Treasures of the Gods (The Unbreakable Sword Series Book 3) Page 5

  “God,” Jasper moaned, “this is the worst week of my life.”

  “Cameron,” he corrected.

  “I will never say your name in vain again,” Jasper said. “Just for all the assholey shit you’ve pulled since becoming a god.”

  Power itself changes anyone, Selena.

  Selena gasped and dropped the bottle of water she’d been holding. Cameron gave her a strange look and picked it up for her. “Are you all right?”

  Selena smiled weakly at him and thanked him for the water. She sensed Anita watching her and turned to her, but the psychic’s eyes only betrayed her concern. If Anita knew the source of Selena’s sudden fear, she kept it to herself.

  She sat back against the seat, sandwiched between Cameron and Anita, and watched the façade of the motel’s lobby as they entered the parking lot. Badb kept stealing glances at her in the rearview mirror, but Selena wouldn’t acknowledge her.

  Badb parked the borrowed Malibu and handed Jasper the keys. “Stay here. The fewer people see us, the better. Cameron, cloak the car so no one notices anyone inside it.”

  Cameron blinked at her then asked, “I can do that?”

  Badb rolled her eyes and got out of the car. Selena watched her spritely, stooped body dart into the lobby then smiled at her boyfriend. “Figure out how to cloak us yet?”

  Cameron shrugged. “If not, let’s all just pretend it worked when Badb gets back. She’s cranky enough when she does get her way.”

  “We could start our own gang,” Jasper joked. “With Selena’s telekinesis and Cameron’s ability to trick people into thinking we’re not really there, we’d make some really badass supervillains.”

  “I could finally get my Porsche,” Cameron said. “Although Selena might kill me in my sleep for it.”

  “I’m still trying to figure out why she hasn’t killed you in your sleep already,” Jasper retorted.

  “He’s a light sleeper,” Selena contributed.

  “Ah,” Jasper said. “Try drugging him first.”

  “I don’t think that would work on a god. I’ve watched Badb put away a six-pack of Guinness and it didn’t even affect her aim in pool.”

  “Would you two stop plotting my murder?” Cameron pointed to Jasper and added, “I expect it from him, but you’re supposed to be on my side, Selena.”

  “I am,” Selena assured him. “Unless you get a Porsche. Then all bets are off.”

  “Fair enough,” Cameron agreed.

  Badb’s short, bent figure darted out of the lobby, and she waved a hand at them to follow her. She handed them each card keys and directed them to their rooms.

  “Wait, you’re not staying?” Selena asked.

  “I’ll be back,” Badb promised. “But you should be safe here for the night. I need to keep the Dagda apprised of what’s going on here because if we’re forced to exchange Mjölnir for the Unbreakable Sword, it will be his approval we need.”

  Selena watched the toes of her shoes as she nervously fidgeted with the water of bottle she still carried in her hands. Badb put her arms around her and whispered, “You’re safe with him, Child.”

  Selena hugged the goddess and whispered back, “I know. But is he safe now?”

  “Nothing is lost as long we have hope,” Badb’s younger, normal voice assured her.

  Selena closed her eyes and held her tighter, remembering her Aunt Tara’s own similar reassurances. “I love you, Badb,” Selena breathed.

  “And I love you, Daughter of Danu. We will bring you both home.” Badb patted her cheek gently and wiped away a tear then nudged Cameron toward the door. “Open. Get her inside.”

  “Yeah, I’ll miss you, too, you old crow.”

  Badb snorted and patted his shoulder. “Be vigilant, Cameron. You always have been, but trust no one outside of your family.”

  Cameron’s eyes shot to Jasper and he wrinkled his nose. “Does that include the Greeks?”

  “Yes,” Badb said firmly. “No smiting him.”

  Jasper shot Cameron a triumphant look so Cameron flipped him off.

  “Oh, for God’s sake, give me the key. I’m going inside,” Selena muttered.

  Cameron held the card key out of her reach and arched an eyebrow at her. “Say it,” he teased.

  Selena placed her hands on her hips and scowled at him. “Damn you, Cameron.”

  “Close enough.” He handed her the key and she stomped up the stairs to their room.

