by S. W. Clarke
I sat on the edge of the sofa. “And?”
“I can’t believe you stole from The Bismarck.”
I raised an eyebrow. “I don’t think you came all the way here to chide me for stealing.”
He shook his head. Even so, I knew there was a reason why I was so important to his work: I wasn’t afraid to do the dirty jobs that needed to be done to find Lust. He was restricted by the World Army’s rules.
“No,” he said. “I came here to help you.”
I tilted my head, eyes gleaming. “So Sergeant Falls took your leash off? Or did you escape it?”
My banter walked a fine edge, but I knew Erik well enough to sense how far I could go. It was my tendency to walk the knife’s edge that had appealed to the rules-abiding military man.
As predicted, his eyes darkened with irritation—and desire—but he masked it by taking a sip of his drink.
You know you like it, Corporal.
“I don’t wear a leash, Tara.” He shook his head. “Falls doesn’t think this is Lust’s moment. He thinks it’s too public, even for her. The World Army isn’t coming—not with all the other shit the army is facing … elsewhere.”
“Like?”
His eyebrows lowered, half in apology. “Confidential.”
The world seemed to be at perpetual odds. Humanity may have invented toasters and ice cream, but we couldn’t get past our tribalism. Our wars. Our violence. Not to mention the recent addition of millions of Others.
Lust’s goal to enslave everyone would result in unity. In a weird moment, I contemplated whether that would be such a bad thing.
Percy came immediately to mind. He wouldn’t be free. He wouldn’t fly of his own volition ever again. And that was unacceptable.
I nodded at Erik. “So why are you here, then?”
“Because I think you’re right—this is Lust’s moment. And if you’re going to swoop in and crash the party, I need to be there to keep you from falling off any buildings. Again.”
“So they sent you to be a babysitter.”
“I’m formally on reconnaissance, but yeah.”
I couldn’t help but grin. For the first time since he’d left, a sense of security I didn’t know Erik brought with him began to ease its way into my chest. “As I recall, the last time I fell off a building was because you shot a missile at me.”
Frank, who’d been standing between the two of us, cleared his throat. “Not that I don’t approve of your missile euphemisms, but can you two please get a room so we can get on with planning for how we’re going to decimate Lust?”
Erik and I both stared at Frank, our mouths open.
“Why Frank,” I said, a sudden shyness coming over me, “that is one of the most forward things I’ve ever heard anyone say.”
“Frank,” Erik said. “Which bedroom is Tara’s?”
I stood corrected.
Frank pointed toward the back hallway. “Second door on the left.”
I was about to object—to tell them we needed to stick to business—when Erik came forward, slipped a hand around my waist and his head under my arm and slung me over his shoulder.
And I’ll be damned if it wasn’t exactly what I’d hoped for since the moment I’d spied his face through that peephole.
Sleeping with Erik wasn’t the same the second time around.
It was better.
Tonight, we had a whole bedroom at our disposal. And we made copious use of it, other ears be damned. Was it even possible to scandalize Frank, anyway? He was basically married to a houri.
And Grunt could sleep through anything. Even several nights of me banging a shoe on the wall because of his snoring.
Which meant I was completely uninhibited. And I’ll tell you, I don’t think Erik minded.
After the first round, I wasn’t done with him. He lay starfished across the bed, panting, and I waggled a finger. “No, no, Corporal. That won’t do.”
He lifted his head. “What won’t do?”
“You, tired.”
“But I am tired.”
I rolled atop his torso, straddling him. I leaned down until my hair cocooned us both. “I’ll say when we’re done.” I nipped at his bottom lip, teasing it.
He groaned, half in desire. “Why is everything you do sexy?”
I smirked. “Because you like me.”
“No, it’s—” He paused to think on it. “It’s when you’re not even trying. When you’re talking to a stranger. When you’re riding with your feet up on a car dash. It’s just part of you.”
