had a crescent-shaped birthmark that turned red and started burning? Plus, he hasn’t freaked out about a new ability, either, so…” She sighed, lowering her voice. “I do wish it were him, though.”
Tera leaned forward across the table. “I was right behind him when he carried you out of the fire. He tore through that metal security door one-handed with just that little clawed hammer. No normal person could’ve done that.”
Clio was unconscious during the escape from the fire, but she’d heard from the others that Mason had broken down the door. “Adrenaline. Moms have lifted cars up to free their children because of it.”
“True.” Tera sat back in her chair. “But I wouldn’t write Mason off yet. The other Guardians have psychic abilities, but the prophecy you found didn’t say that’s what they would all have. Maybe Mason has Herculean strength with a hammer.”
He had lifted that giant beam the other night…
Clio shrugged. “Maybe, but why didn’t he freak out about it or complain about his birthmark burning?”
Tera’s lips curved into a small, knowing smile. “Maybe he has a hard time opening up to people.”
Clio’s stomach swarmed with butterflies. What if Tera was right? Maybe there was more to Mason than she realized…
A girl could hope.
Mason wiped his brow as Nate and Hunter walked across the parking lot toward the jobsite. This project would have been almost finished by now if Mason could hire some full-time laborers, but the bigwigs at Belkin Oil had blackballed the theater project. Mason’s Help Wanted ads had all gone unanswered.
Luckily, Nate, Hunter, and Reed had been coming by whenever they could, and now Cooper was lending a hand, too. Mason was happy to take whatever time they were willing to give him.
Hunter walked over, his eyes wide. “Damn! How the hell did you get this beam onto the worktable all by yourself?”
“Just determined, I guess.” Mason chuckled and shrugged. “And Clio gave me a hand.”
Hunter clasped his hand behind his neck and shook his head. “I like to think I’m in good shape, but there’s no way.”
Nate came up behind him and gripped the other end of the beam. He frowned. “Clio helped you move this?”
“Yeah.” Mason grabbed the end closest to the saw. “Can you guys help me get it placed?”
Nate kept eyeing him, but he finally nodded. “Sure.” He glanced at Hunter. “Ready?”
All three men lifted. The damn thing weighed a ton. Mason hadn’t realized how drastically Clio’s presence had increased his strength. Weird…
After some careful maneuvering, Hunter and Nate held the beam in place while Mason climbed a ladder to nail the joists to the beam. When he was done, he’d fasten the bottom to the foundation, and with any luck, he’d have the framing done next week. There was still much more to do, but having a completed skeleton would move them a huge step closer to completion.
Nate looked up at him. “I was telling Hunter that you know Pamela Costas.”
Shit. Mason kept hammering, his mind spinning. The truth would be so much simpler, but Nate was a detective. He hadn’t deemed Mason nuts just yet, and Mason didn’t want that to change.
He glanced down at the detective. “Yeah, I’ve been tracking her to try to get some answers about my cousin’s drowning and my dad’s disappearance.”
It wasn’t a lie. Except for the part about getting answers. Mason knew the answers; it was justice he was after now. Maybe the nightmares would go away when he finished the chapter about his cousin’s killer. At least he hoped so.
“Okay, you guys can let go.” Mason stayed at the top of the ladder, his attention remained focused on the beam while the other two men moved away. He thumped the heel of his hand against it. Nothing budged. Solid enough.
Mason went down the ladder, and Hunter faced him. “Pamela is dangerous. You should keep your distance. Nate and the department are already investigating her.”
Mason nodded, but he had no intention of backing off. He knew something Nate’s police department didn’t: Pamela wasn’t human, and Mason could shift into a Lycan wolf.
His wolf was made of magic, and Pamela’s powers wouldn’t affect him in wolf form, or at least that was his working theory. It wouldn’t really matter either way. Since the fire, he had been pretty sure this would be his final shift. He’d only made it back last time because the wolf had recognized Clio. The wolf wanted her out of the fire as much as he did. It had freed his spirit from the primal call, and he’d carried her out of the flames.
Next time he shifted, he wouldn’t be so lucky.
But the sacrifice would be worthwhile knowing Pamela wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else.
CHAPTER 5
Ted scanned the crowd for any sign of Pamela while Mikolas opened the evening meeting of the Order of the Titans. The remote campsite on Crystal Peak offered privacy, as well as a fire pit to send their messages into the heavens to Uranus, the Father of the Titans, connecting the original father with the earth—his wife, Gaia.
Because the members of the Order wore black hooded robes and gold masks bearing the face of Kronos, it made the task of looking for Pamela tricky. Any one of those matching masks could be hiding her. Luckily, Ted could follow the opening ceremony without much concentration. Tonight, Mikolas would be welcoming him back into the Order. Ted was already wearing his new gold mask.
