Chapter 39

GOD OF FIRE

Selene rushed forward and opened the door. Flint stood with one hand on a bent aluminum crutch and the other pressed against his stomach. His feet were bare, his leather jacket torn, and his face twisted with agony. But when he saw Selene, he took a breath so deep it sounded like the bellows of a forge—as if it were the first deep breath he’d taken in years—and collapsed forward into her embrace.

She staggered beneath his weight, struggling to support him with her only good arm. Theo grabbed the Smith from the other side and helped her drag his limp form toward the couch. A stifled gasp from Ruth and a less restrained curse from Gabriela drew Selene’s attention to the blood streaming from beneath Flint’s jacket and leaving a long red trail across the carpet.

Ruth ran into the bathroom and returned with her box of bandages and antiseptic—already severely depleted from her ministrations to Selene and Theo. Flint’s arms hung limp at his sides, and his jacket fell open. Selene gave a choked cry when she saw the three arrow wounds that had sliced through his thick sweater and T-shirt and into the flesh of his abdomen. They showed no sign of healing.

The ice around Selene’s heart, which had cracked open with the memories of Gerry’s past, now split apart with the force of a calving glacier. How could she have ever thought she didn’t care about the rest of her kin? I will not let another brother die. I WILL NOT. Flint had said he healed no faster than a mortal. How would he ever recover from three divine arrows? Then again, if he was barely a god anymore, would gold shafts be any worse than wood?

Ruth dabbed at the slashes with gauze, but the blood soaked each pad immediately. Selene roughly pushed her aside and placed her left hand on the wide plane of muscle above Flint’s heart. When her own death had loomed before her, she’d prayed that her twin would take on her attributes when she died. Perhaps he’d done the same. She could be the Healer.

She closed her eyes and dove into Flint. She could almost sense something red and glowing like the embers in a forge, fading in and out as if at the brink of extinction. She blew upon them, willing them to burst into flame, willing her own pneuma into Flint just as Prometheus had once breathed life into his creations of clay. But the embers remained faint, and soon she could see nothing but blackness before her.

“Bring me a candle!” she demanded.

“What are you going to—” Ruth began.

“Just do it!”

Ruth returned shortly with a thick scented pillar and a book of matches.

Selene fumbled with the matches in her left hand then pushed them toward Theo. “Light it!”

“This isn’t a good idea,” he warned.

“I don’t know what else to do.”

He handed her the lit candle. She moved the flame toward the wound. She knew that a god’s attributes could speed his healing. Hephaestus was the God of Fire. The flames could help him just as the woodland streams helped her.

“Stop it!” Ruth cried, lunging forward. Theo caught her and held her back.

Selene moved the candle even closer to the wound. Come on, Hephaestus, she prayed. You must still have some remnant of your power left. As if in answer, the stream of blood slowed to a trickle as his internal injuries began to knit closed. On the edges of the wound, a millimeter of new flesh appeared, then another.

But then the wound stopped healing. She moved the candle closer, desperate, but the hair on his stomach began to sizzle and glow, and the new skin began to blister. The blood still oozed, letting off a foul burnt odor. Theo grabbed the candle from her hand and blew out the flame.

“No, no, this can’t happen,” Selene murmured, snatching the gauze from Ruth and trying once more to stanch the wound.

“I can help,” came a raspy voice behind them. Selene turned to see Gerry standing in the doorway of the bedroom, leaning heavily against the wall.

“Hey there, Captain,” Gabriela said, awkwardly sticking the Glock into the back of her waistband. “Are we over the nearly killing each other thing?”

Gerry ignored her and walked unsteadily toward the couch. She stood looking down at Flint, her face expressionless. Does she want him dead too? Selene wondered. That’s her whole purpose, isn’t it? As she pressed her good hand against his wounds, she tried to see him as Gerry did—as something unnatural, less than human, that should be destroyed. But all she saw was a face lined with care and a beard that hid him from the world. With his lips slightly parted and his eyes closed, he looked completely vulnerable for the first time. She’d never understood this man, but she knew she couldn’t bear to lose him.

“Why would I trust you?” she demanded of Gerry.

“Because you don’t have a choice. Do you really want to take him to a hospital and explain the arrow wounds?” The captain lowered herself to her knees beside the couch. “Get me a needle. Thread. Alcohol.” Ruth hurried off to get the supplies.

