Accidentally in Love With a God (2012) (29 page)

Guy snatched up the necklace. “Obviously, Emma won’t mind if we borrow this for a closer look.” Guy stopped and smirked. “But I'll be sure you get it back.”

Oh. I bet he would. It was the magic key to Naughty-God Land.

Xavier looked sad. “Do you still believe Cimil is behind this?”

Guy gave him a consoling pat on the back. “I don’t know, my friend. If she is, she’ll pay.”

Poor Xavier. He seemed to have a case of hero-worship for Cimil.

Guy called the guards outside who appeared within seconds. “Call the leads in Mexico. Tell them to find Tommaso and ask him where he obtained this necklace. I want to know where the mine is.”

He shoved the necklace into his pocket. “Emma, I have to go.” He placed his index finger under my chin, tipping my head to meet his gaze. I was still in stun-mode from what just occurred.

Shame? Astonishment? Desperation? The wheel-of-emotions spun in my head.
Click. Click. Click!
Ah. There it was. Horror. That was a good one.

Necklace or no necklace, that insane display of reckless lust was all me. One-hundred percent Emma.
Damn.
What was I doing fooling around with the God of Death and War? This mess had grown far beyond the old predicament of me being obsessed with a seductive voice in my head. This was a whole other ball game.

I gave him a rigid nod, trying to conceal the mental breakdown I was preparing to unleash.

“Hey,” he said, sensing something was amiss. “I promise, I'll be back as soon as I can, but I have to gather the chiefs. Now that we understand what we're dealing with, we must rethink our strategy. Xavier will stay with you until I come back.” He grinned from ear to ear. “And then we're going to finish this.”

I swallowed hard. “But—um…” Now that I'd gathered my wits, which had just returned from a joy ride in the hormone-mobile, I didn't want to finish it. I wanted to run far, far away. First from him, then from myself. How could I have come so close to having sex with the man who’d used me, tormented me, and manipulated me?

Oooh. But he's so hot, Emma. Cliff! Cliff!
the little voice in my head whined.

No, stop it
, I scolded myself. This was getting way out of hand. He couldn’t be trusted. Ever. I had to remember that. I had an obligation to help Guy free the others so that they could take care of the Maaskab, so that my family would be safe, but after that, we were D.O.N.E.

My dream of status quo—being normal—was still possible. It didn’t matter I wasn’t one-hundred percent human. I was still the same person as before. Still Emma Keane. My life was still waiting for me to return to it and finally live it! And Guy didn’t belong there. I could hardly imagine a life with him. He’d be off killing people all day and then return home—the quaint little yellow house in the country with the vegetable garden—where I’d be waiting for him, turkey loaf dinner on the table.

Then, he’d say, “Hi honey. Give me a second while I rinse off all this blood.”

“Sure, babe,” I’d respond. And then we’d eat, sip wine, and share stories about our day. Me, I’d talk about my day at the office. Him, he’d talk about inciting death and war. For dessert, we’d eat cookies—okay, that part wouldn’t be so bad—then he’d try to make love to me without frying my brain. Dreamy.

And then there was the age gap—a seventy-thousand year difference. Not so bad, right? If we were fossils.

He had to see all these dead-ends, too. Didn't he? And that meant only one thing; that little incident was simply recreational for him. He couldn’t see our relationship any other way.

There. It was decided. All doors leading to any imaginable “happily ever after” with Guy slammed shut. Dead bolted. Security chained. Chair propped against the handle. Closed.

“Don't worry, I won't be long,” he said, changing into a pair of black cargoes and a black t-shirt. He must have chosen that outfit on purpose. He looked solid, sleek, and irresistible.

On the other hand...who's talking relationship here? What ever happened to casual sex?

Shut it, little voice! Stop that. I’m not putting that evil necklace back on. “
Okay. See you later,” I said with a neutral tone.

He planted a possessive, mind-binding kiss on my mouth and ran out of the room, leaving me alone, flushed, with an overly anxious Xavier. No fun.