Earning his way back into the Order after being banished had been an unexpected side effect of the blood oath he had taken with the man who’d kicked him out in the first place. He and Mikolas needed each other if they were going to stay alive and navigate the situation with Pamela.
And Ted was a fan of staying alive.
Mikolas raised his arms to the stars, his deep voice echoing through the campsite. “We call on the immortal Father Sky, Uranus, and awaken our immortal Mother Earth, Gaia.”
Ted lifted his hands toward the sky in time with the members who circled the bonfire below the platform. Together, they chanted, “Help us free your children.”
Mikolas lowered his arms and pulled back his hood. The people below them froze. Usually the members enjoyed anonymity at the meetings, robed and masked, their identities were protected. Mikolas
reached up behind his head and unfastened the mask, lowering it to expose his face.
“I’m not ashamed for the gods to see my face. When Kronos is finally freed from his prison, I want him to recognize me,” Mikolas shouted over the roaring fire. “We will go down in history, brothers and sisters. We will free Kronos and welcome the Golden Age of Man, the land of milk and honey, back into this world.”
Cheers came up as torches rose in agreement.
Mikolas set his mask on a chair and glanced at Ted. Did he want him to take his mask off, too? Mikolas faced the group again. “Who will join me in the unmasking? Who else is proud of our work on behalf of the Titans?”
He looked at Ted again, and this time, Ted took the hint. He flipped his hood back and removed his mask. When he carefully set it aside, he noticed a couple of people below the platform did the same. Then a few more, and gradually, he realized Mikolas’s plan: this was the only way he’d be able to find Pamela.
One by one, faces were revealed, the firelight dancing across the members’ features until only a handful still remained masked.
Someone pointed at Ted. “Why do you ask us to reveal ourselves to a betrayer?”
Ted tensed, recognizing the voice. Pamela.
Mikolas held a hand out to Ted, beckoning him over. “Our brother, Ted, has redeemed himself. Bryce the Enforcer has been arrested. We have cut ties with him, and I have decided to reinstate Ted.”
Pamela took a couple of steps closer to the platform. “Who will take the Enforcer’s place, then? The muses continue to rebuild the theater. We have to stop them.”
Mikolas lifted his chin, daring her to defy him. “The Oceanus oil rig has been repaired and retrofitted with a new drill. Once Kronos is free, the muses will be irrelevant.”
“As long as they walk among humanity, they threaten our mission.” She reached up to push her hood back, revealing her golden hair tied up in bun, but she made no move to unfasten her mask. “You underestimate them.” She turned to the rest of the members. “I can’t be the only one who sees this.”
The cheers picked up volume, torches rising up toward the heavens. Dammit.
Ted stepped closer to the edge. “I’ve known most of you for years, and I admit that Mikolas’s vision for our Order clashed with my own, but I’m confident my father chose the right man to lead us. The police have a suspect; the investigations will end with Bryce. We can wash our hands of the police department and focus on drilling.”
A few more cheers.
Mikolas faced the crowd again. “Murder won’t free Kronos, and if the police come sniffing around Belkin Oil, they could shut us down. If the Oceanus rig is shuttered, our dream will be finished before it has a chance to begin.” Mikolas raised his arms. “Bless our endeavors Mother Earth and Father Sky.”
The members of the Order chanted, “Bless us” in a feverish rhythm.
It was done.
And Pamela stormed off into the shadows.
“Follow her,” Mikolas ordered Ted. “Go.”
“I’m on it.” Ted grabbed his mask and raced off the stage in the direction Pamela had gone. When he caught up to her, she was already at her car.
Her eyes narrowed as she placed her gold mask and robe into the trunk. “When this is over, I’ll kill you both.”
Ted broke out in a cold sweat underneath his robe. “I thought you wanted to see Kronos freed.”
“I do, but Zeus must be punished, as well. I won’t accept anything less.” She slammed the trunk shut.
Ted didn’t move any closer. He’d experienced her “venom,” as she called it, firsthand, and he had no intention of falling to the ground paralyzed again. Not if he could avoid it. He didn’t know how far her power reached, but he hoped he was a safe distance away.
“We won’t kill for you anymore,” he said. “It’s too risky.”
She rolled her eyes. “Mortal punishment is child’s play. I could make you wish they would put you in jail.”
A shiver crept down his spine. “We’re on the same side of this battle, Pamela.” He swallowed the lump in his throat and forced the words out. “Tell me your real name and explain why this is so important to you. Maybe I could sway Mikolas and the others.”
She came toward him so fast, he stumbled backward a couple of steps. His fear fueled a cold smile on her perfect lips. “What’s wrong, Teddy? Not so excited to get me naked now?”
He suppressed a shudder. In his defense, he hadn’t known the depths of her black heart when he’d slept with her. “Tell me your name. Your true name.”
“I don’t answer to the orders of mortals.”
Ted prayed she couldn’t hear the panicked thudding of his heart. “It’s not an order. But I know you’re not human. How can we help you free Kronos?”
