Goddess Page 20

  Tom shot me a droll look. I still owed him forty bucks. Forty was one thing. Forty thousand was another. “As soon as I finish my degree and get a job.” Unless leading Vikings came with a paycheck Zeus had never mentioned.

  Liam handed me the towel and I climbed onto the pool’s edge. The soft white bikini Victoria left behind had become my regular Hale Manor swimsuit.

  Tom averted his eyes. A blush rose over his cheeks. “I’ll let you two finish talking. I’m going to go inside and see if the scouts returned with word on the Jotunn camp.”

  Liam slid his gaze from Tom to me. “See. That bathing suit should have a warning label.”

  “Thanks.” I dried my face and wrapped the towel around my torso. “Any chance you’re still angry with Justin for kissing me? We haven’t had time to talk about that and you let it go too easily.”

  “It’s forgotten.”

  “How?” I prayed for an answer I could understand. “You’ve been dwelling on my relationship with Justin since we met. I can’t understand what’s changed.”

  “I’ve told you his actions were likely the result of his transformation, and if I haven’t said it, I believe Justin is a man of honor.” He watched me carefully. “Are you sure this is about me? Is there something else in that question?”

  I steeled myself to look in his eyes. “I hurt you. Don’t lie or be ridiculously noble. It would crush me to see you kiss someone else, regardless of the reason and I should have done something.”

  He shook his head.

  “I’m in love with you and I kissed Justin, or he kissed me. Whatever. It’s still true so be honest….” I pulled in a long breath and released it slowly. “Am I just like my father?”

  Liam grabbed me and kissed me. “You aren’t your father. There are supernatural forces at play here. It took me a while to see that, but it’s true.” He latched his hands together at the small of my back. “I’m convinced you two were meant to be together in another life. The connection you both describe, one you’ve shared since childhood, seems unequivocal, yet you’d never kissed before we came to town. Whatever life had planned for you, it changed and you’re on my path now.”

  “I like your path.” I kissed him, languidly at first, pouring all the love I had into each featherlight touch, then harder, explaining wordlessly the way he made me feel. The long line of our wet bodies pressed together, and I grasped his face in my palms. “I love you, Liam Hale.”

  He spoke against my lips, but the words warbled and died in my head. Searing pain punched through my gut and I dug my fingers into his shoulders to stay upright. His lips moved without sounds. Only the whooshing of blood between my ears and screams of loved ones rose above the brain-bleeding pain.

  I opened my mouth to tell him the nymphs were hurt, but fire shot through my throat and a banshee-grade scream poured out. My skin burned and blistered in my mind. I rubbed my arms to extinguish the flames before they consumed me. In minutes, Liam and I were surrounded by men, but I couldn’t breathe to speak. I sucked shallow breaths of air and trembled. Time stood still. The crowd of men dispersed, except for Tom and the Hales. My muscles locked, making my limbs immobile.

  In time, feeling returned to my numbed skin and the muffled sounds of sirens and voices filtered through my melted mind. Liam’s horror-stricken face morphed into shock. I drew in my first deep breath. He spoke over my head while I blinked and swallowed, coercing my brain back to action. I hadn’t burned to death. I concentrated on each breath, rubbing my uncharred skin.

  Liam released me, and Justin’s calloused fingers stroked my tender cheeks. His deep blue eyes came into view. He moved his lips and looked to Liam who nodded. And then Justin kissed me.

  There was no passion, no romantic intention. Panic and curiosity braided the air. Images of fire blazed through my mind. The bed-and-breakfast was on fire. Zoe and her girls were hurt. Maybe dead. Heat from the image burned my skin and dried my throat.

  Justin pulled his lips from mine and recapped the things I saw. His slow Southern drawl became a beacon for my addled brain. “The emergency vehicles were probably headed to the B&B. I think there were fatalities. Can I try something else?”

  He lowered his hands to mine and squeezed our palms together. He closed his eyes.

  “Justin.” I wrapped my arms around him and sobbed.

  Mason pulled him away by one shoulder. “We need to talk.”

