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

  “Well… now that you mention it,” Cameron yawned. “Though to be fair to Doug, gods are always trying to kill us, so this is really just another day for us.”

  Selena shrugged and climbed back onto the bed beside him. “Anita trusts him, and you trust her.”

  Badb pointed one of her long, thin fingers at Selena and scolded her. “Anita is a regular demigod, not an extraordinary one like you and Cameron. Her abilities are limited. She means well, but…”

  “But the guy is helping us out, Badb,” Cameron said. “If he wanted us dead, he would have sent the Norse after us, not some Persian god has-been.”

  Badb’s beady eyes narrowed at him and she plopped heavily on the end of the bed. “The Norse,” she spit out, “would send someone else to do their dirty work for them now. They have every reason to fear you and want to test your strength first.”

  “Cameron,” Selena said uneasily, “she talks crazy sometimes, but she’s usually right.”

  “Sometimes? She’s always crazy,” Cameron insisted.

  “I know better, Child. You love me like the big sister you never had,” Badb told him.

  “The emotion is more like fear and the relationship is more like the creepy old witch who lived in the run-down mansion at the end of the street.”

  Selena snickered and rolled her eyes at him. “You grew up in a suburb with a cul-de-sac. Nice try.”

  “See? I’m a god now. Can’t trust me either.”

  Selena laughed and kissed his shoulder. “You’ll always have my faith, Sun God.”

  “God, you two are sickeningly sweet,” Badb joked.

  Cameron threw his hands up and exhaled heavily. “Would you knock that off? It’s Cameron now!”

  Badb’s thin, gray eyebrows pulled together but Selena just shook her head. “We’re not letting this catch on. If you’re worried Anita has been duped by this Norse demigod then I think we should call her over and talk to her.”

  Badb made a circular motion with her hand as if to indicate Selena should pick up the phone and call her already. Selena put the phone beside her and stopped Cameron as he tried to get off the bed.

  “I want to know something first,” Selena told Badb.

  “I… want to know why you’re not letting me pee,” Cameron told Selena, eyeing her hand on his arm. “Turns out, even gods have to pee, you know.”

  “How badly? Because you may want to hold it if you want to hear the answer as to why Jasper gets so weird around Anita sometimes.”

  Cameron lifted his eyes to look at Badb. “I can hold it.”

  Badb lifted her chin in the air and sniffed, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Badb,” Selena warned. “My bullshit-o-meter’s in the red here.”

  “Then it’s broken,” Badb insisted.

  “You’re a terrible liar,” Cameron said.

  Badb lifted a thin, bony shoulder at him and gestured toward the phone on the bed. “Hurry and call her. I’m not getting any younger over here.”

  “Now that I believe,” Cameron agreed.

  “Funny,” Selena pretend-mused, “I seem to recall Badb saying something about Cameron becoming the most powerful god the Tuatha Dé had ever known. One of the most powerful gods the world had ever known. Sure seems like you could do something to get her to talk.”

  Badb put her hands on her hips and fixed her beady eyes on the demigoddess. “Blackmail doesn’t suit you.”

  “It really doesn’t,” Cameron agreed. “You’re far too good for something like that.” He smiled at Badb then added, “But I’m not.”

  “You’re a very naughty child,” Badb said.

  “Ever been to Ellesmere Island? I’ll bet at this time of year, it’s really damn cold.”

  “You wouldn’t,” Badb hissed.

  “Bring me back a caribou.”

  Selena blinked and the goddess was gone. She looked around the room then at Cameron, who had already gotten off the bed and was heading toward the bathroom.

  “Did you really just send her to some frozen island?” Selena asked.

  “Think she’s really going to bring me a caribou?” he called back from the bathroom.

  “God, I hope not,” Selena mumbled.

  “Cameron!” he insisted stubbornly.

  Selena shook her head again then jumped when someone knocked on the door. “I am not getting that just in case there’s a pissed off Irish war goddess with a reindeer out there.”

  She listened as the toilet flushed and water ran in the bathroom and the knocking continued on the door. She folded her arms and sat on the bed and wondered what they’d do with a caribou if Badb actually brought one just to get back at Cameron. She had nine different names she was ready to give it.

