An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) (21 page)

“Good… I can’t keep this one from Cheza though
.”

I grab a towel from the rack and
dry Sara off before I wrap her in it and carry her to the room she’s staying in. After placing her in bed, I head downstairs and out to the garage to reset the circuit breaker. I return to Sara’s side, contemplating what I can do for her. I come up with an idea that is going to make me feel like a terrible person, but it might keep Sara from trying to kill herself a third time.

“Airi… can you implant a dream of Tia talking to Sara into her mind? Basically just repeat my speech to Cheza before I killed Fenrir, and tack on something about how she can’t go to where Tia is.”

(I can do that)

“Thanks…”

My phone starts ringing; I pull it out of my pocket and see that Cheza is calling.

“Hey.” I answer.

“Hi…” Cheza replies and I hear her cover the phone with her hand.

“What’s wrong?” Natasha asks
in the background.

“He still sounds upset.” Cheza
informs her.

“
Try apologizing.” Natasha suggests.

“I’m sorry, Cole…” Cheza tells me.

“For what?” I inquire.

“For laughing at you and for telling Natasha about your fear of Australia
a few days after you first told me…” Cheza quietly replies like a scolded child who’s being forced to explain what she’s done wrong, but I can’t figure out why.

“What…? Oh right, that. Anyway, I assume you guys need a lift?” I ask.

“Wait, if that’s not it then why do you sound upset?” Cheza asks and I touch my triskele.

“…I’ll explain when we get back to the house.” I tell her while sliding my phone back into my pocket, noticing that it dropped the call.

“Cole? What’s going on?” Cheza questions, but I remain silent for the next minute before grabbing her and Natasha.

I port us to the living room of the house, sit down on the couch, and pat the seat next to me.

“Cole?” Cheza inquires after sitting down, feeling very concerned.

“
Sara tried to kill herself… again.” I inform her.

“What do you mean, again!?” Cheza frantically asks.

“Last night she apparently washed down a bottle of Ambien with a glass of vodka. When I came home a little while ago, I found her in the bathtub with a radio in it; she must’ve figured out that I slipped some of my blood into her so she used electricity to bypass it. I’d just siphoned my blood in through her neck and restarted her heart when you called.” I recant.

“Is Sara okay?” Cheza questions with tears in her eyes.

“Airi told me that there wasn’t any brain damage so she must’ve done it less than six minutes before I got home… it seems like we were lucky.” I reply.

“So what do we do now? Lock her in her room after taking away any sharp, blunt, or rope-like objects?” Cheza asks.

“Maybe… I hope that won’t be necessary after what I’m doing…” I say.

“Cole? What did you do!?” Cheza exclaims.

“I’m implanting a dream of Tia into Sara’s mind that will hopefully help her move on.” I reply.

“So like that movie
Inception
?” Natasha asks.

“Not really
… well, kind of.” I admit.

“Oh, good… I thought you were erasing Sara’s memories…” Cheza
tells me.

“I couldn’t with how deeply ingrained
her memories are. We’ll know if the dream worked when she wakes up, I suppose… Anyway, how were things at the office?” I inquire.

“Good…”
Cheza replies in a fashion that leads me to believe that everything wasn’t ‘good’.

“What happened?” I ask.

“Carla’s secretary brought in her hamburger for lunch and Cheza puked into Carla’s trashcan upon smelling it.” Natasha answers.

“
I’m officially on maternity leave and Natasha is going to stay with us for a while because she’s going to be helping fill in for me.” Cheza replies, ignoring the last part of the conversation.

“That’s fine; we have
another guest bedroom after all. So what do you guys want to do about dinner? Are hamburgers sounding good to anyone right now?” I ask with a chuckle before Cheza runs off to the bathroom.

Now I feel bad…

…

[December 29th]

I wake up in the middle of the night, the blue glow on the ceiling telling me that it’s 12:42am. I carefully get out of bed, silently slip out of the room, and head down the hall into Sara’s room. After seeing that she’s sleeping peacefully, I make a detour downstairs for a glass of water. Once finished with my water, I head back upstairs to the master bedroom when I hear the sound of heavy breathing coming from Natasha’s room. That’s not good… the last time Natasha had a vision in the middle of the night, we got attacked by were-sharks the next day. I walk up to her door and softly knock twice before opening the door.

