Selena’s eyes followed the tall gray metal and glass building toward the cool, blue morning sky of Houston. A damp wind rushed past her and she zipped up her jacket then laced her arm back through Cameron’s.
“You know, it didn’t work out so well for us the last time we showed up here and just demanded he let us see Anita,” Selena pointed out.
Cameron shrugged and pulled her closer to the door. Selena didn’t want to go inside the New Pantheon’s headquarters again though. She’d rather be looking for Nuada’s heir or doing almost anything than walking straight into Ukko’s lair.
Admittedly, it wasn’t much of a lair considering it was really a modern, efficient, professional building filled with offices and it resembled any other government office she’d ever been inside, but it belonged to Ukko. She was calling it a lair.
They’d only made it ten feet inside the building when they were stopped by the Finnish thunder god himself. He crossed his arms angrily and sighed heavily at them. “What now?” he demanded. He sounded terribly weary of them.
Selena smiled as she thought, “Now you know how it feels.”
Cameron looked around as if he could spot Anita tied up behind one of the potted plants in the corner. “Two things,” he said. “One: did you know Huitzilopochtli is still alive?”
“Obviously,” Ukko answered. “Didn’t you read the entire file I gave you?”
“Uh…” Cameron grinned at Selena and shrugged. “Never got around to it. I did, however, run into the bastard and he wants Selena’s heart and probably mine, too, if he can get it.”
“Undoubtedly,” Ukko said. He looked both angry and bored now.
“Huh, I didn’t think you’d be cool with people sacrificing Selena to some Aztec god who’s supposed to be dead.”
“Do your job and it’s not a concern,” Ukko shot back.
“Ouch,” Cameron retorted. “Now I remember why you’re such an asshole.”
“Cameron,” Ukko sighed, “what do you want?”
“Oh, that’s number two. We want Anita. Obviously.”
Ukko’s pale blue eyes flashed with rage but it quickly subsided and he let his hands fall by his side. Selena marveled at how quickly he could control his temper and regain his composure, reigning in the power that she’d witnessed in its full, devastating effects. She wondered how long it had taken him to learn so much self-control, how long it would take Cameron to recognize the warning signs that he was shifting toward the vengeful god he didn’t want to be.
“Anita is fine,” Ukko replied. “Don’t you think you have enough to worry about with Huitzilopochtli and Mithra and the Norse on your doorstep? You’ll get her killed. She’s been hurt enough. Let her live the rest of her life in peace.”
As much as she’d despised this god for the past three years, his love and compassion for this woman overwhelmed her, and she found herself pitying him for the mistakes of his past. “If I give you my word we won’t take her with us, will you let us see her?” she asked.
“She’s not a prisoner, Selena. But I’m not telling you where she is either,” Ukko responded.
“Great,” Cameron muttered. “That makes Anita and her relative we have to hunt down now.”
“Well, they’re presumably not being guarded by a bunch of Norse gods, so that’s one less thing to worry about,” Selena offered.
Cameron squinted at Ukko and asked him, “What are you doing to prevent me from being able to summon her? And has she told you she doesn’t want to help us and wants us to leave her alone? Never mind. It’s not like I’d believe you anyway.”
“Why not?” Ukko snapped. “It’s not like I’ve ever lied to you.”
Selena lifted an eyebrow at him and reminded him, “Actually, you have. I asked you in New Orleans if I was Finnish and you said no. But you knew then I was descended from you.”
Ukko waved her off and insisted, “It’s a… minor descent.”
“You still lied!”
“Your connection to me is irrelevant!” Ukko exclaimed. “I didn’t know you were Irish. I just knew you had a stronger tie to a different pantheon than mine. What good would telling you about your father have done you?”
Selena grunted at him and folded her arms defiantly. “Then answer his other questions.”
Ukko sighed, his aggravation with this young god and demigoddess clearly wearing on him, but shook his head. “I’m not answering your first question, and no, I haven’t asked her because it wouldn’t change my mind that you’re only going to get her killed and you need to leave her alone.”
“Dude,” Cameron said, wrinkling his nose at the Finnish thunder god, “are you putting the moves on poor, sweet Ms. Granger?”
Ukko opened his mouth but only a mystified croaking sound came out. He tried again. “Cameron… go find some sword or heir or Persian god that wants to murder you. Leave me alone.”
Ukko gestured toward the door to indicate he expected them to leave now, and Selena didn’t want to risk an altercation so she pulled on Cameron’s arm until he reluctantly followed her back outside.
“That went well,” Cameron said, studying the unassuming gray metal and glass building again.
Selena nodded in complete pretend-smartass-agreement. “Next time, let’s see if we can get him to send his agency after Mithra. Take care of one of our problems for us.”
Cameron pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. “Just like you to want to get rid of the guy who wants me dead first.”
Selena smiled back at him then remembered Ukko’s file had listed Alan’s address nearby. He’d most likely only shown up in Baton Rouge when they’d shown up and Huitzilopochtli had summoned him, which meant Alan could be back… and close to them.