“You won’t hurt him?” Selene asked after a moment, surprised by the desperation that leaked into her voice.

Gerry looked at her coldly. “His death tonight would serve no purpose. He will not die at my hand.”

Selene stood by helplessly as Gerry cleaned and sewed the wound. Ruth smeared antiseptic on the blisters. Gabriela applied bandages to cover it all. Selene knew that Theo stayed at her side, his hand brushing her own in silent comfort, but she could barely feel his touch.

Hours later, Theo finally succeeded in getting Selene to eat something. Flint remained unconscious on the couch. His bleeding had stopped, and Ruth reported that his pulse had steadied. But he didn’t stir. Geraldine Hansen had gone back to the bedroom and closed the door. Theo couldn’t begin to imagine the thoughts going through the captain’s mind. He could barely understand his own.

He’d watched Selene tend Flint while trying to ignore a sudden needle of jealousy. The Smith was one of the only family members she had left. Of course she cared for him. Theo had urged her to rescue him, after all. But something in the way she’d pressed her hand against Flint’s heart had reminded Theo of the terrace atop Rockefeller Center. Artemis and Hephaestus above the clouds, gods once more. All night, I’ve been unable to break through her grief. But somehow, Flint did.

Theo pushed another plate of fried eggs in Selene’s direction. Some of the color had come back to her cheeks, and she looked less haggard. He would’ve liked her to sleep, but he knew it was pointless to ask—not when there was so much to do.

Three nights had passed between Hades’ death and Mars’s. Another three before the cult had killed Apollo. Hopefully, that meant they had some time to spare before the next sacrifice. Theo mentally ticked off the tasks at hand. First, rescue Dash, Phlippe, and, according to Selene, Prometheus. Next, get past a small army of divinely armed men to kill the Pater. And finally, before it was too late, stop the resurrection of Jesus.

“No problem,” he muttered aloud.

“What?” Selene started.

“Nothing. Just imagining what happens if Jesus really does come back. I have a feeling I’m not making it into heaven when the rapture comes. What do you think—me and the other pagans, turning to cannibalism and polygamy while all the good Christians flit around on angel wings?”

“It’s not Jesus who’d come back,” she said, pushing a scrap of egg white across her plate. “It’s Mithras-as-Jesus. Whoever that is. Do you really think he’ll be a Prince of Peace like Gerry believes? The cult that worships him is a bunch of men in an underground temple, drowning innocent bystanders, sacrificing my family, torturing people … does that sound very holy to you? If they manage to resurrect anyone, it will be the god they’ve dreamed up, the god they’ve created. Remember when Orion gave me back all my strength? I turned into a version of myself I barely recognized. Vengeful and all-powerful and devoid of empathy. The same thing could happen to Jesus.”

Theo hadn’t noticed Hansen standing in the doorway until she spoke. “Is that true?”

Selene turned around, as if she hadn’t noticed the captain either. “Yes,” she said shortly, before turning back to her food.

“But the Pater said …”

Ruth walked into the kitchen and they all fell silent. “He’s awake.”

Selene rose hurriedly, and Theo followed her into the living room. She knelt beside Flint and took his massive hand in her own. Theo tried to ignore how that made him feel.

“You need to leave,” Selene said to Gabi and Ruth, no doubt afraid of what Flint might say.

To Theo’s shock, Ruth simply crossed her arms and said, “No.”

Before Selene could insist, Flint spoke.

“Huntress,” he whispered. He dragged her hand to his cheek and held it there for a long moment before he opened his eyes. He looked at her for a single breath before he raised his other hand to her head and pulled her mouth down to his. He kissed her. Fierce and long and desperate.

Theo felt his hands ball into fists. Gabi snatched his elbow, holding him back.

Selene broke away. Not quickly, not angrily … but she broke away. Her face burned bright red. For all his earlier remonstrance to stop hitting people, Theo wanted desperately for her to slug Flint in the face. Instead, she just stared at him, dumbstruck, and Flint gazed back, all his surly reticence transformed to silent entreaty.

“We’re all doing things we shouldn’t tonight,” Selene said finally.

“Only because I should’ve done it a long time ago,” Flint replied.

