Hades (The God Chronicles #3) (2 page)

“More like he was worried I was whoring
around,” I scoffed.

“What a jerk,” she mumbled.

“Yup. That’s why I dumped him.”

“Wait, what?” she asked in surprise, pushing
herself up from her leaning position.

“Josh and I are history,” I sighed happily,
enjoying the light breeze starting to blow across my face, my own
shoulder blade length blonde hair brushing against my skin
softly.

“For real?”

“For real.”

“Are you sure you’re not just overreacting from
everything that’s going on in your family?” she asked hesitantly.
“I mean, he was all you ever talked about in high school. When you
guys finally got together before graduation you were practically
flying, you were so happy.”

“Things change,” I said, shrugging again. “And
he wasn’t who I thought he was.”

“Okay,” she said uncertainly.

A small silence spread between us as I looked
out over the meadow. We used to come shoot here every weekend, but
after graduation we got busy with other things. It was nice to be
out in the middle of nowhere again, a loaded gun ready to take out
all of my frustrations on old, rusty appliances.

“Come on,” I said suddenly, jumping down again
and grabbing a gun. “Let’s have one good last round before we head
back.”

I picked up another and handed it to her,
snagging my own sunglasses in the process. If we were both going to
be shooting at the same time, I would need something to protect my
eyes.

We both made our marks and opened fire, a
mutual happiness between us. It really felt like a few months ago,
before everything had changed. As the last shots rang out, I
grinned widely, pleased I’d consented to coming out
today.

“Are you working tonight?” Stacy asked, turning
towards me.

“No. I told Daddy I’d help bring the cows
in.”

“Have fun with that,” she chuckled.

“I will,” I said calmly. “I enjoy doing
it.”

“A hurricane that loves chaos? Who would have
thought,” she said, a smile covering the whole of her face. “It’s
too bad you won’t be working. I was hoping to have some company on
my first night.”

She turned and walked back to the truck,
starting to put everything away.

“No way!” I said, following suit and helping to
pack all the guns up. “Barry gave you the open position. He didn’t
even tell me.”

“He probably doesn’t know we know each other.
I’ve never been in there before.”

“Isn’t it funny? We’re too young to go in and
drink but not to serve it to everyone else in town.”

“Welcome to Texas,” she laughed.

As soon as everything was properly stored, we
got in the cab and headed back towards the farm. Living on a full
blown ranch meant I already lived out of town a ways, but we still
had somewhat of a drive before we would be there. Our shooting
range was far away on purpose—we were less likely to hit someone
who happened to be passing by.

The radio blared country music through the old
speakers, wind blowing through the open windows and our hair as we
left a trail of dust behind. It was all so relaxing to
me.

I itched to do something more though, to go out
and see the world. It was so tiring, looking at pictures online and
dreaming of the day that I would actually see things in person
instead of through a screen. Daddy needed me though, especially now
that Mom had dropped us like a bag of hot rocks and run off to who
knows where.

He was taking the divorce hard. He loved Mom,
that much I was sure of, but she’d needed help we couldn’t give
her. Even if we’d been able to, she’d made it clear that she didn’t
want or need it. Eventually, things just fell apart. Daddy’s
spiritual reawakening had come from him trying to find a way to
help her she wouldn’t fight about. In the end, that hadn’t worked
either.

I didn’t even know what to do to help. She
wasn’t the same person when she drank, which was all she did there
at the end. If there had been anything I could have done, you bet I
would have.

After about twenty minutes, I could see the
house coming up in front of us, all of the cows still out to
pasture in the field to the right. Every time I saw our family’s
land, I filled with pride.

The ranch had been in the family for several
years. My great grandfather had started it as something to help the
family out. It was tiny and aimed at feeding his kids and teaching
them how to work. When he passed away, my grandfather took over,
bought the land immediately surrounding the house and farm, and
started breeding his own livestock to sell. When Daddy took over,
he started selling the cow’s milk to the local grocery store. He
continued to raise horses as well and more recently started
acquiring chickens and selling the eggs.

It was a good business, generations in the
making, and our community appreciated that. We’d been treated very
kindly by everyone. It was hard to imagine that other people didn’t
live in a tight knit group like we did.

We drove up the gravel driveway and I hopped
out the door, grabbing my things out of the bed.

“Good luck tonight,” I chuckled. “Don’t let
Barry ruffle your feathers.”

“Me?” Stacy said innocently. Her look of
surprise turned to one of devilish glee. “He won’t know what hit
him.”

“Have fun,” I laughed, slapping the side of the
truck as she pulled away.

I hefted my bag up onto my shoulder and
ascended the wooden steps up to the house.

“Katrina.”

My father’s voice called out to me through the
kitchen window, off to the right side of the door.

I walked down the porch until I was in front of
it, watching him wash potatoes through the sheer
curtains.

His face was tired, but clean after a day’s
work, framed by his short, dark hair. I had many memories of his
and Mom’s good times, when they would dance in the kitchen and she
would run her fingers through his tresses, delicious smells wafting
through a house filled with laughter.

There wasn’t much laughter around these parts
lately.

“Yes, Daddy?”

“Did you and Stacy have a good time?” he asked,
his low, soothing voice always a comfort to me.

“Of course. It was nice to get my mind off of .
. . Josh.”

He nodded, a knowing look on his face. I’d
never really been able to lie to him.

“I’m making stew for dinner,” he continued,
picking up another spud and placing it under the running water.
“You get those guns cleaned and then wash up for
dinner.”