  “Yes, sir, we do.” Justin released me and maneuvered through the new crowd of Vikings in the pool room. I didn’t recognize their faces. What had happened to me?

  Liam stepped into view and I clung to him like a barnacle. “I know why you need him.”

  Recognition flared to life. “Justin’s my partner.” The one Zeus told me to talk with about the giants. Not Liam. Justin.

  My teeth began to chatter, and Liam led me to his room. He handed me the pile of clothes I’d discarded before our swim. Tears spilled over my red-hot cheeks. “The nymphs. I think they died. Could that be true? Is it real?”

  He shushed me, pushing gobs of wet hair behind both my ears. “We sent some men out for details. You should stay here until we have facts.”

  “I think they’re dead.” I rubbed my arms frantically, a useless attempt to wipe the fire away.

  He curved his hands over mine, stopping their motion. “We don’t know.”

  I swatted his hands off me. “I know. I felt it, Liam. Like I was burning alive with them.”

  Sadness blurred my vision.

  Liam closed his door behind us. “Justin told me. He was able to tap into your thoughts, not just during the kiss, but when you held hands. It seems your human connection was very foreshadowing. You were destined to be a team. Your deep understanding of one another has gone to the next level in your new lives. You share your thoughts. This is good news. Together, the two of you make a mighty weapon.”

  “I don’t want to be a weapon.”

  Liam loosened my grip on the towel and dusted my limbs with the soft material, drying the water making trails from my sopping hair to my toes. “Perhaps a shield then. A source of protection for your men.” He snagged the tie behind my neck and tugged the bow apart. His soft green eyes pinned me in place. He sprung the bow behind my back loose with one hand and anchored the towel under my arms. “You’ll save my people.” He slid steady fingers beneath the material and hooked them in the hips of my bottoms. With great restraint, he guided them to the floor, stood, and kissed my cheek. “I think you’re in shock. I want you to take a hot shower and rest while we find out what happened. This kind of experience has to have taken a toll on you. I’m not sure who to call.”

  He walked to the en suite bath. Moments later, water burst through the showerhead. “You relax. I’ll see what I can find out.”

  I carried my things into the bathroom with me. “Will you tell me whatever you hear about the girls?” My tummy clenched and knotted. Anvils of grief pulled at my core. “No more keeping things from me. You have to promise.” My voice croaked on the last word.

  “Of course. I’ll do it all by text and be right here when you get out.” He moved through the doorway to his room.

  “Liam?”

  His gentle eyes lulled me. “Everything is going to be okay. Take your time in the shower. Whatever just happened to you scared the life half out of me. I need a minute to recover.”

  “Promise to tell me about the girls.”

  “I will.” He slid the door shut between us.

  I set my things on the counter and checked my phone. Four texts from Allison in the last hour.

  “There was a fire at the B&B.”

  “I saw ambulances.”

  “Do you know what happened?”

  “Is everyone okay? Where are you?”

  I sent her a fast text. “I’m fine. W/Liam. Talk l8r.”

  I stepped into the shower. Steamy water scalded my skin and heated my frozen muscles back to life. I inhaled the puffs of steam
rising off the walls. I had to have a tough conversation with Allison. Soon.

  Urgency snapped through my system. What was I doing in a haze when Zoe and the girls needed me? I had to get to the bed-and-breakfast. What was I doing taking a shower? I wrung my hair out and wrapped fresh towels around my head and body. “Liam?”

  “Yeah.”

  I cracked the door open and jammed damp legs into dry jeans. “I want to see Zoe.” I unwrapped my hair and stuffed my head through the neck hole of my top. The shirt clung to my skin. Polka dots of water painted a pattern over my chest and back as my hair dripped a puddle onto the floor. I squeezed water from my hair and raked a brush through it.

  He stayed on the other side of the door. “They’re at the hospital. I’ll drive.”

  I cleared a lump from my throat. “’Kay.”

  Liam moved toward the closed door and spoke in a stage voice. “Oliver called to invite Allison here for dinner this week. We’ll be there for you so you can get that settled.”