I was tempted to make a joke about being two women in one body, but I stopped myself.
This had nothing to do with Mariana.
I tilted my head, contemplating the very real fact that I had never felt more attractive than in this moment, seated above this man. I was naked except for a shiny whistle hanging around my neck.
I felt seen.
I felt grateful.
It was the best I’d felt since I’d lost Percy.
I sent one hand through Erik’s hair, pushing it back. “Yeah, we’re definitely not done.”
When I leaned down, his hands slid up along my back, pulling me close. As if it wasn’t enough for me to come down to him—I needed to be there as quickly as possible.
Afterward, we didn’t need to worry about space constraints. But I chose to lay on his shoulder anyway, my body aligned to his. And once again, he lifted the whistle at my neck. When he blew into it, no sound came out.
I set a finger to the whistle. “Thank you.”
“You know, that gnome isn’t nearly as unfriendly as you made him out to be.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You took the whistle all the way to Ferris?”
Ferris was my Scottish gnome manager, and the one who’d originally crafted the whistle for Percy. He and the ninjas were spending some time in Detroit—half a continent away.
He shrugged. “Who else would know how to fix it?”
“GoneGods, you must have promised him a hell of a favor to get him to fix it that fast.” I stared up at the whistle. “But it’s perfect now. And after tomorrow, it’ll matter if I blow into it.”
Erik squeezed me. “We’re going to get him back.”
“I know. I know.” I sat up, running a hand through my hair. “But it’s still …”
He waited for me to finish. I appreciated that.
I stared at myself in the mirror on the dresser across from the bed. I looked like I’d gone for two rounds with a man, my hair all mussed in a delicious way. I should have been pristinely happy.
But I saw the worry. It was all in my eyes.
I glanced back at Erik. I didn’t have to be Tara Drake with him … I could just be myself. “It’s still scary.”
I could see the appreciation on his face. He recognized how much it had taken for me to be that vulnerable. “I understand.”
“And I’ve been thinking all night about why Lust chose Times Square to complete this ritual. She could have chosen any major city in the world. Why does she need this in order to inhabit Ariadne?”
“It’s the biggest party of them all.”
I sighed. “I know. But it’s also the riskiest, isn’t it? She’s advertised herself for months. She must have other enemies, and she’s told every radio station and every major TV network her plans.”
“Because she wants more people watching, Tara. Her ego is insatiable.”
My eyebrows lowered. I turned back to Erik. “What if it’s not a matter of wanting?”
He stared at me in the semidarkness. “That’s all she does is want. She’s Lust.”
“What if she needs it?” My eyes unfocused as I thought back to that moment when I’d fired the magic-interference missile at her in front of Valdis’s mansion. She’d grown old then, and it was only when she’d been able to lure her followers back to her that her youth had returned.
She needed adoration to gain power.
And according to Envy’s scroll, it had taken all of the s
in’s power to inhabit Genghis Khan.
What if, in this GoneGod World, Lust didn’t have enough power—enough adoration—to inhabit Ariadne without standing at the epicenter of the biggest party of the year?
“Needs it?” Erik repeated.
I stood up, stark naked. When I started pacing, Erik rolled onto his side with his head propped on his elbow. “Excuse the selfishness, but I could get used to the sight of you in deep thought.”
I flashed him a semi-irritated, semi-promising look. I wasn’t used to being the one keeping us on track. “Focus, Corporal. Does that jibe with everything you know about Lust? She doesn’t have the power to inhabit Ariadne. Not without all that adoration.”
Erik’s face went serious as he considered my theory. “It’s possible. And if it’s true, you do know what that means.”
I stopped pacing, and we stared at one another.
“It means she has to build up to it,” I said.
“She’ll have to bring Ariadne to Times Square,” Erik added.
“That buys us time.”
I inhaled slowly. “But what if she doesn’t bring Percy?”
