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“Jena!”
Teus’s voice boomed across the water, loud enough to wake the dead. I whispered a soft prayer that most of the lake residents wasn’t at home to see the mess we was making of this.
Eros and Miss Jenny sank under the surface of the lake again, pushed under by the waves radiating away from Teus’s rising. Teus looked down and musta spotted them ‘cause his eyebrows shot down and his hand shot out. He scooped ‘em both outta the water, holding ‘em in his hand like dolls instead of fully growed people, then started walking toward shore, pushing the squid outta the way as he brushed by it.
Some of the tension bled outta me. Ok, that weren’t too bad. Teus could bring ‘em to shore then we could deal with getting him to calm down enough to shrink back down to human size. I knowed he could transform. Seen him do it often enough, but that was into mist and other forms of water. I had no idea he could make himself so big.
Just when I was hoping for a peaceful resolution, the flap of wings come to me from off toward my right. I craned my neck, searching for the source, and my stomach took another nosedive. There skimming above the treetops was half a dozen Arae, heading straight toward Giganto Teus.
“Ah,” an unfamiliar male voice said behind me. “The party is still young.”
I whirled around and almost lost my balance on the landing. Riley’s hand shot out and caught me, reeling me back in. Which was a good thing ‘cause soon as I caught sight of our newest visitor, I about keeled over. He was standing a few steps behind Riley, a tall, slender man with long flowing black hair and a rugged face. His eyes was a reddish brown and sharp as he studied us real casual, and he was dressed in a fancy tailored suit so black I could scarce look on it.
“Who in blazes are you?” I squawked.
The man gazed down at me, smiling faintly, and clasped long, narrow hands together in front of him. “Hades. I’ve come to collect a debt.”
I shook Riley’s hand off, gentle ‘cause he did save me, and flapped a hand at the giant squid. “You couldn’t just come yourself the first time?”
“I called the cetus back,” Hades said. “As it had served its purpose.”
“Cetus?” Riley said.
“The squid.” Hades’ voice was pleasant and mellow, not a’tall what I’da thunk it’d be. “I cannot take credit for the Arae either.”
“Them’s the Furies’ responsibility,” I said, kindly disgusted. Was there another Greek god I should be on the lookout for? Maybe Psyche come to chastise Eros?
“I dare say my appearance will be the last,” Hades said, still wearing that patient, knowing smile.
“Stay outta my head,” I snapped.
He just hummed kindly soft and turned his gaze on the blue god wading slowly toward us.
The Arae reached Teus right then and started diving toward him, one after t’other, about like pelicans dipping toward the water, hunting for fish. One hit him in the shoulder and skimmed away, then the rest were on him. He roared and dropped Eros and Miss Jenny, then set to swishing the Arae off him.
I pointed at Hades. “Do something.”
“And spoil the fun?”
“Do something,” I said real low, “or so help me, I’ll dive into that hellhole on Devil’s Branch and come make trouble in the Underworld.”
“I think I should like that. The Underworld is deadly dull this time of year without Persephone.”
I turned back around before I said something stupid, like how if he hadn’t stole Persephone away in the first place, she mighta stuck with him year ‘round. But then he might get mad and call me a spoil sport and we’d never get this sorted out.
I nudged Riley with my elbow. “You might wanna go round up Nora and that head, just in case we need ‘em.”
Riley bent toward me and whispered, “You sure you don’t want me to stay here with you?”
“‘Course I want you to stay,” I whispered back, and that was mostly true. I liked having Riley around. I just didn’t want him getting hurt, and that included going after Eros and Miss Jenny in Belinda’s boat, if it was even still in working order. “But we gotta do that whole divide and conquer thing right now.”
He laughed and kissed my cheek, then he was gone, taking his heat with him. The sun weren’t warming me up a’tall and I was still shivering. There was a lotta work left in front of me, though, so I daren’t put my jacket and boots back on yet.
“How dare you!” a woman said behind me.
I sighed. This was a day and a half for sure, and it’d barely got started.
