Cole's Haunting Melody (The Gods' Executioner Series) (7 page)

“I’ll go keep them preoccupied; get yourselves cleaned up and make sure to get some coffee or something to counteract the lethargy you’ll feel from the ipecac.” I tell them and leave the room
.

I walk into the kitchen and
see Cheza wearing a sexy angel outfit that is just two swathes of white cloth covering her pink bits, and presumably holding up the feathery white wings on her back, with a golden headband to complete the image and pull her hair back. Natasha is wearing a sexy devil outfit that is mostly just a red mini skirt, tube top, and devil horns. I notice that Naia is wearing devil horns too, but these are purple.

“I like your costumes! Where did you find purple devil horns though?” I ask.

“We didn’t; we just painted a pair of red ones with purple nail polish.” Natasha says, blatantly proud of the fact.

“
So what was that all about?” Cheza asks.

“What?” I innocently
reply while stalling; Cheza narrows her eyes at me. “Oh, that; I just wanted to let you guys know how that felt. After all you did that to me twice!”

“Bullshit; don’t lie to me, Cole.” Cheza thinks
, her malicious tone spearing through my mind.

“Jason and Ryuji got way too drunk so Jason got them two bottles of ipecac to try and sober them up and now the entire bathroom is covered in vomit
.” I quickly reply. I’m vaguely toying with the idea that Natasha and Cheza should have switched costumes.

“Unbelievable…”
Cheza sighs while shaking her head.

“Were you just thinking that Cheza and I should switch costumes
?” Natasha thinks.

“
Whaaaaat?” I reply in a high-pitched fashion that makes it obvious I was thinking exactly that.

“
Haha don’t worry, I won’t tell.” Natasha thinks with a sly smile.

“So what made you decide to go as a devil?” I ask aloud.

“Well, Cheza and I wanted to have paired costumes since we are both escorting you so we decided to be your conscience; after that we just flipped a coin.” Natasha replies. This is the first I’m hearing about being both of their dates, but it’s hardly surprising.

“Where’s your costume, Reyna?” I inquire
while looking at her ruby red, backless dress.

“I’m going as ‘the azeman princess whose birthday it is so she can w
ear whatever the hell she wants’; what’s your excuse?” Reyna snidely asks.

“I’m going as a partially wrapped mummy.” I say while holding up my bandaged left hand.
Sean comes down the hall and waves me over.

“Guests have started to arrive and I have a party to get to in
Miami so can you get me back there?” Sean asks.

“Sure, just a second.”
I reply and walk back to the girls.

“Guests have started showing up. I don’t know what’s taking those two so long
, but can you guys go out and entertain people?” I request.

“Sure; we’ll see you when you get back.” Cheza says and leads the girls to the balcony doors.

I port Sean back to his house in Miami Beach.

“Thanks again for all your help; we couldn’t have pulled this off without you.” I tell Sean while standing on the front porch of his house.

“Don’t worry about it. Tell our Prince that I send him my best.” Sean replies and heads inside.

I
wait on the porch for the remaining thirty seconds to pass and port to Jason’s room to see what’s taking them so long, only to find that it’s empty. I walk down the hall and head outside to find Jason chatting with people while wearing a black cloak, and Ryuji getting a pep-talk from Naia. While walking down the left staircase, I discover something that is slightly creepy, slightly flattering, and slightly insulting: there are two guys wearing jeans and leather jackets with silver helmets. They’re dressed like me! For Halloween! I wonder how often Marilyn Monroe has to deal with shit like this… probably a lot…

“Noticing the people dressed as you?”
Tali asks from behind me.

“Yeah
, it’s a little unnerving, but not exactly impossible to understand given the events of two weeks ago…” I reply as I turn around and see that she’s wearing a form-fitting periwinkle dress to match her hair and eyes.

“
Yes, what was that about anyway?” Tali inquires.

“I wouldn’t have killed them both had someone thought to inform me that if you kill all the heads of a pantheon before they can pass
on their power, you end up destroying the whole pantheon.” I explain.

“No one thought to tell you that?”
Tali asks, showing genuine surprise.

“I know, right? I guess I surprised everyone by killing gods
totally for the first time!” I sarcastically exclaim. Tali laughs, causing me to chuckle as well.

“Who is that guy talking to?
” I hear a girl ask while I’m laughing, which makes me realize that no one here can see Tali.

“So
, are you looking forward to meeting your daughter’s boyfriend for the first time?” I ask.

“Yes,
I am. I must thank you for reuniting us, Cole. And I do understand why you didn’t tell me about her immediately upon realizing the connection.” Tali says.

“Don’t mention it, but how do you feel about meeting Ryuji? Do you even want to meet him?” I inquire.

“Of course I do! I’m just nervous…” Tali replies.

“That’s exactly how he feels about meeting you
. Well, if you are keen on meeting him, then you are going to need one of these. Right now, the only people that can see you are me, Chezarei, Naia, and any gods.” I tell her and unwind the bandages from my left hand.

“Airi, if you’d please.”

(As you wish, Master)

A black
-ish bangle forms in the palm of my left hand while I try to keep the process as discrete as possible. I don’t feel a drastic shift in the mood at the party so I’ll assume that I was successful.

“What is it?” T
ali questions while examining the bangle as I rewrap my hand.

“
Naia wears one just like it; without it, no one would be able to see her either.” I reply.

“So someone has been a naughty boy lately!” Isis exclaim
s behind me and I feel a small amount of dread at seeing her for the first time since I killed Horus; I suppose I should start off by apologizing…

“I’m sorry for killing your son. I may not be sorry for killing Horus, but I do apologize for killing your son.” I say as I turn around.
Isis is wearing a form-fitting golden dress that is similar to the one she was wearing when I first met her.

