Sirenz (19 page)

“We will finish this today,” Shar said in a determined voice. “I'm not walking around with a beak. And I think it's turning orange!”

We reached the House of Romanov, and went in and up with no problems from the security desk. Everyone was similarly bundled up. I was ready. I didn't care who was there—I was ready to march right down to Arkady's sanctum and deal with him. No one was going to stop me.

But when we got upstairs, it was deathly silent. There was no one
there
to stop us.

“Where is everyone?” I asked.

“Well, the runway show's done. Maybe this is their down time,” Shar rationalized.

“But I know they had to go over the runway show, the reviews, and the orders,” I pointed out.

“Then where are they?”

Slowly, we made our way through the elegantly papered hallways. Only the scuffing of our feet on the plush carpeting could be heard. Everything was open. Lights were on, computers were running, there was even a steaming coffee cup and a brownie with a hasty bite taken out of it on Reynaldo's desk.

“They're here. Or they were.” Shar took off her coat, but kept her scarf tied firmly around her lower face. “But where are they now?”

“Let's check the king cobra's nest.” I pointed in the direction of Arkady's office.

The doors at the end of the hallway were shut as usual, and a sliver of bright light cut across the purple carpet. As we got closer, we heard muted voices.

“The meeting today isn't supposed to start until nine thirty,” said Shar, slipping out the folded schedule we'd printed out previously. I peeked at the paper; nothing was supposed to be going on during this early time slot. Shar looked at me as if she expected an explanation, but all I could do was shrug.

At that moment, Reynaldo burst through the door, slamming it behind him. He bustled down to his office, his hips swinging. He didn't seem to notice us skulking off to his right.

I cocked my head at Shar and we followed him at a discreet distance.

“Find out what's going on,” I whispered.

Shar knocked on Reynaldo's door. He was in the midst of shoving the rest of the brownie into his mouth and nearly choked when he saw us standing there.

“Oh!” He plopped what was left of the brownie back on his plate. “What are you doing here?”

“We work here,” Shar said through her scarf. “Did we miss the meeting?”

“Oh no no!” Reynaldo laughed—no, giggled. Whatever was going on in Arkady's office had put him in a good mood. I wondered what type of treatment could make him that jocular? I could use some.

Reynaldo shoved some papers into a briefcase then drained his coffee. He put on his coat and grabbed his Euro-bag.

“Where are you going?” Shar demanded. “What about this morning's meeting?”

“Oh, it's been canceled. I have to run, chicas!” Reynaldo waved at us and floated away.

Arkady's door opened and shut again, and then it sounded like Jeremy was on the phone.

“Stay here and see if you can find anything in Reynaldo's office about what's going on,” I said excitedly. “I'm going to talk to Jeremy. With Reynaldo gone, that's one less person we have to deal with. This might be easier than we thought.”

I scurried down the hall, but slowed down as I got near the door to Jeremy's office. I stopped in front of it and sidled my head around the door frame with trepidation. Jeremy was sitting in front of his computer, his eyes moving back and forth quickly as if he was scanning the screen in front of him.
He looks normal.
I let out a breath and he looked up. My stomach did flip flops.

Was he still entranced?

A smile spread across his face when he saw me and his eyes softened, but they weren't glazed over.

“One sec,” he said, tapping a few things into his computer that I couldn't see. “Oh this so great, Meggo, I think we're going to actually spend some more time together. Looks like things are going to slow down here—at least for a little bit.”

He remembered me! And he seemed like himself. But I wondered what he meant by slowing down. I didn't like how that sounded.

I chanced one word. “Why?”

He jumped up and hugged me.

“You'll never guess what just happened!”

I pulled away slightly, cocked my head at him, and creased my brows.

“Oh, how could you know? Mr. Romanov called an early meeting to let us know that he'll be doing some traveling. But”—and here his whole face lit up—“I don't have to go with him. You have no idea how awesome that is!”

Oh, I think I do. You do NOT want to go where he's going.
But what did he mean, Arkady traveling? And when?

I grabbed a paper and pen and wrote
where, when,
and
why
?

He leaned in close. “Apparently there'
s this really wacky treatment for skin renewal or something like that. They only do it in Europe. Switzerland, I think.” He made a disgusted face. “It's totally sick. Involves sheep placentas. Anyway, as soon as he heard about it, Mr. Romanov insisted on going.”

