Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (129 page)

A movement in the lower canyon caught her attention. She couldn’t believe her eyes. McAdams had climbed down into the lower canyon and had picked up her shield. What would he do with it? Wait. He tossed it aside. He was looking for something. What? He picked up the apple core she had tossed and was ravaging it like a starved animal. He had it eaten in an instant, seeds and stem and all, and then he looked around, trembling and pathetic.

He went to the small reservoir at the lowest point of the deeper canyon, the pool to which both falls spilled into, and drank. This body of water wasn’t nearly as large as the one behind Poseidon—only about ten feet at the widest point—and Therese guessed it must empty into the ground and spring out again somewhere else. Then she remembered this was Mount Olympus, and all this was an illusion. The water didn’t have to flow anywhere. It could just disappear.

McAdams continued to look around, over his shoulder, as though he feared
he
were the one being pursued. This thought made Therese giggle slightly. So
he
was afraid of
her
? He thought
she
was coming for
him
?

From her height she could probably hit him with one of the softball-sized rocks, but her chances of missing him were high, and she would give away her location. Plus, he looked so pathetic, like a lame animal, and until he outright attacked her, she might not have it in her to further injure him. But then how long would this battle drag on? How long would she have to hang out here in this dark cave waiting for him to come for her? Shouldn’t she just end it now if she could? Launch her rocks and try to crush him to death? Wouldn’t she starve to death otherwise?

“Should I attack?”

“Yes!” the barely audible answer came.

She watched McAdams scramble along the canyon floor toward her decoy camp. Perhaps he wouldn’t drag this battle out after all. He seemed anxious now, almost lustful. He climbed the wall of the cliff edge furthest from the gods directly beneath her decoy camp. It was time to launch her attack. It was now or never.

Therese took a deep breath and, as she exhaled, she emitted a loud grunt, which she knew no one could hear because of the falls. But as she grunted, she took up a softball-sized rock and threw it at him. She missed, but without thinking, she threw again and again and again, until all twelve softball-sized rocks were gone, and she hit him more than once. He cowered beneath her with his arms over his head, sliding down to the canyon floor. She lunged against her sheath and launched the first watermelon-sized boulder. It dropped a foot or two away from where he crouched, so quickly, before he could move, she launched the next, and bam! It hit its target. He fell over onto the canyon floor, grasping his left shoulder, where the boulder had hit, and moaned. She couldn’t hear him but she could see his mouth moving. Now she moved her lever to another boulder and launched it directly on his chest. It hit him and then bounced and rolled away, breaking into smaller pieces. Although she couldn’t hear his wails, she could see his face, and she could see he was in terrible pain and agony. Shuddering at what she had done, but not allowing herself to think on it, she launched another boulder and hit her mark again.

McAdams rolled over onto his hands and knees and crawled away from her. Blood poured from his shoulder, which he continued to hold with his right hand. He scrambled away, out of her reach but not her sight, and he sat against the canyon wall, breathing rapidly.

It was time for her to go to him. She belted on the golden sheath and found her sword on the cave floor. She returned the blade to its sheath and prepared to descend. You can do this, she told herself. Then to the gods, even to Ares, she said, “I’m going to end this.”

Although she dreaded what had to be done, the feeling of imminent victory lifted her spirits as she climbed down from her cave to the grotto below. McAdams was no longer in view from here, but once she worked her way out past the falls, scaling down toward the deeper canyon, she could see him again sitting and slumped against the rocks.

“You killed my mom and dad!” she shouted as she got closer. “I had to watch them die! Your gunman shot my mom in the neck! My father drove off a bridge trying to dodge the gunman’s bullets, and he and my mother drowned right before my eyes!”

McAdams’s eyes were wide and his breathing rapid. She was within ten feet of him. She drew her sword. It was dirty from use, but it would still do the trick.

“Please don’t kill me,” McAdams begged in a shaky voice.

“Kill him!” Hades shouted. “Do it now and be a god among us!”

“Kill him!” the gods shouted.

She looked up at them gathered above her, and even Ares had a look of lust on his face.