  Cameron crossed the room and looked through the peephole then assured her it wasn’t a pissed off Irish war goddess, just a pissed off Irish demigoddess and a pissed off Greek demigod. Anita and Jasper glared at them both as they entered and Jasper grunted at him. “Dude, you don’t think some things could take priority over your sex life?”

  Selena looked down at her pink pajamas then back at Jasper’s angry face. “Why the hell do you think we were slow in answering the door because we were having sex?”

  “Because Badb just showed up and said you wouldn’t let her in…”

  Cameron’s laughter cut him off and when he asked him if she’d shown up with his reindeer, Jasper just sighed and reminded him he was an obnoxious asshole.

  “Next time, send her farther,” Selena suggested.

  Cameron nodded and told Jasper to go get the old witch. Jasper gave him a “Make me” look and Selena hurriedly reminded him he’d just sent a powerful Irish goddess to some north Canadian island and he wouldn’t be able to get himself off that island nearly as easily.

  Jasper glared at Cameron and reminded him, “I hate you.” But he stomped out of the hotel room to retrieve Badb, who was presumably reindeer-free.

  Anita looked them over and sighed. “Do I even want to ask what this is all about?”

  “Badb wouldn’t tell us why Jasper gets all weird around you,” Cameron answered. “It’s freaking us out.”

  “He doesn’t get weird,” Anita said.

  The door opened again and Badb followed behind Jasper, carrying a small plush Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer toy in one hand, which she immediately threw at Cameron. “Here’s your damn caribou.”

  Cameron caught it and looked between the toy and the goddess. “I think you got the wrong kind. You should go back.”

  She lifted one crooked, bony finger and pointed it at him. “Don’t even think about it.”

  Selena crawled to the edge of the bed and snatched the stuffed reindeer from his hands. He gave her a funny look, but she just smiled and told him, “I like Rudolph. I’m keeping it.”

  Anita sighed again and asked, “What is going on?”

  Selena hugged the stuffed reindeer to her chest and took a deep breath. Someone had to tell the psychic her friend may have betrayed them, and it appeared Cameron and Badb were waiting on her to do it. “Badb is concerned that Doug may have sold us out to the Norse who then tipped off Mithra about Cameron.”

  Anita’s green eyes studied Badb for a few seconds before she asked, “Why do you think that? Is it just because of the timing or do you know something I don’t?”

  “You don’t think the coincidental timing is reason enough to be concerned?” Badb retorted.

  Anita shrugged. “I’ve known Doug a long time. None of you know him so I don’t blame you if you think he’d betray us, but no, I can’t believe it unless you have proof.”

  Badb’s dark, beady eyes focused on Anita as she thought, and Selena recognized her expression, this look of knowing more than she would admit to.

  Selena glanced at Cameron to see if he’d noticed and by the way he was watching the war goddess, it hadn’t escaped his attention either.

  Badb waved a hand in the air and her long black robe rippled beneath
her arm. “For now, what’s done is done. When do you hear from him?”

  “Hopefully today,” Anita responded. “When we left New Orleans, he was planning on contacting another Norse demigod who could connect him to the Norse.”

  Badb looked around the room quickly then waved both hands in the air. “We shouldn’t stay in one place, just in case. You’re still too close to Baton Rouge.”

  “If we need to meet with Doug again, we didn’t want to be too far away,” Cameron countered. “Badb, if you know something I don’t, you need to tell me. I don’t like that he’s Norse or that he was in the New Pantheon either, but I met this guy and he didn’t strike me as someone I needed to smite, even though I really want to start smiting people.”

  “Don’t go around smiting people,” Badb ordered. “It pisses humans off. And I don’t know anything about Doug you don’t.”

  Selena snorted and tossed her reindeer on the bed. “I believe that as much as I believe you don’t know why Jasper acts all weird around Anita.”

  “Hey!” Jasper intervened. “I do not!”

  Selena couldn’t be sure given his Mediterranean complexion, but she thought he might be blushing.