  “Dude,” she heard Jasper say, “you’re going to end up seriously pissing her off and she’ll realize she’s way too good for you. What’s gotten into you lately?”

  Selena caught her breath again and tried to hold the card key steady as she unlocked the door.

  I’m losing him. Oh, God, I’m losing him already.

  His heavy footsteps on the concrete stairs brought him closer to her and she felt his hand cover hers before she could get the door open. He took the key from her and unlocked the door, opening it and stepping aside so she could enter. Selena wouldn’t meet his eyes. She couldn’t look into those beautiful, chocolate brown eyes and see emotions and feelings that shouldn’t be there, that shouldn’t exist in the man she fell in love with, the man her heart would always love and her soul would always belong to.

  She tried to cross the room and hide in the bathroom, but Cameron’s fingers wrapped around her arm and stopped her. “Selena,” he said gently, “what’s wrong? Did I do something?”

  Selena shook her head but she still couldn’t look at him.

  “You don’t think it’s possible then? That I could have become the next goddess of healing but still remained me?”

  “No. It’s not possible. You give up what makes you part-human.”

  An aching, painful sob escaped her throat and she covered her mouth with her hand. Cameron’s arms wrapped around her and pulled her to his chest as he begged her to talk to him, to tell him what had upset her so much while apologizing for anything he’d done that had hurt her. She listened to his heartbeat, so normal, so alive, so human, and cried even harder.

  As Cameron stroked her hair and kissed her head, he went through a catalog of anything that had caused this reaction, starting with Badb leaving and passing through Mithra’s threat and the difficult odds of finding the Unbreakable Sword and ending in Jasper just annoying the hell out of her. She clutched his shirt and cried and shook her head.

  “Are you sure?” he asked. “Because if Jasper caused this…”

  “No!” Selena shouted into his shirt. “It’s you!”

  “Me,” Cameron repeated softly. She listened to air filling his lungs as he inhaled a deep breath then pushed back from her. “Ok. I think you need to explain.”

  Selena finally lifted her head and stared into his deep, chocolate brown eyes, so worried and scared and filled with his love for her. She shook her head and demanded, “What is happening to you?”

  “Um… I’m getting yelled at by my girlfriend and I still don’t know why. I think that’s pretty normal for relationships though, so you’re going to have to be more specific.”

  “You’re changing!” Selena cried. “You and Jasper have always fought, but now you’re just… so vindictive. And what the hell was the deal with the key outside?”

  Cameron sighed and ran his fingers through his dark brown hair. “Selena, I was just messing around with you! How is that any different than the way I’ve always acted? And why are you worried about Jasper all of a sudden?”

  “Because it’s not you! Ninurta said…”

  “God,” Cameron groaned, “you promised me you wouldn’t listen to anything that asshole told you.”

  Selena hiccupped on a laugh and put a hand on one hip. “First of all, which god?”

  Cameron blinked at her then seemed to think about it. “Well, not Ninurta, obviously.”

  “And Cameron, he had no reason to lie to me about what happens to us when we become gods. He said it would change us, that power itself changes people, and when we become gods,
we give up what makes us part-human.”

  Cameron looked down at his body as if he could see the god and not-god parts, if there were any left, in front of him. “I… have to admit. I think it’s totally strange that gods still have to pee. And eat and drink. That seems pretty human to me.”

  Selena shrugged and kicked at the worn navy blue carpet in the room. “I think he was talking about personality traits.”

  “And so what? You’re just waiting on me to turn into some womanizing, selfish asshole god like Zeus?”

  Selena kicked at the carpet a few more times before answering him. “I’ll always love you, Cameron. No matter what. You know that. I just don’t want to lose you.”

  “Selena,” he said quietly, pulling her into his arms again, “you aren’t going to. I’m sorry if messing with Jasper upset you. I swear it’s not because I feel different. It’s just after a year of putting up with his shit, he’s in a position where he can’t really do anything about it, and if I got carried away, I’m sorry. Really. I’ll even apologize to him if that makes you happy. It might kill me, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make in order to please you.”

  Selena laughed and squeezed her arms around his waist. “Don’t apologize. I can probably bring you back from the dead, but let’s not risk it. Just lay off him from now on, ok?”