She looked back at McAdams lying there quivering, bleeding, tears welling in his eyes. She looked for a place to stick him. Should she slit his throat? Stab his heart?

She shuddered as she raised the blade, still not sure where to pierce him.

“Kill him now!” Hades yelled. “Slit his throat! Think of what he did to your parents!”

Therese gritted her teeth and raised the blade higher, shaking and breathing so rapidly. This was it! This was it! Do it!

“Wait!” she screamed. “Isn’t this enough? To prove I could kill him? Can’t you make me a god without me having to follow through?”

“No!” Hades shouted. “A deal is a deal! He deserves death, and so much more! Kill him!”

Again she looked at him, trembling worse than she. Tears fell from his eyes. He had wet himself. What had she become? He looked at her like
she
was the monster,
she
the villain. Was she? Had she become as bad as he?

What was so very different about them now? He had killed her parents for money, and she was going to kill him now for love and immortality. Wasn’t she better than this?

“No!” she dropped her arm to her side. “I won’t kill him!”

She expected McAdams to take his sword and lunge at her, but he didn’t move.

Suddenly Hades was at her side holding her hand with the blade to McAdams’s throat. “Finish the job!” Hades commanded.

Now Ares was there with McAdams’s sword at Therese’s throat. “No divine interference!” Ares said through gritted teeth.

All the gods appeared around them. Hades didn’t move Therese’s blade from McAdams’s throat, and Ares didn’t move McAdams’s blade from her throat. They stood there with the other gods encircling them.

“Ares, she won!” Than demanded. “Put down your blade!”

“There’s no victory until death!” Ares said. “No one has won yet. Back away, Hades!”

“Foolish girl!” Hades said, letting go of her hand and retreating to the ring of gods. “Stupid, cowardly girl! You had this won! You can still win! Plunge your blade into this despicable excuse for a human!”

Ares returned McAdams’s blade and stepped back to the circle of gods.

“Come on, man!” Ares said. “Don’t let yourself get beat by a girl. Stand up and kill her!”

But McAdams didn’t move.

“How long should we wait here while this man dies?” Aphrodite asked. “This is clearly a victory for the girl!”

“Hear, hear!” many voices shouted.

Hades moved to the center of the circle. “I swore on the river Styx that she would become a god if she avenged her parents’ death. She’s failed to do that. McAdams has yet to get his just dessert! This is no victory! This is pathetic and shameful! The girl does not deserve to be a god, especially among the Underworld! What kind of wife to Death would such a one as this make? She can’t even end the life of the man who destroyed her parents and brought the worst of human suffering upon her!”

“Kill him!” Artemis pleaded. “You can do it, Therese!”

Than looked at her expectantly. She met his hopeful eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Tears fell from her eyes. “I refuse to kill him. I just can’t do it. I can’t take a life!” She threw her sword down to the canyon floor.

“Kill her, McAdams!” Ares said. “This is your chance!”

Therese looked at the quivering, bloody man who had wet himself, and he looked at her. He didn’t move from his spot.

As much as she despised him, she hated herself for her injuries to him. “Apollo,” she asked silently in her mind, “Can you heal him?”

He gave her a look of astonishment and then slowly shook his head.

“Oh, this is an outrage!” Hades cried, guessing the meaning of the exchanged looks between her and Apollo. He took up her sword from the canyon floor and plunged it into McAdams’s chest.

A collective gasp echoed throughout the canyon. Suddenly Ares had McAdams’s sword at her throat and Than stood in front of her protectively.

“Back down, Ares!” Than cried.

“Gods and goddesses of the court,” Ares said. “Would you not agree that Hades has broken the rules?”

“At no fault of the girl’s!” Athena objected. “Father, she is innocent!”

“Back off, Ares and put down the weapon,” Zeus commanded. “Let us think what to do.”

Ares took a step back.

Suddenly Hip appeared next to the body of McAdams. He gave Therese a sheepish grin and disappeared with the hazy soul of the man, but the mangled, lifeless body still lay there on the canyon floor.

“Back to court!” Zeus commanded.

