Chapter 14
“Delaney,” Death said as if we hadn’t seen each other for months and months and were just now bumping into each other unexpectedly in the fresh flower aisle of the market over a bouquet of limp carnations.
“Than.” I scanned the gods, all of them shoved into my living room, taking up so much space, we’d left the door open with the hope oxygen could squeeze in between us all.
I had ended up in the middle of the god mob, the coffee table pressed into the back of my calves. “What brings you all by?”
“You know why we’re here.” Odin leaned against the door frame, his untamed hair haloed by the grey light of our not-summer.
“Our powers?” Aaron, the god of war, said. “Our lost powers. That Crow lost. They are no longer in town as of yesterday afternoon. Outside of Ordinary, Delaney. You said you’d find them.”
Ryder was half in and half out of the bathroom watching all of us. He seemed to be taking this pretty well. The influx of gods in my house. The idea of gods in our town. The reality of vampires.
His eyes, hazel, calm, caught me. That slight smile, like he couldn’t believe any of this was real, but maybe he really wanted to, hooked deep in my chest and made me want to see it all the time. Want to see him smile. Want to be the one and only he shared these kinds of secrets with.
Maybe Rossi was right, maybe Crow was right. Ryder and I were tangled in knots, the threads of this town, of our days and years and lives, tied together in ways I’d never be able to untangle.
I could cut the threads, but that was the only way Ryder wouldn’t be a part of this town, these creatures, deities, and my life.
Holy crap I was going to tell Ryder gods were real.
He was going to know Ordinary, the real Ordinary.
He was going to know these people, the real people.
He was going to know me.
Everything went hot and the rushing thrum of blood in my ears drowned out the argument Myra and Jean were having with the gods. It was something about giving us more time to secure the powers. It was about being calm and letting the professionals handle the case.
I thought someone, maybe Frigg touched my arm, maybe tried to ask me if I was okay, but I didn’t answer.
I squeezed my way between bodies, my eyes on Ryder and only Ryder. He saw me coming, saw I wasn’t stopping, and opened the bathroom door behind him without question, stepping backwards while I stepped in.
He shut the door behind us, my back to it, him leaning over me.
My house is small. My bathroom is tiny. The shower bathtub is tucked on one wall, the sink on the other wall and the toilet on the third. You could touch all three by standing in the middle of the room.
There is a window about the size of a cereal box on the shower wall, and through it the wooly grey light unraveled into the room.
“This isn’t how it’s supposed to happen,” I whispered.
Ryder shifted closer, lowering his head beside mine so he could hear me.
I had pressed back up against the door, my hands on the doorknob as if my grip could keep anyone on the other side from opening it.
“Delaney,” Ryder said, his voice barely above a whisper. “Tell me what you need. I’ll do it. Anything.”
A shiver ran uncontrolled down my body. Everything in me ached to reach out, to pull the heat of him, the strength of him, the weight of him against me until the world, the heat of it, the strength of it, the weight of it were erased by him.
“Don’t think I’m crazy.”
“Okay.”
“All those people out there are gods. On vacation. But their powers were stolen. The god who stole them wants you to go with me to get them back.”
“They’re gods.”
“Yes.”
“All of them.”
“Yes.”
“But they don’t have their powers. Someone stole them?”
“Yes.”
He paused for ten heartbeats. I knew because I counted them.
“All right. Where do we need to go?”
“The casino.”
“The casino. This is...okay, I can go with it. When?”
“Today. We have to be there today. I know you don’t believe me. Just...don’t think I’m crazy.”
“Why would I think you’re crazy? We’re just going to go get the stolen god powers being held hostage by a god. At a casino. Do I have that right?”
He was so close I could see the lines at the edges of his eyes, smell his cologne, deep and a little sweet, and something that would always remind me of him. So close, I could see the freckles under the tan of his forehead and nose, could smell the coffee and sugar donuts on his breath.
I wanted him to kiss me. I thought he might want to kiss me too.
“Yes?” I said.
“What about all the gods in your living room?”
I swallowed and the tension drained away. He might not believe me, or maybe he did. But he was going to go with me. To see Mithra. So we could bring the powers back to Ordinary where they belonged.
“I’ve got it under control,” I said.
~~~
I didn’t have it under control.
“You know who took the powers?” Aaron asked again. “And you’re not going to tell us? They are our powers. You understand that, don’t you, Delaney? Those powers belong to us.” He waved in a circle to include all the gods. He included the vampire too, but I didn’t point that out to him.
“You promised you’d get them back. You also promised they’d be safe.”
I was beginning to think Aaron was being a jerk to start a fight.
Oh, right. Aaron was always looking to start a fight.
“Don’t be an ass,” Jean said. “We had nothing to do with the powers being stolen. Pick on Crow.”