Her tongue slid across her extremely white teeth. “I’m Philyra. Kronos was my lover, and the father of my son, Chiron.” She grabbed Ted’s robe and yanked him in close. Her breath caressed his face, but her words cut deep. “I will be his bride, Ted, and Zeus will lose his precious daughters of inspiration, just as he took my son’s immortality.” Her eyes searched his. “I’ll kill them myself if I have to, and if you get in my way, you’ll be dead, too. You’d be dust already if I didn’t think you might be of use to me later.”
Ted pressed his lips together. They were fucked.
She was on the move again. Mason dropped his night vision binoculars, racing for the parking lot of Crystal Peak. He wasn’t sure what kind of gathering he’d just witnessed. He was too far away to hear their voices, but the robes and masks matched the ones in the security footage from the theater fire that the police kept airing. These were the assholes who had chained the doors and set the building on fire.
It was no surprise that Pamela was in their ranks. She relished killing, but it also meant that she believed the women building the Les Neuf Soeurs were muses, just as his cousin had been. He didn’t have time to process it, but that would mean Clio was a human vessel for one of the daughters of Zeus. So she’d be a target.
Dammit.
Pamela’s black Jaguar peeled out of the parking lot as Mason burst from the woods. His chest heaved as her taillights dimmed in the distance. He looked back toward the trail leading to the hooded and masked freaks, torn about who to unleash his fury on: the ones who had tried to kill him in the fire, or the one who had taken so much from him.
He’d be outnumbered at the Kronos mask gathering, and if he only had one last shift in him, he needed to make it count. Mason ran for his truck and raced out of the lot. Hopefully Pamela was going home. This might be a chance to catch her alone.
After all the years of pursuing her, the idea he could finally end this and find justice for his family lit a fire in his gut. But there was something else, too—regret.
Clio had fit in his arms, her body tight against his, her warm lips inviting him. His mate. His wolf had chosen her, and leaving her behind before he could spend more time with her made this night bittersweet. Maybe his wolf would watch over her and keep her safe.
He parked down the street and approached Pamela’s estate on foot. The front gates had security cameras, but he’d found a spot around the side near the garage that would allow him to drop into the compound unnoticed.
He jogged along the wall, careful to stay out of sight of the security cameras, but another car pulled up to the gates. Mason took shelter behind a hedge.
“Pamela Costas, I’d like to ask you a few questions about Bryce Carter.”
Mason recognized Nate’s voice coming from the sedan.
Pamela replied through the speaker box. “I’m sorry I don’t know who you’re talking about.”
“Our suspect claims he knows you. We won’t take much of your time.”
Mason listened intently. If Pamela opened the gates for Nate, he could slip inside, too.
“I’m afraid I’m very busy right now. My assistant can set up an appointment in the morning.”
Nate cursed under his breath
and pressed the button again. “I can get a subpoena.”
“I’ll call my lawyer.” She chuckled. “Good night, Detective.”
Nate and his partner chatted in the car for a minute before backing out of the driveway. Mason bided his time. Once the sedan was out of view, he made his way along the block wall and froze when the gates opened.
Aw shit.
He raced back toward the street just in time to see Pamela’s Jag take off. He sprinted for his truck. He couldn’t lose her. It was times like these that he wished he had his wolf’s abilities while he was a man. The few werewolves he’d met while touring the country were able to live in a tenuous partnership with their wolf.
His would consume him if he allowed himself to shift again. He couldn’t risk it until he had Pamela cornered.
He scanned the streets at the intersection for Pamela’s car. Nothing. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel. “Fuck.”
Raking his fingers through his hair, he took a left and headed for the theater. At the stoplight, a black Jaguar with tinted windows sped by, heading west toward the beach. Mason clenched his jaw, hung a right, and followed her.
His wolf growled, aching for freedom.
Soon, buddy. Very soon.
Clio finished her bowl of noodles and pulled out her phone. She fired off a text to Mason with her address and held her breath. He probably wouldn’t reply, and she wasn’t sure if she wanted him to. Okay, she wanted him to, but it wasn’t a good idea. Despite her conversation with Tera, she still didn’t think Mason was her Guardian.
And until she found the man marked by the gods, she was going to try to keep her feelings in check.
She glanced at her phone. Her screen was dark. Nothing yet.
Probably for the best. She dropped her empty cup ’o noodles into the trash can and took in a deep breath of ocean air. Crystal City never really got cold, but the wind off the ocean carried a chill at night. She stuffed her hands into her hoodie and walked down the boardwalk. A few couples were out on the pier, and Clio sighed.
She spent her life living inside her history books, but ever since her muse sisters started finding their Guardians, she ached for romance. Being alone had never been a problem for her before. She usually had no trouble being her own party, but being a bridesmaid at Mel’s wedding and going to Erica’s baby shower had shone a light on something Clio hadn’t realized she wanted.