T
han wrapped
his arms around Therese. She leaned into him and closed her eyes with exhaustion. The ground beneath her shifted. When she opened her eyes, she was back on Mount Olympus inside the assembly hall standing—leaning, really, on Than—in the center of the court. Everything had returned to its original luster. The white marble floors were no longer a clearing on a platform above woods with ants burrowing near her feet. The tree stumps had returned to elaborate thrones, and all of the gods were seated on them, except for Than, who held her in his arms.

The mangled body of McAdams was no longer in sight, and through the foyer, Therese could see the golden whale fountain spraying up its heavenly water with its magnificent rainbow on top. Although she couldn’t see it, she imagined the battlefield had disappeared and had been replaced with the giant wall of clouds surrounding the palace.

“Fellow gods and goddesses,” Zeus said from his position on his throne. “I motion that we take some time to contemplate the decision before us, to rest after so many hours of sitting here watching with anxiety, and to eat the comforting foods we love. Does anyone second my motion?”

“I second it,” Aphrodite said.

“All agreed?” Zeus asked.

“Aye.”

“All opposed?”

No one, not even Ares, objected. Therese suspected he wanted time to think of some really good punishment for her.

“Good,” Zeus said. “We will reconvene in two hours.”

The gods and goddesses stood up from their thrones, but unlike the day before, when they had eagerly gathered around her professing their gifts, none but Aphrodite approached her and Than.

“They are all disappointed in me,” Therese muttered as she watched them quietly leave the assembly hall.

Than and Aphrodite both looked down to the marble floor.

“And you are disappointed, too,” Therese said.

Than tightened his hold on her. “I won’t lie and say I’m not disappointed. We could be husband and wife and spending eternity together right this instant.” He sighed.

“I should have had Cupid pierce your heart days ago,” Aphrodite said to Therese. “You wouldn’t have hesitated for the sake of love.”

Than swallowed hard. “No. I wouldn’t allow it, and even now, as things turned out, I don’t regret my decision. I wanted her to love me without Cupid’s help.”

Therese bit her lip. “You think I don’t love you enough? You think that’s why I didn’t kill him?”

Aphrodite lowered her eyes to give them privacy.

Than pulled Therese against him and kissed away her lines of worry. He kissed her forehead, her eyelids, her cheeks, and her mouth. “No,” he finally said. “I know you love me. You wouldn’t have chosen to fight otherwise. You could have gone free.”

She leaned her head against his chest. “I’m so sorry I couldn’t go through with it.”

“I’m not,” he said, and he kissed the top of her hair. “Your mercy and compassion are part of why I love you so much. You’re so different from my father and sisters. They want justice at any price. But you, my sweet Therese, you love and respect life.”

“How ironic that she would fall in love with Death,” Aphrodite murmured. “Listen, I will leave you two alone, but first I have to do something about Therese’s appearance. Just look at yourself.”

She pulled a mirror from the air and held it before Therese.

Therese shuddered at her reflection. Twigs and leaves were tangled in her wild hair, her face was smeared with dirt, her bra, which was once white, was a dull gray and stained with sweat, and her jeans were dirty and torn. She looked like a savage.

Instantly Aphrodite made Therese clean and fresh, dressed in a beautiful gown of pale blue silk. Her red curls were swept up in an arrangement on her head, jewels hung from her ears and around her wrist. Her golden locket from Athena sparkled with polish on her throat. Silver sandals adorned her feet.

“Just like Cinderella,” she laughed. Then, more seriously, she said, “Thank you, Aphrodite.”

The goddess of love smiled and replied, “Although foremost I want you to look spectacular during your final moments with Thanatos, I also suspect the other gods might have more mercy on you looking so angelic.”

“You’re probably right,” Therese said. “Thank you.”

Aphrodite turned and left the hall.

“Hungry?” Than asked her when they were alone.

She shook her head. “I just ate a ton of fruit. Can we just sit down for a while?”

“You’re tired, I’m sure.”

“Yeah. I’m pretty tired, but I’m too nervous to sleep.”

“I could take you for a ride on my father’s chariot.”

“I doubt your father would allow that.”

“I won’t ask him.”

“You think that’s wise?”

