Blessed (11 page)

“I…I’m sorry for your loss.”

Opening her eyes, Mrs. Bherz visibly gathered herself. “Yes, well that is the past and this is the present. Off with you now. I’m sure you’re eager to return to school.”

“Thanks again for saving me.” Eliana moved quickly towards the door, wanting to get home, take a shower, eat a whole bunch of chocolate, and have a small nervous breakdown.

Mrs. Bherz's voice stopped her as she opened the door. “Eliana, if I find out you lied to me and you are working with demons…you will be very, very sorry.”

Eliana gaped at her, but Mrs. Bherz turned her back and began to make another pot of tea. Eliana shut the door and slogged through the wet woodchips to her car, more eager than ever to go home and she fervently hoped she never saw Mrs. Bherz again. Even if the older woman did work for the Creation side, she scared the hell out of Eliana.

The cash register chimed as Eliana rang up the giant pot of pumpkin-orange mums and helped her customer put it back into her basket. A festive atmosphere filled the garden center, and she enjoyed being outside in the warm weather. People were glad to be off work, and they browsed for objects to make their homes beautiful. The store did a quick business in seasonal religious items, and there were many harvest celebrations coming up.

It was so pretty, so normal that she could almost pretend the morning never happened.

Almost.

As if her encounter with a demon hadn’t been bad enough, it seemed like the head cashier, Linda, had it out for her. Linda had handed Eliana the keys to the outdoor register as soon as she arrived for her 4 p.m. shift after berating Eliana for being five minutes late. After she was done yelling at Eliana and being a complete bitch, Linda had told her to make sure the delivery drivers drove their loads to the back and to sign for the deliveries. Eager to get away from Linda, she said she would and hurried outside.

As she walked away, Eliana could hear Linda saying something in a nasty tone of voice about her to one of the other cashiers.

She didn't know what Linda's problem was, but for fucking sure she didn’t need the other woman’s petty drama. For a forty-something woman in a pumpkin sweater, she sure acted like a bitchy teenager. Eliana didn't know what she had done to get on Linda's bad side, but she was getting pretty fed up with her crappy attitude.

As if she didn't have enough to deal with at the moment. She only had to rethink her views on reality and the cosmic order of the universe, no big deal. After her little run-in with the demon dog earlier today, she’d hit the Internet in an effort to find out everything she could on demons and how to defeat them. What she’d found was actually fascinating. There were thousands of different kinds of demons from all parts of the world. For every demon, there was a different way to fight against them. A lot of the magic required reciting protection spells in Latin. So basically she had to learn hundreds of different religions, demons, and how to banish them along with amassing an arsenal in charms and weapons.

She was so screwed.

She’d called Aiden as soon as she got home, but all she got was his voice mail. She’d left him a message to call her as soon as possible, and that she would be working at the store tonight. Chrissy had been concerned when she saw Eliana all covered in mud, but seemed to buy her excuse of being stuck on the trails in a rainstorm. It had killed Eliana not to confide in her friend, she was afraid that some demon would come after Chrissy because of her association with Eliana, but she couldn’t break her promise. For all she knew the gods would smite her and her friend for revealing any information about the Chosen. After the events of earlier today nothing seemed out of the realm of possibility anymore so she was going to play it as safe as possible.

As if she didn’t have enough to think about at the moment, her overly hormonal body wanted to only think about Aiden and all the dirty things she wanted to do with him. It didn’t help that the book he’d lent her smelled like him. She found herself sniffing the leather binding of the book without even thinking about it. It must have come from his personal library because it smelled like his cologne.

After taking a quick look around to make sure there weren’t any customers that needed help, she pulled the book out of the alcove beneath her register and gave it a quick sniff. With a sigh, she flipped open the small book and stared at the first two pages. She examined the familiar map of the world, but with odd country divisions and names. Places like Gaul and Babylon were shown, along with the gods and goddesses of the region. There were so many. How was she supposed to remember them all?

“Good evening, Eliana.” A voice as smooth as butterscotch pulled her out of her studies. Aiden.