Jeremy shut off the computer. “Wait, it gets better. I'm not sure how long he'll be gone, but from what Demi said, it'll probably be a while.”

Demeter.

My smile faltered at the mention of her name. I could venture a guess as to where Arkady had heard about this miracle cure for his deep-tissue wrinkles.

“Demi's going with him, and she'll escort him home tonight. All I have to do is get them to the airport—they're flying out
tomorrow
!”

Seize the Day

We saw no one for the rest of the day. Reynaldo never came back. Jeremy remained in his office, probably buying up pairs of eardrum-exploding concert tickets for him and Meg. And I bet Demeter was gloating. That witch. We left as soon as we were able.

“I'll text you tomorrow!” Jeremy waved excitedly at Meg as we left. She managed a weak smile.

“Do you think my phone will get a signal down in Tartarus?” Meg asked. “I'd like to call my mother for her birthday.”

What could I say?

At the apartment, we plopped onto the sofa. Out of spite, I put my dirty boots on the spotless cushions. Dark smudges of something that was stuck on my shoe rubbed off on them. With a wicked grin, I let my claws slice holes in the fabric.

Suddenly Meg sprang up and danced in place.

“Is that some bizarre mating ritual? 'Cause I'm not interested.” Birds did some pretty weird stuff to show off. “Are you okay?”

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

I figured the situation had finally gotten to her and she was going the deep six.

“No, no, no! This is not the time to dance and be happy,” I reminded her. “Arkady go bye-bye to Europe. We have reservations for a makeover in Tartarus!”

Meg stopped and stared at me like I was the one who was insane.

“Who's the
one
god who's helped us so far?” she asked, her eyes unnaturally bright. “Hades ‘forgets' details; Demeter thwarts us every time we turn around.”

“No one I can think of.” I kicked off my boots. Even bird feet got tired.

“Persephone!”

My mouth, er, beak, dropped open. “You're delusional. She's threatened me numerous times, accused me of husband-stealing, and warned me away. That is
not
helping.”

“She got us to the portal at the clinic, remember? I'm sure we would have finished it there if Demeter hadn't gotten wind of it somehow. If Persephone knew that you were about to get a one-way ticket to Tartarus, especially now when she's with Hades, she'd want to cancel Arkady's trip. That's what convinced her to help the first time; she really doesn't want you in Tartarus.”

I snorted. “Yeah, that's what I'm afraid of—her canceling me
out. And what if Demeter shows up again?”

“She can't harm you, since you're under Hades' protection. We have to keep trying. Demeter seems focused on getting Arkady away from us, so we can hope that she's too busy to bother with you and me right now. Let's call Persephone.”

“Sure.
You
call her.”

Meg's jubilant mood deflated. “How?”

I stood in the middle of the room. “Persephone, come here! I demand you show yourself!”

“Not like that!” Meg hissed. “We can't afford to offend her. She's already leery of you because of Hades.”

“Big deal. Let her get mad. Like you said, she can't hurt me.”

But after several more shouts, I gave up. We needed to find a new way. I turned to Meg.

“There has to be something Persephone likes that we can bribe her with. What would she want? Too bad there's not a Greek god directory on the net,” I mocked.

Suddenly Meg bolted and grabbed up her bag. She dug out the iPhone.

“The iPhone? Don't tell me it could be that easy!”

“It's worth a try.” Her finger slid through the directory. “Hades said that we should take the time to use it, didn't he? And he said you could use it to call him. Maybe we can get in touch with other gods. Aha! Look at this!” She held it up for me to see. “Apparently they have 411.” Her finger slipped over the touchscreen. “Here it is!”

“Give me that!” I snatched the iPhone. There was a contact file:
Acropolis Dog Grooming, Apollo, Athena
… I scrolled down to Persephone's name and hit dial before I thought about it. After three rings, someone picked up.

“Hello,” purred a sultry voice.

Persephone. Who did she think was calling? She wouldn't be expecting me. She was going to be ticked.

“Persephone, it's Sharisse.”

Meg had to have heard the screech even without the iPhone being on speaker.

“What?! How did you get this number?!”

“Hades' iPhone. We need to talk.
Now.
”

“You
dare
speak to me that way?”

“I dare. If you want me out of Hades' life, you'll come over.
Now
.”