He shrugged. “I know my father. His mind is made up. Our little ride won’t change anything. Besides, I could pop to your house, gather the items you want to give to charity, and pop them back into the chariot. We have two hours. This may be our last chance to get them to the goddesses’ charities.”

“And that could sway their decision today.”

“Possibly.”

She laughed.

“What?”

“It just seems odd to use your father’s fancy golden chariot to deliver my parents’ old clothes to charities.”

He gave her a hug.

“Could I see my aunt and uncle?”

Than shook his head. “No. You’ll have to remain in the chariot over Mount Olympus. I’ll make a few trips back and forth with the bags and boxes while you hang out overhead.”

Than and Therese went down the rainbow steps, into the golden-paved plaza, and to the stables to the back stall where Swift and Sure, Hades’s black stallions, were boarded. Therese stroked their necks and spoke to them in soft tones. The feel of the animals soothed her.

“They love you already,” Than laughed.

Than led Swift and Therese led Sure across the plaza to the chariot shed where Cupid helped them bridle the horses for their journey.

“This is our secret, Cupid,” Than said, and Cupid winked in reply.

Hades’s golden chariot had a bench seat like Poseidon’s, but there was a second bench in back as well. And where Poseidon had trim of waves and ornaments of marine life, Hades’s chariot was trimmed with golden flames.

Therese and Than sat beside one another. Than took the reins. Like a shot of lightning, they darted out of the shed and into the sky, high above Mount Olympus. Than put an arm around Therese’s shoulders and she curled against him. She wished this moment could last forever, but it seemed to pass by too quickly. Than slowed the chariot down to an easy glide and it hovered, like a hot air balloon, far above the palace.

“I’m so glad to get away for a little while and have a few moments alone with you,” Therese said softly. “I have a feeling Ares may insist I be condemned to death, which I really don’t mind. I look forward to seeing my parents. But I am so sorry I won’t be the same, for your sake.”

“I’ll love you no matter what,” he murmured. “Don’t think about that now.” He leaned over and kissed her.

She squared herself to him, taking his face in both her hands. Oh, how she would miss these kisses! She moved her fingers over his face—his cheeks, his jaw, his sexy brow. “I won’t forget this face. The Lethe River will not make me forget your beautiful face!” She kissed him again.

“I don’t think you’ll be condemned to death,” Than said. “So quit thinking about that now. Just kiss me.”

She kissed him, eagerly, but then she pulled back. “You don’t think they’ll make me a god, do you?”

He shook his head sadly. “No. My father swore an oath on the river Styx. You won’t be made a god.” He kissed her forehead. “But if they release you, I promise I’ll come back for you, not to guide your soul to the dead, but to make you my queen. I don’t know how I’ll do it, but I swear I’ll find a way.”

“You think they’re going to release me, back to my home in Colorado?” This thought had not occurred to her. It didn’t sound like such a terrible option to her anymore. She missed her aunt, and she missed Clifford, Puffy, and Jewels. She missed Jen and her other friends. She missed her cabin across from the lake.

“I shouldn’t have told you that. I don’t want to build up your hopes in case it goes otherwise. But I don’t think Artemis, Apollo, Athena, and Aphrodite will stand for your murder. And Zeus will side with them over the others.”

“What about Hades and Ares? They both want me dead now!”

“I don’t know. That’s our biggest concern. But, please, please shut up and kiss me.”

After a long, luscious kiss that set Therese’s soul on fire, Than said, “Hold that thought while I get the donations.”

“You’re going to leave me up here by myself?”

“Swift and Sure will take care of you. And I’ll only be gone a few seconds at a time.” He kissed her and then vanished.

Instantly he returned with a black yard bag full of her parents’ clothes in each hand. He made several such trips until the chariot was overflowing. Then Than took up the reins and told the horses to head for the island of Cyprus.

The rocky shoreline came into view within a matter of seconds. Than pulled the chariot to a stop just above an enormous stone castle. Then, leaving Therese inside the chariot once again to hover in the sky, he disappeared and reappeared several times as he unloaded half of the donations with the society devoted to Aphrodite’s annual festival. Then Than returned to the chariot and did the same for Athena’s charity in Acropolis.

