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

  Selena smiled at him but her smile quickly faded as an idea, either a brilliant or disastrous one, occurred to her. “What if we had a Norse mole?”

  Jasper snorted then his smile faded, too, as he seemed to realize she was serious. He threw his hands in the air and exclaimed, “How the hell are we supposed to convince a Norse demigod not to hate us and to spy on their own pantheon!”

  “And Avery’s psychic,” Cameron pointed out. “Wouldn’t she just uncover our spy anyway?”

  “Not necessarily,” Anita said. “It depends on how powerful this demigod is and how powerful Avery is.”

  “She’s a pretty damn good psychic,” Jasper mumbled, sinking back into the chair by the window. “And we don’t know any other Norse demigods anyway.”

  “You don’t,” Anita corrected. “But I worked for the New Pantheon, remember?”

  “Holy shit,” Cameron said, “you really think this could work?”

  “I think it’s worth calling him,” Anita responded. “I haven’t talked to him in years, but he may be able to at least give us a lead.”

  “Or he’ll turn us in to the Norse,” Jasper grumbled.

  “Obnoxious asshole,” Cameron reminded him.

  Jasper flipped him off, and Cameron smiled. Again.

  And Selena sighed. Again.

  “Let’s call him,” Selena suggested. “I think I’d rather take my chances with Tyr and Thor than listen to these two argue anymore.”

  Anita nodded in what Selena assumed was real agreement and picked up her phone. Everyone listened silently to her half of the conversation: a brief, requisite “How have you been?” and “It has been too long,” followed by the reason for her call. Selena picked nervously at the edge of a fingernail as she waited to hear a response from Anita that would indicate how her Norse friend reacted.

  Cameron placed a hand over hers to force her to stop her nervous habit. She smiled weakly at him, and he kissed the side of her head.

  Selena’s attention snapped back to Anita as she heard her say, “Are you sure? This is awfully dangerous, Doug.”

  Heavy seconds passed as she waited for Anita to respond again. “Ok, we’ll see you tomorrow. We owe you.”

  Anita set her phone on the bed beside her and smiled at Selena and Cameron. “So, guardians of the Tuatha Dé, how do you feel about returning to New Orleans?”

  Chapter Three

  Cameron folded his arms across his chest and scowled at the W Hotel across the street. “I am not staying there,” he insisted.

  Selena laughed and pulled his arm free. “I’m not staying anywhere that you think throwing me across rooftops is an acceptable escape method again.”

  Cameron shrugged and smiled at her. “It worked.”

  “We’re an hour away from Baton Rouge. We don’t have to stay anywhere in New Orleans,” Jasper pointed out.

  Selena caught Anita giving him a curious look, but she couldn’t interpret it. She glanced at Cameron to see if he had noticed, but he was still scowling at the hotel across the street. “You have a one track mind, Bruce Cameron Wayne,” she teased.

  “True,” he admitted, “which is why I actually would check in there again if we could ditch these two for a few hours.”

  Selena felt her cheeks flushing and tugged on his hand to get him walking. She’d been trying to keep the memories of the previous night out of the forefront of her mind ever since Anita had shown up at their hotel door in the morning, ready to travel to New Orleans to meet Doug. She doubted Cameron was attempting to keep the details of their sex life repressed around Anita, and the thought of the psychic who was old enough to be her Aunt Tara catching these private and intimate snippets of her life made her cheeks warm again.

  But not thinking about the prior night with Cameron was proving impossible anyway. Like everything else since they met, most of their experiences felt new and exciting and thrilling, but making love to him for the first time also contained that hint of familiarity, that sense of her soul whispering Finally. We’re together again at last.

  Selena caught Anita smiling at her and wondered if it were possible for her cheeks to turn scarlet red.

  She glanced at Cameron and asked him, “Now that you’re a god, can’t you do something about blushing?”

  “Doubt it. Besides, it’s cute.”

  “Easy for you to say. You don’t blush all the time.”

  “You get embarrassed too easily,” Cameron countered.

  “Remind me again why I’m here?” Jasper complained.

  “Athena,” Anita answered.

