Rifts (22 page)

Don't get me wrong, I was flattered that Zeus would think that I had a mind analytical enough to compare readings, but I was fairly confounded by the idea.

"Okay," I said hesitantly.

We burst through the door and I noticed that this was the first time I didn't shudder upon entering the room. When had I hardened against that trauma? Not that I was complaining. It was nice to not feel the fear. Things looked different, more shiny and modern.

"Do some redecorating?" My voice was nonchalant.

"Yeah, I figured it would make you more comfortable."

"Well that's very…um…something of you." What could I say? I was grateful but confused.

"After you've finished your training with Hephaestus, you're training with me. Also, I've had Dylan in here running experiments with me. He's a smart boy. You've done well."

Aw, that made me beam with motherly pride. He
was
a very smart boy. "Well, try not to spoil him would you? I kind of like him without the trauma. Puberty is rough enough."

He threw a disgusted look back at me and went over to a wall of screens.  He typed in a few commands on the flat keyboard built into the panel. Bright blue circles began appearing over a transparent map of the world.

"The brighter ones are newer. I had to program in the older disasters since there was no satellite feed." He pointed to a region off the coast of Africa. "These are the newest."

"Why would someone be setting things off there?" Okay, I was confused. That continent had enough troubles without someone dicking around with their environment.

Zeus took a deep breath and crossed his arms before turning to me and saying, "That's where I sunk Atlantis."

My jaw dropped again. At this rate I was going to start catching flies. "Why would someone be fucking around in the same area you sunk Atlantis, Zeus?"

"We weren't able to get everything out before it was completely submerged. The only one of us able to safely descend to that depth is Poseidon, but he's taken to hanging out in the Pacific Ocean lately. Says the water is warmer and the fish are friendlier."

I nodded. The Island Folks were okay by me. "Have you considered that it may be him?"

He frowned. "Yes. I have. So we had a talk. It's not him, I searched his mind thoroughly. Since his daughter went missing, he’s mostly just confused and angry."

I leaned against a steel table, thinking. "Has anyone else gone missing?"

"Actually, yes. A child from each of the original Houses has been attacked or has gone missing in the last fifty years."

"Who were the original Houses?"

He paused to think on this. "Your mother, me, Poseidon, Hephaestus, Hera, Ares, Apollo and Mercury. Others have followed but we were the original eight.”

I frowned. "Do you think that someone is trying to raise Atlantis?"

He paused, taking a deep breath before responding. "It was my first thought, but all of the power at our disposal couldn't raise it when I sunk it. I can't imagine that there is someone out there with more power than eight of the strongest beings on earth."

I raised an eyebrow. "Well, there's someone out there with eight children of the strongest beings on Earth and whomever they've brought with them. I think it's something that we should consider."

He sucked in a quick breath and turned around, grabbing my wrists. "I think I know what's happening, but I need more information. You have to go to Hephaestus and bring him here."

"Hello, only person in Olympus that can't teleport, here. Why don't you just call him on your bat-phone?"

He gave me "the look" and shook his head. "I need some quiet time. If this is what I think it is, we're in big trouble. I left something very specific buried in Atlantis. If it comes back up, we're all going to die."

My eyes widened. When Zeus was afraid, shit was
bad
. Very, very bad. "Oh-okay," I stuttered. "I'll go get him now." Suddenly I felt the need to hug him. He looked like someone had come back from the dead and shit all over his birthday cake. I needed him to be okay. I wasn't sure why, but he needed to be.

I wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head against his chest. His heart was hammering. Yeah. This was bad.

He squeezed me back and said gently, "Go. I'll be fine."

I nodded, and then turned toward the door. I wanted to make a calm and cool exit, but my legs wouldn't listen as they sprinted out into the hall and towards Heph's compound.

I didn't think of the things I wanted to say to Heph as I ran. I didn't think about the fear on Zeus' face. I didn't even think about my relationship with Drew. My mind was instead filled with questions about my power fluxes. I concentrated on my legs as I sprinted. The muscles bunched and elongated with each stride. I took a deeper breath and envisioned my body pushing more blood and oxygen into those areas - making them stronger, more efficient. I wanted more speed and I got it.

Buildings blurred as I sped by. The speed was glorious and freeing - until my clothing began to disintegrate. I skidded to a halt, dragging a few feet of pavement with me. My feet lost their footing and I tumbled ass over head to the ground in front of Hephaestus' forge, nearly naked and laughing with the joy of it all.

A deep shadow loomed over me and I looked up. Heph stood with hands on hips staring at me with a perplexed look on his face. "Are you drunk?"

