Sin City Goddess (29 page)

“Oh my gods.”

“What?” Archer asked.

“He’s going after Rumour.”

Chapter 53

I ran outside, Archer close on my heels, and attempted to phone Rumour. No answer, but I left a message warning her.

“I’ll get a cab,” he said.

“Not fast enough,” I said.

I bear-hugged Archer, pumped my wings, and flew us to Caesars Palace.

I was able to land in a quiet lot at the back of the building reserved for delivery trucks. We hustled through the entrance and over to the elevator. I didn’t see Gacy anywhere in sight. I told Archer to get Cerberus and Indigo and gave him Rumour’s suite number. He tossed me his firearm.

The elevator spit me out on a floor two rows up from ours. I followed the signs to the room where my cousin had told me she was staying.

The door was wide open.

The room looked like it hadn’t even been occupied. The bed was made; there were no dishes on the table, no personal items in the bathroom, no towels hanging over the shower door.

Did I have the wrong room?

Archer came up behind me then, out of breath. “Here.”

He handed me my sword. I walked farther into the room, parted a curtain with the tip of my blade. Nothing.

I pivoted to Archer. “I’m pretty certain this is the room number she gave me.”

Archer swung his head to the closet and back to me. I nodded, gripping the sword with both hands.

He flung the door open, and out toppled a suitcase. The bag was covered in a cabbage-rose pattern, so it was definitely Rumour’s. Roses were her favorite.

I bent down to unzip it. Inside was another note.

It said simply,
Tick-tock
.

“Agh!”

I threw the suitcase across the room, ripped up the note, and stormed out. How could I have allowed this to happen? Two goddesses were now in the clutches of a madman. Two. I should have insisted Rumour return with Thalia and Molpe. Should have demanded it. How could I have been so stupid? Now Zeus had his Thalia back and Poseidon his Molpe, but my lord was missing two of his charges.

Damn you, Gacy! Damn you to the fiery pits of Tartarus!

I couldn’t believe this. Couldn’t believe I had to battle this mortal yet again. Except now he wasn’t mortal. He was a monster. And I had no idea if he had powers or not. Perhaps he had only weapons.

I prayed that was so.

I rushed into our room, slammed the door behind me, and put my sword on the table. I took the stairs two at a time, peeled off my clothes, and crawled into bed. It was four o’clock in the morning when my head finally hit the pillow, but I was so full of adrenaline, I feared I would never sleep.

There was a knock at the door.

Who would be knocking on my door at this hour?

I flung on a robe and tiptoed out into the hallway, listening.

“Um, Tisi, can you let us in? I left my key in the room.”

I opened the door, and Archer and Cerberus entered. “Sorry,” I grumbled.

Archer didn’t say anything. He just pulled me into him and kissed the top of my head. I was grateful for that. It melted some of the tension away.

We climbed the stairs hand in hand and buried our bodies under the covers.

I awoke to the nuzzle of a gigantic hound’s head. Cerberus was poking me with his nose, sniffing my neck and hands, searching for signs of life.

I petted him to let him know I was awake, and he trotted from the room. I flung my legs over the side of the bed, and sat there a moment, willing the fog from my brain. The drapes were closed, so the room was still quite dark. I glanced at the clock.

It was 4:00 p.m.

That woke me up. I shot out of bed and dressed hurriedly in jean shorts and the last halter top I could find. My wings were resting beneath their enchantment, but I really should have brought my own clothes to better fit them. I slathered on some sunscreen and darted downstairs.

Archer had a tray of food and a purple Gatorade waiting for me. He was wearing a T-shirt, jeans, and boots.

“Good, you’re up. I was just about to wake you.”

“Let’s go.” I grabbed my boots and sat down to put them on.

“We have a few minutes. You need to eat something.” He grabbed the plate of food covered by the silver tray and popped it into a small box. He punched in some numbers on the box, and it lit up. I could see the cheeseburger and potatoes spinning around.

“There’s much to do, Archer. I can eat on the way.” I zipped up my boots.

The box chimed, and Archer removed the plate of food. He put ketchup and mustard on the sandwich and set it in front of me. I was tucking Indigo into my right boot.

“I already rented a car with GPS, plugged in the coordinates, stocked it with food and drinks for the women, and secured more ammo.”

He sat down across from me and took a long pull on a water bottle. I shoved a few fried potatoes into my mouth. As soon as I swallowed them down, I realized I was famished. I had hardly eaten at all the day before.

“How long will it take to travel to where we need to be?”

I bit into my burger. It was juicy, and seasoned with just the right amount of salt and pepper.

“Forty minutes.” Archer reached for a fried potato.

I took another bite of my burger and grabbed a napkin to wipe the mustard from my mouth.

Archer reached behind him for a bag. He pulled out three guns, two knives, and some orange sticks—flares, he called them.

“Have you ever shot a gun?”

I shook my head and shoveled more potatoes into my mouth.

“Well, you’re about to. There’s a place I used to go in the desert to shoot. Just so happens it’s on the way.”