  I nodded at my reflection. “I’ll tell her.”

  The door crept open. Liam poked his head in. “Are you okay?”

  I blew out a long breath. “I will be. Are you ready to go?”

  He hesitated. “We have to do something first.”

  “What?”

  Pride and joy colored the air around him. What an awful time to be joyful. Anger bubbled in my gut. Liam led me by my fingertips to the foyer where a line of men stood shoulder to shoulder and knelt when I crested the stairs.

  Liam squeezed my hand. “They’re here to pledge their fealty. These men were Stians, but they came when they heard your cry.”

  “They heard that?”

  Justin moved to the front of the line. “We heard you.”

  I swallowed a lump of emotion and another larger one took its place. “You did?”

  “Yes.” He moved to my side as the men pledged their fealty at a leisurely pace. My heart banged and sputtered as desperation to get to the hospital overcame me.

  The men stood and I thanked them.

  Tom broke through the front door in a fit of rage. “Four are dead. Zoe and Lisle are being treated. They’re coming here after they’re discharged. I left five men in the waiting room to escort them.”

  Bile rose in my throat. Four are dead. I forced back the vomit. “Was this an accident?”

  Tom’s nostrils flared. “We won’t know for sure until there’s an investigation. Firemen are still spraying water on ashes. The place is charred sticks and dust. It went up like an asteroid hit it. I can’t imagine any earthly cause for this.”

  I turned my back to Justin, focusing wholly on Liam. “Nym visited the B&B the same day she showed up at school. She taunted me at lunch, flirted with Justin, and asked Zoe for a tour after school. I’ve had the girls tailing her. They’ve never seen her with anyone but Justin when she isn’t at school. No home address. No family to be found. Zoe called her vapor.”

  Justin groaned. “Callie, stop.”

  Liam narrowed his eyes. “I remember you discussing this downstairs. I don’t think I’ve seen her. Nym. What does she look like?”

  Justin approached with an outstretched arm and cell phone in his palm. The muscle in his jaw ticked and jumped with every grit of his teeth. Nym’s predatory grin graced the cell screen. His home screen was a joint selfie with her beside him in the grass and her black hair fanned across his chest.

  Liam swiped the phone from Justin’s hand. “Balls.” He released a slew of words at warp speed I didn’t recognize.

  Justin bristled. “Do you know her?”

  I cocked a hip. “You know her?”

  Oliver pushed through the crowd to Liam’s side and peered at the screen. “Bollocks.” He blanched.

  “That’s exactly what I said.” Liam turned Justin’s phone screen to face me. “This is Nemesis. The goddess of divine retribution.”

  “What?” Justin snatched the phone from Liam and stuffed it into his back pocket. “What the hell’s that mean? What’s a goddess of divine retribution?”

  Oliver balked. “It means you’re sleeping with the goddess of revenge. Try not to piss her off until we can find her.”

  Chapter 18

  I followed Mason to the upstairs library while Liam settled the clan members into their rooms. The floor-to-ceiling bookshelves invited and terrified me. Getting comfortable in the warm space was easy; realizing it might literally take forever to read the books was not. Mason pulled a worn green tome from the shelves and opened it on the reading table. A puff of dust rose from gilded pages, drying the air and tickling my nose.

  Mason tapped the table of contents. “This is the most comprehensive volume we have on Nemesis, though she makes appearances in most of the others.”

  I turned the fragile pages with care and trepidation. “I can’t believe this night. The girls are dead. Zoe and Lisle are in the ER. We didn’t need another enemy right now.” Giants and Stians were plenty to worry about, not to mention uniting warring clans. “How did those men hear me scream?”

  Mason crossed his arms. “I suppose the same way you felt the nymphs’ pain. They are your people. You were destined to lead them. It makes sense they should hear your call.”

  “Were they far?” Was there a limit to the distance my desperation could reach? Maybe I could shout from the rooftop to gather stragglers and outlying clans.

  Surprise colored his cheeks.

  “Yes. They felt the call and started walking. When Justin realized they were following him, he took point and explained what he knew instinctively on the way. They belong here. With you.”