“I think we need to get out of here. If Ukko’s not going to help us, no point in staying in Houston, right?”
Cameron nodded and offered her that mischievous grin. “Cornfield?”
“Think that’s where he’s hidden Anita? Grab Jasper first. Let him go in there to look.”
“Good idea,” Cameron agreed.
“Great,” Jasper muttered, folding his arms indignantly as he stared at the powerful young sun god who’d summoned him. “You realize you left Doug behind, right?”
“Damn it,” Cameron muttered back.
“Great,” Doug muttered. “Never got used to this summoning thing. And I had half a stack of pancakes left. You owe me breakfast.”
“Are we going to find Anita yet?” Jasper asked, looking at the tall building behind him that housed the New Pantheon’s headquarters.
“She’s on our list,” Cameron answered. “Apparently, Badb is still adamant we find Nuada’s heir. She’s so unreasonable.”
“Where is your war goddess?” Doug asked. “Just warn me if she’s pretending to be one of these birds hanging around here so I can watch what I say.”
Cameron snickered and shook his head. “Go ahead and say it. I’ll protect you.”
“Can we please get out of Houston?” Selena begged. “If Alan is back, I don’t want to be anywhere near him.”
Cameron’s eyes clouded and he scowled at the busy street. “I do, because next time I see that bastard, I’m killing him.”
“Fine,” Jasper sighed. “But it doesn’t have to be today. Let’s just get this assignment over with and find Anita. Some of us have more important things to return to, you know.”
Selena hurriedly answered him before Cameron could make a smartass comment about his important business he had to return to. “We’ll start working our way through the list of Anita’s relatives,” she said. “It shouldn’t be that difficult.”
“Why did you have to say that?” Cameron groaned.
Selena’s eyes widened and she shook her head at him. “It just slipped out.”
“Who’s first?” Doug asked. “Anita or the heir? Sooner we find this heir, sooner you can find your pot.”
Cameron snorted so Selena let go of his hand and glared at him. “Cauldron,” she corrected.
“Yeah, you’d think he’s the one with the missing pot,” Jasper said, gesturing toward Cameron, “but he doesn’t even drink. He’s just naturally obnoxious.”
“Can I smite him yet?” Cameron pleaded.
“No,” Selena insisted. “You just laughed at Doug’s pun.”
“Completely unintentional,” Doug lied.
“Good God, at this rate, you’ll never find Nauda’s heir,” Badb interrupted.
“Hey Doug,” Cameron said, “watch what you say about her. The old crow is here.”
Doug nodded smartly and Badb rolled her eyes. “With Anita still in hiding, I knew this group would need a babysitter. Doug, I’d held out hope for you, but you’re proving to be a huge disappointment.”
Doug nodded and retorted, “Not the first time I’ve heard that.”
“Now that you’re here,” Cameron continued, “you should tell them all about Ukko’s deal with the Tuatha Dé. They’re risking their lives for you. Only fair.”
“For us,” Badb clarified. “And I’ll tell them as long as we can get off this sidewalk and actually start looking for our new ruler.”
“Man,” Doug whistled. “Can you imagine? One day, you’re a nobody demigod, and the next, you’re the monarch of one of the most powerful pantheons in the world.”
“Badb,” Jasper whined, “please get me out of Houston.”
Badb gave Cameron a pointed look and put a hand on her hip, waiting for him to transport them all somewhere. Selena gave her a pointed look and mimicked her stance. “You’re not an old woman.”
“Technically,” Cameron interrupted, “she’s like a million years old.”
“Technically,” Badb said, “that’s not even close. A few thousand years, but who’s counting? And what’s your point, Selena?”
“My point,” Selena responded, “is that you usually only come to Earth looking like this when you’re expecting to fight someone or sleep with someone.”
“Ew,” Cameron interrupted. “There aren’t enough Irish lads around. And even if there were… you won’t let me get a lobotomy, so please don’t ever say that again.”
Badb put her other hand on her hip and snapped, “I have sex, Cameron, get over it.”
“Bring me back my damn caribou,” Cameron snapped back.
Selena sighed as the war goddess disappeared from the Houston sidewalk. “Cameron, one of these days, she will bring you a real reindeer, and I’m not taking care of it. You’re on your own.”
“Another deal breaker, huh?” he teased.
Selena just shrugged as both Jasper and Doug sighed impatiently. She heard the clicking of hooves behind her and looked over her shoulder and found herself staring up into the long face of a Canadian reindeer.
Badb held her hands out toward it and gave Cameron a self-satisfied smirk. “Happy?”
Cameron looked it over then shook his head. “You got the wrong one.”
“Cameron, I swear to God…” Badb warned, but Cameron interrupted her.
“Which god?”
“You!” Badb yelled. “If you send me back to that frozen island one more time…”
Selena never had the chance to find out what she was going to do about it because the door to the New Pantheon’s headquarters opened and Ukko stepped out, glaring at each of the gods and demigods standing in front of his building arguing about a reindeer.