  “Right,” he sighed.

  Cameron glanced over his shoulder at Anita and asked her, “Why are we meeting this guy in Jackson Square?”

  Anita shook her head. “No idea. He just told me to meet him by the statue of Andrew Jackson. He lives in Mobile and didn’t want to meet there.”

  “Probably because he’s worried about the Norse smiting the whole city,” Jasper mumbled.

  “Can I smite him yet?” Cameron begged Selena.

  “He has come in handy a few times,” Selena said. “I still think you should hold off on the smiting.”

  Cameron pouted as they entered Jackson Square, bustling with activity as usual. Street vendors, mostly local artists and tarot card readers and fake psychics, had set up their tables along the sidewalks, beckoning tourists to stop and have their palms read or purchase a painting of the Cathedral or some other iconic New Orleans’ landmark. Selena grinned at Anita and pointed to one of the placards proclaiming the woman was a psychic who could offer advice and foretell great fortunes.

  “Let’s stop,” she suggested. “See if she knows where the Unbreakable Sword is.”

  Anita giggled and reached into her pocket. “I have ten dollars. Who has the other half?”

  “Are we seriously doing this?” Jasper groaned.

  Anita ignored him. Cameron handed her the rest of the money, and Anita approached the woman’s table and sat in the folding chair across from her. She placed the cash on the table and the woman, who didn’t look much older than Selena, held out her hands.

  “How may I help you?” she asked.

  “I thought you were psychic?” Jasper retorted.

  Cameron elbowed him in the ribs and Jasper pushed him, forcing him to stumble into Selena. Cameron pointed at him and warned, “Keep it up and I will smite you all the way into Florida.”

  The fake psychic’s hazel eyes darted between them then settled on Anita again. “We’re looking for a valuable family treasure that was stolen a long time ago,” Anita explained. “Any ideas on where we should start?”

  The con artist’s eyes lowered to the money on her table then bounced back to Anita’s face. She smiled at the older woman and held out her hands again. “This heirloom has great personal value,” she said. “Its loss pains you. I can tell.”

  “This pains me,” Jasper mumbled.

  “Don’t mind my nephew,” Anita said. “He doesn’t believe in anything supernatural.”

  Jasper snorted and Cameron elbowed him in the ribs again but quickly shot him a don’t-even-think-about-touching-me glare. The woman looked Jasper over in a way that suddenly made Selena regret stopping at her table.

  “It’s ok,” the pretend psychic assured Anita. “Not everyone has had the chance to become… enlightened.”

  “All right, we’re done here,” Cameron announced.

  Anita ignored him, too. “So, this heirloom. Where should we start? We’re dying to find it.”

  Cameron snickered, and Selena elbowed him in the ribs. Jasper laughed at him, and Anita twisted in her seat and scolded them all.

  They each grinned sheepishly at her and apologized.

  “I’m picking up that this heirloom was stolen from a loved one’s house,” the fake psychic claimed. “Is that right?”

  “Close enough,” Cameron said.

  “There are clues there that you’ve missed,” she insisted. “It may not have been a stranger who took this
priceless family treasure from you.”

  “Anita Granger,” a deep, booming voice called out. Selena jumped and searched the crowded sidewalk for the source of that voice and found a large man with a burly chest and salt and pepper beard staring at them. His arms were crossed angrily, but his pale blue eyes laughed at the real psychic sitting at the con woman’s table. “You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  Anita smiled at the man who must be Doug, the Norse demigod. “Well, I’m not. And I’m also not finished here. Come join us.”

  Doug shook his head but wove his way through the crowd and stood by her chair. After eyeing him for a few seconds, Anita sprang up and threw her arms around his thick neck. He hugged her then stepped back from the smaller woman and looked at her. “You haven’t changed.”

  “Are you kidding? Look at me! I’ve gotten old!” Anita laughed.

  Doug pointed to his beard and smiled. “I’m not exactly aging backwards, my dear.”

  “Can we go now?” Jasper begged.

  “You don’t have to rush off,” the fake psychic cooed at him.