  “What about Adam and Calder? They wouldn’t let them just walk away. Could they hear me too?”

  Mason dropped onto a wooden chair at the table. “They were out scrounging for other small clans to conquer. The ones who came with Justin were new to the Stians. They weren’t on the bridge the night you changed. They thought you were a fable.”

  He looked meaningfully into my eyes and I braced for the bad news to come.

  “Go on.”

  “Justin’s decided to return to the Stians. He doesn’t want them to attack us and he believes he can be useful to us there. He’ll try to dissuade Calder from attacking and keep us posted day to day on their plans. He also agreed to invite Nemesis to the Manor for a talk.”

  Air caught in my throat. My mind scrambled to pick an argument. “He can’t go back there. They’ll kill him. Where will he say the others disappeared to? Surely someone told him how dangerous and completely bat shit that plan is.” My limbs twitched to run, jump on him if needed, and drag him back to us.

  Mason lowered his gaze. “He’s already gone. He said he’ll see you at school Monday.”

  A series of incoherent noises floundered on my lips, failing to form actual words. I shook off the panic and focused on the other thing Justin faced alone. “Nemesis will be there when he gets back.” The thought sent chills over my skin. Nemesis was a goddess of retribution. She was remorseless and unstoppable. Would she hurt him, too? “What does she want?”

  Mason turned the book in his direction and examined the script. “Justice, I suppose. Whatever that might mean to her. She lives for this. Pain. Havoc. Chaos in the name of balance. Frankly, I’d rather deal with Loki.”

  I didn’t want to deal with either of them. “Do you think she’ll accept his invitation and come to Hale Manor so we can talk?” Whether her acceptance would be a good or bad thing was still undecided. She could come in peace or to burn us down. Anyone’s guess. “She killed the nymphs, didn’t she?”

  “I can’t say. It’s possible. Anything’s possible. Old as I am, these are new times for me. Your fulfillment of the prophecy has altered the world I knew.”

  “Do you think it’s her picking off the Vikings?”

  Mason laid his hand over mine on the table. “We need to talk to her. Speculation never ends well for anyone.” His hopeful expressio
n eased my mind. “Let’s get her here and see what she says. You might be able to use your gift on her, see if she’s lying.”

  I rolled my eyes. “Every time I’ve seen her, she’s been the cool and indifferent Queen of Bitchery. Her mood is entitled and angry, superior and justified. I hate her.”

  He blew out a long breath. “Super.”

  My phone buzzed. “It’s Liam. Hello?”

  “Zoe and Lisle were released from the hospital. The men Tom left behind are escorting them here for the night. They’re on their way. I’m headed to the kitchen. Meet us there when you’ve finished.”

  I rested my forehead on the table. “Thank you.”

  Liam disconnected and I closed the book. “Care if I borrow this one too?”

  “What’s ours is yours.”

  “Thanks. I want to see the girls before I head home. Liam says they’re on their way here.” I carried the book to the kitchen, praying the girls’ injuries would heal quickly. How could I comfort them when they’d lost their family and home?

  The back door opened before I took a seat at the kitchen island. One look at their red welted faces and I knew what to do. “Zoe. Lisle.” I ran to them and pulled them against my chest. I enveloped them in love and let them sob into my hair. There would be time to talk later.

  * * * *

  I slumped over my World History book at Roll With It. Nym hadn’t showed at Hale Manor and Justin hadn’t contacted me since he left. Agitation vibrated my bones. I flipped through the same chapter for the third time with no idea what I’d read. The diner was desolate. Everyone who stopped in ordered warm drinks and left. Neighbors strolled outside the windows with packages and red noses, enjoying the seasonable weather. A brisk wind flipped scarves over shoulders and added to the picturesque cobblestone streets with store windows lined in snowmen paintings and twinkle lights. Nativities had popped up outside every church in town overnight. Despite it all, I burned with desire to wrap my hands around Nym’s neck.

  The little bell over the door drew my scattered attention. A crowd of carolers rushed the counter.