I shook my head, chewing on the last of the cheeseburger. I hated guns. Hated the carnage they caused, the destruction they could wreak in the blink of an eye.

I swallowed my food. “No guns.”

Archer leaned close to me. His face had more color in it today than it had when we had first arrived in Las Vegas. He smelled like lime and basil.

“Don’t argue with me. We have no idea what we’re up against. I want you to be prepared.”

“I have my sword and I have Cerberus.” I shot him a contentious look. “I do not need a firearm.”

Archer stood and pushed his chair in. “This is not up for debate. Now get your shit together, get your ass in the car, and stop giving me attitude.”

I stood up and kicked the chair out of the way. “Just who do you think you are? No one has ever spoken to me like that in my life!”

Archer met my glare with his own. He stepped forward. “Is that so? Well, maybe somebody should have. Would have saved me the trouble.”

I reached up to slap him, but he caught my hand. He smirked at the look of surprise I must have been wearing. “You can bite me in the shower, babe, but that’s my limit.”

I wanted to scrape that smug look off his face. “I hope you enjoyed it, because that’s the last time that will ever happen.” I gave him my own smirk.

He stepped closer. He was less than an inch from my face, still holding my wrist. He lingered there for a long while. My heart beat faster when he leaned in to kiss me, and my eyes closed involuntarily.

Only he didn’t kiss me. He whispered in my ear, “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

He dropped my hand, grabbed the duffel bag, and walked out the door.

Chapter 54

The blonde was easy. She didn’t put up much of a struggle after he threatened to slice her throat.

The drive out to the desert was one of the longest of his life. Lamia stunk up the entire car, but he still needed her, he decided. He didn’t tell her about the other Fury. Best to keep that to himself. He guessed that she, like he, had seen only
her
. Not her sisters. He wondered why that was. Why they used only the one to deal with people like him. He wondered if the sisters weren’t as good at their job, or if they just didn’t have the skills to take down someone as smart as he was, or as twisted as the snake woman. He wondered what would happen in the desert. Would the other sister show up?

Because that would be delicious.

Lamia was lazing around in the sand, complaining about the sun and the heat, not helping him set up, as usual. The bitch was useless. More trouble than she was worth, and he wanted to strangle her with her own tongue.

Right now, the girls were all in place, all doing what they were told. He had blindfolded all of them, dressed them in matching, loose-fitting black dresses. Not to be cruel, because that wasn’t his style, but if he wanted to play with her, he had to make sure she couldn’t identify any of the game pieces.

Always stack the deck in your favor.

He smiled at his cleverness. He had even bought a black wig for the blonde to wear.

He lined them all up, spaced them out just enough that she couldn’t compare them side by side. It was perfect.

The sun was beating down on the sand, and he was drinking water to keep hydrated. He made sure they all had enough water before they took their places. He couldn’t have anyone passing out from dehydration.

It wouldn’t be long now. The eclipse was coming. Soon he would have his sweet revenge and Lamia would get her kingdom. Not that he gave a shit about that. It was this world he wanted, this world he had come back for. And when he took the Fury’s life—the life that had taken his once—her immortality, Charon had told him, would leap into his soul.

He could go on killing forever.

He smiled at the thought, adjusted his wig, and went to get the cards.

Chapter 55

We drove in silence for a while. I was still angry, but I was trying to curb my fury. I suspected I would need it.

Finally Archer said, “We’re here.”

He exited the car, grabbed the bag, and swung around to my side. He opened the door. “Are you coming?”

I didn’t answer him.

Archer sighed. “Look, Tisi, we’ve got a job to do. You can be mad at me later, but right now I need you focused.”

I looked at him. “I don’t like guns.”

“I know, and I’m sorry I yelled at you. I just want you to be safe. I want us all to walk away from this unharmed.”

I got out of the car. “But don’t you see? Your bullets didn’t kill Lamia. My sword will.”

“That’s true, but they did stop her.”

He was right about that. He had been right about a lot of things. Perhaps I was being too stubborn. We truly didn’t know what we were dealing with. A soul had never escaped from Tartarus. Were there more of them than just Gacy? Would they be walking into an ambush?

Perhaps, when you’ve been dealt a wild card, it’s best to approach it with an equally wild plan of attack. “Okay. Tell me what to do.”

We had traveled deep into the desert. There were no buildings around, no lights except the sun. Aside from the
mountains off in the distance and a few cacti, we were alone.

Archer led me to an area between two boulders. He explained how to load the weapon, how to hold it, where to position my eye to aim a shot, and the stance that he used.

He went first, calling each shot before he fired. A cactus leaf, a red rock several yards away, and an abandoned soda can someone had carelessly left behind.

He was right on target.

“Your turn.”

The weapon was heavier than it looked. I stood the way Archer had and aimed for the same soda can. The shot was loud, and my fingers tingled a bit from the impact, but it wasn’t as awkward as I’d thought it would be. It was quite exhilarating, in fact—although I completely missed the can.