Unamused Muse (Mt. Olympus Employment Agency: Muse Book 2) (22 page)

“Of course not.”

All three of them exchanged looks with each other that I didn’t understand.

“What?” I pulled away from Mom and threw my arms in the air in exasperation.

Mom touched my shoulder, smiling. “Sweetheart, those bubbles don’t work with a pink-plastic wand. They only work with the god wands. The way you’ve been doing it, they’re just bubbles.”

I shook my head. “No. Bosco and Kevin went back to the gate. And David’s sister dropped her cigarette. And the new souls weren’t afraid anymore.”

Hades grinned. “Yes, that’s true. You started a chain reaction that’s still going on.”

“And you all stopped fighting.” Why didn’t they want to admit the bubbles worked for me? And how long had he known I’d helped the people at the gates? He hadn’t seemed at all surprised. I shook my head, confused.

Demeter stepped around the counter and kissed my cheek. “Yes. We did.”

Did I make the bubbles work through sheer will? Did I even need the bubbles?

They all watched me play this through in my head. I wasn’t satisfied with the idea that I was persuasive and influenced people without magic. I’d never cared enough about anything to try in the past.

Mom kissed my other cheek, then turned her attention to Hades. “I think maybe I’m ready to go home now.”

Relief spread across his face, and he held his arms out. She melted into them, and he wrapped her in close. They fit together as if they’d been chiseled out of marble by a Renaissance sculptor. Mom sighed, happier than I’d ever seen her, and they disappeared together in a cloud of dark smoke.

Demeter sighed. “I don’t suppose you’d stay a little while and help me clean up? I promise not to try to keep you here. I’m sorry about that. Truly.”

Her expression was so sad, it squeezed my heart. After millennium of fighting to have her daughter returned, she’d nearly won. And Mom went away again. Demeter had gone about this all wrong, no question. Forgiving her and learning to trust her would take some time. And I wasn’t entirely convinced of her sanity. But I could afford to be generous, and it wouldn’t hurt me to learn how to be a granddaughter. Who knew? Maybe I could inspire her to be less angry about the long-ago past.

I smiled. “I’d be happy to, Grandmama. It’s still pretty early. Maybe we can finish that jigsaw puzzle before I have to get going.”

Her deep blue eyes—so like my mother’s eyes, and so like the ones I saw every day in the mirror—grew misty. “Are you sure? You aren’t angry with me?”

She
had
kidnapped me and stolen five days of my life. But after hours around a table with her and Mom and Hades, my anger had softened. Mom was the only family I’d ever known before all this, and I’d been willing to do whatever it took to get her back in the brief time she’d been taken from me.

How much worse must it have been for a goddess to lose her only daughter? Obviously, she’d do whatever she had to do to get her back. And to find she had a granddaughter, too? Of course she’d want to keep her granddaughter close, as well.

Her methods sucked, but I could understand why she’d done it. Plus, she was a goddess. From the stories I’d read, none of them was the picture of mental health.

“I’m not going to lie. What you did was not cool, and I’m still a little upset about it. But we’re family. I’m learning what that means, since I’ve never had more than Mom before. But I know that family forgives each other. Family is forever, right?”

She blinked, and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Forever.” She sniffed and gave me a sly smile. “Want to bake some cookies?”

I stared at her for a moment until she started laughing.

“Grandmama, I never want to see another cookie as long as I live.”

But that was a lie. We ate quite a few while we finished the puzzle. And they were still delicious.

Chapter 24

“I think the feral cats represent Gabriel’s fear of having caused his sister’s death.” Lamia smoothed here bowl-cut black hair over her forehead in a self-conscious manner.

Nyx leaned across the table, nearly toppling her wine glass. “Did you even read the first ten chapters? Clearly the author is suggesting the dead girl is actually a metaphor for Gabriel’s freedom, and the feral cats represent the many choices now available to him since leaving his wife.”

Lamia smirked and refilled her glass. It was her third. “I think you might have skimmed over the part where he remembers how he came across the dead cat when he was six and how it affected his life choices ever after.”

Nyx bristled, waving her copy of
Palindrome Falls
in the air. “How can you say that when in chapter seven—”

“Chapter seven wasn’t even his point of view!”

Hecate nudged me with her shoulder and spoke in a whisper. “They never talk about the book. They argue about everything else, but in centuries of book club meetings, they never get around to talking about the book. You’re a genius.”

I ducked as a profiterole stuffed with blood-orange cream flew past my head. “I’m glad I could help. Sorry you had to postpone the meeting for me.”

“That’s quite alright. You’re one of us now. We understand. Besides….” She grinned and patted my hand. “Now that everything’s all straightened out, you won’t have anything keeping you from the rest of the meetings.”

I dodged a flying plastic spoon and returned her smile. “No, I guess I won’t.”

~*~

My last weeks on the job in the office of Underworld LLC headquarters were a lot less stressful. Word was out that I was officially part of Hades’ family, so people were a lot more polite to me on the phone. Even Pheme.

“May I speak to Hades, please?” Her husky voice was familiar by now, but it held a more reserved tone. And she’d never said please before.

“I’m sorry, he’s in a meeting. May I take a message?”

She hesitated, then cleared her throat. “Maybe you could help me. Is there…is there any truth to the rumor that you’re dating Poseidon’s son in a bid to join the Underworld with the Oceans so Hades and Poseidon can finally overcome Zeus and take over Mt. Olympus?”

Laughter burst out of me before I could stop it. It took me a minute to catch my breath and recover before I could answer. “Pheme.” I giggled a little. “Your imagination is amazing. Have you ever considered joining the Hags of the Underworld book club?”

