What a Goddess Wants (14 page)

“So what happened? What made them retreat to Invol and hide the gates?”

Her smile disappeared completely now. “No one knows. We all have theories, but…”

Cal saw her gaze turn inward and pain creep onto her face. Some emotion he wasn’t going to put a name to made his chest tighten, made him want to wrap his arms around her and comfort her.

And that would lead down a very dark path. He knew that for a fact.

At least, he
should
know that. He’d had enough experience with spoiled women, goddesses or not, to know that they really didn’t give a shit about the mortals who gave the deities the power to exist.

Still, Tessa seemed… different?

Damn, he must be going soft.

Thrusting a hand toward her, he watched as she considered it for a brief second before taking it and allowing him to help her off the altar. When she stood on the floor, he released her and turned to gather their clothes.

“Cal, would it be possible to make a detour on the way back to Sal’s?”

***

When Tessa had told Cal where she wanted to go, he’d given her a halfhearted argument but eventually he’d admitted the threat to her safety would be minimal. Now, if she were
eteri
, a regular human with no magical blood, then where she stood now would be extremely dangerous to her health.

Too narrow to allow cars, with one bare bulb shining midway down the dead-end passageway and throwing shadows all over the surrounding walls, the magical warding on this dark alley was designed to give an
eteri
a sense of extreme danger, enough to make even the most strong-hearted man turn and leave.

It beckoned Tessa to go further, to push through the darkness to the excitement that lay beyond. She wondered if Cal felt the same.

Though she couldn’t see his face, she felt tension rolling off him in waves as she reached for the door handle. Like at the temple, only someone with Etruscan blood could open this door.

“Tessa—”

“Have you ever been to Downbelow, Cal?” She cut him off before he could demand she return to Sal’s. She’d promised to follow his every order, and she wouldn’t break her word. Still, if he forced her to run away and hide, she might never come out again.

After a moment, Cal sighed. “No, I’ve never been. I’ve only heard about it.”

She turned to flash him a bright smile, which he probably couldn’t see anyway. “Then you’re in for a treat.” She pushed open the door and stepped into utter darkness. “Close the door tight. The lights will come on in a sec.”

Cal paused for a second before she felt him crowd in against her. As soon as she heard the click of the lock, the buzz of fluorescent lights crackled overhead and a dim glow suffused the hallway, a long stretch leading steadily down to an iron door nearly fifty yards away.

“The band will be on tonight,” she said as she started toward the door. “They’re truly amazing musicians. And I believe you’ll find the place itself interesting. I can’t believe you’ve never checked it out. Your Etruscan blood would guarantee you entry.”

“I’ve just never gotten here.”

“Because you’re half Cimmerian?”

“Because I’m not much into public sex.”

She laughed at his dry tone. “I think you know more about Downbelow than you’re letting on. Anyway, we’re still a little early for that part so we’ll leave before we offend your delicate sensibilities.”

He snorted and her smile spread.

“Babe, my sensibilities are far from delicate, but when I fuck, I don’t want an audience.”

She couldn’t understand why. The man was a master of sex. But mortals could be downright prudish about things she never understood. “If you know so much about Downbelow, then you know sex magic fuels the wards to keep the place hidden.”

“Yeah, I know that, too. Sounds like you come here a lot.”

Her smile turned rueful. “I did. Once upon a time.”

When Downbelow had first been constructed, nearly one hundred and fifty years earlier, she’d been a frequent visitor. The people, the dancing, the sex. The euphoria. It’d been better than drugs, which had no effect on her anyway, and she’d become addicted to the place.

For so many years after the Etruscan deities had followed their people across the ocean to America, life had been just that. Life. Not really living. Not like the old days, when their people had spent weeks, sometimes months, worshipping the deities, celebrating, sacrificing. Partying.

“Tessa?”

Blessed Goddess, she’d loved to party.

And the ancient Etruscans had adored her. Though she’d always been a minor deity in the pantheon—even before the Romans had risen and made most of the Etruscan deities obsolete—she’d been beloved by her people for her sweet and, yes, sunny disposition.

She’d laughed. She’d danced. She’d loved to make love. Hell, she’d loved anything that felt good.

But until Downbelow had been built, the Etruscans had lost their ability to play in the States. They’d been much more concerned with their survival, about fitting in and hiding their magic from the
eteri
.

The Etruscan deities remembered well the horror of the Inquisition and the witch hunts. With the rise of industry and science, their magic had become much easier to hide. No one believed in magic any more. Only in money and possessions.

“Tessa.” Cal laid his hand on her shoulder and gave her a little shake to get her attention. But that wasn’t what made her lift her gaze back to his. It was the warmth of his hand seeping into her skin. “We going in or not?”

She smiled over her shoulder at him. “Yes, sorry. Just…”

“Just what?”

She shook her head. “Nothing.”

His gaze narrowed as if he might be able to read her thoughts before he turned back to the door. “Fine. Just stay behind me when we get in there. I need to get my bearings before…”

Before what?

She didn’t ask. They both seemed to have thoughts they didn’t want the other to know. So she nodded as she pushed the door open and then stepped aside to let him through.

She had a second to breathe in the musky, earthy scent of his skin before the magic inside the club tugged at her senses, drawing her into the heady atmosphere of the city’s most exclusive club.

