Treasures of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 3) Read online

  Treasures of the Gods

  Book Three: The Unbreakable Sword Series

  S.M. Schmitz

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Also by S.M. Schmitz

  Sample Chapter from Battle of the Gods

  Copyright © 2016 by S.M. Schmitz

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Created with Vellum

  Chapter One

  Cameron and Selena reached the glass castle, which had appeared so impenetrable the first and only time they’d ever been near it. Now, a jagged hole in the side of the wall allowed Selena to reach inside and feel the cool air within. Cameron pulled her away from the glass castle and eyed the prison suspiciously.

  “I’m not convinced this isn’t some sort of a trap,” he told her. “Just… stay by me, ok?”

  “They’re gone,” Badb insisted. “They’re all gone. If anyone were inside, you would sense them.”

  Cameron slipped his fingers around Selena’s hand and said, “I don’t care. I don’t want her near this place.”

  “Well, it’s not like I’m leaving you,” Selena shot back.

  Cameron smiled down at her and kissed her forehead. “I’m counting on that.”

  Badb sighed and Selena glanced at her. The war goddess rolled her gray eyes and put a hand on her hip. “Don’t get me wrong. I’m glad you two have figured out how stupid you were being, but we kind of have a huge problem on our hands here.”

  Cameron eyed the castle again and the gaping hole in its side. “I don’t understand. Why didn’t you just kill Odin? Why imprison him?”

  Badb threw her hands in the air and shouted, “You think he’s so easy to kill? It’s Odin! I did the best I could. I injured him but the bastard wouldn’t die, so we decided to imprison him here and tell the Norse he died on the battlefield. Normally, if no rules of war have been broken, the losers are allowed to collect their dead, but with Ninurta’s coup erupting on the heels of the armistice, the Norse and most of their allies left quickly. When they finally asked about collecting their war dead, we told them it was too late: the bodies had either been destroyed or disposed of along with Ninurta’s followers.”

  “And… now he’s out and presumably reunited with the A-Team,” Cameron said. “At least I still have Mjölnir. Any chance you have Odin’s spear?”

  “The A-Team were falsely accused and went around helping people,” Selena pointed out. “I don’t think that’s a good analogy.”

  Cameron pretended to think about it then nodded. “This is your area of expertise, Sweet Goddess. Help me out here.”

  Selena grinned at him and offered, “Alliance of Evil? The Dark Riders? The Hellfire Club?”

  “Nice,” Cameron said. “I like that one. Think Marvel will sue us if we start calling the Norse The Hellfire Club?”

  “Would you both shut up!” Badb yelled. “If we don’t do something to find Odin before he’s reunited with his pantheon, we won’t live long enough for it to matter!”

  “Why are you so convinced Odin is going to be the downfall of the Tuatha Dé? Is this part of our mysterious prophecy, too?” Cameron asked.

  Badb waved him off and peered inside the glass castle as if Odin’s phantom form would reappear if she only looked hard enough. Selena felt Cameron’s fingers tense around her hand as he scowled at the war goddess.

  “Isn’t there some rule that you have to stop hiding shit from me once I’m a god? I took the Spear. I’m your new sun god. Stop playing games with us, Badb.”

  Badb’s gray eyes flickered away from the glass castle toward Cameron, and Selena thought she actually looked nervous. And that made Selena nervous, too.

  “Yes,” she answered quietly. “The druid told me that Odin could be responsible for the death of the Dagda.”

  “Oh,” Selena whispered. “But he said could. That means it may not happen right?”

  Badb inhaled slowly and turned toward her new sun god and the hope of the Tuatha Dé. “Prophecies are always dependent on the decisions people make and the way our circumstances change. The druid foresaw two wars. In one, our new sun god and our new healer join us in battle and we are invincible. In the other, Odin leads a raid on the Otherworld, on all of our cities, and we lose everything. For many of us, that includes our lives.”

  “Many of us,” Selena repeated breathlessly. “You?”

  Badb blinked at her then turned her gray eyes toward the spiraling towers of the glass castle. “We can fail, Selena. If we don’t find the Unbreakable Sword, if Cameron has no one to go into battle at his side… we can all fail, Selena.”

  Selena shook her head slowly as she watched Cameron’s beautiful dark eyes fill with fear, not for himself but the fate that could be hers if this prophecy was fulfilled.

  “They won’t kill her, will they?” he asked. “They’ll enslave her because no one can heal like she can. Once I’m out of the way, they’ll just…”

  Badb touched Cameron’s arm and inhaled another slow, deep breath. “We will both die to defend her, Cameron. But I can’t give up hope. Not yet. Just seeing what you were able to do as demigods… you are our future, Children. You are the hope of the Tuatha Dé. And I have faith in you to find the Unbreakable Sword and Nuada’s heir and save us all.”

  “Man, I miss being a financial analyst,” Cameron muttered.

  “I… actually miss the days when I was only running from Ukko and the New Pantheon,” Selena added.

  Badb suddenly threw her arms around Selena and hugged her and Selena held on tightly. She didn’t need to be a goddess to understand Badb’s reaction, her fear that each time she said goodbye now could be the last. “I love you, Selena,” Badb whispered. “Don’t leave his side. Not for a second. Promise me.”