  “Weirder,” Cameron corrected. “He’s always weird, but dude, you totally treat Anita like she’s your long lost mother, and considering what an asshole you are, that’s definitely weird.”

  Jasper crossed his arms over his chest and squinted at Cameron. “Some of us just have respect for our elders.”

  Selena snorted, but not surprisingly, Anita defended him. “Leave him alone. Just as I told you gods aren’t always so one-dimensional, neither are demigods.”

  Cameron mimicked Jasper and squinted back at him. “I have respect for my elders.” He nodded toward Badb and added, “Just not this old crow.”

  Badb flipped him off, and Jasper laughed.

  Anita sat by Selena and whispered, “Want to go get some breakfast?”

  “In Hawaii?” Selena whispered back.

  “Hey,” Cameron interrupted, “I could totally send us to Hawaii now. Just say the word, Sweet Goddess.”

  “I was thinking just Anita and I would go,” Selena said. “Scope it out. See if the Norse built their new Asgard there.”

  “I want this assignment,” Badb muttered.

  “I want my caribou,” Cameron told her.

  “You really are obnoxious no matter who you’re talking to,” Jasper said.

  Cameron shot Badb a pointed look. “You said I couldn’t smite humans. You never said anything about demigods.”

  Badb gestured toward the young sun god and fixed Selena with a pouty stare. “Would you do something about this?”

  Jasper snickered and told Badb, “I think she does it all the time, which is why they wouldn’t let you in this morning.”

  Selena grabbed Anita’s hand and pulled her off the bed. “That’s it. We’re going to Hawaii.”

  “It’s about time,” Anita mumbled.

  The demigoddesses didn’t have the chance to escape though. Anita’s phone rang and she pulled it out of her pocket and glanced at the name on the screen. “It’s Doug,” she announced.

  Jasper, Badb, and Cameron stepped closer, apparently hoping to overhear his end of the conversation. Anita saved them the trouble and put him on speakerphone.

  “Well,” he sighed, “Tyr isn’t as stupid as we’d like. I met with him yesterday, but he met me in a motel room in Biloxi, which seemed really seedy, but he wouldn’t agree to anything else.”

  Cameron nodded at the phone. “Tyr is really seedy.”

  “And go figure: what they want help with is getting Mjölnir back,” Doug added.

  Jasper snickered again and shook his head. “Fat chance.”

  “You’ll have to give them something if you want to gain their trust though,” Selena said. “Some symbol that you combatted us for it, but didn’t come away with it, maybe?”

  “He couldn’t fight Cameron and the Norse will know that,” Badb pointed out.

  “Who’s that?” Doug asked.

  “Badb, one of the Mórrígna,” Anita answered. “And my ancestor.”

  “Ah,” Doug responded. “Why does she sound so old?”

  Cameron laughed so Badb elbowed him in the ribs. “Ow! Goddamn it, woman!”

  “Cameron,” Selena reminded him.

  “How do I damn her?” he asked.

  “What is going on over there?” Doug asked.

  “Nothing out of the ordinary, unfortunately,” Anita sighed.

  “No offense, Anita, but I’m starting to think there’s something wrong with you Irish.”

  Cameron nodded at the phone again. “Selena’s our only hope. Now you know why it’s so important we find the Unbreakable Sword.”

  “Clearly,” Doug agreed although he sounded like he was smiling. “And even a lowlife like me from the New Pantheon isn’t going to fight a woman, so I guess that leaves Jasper. What do you say, Jasper? What kind of token could I come away with to prove I fought the good fight against you?”

  “You must be the only lowlife from the New Pantheon not willing to fight a woman,” Cameron interjected.

  “Cameron,” Anita scolded, “there are hundreds of gods and demigods in the New Pantheon. You don’t know them all. There are good ones.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Cameron apologized sheepishly.

  “Don’t be so hard on the kid, Anita,” Doug insisted. “Considering what he and Selena have been through because of Ukko, you can’t blame him. Now, Jasper?”