  Cameron grimaced and to Selena’s surprise, Jasper actually turned her down. “We do, actually. Have to find that missing… heirloom.”

  Doug raised an eyebrow at Anita, but she waved him off and thanked the pretty brunette who looked utterly confused now. “Let’s go get some coffee and beignets,” Doug suggested. “And then you can tell me exactly what you need me to do.”

  Selena dragged behind them, gripping Cameron’s hand so he would fall behind as well. When they were out of earshot, she whispered, “Are your Spidey senses picking up anything strange about him?”

  Cameron blinked at the man’s broad back then shook his head. “Nope. I wouldn’t have guessed he was Norse if I hadn’t known.”

  “Exactly. And don’t you think that’s strange?”

  “Maybe he’s not a powerful demigod?” Cameron suggested.

  “You’re a god now, Cameron. That shouldn’t matter.”

  “Oh, in that case… yeah, that’s pretty strange.”

  “Something is up with this guy,” Selena said softly. “Anita said he’s descended from Forseti, but we don’t really know anything about him, even if he was really a god of justice. Seems weird the Norse would have a god of justice, doesn’t it?”

  Cameron shrugged and continued to watch the broad back of the Norse demigod walking ahead of them with Anita, chatting animatedly as they most likely caught up on the years since their days in the New Pantheon together. “Probably not that weird. The Norse pride themselves on playing by the rules, unlike some other asshole pantheons.”

  Selena slowed down even more and eventually stopped walking altogether. Only Jasper seemed to notice and shot them a “What now?” look but Selena motioned for him to keep walking. “They do take rules seriously,” Selena said. “Perhaps Forseti’s job was to administer just decisions to the other Norse gods who broke those rules, but piss off the wrong god, like Odin, and…” Selena bit her lip and eyed Doug’s retreating back. “It would explain why he and his family turned their back on the pantheon.”

  The corner of Cameron’s lips turned up in that sexy smirk that gave Selena butterflies and she smiled back at him. “What?”

  “You are so damn hot, especially when you show off how brilliant you are.”

  “Cut it out,” Selena cautioned. “We’re in public.”

  Cameron’s grin pulled a little higher and he leaned down and let his lips graze her neck then whispered in her ear, “Gods can teleport, you know.”

  Selena closed her eyes and sighed but whatever fantasies she’d wanted to entertain about letting Cameron teleport them both out of the French Market vanished as Jasper yelled, “God, you two, get a grip on yourselves!”

  “Cameron!” he yelled back. He shook his head at Selena and asked, “When is he going to learn?”

  “Sorry, love, but I don’t think you’re going to get this to catch on. Cameron isn’t quite as catchy as god.”

  “Can I change my name?” he joked.

  Selena snickered and followed Anita and Doug beneath the green canopy of the coffee stand. After placing their orders, they found a couple of small, round tables to push together and brushed the powdered sugar from the chairs. Anita’s small talk immediately ended and she leaned her elbows on the table and eyed Doug seriously. “We have to find out where the Norse live. We know Asgard was destroyed, so where is their new paradise?”

  Doug lifted a large, round shoulder at her. “Not sure, to be honest. Never had much to do with them, as you know.”

  “But could you get in with them and find out for us?” Jasper asked.

  Doug scratched at his gray and dark brown beard and looked thoughtfully at the young demigod. “Without making them suspicious that after fifty-eight years of avoiding them, I suddenly want to join their ranks? Don’t see how.”

  “Then don’t tell them you want to join them. Tell them you caught wind of some kind of conflict brewing and want to know what’s in it for you if you agree to help them out,” Anita suggested.

  Doug ran his fingers across his chin again and nodded. “That might work if word of this war is actually getting out. Otherwise, they’ll be suspicious from the start.”

  “Why exactly have you kept your distance from your pantheon?” Selena asked.

  Doug let his hand drop onto the table and his eyes narrowed slightly at the thought of his own ancestors. “They’re full of surprises, Selena. They like to pretend they’re so honorable, but you can’t trust any of them, even if they’re your own family.”

  “What does that mean?” Jasper asked.