“Hey!” Crow yelped. All eyes in the room turned to him.
I felt the tension build.
Nope. There was not going to be a brawl in my living room.
“I know where the powers are and I’m going to get them back right now.”
“Great!” Crow said too quickly. “I’ll come with you.”
“No. You stay here with Myra and Jean. I don’t want you to screw this up.”
“Hey, now,” Crow said. “Uncalled for.”
“Where are they, Delaney?” Zeus asked.
“I can’t tell you.”
“They are our powers,” Aaron said again.
“I know they are. You know I don’t want them. I just want to get them back to all of you without any other complications.” I started toward the door, trying to look cool, hoping they didn’t see the sweat rolling down the back of my neck. “As soon as I have them in my possession, you’ll know. I’ll bring them to you all, probably out at Odin’s since it’s his turn to watch over them.”
“It’s still my turn to look over them.” Crow shrank back from the mob that glared daggers at him. “Fine. Jeeze.”
“Who took them?” Odin asked.
I shook my head and moved past him. “That’s not something I can share yet.”
“Was it Ryder?” Aaron asked.
Ryder—who had been making his way through the throng of bodies toward the door as inconspicuously as a mortal among gods could—paused.
“No, it wasn’t Ryder.”
“Was it a mortal?” Zeus asked.
“That information is classified.”
“We’ll know,” Zeus went on. “When we get them back. We’ll know who or what touched what is rightfully ours. We could know now if we wanted to.”
“Sure. If you wanted to leave Ordinary to go claim them. You know they’re out of Ordinary, knew the moment they were taken outside Ordinary. Are any of you going to go get them, ‘cause it would save me a trip.” I waited. The gods didn’t look like they were willing to give up their vacation time for chasing down their powers.
“No.” Aaron sounded annoyed.
“Okay then. I’ll go get the powers, bring them back, and we’ll make sure they are held in a better place. A more secure place.”
“It was secure,” Crow muttered. “This shouldn’t have happened. I had it locked against everything in Ordinary.”
Odin made a little “hm” sound to that, and turned his single eye on me.
He wasn’t the god of wisdom for nothing.
I gave him a big bright, and hopefully distracting smile. “So I’ll be back soon, with the powers. Make sure you turn off the coffee pot before you leave.”
That shouldn’t have worked. With a house stuffed full of gods, I shouldn’t have been able to just waltz out of there on a promise and a smile.
But Crow started bitching, Aaron started accusing, and Myra and Jean started crowd controlling.
Which was the perfect distraction for our exit.
We made it all the way to my Jeep before Death caught up with us.
Or rather, we caught up with him. He was standing next to my car, almost exactly where I’d been shot, his eyes at some distant point that I’d probably never see. I hadn’t seen him leave the house.
“Hey, Than,” I said.
“Delaney.” Then with the slightest frown: “Mr. Bailey.” Those cold eyes stared right into Ryder and I didn’t blame Ryder for stopping mid-step. Even though Than wasn’t currently in possession of his power, he was still Death.
It was the sort of thing one couldn’t ignore. Especially when one was being surveyed as if one were being fitted for a casket.
“Hello,” Ryder said.
“You are not what I would have chosen.” The comment was sonorous and creepy.
“Okay.” Ryder looked to me. I shrugged.
“Chosen for what?” I asked.
Than folded his hands in front of his bright pink coat. The logo on the coat probably should have said HAPPY KITES, but because of a poor choice of fonts, it seemed to say HAPPY KILLS.
“You will bring the powers back to us, Delaney?” It wasn’t the answer I wanted.
“That’s the plan.”
“Plans change,” Death said.
“Sure.”
“So do people.”
“Right.”
“But some can not change. They simply become what they are meant to be.”
“Spooky,” I said. “And really obscure.”
His eyes flicked over to Ryder again. “Oh, I think I was very specific.”
“Should I understand any of this?” Ryder asked.
“Probably not. I certainly don’t. Nice jacket,” I said to Than.
“Ah.” Than brightened. “Thank you. I will be selling them at my shop.”
“Happy Kills?” Ryder asked.
“Happy Kites,” Death corrected.
“Right,” Ryder lied. “I see that now. Happy Kites. The A-frame kite shop off the highway that looks like a haunted shack, named Happy Kites.”
“It is authentic. Rustic. A place to bring children. Perhaps I will hire a clown to stand out front.”
“No!” I cut in. Because, seriously, clowns? Could anything be creepier? “Maybe just put a sign on it so people know it’s a kite shop.”
“Oh, I’m having it installed today. Pink, with the name of the shop.”
“Just like your jacket?” I asked.
“Just so.”
Oh dear gods. We were going to be the only beach town with a haunted house kite shop with a bloodthirsty pink sign.