  Jasper shuffled his feet and looked among the deities and demigoddesses in the room. “The last time we encountered the Norse, I pulled my .357 on them. Tyr is going to know I’m armed with a pistol and not afraid to use it.”

  “Hm.” A sound like the scratching of nails against rough skin through a beard came through the speakerphone then Doug suggested, “I’m always armed, too. I’ll tell him I confronted you and it ended in a draw, but I need to lead him somewhere.”

  “How about the hotel room in Baton Rouge where they sent Mithra?” Badb suggested.

  “Badb!” Selena hissed.

  “Mithra?” Doug asked. “The Persian god? Even if the Norse knew where you all were, why the hell would they send him? I didn’t even know that guy was still alive.”

  “We don’t know if the Norse were behind tipping off Mithra about Cameron’s new status as a sun god, but he showed up at our hotel room in Baton Rouge yesterday and threatened to kill Cameron and…” Selena’s voice cracked and she bit her lip. Cameron put his arm around her and kissed her, promising her again that no one would take him away from her.

  She held him tightly, but she thought Cameron really shouldn’t make promises he had no control over keeping.

  “And what?” Doug asked. “I still don’t understand why he wants to kill Cameron. Is he some kind of god hit man now or something?”

  “No,” Badb sighed. “Mithra has an extremely rare ability. He can temporarily subsume the power of any god he kills. It’s probably how he’s survived as long as he has without the help of a pantheon.”

  Doug was silent for a few moments on the other end before asking, “You’re kidding, right?”

  “Does it sound like I’m joking?” Badb snapped.

  “But that…” Doug faltered. “How is that even possible?”

  Badb threw her arms up and exclaimed, “I don’t know! There have only been a handful of gods in the history of the world who could do something like that, and he’s one of them. When he had huge cults among the Romans and Persians, he rarely bothered since killing gods is a hassle, but Christianity and Islam wiped out his following. He was well known enough that he is still remembered, but with most of his pantheon gone, he is permanently weakened, and he’s always refused to join Ukko because his ego won’t allow him to serve under another god.”

  “Holy shit,” Doug mumbled. “Have you guys managed not to end up on anyone’s hit list?”

  “Don’t know,” Camero
n admitted. “I’m still not convinced Badb isn’t trying to kill me.”

  “I’m not at all convinced Athena isn’t trying to kill me,” Jasper added.

  “Just… give me the address where you were staying in Baton Rouge,” Doug said. “I’ll tell Tyr we got into it but Cameron and Selena weren’t there and Cameron must still have Mjölnir with him. Tyr can go survey the damage himself. Mithra didn’t leave any calling cards, did he?”

  “What is your power?” Cameron asked. “He blew our damn door apart. How are you going to explain that?”

  “Strength and speed,” Doug said. “I could easily shatter a wooden door.”

  Anita gave him the address to the motel where they’d been staying in Baton Rouge then added, “Call me back once you know something.” She disconnected and tossed the phone on the bed, looking both disappointed and dejected.

  “I hate this feeling,” she murmured.

  “What feeling?” Selena asked.

  Anita lifted her green eyes and inhaled a slow, shaky breath. “That we’re running out of time.”

  Chapter Six

  They left Louisiana that morning and drove west to Texas, stopping in a small town that shared Jasper’s name. Cameron forced Jasper out of the car and made him pose in front of the Welcome to Jasper, Jewel of the Forest sign as he snapped a picture with his cell phone. For the rest of the morning, Cameron called him the Jewel of the Forest.

  By that afternoon, he’d shortened Jasper’s new nickname to Jewel. Jasper eventually gave up protesting and just ignored him. By early evening, they’d reached Waco and decided to stop for the night. None of them had ever been to Waco and as they drove through the city looking for a hotel, Cameron leaned forward from the backseat and tapped Badb’s shoulder, who’d insisted on driving.

  “I’m almost positive the Norse won’t find us here. I’m almost positive no one will find us here. Ever.”

  Badb snorted and pointed to a Comfort Suites. “Bigger rooms.” She glanced over her shoulder at Cameron and Selena and gave them a devilish grin. “For those of us who aren’t as intimately familiar with each other.”