Gods and Monsters (7 page)

“No?” He smiled. “Why not? I’m your husband, aren’t I?” He whispered and kissed her neck.

“No, you aren’t,” she said pushing him off and rolling away before he could pull her back. “My husband is reserved, patient, and foolishly in love with me.” She stood up and dusted herself off, even though the floor was always impossibly clean. He did the same. “You’re just curious. Maybe I’m a good lay since I already know every inch of your body.” He tipped his brow to that, but she ignored it. “You are Ethan Xavier Pierce, but you are not my husband. It might be easier just to forget that, but I have every intention of going back to him. I’m not entirely sure this constitutes cheating, but I’ll be damned if I’m going to sleep with a man that doesn’t love me.”

“Huh, that is interesting,” Ethan said.

The door to the gym opened and Danato, Belus, and Gypsy filed in. Cori added more distance between her and Ethan. Despite nothing really being interrupted, her face burned with embarrassment. Danato eyed the situation and gave Ethan a stern look of disappointment. Ethan only offered him a shrug.

“Well,” Cori looked to Belus. He was still being cautious of her by keeping a good distance from her. She wasn’t used to seeing Belus unsure of himself. It worried her. “What’s the verdict?” When Belus didn’t offer an answer she turned to Danato.

“We will need to run some tests. You will need to remain confined.”

Cori cursed under her breath and walked a few steps away. She bolted back to them clenching her teeth and fists. “Just take me to the damn…” She stopped herself and pulled back again. Getting angry wasn’t going to make them trust her more.

Then again what would.

“No actually,” she reversed once again taking back her temporary aphasia to face her would be opponents and shake her finger in their faces. “I’m not going to let you three bulldoze my objective. I have offered you plenty of proof starting with my direct knowledge of the existence of this place, let alone knowing details of your lives, but if you want to get more intimate…” Cori glanced back at Ethan who was no more entertained by this display than any other she had put on.

“…Danato you live in a living house, with hunter lodge décor that I detest, but can’t help but call home. You get your newspapers in bulk each month, but they might as well be bedtime stories, because every other night you fall asleep with one in your lap. Your chili is way too sweet, but Ethan loves it, so I hold my tongue. You are fastidious and clean to the point of OCD, but I’ve learned to comply. You use too much salt, and by the looks of your belly, no one has been making heart healthy meals for you.” Danato touched his belly that was a little more stuffing than a teddy bear of his size ought to have.

“You brought me here over two years ago and I fought you every day for months. Your thunder clap scolding’s still make my knees shake, but I don’t know anyone who has cared for me or protected me as earnestly as you have, including my birth father.” Cori paused to let him feel that comparison before moving on to Belus.

“Belus I wish I knew more about you, but the truth is every ounce of personality that you’ve revealed to me has either been accidental or unwillingly extricated from your stubborn antisocial grip. All I can tell you is that I’ve disappointed you more than once, and I probably will again. If you continue to forgive me, it will only be because I am one of the few people in this world who has the ability to melt that ice cold device you call a heart. It takes a crowbar to get you to admit it, but you like me. You don’t let me show you any affection though, because…well you hate it, but also because you don’t want to make Danato jealous of the bond we have.” As expected, Belus didn’t offer her much of an emotional reaction, but he did furrow his brow in consternation over the new information.

Cori turned to Ethan, who raised his brow and crossed his arms in preparation for his personality revealing attack. “Don’t act like you’re immune to me. I know more about you than any of them. I’ve seen you naked inside and out. I know your wealthy parents died when you were young, taking you from a privileged life to an impoverished one.” As she approached him he seemed to lose his bravado. “I know you spent the remainder of your childhood in and out of foster homes. Your stint as an amateur thief put you in the juvenile system. You’ve been analyzed by enough psychiatrists that you have the language memorized. You occasionally turn it against me in my more irrational states.

“Coming here was the highlight of your life. I’m not even sure if Danato realizes how important it is for you to be part of a stable family, even if it is a little unorthodox. I think that’s why we got married so fast. As cave-man-ish as it sounds, I think you wanted to have that symbol of possession. You might downplay your territorial side, but I think when push came to shove, you would kill any man who tried to take me away from you.”

Ethan’s self-portrait must have scared him a little, because he took a step back and looked away from her. She was about to make another comment, but Gypsy jumped into the conversation.

“So, in your world, are you screwing all three or just Ethan?”

Cori’s eyes widened as she turned to her. She couldn’t believe she had taken everything she had just said and boiled it down to a bad soap opera plot. She flared her teeth for her planned retort. She lifted her hand to offer the finger jab of someone wanting to accurately direct their insult.

She barely got the seething, “You,” out before a burst of flame spread from her directed finger. Gypsy shot back trying to avoid the heat, but she nearly lost her eyebrows before she cleared the path. “Oh, shit,” Cori mumbled before Ethan toppled her.

13

It wasn’t a record for Gypsy to be the infirmary twice in one day, but Cori was getting a good number of lucky strikes against her, and that
was
unusual. Gypsy had to give the woman props for hand to hand combat. Belus—assuming Belus was the one who taught her—must have been very dedicated to her training. She was useless with a sword, but most women were since it requires a good deal of upper body strength. On the other hand, the fire breathing fingers were something else altogether.

After the doctor evaluated the minor burns on her face and arms, Gypsy joined the three musketeers at the holding cell at the center of the infirmary. It was similar to a psychiatric holding cell with its plastic padded walls, and windows just big enough to see through, but not crawl through. The stark white interior did nothing to change the comparison, but since it was large enough to hold creatures weighing upwards of two tons, it made her confines look like a chair-less waiting room.