“Natasha, what did you see?” I ask while opening the door, expecting to find her sitting up like last time. Instead, I find her propped up against some pillows while in a slightly more…
relaxed
position with her hands underneath the blankets.

“Shit! Sorry!” I exclaim and turn around.

“Cole, wait! Would you care to help me out with this?” Natasha invites.

“Tasha… I’m sorry, but I can’t. Goodnight.” I reply and close the bedroom door.

As Aziz Ansari once said in a joke about a young father who fucked a bowl of macaroni and cheese, “Once you have a kid, the macaroni and cheese fucking days are over.” My kid is on the way, Natasha is my macaroni and cheese, and the days in which I’d jump into her bed and ravish her until naught a thought could come to her mind, are over. I return to my bedroom, climb into bed with my wife, and go back to sleep.

…

Chapter 20
: Totally Not Whipped Cream…

Breakfast the next morning is a little awkward, to say the least
; what with walking in on Natasha’s happy-happy-fun-time-followed-by-loneliness-and-a-bit-of-self-loathing and the fact that I haven’t talked to Sara since she tried to kill herself. However, based on Sara’s demeanor, she seems to be doing better. Regardless, I walk into her room after breakfast to talk to her.

“Sara, I need to talk to you.” I tell her
as I close the door behind me.

“I figured
that you would.” Sara replies while making her bed.

“You understand that you can’t kill yourself… I won’t allow it.” I firmly say.

“Sara, you know that Tia wouldn’t want you to kill yourself… and Cheza and I don’t want to lose you… we want our child to grow up having an aunt.” I add, my voice cracking under the weight of the topic.

“I know, Cole… I know… I’m sorry
that I’ve been so selfish.” Sara replies as tears start streaming down her cheeks. I step closer and wrap my arms around her. Sara turns around and cries into my shirt.

“I’m sorry, Cole…” Sara whispers.

“It’s okay, Sara… It’s going to be okay.” I tell her as I hear my phone start ringing, but I ignore it. My phone rings two more times before Sara pulls away.

“Go ahead and answer it; it’s important if the person is trying this h
ard to contact you.” Sara says.

I
nod in response and run into my room to answer the phone.

“Hello?”

“Cole! We need your help!” Naia exclaims.

“What’s going on?” I ask.

“Something is happening with Ryuji! We need to go visit Li Zhang and speak with her about this!” Naia tells me.

“Alright, I’ll be there in a few.” I reply and
hang up.

I pull on a pair of jeans and my old jacket before heading downstairs.

“What’s going on?” Cheza inquires.

“I’m not really sure, but Ryuji and Naia need me to take them to see Li. I’ll be back later.” I announce.

“Be careful, Cole.” Cheza replies. I walk over and give her a quick kiss.

“Make sure you check on Sara… I just had a talk with her and she seems to be doing better, but just in case.” I whisper.

“Okay, I’ll go do that now.” Cheza replies.

“See you in a bit.” I respond
and touch my triskele.

“Alright, so what’s the situation?” I ask once I appear in the living room of Ryuji and
Naia’s apartment.

“Well, Ryuji…” Naia
starts and walks down the hall as I follow after her.

“his skin is… well, it i
s like that.” Naia finishes while pointing into the office. Ryuji is sitting at his desk and his skin is all black; a darkness kind of black, but not quite a Void black. Naia slowly shuts the door and turns toward me.

“When did this happen?” I ask.

“We woke up this morning and his skin was all black… and I have been inexplicably more attracted to him since we woke up…” Naia informs me and I start laughing.

“Hey
, Ryuji; ready to go see Li?” I inquire as I open the office door.

“Yeah. I’m pretty sure I know what’s happening, but she’ll be able to confirm it.” Ryuji replies.

“Alright, let’s get going.” I say and hold my arm out.

Naia and Ryuji grab my arm and I port us to Li’s office.

“Did Li know that we’re coming?” I ask when I see that the office is empty.