  “You got it, Sweet Goddess.”

  Selena tipped her face upward and kissed him, tangling her fingers in his thick, dark hair. His hand slipped beneath her shirt and tickled the skin on her back, and she sighed against his lips. He smiled at her and dipped her toward the bed but instead of lowering her onto the mattress, his arm tightened around her and pulled her upright again. Selena opened her eyes to see if this was some sort of quirky foreplay, but he wasn’t looking at her. He’d turned toward the door and that inhuman anger flashed through his chocolate brown eyes.

  “Ukko,” he breathed.

  Selena groaned and let her head fall against his arm. “How did he find us?”

  “I don’t know. But he’s alone. He’s never alone.”

  Selena lifted her head as she finally sensed his presence, and of course, Cameron was right. Ukko was approaching their room and he’d come alone.

  A knock on their door startled them both. They glanced at each other as if to ask, “He knocks now?”

  “What do we do?” Selena whispered.

  Cameron’s anger seemed to seep from his body as he glared at the door. “I kill him and at least one problem is taken care of.”

  Ukko knocked again and this time, he called out to them. “I get it. You don’t want to let me in. But I know about Mithra and you might want to hear me out.”

  Cameron rolled his eyes. “And you’ve given us so many reasons to trust you.”

  “Actually,” Ukko countered, “I have. I told you I could get Selena away from Quetzalcoatl in exchange for your service in the New Pantheon, and I upheld my end of the bargain.”

  “And you’ve been chasing us ever since even though we’ve made it clear we want nothing to do with your agency!” Cameron shouted back at the door.

  “This has nothing to do with the New Pantheon. Not in the immediate sense. But it does have something to do with Selena, so I suggest you open the goddamn door, Cameron.”

  “Which god?” Cameron asked.

  Selena thought she heard Ukko mumbling something about Cameron being an obnoxious asshole.

  “You’ve been wanting to smite someone,” Selena said. “If he’s lying to us, start with him.”

  “You actually want me to let him in?” Cameron asked, his voice hinting that his real question had been, “Are you out of your freaking mind?”

  Selena just shrugged. “You killed Nyyrikki when you were just a demigod. I doubt Ukko would show up alone now that you’re a god unless he’s here because he really does want to talk to you and isn’t going to attempt to kill or abduct anyone.”

  Cameron groaned and ran his fingers through his hair. “Fine,” he agreed. “But if you get closer than six feet to her, I’m smiting your annoying ass!”

  Selena backed up to make sure there would be plenty of distance between her and Ukko then opened the door with her telekinesis. The tall, blonde Finnish thunder god entered and hurriedly closed the door behind him. His pale blue eyes fixed Cameron with a serious frown and he pointed a finger at him. “You owe me a god.”

  “Your hunting god shouldn’t have grabbed her,” Cameron countered.

  “You think gods are so easy to find?” Ukko argued. “I’ll probably have to wait half a millennium before Nyyrikki’s power gets transferred to someone else!”

  “Again… if you hadn’t been chasing us and if he hadn’t grabbed her, he’d still be alive. So stop complaining.”

  Ukko grunted at him but turned his attention toward Selena. “Mithra knows he can’t kill Cameron on his own, so he’s gathering support. And guess what he’s offering as the prize.”

  “Where is he?” Cameron asked. “I’ll kill him now.”

  Ukko lifted his hands. “You think I know? I would have taken care of this myself if I did. I haven’t been chasing Selena for three years because I want her to end up someone’s prisoner.”

  Cameron snorted and shook his head. “No one’s except yours.”

  “I want her to work for us. Some gods and demigods need a little more persuasion than others.”

  “And those who refuse?” Selena asked. “Or want out? You let Anita go, but the others?”

  Ukko’s mouth opened then closed and his pale blue eyes searched hers. “Anita?” he finally breathed.

  “Well, yeah… she said you let her go…” Selena stumbled, unsure if she’d made a horrible mistake in mentioning Anita at all. Maybe she’d just endangered the psychic. She silently cursed herself for uttering her name at all.

  “I…” Ukko swallowed and looked between Cameron and Selena. His eyes darkened and he stood up straighter. “What were you doing with Anita Granger?”