There were a few moments of silence. “I can't go to the apartment he's given you. I can only meet you on neutral ground. And not in a park, either.”

“Fine. Times Square, half an hour.”

The connection was severed.

“Put on your Batman cape, Meg, we're going out.”

Meg had heard enough of the conversation to know the score. Wordlessly, we dressed and headed out into the darkening sky. Meg looked like a ninja with only her eyes peeking out; with my dark glasses on, I looked even more sinister.

We got to Times Square with only seconds to spare. We stopped under the huge electronic billboard to wait. Almost immediately, Persephone flashed in.

“What do you want with me?” she growled. “This better be worth my time, mortal!” She was sans dog. Lucky thing got a break.

“Let me,” advised Meg, pushing me aside gently. She turned to Persephone. “We need your help.”

“Why should I help you two again?” she sniffed.

Meg straightened her shoulders. “Your mother stopped us from succeeding yesterday, and now she's done something to guarantee that we'll fail to fulfill our contract. We would've been done and gone by now if it hadn't been for her.”

“What? Mother!” she roared. Then she actually shook with rage. “We need a place where she can't eavesdrop.”

Snap! The ground was covered with snow and ice; a ski lift glided up the side of a white mountain. We were seated on a deck. Persephone lounged in a cushioned chaise, while Meg and I had hard, plain wooden chairs. A fire crackled merrily in a stone pit. Persephone held a steaming drink, her hands in fur-lined gloves. We had nothing. Okay! Not the hostess type.

Meg quickly explained what had happened in the alley, and then Arkady's latest travel plans. I fought to keep my mouth shut as Persephone shot me dagger glances. She appeared more rational when dealing with Meg. When she was done, Meg took a sideways glance at me.

“And besides all that, you should know that Hades took Shar to—” Meg stopped.

Persephone's eyes narrowed dangerously. “Where? Where did she entice him to?”

“Huh! Like I want your secondhand scraps!” I snorted. We both jumped up, but Meg leapt between us. She pushed me back, and not so gently this time.

“Keep quiet! I'll handle this.” She turned back to Persephone. “Please, hear me out. Shar has consistently refused hi
m.”

That seemed to suck the breath right out of her.

“I don't believe it,” Persephone breathed. She kept giving me dirty looks, and I gave them right back. I was keeping my guard up. Persephone might be the only one able to help us, but I didn't trust her. True, she couldn't hurt me, but that didn't mean she couldn't send me to Cuba, or an African war zone, or a brothel in India. Or worse.

“I don't know what you think I can do for you,” Persephone said finally. “I can't interfere in his agreements, and I can't speak to Mother right now because it's winter and I'm on Hades' time. And I told you before—I'm not allowed to interact with Hades while I'm on the mortal plane.”

Meg's shoulders sagged. “There must be something you can do to help us,” she pleaded. “You did before. We only want to send Arkady to Tartarus and go back to our lives. We—and I speak especially for Shar—
never
want to see Hades again. No offense!” Meg held up her hands as if Persephone would object.

Personally, I would have said something a lot nastier, but nobody was asking me.

Persephone stood silent for a moment. She was weighing her options.
Either she helps us, regardless of how much she hates me and blames me for seducing Hades, and we get free of our obligation or, she refuses, Demeter wins, and Hades gets us both. That would always make her wonder what was going on when she was with her mother.

She blew the steam off her drink. “Maybe I can get you some information I might possibly overhear when I'm out and about. Beyond that, I'm not sure what else I can do. There are strict rules that all of us are bound by.”

Not too all-powerful now is she?
It really didn't seem like Persephone was interested in helping us, and she was fixated on blaming me for Hades' attentions.
Was she blind, stupid, or both?

“Can we call you if we need to know something?” begged Meg.

Persephone pursed her lips, considering the question. “
You
can,
she
can't.”

Bite me. Like I want to talk to you.
I stuck out my tongue behind her back. Okay, second grade stuff, but I was limited. And tired.

“That would be great.” Meg smiled prettily. Such a diplomat, and with few words too.

“Meg.” Persephone glared meaningfully. “Don't bother me with little things.” She jerked her head in my direction.

That's it!

“If you're done yapping, can you poof us into Arkady's penthouse? Or is that beyond your mighty all-powerful goddessness?” I jeered.

I landed with a hard thump.

But it didn't hurt near as much as it did when Meg landed on top of me.