Mark saw her face again and felt a tear fall down his cheek. Unexpected as it was, that was what he needed because maybe drawing on those feelings would be enough. Jude had been there for part of the time, angry when he finally realized that Mark could feel that way for someone, just not for him. And Mark mourned when Jude left, but Hypatia’s warm arms comforted him and all thoughts of Jude had been pushed out of his head as they had their beautiful years together under that tall, marble roof. Oh god, he ached for those times, just another moment with her, there, in that place.
Mark swiped at his cheek and wondered if there wasn’t fresh hell waiting for him if he used that memory to convince Jude to come out of his stupor and believe that Mark finally loved him. What choice did he have, though? No one ever compared to her again, not another living soul. He could feel that ache, and when he tried really hard, Jude’s hand in his could feel like hers.
Leaning down he had to force himself to remember who he was trying to bring back to life. “Yehuda,” he whispered. He shifted up on his knees and brought both of his hands to Jude’s face. “Yehuda, please come back to me. Please.” That much was real, because regardless of what he felt, he needed Jude. He didn’t want to be alone with these gods and human mortals anymore. He wanted to be able to share those looks with Judas again, to have someone who understood because as human as Ben was, he stank of the fear of death and Mark merely craved it.
With a groan, Jude’s eyes fluttered open, slamming back shut after a second and his temperature rose even higher. Mark hissed at the heat beneath his hands, but he kept Jude’s face up and be kept his own low. “Come back to me, I need you.”
He closed his eyes and without another thought, losing himself in emotion both real and present, and so ancient, he closed his lips over Yehuda’s and kissed him. He poured everything he had into that kiss. Every fear, every desire, every need. Every dream and every nightmare and he begged any and everything listening to just bring his companion out of it.
Were it some sort of Hollywood production there would have been stars and music, and a strange light source with glitter. Judas would have risen from the bed, spinning slowly mid-air while the transformation took place.
Instead, in a rather anti-climactic moment, Persephone’s suggestion had worked and Judas slowly came to. His skin cooled rapidly, which worried Mark for a moment, but eventually Judas’s brown eyes opened wide, staring, and he gave a little cough.
“God,” he groaned, his voice so hoarse it registered barely above a whisper.
Mark, unable to help himself, laughed. He sat back on his heels and laughed, his head shaking back and forth. Such a simple trick, a simple, ridiculous trick, but it had worked and there was Jude just sort of sitting there staring at him, obviously in severe discomfort but he’d come out of it.
And he hadn’t told him that he loved him. Mark wasn’t sure if that meant something, that maybe he was off the hook. Jude’s fingers slowly reached up and touched his own lips and Mark let out a sigh. Likely not. Likely it didn’t matter what Mark had said, but what he had given his companion. A promise.
He reached across the bed and took Jude’s hand in his, sitting up again slightly despite his legs feeling a bit numb from the position. “You okay?”
Jude licked his lips dryly and cleared his throat. “I could use some water.”
There was a glass from the night before on the bedside table and he passed it over. Jude sipped on the tepid liquid, coughing a little, and he nodded his thanks. Mark watched him for a few more moments, his hand still safely pressed against Jude’s, not sure what he should say or do. Did he remember anything? Was Apollo still in there?
“Could you not do that?” Jude asked, with a frown.
Mark realized how hard he was staring and blushed appropriately. “I’m sorry. I’m sorry but you know, we weren’t sure we were ever going to get you back.”
“You kissed me,” Jude said.
Mark eased himself onto the edge of the bed and gave a nod as he carefully checked Jude’s temperature. Normal, if not a little on the cool side, but that was better than the previous alternative. “Um yes, I did.” He sounded foolish, but what else was there to say?
“Like the princess in the fairytale?” Jude asked.
The absolute absurdity of the question stunned both men, and then, locking eyes, they both laughed. Jude’s was more of a harsh cough, but they were nearly doubled over, tears of mirth pouring down Mark’s cheeks. My god, my god the things Mark realized were actually happening in his life.
