Goddess's Saga 1: Touch of the Goddess (12 page)

Stephan
stepped out of the ship with Maria by his side, and smiled when an expression of delight brightened her face.

He tried to appear unfazed, but it was
impossible. The air was cleaner than anything he could remember, and the sky was azur blue. A large yellowish planet hung nearby like a jewel in the heavens, and he saw two moons.

Figuring out the size and spacing of the planets to get this effect and still keep the orbits stable must have taken forever.

He squeezed her hand.

“
It’s incredible. You did this, you created this.”

“
Yes.
We
did, we did it together.”

Seeing the recording in David
’s office had made him aware of her power, but only now did he see the other side of it: the power of creation.

“
Let’s take a look around. Hey, maybe we should build a house here and settle down.”

It was a joke; he couldn
’t even fathom staying in one spot for longer than a few days and the same was probably true for her, but seeing something this
new
still made the idea tempting.

They wandered around in the long grass until she said,
“If you place the eggs I’ll fix us a picnic.”

“
Oh no, you’re helping.”

“
Fine…”

Her attempt to sound exasperated didn’t really work.

They were still waiting for the eggs to hatch late in the afternoon. Maria sat on a blanket he was sure he’d never seen before, munching a cracker with cheese, and sipping a glass of wine. She had her hair in a long braid that hung over her shoulder, and seemed to belong more in a painting than there with him.

She met his eyes.
Damn, she wasn’t supposed to know he wanted to stare at her to remember the moment forever.

“
What?”

“
Nothing.”

I was just thinking how lucky I am, and how my life changed since you appeared.

A moment later her eyes grew round and she frowned. He didn’t have time to ask what might be wrong; a strange sound broke the peace and a little tree further down the hill burst into flames.

“
What the…”

Another fireball followed the first, exploding into the blaze.

Maria flew to her feet and ran towards the commotion.

Her voice drifted over to him.

“Frank you big old brute, you’re not going to go around destroying things here, this is
our
planet. You get your own, do you hear me?”

Stephan
got up more slowly, and Maria tackled the newcomer before he had time to take even one step towards them.
Frank?

The man was tall with dark hair and goatee. He wore peculiar old-fashioned leather clothing, and was handsome in the same extraordinary way she was beautiful.

I thought I was big. That guy is a fucking mountain.

He couldn
’t tell if his girl jumped the newcomer out of anger or happiness, but the two went rolling down the hill, and he shook his head and walked towards them with long strides.

*****

It had been years, maybe even decades since Maria saw her brother. Fury with the interruption mixed with pure joy, and when they came to a halt at the end of the hill, she sat up laughing. Frank pulled some grass out of her hair.

“
Oh, you haven’t lost your fire, sister. I’ve had one hell of a hard time tracking you down, but it was worth the trouble. You look good.”

She grinned and tossed
a handful of leaves and dry grass at him.

“
Thanks. You look good too.”

The
y got up, supporting each other, still laughing. Frank ran a hand through his hair and pulled his leather vest right. “Who’s the human? He’s almost as big as me.”

Oh no, you don
’t. Damn, this will be complicated.

“
That’s my boyfriend, Stephan. He means the world to me, and you
will
be nice to him.”

The problem was
, if Frank chose not to, there wouldn’t be much she could do about it.

Her brother crossed his arms over his chest, showing off bulging bi
ceps, and glanced down at her. She had forgotten how tall he was.

“
Ditch him and come with me instead. There are plenty of humans. We’ll find you a new one later.”

She shook her head but didn
’t have a chance to object. He stepped forward and stared into her eyes.

“
What do you say little sister, a kiss for old times’ sake?”

She didn
’t think; she just reacted and slapped him. Frank roared with laughter.

“
Oh yeah, that’s my girl!”

He had always been stronger than her and would always be stronger.
He hoisted her up and threw her over his shoulder effortlessly, holding her legs with one arm to keep her from kicking him. Before she met Stephan, she wouldn’t have minded going to look for some adventures together with him; she loved him dearly. Now, she had every intention to stay where she was, and she hit his back with her fists.

He rumbled,
“Stop fighting, sis, you know it’s no good against me. Wha’cha gonna do, call Cratus on me?”

“
Why not? It was a good idea when I was five, and it still seems like a good idea! Let me down you big troll, this is
cheating
!”

Stephan
’s voice drifted over, “Okay, this has gone far enough.”

She lifted her head and saw her lover close the distance between them with a few long steps.

“Oh no, lover, don’t.”

Just as she feared, he punched Frank right in the face.

I bet that was like hitting a brick wall.

Frank stopped dead in his tracks and she stopped trying to kick him, for the time being.

“Don’t hit him, I swear Frank, if you hit him…”

The large man
felt his jaw with his free hand.

“
Wow, that almost hurt. You’ve got a good punch human, I like that.”

She ran an elbow into his back
.