  Selena thought back to her tragic mistake at the ATM in the hotel lobby, asking Cameron to hold the elevator while she grabbed their cash then Ninurta appearing behind her and kidnapping her. She peeked up at Cameron, and his dark eyes had filled with that terrifying and deadly anger and Selena guessed he was reliving the memory as well. She hugged Badb again and promised her, “Never again. I’ll never put either of you through that again.”

  Badb let go of her and stepped back, her gray eyes damp from tears, and nodded toward the spear Cameron had placed on the ground. “We’ll guard Mjölnir here. Go back to Jasper and Anita now. And remember: I’ll never be far.”

  Cameron picked up his spear then slipped his arm around Selena and pulled her closer to him. “The New Pantheon and the Norse thought I was a pain in the ass as a demigod. Just wait until they meet me now.”

  The beauty of the Otherworld vanished as Cameron brought them back to Baton Rouge. The hunt for the Unbreakable Sword was on.

  Chapter Two

  Jasper opened the hotel door and eyed the spear in Cameron’s hand before asking, “What happened to the hammer?”

  Cameron shrugged and told him he’d gotten tired of lugging ar
ound a carpenter’s tool instead of a real weapon so he’d traded it in downstairs. Only Anita looked at him differently and seemed to notice he wasn’t quite the same, but she said nothing. Selena glanced around the room, which had the disorganized and chaotic appearance of two demigods who had most likely panicked when they thought neither Cameron nor Selena would be returning.

  “But how did you get a different weapon in the lobby?” Jasper persisted.

  “They’re in the gift shop,” Cameron said. He tossed his Spear on the empty bed and picked up the pizza menu and Selena gave him her best are-you-freaking-kidding-me? glare. He just offered her that sexy, mischievous grin in return.

  “What the hell happened to you two?” Jasper shouted. “You leave two days ago to get money for a pizza, and the next thing I know, Cameron is flipping out and yelling at us about Selena disappearing. And then you kicked us out of your room and took off on us!”

  “Um… I may have been kidnapped by Ninurta who held me prisoner until Samhain Eve when he took me to the Otherworld during his invasion and almost killed me. Cameron somehow traveled there on his own and was waiting with Badb and accepted Lugh’s Spear in order to save me from Ninurta then healed me but he’s kind of a god now, so stop pissing him off.”

  “Wait…” Jasper interrupted. “Cameron’s a god?”

  Cameron put the pizza menu down and smiled at him. “You can totally take my name in vain. I’m working on figuring out how to damn things.”

  Selena sighed and rubbed her eyes. She’d endured over thirty-six hours of abduction and near-death experiences and she was exhausted. She collapsed next to Cameron on the bed and rested her head on his chest, and Jasper immediately asked what else had happened during his transformation to a god.

  “Obnoxious asshole,” Cameron reminded him.

  Selena opened her eyes and caught Anita watching her. The psychic smiled and agreed with Cameron. “Don’t be an obnoxious asshole, Jasper. They’ve always been in love in a way that’s highly unusual. They were trying to protect each other because that’s what people do when they love each other more than themselves.”

  Jasper folded his arms over his chest but wouldn’t argue with Anita. Selena wondered again who she reminded him of and why this impetuous man had been somewhat tamed by a fifty-seven-year-old woman with a far stricter moral code than any Jasper had ever lived by.

  “Where is Thor’s hammer then?” Jasper asked.

  “Badb and her sisters are guarding it,” Selena answered. “But we have a much bigger problem now. You didn’t let me finish. It’s about the glass castle and what was inside.”

  Anita sat up straighter and adjusted her glasses. She must have sensed something terribly troubling in Selena’s mind, but a psychic’s power rarely allowed her to access exact thoughts. Ninurta’s power to retrieve such detailed and explicit thoughts had been unusual and incredibly disturbing.

  “What is it?” Anita whispered.

  “Odin,” Selena answered. “The Dagda didn’t kill him in the last war like they had everyone believe, and Badb wasn’t able to kill him either. They weren’t powerful enough. They injured him and imprisoned him inside the glass castle, but the druid prophesied that if he were to get out, it could lead to the end of the Tuatha Dé.”

  “Holy shit,” Jasper mumbled. “If the Irish fall… so will the Greeks.”

  “Possibly,” Cameron agreed. “Or the Greeks will be outcast like the Norse, forced to live some kind of dual existence between Earth and the Otherworld. I guess it depends on how deep their allegiance to the Irish runs.”

  Jasper swallowed and glanced at Anita then looked at Selena. He wouldn’t answer Cameron. “The Greeks won’t turn their backs on the Irish. They’ll triumph with them or they’ll die with them. I don’t know about the Egyptians. According to my family, that alliance is mostly based on need in times of war, but given they’ve lived together for hundreds of years now, maybe it’s more solid. The Greeks and the Tuatha Dé are practically cousins though.”

  “Huh,” Cameron said, “I guess that explains why the Greeks are always around. They’re like BFFs.”