He finally steadied himself as Jude helped himself to more of the water, and he cleared his throat loudly. “You ready to face the world?”
“Are we moving out?” Jude responded.
“Soon. We need to find Asclepius and then we have to go. It’s now or never, but I want to make sure you’re okay.”
Jude shifted himself into a taller seated position and gave his arms a slight stretch. “I don’t know. I feel… off.”
“Yeah um,” Mark said, scratching the back of his head, “that’s probably going to be a constant now. Whatever that thing did to you…”
“Apollo,” Jude said, the name sounding strange, hanging heavy in the air.
“This isn’t a cure. It’s more like a dressing for a wound that will never heal.”
Jude licked his lips and gave a slow nod. He didn’t say anything, because what else was there to say? This was just another thing for the ever-growing pile of things that had happened which would leave a permanent scar on one or both of the men. Really, they’d been through so much, what was one more thing?
Jude started to pull away from Mark, but Mark caught his arm and pulled him into a fierce embrace. That emotion was real, because despite not wanting to admit it, he did need Jude, and he had been very afraid that he’d actually lost what little was left of the companion after these long, never-ending years.
With a quiet hum, Jude returned the embrace. It was a rare thing, this given affection, and both men took a moment to bask in it. There was love there, no denying that, and Mark let himself feel it fully for a moment.
When they finally broke apart, Mark touched Jude’s cheek and then rose from the bed. “A shower will probably help. I think we should all convene in the living room and make our final plans. Nike’s only getting stronger as we sit here waiting, so willing god or no, we’ve got to go and end this.”
Jude nodded his agreement and slipped out the door and into the bathroom, leaving Mark alone in that darkened room. It had worked, but at what cost? He didn’t feel different and Jude was awake, so that had to be enough for now. He couldn’t think of consequences just yet. Obsessing about what might come would only throw them off and they had a lot of work to do.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Ben was eyeing Andrew as the god was filling his plate with eggs and bacon. There was a slight tremor to his hands, something Ben hadn’t seen before, and he nearly lost his grip on his coffee mug as he picked it up from the counter.
With quick reflexes, Ben’s hand darted out and steadied Andrew’s arm, and gave him a firm scowl when Andrew gave him a nod of thanks. “Not much longer now,” Andrew said in a gruff voice as he walked over to the small kitchen table in the corner of the dining room.
Ben, who had opted to skip breakfast in lieu of extra coffee, nearly spilled his mug slamming it down on the table. He was on edge, nerves completely frayed, and the more he watched the people in the house deteriorating, the more it infuriated him. “I’m thinking almost isn’t soon enough,” he snapped as he slid into a chair, catching his chin on the side of the table leg and he winced. “Shit.”
Andrew smirked and stuffed a large piece of crispy bacon in his mouth as Alex slid into the seat at the head of the table. “Almost is all we can offer.”
Ben rolled his eyes and gulped down half the coffee in one go. Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he gave a sigh and ruffled his hair out of frustration. “He’s going to die,” he finally said,
pointing at Andrew. “That kid inside of there. He’s dying, in fact.”
“I’ve assured you several times that I can inhabit a human body without killing it,” Andrew said with very little inflection to his words.
“He’s suffering liver failure,” Ben snapped, and Alex looked at him with mild surprise. “Go figure you self-important assholes didn’t notice. I talked to him last night and he was already suffering liver failure.”
“I hadn’t noticed,” Andrew confessed.
“Of course you didn’t,” Ben snapped. “I mean, you’re riding around in what should be a corpse,”
he said, nodding to Andrew, “Persephone is having her kicks in a serial killer, and our guardian friend chose a kid whose body is so fucked up from years of drug abuse that he’s going to die, whether there’s a god inside or not.”