I turned around, hands at the ready, and saw a woman standing on the same tread as Hades. She stood shoulder high to him and wore a diaphanous green dress that crossed over her breasts and shoulders and swirled behind and around her, leaving her arms and throat bare. Her hair was brown, and it too shimmered, same as her dress, shifting colors so subtly it was hard to keep track of. Her skin was white, though, pale like Hades, and her eyes so bright green, it hurt to look on ‘em.
Hades bowed his head. “Thank you for coming.”
The woman sniffed. “As if I had a choice.”
“We always have choices.”
I waved a hand, interrupting them before their conversation devolved into a philosophical treatise. “Beg pardon, but who are you?”
The woman’s laser sharp eyes narrowed on me. “I remember that voice. You were with Eros when he entrapped me.”
“Whoa there, Nelly,” I said. “I ain’t never been with Eros, and I sure as tootin’ didn’t help him entrap nobody.”
That didn’t seem to mollify her one bit, but at least it’d narrowed down who she was. Or what she was anyhow. A Fury. Maybe Hades was on to something here.
I waggled a thumb over my shoulder at the Arae attacking Teus. “You reckon you can call them off, or am I gonna have to wade in and stop ‘em myself?”
Hades smiled fondly at me. “That was quite the sight, Miss Walkingstick. I enjoyed watching you defeat the Arae. Nearly singlehandedly as well.”
“You seen that?”
“Of course. You were mere feet away from a tunnel into my world, after all.”
“And you didn’t help out?”
I shook my head. Danged old gods. Right then, I spotted Nora at the top of the steps, waving her hands in what I hoped was some kinda helpful spell. Riley was right behind her, carrying that lumpy blanket.
“Never mind,” I said. “I’m gonna go take care of this myself.”
I turned around and dove back into the water, heading toward Eros and Miss Jenny. Leastwise, I tried to dive back in. Something grabbed me and reeled me back in, and the world went wonky for a second or two. Next thing I knowed, I was standing beside Riley, dry and fully dressed, looking down as the Fury rose in the air and floated toward Teus, her milky white arms spread wide and her dress billowing around her.
Riley shoved the head at me. “Do your thing, Sunny.”
I took it, but I didn’t unwrap Medusa’s head. Teus and Eros was still out there, and I didn’t want them to get caught in the gaze. Why I cared I couldn’t’ve said. Both of them men had cause enough trouble to deserve some in return, but I couldn’t quite bring myself to curse them to a life of stone.
Besides which, if Teus turned to stone now, no way could we hide him. He was just too big.
The Arae left off their attack and circled toward the Fury. She started twirling around in midair, and the funniest thing happened. One by one, the Arae dove into her and disappeared until none was left, like she’d absorbed ever one. Then the Fury curled into a ball and winked out of existence, and reappeared next to Hades.
“Happy?” she said.
“Ecstatic,” he replied.
The giant squid weren’t too happy. It lifted its arms and splashed ‘em down again, and shot straight back through the water toward Teus, hitting him in the stomach, knocking him back. Down they both went in a splash big enough to cause a tidal wave. The water rushed away from ‘em straight toward Eros and Miss Jenny, and I thought for sure they was gonna drown this time. Them big ol’ squid eyes rolled around, shining in the sunlight, and rolled right toward us.
Riley whipped around and yelled, “Now’s your chance!”
Without thinking, I reached into the blanket and snagged a handful of snakes, yanked Medusa’s head out, and held it up. By luck, the eyes was pointed away from me, directly at the lake below.
The squid stiffened up. Ever so slow, the red in its skin give way to gray, starting with the eyes, until it was nothing but stone. Just as slow, it sank beneath the lake, leaving only bubbles to mark where it’d been.
Soon as it was gone, I tucked the head against my middle, shielding it from the eyes of the men thereabouts. Good thing, too, as Teus pushed himself upright and Eros bobbed back up and...
Hades!
I bit back a curse as I struggled to wrap the blanket around Medusa. I done forgot all about him, but when I risked a glance at where he was standing before, he was gone, and the Fury too, leaving the bottom steps empty.
Riley’s hand come down on my shoulder. “Well, that was an adventure.”
I wadded the top of the blanket up and held it in both hands, ready to light into him. Adventure? That’s what he called this mess of a morning?