“
I told you, his name is Stephan, not
human
, and if you hurt him, I’ll turn you into a pile of worms if it kills me.”

Frank said,
“Watch your mouth, little sister,” and glared at Stephan.

“
Most people who know what’s good for them run to hide from me. You’re either incredibly ballsy, or incredibly stupid.”

Stephan
crossed his arms over his chest and stared back.

“
This
is your brother?”

Frank
chuckled and slapped Maria’s butt, hard.

“
Oww, stop it and let me down, you big... gorilla!”

The tall man
grumbled something unintelligible, grabbed her around the waist, and lifted her down from his shoulder as if she weighed no more than a leaf. He held her in front of him, her feet dangling a good half-meter above the ground.

“
Are you sure about this? I mean, he seems spunky and all, but he’s
human
.”

She
stared back, and he shook his head, clearly frustrated.

“
You’re really serious about this, aren’t you?”

“
Yes, I’m really serious. Let me down.”

“
Shit…”

Stephan flexed her fingers and she shook his head.

Don’t hit him again, for the love of whatever you believe in, don’t start a fight with him.

Frank poked
Stephan’s shoulder with a meaty finger.

“
I’ll keep my eyes on you. If you make her shed one tear, just one, I’ll be back to visit you. Do you understand me?”

Stephan
held his ground and brushed Frank’s hand away.

“
I’m not the one slapping her around, now am I?”

For a moment, Maria was sure her brother would hit her lover,
but he just rolled his shoulders in a shrug and made a dismissive gesture.

“
Okay, little sister. I will regard this as a passing fling for now.”

He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and led her a few steps away
.

Crap. I should stay with Stephan, reassure him, but I can
’t get away from this. He’ll be so mad.

Meeting members of her family was inevitable in the long run, but she had hoped to start with someone a bit more peaceful and easy to handle.

Someone less… intimate.

Frank
leaned his head towards her, as if he was telling her a secret.

“
Sis, I love you and I really miss you. We had some good times, didn’t we? But I know all about having toys, and he
is
spunky, I’ll give him that. Come see me the second you get tired of him, okay?”

I love you too, but right now you have to leave.

Kicking something and screaming to release her frustration would be excellent, but she couldn’t afford to. Her object, for the moment, was to get these two men as far apart as possible before Stephan got hurt or died.

“
Okay Frank. I love you too, you know that. Go find a nice little war somewhere and do take care.”

She wasn
’t prepared for his next move. He pulled her into a bear-hug, called, “Remember, I’ll be keeping my eyes on you,” to Stephan over her shoulder, smacked a kiss on her cheek, threw a fireball towards a nearby tree for good measure, and vanished.

Maria stood still for a few seconds, staring into nothingness and blinking a couple of times.

This seems suspiciously easy. I’m sure he’ll return to create some new innovative disaster.

Nothing happened, except the weight of the world wanting to push her into the ground.
She rubbed her forehead and turned back towards Stephan, making a helpless gesture.

“
That’s my brother.”

He still held his arms crossed and his face could have been carved from stone.

“That’s your brother? He sure doesn’t act like a brother would.”

It
’s complicated.

Every step seemed like too much work to be worth the effort. Sometimes, a human body could be a drag.

“Well, half-brother, we have different mothers. Frank is a pure-blood, not a hybrid.”

She wanted to wrap her hands around his arm, but for the first time, he resisted.

Something valuable and fragile was breaking between them, something difficult to mend, and she didn’t know what to do about it.

Show yourself vulnerable. It
’s okay to let him be strong and to need him.

Closing her eyes, she leaned her forehead against his shoulder.

“Let’s go to the ship. Make me a cappuccino and I’ll tell you all about it. Please?”

*****

Stephan clenched his jaw.

He
should
stay outside where the fresh air kept his mind straight.

“
I don’t want to go anywhere or do anything. I want an explanation.”

The fragrance of her hair was already getting to him. How could he stay resentful and jealous when she looked so tired and broken?

She
didn’t say anything, but rested her hand on his arm and he eyed the perfect fingers ending in perfect nails. Her touch made his skin tingle, and the little gesture of trust in him melted his last resistance.

“
Fine. Just don’t cry. He might come back.”

She sounded tired.

“Oh, I’m sure he will. Eventually. He always does.”

Great, just what I wanted to hear...

“
You just want me to make you coffee so I’ll forget to be mad.”

And maybe get me inside so I
’ll fall under her spell. No, I don’t think she does that on purpose, it probably just happens.

“
Maybe. Maybe I just like your coffee.”

He shook her off and marched towards the ship. Going in might be a good ide
a after all. In there, he could pretend the outside didn’t exist.

Maria perched on a stool and watched him in silence.
He wanted to hold on to anger, but couldn’t help glancing over at her.

Stay angry and watch her leave. Then what
’ll you do with the rest of your life?