“Great,” I said, not wanting to stay and argue with Death over his graphic design choices. “Well, Ryder and I have a date.”
Ryder choked on something.
My face flushed. “I mean a thing. An appointment to get to. So we can do that thing together. For. You know. Justice.”
“Justice,” Death repeated. “Is that what that thing is called now?”
“Yes. Justice.”
“When on a date a man and a woman justice each other.” Death blinked slowly at me. “Do I have that correct, Delaney?”
“Yes.” My voice strangled and I was sure Ryder noticed, which just made me want to smack one of them. Both of them.
“I can only assume you will take the necessary protection with you,” Death said.
“Don’t worry,” Ryder said. “I never leave home without it.”
“You both suck,” I mumbled.
“What was that you said?” Death asked.
I ignored him and climbed into the Jeep. Ryder slid into the passenger side. Death, wisely, stepped aside as I cranked the engine and started down the drive.
“Where are we going?” Ryder asked. “I mean since it’s a date, and we’re gonna justice each other, I want to know if I’m dressed appropriately.”
“You are a jerk.”
He grinned. “You’re cute when you blush.”
“Shut up. Never leave home without it? I’d rather not share that part of my personal life with Death.”
“I was talking about my gun. For protection, remember? I’m a reserve officer, I always carry it. What did you think I was talking about?”
“Ha-ha-larious.”
He grinned again. “So, gods, huh? The real all mighty fire and brimstoners own kite shops?”
“Yeah, in Ordinary they do. Believe it or not.”
“Not. But then I didn’t believe in vampires a few years ago. Rossi...” He squinted out at the scenery. “Yoga blood sucker. That’s one I’ve never heard of.”
“You don’t think vampires should do yoga?”
“Seems a little out of their norm.”
“There’s a norm?”
“You know...darkness, goth, eyeliner.”
“Wow. Racial profiling much? What kind of vampires have you met?”
Something flickered in his expression. I knew exactly the kind of vampires he’d met.
“The intense ones.”
“Rossi’s intense.”
“I can see that. But he’s also...human.”
“Don’t let him hear you say that.”
“Why? Does he have something against humanity?”
That question carried a lot of undercurrents.
“I don’t think he’d live here if he did.”
“Which means?”
“You know why we have a monthly blood drive, right?”
“You mentioned it. It’s not due to the small town sense of civic duty.”
“Vampires are in charge of the blood collection in town. Well, vampires and one red cap.”
He scrubbed at his forehead a moment. “Red cap. Is that like a...gnome?”
“Sort of a murderous goblin.”
“So the blood collection is so the vampires, and red cap, can feed?”
“Yes. So they can feed. Though they only keep half for themselves.”
“Delaney, that blood is donated to save lives.”
“It is. And it does. Just some of those lives belong to vampires. You know what else? You’ll never see an Ordinary citizen turned, you’ll never see an Ordinary citizen bitten.”
“You’re telling me only nice vampires live in Ordinary?”
“Not at all. But I’m telling you they live by the rules here. A code. One that both protects their kind and human kind. It’s a good thing. Something not found outside this town.”
“And why is that? Why do the vampires followed those rules? Do you lock them up in garlic-lined cells if they don’t? Kill them with kites?”
“No, Rossi kills them. Any way he wants to.”
The conversation went silent while Ryder worked that out for himself. “He’s the prime. This is his land, territory, law.”
“Yep.”
“And he teaches yoga.”
“Yep.”
“And does crystal cleanses and spiritual healing classes, and jogs the beach naked.”
“Collects carved eggs, donates time to the suicide hotline, fills in at the Rhubarb Rally when my assistant dumps me with no warning.”
He winced. “Sorry about that.”
“You didn’t leave just to go to my house, did you?”
He sighed. “I got a call. Had to check some things.”
“Who called you?”
“Jake.”
“What did you check?”
“A couple leads. He suspected the vampire hunters were headed this way.”
It was still weird to hear him talk about vampires like it was no big deal. I had to admit, I liked it. Liked not having that secret between us.
“Still don’t believe in gods?”
He stared out the window and was silent for long enough, I finally glanced over at him.
“All-powerful beings who have created universes? Created us? Beings that care for us, or care for the world?” The pause was long. Finally: “No. Not really.”
“But if there was proof that gods were real? Something more convincing than those yahoos in my living room?”
His blunt fingers picked at the weather stripping on the inside of the window. “Not sure anything could prove that to me.”
I thought that a god could do a heck of a lot to prove exactly what he or she was. I wondered if he’d believe in gods once we met Mithra. I wondered if he’d be able to see the powers in the water bottle. Understand that there were things, big things that none of us mortals would ever have a real grip on, and if he could come to terms with our incredible smallness in the big scheme of creation.
“Good,” I said. “Good to know.” Because, really, maybe it was better that he didn’t believe.