Cal had gone no more than a few feet into the club when he stopped. To his left, she watched his expression carefully, and though he showed no outward sign of amazement, she knew he had to be awed.

She still was every time she entered.

Who would ever guess that beneath the city of boxy brick and concrete was a perfectly formed amphitheater that looked like it’d been transported through time from ancient Etruria. Though the amphitheater was tiny in comparison to the architectural wonders built centuries earlier in Europe, Africa, and Asia, just the fact of its existence was amazing.

The builders had dug into the bedrock below the city, creating a magnificent space—from the walls carved to look like marble columns to the ten circular rows of stone seating that encompassed the arena. Light poured down from the domed roof, which was decorated with a dazzling mural depicting the
circensis
. The mural appeared to be the source of the light, each bit of glass glowing from within, by magic, and illuminating the action below.

During the spring and summer, the arena held the
circensis
, the arena games. The Romans had devolved the games they’d stolen from the Etruscans into bloodthirsty spectacles of mass human destruction.

Those displays had always appalled Tessa and made her physically ill. She’d never lowered herself to attend the Romans’ so-called “games.” But she’d adored the Etruscan
circensis
. Hand-to-hand combat could get messy, yes, but neither opponent was allowed to beat the other to death. At least, not anymore.

Today, the games more resembled the
eteri
’s mixed martial-arts matches. Battles were between equally matched opponents. And no shape-changing was allowed unless both had the ability.

Still, the Etruscans enjoyed a little blood with their entertainment. Tessa believed that hard edge had kept their culture from disappearing altogether.

In the center of the arena, the audience danced with complete abandon, the band on the wooden stage at the north end giving a rousing performance.

Gemma, the band’s
strega,
hadn’t yet started to chant the euphoria spell that would whip the crowd into a frenzy and make them furiously horny. When they paired off to have wild sex later, the energy they produced would fuel the wards on the arena and the light source.

The rest of the band played their instruments with blazing precision as the singer, Dilby, screamed out the words to a song Tessa didn’t recognize.

A tiny brunette with bright green eyes and a slender frame, Dilby could sing as sweetly as a child or scream like a metal god. To her left, lanky Caeles played his fingers over his guitar like he was caressing a woman. In contrast, Fosco raged at his guitar like a madman.

Nicolosa, on bass, had her eyes closed and no part of her body moved except her fingers, while Arruns sat cool and collected at the back, banging on his drums. Teresa held a tambourine in one hand and slapped at conga drums with the other, while Recco made his violin wail.

“Are they always this loud?”

She turned to see Cal’s face screwed up in an expression of disgust, which made her laugh.

“Not your style?”

“Not really, no. Big-band swing is the only civilized music.”

Her eyebrows lifted. “Do you dance?”

“You’ll never find out here, Lady.”

“Well, I want to dance.” She fluttered her eyelashes at him and moved around him toward the floor. “So you either have to suck it up and dance with me or watch from the sidelines.”

“I’ll watch.”

She gave him a teasing smile over her shoulder as she moved closer to the dance floor. “Your loss, big guy.”

At one time, the arena would have been filled. Today, she walked halfway across the floor before she came to the outer edge of the crowd. She knew Cal followed behind her, but as she began to wade deeper into the dancers, he broke off to head into the stands.

There really was very little danger to her here. Most of these people didn’t even know who she was. The Etruscans no longer worshipped her as they once had, especially the more human
Enu
.

The
Fata
, the Etruscan elemental race, led longer lives and followed the ancient traditions more closely. The
Enu
kept the secret of their lineage, but for many, the worship of their deities no longer comprised a large portion of their lives. If they even thought about it at all.

Sure, they sensed something about her as she brushed by them. Something different, something
other
. Most gave her a look, a smile, and then wondered who she was.

A few, mostly the shape-shifting
lucani
, realized who and what she was and bowed their heads as she passed by.

Her smile grew with each step, and by the time she’d reached the edge of the stage, the lingering sense of doom hanging over her head had mostly dissipated.

On stage, Dilby wrung out the last notes of the song and fell to the floor in a heap as the crowd cheered and bounced and geared up for the next song.

Dilby’s head popped up, and she caught Tessa’s eye. The girl’s bright smile always reminded Tessa of someone, though she’d never been able to put her finger on who. And she’d never been able to figure out
what
Dilby was.
Enu
,
Fata
, or a combination of the two?

That didn’t really matter in the grand scheme of things. What mattered was Dilby’s uncanny ability to discern the mood of the crowd and to pick the right song at the right moment to keep the crowd on its feet and moving.

Dilby also knew exactly the kind of music Tessa loved and never failed to slip in a few of Tessa’s favorites whenever she showed up. Which hadn’t been often lately.

“All right.” Dilby spread her hands out to the crowd. “I know you know this one. Let’s get our groove on, people!”

***

Disco.

Christ, who the hell listened to disco anymore?

Cal had climbed into the stands and taken a seat high enough that he could see out into the crowd but low enough that he could be on the dance floor in seconds if he needed to be.

Tessa was right, though. Everything he’d heard about Downbelow made him comfortable enough to let her have a little space. All right, maybe the space was for him. Fuck it all, he needed a breather.

From the moment he’d met Tessa, his life had been turned upside down. The things he thought he knew about himself were no longer true. All because of one tiny blonde of the variety he’d sworn never to have anything to do with again.