“Thanks, Cole. I understand why you had to kill him and don’t worry
; I won’t hold it against you. Osiris does, however, so I’d stay out of his way if I were you.” Isis warns.

“Is he here tonight?” I ask.

“No, he’s not really big into parties.” Isis says. I see Ryuji walking over with Naia, looking cool and calm, which confuses me to no end.

“Cole! It’s good to see you again!
” Ryuji ecstatically says as he reaches out and touches the lapel of my tux. “Is that silk? Because that feels fantastic!”

“Ah, good evening ladies
! It is nice to make your acquaintance; I’m Ryuji. You must be Naia’s mother, making you the lovely goddess Isis!” Ryuji exclaims while shaking both of their hands.

“Both of your hands are like, incredibly soft; what moisturizer do you use?” Ryuji asks, I fake a laugh and decide to help him out.

“Haha, Ryuji? Can I borrow you for a second? It will just take a second.” I say, grab him by the shoulders, and drag him to a spot about fifteen feet away.

“Ryuji, what in the hell has gotten into you!?” I
urgently whisper.

“I don’t know! Jason and I started to get
insanely sleepy and Jason said that simple caffeine wouldn’t help something that strong so he grabbed a pill bottle from the bathroom that contained round blue pills. He said it was Adderall, but I had Adderall before in college and this most definitely does not feel like Adderall!” Ryuji panics.

“Yeah, it seems a bit more like ecstasy. How many did you take
?” I question.

“Two! Jason said they were low strength and took three
himself!” Ryuji replies.

“So he most likely didn’t know either. You think that he would at least remember what pills he put where.” I
comment.

“Cole, what do I do!?” Ryuji asks in a panicked fashion.

“Focus on trying to avoid touching anything and try not to talk so much. Also keep an eye on your body temperature; if you start feeling insanely hot, we may have to treat you for an overdose. Jason should be fine given his tolerance, but this might hit you pretty hard.” I say and Ryuji starts to freak out a bit.

“
Relax, I’ll help you through this.” I say and lead him back to Naia, Tali, and Isis.

“Well, it’s nice to meet you
, Ryuji! You are correct, I am Isis. Come here!” Isis exclaims and swiftly moves in to hug him as I see the mischievous smile on her face; she totally heard us. Ryuji quietly moans and shivers when Isis embraces him; thankfully he was able to keep his mouth closed so the no one else heard him.

“Come on
, Isis; give the guy a break.” I whisper while covering my mouth with my hand.

“Do I have to? I promise I’ll only make him cum in
his pants once!” Isis whispers.

I give her a look to inform her that that is not cool and she pulls away from Ryuji. He gives a sigh of relief
as the music stops and the projectors along the walls display Jason’s spot on the balcony. Now that I have a zoomed in image of him, I see that his cape is part of his vampire costume: that is hilarious.

“Testing.
This is working, right? Alright… For those of you who don’t know, I’m Jason, Prince of Niflheim. Thanks for coming out tonight to help celebrate Halloween and my girlfriend Reyna’s birthday. Happy birthday babe!” Jason announces.

The alcohol pyramid sparks up and spells out ‘Happy Birthday Reyna,’ in flames. I notice that Jason is holding onto the balcony railing with his left hand while gripping his left wrist like he’s trying to break it; this seems like the kind of thing that I would do if I had to give a speech and was worried about absentmindedly stroking my nipples during it.

“And to everyone else, Happy Halloween. Drink, be merry, and enjoy yourselves!” Jason exclaims while raising a glass of amber liquid.

Alright, so the first part of the plan has gone off without a hitch…
if you don’t call the drinking, vomiting, and ecstasy, a hitch. Natasha and Cheza walk over and hand me a drink.

“Isis, Tali, this is my fiancée
Chezarei, whom Tali knows; and this is Natasha, my friend and ex snow elf fiancée.” I introduce.

“It’s good to see you again
, Chezarei. Wait, so Natasha is an ex snow elf who is also your fiancée, or is she your ex fiancée who is a snow elf?” Tali asks.

“No, she is my ex fiancée for a wedding that only pertained to snow elf society; we’re just friends.” I remark.
“How could she be an ex snow elf?”

“Well
, you never know when you’re involved, Cole.” Isis chimes in.

“I
t’s nice to meet you, Natasha.” Tali says, obviously still a bit confused.

“Likewise Queen Tali, and to you as well, your highness.”
Natasha says to both of them.

The night continues
on with chatting and drinking as I keep an eye on Ryuji. Jason and Reyna come over and join us before Jason excuses himself and takes the stage of the balcony where he announces the winner of the costume contest. He chooses someone dressed as Feros just to spite me, which I know because he looks directly at my face the entire time to judge my reaction. Jason comes back down, proceeds to invite Reyna to dance, and asks Ryuji and Naia to join them; presumably so he and Ryuji could work out some of their ecstasy fueled inclinations toward grinding without it looking completely out of place.

Towards the end of the night, Jason
takes Reyna’s hand, positions himself next to the fountain and turns on his microphone.

“Now, I ask that you all join me in singing happy birthday to Reyna
.” Jason announces as a squad of servants wheels in a ‘stripper-cake’ sized cake along with forks and plates. We sing happy birthday and people start to line up for cake.

“I’ve got one more surprise for you, Reyna.” Jason says.

“Come on, Jason! Cake!” Reyna whines.

“This will just take a second.” Jason says and
takes a small black box out of his jacket pocket. He gets down on one knee and holds up the box.

“Reyna Reyes, will you marry me?” Jason asks and opens the box to display the contents. As he opens the box, the fountain turns on and blood cascades down it
.

“Jason, I don’t want you to feel like you have to do this just because…
” Reyna trails off to sniff twice in the direction of the fountain.“Is that AB negative? Cole’s AB negative?”