  Selena lifted her head and smiled at Cameron. “No, I think maybe what Jasper means is that they are related. The Tuatha Dé are Celtic and originally came from central Europe, most likely Bohemia. Ninurta told me the Tuatha Dé fought with the Norse for control over northern Europe and were eventually pushed off the continent and settled in Ireland, just as the Celtic people were pushed off their land by the Romans. I think the Greeks are our allies because they’re literally our family.”

  “That… is the most nauseating news I’ve heard in a long time,” Cameron said. “Now’s a good time to figure out if I can damn things.”

  “Oh, and you think I’m happy about this?” Jasper retorted.

  “Can we get back to figuring out how to find the Unbreakable Sword so we can track down this relative of mine who’s supposed to be the next Nuada?” Anita sighed.

  “It’s in a cornfield,” Cameron said. “And Jasper’s digging for it.”

  Jasper flipped him off and told him he was the lamest god in the history of the Irish pantheon since he’d apparently gained no powers other than being an even more obnoxious asshole. A fire erupted around Jasper but the flames didn’t touch the floor or furniture or trigger the smoke alarm. Selena grabbed a pillow and covered her head and told Anita to wake her up when the men in the room stopped behaving like children.

  Anita told her she’d never have the chance to wake her up then, and she’d likely sleep through the upcoming war of the gods.

  Selena heard Jasper yelling at Cameron through the wall of fire he’d created, and she groaned and begged Cameron to knock it off. The fire disappeared and Jasper stood there, untouched and unharmed except for his pride. He scowled at Cameron and took his name in vain, so Cameron thanked him.

  Anita sat on the edge of the bed next to Selena and handed her a phone. The screen displayed the same list of names she’d shown her prior to her abduction by Ninurta. “You’d think being a god now would force Cameron to grow up a little,” Anita teased.

  “Clearly, you haven’t met many gods,” Cameron answered.

  Selena sighed and looked over the list of names then handed the phone back to Anita. “Before I was kidnapped… again… I was going to tell you…”

  “You do get kidnapped a lot,” Cameron interrupted.

  “Sounds like you’re not much of a bodyguard,” Jasper mumbled.

  “I will smite you,” Cameron warned.

  “For god’s sake,” Selena groaned, but Cameron interrupted her again.

  “My sake?”

  Selena blinked at him. “Fine. For your sake, just shut up for three minutes. Please.”

  Cameron offered her that mischievous, sexy grin and held up his hands to indicate he’d placate her. But he also glanced at his watch to time her. Selena shook her head but smiled back at him. After all, how could she not? Despite wanting to protect him from a fate he didn’t want by being willing to abandon the fate she did want, he’d taken the Spear to save her. And when he kissed her, that sense of familiarity had tickled their memories again, making her suspect that the gods not only knew more about their destinies than they’d admitted but their pasts as well.

  “We need the Unbreakable Sword,” Selena told Anita. “The Norse may negotiate with the Tuatha Dé so they can get Mjölnir back, but we can’t sit around a hotel room in Baton Rouge waiting to see. And they may be less likely to negotiate now that they know Odin is still alive. His return has tipped the scales and we can’t count on Thor becoming so desperate that he’ll lead us to the Sword.”

  Anita grunted and leaned against the headboard. “So we’re still stuck. We have no idea where they could have put the Sword, and they have less incentive now to cooperate with us.”

  “Well,” Selena said, “they hid it almost five hundred years ago. I doubt they would have chosen a part of the world that was heavily populated, so I think most of
Europe is out.”

  Cameron shifted his focus from his watch to Selena’s face, his eyes begging her to let him say something before his three minutes were up.

  “I knew you couldn’t make it,” she laughed.

  Cameron grinned at her. “You really think they buried it in a cornfield, don’t you?”

  Selena shrugged. “Depends. Do they have demonic children to stand guard over it?”

  Cameron pretended to think about it. “Depends. Is it in Nebraska?”

  Selena snickered and shook her head. “I don’t think the Sword is buried anywhere. I think they have it and keep guard over it themselves. If we want to find it, we’re going to have to find the Norse.”

  Jasper sat up straighter and gaped at her. “You want us to hunt down their hiding place? The Norse?”

  “I’m not crazy about the idea either, but think about it: we have Mjölnir and what have we done with it? Kept it with us the entire time to make sure Thor couldn’t get his hands on it again. The Unbreakable Sword isn’t really hidden anywhere. It’s just really well guarded.”

  “And… we’re just going to find their new Asgard how?” Cameron asked.

  “We’re not going to find their new Asgard because this is suicidal!” Jasper insisted.

  Cameron ignored him as he tapped his finger against his chin. “Maybe it’s in Norway. You know, homeland and all that.”

  “God, I don’t want to go to Norway,” Anita muttered.

  “Cameron,” he corrected.

  “Dude,” Jasper sighed, “you are officially an even bigger obnoxious asshole.”

  Cameron ignored him again. “Then again, Norway may seem too obvious a hideout. They found us awfully fast in Iowa and Nebraska. Maybe they’re the ones hiding out in cornfields.”

  Selena nodded in pretend agreement. “And Jasper did agree he’d dig around the cornfields for us.”

  “For a sword,” Jasper corrected. “Not for a bunch of Norse gods.”