“Any advice?” I asked. “Besides a cold shower and a shrink?”

“Not really. But you’re quite the pioneer. Bedding Votan.” He scratched his chin. “And you broke the bond. Lots of firsts. You’re a fascinating creature.”

“Thanks.”

***

I didn’t want to sit around for hours waiting for Guy’s return, so I insisted Xavier take me to the clinic for those tests he’d asked for.

I'd imagined a small office with maybe a first-aid kit and a cot, but it was a small state-of-the-art hospital, complete with surgical ward, physical therapy, ICU, and everything I guessed a modern hospital needed. He said they preferred to have their own facility because it kept their activities under the radar. Especially since they treated the occasional bullet hole and Maaskab knife wound.

I spent a few minutes giving blood, plus an hour taking x-rays. He said he wanted a record of my physical make up for posterity. Then he sent me to go see the resident psychiatrist. Funny. How did he know I needed one so badly?

Unfortunately, Dr. Lugas had no interest in discussing my personal love life, which made me realize how much I missed my girlfriends. Dr. Lugas was all business. Sixty, only a few inches taller than me, and bald, he was clearly a fan of Italian cuisine. The red sauce stain on the lapel of his white lab coat said it all.

“How long's this going to take?” I asked, looking at Xavier.

“He's just going to ask a few questions. He's an expert at evaluating tolerance for stress and assesses all our guards.”

“Mine will be about as impressive as a one year old.”

Dr. Lugas asked me some basic background questions for the first twenty minutes. Then, when he asked me to describe the most stressful situation I'd been in over the last few months, well, I had a hard time choosing.

Being pushed by a jaguar into a cenote and almost drowning?

Finding out that the man who called my head his home for the last twenty-two years is a god?

How about finding out that my great-grandfather was one of them?

“I'm going to go with facing the Maaskab in Barolo. That was pretty awful.”

“And how did you feel right before the attack?” he asked calmly.

“Pretty pumped, actually. I'd just pummeled Cimil and she flew across the room. I felt powerful.”

He interrupted. “Did you say you hit Cimil?”

“Square in the jaw. She was strangling one of your guards,” I added.

“Have you discovered any other abilities?” Xavier asked.

“I’ve been wearing the necklace, and I haven’t really tried. So, no. I guess I haven’t.”

“And how do you feel since you broke your bond with Mr. Santiago?” Dr. Lugas asked.

Ugh. Did the whole world know now? Of course they did. With a communication network like the Uchben’s, there were no secrets. “I can take care of myself.”

Xavier mumbled a few sentences in Italian to Dr. Lugas, and then said, “That’s an excellent idea.”

Dr. Lugas stood up and left.

“Sorry?” I asked. “Did I miss something?”

“Let’s see if we can teach you to take care of yourself.”

I spent the next few hours hooked to an odd-looking box that monitored my brainwaves while they made me do everything from meditate to watch gruesome war movies. Nothing happened. Then they put on a slideshow. Every time an image flashed that made me mad, like some a-hole kicking a dog, Lugas and Xavier’s eyes lit up.

“Dr. Lugas, change the slides,” Xavier instructed.

Lugas nodded enthusiastically and opened up his laptop, which was running the images into the projector. With a few quick keystrokes, the pictures changed from photos of babies, flowers, war demonstrations, and other random acts of violence, to what felt like the evening news. A photo of a crowd beating a helpless shrouded woman in some Middle East country. Soldiers in some crazy African country firing on a group of helpless women and children. The images broke my heart and with every image, I felt angrier.

“Enough!” I blurted out. “Why are you making me watch this awful garbage?”

Smiling, Xavier turned the laptop screen towards me. It showed a real-time line graph that looked like it had just registered a ten-point earthquake.

“Yeah? So?” I stared blankly at the two gloating men.

“Emma. Don’t you understand what this means?” Xavier said.