When they returned to the skies above Mount Olympus, they still had time to cuddle and kiss in the chariot before the court would reconvene.

“Now, where were we?” Than asked with a husky voice as he covered her lips with his.

“Mmm,” Therese sighed. “I don’t want to ever forget this moment. She was still fairly sure she would be condemned to die and taken on the Lethe River—the river of forgetfulness—to the Elysian Fields. “I won’t allow myself to forget how good it feels to be in your arms, to be kissed by you.”

A
trumpet sounded
throughout the air, and Therese immediately thought of her friend Ray, who played the trumpet in her high school band. Next she thought of Todd and his ostentatiously high truck. She thought of Vicki in the wake of her mother’s suicide. And she thought of Jen, Bobby, Pete, and Mrs. Holt all doing their best to deal with their fragmented family as it tried to piece itself back together again.

Than pulled the chariot back into the shed and left the horses for Cupid to tend to and then gave Therese his hand and led her from the chariot, past the fountain, up the rainbow steps, and into the assembly hall where all the gods awaited on their thrones.

Hades gave his son a look of admonition as Than led Therese to the center of the court.

Therese felt her whole body quaking. This was it.

Zeus cleared his throat. “The first to speak on the matter at hand shall be Ares.”

“Look at her standing there so lovely,” Ares said sharply, standing from his throne and walking toward her. “No doubt Aphrodite’s doing. Therese Mills, by appearances, could, perhaps, fit in among us gods. But Hades swore an oath on the river Styx, and no oath sworn on that river leading to his kingdom has ever, since the beginning of time, been broken. We must not allow him to make her like us no matter how badly his son desires it. She shall not be made the queen of Death!

“In addition, Hades should be punished for his interference. Who knows what different outcome might have been prevented by his hasty action? Not only shall she not become a god, but Hades must be made to swear that if any of us were ever persuaded to retrieve her from the Underworld,” here Ares looked directly at Than, “that Hades would send the Maenads to rip the offending god to shreds once a year, just as they once ripped Orpheus when he stormed back to the Underworld for Eurydice the second time.”

A gasp echoed through the court, and all the gods and goddesses looked at one another with solemn eyes as Ares returned to his throne.

Then Zeus said, “Hades, what do you have to say?”

Hades stood up. His eyes looked around the court and fell on his son, standing beside Therese. “It pains me to see my son so unhappy. Therese could have helped us all to avoid this had she done the deed herself. It’s true I struck the final blow that killed McAdams, but only because I owed it to my souls, her parents, who deserved to be avenged.

“It is because of her cowardice that we stand here, indecisive. I agree with Ares that she should not become like us. I accept the punishment of sending the Maenads to rip apart any who would drag her from my kingdom. But I wish Ares and the rest of you to consider this: Does this girl, though cowardly, deserve to die? I pride myself on my just ways, and I say to you today, we should send her to her mortal home
alive
. Believe me, Ares, you who crave victory over me, she will suffer far more alive than in the Elysian Fields frolicking with her parents among the asphodel. You took away her parents, and now we take away her one true love if we condemn her to life, far away from Death. Believe me, Ares, when I say she will suffer.” Hades returned to his seat.

Zeus then asked, “Poseidon? Have you any words regarding her? She was your prisoner.”

Poseidon stood. “I agree with Hades. Send the girl to her mortal home alive.” He returned to his seat.

“Hear, hear!” other gods and goddesses shouted.

“Send her home alive!” Artemis said.

“Send the girl home!” Athena echoed.

“Send the girl home alive!” others shouted.

“Ares?” Zeus asked. “What say you?”

Ares stood from his throne and took a few steps toward Therese. “You made me promise on the river Styx to protect your loved ones if you chose the third option, which you did, and so I do, but I did
not
promise to protect
you
! Send her back a mortal girl to her mortal home, as Hades has said. Let her suffer in life without Death.”

Applause rang out among the gods.

“On one condition!” Ares shouted.

The Olympians quieted down to listen to Ares’s next words.

“I will agree to let her live if everyone here swears on the River Styx not to make this girl like us. She must live as a mortal and die as a mortal and none of us shall change that.”