Volcanoes (9 page)

"You know what? I was just
going to start writing today. As I said before, I've been busy taking a break."

"Heh," she retorted. "Well I'd like to see some progress, missy. We have publishers to please and books to sell."

"Yes, Ma'am."

"Good, I'm glad to see that you're on board."

B
efore I had a chance to respond, she
’
d hung up. She never let me say goodbye - it was damned annoying. I set my phone down and picked up the bags from earlier in the day.

These clothes needed washing and they wouldn't do it themselves. I stopped and reali
zed that I hadn't done laundry in months. I had no idea how my clothes ended up getting cleaned in Olympus. If there were magical laundry washing domestic fairies, I wanted to hire one for my house.

***

Domestic chores
–
every superhero's kryptonite. I s
ighed heavily as I threw the jeans in on the normal cycle, cold water. I didn't want them to shrink. Who knew how long my body would stay this size? If I didn't have nanites and heavy workouts to keep me in shape, it was anyone's guess as to how long it w
o
uld take for my ass to go pear-shaped.

Once the washer started its thing I padded to my office and took a look around. My redline stapler was in its place of honor. Actually, even my sticky notes for the book I had planned were still on the walls. It felt
so
–

Familiar.

It felt like coming home.

Yeah, I know. I
was
home. But this office had been my sanctuary and I'd forgotten how wonderful it felt to be ensconced within these walls.

I hopped into the chair and picked up my rubber-band ball, tossing it
in the air. Yes! Maybe
losing
my powers was the best thing that had ever happened to me!

I cracked the lid on the laptop and pressed the power button. It was time to make some real magic happen. There were heroines in need of their pr
ince charming and a second book in the Huntress series needed to be written. It felt too soon, though. I didn't know if I was ready to tell that story yet.

The first book had been easy. While there were personal aspects to the manuscript, it hadn't been a
s emotionally wrecking as what had happened to me in the last few months.

Maybe when all was said and done, I would just make it up. I didn't need to let the world know that my heart had been crushed
–
in many ways, not just by Drew.

As I ran through the
events, a few things struck me with the force of a hammer. I hate painful a-ha moments. Everything had seemed relatively common sense but then I
’
d realize I
’
d been too stupid to see the forest for the trees.

The one thing that kept coming up over and ove
r again during this period was a budding relationship.  One I
’
d ignored and pushed away.

Maybe it was time to let go of my hurt and give Heph a chance. 

The little Graces in my brain were cheering wildly at this thought. They had signs and confetti. Lots
and lots of confetti.

Had it really been that long since I'd gotten laid?

I shook my head to clear the thoughts and concentrated on answering email. The relationship stuff could wait for later.

I was sitting in my chair staring at a blank
page on my laptop when a shiver of unease slithered down my body.  I turned my head to the side and listened intently for any odd noises.  Nothing. It was unusually silent.  I focused more closely, listening for Dylan. I could hear him puttering around in
his room, but everything else was dead silent.

Fingers of dread curled around my stomach. The last time it had been this eerily silent, I'd nearly died.

Quietly, I pushed back from the desk and crept to the window to peek outside.  The rabbits that lived
in the bushes outside my window were sprawled out like drunken sorority sisters sleeping off a weekend bender.  I closed my eyes and whispered, "Shit."

This would have been a good time to have the ability to teleport, to have super speed or reflexes or ev
en
–
hell
–
the ability to materialize my weapons.  I may have not been able to do much with the weapons, but just having the comfortable grip of the kukri in my hand would have made me feel better.  I took a deep breath, put on my brave face and headed t
o
ward the front door.

"Dylan!"

"Yeah, Mom?"

"I want you to head to the basement.  Call
–
shit, I don't know who. Call
someone
in Olympus and tell them that Hypnos is here.  Stay in the basement. Do not come out under
any
circumstances. Do you understand?"

He bumped into me as he came rushing out into the hallway. His eyes were wide with fear. "What are you going to do?"

I gave him a quick hug and replied, "I don't know yet.  Keep him away from the house as long as I can. Start the call now. Okay? I love you
."

"I love you too, Mom," he replied quietly.

"Now go." His feet sped down the hallway and down the basement stairs.  Mine, on the other hand, were dragging a little.  I wasn't looking forward to this and I hadn't lied to my son. I had
no
idea what I was
going to do.