When Gypsy arrived Danato and Belus were still debating their next step while Ethan leaned against the wall waiting for the decision. He normally didn’t take such a backseat to these sorts of discussions, but she suspected Cori had gotten under his skin. He was probably already starting to believe her.

“How did she get the power?” Belus asked.

“She mentioned something about enchanted rings,” Danato said. “She didn’t elaborate. She was very upset that Cleos couldn’t read her because of them.”

“Or he couldn’t read her, because she doesn’t want him to,” Gypsy contributed as she approached.

Danato looked her over. She no doubt looked as if she had spent an hour too long in the sun, but otherwise she was fine. “You think she’s a reader?”

“Occam’s razor, it’s the easiest explanation for what she knows,” she said locking her thumbs into the waist band of her skirt.

“Maybe,” Belus said, but the maybe was a diplomatic,
I disagree
. “She didn’t just offer facts though. She didn’t just mention that Danato likes chili, which she could easily read from him, she also said she didn’t like his chili because it was too sweet. That wasn’t just a truth; that was an opinion. I doubt any reader would delve so deep as to discover taste, let alone bother to form an opinion on that taste.”

“Even if she is telling the truth,” Danato said, “Do we really want someone with the ability to shoot fire running around the prison. Whatever power she has, it’s strong, and I’m not sure we want to risk her forcing her way into the prop room.”

“Why don’t you just talk to the genie yourselves?” Ethan said finally offering some valid thoughts.

Danato furrowed his brow and turned the question to Belus. “We can’t initiate any contact or conversation with the genie without her being present or we risk becoming blessed with wishes ourselves. We can act on her behalf, but genies are logistical nightmares, if she is lying…” Belus trailed off.

Danato knew right where to pick up. “Genies are essentially indentured gods. It’s not entirely impossible to accidentally sign your life away when dealing with them. They are litigious, shrewd, and unfortunately tremendously powerful.”

“You want to keep her locked up then?” Gypsy asked.

“No, not really,” Danato said reluctantly.

“Did I miss something?” Gypsy asked seeing the visible stress in his eyes.

“In theory,” Danato continued, “if she has been displaced by a genie, she has a limited amount of time to recant her wishes. If she doesn’t do it before the window expires, she will be stuck here.”

Gypsy chuckled at the volleying argument. She looked to Ethan who was still remaining unusually quiet. “What about you buzz cut? Care to weigh in on this balancing act? Is she one of us, one of them, or just bat shit crazy?”

Ethan seemed annoyed at being forced into the debate, but after a moment he stood at attention and reported his thoughts military style: short, sweet, and with just enough attitude to sound convincing. “We need to proceed with medical testing to identify her. Then we need a slew of questions answered about those rings. If we can be satisfied that she isn’t a threat, then and only then will we confront the genie.”

Danato nodded. It wasn’t often that he deferred to Ethan’s preferences, but when he honestly didn’t know which way to go, he welcomed Ethan’s tactical summation of the situation.

“Well, let’s get this girl poked and prodded alien abductee style.” Gypsy started toward the door of the cell.

“Gypsy,” Danato placed his hand in front of her being careful not to touch her. “I don’t think you are the best candidate to handle her. You’ve incited her twice already.”

“Yes, and two of you have already kissed her today. Do you think you are the best candidate?” Danato’s sympathy darkened into irritation. She had pissed him off, but she couldn’t keep her eyebrow from ticking up to challenge him. His jaw clenched and he sucked in a long breath as if he were mentally counting before answering her challenge.

“I’ll take her,” Belus mumbled beneath them as if he were offering to throw down his life for a cause he didn’t much prefer to be fighting for let alone dying for.

Danato didn’t take his eyes off Gypsy. His anger was useless on her, but he couldn’t help but feel it. She had spent too much time in the hands of a violent man to be intimidated by his venomous looks or loud voice. Though Danato had never hit her, she had pushed him to the point of shaking her violently. Testing the gentlemanly resolve of her men was one of her favorite hobbies.

“I think that’s best,” Ethan said bumping into her as he moved between her and Danato. The intentional push shoved her out of the line of Danato’s glare. “We’ll just get back to work until you need us again.”

“That’s an excellent idea,” Danato said as Ethan continued to herd her away.

14

Cori had more than a few regrets in life. She wished she hadn’t released the elementals without speaking to Danato and Belus. She wished she hadn’t killed that merman. She wished she hadn’t pissed off Cleos by reading his mind. The list went on and on, but at the top of the list, she wished she hadn’t wished for things to go back to normal.

Cori looked around the white padded cell in the infirmary that was designed for the observation of new prisoners. This was so far from normal it wasn’t even funny. Or perhaps it was so far from normal that it was hilarious. Either way, Cori wasn’t in the mood for laughing. She just banged her head against the soft mattress-y walls and waited for someone to fetch her.

By the time Belus showed up at the window in the door, she looked certifiable. She made a droning sound as she buried her head in and out of the foam. It was a hypnotic rhythm that for the moment was comforting. Not to mention she was bored out of her mind.

“Cori?” Belus’s voice sounded over the intercom interrupting her not so Zen meditation.

She exhaled and moved over to the panel. There was no button to push so it was either on or off she presumed. “How is she?”

He nodded with a frown. “Okay, a little singed. She’s probably more upset about her hair than the burns.”

“I would be too. I suppose she’ll be getting revenge for me hurting her pride.”

“Gypsy isn’t a proud person, she’s just a perfectionist. She’s doesn’t care if you win, as long as you win because your good, and not because she wasn’t at her best.”

Cori gave him a half smile. “She’s your star pupil I guess.”

“We need to do some tests on you,” Belus said changing the subject. She wasn’t sure he had done it for her benefit or his, but she was glad to stop talking about her replacement. “Standard medical stuff, can I assume you will cooperate.”

“If I can assume that you’re working toward proving me right.”