Hello. Look at my face.
“Not really.”

Lugas said, “Miss Keane, every time we show you an act of cruelty against someone innocent, your energy surges. Off the charts.”

“Okay?” I leaned back in the blue plastic-molded chair, my hands cupped in my lap.

“Emma, this is big. Huge!” Xavier was almost salivating. “You’ve got their strength.”

“Sorry?” I said, turning to Dr. Lugas. Maybe he could speak Emma-ese?

“You are a very, very strong human,” Lugas explained. “And now we know how to make more.”

“Super soldiers, Emma,” Xavier said. “Think of what that means. For us—for humanity.”

What?! Were they insane? “Oh no, boys. I don’t think so. You’re not going to use me to make Uchi-super-soldiers. Forget it. I’m not a baby factory.” Heck, I hadn’t even cut the ribbon on the factory yet.

“It doesn’t have to be you. It could be any woman. She only has to wear the necklace,” Dr. Lugas said, nodding at Xavier.

“No guys. What you’re talking about is wrong. And who says the children will grow up to fight on your side?” I argued.

“Emma, your energy only spikes when you see an injustice. It’s identical to the gods. They’re hardwired to protect. They’re incapable of hurting innocent humans.”

Right. Famous last words. But I could see arguing with the two was futile. “Fine. Whatever,” I said. “But so far, I’ve done nothing other than light up a screen. Pretty damned useless if you ask me.”

“With proper training, you could control it―fight like you did with Cimil,” said Xavier.

“Good luck with that. If I could ass-kick on demand, I would have done it by now.”

They exchanged glances and something told me they weren’t aligned with my point of view.

“Why don’t you give it a try?” asked Xavier.

“No.”

“You might be able to use it to kick Mr. Santiago’s ass, as you put it.”

Xavier was very convincing. “Fine, but this doesn’t mean I agree with your lame super-soldier idea.” I shut my eyes and tried to coax the energy out.

I focused, relaxing every muscle from my toes to the tips of my fingers, but after ten minutes, nothing happened.

“Sorry gentlemen.” I shrugged then yawned. Boy, being angry took a lot out of me.

“Not to worry, my dear girl, you simply require practice. Right now you’re tired. Let me take you back,” said Xavier.

I said my goodbyes to Dr. Lugas and left the clinic with Xavier. It was a beautiful day, late afternoon. I hadn’t realized how sorely I craved a moment of quiet, alone
. Alone.
The thought made me giddy. No voices, no bees, no one asking anything of me. “I think I’ll stay here for a while,” I said, pointing to a small bench in the garden courtyard with a cherub topped fountain. Xavier was about to speak when someone grabbed me from behind.

“Where the hell have you been?” piped Guy.

Xavier reached out his arm trying to pry Guy from my shoulders. “She was with me at the clinic doing tests. Remember?”

Guy growled, “The guards were to stay with her at all times. I gave specific instructions.”

“Let me go!” I tried to pull away from his claws, but he didn’t budge. “What the hell is your problem, you damned Neanderthal? I’m not your property.” I twisted and elbowed him in the gut, launching him back a few yards.

“Ow. That hurt,” he whined, rubbing his stomach.

Xavier couldn’t have looked more pleased.

“I guess I needed the right catalyst?” I shrugged and looked at Xavier.

“Nice. You’ve been teaching her this?” Guy asked Xavier.

“All in the name of science, my friend,” Xavier lifted his palms, face up.

“Well, take your…” Guy coolly stopped himself from whatever cruel thing he was about to say. “You’re needed back in the main hall. We’re leaving and you are on point to debrief the men about the jars.”

“We’re leaving?” I asked. “Now?”

Guy’s wild eyes were pumped with adrenaline. “We, as in myself and the Uchben. You’re staying here.”

“I thought you needed me.”

“Not anymore. The jars are keeping the other gods trapped in the cenotes, and the Uchben are perfectly capable of removing them.”