“
Well, I sent her a text, but she didn’t reply… I’m actually not positive that she knows how…” Ryuji comments.

“I know how, I was simply ignoring you.
” Li says while walking through the curtain covered door on the left wall, dressed like she’s ready for a safari.

“Just what I was expecting.” Li comments when she sees Ryuji.

“You three may want to go home and put on better shoes; we have a lot of stairs to climb.” Li informs us.

“Care to fill us in?” I ask.

“We have to take Ryuji to a temple in China so he can go through his first change into his dragon form, and this temple happens to be at the top of around a thousand steps.” Li replies.

“
Riiiight… well, as much fun as that sounds, I’ll give you guys a lift to China, but then I’m out; I’ve got a sister to keep from going for attempt number three on her life and a pregnant wife to make as comfortable as possible.” I announce.

“
Chezarei is pregnant!?” Naia and Ryuji exclaim.

“Ryuji I can understand, but where have you been, Naia?” I rhetorically ask.

“A lift would be much appreciated, and you wouldn’t be allowed in the temple anyway. Naia should be okay unless anyone looks closely, which is doubtful seeing as the dragon monks are all in the final stages of their lives so they’re blind…” Li says.

“Okay, ignoring the comical insinuations of a convent full of blind dragon monks; get me a picture of the place and I’ll port you to it. If I were you, I’d opt for the top of the stairs, but that’s just me.” I respond.

“I’ve got a photograph of the base of the stairs, but there aren’t any of the temple because it’s forbidden. I’ll go grab it.” Li replies and walks through the curtain.

“Thanks for helping me out again, Cole.” Ryuji says.

“No problem.” I reply.

The three of us wait in awkward silence until Li comes back. She hands me a black and white photograph of her standing with two men in front of a stone marker
with bamboo trees on either side and a mountain in the background. I’d say this picture is from the 1930’s at the latest judging by the fading in the photograph; how old is Li?

“Are you three ready?” I ask and hold out my a
rm; everyone nods and grabs it.

I touch my triskele and port us to the place in the picture. I look to the right and notice a giant staircase
that weaves back and forth up the tall green peak with small groves of bamboo trees bordering the entrance to the stairs.

“Well, good luck
, Ryuji; give me a call when you guys need a lift back.” I say.

“Thanks
, Cole. See you soon.” Ryuji replies and the three of them turn towards the stairs.

I watch them start their ascent to the temple for a minute before touching my triskele to port back to the house.
I don’t see anyone in the living room or kitchen so I head upstairs to check on Sara.

“Natasha… this stuff with Cole needs to stop
.” I hear Cheza say and I stop at the top of the stairs.

“What do you mean?” Natasha asks
and I start quietly approaching the closed master bedroom door.

“Look… I’m grateful to you for being there for him… for keeping him from hurting himself when I was being a bitch… without you, there’s a good chance that Cole wouldn’t be alive. Because I’m so grateful to you, I’ve felt indebted to you so I’ve overlooked your feelings and advances toward Cole
; I’ve been willing to share him with you. However, all of that has to stop. We’re having a child and you can’t keep doing that.” Cheza explains. Cheza must’ve gotten an image about last night…

“
Chezarei, I think you’re misunderstanding something.” Natasha says.

“What am I misunderstanding?” Cheza asks.

“I’m not in love with Cole…” Natasha replies.

“What?” Cheza responds with disbelief.

“Well, I am…” Natasha admits.

“But I’m also in love with you,
Chezarei.” Natasha replies with a sultry tone and I hear them kiss. This is one ‘left turn’ that I wasn’t expecting… and Natasha calling me an idiot after what I said at the wedding makes more sense now that I have all the information.

“I’m in love with both of you…
it’s something I discovered when I was ‘playing girlfriend’ for Cole.” Natasha explains with a breathy voice.

It looks like my mac
aroni and cheese is more of a… a… something about a food that goes both ways… damn this is hard, most likely because women aren’t known for fucking foods… a banana maybe? Wait! Hear me out! A man could technically jerk off with the peel while a woman uses the actual banana… after he microwaved the peel, of course… What was I talking about?

“
Tasha…” Cheza coyly replies.