It was true, too. Andrew’s skin and the whites of his eyes were growing more severely yellow by the day. He was more tired, despite the stamina of the god inside, and instances like losing his grip on the coffee mug had become more frequent. The gods may have been able to save bodies from brain injuries, but it was obvious they had no control over the deterioration of the human body itself. It wasn’t the dying that bothered Ben, either. He was a homicide detective, he lived and breathed situations involving death. What bothered him was that this kid was spending his days trapped inside of some dream world while the god inside pushed him to its limits. There wasn’t going to be anything left for the kid to live out his final days if they continued on this path.
“You have to let him go,” Ben said firmly.
“I’m afraid I can’t do that,” Andrew said.
“I second that,” Alex chimed in. “As good as your intentions might seem, we’re fighting for the good of the entire human race, not just some coke-head loser picked up off the streets. You humans have a hard time understand the concept of the bigger picture. Always so convinced that everything in life has some bigger meaning, that huge problems can be boiled down to one tiny, insignificant person—”
Ben slammed his hand down on the table as he rose, effectively cutting on the rest of Alex’s sentence. “You’re not better than us, despite your ridiculous belief that you are. When you understand and practice the concept of self-sacrifice, when you’re willing to give up any and everything you love and care about to do this,” he said, waving his hand around the room, “then you can lecture me about how small and insignificant we are. And may I remind you that the small and insignificant ones are the only reason you’re walking around in corporeal form today? If you all had just done what you were supposed to do and rid this world of your plague, we wouldn’t even be in this situation anymore.” His cell phone’s shrill ring interrupted his rant and he pulled it out, recognizing Hades’s number. “Selfish asshole,” he added as he punched the talk button and rushed to the back door.
His blood was rushing through his veins so hard that he could hear it in his ears. How dare they? How dare they imply that humans were less than they were. Humans existed happily and comfortably without the gods hanging around.
“What?” Ben snapped into the receiver after a long, impolite pause.
“Sounds like someone pissed in your Wheaties this morning,” Hades said with a light chuckle.
“I’m not in the mood. Asclepius has fled, as far as we know, and your little bitch girlfriend…”
“Woah there,” Hades said swiftly. “Let’s not get ugly.”
“Just tell me what you want,” Ben snapped. He was inches away from losing his cool and completely abandoning ship. He’d take Persephone by force if he had to, drag her down to the portal and heave both her and Nike in, corporal form or no. He’d go with if he had to, just to put an end to all of it.
“We’re moving out,” Hades said. “I’ve almost got everything situated here. I take it you’ve shared all of my information with your group?”
“Not quite,” Ben said. He didn’t know why he was procrastinating on that. Likely it was because he just couldn’t bring himself to trust any of them and the less they knew, it seemed, the better. “They know enough.”
“You handle it your way, as long as you’re all there. It seems our friend Nike is starting to come to her senses, if you know what I mean. I’ve gotten rid of Apollo but I hope you’re all at full strength.”
Ben hesitated, thinking of Jude, however he failed to see the immortal’s real use in the situation so he said, “We’re all good.”
“Send me a text once Persephone locates the portal and we’ll be there. Try and make it less than twenty-four hours.”
Ben gave a small grunt, irritated about taking orders from yet another supernatural being, however this time he didn’t have a choice. He was counting on Hades getting Nike to the portal alone, and even if she regained her strength, they still had a chance to stop her. Olivia’s life was at stake, if she hadn’t perished already, and Ben just wanted it over.
He realized Hades had ended the call before he had a chance to confirm anything, but that didn’t matter. He had the information he needed. Now all they needed was for Persephone to locate Asclepius and then the portal and they could be on their way.
Shoving his phone back into his pocket, Ben opened the terrace door and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Jude and Mark standing in the middle of the living room. Jude looked wrecked, bags under his eyes, hair wet from the shower, and he was pale and haggard. His eyes were lucid and clear, though, and he offered Ben the slightest smile as the detective shut the door with a loud click.