“Get rid of the…” He paused and rubbed his forehead. “You know what? I don’t even care what it is. Send it back wherever you got it and get out of here. You’re causing a scene and distracting my employees.”
“Caribou,” Cameron supplied helpfully. “Pretty sure she got it from Ellesmere Island because it would be kinda stupid to wander all over the Arctic looking for one somewhere else.”
“What is wrong with you?” Ukko asked.
“Still not sure. When are you going to stop asking me that?”
“When are you going to behave like a normal person?” Ukko shot back.
Jasper snorted and told him, “If that’s what you’re waiting on, it’s a good thing you’re sort of immortal.”
Ukko blinked at Doug and sighed again. “How the hell did you let yourself get mixed up with this group?”
“Anita,” Doug answered.
“Right,” Ukko agreed.
“You know,” Jasper said, “I’d really like to leave now. Just because this Finnish asshole helped us out at Lake Waco doesn’t mean I’ve forgiven him for trying to kidnap my little brother. And at the very least, I’d still like to kick his ass for that, but something tells me Cameron isn’t going to intervene to save me.”
Ukko just waved him off. “I wasn’t trying to take your brother. I was trying to get to you.”
“Oh, that will make him hate you less,” Cameron snapped. “Dude, stop trying to kidnap people!”
Ukko turned his pale blue eyes on Cameron and gave him a defiant look that was mixed with something Selena thought resembled innocence… as if he really couldn’t understand these accusations they kept leveling against him. “We eventually let them go if they decide not to join us. I just present them with their full range of options and the benefits of working for me first.”
“Let them go?” Selena scoffed. “You might not be killing them, but none of them can go back to their normal lives. They have to start over, and for demigods who’ve never stepped foot in the Otherworld…”
“Wait a minute,” Jasper interrupted. “The Otherworld?”
“Yeah,” Cameron explained, pointing to the Finnish thunder god. “Apparently, they aren’t murdering demigods and gods who refuse to join them. People have been disappearing for decades because if they refuse to become part of the New Pantheon, they get shipped off to… Greece?”
“Gorias,” Selena and Badb corrected at the same time.
Ukko threw his hands up and exclaimed, “It’s the Otherworld! Who wouldn’t want to live there?”
Selena grunted at him and insisted, “Me! Not before I met Cameron and Badb, I mean. I was happy with my Aunt Tara…” Her voice trailed off as she realized that with the threat of Ukko abducting or murdering her aunt to get to her virtually nonexistent now, she could actually find her aunt and see her and hug her and hear her voice again. And tell her all about this incredible journey she’d been on for the past couple of months, the remarkable love she’d discovered, and her destiny to sit on the pantheon of the Tuatha Dé.
And she could tell her about her sister, Selena’s mother, whose spirit lived on in Findias.
Selena was so preoccupied with thoughts of her aunt that she didn’t even notice the caribou had disappeared and Badb had approached her. She took her hand gently and stroked her cheek and whispered, “I promise you, Child. We’ll find her. Ukko is no threat to her anymore because he knows he can’t compete against Cameron.”
It was Ukko’s turn to grunt as he tugged on his jacket and lifted his chin in the air. “Gorias is hardly Hell,” he protested.
Cameron waved him off and told him to go find someone else to stalk for a while. They were busy.
“You’re stalking me! You’re in front of my building!” Ukko persisted. “What is it going to take to get rid of all of you?”
“Help us out,” Selena suggested. “We’ll even let you take your pick: Mithra, the Aztec god whose name I’m really too afraid to say…”
“Don’t blame you,” Cameron interjected.
“The Norse,” Selena continued, “or you could take one of the easier jobs and just find Nuada’s heir or my Cauldron. That’s your thing, right? Finding people and stuff?”
Ukko narrowed his eyes at her and said, “Your boyfriend has been a bad influence on you.”
“Thank you,” Cameron said.
“Ukko,” Badb sighed, “let me talk to Anita. We’re her friends and we’re worried about her.”
“What for? You of all people should know she’s safe.”
“What does he mean by that?” Jasper demanded.
“I suspect he’s referring to Badb’s ability to read minds so well,” Selena answered. “And she’s probably digging around in his trying to figure out where Anita is.”
Ukko snorted and crossed his arms. “Find her yet?”
“Yep,” Jasper said. “He’s still a bigger obnoxious asshole than you, Cameron.”
Cameron nodded and patted Jasper’s shoulder. “We have something to live up to.”
Badb blew a frustrated breath through her lips and hissed, “You don’t know where she is! You knew I’d come looking for her and had someone else take her away!”
Ukko just smiled at her then reached for the door. “We’ve known each other a long time, Badb. What made you think I’d suddenly become so stupid?”
The Finnish thunder god pulled his door open and walked inside his building, leaving Anita’s friends outside on the Houston sidewalk with the Irish psychic demigoddess potentially lost to them forever.