  “Sightseeing,” Cameron snapped. “Why else would be in Waco, Texas?”

  “She’s here?” he asked.

  Cameron crossed his arms angrily and warned the Finnish god, “Ukko, if you touch her, you’re a dead man. Dead god. Dude, I don’t care. She’s a sweet old lady, and if you…”

  “Old…” Ukko repeated.

  “Oh,” Selena whispered.

  Ukko glanced at her then pulled a chair away from the table and sat down. Cameron apparently hadn’t caught on to Ukko’s confusion or reason for discomfort and tried to warn him again since he’d been interrupted so Selena reached for his arm and pulled it free from his defiant stance. “He has no business with Anita. We just surprised him. He’ll leave her alone, Cameron.”

  “I have no business with her,” Ukko agreed quietly.

  Selena bit her lip because she refused to pity a god who had made her life miserable for the past three years.

  Cameron shifted his weight uncomfortably, finally seeming to understand Ukko’s reaction, and cleared his throat. “So how am I supposed to find Mithra? And any god that’s agreed to hunt me down in the hopes he can get his hands on a healer?”

  Ukko raised a blonde eyebrow at him and sat back in the chair. “Not just any healer, Cameron. For those of us who have been around for thousands of years, Selena is truly extraordinary. Nobody has ever had the kind of power she does. I never told anyone outside of the hierarchy of the New Pantheon about Alan because I didn’t want competition, but somehow, word got out anyway.”

  “Maybe Alan betrayed you, too,” Selena suggested.

  “Betrayed me?” Ukko asked. “How so?”

  “Wasn’t he working for you?”

  Ukko blinked at her then shook his head. “No. If Alan had worked for me, why on Earth wouldn’t he have brought you in far sooner?”

  A small choking sound escaped Selena’s throat, and Cameron lowered himself onto the bed beside her. She felt his hand grip hers but at the same time, it felt like someone else’s body
. “I don’t understand…” she whispered.

  “All this time,” Ukko murmured. “You thought he worked for me?”

  “She saved his life and he betrayed her. Abandoned her in Athens and left her to get abducted by you. Why else would he have done that?” Cameron asked.

  Ukko shrugged. “If he had shown interest in working for me, I wouldn’t have turned him away, but I would have never pursued him. He wasn’t that powerful a demigod. I knew, of course, that you parted ways after Athens, but it wasn’t because of me, Selena.”

  Selena stared blankly at the navy blue carpet. She heard him but she wasn’t sure she understood anything he told her.

  “Can you find him now?” Cameron asked.

  Selena’s eyes shot up to Ukko’s face, who studied Cameron with an amused expression.

  “What on Earth for?” Ukko replied.

  “I want to know why he ditched her. That’s not normal. I think he had to be working for someone, and after dying and all, decided it wasn’t worth the trouble or something.”

  Ukko sighed and rolled his fingers across the table. “Cameron, I know you have a hard time believing anyone could not love her, but…”

  “Look, I’m just sure about this, ok? We’ll always be enemies because you’re never getting your hands on her, but… I can owe you. As long as it doesn’t involve murder or mass carnage or shit like that.”

  “Cameron,” Selena whispered.

  Cameron brought her hand to his lips and told her, “It’s one favor. And I have to know.”

  “I’m… still not sure what you think we do in the New Pantheon,” Ukko responded. “Mass carnage? But you’ve got a deal, Cameron. I’ll find Alan and look into any contacts over the past few years. Just remember: deals between gods are binding. There’s no dramatic rooftop escapes from this one.”

  “And Mithra?” Selena asked.

  “If it were me,” Ukko said as he rose from his chair, “I’d hide Selena in the Otherworld and let the Mórrígna guard her for now.” Ukko must have noticed Selena’s stubborn that-will-never-happen look because he sighed and added, “If I hear anything else, I’ll be in touch.”

  Then Ukko, the leader of the New Pantheon and Selena’s pursuer for the past three years, opened the motel door and left their room. Cameron exhaled slowly and his body relaxed beside her. Selena wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned her head against his shoulder. “Oh, Cameron,” she whispered. “Why did you make that deal?”