Finally, my hand gripped the front door knob. I took a deep breath and steeled myself for whatever would come next. The door pushing in on me caught me by surprise and I yelped. Drew's face popped around and stared at me wide eyed.

"Get into
the basement," he whispered.

"No," I whispered back. "
You
get into the basement. Wait, why are we whispering?"

"Because Hypnos is here. I'm going to see if I can find him and take him down. Get into the basement, Grace." He pushed the door furth
er and I slid back on the hardwood floor.

"I know Hypnos is here and I'm not hiding in the basement. Why don't you just teleport us all to Olympus, you idiot?" I was starting to get annoyed. "Why do you think
I
need to hide but you don't?"

His eyes widene
d and he shook his head at me before stepping fully into the entry and shutting the door. "Because,
you idiot
, Hypnos can kill you. He can't kill me. I'm not the one who blew out her powers."

"You don't have to be a dick about it," I hissed.

"Why do you h
ave to keep starting fights with me?" He looked perplexed…
and annoyed.

"Because," I hissed. "Because - I don't know. Just let me handle this. He could just be paying us a social visit." I smiled and nodded encouragingly.

He raised an eyebrow and replied
, "Really? You really believe that?"

I frowned and slouched. "No. Not really."

"I thought not," he said with a look of superiority that made me want to smack him.

"Don't be stubborn." I elbowed him in the ribs on my way around him and pried his fingers fr
om the doorknob. "This is my house and I'll deal with this. Besides, he probably can't get past the wards."

He nodded at this then sighed. "Fine, but first sign of trouble, you get your ass into the house. Did you have Dylan call for help?"

"Of course I di
d." I threw him a look that asked if he was brain damaged and stepped outside into the bright glare of the day. It seemed weird that such a perfect sunny day was utterly silent.

"I know you're out here," I called. "So you can stop with the sneaky act." I
sat on the porch steps and propped my chin in my hand, waiting. I ignored the gasp of disbelief on the other side of the door.

"I see despite your words that you're not bold enough to leave the boundaries of your wards." His silky deep tone shimmered over
my skin.

"I'm brazen, not stupid." My eyes met his as I replied with a smile. "I can't say that it's a pleasure to meet you in the flesh, considering."

"Considering what?" He asked curiously.

"Well, considering that you've spent a substantial amount of t
ime trying to kill me and everyone I love."

"What if I were to tell you I'm trying to get my
own
loved ones back home?"

"I think you could have asked someone. Been up front. Perhaps even honest. But you decided to create havoc on my home turf and that make
s you the bad guy and that means that we don't get to be friends. So, why are you here?"

He looked surprised by my direct answer. Perhaps he was used to the perpetual mind fuck. It wasn't my style and I was tired of playing games. I needed to know what he
wanted so I could figure out how to get him out of my world as quickly as possible.

"What if I came to beg for my mother's life? What if I wanted to take your measure? From what I've heard, you'll be the woman to kill me." He shrugged at the last as thoug
h it meant nothing to him.

"Persephone tell you that?  She's kind of a jealous bitch. I wouldn't listen to much of what she has to say. Actually, I haven't found her to be all that accurate lately. You should fire her and send her my way. We have unfinish
ed business."

He chuckled and shook his head. "I see."

"Actually - here, hold on." I stood up and twirled around. "There, you took my measure. Like what you see?" I gave him the dimple smile that always worked in the charming pants off department.

It didn
't work. "Mm, Not really," he replied, completely unimpressed.

"Hmm. Well that was just rude. So first, we're not letting your mummy go
–
." I shrugged just as nonchalantly and stifled the urge to run away right then at his malicious glare. "Secondly, I do
n't care if you like what you see - you're not my type anyway. Soooo, try not to let the door of the Rift hit you in the ass on your way off my planet, would you? I'm a little tired right now from destroying your Legion of Dunderheads and I don't feel lik
e
fighting right now." I smirked and gave him a shooing motion with my hands.

He frowned. "You confuse me. Do you not have any sense of self-preservation?"

"Mmmm, no - not really. Seriously though, I'm really tired of you fucking things up here
. It would be best if you just went back to wherever you came from. How about you run along now and leave me and my son alone?" I smiled at him standing there safely behind the wards and stood up, brushed the dirt off my ass and started backward up the st
e
ps.

My step faltered. Why? Because he
’
d smiled at me. Not a pleasant Sunday afternoon smile. A smile filled with knowledge and no small amount of malice. "And what if I say no?"