That made me fall back with the giggles. I lay there holding my stomach and laughing. Endorphins were indeed the best high. "Speed," I gasped. "I figured it out!"

"Ah, so you're drunk on endorphins. Well then, let's get your drunken, naked ass into the house before someone sees you and thinks that you've gone mental."

He picked me up effortlessly and carried me into the compound. "You're a mixed back of tricks, Grace Murphy. Where’d you get the speed?"

My head lolled back and I stared at the line of his jaw. "You're
pretty
."

He closed his eyes, muttered something that I didn't quite catch and took a deep breath. "You can't really get drunk anymore because of the nanites, but until you can control the endorphins your body creates from the running, you're going to act like a drunken sot. Just my luck, I get to babysit you on your first go-round."

He set me down on a chaise and disappeared for a few moments before returning with a platter of meat, cheese and fruits and some clothing.

"Here," he said popping a piece of cheese in my mouth. "Eat this. It helps. The more fuel you put into your body, the better off you're going to be. Try to stick to proteins. Not just lean stuff. If you're going to be zipping around, you need to give your body calories to burn."

I nodded and chewed slowly, grinning like an idiot. When was the last time I’d been drunk? I couldn’t remember. Wasn't there something that I needed to do with this guy? I blushed hotly and shook my head. No, not that. I came here for a reason.

Clothes! Right – I needed to put some clothes on. I took a few minutes to pull on a pair of drawstring pants and what looked like a camisole. My eyebrows rose at him as I glanced down at my attire. So…he just kept ladies clothing around for funsies?

"Has anyone told you that you have an expressive face?"

I nodded and grabbed a morsel of meat from the platter. "It's my burden in life to not be able to lie well," I mumbled between chews.

"So, quite a few expressions just crossed that pretty face and one of them turned you scarlet. What were you thinking?"

"Nothing?" I squeaked.

This made him grin, which in turn, made
me
grin even harder. Of course he knew what I was thinking. "I'm supposed to be mad at you right now," I blurted out.

"But you're not, are you?"

I shook my head and popped a strawberry in my mouth. "No," I whispered.

"Do you remember why you tumbled to my door?"

It took a few minutes, but the happy endorphins that had been carrying me on a euphoric high dropped me like a fucking hot potato. Suddenly, I was bent over retching.

"Yes, it looks like you do and it's not good." He brushed my hair away from my face as I gagged. Fortunately, nothing came up and it only took me a few minutes to get myself under control.

"We need to go to Zeus' lab immediately. Shit just got real. I've never seen him scared and right now he's very,
very
scared."

That got Heph's attention. He gripped my arms and popped us out of his cozy room into Zeus' sterile Lab in seconds.

"Oh good, you're back," Zeus said with a sigh of relief. He pulled Heph over to the panel of screens on the wall and asked, "What do you see?"

Hephaestus closed his eyes and muttered, "Oh,
fuck
."

"Yes, that's what I thought, too. Do you think it's possible?"

"We talked about this when you did it. I distinctly remember mentioning that this could happen," Heph warned with ire.

"That was thousands of years ago, Hephaestus. Do you honestly think that if I hadn't done it, we'd all be here right now?"

Heph shook his head and stepped back. "Which one do you think it is?"

"Who else could it be," Zeus answered.

"I think it's time that you tell her."

"I don't know if she's ready. She can't even teleport yet."

"Hello! I'm still in the room," I called. I had been watching the conversation volleying back and forth like a kid at a tennis match who didn't have a clue how the game was played.

They both turned to me, faces grim. Oh, I guess this wasn't the time to start cracking sarcastic jokes. I plastered my game face on and said, "Okay, tell me. I can take it."

"Maybe you should sit down," Zeus started.

I raised an eyebrow and crossed my arms over my chest. "Really? What could you even tell me that would wig me out more than I already have?"

"Remember when I gave you a shot of nanites?" He looked at me with a grimace. Shit, this was going to be bad.

"Okay, maybe I need to sit down." I hopped up on a counter and hunched over, waiting for the bad news.

"Well, they weren’t just any nanites. It was the original dosage that your Grandfather created for all of us combined. That means that it's mixed with the different genetics and nanites of the original eight."

"Are you fucking kidding me?" God, I hoped that he was kidding me. No
wonder
new stuff kept popping up. No
wonder
I couldn’t get a grasp on how to control anything. I had all sorts of genetic anomalies running through my system.

He shook his head. "At the time, it seemed like a really good idea."

"Injecting me with
eight different strains
of DNA and nanites seemed like a good idea?! What are the ramifications of this? Why are you telling me now?"