Gabi laughed loudly. “I’m sure Ruth’s been hoping her couch would see some action, but I doubt this is what she had in mind. How ’bout we set aside the telenovela for a second?” She gave Theo a look of compassion and his elbow a hard warning squeeze. She feels bad for me, he realized, because even she thinks Flint is a better match for Selene than I am, and she only just met him.

Gabi turned to Flint. “How about you start, Mr. Rumbly Sexy, by telling us how you escaped?”

Flint directed his explanation to Selene. “They let Dash and I out of the net so they could march us back to their mithraeum—figured we were too injured to run. Took my leg braces just in case … but not my phone. Must’ve thought it’d be useless underground. When we were passing a utility hatch, I sent a signal to the braces to explode. Then I escaped through the hatch and ran.” His mouth twisted in a bitter parody of a smile. “I crawled. Dash and Philippe—they were up ahead of me, near the Pater. I couldn’t save them.” His face tightened with self-loathing. “I found an exit into the subway and grabbed on to the back of a passing train. There was a homeless man with one leg in the station when I got off. He had a crutch.”

Theo noticed Flint didn’t mention how that crutch wound up in his possession. I see kisses aren’t the only thing he steals. He couldn’t hide his anger as he asked, “How did you know to come to Ruth’s?”

Flint didn’t bother looking at Theo when he replied; if he felt any shame at having just pawed another man’s girlfriend, he didn’t show it. “I had that woman’s phone number. I tracked it here, hoping she’d be with you.”

“Ah.” He had Gabi’s phone number because I gave it to him. Great. Selene, he noticed, hadn’t looked at him since Flint’s kiss.

“There’s no time to waste.” Flint’s biceps flexed into large spheres as he struggled to raise himself from the couch. “We have to get Philippe and Dash.” He fell back with a strangled groan, pressing at the long bandage across his abdomen.

“He shouldn’t move,” Hansen said evenly. “He strains that wound, and it opens right back up again. And this time I can’t promise the intestines won’t come out with it.”

Selene patted the tape around the gauze, sticking it back into place. “We’ll find the others, don’t worry,” she assured Flint. His stomach clenched into a six-pack at her touch. She turned to Hansen. “You changed your mind yet about helping us? Tell us where the next sacrifice is. And when.”

The captain merely crossed her arms, every inch as stubborn as Selene. “You know I can’t do that.”

Theo finally dislodged Gabi’s hand on his elbow and took a step toward Selene. “We can figure this out without her.” And without Flint, he amended silently. He ran through the Mithraic rituals in his head. Tauroctony, Feast, Procession of the Sun-Runner. “The ascension of Mithras to heaven in the Sun’s chariot,” he said aloud. “That must be the final rite. It parallels the ascension of Jesus to heaven. As for timing …” Suddenly, it all made horrible, perfect sense. “What better day to honor Sol Invictus and resurrect Jesus than the birthday they share?”

Selene finally looked at him. “December twenty-fifth.”

“With everything going on, I didn’t even remember that today’s Christmas Eve. At midnight …”

“Philippe and Dash will die.”

“Unless we find them first.”

“And defeat the Host once and for all.”

As she spoke, Theo felt something snap back into place. They were working out the options, decoding the clues, facing unknown dangers—together. No matter what Flint meant to her, Theo was still her partner.

“But what about your injury?” he asked. “You can’t fight with …” He looked pointedly at her right arm.

“Don’t worry about that,” she said sternly. “My only concern is their weapons. Their guns probably can’t hurt me, but the other items …”

Suddenly, Gabi cleared her throat with a dramatic, “A-hem! What do you mean guns can’t hurt you? Is someone going to tell me what’s going on?”

Before Theo could devise some clever explanation, Ruth spoke. “Selene can’t be killed by a gun. And probably our new friend can’t either. Because they’re not human.”

“Ruth—” Theo began. “That’s not—”

“They heal at a rate that defies the laws of human biology. I saw what happened to Flint with that candle, and I saw a video of Selene healing, too.” She stared at the two Athanatoi defiantly. “You’re aliens.”

“Oh, shitballs,” Gabi said, her tone hovering between incredulity and hilarity. “That explains so much.”

Hansen loosed a croaking laugh. “Aliens? Oh, hon, if only it were that simple.”

“Wait … what?” Ruth’s face scrunched in confusion. “Mutants, then?”