He sat up, resting his arms on his knees. “Tara, if you were desperate for adoration and you had access to a nearly-grown dragon, what would you do?”
I couldn’t stop my grin. I didn’t even have to imagine—I had experienced it countless times. The collective awe, the open mouths, their pupils reflecting a dragon with wings spread wide, passing through a cloudless sky.
“I would ride that dragon in like he was a stretch limo with a jacuzzi on top.”
Chapter 4
The next morning—New Year’s Eve—I woke to find Erik gone.
I sat up in bed, not a single stitch of clothing on me. Last night, we’d undressed slowly, savoring every button, and then all at once. The corporal had a leashed way about him, in full control of himself until he wasn’t.
And when he wasn’t, his eyes darkened on me. His touch was possessive, claiming. Rough.
It was last night I’d realized maybe I wanted to be possessed. Claimed. Some of the time, at least. When it came to Erik, I didn’t mind belonging just a little bit to someone.
And afterward, as he’d folded his body around me to sleep, I’d thought maybe this was becoming something more …
Until this morning, at least.
“GoneGodDamn,” I muttered, slapping the empty spot of bed. I’d been ding dong ditch—
The bedroom door opened, and a pair of hands holding coffee cups appeared in the doorway. Next came Erik’s face, his mouth clamped down on a brown bag. He said something muffled as he made a grandiose circuit around the bed toward my nightstand, depositing my coffee.
I snorted. “What was that, Corporal?”
With his newly free hand, he removed the bag from his mouth. “Your favorite is Texas pecan, right?”
I blinked. “You wouldn’t know that.”
He tapped his wrist over his jacket. “Ah, but that’s where you’re wrong, my little vigilante.”
My eyes flicked to the World Army watch I’d placed on the nightstand last night. It was still dead. “You even listened in on my coffee orders through that thing?”
He shrugged as he set the bag down beside me, lifting out a blueberry muffin as large as my face. “It records everything, including your coffee orders. Well, at least it did before I deactivated it.”
So he had deactivated the watch—and I knew why. He didn’t want the World Army knowing about our not-strictly-by-the-rules playbook when it came to Lust. I picked up the coffee, eyeing him. “Stalker.”
He smirked down at me. “It is Texas pecan, isn’t it?”
“Yes.” I took a long sip, contemplating the day ahead of me. This was the day I had been anticipating for the past month and a half. Today Lust’s plan would work, or it wouldn’t. Percy would be saved, or he wouldn’t. Seleema would be rescued, or she wouldn’t.
And I couldn’t help but feel like it all depended on me.
Now that the day was here, I felt wholly unprepared.
Erik’s hand fell on my knee as he sat on the edge of the bed. His thumb rubbed over my kneecap. “You’ve got a line as deep as the Mississippi River between your eyebrows.”
I focused on him. “You know how deep it is?”
“I grew up in Cincinnati, remember?”
A faint smile touched my lips. “Only child?”
“Two brothers.”
“Are they as cute as you?”
“I’m the worst-looking of the bunch.” He smirked. “But they wouldn’t bring you coffee and muffins in bed, so I think you did all right for yourself.”
I picked up the muffin. “I wish I was hungry.”
“You will be. After we figure out our plans for tonight.” He nodded at my hair. “Jump in the shower. I’ll get Frank and Grunt into the living room.”
I had to admit, I didn’t mind getting ordered around by a corporal. Even one from Cincinnati. And it felt good to have someone else do some of the heavy lifting in preparing for tonight.
As I got into the shower, I put the water on hot. Very hot. And as it poured over me, I realized I’d been living on a wing and a prayer for too long since I lost Percy.
Mariana, too.
We were both in shock, and she was in grief over Valdis.
With Erik here calling some of the shots, the ground felt a little sturdier under me. A tiny bit of the tension seemed to wash off my shoulders.
Afterward, I came into the living room to find that Erik had done exactly as he’d promised: Grunt sat on the couch, and Frank was in an armchair. Erik stood between them; he smiled when I came out. “We were just talking about you.”