What follows
are the sounds of heavy petting, light moaning, and kissing; while I’m just sitting here, listening to this shit… of course I start jackin’ it! What did you expect!?

“
Jeez, Cole…” Sara says behind me, causing me to silently jump.

“Stop
jerking off in the hallway and just go join them already!” Sara exclaims in a hushed tone.

“Sara… I believe
that this is my house so I have the right to jack it wherever I want.” I calmly explain.

“However, I shall heed your suggestion.”
I add.

“Right… have fun. I’m going to go get some lunch.” Sara replies.

“Feel free to take one of the cars, if you want; just make sure to bring your phone.” I tell her.

“Thanks, Cole.” Sara says and heads downstairs.

“Think we should go get some whipped cream?” Natasha asks in a sultry tone.

I immediately stick my dick back in my pants and race downstairs. After throwing open the refrigerator door and reaching into the back to grab the can of whipped cream, I race back upstairs, leaving a trail of clothing in the up
stairs hallway as I strip, and knock on the door; I never could have anticipated that I’d ever think this, but I wish I had a banana hammock.

“Did somebody order whipped cream?” I ask in my best porn star voice while holding up the can. Cheza looks surprised at my appearance before she grabs the can.

“Yeah, thanks!” Cheza exclaims and shuts the door in my face.

Well… this is not the outcome I was expecting
. I turn around and start to trudge down the hall before four skinny white arms pull me into the room and shut the door.

…

The three of us collapse in a heap on the bed in a hot, white, sticky mess… oh, whipped cream; your innuendos will never cease to amuse me. I notice some on Cheza’s chest so I lean over and lick it off.

“AH! THAT WASN’T WHIPPED CREAM! THAT TOTALLY WASN’T WHIPPED CREAM!” I scream as both of the girls laugh at me
. And then I calm down and realize that there isn’t really any taste.

“Actually, this isn’t too bad! I mean, I wouldn’t drink it
by choice, but the overall taste isn’t nearly as bad as I thought it would—HKK!” I gag as the taste hits me all at once.

I can only equate it to the aftertaste of sucking on a roll of pennies while drinking a
chalky protein shake. My gagging only has the result of making the girls laugh even harder. As I lie gagging, Cheza stands up and runs to the bathroom; I resist the urge to laugh at the mother of my child for this ironic situation when my phone starts ringing.

“I should probably get that.” I announce, stand from the bed, and head out into the hall to retrieve my phone from my pants.

“Hello?” I answer.

“Hey C
ole; we are all done.” Naia informs me as wind rushes past the speaker, slightly breaking up her voice.

“Alright, are you guys already at the bottom of the stairs?” I ask.

“Almost; we are gliding down the steps now.” Naia reports.

“
Give me about ten to fifteen minutes and I’ll meet you three there.” I reply.

“
Okay, see you soon.” Naia responds and hangs up.

I collect my clothes and walk into the bedroom,
seeing that Cheza has rejoined Natasha on the bed, and I make a break for the bathroom. I step into the shower and turn it on to wash the stickiness from the whipped cream off of my body. The girls decide to join me and start things again.

“I can’t; I have to go pick up Ryuji and Naia.” I inform them.

“We know; this is just for us.” Cheza replies with a surreptitious smile.

“How are you two not exhausted? We were at it for like four hours.” I inquire.

“Because frankly, you aren’t that good at your job.” Natasha teases.

“I was trying my best!” I exclaim.

“I know you were, honey; just like I was trying my best not to sleep with your brother, but sometimes our best just isn’t good enough.” Cheza replies and Natasha starts laughing.

“Wait, what?” I ask.

“What?” Cheza asks in a manner that suggests that she didn’t say anything.

“What?” I question.

“What…?” Cheza inquires.

“…What…?
Anyway, I need to get going… you two have fun, I guess.” I tell them and step out of the shower.

After drying off and getting clothed
, I touch my triskele and port to the steps leading to the temple in China. Seeing that no one is here, I wait around for a few minutes until the three of them come gliding around the first corner and down the steps. I notice Li’s red wings and realize that this is the first time I’ve seen them.