Selene and Flint exchanged a glance. Theo knew he had to say something before the Athanatoi took matters into their own hands. There’s a good chance they’re conspiring to knock Ruth and Gabi unconscious and give them some amnesiac drug. For once, he didn’t want to help protect the gods’ identities. Ruth was right about one thing—he’d been lying for far too long. If Selene could find a way to trust the family she’d disdained for so long, she could find a way to trust his closest friends.

“She’s a goddess,” he said.

Gabriela snorted. “I’ve heard that before.”

“No. Not figuratively. Literally.”

Selene glowered, but didn’t contradict him. Maybe she too was tired of the lies. Or maybe she was just too tired in general.

“A goddess …” Gabi repeated, with about as much conviction as she would say “unicorn” or “openly gay Republican.”

Ruth’s jaw hung slightly open. Her scientific mind understands the probabilities of extraterrestrial life, Theo realized. But goddesses? She barely believes in God.

He held Selene’s gaze for a moment. You owe me this, he demanded silently. These are my friends, and they’ve risked their lives for you. As if she heard him, Selene took a deep breath and held out her left hand to Gabi. “Nice to meet you. I’m over three thousand years old. My name’s Selene, but it hasn’t always been. They call me the Huntress.”

Gabi, eyes saucer-wide, put her hand tentatively in Selene’s. “Artemis.”

“Mm-hm.”

“No no no no no.” She dropped Selene’s hand and rounded on Theo. “You didn’t start dating a fucking mythological immortal and NOT TELL ME!”

Theo winced. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised that withholding such juicy gossip was Gabi’s most pressing concern.

“And that means,” she went on, pointing an accusatory finger at Flint, “that the weirdly sexy guy with the amazing abs and the paralyzed legs is Hephaestus.” She spun to the captain. “And who are you? Demeter? Hera?”

“Just Geraldine Hansen,” the captain said calmly. “As mortal as you are.”

“Gabriela …” Ruth began, still looking stunned. “Don’t tell me you believe this.”

Gabi dismissed her concerns with a wave of her hand. “Please, chica, you can’t be an anthropologist like me and not wonder at some point if all the religions of the world are just fooling themselves or if there’s really something out there. I’ve listened to enough Navajo shamans talk about their chats with Spider Grandmother out in the desert to at least consider they’re not just deluded or stupid or lying. And if Spider Grandmother is out there, why not the Olympians, too?”

Ruth sank to the floor. Not quite a faint, but not far from it.

Selene just shrugged. “Now that we’ve got that out of the way, can we get back to figuring out how to find some weapons to get through the Pater’s army?”

“Here.” Flint patted awkwardly at his leather jacket. “The inside pocket.”

Selene reached inside, hand brushing his bare chest, and withdrew a small paper envelope.

“Open it,” the Smith rumbled. “It’s for you.”

She tipped the envelope into her hand. A cord of forged gold spilled forth, as thick around as her little finger. From where he stood, Theo could see its intricate engraving but couldn’t make out the specific design.

“It’s,” Selene began, “a necklace?” Theo’d never seen her wear jewelry of any kind.

“It’s got its hidden secrets, just like you,” the Smith mumbled before falling back into unconsciousness.

Clearly confused, Selene slipped the necklace into the pocket of her pants. Theo was grateful she didn’t put the gift around her throat. He wasn’t sure he could bear the sight.

Hansen checked the sleeping man’s pulse and proclaimed it steady. “He needs rest,” she insisted. “So do we all.”

“You’d like that, wouldn’t you, Gerry?” Selene said, gathering her jacket. “If we all just sat this part out and no one had to get hurt. Let your comrades finish their mission. But I can’t give up on what I believe in any more than you can. So if all the Smith can give me is jewelry, I’m going to need to go hunting for a better divine weapon.”

“I’m coming with you,” Theo said quickly.

To his surprise, Selene didn’t protest. “Gabriela, you’ve got a gun,” she said. “Don’t let the captain leave, and don’t let her call her friends. Tie her up again if you have to. Ruth, I’ll leave Hippo here as backup in case someone from the Host shows up. And … look after Flint, okay?”

Ruth gave a vague nod of agreement, and Gabi looked liable to burst with a thousand questions—but Selene was already out the door.