I let my features grow cold. I was dead serious when I replied, "Then I kill
you and dance on your bloody grave."

"I'd like to see you try that." Then, he stepped onto my front yard.

Shit fuck!

I squeaked and scrambled backwards, tripping on the top step. The door to the house flew open and Drew yanked me through before slamming
it shut.

My eyes widened in horror. "Do you really think that my front door is going to hold him off?"

"What? No! Get downstairs. There are weapons still in the cabinet. Let Scooter out of the basement and then bring me anything down there that looks heft
y enough to kick his ass." He barked the orders and I could only nod and follow his commands.

"Oh…
Okay. I'll be right back." I turned to leave but he grabbed my arm and sighed.

"Just in case," he said before he leaned in to kiss me.

Our lips never met.

"Okay, give me the situation," Zeus bellowed.

My head swiveled to meet his gaze, my eyes wide with annoyance. "You couldn't have, I don't know, come a minute later?"

Had that just come out of my mouth? Of course it had.

He looked at me - completely ba
ffled - and said, "I received a call from your son. Is Hypnos here or not?"

"Yes, he's outside."

"Did he indicate why he was here?"

"No, but he just blew through the wards on the house."

This gave Zeus pause. He looked really uncomfortable. "Damn," He mutt
ered. "Remind me to redo them after this."

"Oh, I won't forget," I replied drolly. "Hey!" I grabbed his arm. "Aren't you supposed to be hurt and in the Med Unit? What the hell are you doing here?"

He glared at me and shook my hand off. "If I need a nursema
id, I'll ask your Mother."

I backed up, hands raised in surrender. "You got it. I just wanted to make sure you were okay."

It had only been a week since Diana had left me here in the house
–
alone. She hadn't been joking. Dylan had stayed in Olympus to tra
in and she kept Drew and Heph there out of spite.

At least I think it was spite.

In fact, today was the first time I'd seen my son. Was it coincidence that Hypnos chose today to come for a visit? In retrospect, maybe she
’
d been right. Maybe I wasn't safe
here. I was just surprised that Hypnos had taken this long to come and get me.

"Okay, get downstairs. Drew, you're with me. Let's go."

He gathered himself and opened the door without checking first to see what was outside. Frankly, I would have checked. B
ut you don't get to be the leader of this ragtag group of godlike people without a ton of confidence and a lot of power.

The man had balls of steel.

I didn't want to go to the basement. I wanted to watch. I had to see what happened. Because
I still didn't know how it had gone down in Atlantis, the curiosity was starting to eat at me like a cancer. I felt like I kept getting left out of all of the action.

I crept to the door and peeked out the window. Zeus and Drew were striding down the stair
s with an air of cockiness that made me proud. Their posturing wasn't inspiring any fear in Hypnos, though. He stood there with a mocking smirk on his face.

Dread filled me. He
’
d been expecting this. He knew that Zeus and Drew would show up here to confro
nt him. So what was he planning?

Damn!
This was the worst time to be powerless.  I squeezed my eyes shut and tried to access
anything
. Nothing. I opened my eyes and zeroed in on the men. Drew's scimitar had appeared in his hands but Zeus wasn't sporting a
ny weapons at all. How could he go into a fight with no weapons?

I looked up as a crack of thunder split the sky. Oh, right. He didn't need weapons. He was going to blow this guy's arms and legs off. Still, Hypnos stood there with that smirk.

He was up to
something and the thought of it made me queasy. Something was terribly wrong here and I needed to make the connection but it was like chasing a rainbow. Just as I got close enough to grasp it, the damn thing flitted just out of my reach.

Drew rushed forw
ard to engage first. He'd keep Hypnos distracted while Zeus sizzled from behind. I shook my head, still not feeling right. Indecision had cost me precious moments and I fled down the stairs to the basement where the weapons cabinet stood. I flung open the
doors and grabbed a short sword and the only kukri I had access to.

"What's going on?" Dylan called from the spare bedroom. 

"Nothing. Stay there!" I answered shortly and sprinted back up the stairs.

I was through the door, weapons in hand before I real
ized how fast I'd been travelling. Okay
–
that was good. I skidded to a halt behind Zeus, chest heaving.

Drew was engaged with Hypnos. It wasn't even a fair fight. Rivulets of blood were streaming from various gashes and cuts on Drew's body and he'd not e
ven scored a hit.

"Why are you just standing there?" I asked exasperated.