Ben’s eyes darted between the two immortals where their hands were joined, and it clicked, though the others didn’t seem to quite notice it. What Mark had done, giving Jude a reminder of something he loved more than some obsession over Apollo, had worked. The knuckles of Mark’s hand were white too, his grip on Jude’s had to be almost painful, and Mark had that look of fear behind the calm, as though he was afraid if he let go he’d lose Jude again.
“Welcome back,” Alex said, throwing a cautious glance toward Ben before smiling at the resurrected Judas. “You okay?”
Jude gave a long, slow nod and glanced at Mark before he spoke. “I’ve been better, but I’m on the mend.” His voice was rough but he was together and coherent.
“Something to eat? Coffee maybe?”
“You probably should,” Mark said in an almost patronizing tone.
Jude’s brow furrowed, an almost microscopic amount, but Ben noticed it. He let out a slight sigh and said, “Yes, thank you.”
“You look like you could use a shower,” Ben said to Mark, approaching the pair. He grabbed Jude’s arm, unsure if the man needed the physical assistance to stand. “Let me take over and you get yourself sorted. I just got the call from Hades so once you’re out, we can get everything ready.”
Mark reluctantly pulled his hand from Jude and stared at him a moment, waiting to see if he’d falter, but Jude held firm. With some hesitation, Mark made his way back down the hall and when Ben heard the bathroom door click shut, Ben let Jude’s arm go.
“You sure you’re okay?” he asked quietly.
“Not quite sure,” Jude confessed with a slight laugh. “My head’s a bit fuzzy.”
“Coffee should fix that,” Ben said as Alex appeared from around the corner with a cup of coffee and a plate with some breakfast piled haphazardly. Jude took it with steady hands and backed onto the couch.
“I don’t think he needs an audience,” Ben snapped when Alex and Andrew continued to stare at him. “Why don’t you go and chat with Persephone, see if she’s feeling agreeable to track down Asclepius with her little mirror trick.”
Alex scowled at being ordered around, but Andrew took the lead and walked to the prisoner goddess’s bedroom and Alex followed suit. Ben let out a breath when he and Jude were alone, feeling the tension from the room release almost immediately.
“Thank you,” Jude said in a quiet voice.
“No worries,” Ben said.
Jude s
ipped his coffee and pushed the food around his plate but didn’t eat. Ben heard the shower go on, and behind that the quiet but insistent voices of Alex and Andrew as they worked on Persephone. Ben glanced over at Jude again and had a thousand questions, but didn’t voice any of them.
“I’m not sure I’m going to be okay,” Jude finally said. He nibbled on a piece of the now-cold bacon and grimaced.
“Yeah,” Ben said with a sigh. “Though are any of us?”
“That thing, whatever Apollo was, left something inside of me.”
Ben gave a nod. “I felt it. Persephone has it, too, and she tried to use it on me. Whatever makes me special, I guess, prevented it from taking effect.”
Jude quirked a smile. “Convenient.”
“Just a bit.”
There was a long, tense pause between the two men. Jude reached down and set his nearly untouched plate on the floor and finished his coffee while Ben’s need for a cigarette went into overdrive. He ignored it, though, and laid his head against the back of the couch, his eyes closing for a moment. A slight headache was forming near his temples, his stress spot, he recognized, and knew he’d need to take something before it turned into a migraine. He didn’t suffer headaches much at all since the healing, but they popped up when things got really bad.
“So you and Mark uh…” Ben said, not sure why he said it, but he just couldn’t take the quiet anymore.
Jude gave a slight chuckle and shrugged. “I’m not a fool. After two thousand years, Mark coming to his senses and realizing that no one will ever love him like I do isn’t something that will actually happen. He just sort of… shocked my system.”
Ben pursed his lips and gave a slow nod. “I see.”
“He’s afraid, and I’m milking that for all its worth,” Jude confessed and Ben chuckled at that.
Cry, Nike! (The Judas Curse) Page 21
