An Imperceptible Ruse Indeed (The Gods' Executioner Series) (28 page)

Chapter 27: Off + White Picket Fence

“UNCLE COLE!”
Alice screams from inside the house after Sara, Natasha, Cheza, and I port to the front door and ring the doorbell. I hear the door handle jiggle before it bursts open and Alice tackles my leg.

“Hey sweetie.” I reply while smiling down at her
as I notice a patchwork stuffed rabbit that she’s carrying; it looks like someone stitched Dynamite back together.

“Uncle Cole…” Alice says while looking up at me with tears in her eyes. I bend over and hoist her up.

“I’m sorry if I scared you, Alice.” I gently tell her.

“Uncle Cole.” Alice replies as she wraps her arms around my neck and hugs me.

“I’m back.” I say as I return the hug.

Natasha clears her throat to remind me that we can easily take this hug-fest inside, so I open the front door and walk in.

“WELCOME BACK COLE!” The living room patrons announce as music starts pumping through the house.

Standing in the living room are
Aine, Charlotte, and Lila; Isis, Naia, and Ryuji; Hel, Jason, Reyna, Maria, Babette, Pinga, Persephone, and finally Jericho.

“Thanks, you guys.” I reply
as Jason walks over.

“Here you go, bro.” Jason says while handing me a green drink.
I set Alice down and take the glass.

“What’s with the St. Patrick’s day drink? Isn’t it still February?” I ask as I take a sip. The kick that hits the back of my throat tells me what it is.

“Green Russian? Nice… I haven’t had one of these since we were eighteen.” I reply with a smile.

“What’s a Green Russian?” Lila asks as I chug the drink; if Jason wants to celebrate my return in this manner, who am I to argue? Jason
smirks as I polish off my drink and he snaps me a new one, as well as one for himself.

“It’s a drink from the animated show
Archer
. I’m not sure if it was a real drink or if they made it for the show, but it’s two parts Absinthe, two parts Vodka, one part Crème de Menthe, and two parts milk.” Cheza answers with a slightly cross tone; I look over and see her trying to actively glare a hole through my head.

“Oh, sorry
Cheza. Do you mind?” I ask.

“Go ahead and do what you want.” Cheza replies.

“Are you sure?” I ask.

“It’s fine, Cole. You can just drink for both of us.” Cheza says
with a smile.

“Well, if you’re sure…” I reply and down my drink. “I’m going to go mingle. Let me know if you need anything.”

“Sure.” Cheza replies and I walk over to Jericho.

“Jericho! How have things been, man?” I ask, having not seen Jericho in over a year.

“Business has been good, especially with all the crazy shit that’s been going on lately.” Jericho answers.

“Yeah, I imagine so; tragedy is usually good business for a bar
. Anyway, I need to go take a leak; these Green Russians are running right through me.” I reply and walk down the hall to the bathroom. I’m standing there, handling my business, when I hear something coming from the next room over.

“So how are things going?” Hel asks.

“Duat is mostly repaired and I’ve been running things in Heliopolis from down here. Some of the gods don’t like it, but I have the support of Thoth, Anubis, and Nephthys so the others will most likely fall in line. How are things on your end, Pinga?” Isis inquires.

“
Adlivun is nearly fully recovered, but it did have a very small amount of damage to it compared to the other districts. Sedna should have the repairs completed in less than a week.” Pinga reports.

“As you both probably know,
Annwvyn is still a mess; Tir na nOg is recovering, but it’s been slow going since I’m the only head and the size of the Tuatha De has been so greatly diminished. I’m just glad that Loki hasn’t launched a follow up attack.” Aine comments.

“Yeah… I hate to say this, but Cole being away has helped since Loki seems to only be active when Cole is… what? I can’t be the only one to have noticed this.” Persephone says.

I wash my hands and return to the party.

“You alright, CT?” Jason asks
while eyeing me suspiciously.