I may have insulted her. I wasn’t positive. But she did hang up, and she didn’t call again until long after I’d gone back to Mt. Olympus, so at least I’d accomplished something.

I’d also made more friends than I’d realized. Parker and Kris took me out to lunch before I left, and both my dorm mates joined us, as well as Roxy, Nyx, Nemi, and Hecate. I couldn’t be a hundred percent certain that none of them were there to appease the boss, but, Parker and Kris both got a little teary-eyed about my leaving and promised to email me pictures of the baby when I got home.

Not everyone thought of me as a prize to be won, then.

And as for those who did still think of me that way, my new status put an end to the deluge of requests to go out with every guy someone thought I should be fixed up with. Hades had only been aware of my dates with Max and Scooter. When he found out the entire Underworld was in a race to either be my next date or take credit for it, he put a stop to it.

Plus, nobody wanted to drop their date off at Hades’ mansion. It was a little intimidating, I supposed. I had to admit, I was a little disappointed, simply because the idea of Hades flipping the porch light on and off to keep boys from kissing his stepdaughter was sort of hilarious.

Lita and Otis couldn’t do enough for Mom and me. I kept trying to tell them I could run my own bath and turn down my own sheets, but Mom finally took me aside.

“They’ve been looking forward to having us all in the same house for years,” she said. “Let them do what they want for you. You’ll be going back soon anyway.”

She was right, but it was still a little uncomfortable having all my laundry done for me. I would never get used to it.

Within four days of Mom’s return to the Underworld, the banks of the Styx were covered in green grass. I learned later the greenery in the Elysian Fields had all been artificial. I also found out Hades had paid someone to disrupt my date with Max—landing me in a puddle of chocolate—and had sent me to the Elysian Fields with the full intention of keeping me from meeting Scooter for drinks. Apparently, my stepfather wasn’t too keen on either of those men, at least not as companions for his stepdaughter.

“I know Parker and Kris think the world of Scooter, but the guy’s an ass.” Hades popped a grape in his mouth. “He’s not the right guy for you. And Max is greasy. I don’t trust him.”

I smiled, touched by his concern, though mildly irritated at his manipulations. “You should have said so. It would have saved me from a world of embarrassment and a nasty hangover.”

Mom laughed. “Bacchus won’t even touch the stuff they serve at that restaurant he took you to. I don’t know what you were thinking.”

Hades scratched his chin. “You know who might be a good match? Gary over in accounting.”

Mom frowned. “The one with the unibrow? Is he still there?”

I put my hands up like I was covering my ears. “La-la-la. I can’t hear you!” I tossed a grape into my own mouth, laughing, then hugged them both. “I have to go finish packing. You can tell Gary I’m done dating for awhile.”

~*~

After everything that had happened, my own apartment was quiet and a little lonely, even with Phyllis to keep me company. I’d gone home early Sunday morning, thinking I should have the day to get ready to go back to work in the Muse department the next morning.

Lita had sent me home with so much food, I didn’t need to go to the store. She’d washed all my clothes, so I didn’t need to do laundry. The apartment had been empty, so there wasn’t really anything to clean. I spent maybe twenty minutes unpacking, then there was nothing left to do.

I called Jilly and left a message on her voicemail, but she must’ve been busy, because she didn’t call back. I turned on the television, but couldn't find anything that kept my attention. I tried to read the next ten chapters of the book I was reading for book club, but I was too fidgety.

“What on earth is wrong with you?” Phyllis sat in the window watching the world go by. “I missed the sunshine so much while we were gone. I think next time I might ask you to leave me with your young man from across the courtyard.”

“What happened to your need to keep an eye on me all the time? And he’s not my young man.”

“No, of course not, dear. You’ve said that.” She fluttered a branch toward the door. “You might want to get that.”

“Get what?”

A knock rapped against the door, and I pulled it open. Mark stood outside, grinning and holding a pizza box and a bottle of wine.

The wind picked up and blew his dark hair across his chocolate-brown eyes. “I saw your car in the parking lot and thought you might like some company.”

I let the door swing open the rest of the way and smiled. “Are you stalking me?”

He set the pizza on the table. “Would it bother you if I were?”

I pretended to think about it. Compared to the people in the Underworld, Mark’s brand of stalking was more than welcome. “No. I don’t think it would.”

He grinned. “Good. Welcome home, Wynter.”

I smiled back at him. Home was a very good place to be.

About R.L. Naquin

Rachel writes stories that drop average people into magical situations filled with heart and quirky humor.

She believes in pixie dust, the power of love, good cheese, lucky socks, and putting things off until the last minute. Her home is Disneyland, despite her current location in Kansas. Rachel has one husband, two grown kids, and a crazy-catlady starter kit.

Hang out with her online:

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www.rlnaquin.com

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Other Works by R.L. Naquin

Published by Bottle Cap Publishing:

Transmonstrified
(short story collection)

The Mount Olympus Employment Agency Series
Unfinished Muse
, Book 1
Unamused Muse
, Book 2
Uninspired Muse
, Book 3 (2016)

The
Undercover Gorgon
Miniseries
Episode 0 — “Becoming”
Episode 1 — “Witches War” (coming soon)

Published by Carina Press:

The Monster Haven Series
Monster in My Closet
, Book 1
Pooka in My Pantry
, Book 2
Fairies in My Fireplace
, Book 3
Golem in My Glovebox
, Book 4
Demons in My Driveway
, Book 5
Phoenix in My Fortune
, Book 6