Nora started laughing, cutting right through my mad, then Riley joined in, and I give up. Them two musta gone crazy when I weren’t looking. Either that or they wasn’t right to begin with and I never noticed before.
“Adventure,” I scoffed, which only made Riley laugh the harder. I just shook my head and shoved the covered-up head at him, then jogged down the stairs toward where Teus was fishing Eros and Miss Jenny outta the water and finally coming ashore.
––––––––
The thing about fighting monsters is you don’t always know how it’s gonna turn out when you go into it. I’d had my share of mishaps and I’d had my share of easy’uns. This was one fight I didn’t know where to put. Assuming Pello and Bob got outta the way in time and there weren’t no regular human onlookers around when I pulled Medusa’s head out, nobody’d got hurt except the squid and maybe Teus when them Arae attacked him. I was still cold, but other’n that and having to put up with nonsense from a lot of people, there weren’t a scratch on me.
I didn’t rightly know how to feel about it.
The painter in me didn’t either. It yawned and stretched in my mind, trying to use up energy I reckon, then it settled down real watchful. I think it was hoping there’d be some more action, but I think it hoped in vain.
Teus dumped Eros and Miss Jenny on the next landing up from where the dock used to be, above the level where I dove in earlier. Next thing I knowed, he stepped up onto the bottom step looking like his usual self: about six-foot-tall with sun-touched skin and a lot of his mad burned off. If he’da had on a swimsuit instead of pajama bottoms, I’da thunk he was just finishing up a dip in the lake.
I bopped down the stairs toward where Eros was cradling Miss Jenny against his chest. He’d propped himself against one of the railing posts. Much as I’d hoped this would finally do him in, he didn’t look a thing like a drowned rat. Nope! He was handsome as ever, which was just a shame as I figured I was gonna have to give him a whole lotta what-for. It’s easier to dress somebody down when they ain’t handsome as sin.
Me and Teus reached Eros and Miss Jenny about the same time. Teus squatted down and reached toward her, and Eros shoved his hands away.
“You’ve hurt her enough,” Eros said. “Leave her alone now.”
Teus braced his hands on his thighs and just squatted there, though his skin swirled blue for a second or two. “She was safe inside my home until you broke in and kidnapped her.”
“Safe! You’re the reason the Furies invoked the Arae in the first place.”
“Only because Hades refused to accept fair recompense.”
I cleared my throat. “Speaking of Hades, did anybody see where he popped off to?”
Teus stood slowly and looked down his nose at me, which weren’t hard seeing as how he had a good half a foot or so on me. “Hades was here?”
“Yup, and one of them Furies, too.”
Eros closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the post. “Is there anyone you haven’t pissed off?”
“Who?” I said. “Me or Teus?”
“Both of you.”
I about laughed. Seemed to me there was a whole lot of discord going around, too much for me to cause all by my lonesome anyhow.
I plopped my butt down on the step above the landing, ignoring the ruckus of footsteps behind me as the rest of the crew joined us. “You wanna tell me how you got that squid riled up?”
Teus swung his head around and glared at Eros. “That was you?”
“No,” Eros said, his eyes still closed. “Hades sent the squid. I merely goosed it a little.”
I snorted. “That weren’t a little, Eros. Look at what that thing done. You’re lucky somebody didn’t get hurt.”
“You!” Belinda screeched, and I winced. Dang it, I thought Riley done tucked her inside her house where she was safe and outta the way.
With a big sigh, I twisted around and looked up. She was standing behind Riley and Nora still dressed in that silky kimono robe. Her hair was pinned up in one of them messy buns and her eyes was so close to shooting fire, I about ducked.
Good thing she weren’t shooting that fire at me.
Belinda squeezed past Riley and Nora, stomped down the stairs, and stopped beside me. Her hand whipped up and she pointed a quivering finger at Eros. “Are you the one responsible for the damage to my dock and boathouse?”
Eros had his eyes open now and had a wary expression on his mug. I had to give him some credit there. He was right to be wary of Belinda, which made him a touch smarter’n I thought he was.
“Yes,” Eros said slowly. “I’m afraid that was indirectly my doing.”
“Indirectly!” Belinda screeched again. She wagged her finger at him. “You set a giant squid loose in a lake barely large enough for it, and you call that indirectly!”