“Yeah… I could use a top-off though.” I reply.

“Sure.” Jason says and snaps his fingers.

“Hey Jason!
? Can you give me a hand!?” Reyna requests from the kitchen.

“I should go help her…” Jason tells me while still observing me.

“Go on.” I respond.

Jason gives a glance over his shoulder as he walks into the kitchen. Cheza is sitting in the corner and chatting with Lila, Natasha, Sara, and Charlotte as I look on, feeling a bizarre kind of distance from them. At Least It Was Here by The 88 starts playing throughout the house as I realize what I’m going to do… what I have to do.

(Cole… are you sure you want to go about it this way?)

“Yeah… I’m putting them all at risk by staying while Loki is still around.”

(What about Cheza and the baby?)

“All the more reason for me to go find Loki and protect them.”

(I can’t count the reasons I should stay)

“One by one, they all just fade away.”
I whisper in time with the lyrics and head upstairs.

I
enter the guest bedroom and pull a pen and a piece of paper out of the desk.

Cheza—

I’m going to be gone for a little while. It’s time I went on the offensive. I’m not leaving you behind to protect you, because I promised you that I wouldn’t do that anymore. That’s why I’m going alone to protect our child and our future together. I promise that I’ll be back soon. Once I finish Loki, we can start our happy family.

Love,

Cole

P.S. Natasha, if you could help Cheza with the baby stuff while I’m gone, I’d appreciate it.

“Airi, I need you to block Cheza.”

I fold the piece of paper and write Cheza’s name on the back before placing it on the desk. I walk over to the window, open it up, and fly out. After flying about a mile away, I touch my
Haglaz rune and port back to the house; Hel will still realize that someone has ported so I’ll have to make this quick. I grab my armored jeans, jacket, and holster before placing my phone on the night stand and porting to India. Upon arriving in the tropical garden, I wait for about a minute.

“Cole, what can I do for you?” Saraswati asks as she ports in.

“Have you guys discovered anything about Loki’s whereabouts?” I inquire.

“No, we haven’t.” Saraswati answers.

“Well, try harder; I need to take him out before things get worse. I’ll search around on my own and see what I can turn up. Just contact me with Nagi or Kanta if you find anything and don’t let anyone know where I am; I didn’t bring my phone with me so that nobody can call me or track me.” I reply.

“Okay. I’m sure that Shiva will be happy now that you have such a vested interest in this. We’ll let you know if anything turns up
.” Saraswati says.

I nod in response and touch my triskele.

…

[February 14th]

“And that makes zero for six.” I say to myself while standing in the underwater dome at the Witley Park Estate, having reached the last place on the list of six abandoned places that would make awesome super villain hideouts.

(At least this place wasn’t as bad as those metro tunnels in Moscow)

“That is true… ugh… I guess the reason that ‘in Russia, rat eats you’ is because the rats are as big as bears and bears without vests or hats tend to eat people… hmm…”

(I doubt that giving the rats vests and hats would make them more likeable or give them the ability to
ride a unicycle)

“Dream crusher…”

“Cole! Finally… We’ve been looking for you all over this damn place!” Nagi exclaims as she runs into the dome; she said we, so Kanta must be around here somewhere as well.

“What’s up, Nagi? Did my father find Loki?” I inquire.

“Cheza’s been kidnapped!” Nagi answers.

“What?” I ask while trying to remain calm.

“Your mother found her location, but she can’t port Cheza out remotely for some reason!” Nagi explains.

“Where is she?” I question.

“She’s being held on a train that runs through the realms of Yggdrasil.” Nagi replies.

“Wait, so Loki has been hiding on a train that runs through the realms of a pantheon that he is the head of, and it’s taken Cheza getting
abducted to find him!?” I ask, nearly shouting by the end.

“Well, there is the whole constantly moving aspect to it…” Nagi says.

“Oh good, you found him!” Kanta exclaims while running in from the opposite side of the dome.