“I thought we were bringing the cows in
tonight?”

“I changed my mind,” he said, shaking his head.
“There’s a coyote that’s been attacking the heard. Maybe more than
one. I set some traps to catch them. We’ll leave the cows out for
one more night and see if it brings them in. If not, we’ll think of
something else tomorrow.”

“Okay. I’ll be ready in a few minutes
then.”

“No rush,” he chuckled, looking up at me. “Make
sure those guns are cleaned well. And lock them back in the cabinet
when you’re done.”

“Yes, Daddy.”

He started whistling a sad tune and I smiled
weakly, trying not to let his heartache affect my own
emotions.

A couple of hours later, the guns were all
safely locked away and I’d showered for dinner, happy to wash the
dirt of the day away. I examined myself in the mirror before
heading downstairs, dwelling on how so many things could be
different and I still looked the same—brown eyes, in shape, and
tall.

With a sigh, I turned and left my room, hearing
talking coming from the dining room.

“It smells delicious,” I said with a big smile
as I entered and took a seat at the table.

“Yes, thank you Mr. Saul, Sir,” Andrew, the new
ranch hand, said from across the table.

“It’s my pleasure,” Daddy said, taking his seat
at the head. “I like to feed the new hands on their first day. It’s
my way of saying welcome to the team.”

“If he likes you, you’ll get invited back more
than once,” I laughed.

“I’ll keep that in mind,” Andrew said,
blushing.

I felt a tinge of annoyance as he looked at me
again, a hopeful expression on his face. It was clear I was going
to have to put another man in his place. Not that I could blame
him; Daddy always wanted me dressed up for dinner instead of in my
jeans and boots.

Tonight I’d worn a blue sundress, my blonde
hair curled around my face. Unbeknownst to Daddy though, I’d also
managed to slip on another pair of cut off shorts. I hated walking
around without pants on.

Mom used to say that it was such a waste, me
being pretty. All I ever wanted to do was go out and roll in the
mud, according to her. Sometimes I’d done just that so I could see
the look on her face when I came home.

Polite conversation mingled throughout dinner
as Daddy asked Andrew to tell him more about his time in Arizona.
It sounded a lot like here.

As we came to the end of the meal, a yipping
sound suddenly came through the windows, soft enough to not really
be a bother. We all knew what it was, though.

“Sounds like we caught ourselves a coyote,”
Daddy said, wiping his mouth and standing.

“Do you want me to go get it, Sir?” Andrew
said, standing as well.

“Sure, sure. You can come along,” he said,
walking towards the front door.

I rose from the table as well at Daddy’s look,
heading up the stairs to his room and the gun case. When I met them
outside, the two of them were already on their horses, a third
waiting for me.

“Are you sure you want to come, Miss Katrina?”
Andrew asked uncertainly, eying the rifle in my hands.

“Oh, Andrew,” Daddy laughed. “You have a lot to
learn about Katrina here.”

“You can start by not calling me Miss,” I said
gruffly, keeping the firearm with me as I mounted my chestnut
colored mare.

“Katrina, I told you to stop wearing those
shorts to the dinner table,” Daddy said disapprovingly as we headed
towards the wounded sounds.

“Sorry, Daddy.”

Chapter Two

“Order up!”

The cook rang the tiny hand bell on the
counter, a plate of hamburgers and fries steaming beside
it.

“Thanks, Johnny,” I said quickly, picking the
order up and maneuvering my way back out from behind the
bar.

Barry’s was unusually busy tonight. We’d
already called in a couple extra people, including Stacy, and it
still wasn’t getting the job done. Every time a table emptied,
someone filled it within minutes. While it made for good tips, I
didn’t care much for the high level of noise, especially from the
bar section of the restaurant.

I walked through the family friendly section,
the half up by the front door, checking on my customers and filling
any drinks that came up empty. When I was satisfied that everyone
was well taken care of at the moment, I started weaving back
through the tables and into the bar section, taking note of a few
people who looked like they were ready to order.

Ducking back behind the counter, I took a sip
of my own water and grabbed a pad of paper to write on.

“Watch out for table three,” Stacy said quietly
from her waiting spot at the kitchen window as I passed by
her.

I gave her a questioning look, sneaking a quick
peek in the direction she spoke of. The customers she spoke of were
two men with a dangerous air about them. I didn’t know if they’d
said anything to her or if she just had a bad feeling, but I didn’t
have time to ask.

The bell dinged on the counter and Johnny
nodded at me as he slid a full tray forward.

“Thanks,” I said with a sigh, picking it up and
resting it on my shoulder. The bar customers would have to wait
until my other order was filled.

I hurried back into the front of the building,
smiling kindly at everyone I made eye contact with. Doing the best
I could was always a must for me at work, but I was having to work
extra hard tonight with all the added stress.

“Here you go,” I said kindly as I unloaded my
tray at an older couple’s table. “You let me know if you need
anything else, okay?”

“Will do,” the gentleman smiled, unrolling his
silverware as he spoke.

“Hurricane!” Barry’s voice barked from behind
the bar.

“Calm down, Barry. I’m going as fast as I can.”
I did my best not to put an edge on my voice, but wasn’t quite
successful.

“It’s not that,” he said with a frown. “Stacy
was telling me—”

“About table three,” I said as I grabbed my
next order. “Yeah, she already told me.”

“Not that either,” he said impatiently. “Listen
for a second! A man just came in. She said he smells like vodka
real bad but she was too nervous to tell him we won’t serve him any
more alcohol. Can you take care of that for me?”