She spun around so fast her braid whirled around her and smacked his chest. Without thinking she wrapped her arms around him and held him tight, burying her face against his chest and taking in deep inhalations of his scent. Peace immediately filled her and for the first time since the attack earlier she felt safe. And he was warm, and strong, and it felt so good to press her body against his. Arousal burned through her like a match thrown onto a gasoline soaked log and Aiden stiffened against her. He took in a deep breath and she swore he trembled against her before he gently pried her off of him.

“Eliana, we’re in public.” He said in a strained voice.

Embarrassment heated her face and she ducked her head as she said, “Sorry about that.”

“It’s okay, I didn’t mind, but it wouldn’t be a good idea for a professor to be seen with a student in his class like that.”

She peeked up at him and was glad to see he appeared amused instead of angry. “Right, sorry, I’m just so happy to see you.”

He grinned and brushed some dirt off her upper arm with a gentle touch. His palm felt so warm on her skin. He seemed to hesitate and slow his movements down, turning a casual movement into an erotic caress. The wind must have shifted because she was drowning in the scent of his cologne. Her heart thudded, and she leaned into his touch before he pulled away with a small smile.

“I’m happy to see you as well.” He glanced around and grabbed the nearest pot of flowers and put it on the small counter of her register. “I got your call. What’s going on?”

She took a quick look around. At the moment, they were almost alone in the garden center. The only other people there were an older couple loudly arguing about planting tulips.

She fidgeted with the edge of the counter. “Well, I went for a run at Panther Hollow...and I kinda got attacked by a Barghest.”

He stared at her. “You what?”

“Um, I was in the woods, and all of a sudden, it got quiet. This guy in a yellow rain slicker—”

He held up his hand. “Start at the beginning please.”

She did, describing the man who had tried to turn her and the rescue by Mrs. Bherz.

“I should have been with you, Eliana. I'm so sorry I failed you. I didn't think things would move this fast.” He appeared distracted, running his hands through his hair as he scanned the garden center.

“Yeah, well, you forgot to mention in your little speech yesterday that I would have to watch out for demons.” She crossed her, and a thread of anger burned through her.

“You're right. I assumed the Destruction side didn't know about you yet. I'm going to need to step up your training.” He cupped her face in his hand, smoothing a thumb over her cheek. “I promise I won't let anything happen to you.”

“Okay,” she said faintly. His hand on her skin did wonderful things to her body. She turned her face slightly and rubbed her cheek against his fingers. His eyes turned dark, and his full lips softened. She wanted to purr. Gods, what was it about this man that made her so insane with lust? Right now she should be worrying about her chances at surviving another day, yet all she could think about was how good his touch felt, how much she wanted to kiss him. And she was pretty sure he wanted to kiss her as well.

He cleared his throat and moved the flowerpot between them. “What are you doing tomorrow?”

She made her racing mind focus on the question he’d asked. “Tomorrow is Saturday, right? I have to do some studying in the morning, and I promised to have coffee with Janet, but after that, I'm free. But, I can cancel all of that if you need me to.”

He nodded and glanced at the husband and wife walking toward them. They obviously decided to plant tulips after all if the wife's victorious march was any sign. “No, don’t cancel anything. I want to take you around and introduce you to some of the Chosen in the area. It'll help you get an understanding of what we do and who we are. And it will help protect you.”

He handed her a business card shaped and colored like a whoopee cushion. “Meet me here at two o'clock?”

“Sure,” Eliana said as she read the card. It said
Jack's House of Wisecracks
in bold black letters. “Is this by the old movie theater in Georgetown?”

“Yes,” he said as he put the flowerpot back. “I have to go, but I'll see you tomorrow. Stay where there are lots of people around. Destros normally won't try to move against you in public places. Lock your doors and don't let anyone in you don't know. The dorms have some pretty good shielding on them, and there are a ton of Creation priests and priestesses on campus, but I want you to be careful.”

“Okay, I'll see you tomorrow.” Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him leave. Man, did he know how to work a pair of jeans.