  “It doesn’t matter,” Anita interjected. “Doug, we might be able to confirm the news is spreading among certain circles by contacting a few of our friends to see if they’ve heard anything.”

  “Wait,” Cameron interrupted. “You were in the New Pantheon, right?”

  Doug nodded and waited.

  “Anita said Ukko let her out, probably because he’d been sleeping with her and all, but how did you get out alive?”

  Doug blinked at him then said, “Who says I didn’t get out for the same reason?”

  Cameron blinked at him. “Um…”

  Doug laughed and clapped Cameron’s shoulder. “I’m messing with you, kid. I didn’t back out like Anita. I retired. We demigods do eventually retire, you know. We don’t stay young forever.”

  “So… you worked for Ukko for all these years?” Jasper asked cautiously.

  Doug shrugged at him and Selena crossed her arms and glared at Anita. “You didn’t tell us that part,” she hissed.

  “We can trust Doug,” Anita claimed.

  “Yeah, I’m not sure I trust anyone who willingly worked for Ukko,” Cameron interrupted.

  In a rare moment of agreement, Jasper nodded and added, “He’s Norse and he worked for the New Pantheon. Anita… I don’t know what the hell you’re thinking, but I’m out of here.” Jasper pushed his chair back and stood up, shooting Cameron a quick glance that Selena thought contained a bit of hope that the young god would finally decide to start smiting people.

  When it didn’t appear that Cameron was going to smite anyone, Jasper stormed off toward the French Market.

  “Should we go after him?” Selena asked.

  “Nah, Athena will drag him back,” Cameron said. “But I have to admit. I kinda agree with him.”

  “Don’t blame you,” Doug offered. “But not all of us who worked for the New Pantheon were involved in coercing others to join, too. And not everything they do is so bad, you know. I have no regrets for what I did in the three decades I worked for them.”

  “What did you do?” Cameron asked.

  Doug rested his heavy arms on the table and leaned closer to Cameron and Selena. “The New Pantheon essentially operates as a CIA staffed by gods and demigods. I spent most of the 80s in Eastern Europe. Once Gorbachev took over, the Soviet Union wasn’t the threat it used to be, but the entire reg
ion was so unstable, we monitored it closely for years. I was transferred to China for most of the 90s, but after 9/11, everything changed. A bunch of us from the New Pantheon worked with the CIA, and unless you want to whisk me off to the Otherworld to force me to explain anymore than that, I’m going to have to stop right there.”

  Selena shifted in her seat and squeezed Cameron’s hand. What Doug described sounded exactly like any other government agency, not what she expected from Ukko and the gods who had tried to kidnap her again and again, the same gods who would kill the man she loved just to get their hands on her. She heard Anita stirring in her plastic seat and lifted her eyes to meet hers.

  “Gods aren’t necessarily one-dimensional either, Selena,” Anita explained. “Ukko is far more complex than you know. He can be ruthless, but there’s a man in there I also fell in love with.”

  “Ew,” Cameron interrupted. “I’m going to have to stop you right there. No one is allowed to talk about Ukko and…” Cameron wrinkled his nose and added, “love.”

  Anita rolled her eyes and scolded him. “Just because you’re a god now, don’t think you’re going to get away with bossing me around and telling me what I can and cannot say.”

  Cameron blinked at her then apologized. “Yes, ma’am.”

  Doug snorted and sat back in his chair. “Anita Granger. Still hell on wheels after all these years.”

  “I protect the people I care about. That will never change, Doug. And I care about these kids and even if it costs me my life, I’m going to help them find this Sword and its heir.”

  Selena gasped and shook her head. “I won’t let you die, Anita. I’ve brought you back once. I’ll do it again.”

  “Not at the expense of your life, Selena.” She pointed her chin toward Cameron and smiled at him. “He’ll make sure you don’t sacrifice yourself for anyone. You’re too important to the Tuatha Dé. I don’t know how, but Badb made it clear that you had to find the Cauldron and we all had to protect you. Besides, I wouldn’t let you die for me anyway just because you’re a remarkable young woman and you and Cameron have such a beautiful connection.”

  Cameron nodded. “Oh, it’s definitely beautiful all right.”