“Unbelievable… alright, I’ll go save her.” I reply.

“Port to Niflheim; Jason is waiting to take you to the train’s next stop.” Nagi responds.

“Alright.” I say and touch my right shoulder.

“Cole! Let’s get going; the train should be stopping in Asgard right now.” Jason reports when I appear in his kitchen.

“How did Cheza get kidnapped anyway?” I ask; it’s most likely my fault, but I mean, come on! I haven’t even been gone for a whole day!

“She… Uh… We don’t have time for this!” Jason exclaims and claps his hand on my shoulder.

The black mist disperses to the sound of train bells, the kind that notify of
a train’s departure. I run to the door where a person in a bellhop-esque uniform stops me.

“Ah, yes; I’ve been told to expect you. She’s waiting in cabin fourteen.” The guy says and waves me through. He must be talking about Sydney…

I continue down the train’s car as it departs the station, glancing back down the hallway to find that Jason isn’t following me. I reach the door to cabin fourteen, remove my .460 S&W from the holster, and quietly slide the door open. The entryway opens up to a luxurious cabin with gas lamps and 1920’s décor that reminds me of the Titanic. I sweep the open doors to my left and right, a bedroom and bathroom, and get to the closed door at end of the hallway. I slowly open the door and see a leather lounge chair angled away from the door with a white hand holding a crystal glass that contains an amber liquid; no one else is in the room.

“Where’s Cheza?” I demand while aiming my gun at the back of the chair. The white hand lifts the glass out of view and I make my way around the room.

“Cheza? What are you doing drinking!?” I demand when I see that she’s the one in the chair, wearing a fine black dress and the white gold and sapphire pendant that I gave her for her eighteenth birthday.

“Sit, Cole.” Cheza replies and gestures across from her at the other chair.
I take a seat while Cheza finishes her drink.

“This is just apple juice, by the way.” Cheza informs me.

“So you kidnapped yourself…” I comment.

“Here’s what’s going to happen: We are going to spend Valentine’s together. We are going to enjoy our evening like normal people. We aren’t going to use our powers for anything. If you can manage these without fucking them up, I’ll forgive you for leaving me behind.” Cheza explains
with a serious tone.

“I’ll forgive you for leaving me like that…” Cheza adds with tears in her eyes, her voice cracking. I stand up, walk over to her, get on my knees, and embrace her.

“I’m sorry, Cheza. Happy Valentine’s Day.” I softly reply. I hold Cheza until she calms down a minute later.

“So I guess today will be sort of like our Shabbat… yeah, supernatural Shabbat.” I comment.

“Shabbat?” Cheza curiously asks.

“It’s the Jewish day of rest where they aren’t supposed to do anything work-related.” I explain.

“Oh… I guess supernatural Shabbat sort of fits, then.” Cheza replies.

“So what shall we do this evening?” I inquire.

“There’s a murder mystery themed dinner in about an hour and then I was thinking we could come back here, have a soak in the tub, and see where things go from there.” Cheza informs me with a surreptitious smile.

“Sounds like a plan.” I softly
reply and give her a kiss. Cheza kisses me back and then softly pats my cheek as she stands up.

“Good, now change into this.” Cheza says as she walks to the corner and grabs a suit bag.

I unzip the black bag and see a pair of black pants, a white shirt, and… is that a waistcoat? Cheza smiles me, silently judging my reaction; as such, I say nothing, strip down, and get dressed in the outfit. After feeling a bulge in the pockets of the pants, I search them and feel my cellphone. I notice the pair of white gloves after buttoning my waistcoat; it looks like Cheza thought of everything. I slip the ring off of my left hand, put the gloves on, and slide the ring back into place.

“How might I serve you, Mistress?” I ask with my best ‘Belv
edere’ accent and hand flourish.

“If I wanted to look at your feet, I’d sneak into your room and do it while you were sleeping, Woodhouse.” Cheza replies and I smile at her.