I cocked my head at her. “That’s a good point, Belinda.”
“You don’t have to sound so surprised.” Her hand fell as she inhaled a slow breath, then she smoothed her hands over her robe and straightened her spine. “My property needs repairs.”
The way she said it made me want to jump right to helping fix the situation, and I didn’t have a thing to do with it being torn up in the first place.
So it weren’t much of a surprise when Eros said, kindly meek, “I’ll see to that personally, Miss...?”
“Mrs.,” Belinda said, all dignity now. “Mrs. Heaton-Arrowood.”
“And your husband is?”
Her mouth pinched up a little. “I’m divorced, if you must know.”
Eros shot her a bone melting smile. “Oh, I must.”
I woulda crossed my arms over my chest and glared at him if I hadn’t been holding Medusa’s head. I settled for nudging his arm with my foot, careful not to jostle Miss Jenny.
“Cut it out, Eros,” I said, “or I’ll unwrap Medusa’s head here and now.”
He blanched away from me, probably ‘cause he knowed I’d do it.
Teus, on t’other hand, got a speculative look on his face. “How did you come to possess Medusa’s head?”
“None of your beeswax,” I said firmly. “And you can keep your paws off it, too. I ain’t letting it outta my sight ‘til I figure out what to do with it.”
“I could take it off your hands.”
“No can do. You ain’t responsible enough to have it.”
Not to mention I couldn’t place that much power in the hands of somebody what already had too much of the stuff.
“Sunshine,” Teus said, and even I could hear the warning underlying my name.
“Nope,” I said again and added a teeth-baring smile so he knowed I meant it. “But I’ll tell you what you can do. You can just take off ever dadgum one of them servant marks.”
Belinda was looking at me like I done growed another head. “Servant marks?”
“Don’t ask,” I said. “How about you go make some coffee or something before Eros there shoots a love arrow at you?”
She sniffed and swiveled around on the stairs. “You’re such an ingrate, Sunshine. I swear, I’ll never do a favor for you again.”
She kept on ranting as she climbed the stairs, but I stopped listening after that. I was sure I’d get an earful later. Though I’d at least thank her for keeping an eye out for the Gorgoneion, and try to throw a good word in with all the dang Greek gods roaming around, if one ever needed a house.
Riley touched my shoulder, then followed her up, and I felt more’n heard Nora trail along after ‘em.
That left me alone with them two men, which was a good thing as I had an earful to give both of ‘em.
“How long have you knowed Miss Jenny is Eros’s granddaughter?” I asked Teus.
He had the good grace to look a touch uncomfortable. “Since the day you introduced us.”
“How’d you know?”
“I could feel it.” His gaze fell on her again and become soft, almost tender. He squatted down again and brushed a stray strand of wet hair away from her sleeping face. “Like calls to like. You understand this.”
Shivers run down my back under my shirt, and they didn’t have a thing to do with it being cold out. “Do you love her?”
Eros’s gaze got real intent. “If he doesn’t, he will by the time I’m through with him.”
I coulda kicked him, probably woulda if he didn’t still have a good hold on Miss Jenny. “Butt out, Eros. You done enough damage for one day.”
“Me!” he said, but there weren’t no heat to it.
“Yeah, you,” I said. “Thing is, I figure Miss Jenny deserves better’n both of you, so from now on, I expect you to be on your best behavior. No more squabbling, no more mucking about with your oaths and such. You’re both gonna be the men she deserves, or so help me, I’ll take both of you down in such a way that you’ll never come back.”
Teus arched an imperious black eyebrow at me. He didn’t say word one against me, though, so I let it go at that. A mortal woman could only do so much against the gods and we all knowed it.
But they’d listened, and they’d heard, and maybe they’d each try to do better, at least for a little while.
I pushed myself into a stand. “Teus, you get these marks off me. I don’t owe you a thing no more. Eros? Hand off Miss Jenny and go make nice with Belinda, wouldja? And then I expect you to follow through on that promise you made to find a way to bring Miss Jenny out of stasis, you hear?”
“I’m not an errand boy,” Eros muttered, but I just waved him off. I’d had enough of them two for one day. I suspect ever body else had, too.