I came to sit on the arm of the couch next to Grunt. “All bad things, I expect.”
“More like your plans for tonight,” he said. “Though a few bad things, too.”
When he winked at me, I flashed him a devious look. “You’re the World Army guy. I’m sure you’ve got some ideas about how to tackle this.”
“Yeah,” Erik said. “But I want to hear yours first.”
My eyes slipped over to Frank, then Grunt. They were all looking at me. Waiting on me.
They respected me.
When had that happened?
“Mariana and I have been working together on this,” I began. “At first, she and I thought it would be best to ambush Lust before she got out into the party, into the public eye—we wanted to get her in private. We had devised a whole plan.”
I paused.
“And?” Erik said.
“That plan’s scrapped.”
“Why?” Frank said.
“Because of the scroll,” I said. “It’s clear now why Lust chose Times Square to complete the ritual. The moment she’s transferring herself into Ariadne’s body will be her weakest. She’ll need the adoration of the crowd to give her the power she needs, so she’ll have to do it in front of everyone.”
Grunt shifted on the couch; the base creaked. “You think she will be so brazen?”
I nodded down at Grunt. “Yeah, I do. I don’t think she fears anyone or anything.”
“So we’ll get her then,” Frank said. “When she’s weakest.”
“That’s right,” I said. “We’re going to have to do it right in the middle of the crowd.”
“How do you plan to get close enough?” Erik asked.
I met eyes with Frank. “Mr. Stubemeyer and I are going to volunteer as event staff.”
Frank sighed. “I agreed to that when I was hungry.”
“Sorry,” I said, “but I can’t very well bring Grunt with me. I don’t think they take Scarred as volunteers.”
Erik glanced at me. “So it’s going to be you and Frank jumping into the middle of a crowd?”
I raised an eyebrow at Erik. “I was hoping for a little World Army interference, too.” Counting on it, really.
Erik folded his arms, considering everything. “I can’t be shooting missiles into a crowd
of humans. Our mandate is to protect humanity.”
“But I don’t have a mandate.” I took off the World Army watch and set it on the end table. “And who said anything about you shooting missiles? I just happen to have a pretty little grenade with Lust’s name on it.”
Erik smirked, and Frank looked appalled. “You’re going to throw a grenade at her?”
“It wouldn’t be the first time she’s had ball-shaped objects flying at her.” I nodded at Erik. “I know the World Army’s AWOL on this. But I need to know what you can do for us.”
“How’s cutting the video feed?”
My eyebrows rose. “You can do that?” If Erik could cut the video feeds to the event, that would put a major hitch in her power. If people couldn’t see her up on stage, they couldn’t adore her.
“If they’ve got an AV room, I can do it.”
“Anything else?” I twirled a finger through the air. “Gonna need a little help dealing with a mortal sin after the fact—even if I can put her down, that gal’s gonna be pissed. And I can’t exactly just hand her over to the cops.”
His arms folded, and his chin lowered. The look he shot me was loaded with promise, and not the sexual kind. “I’m part of the World Army. We have a few things that may be of use once you’ve neutralized her.”
“Like?”
“It’s classified.”
“Oh come on.” I elbowed Frank for a little support in my complaining, but he didn’t join in. Nor did Grunt. “Just a hint.”
Erik pointed at the watch I’d set on the table. “It’s classified. But you have to trust me: depending on how things go down, we might have something that can help you.”
So the World Army wasn’t totally uninvolved after all. They were just staying out of the spotlight, leaving the heavy lifting to me. Sounded about right for a big bureaucratic institution.
“If you could just tell me what they are,” I persisted, “I might be able to guide the fight in that direction …”
Erik pointed at the watch again. “Let’s just say this: go all out.”
Well, I never had any trouble on that front. I nodded. “Expect nothing less from me—under the sheets or on the streets.”