****

Inside the store, Linda paced the worn linoleum floor in the break room. Hands clenched at her sides, the hot pink color of her nails standing out against her white fists. She would give up her designer clothes, she would live in Linda's little white trash suburbia house, but there was no way she was giving up her manicures. Everyone had standards.

She felt the moment the Creation Chosen out in the garden center with Eliana lowered his shields; it felt like sudden sunburn on her skin. Thank Eris she kept her shields tight, or there could have been a messy situation. While she doubted the Creation Chosen would have attacked her in the store—too many potential innocents around—it would have screwed up all her careful planning.

Dillon's attempt to recruit the girl earlier today had failed miserably. He was unable to magically influence her into accepting the Destruction side and had lost his temper. She couldn’t understand how Dillon could have failed. Even without his powerful persuasion spells, Dillon was one of the best lawyers in New York City. He could talk anyone into doing anything, but he couldn’t get that little bitch to bend to his will. Then, Dillon had the bad luck of some random Creation Priestess showing up and spoiling the fun.

Linda continued to pace as her anxiety built. She needed more time. There was another load of fertilizer coming in tonight, and she had a truck waiting to pick it up. Plus she had to finish forging the paperwork on that dippy bitch Eliana. So sweet, so innocent, she should have been ripe for the plucking.

Linda was so distracted she nearly didn't notice when the burning sensation faded and the Creation Chosen left the area. She let out a deep breath, carefully expanding her senses to make sure she was safe, or as safe as she could be. Flipping open her sparkly pink phone, she called Dillon.

“Hello, pookie,” Dillon said in a cultured purr.

“I think the little bitch has a Mentor, or some Creation Chosen is interested in her.”

“Funny you should say that. I just got off the phone with David. He thinks Aiden Klemenson, a Chosen of Odin, is her Mentor.”

Linda sucked in her breath through her teeth. “Fuck.”

“Fuck what, sweetie?”

“That would be the darling son of Rana Klemenson, Chosen of the goddess Freyja, a Nordic war deity. She's been a serious problem in the past.”

The door opened, and a cashier slouched in to take her break. One look at Linda's scowl turned her right back the way she came.

“Rana…that’s a blast from the past. Shit. All we need is Rana on our asses for killing her baby boy's student.” Dillon sighed. “How close are you to being finished?”

“A couple more days. I want this to be as airtight as possible. Eris doesn't take well to failure.”

“No, she doesn't. I'll be waiting for you when you get home, pookie. I have a nice little paperboy stashed for you in the garage. He can't wait to do his part for the cause.”

“You always get me the sweetest presents. I'll see you soon. Oh, and, Dillon, try to not kill him before I get there.”

Dillon said in a put-upon tone, “Fine. He's roughed up, but I'll put a tourniquet on him, and he should be okay. Kisses.”

Aiden leaned on the glass display case that held a collection of rare antique gag toys and novelties, absently scanning the items within. His friend Jack, who owned the store, sold every kind of rubber chicken, whoopee cushion, sneezing powder, joy buzzer, and blow-up sheep imaginable. As usual the air was filled with laughter and everyone that walked out the door left with a smile.

Though Jack looked like a tanned, blond surfer dude from the West Coast, he was a shrewd businessman and skilled Chosen—and Aiden's best friend.

Jack stood on the other side of the counter and played with an X-rated Yo-Yo while Aiden talked to him. The pinup picture on the Yo-Yo took off her top as the toy spun up and down its string. Aiden found it tacky, but Jack thought it was hilarious.

Jack often found something even funnier if it offended someone, a personality trait that had gotten him into trouble more than once. Lucky for Jack, he was as charming as he was offensive. If talking his way out didn't work, Jack was a master of Lua, an ancient Hawaiian martial art.

“So, you're a big, bad Mentor now, bro,” Jack said with a grin, then did an elaborate trick with the Yo-Yo that had it spinning over his head in a tight circle before returning neatly wound into the cradle of his palm. Jack often went heavy on the surfer lingo because he knew it annoyed Aiden and annoying Aiden was one of Jack’s favorite past times. Even after being friends for twenty years, he still wanted to strangle Jack on a weekly basis.