CHAPTER 4
Clio had survived her day at Crystal City High School, but it was difficult to focus. Between kissing Mason the night before and then having one of the hottest dreams of her life, she was a little distracted.
“Hey, Clio.”
She startled and then grinned when she realized who it was. “Mel! I was hoping I’d run into you.”
Mel—or Mrs. Malone to the students—was the Muse of Tragic Poetry and an amazing English teacher. She came in and wrapped Clio in a tight hug. “How were the monsters?”
Clio chuckled. “They weren’t too bad.” She pulled back with a smile. “Want to grab a coffee?”
“Sure.” Mel adjusted the bag hanging from her shoulder. “That’ll give me a chance to pick your brain about Mason.”
Clio raised a brow. “I’m not sure how much help I’ll be.”
“Oh please. We all see it.” She headed for the door with a knowing grin. “Besides, Nate said you had dinner with Mason last night.”
Clio grabbed her things and hurried to catch up to Mel. “Hard to sneak anything past you and your detective husband, huh?”
Mel nudged her as they walked toward the parking lot. “We wouldn’t be so nosy if we didn’t care about you.”
“I know, I know.” Clio shook her head. “Meet you there?”
Mel nodded, and they went to their respective cars. Clio followed Mel to the coffee shop, all the while trying to decide how much to reveal about her night with Mason. She loved Mel. Heck, she loved all her muse sisters, but most of them had already found their Guardians. Each time the poor guy would suddenly have an awakening of some strange ability. All four of the Guardians who had become part of their family had thought they’d had brain tumors. But Mason hadn’t shown the slightest change since they met.
If Clio admitted her attraction for Mason, she’d also need to confess that he wasn’t her Guardian. Mel would probably do her best to fill Clio’s head with how amazing her Guardian would be, and Clio would be sitting there daydreaming about the way Mason had held her the night before.
She parked her car beside Mel’s, and they went inside. After they ordered, Mel scanned the coffee shop for a free table and grinned, nudging Clio. “Look, it’s Tera.”
Tera was the Muse of Dance, and Clio had never seen a more graceful, expressive performer. But when Tera was off the stage, she was a woman of few words. Clio barely knew her.
Mel approached with a smile. “Hey, Tera! Mind if we join you?”
Tera’s head popped up from her book, and her lips curved at the corners, tentative. “Oh sure. Please do.”
Clio took a seat, hopeful that maybe adding Tera to the mix would take some of the focus off Mel’s questions about Mason.
Tera took a sip of her drink, her smoky-gray eyes moving from Mel to Clio. “What’s up?”
Mel leaned in closer to them. “Nate told me Mason asked to talk to the guy who attacked Lia at the improv.”
Clio’s jaw dropped. In the two or three hours they’d chatted, Mason hadn’t mentioned that.
Mel sobered. “He didn’t tell you?”
Clio shook her head. “I didn’t think to ask why he was talking to Nate.”
Tera sipped her coffee without saying a word.
Mel lowered her voice. “Nate said Mason is looking for Pamela Costas. That’s what brought him to Crystal City in the first place.”
He hadn’t told Clio that, either. Suddenly, she was second-guessing and analyzing every conversation they’d ever had. She frowned. “Why would he be looking for her? Does he realize she’s not exactly human? He can’t stop her. Maybe no one can.”
“That’s why I was wondering if you could talk to him.” Mel’s eyes softened. “You know, warn him without sounding too nuts.”
Tera smiled, lifting her cup to her mouth again.
“He’s coming by to help me move tomorrow.” Clio frowned, shaking her head. “What am I supposed to do, say ‘Here’s my box of kitchen utensils, and by the way, the woman you’re looking for will kill you.’ Or maybe, ‘Put that box over there, and it’s a small world, Pamela is also trying to kill me and my sisters.’”
Tera set her cup down, her soft laughter silencing Clio and Mel. Tera quieted and shrugged. “You could try telling him the truth. He’s already saved your life once. Maybe he’s your Guardian.”
Clio shook her head and picked up her cup. “He’s known me for a few months now, and he hasn’t shown any signs of possessing a weird superpower or a burning birthmark.” She sighed. “He’s not the one.”
Tera reached over and rested a warm hand on Clio’s arm. “You really like this guy.”
“Not that it matters.” Clio shrugged. “Somewhere out there the gods marked a man for me. And when my Guardian does appear, what do I say? ‘I appreciate you putting your life on the line for me, but I’m dating our contractor.’”
Mel dug through her purse and fished out her cell phone. “Hate to break it to you, but the prophecy you translated doesn’t say anything about your Guardian being your soul mate. So maybe Mason is your soul mate’; he’s just not your Guardian.”
Clio slumped in her chair. “Maybe.”
Mel’s phone vibrated, and she sighed and glanced at it. “Shoot. I’ve got to pick up Maggie. Nate’s working, and apparently, there was a crafting mishap. Maggie’s got blue paint in her hair and all over her pants.” She smiled at Clio. “Just try to give Mason a heads-up to be careful, okay?”
“I’ll give it a shot.”
Mel got up and slung her bag over her shoulder. “See you guys soon.”
Clio watched her go, then looked over at Tera. “I guess I should let you get back to your book.”
Tera tucked her book into the dance bag at her feet. “That’s okay. I’m working on my people skills. Maybe we could…talk?”
Clio hoped she’d successfully hidden the shock from her face. “Um, sure.” She glanced at Tera’s bag. “Are you on your way to the dance studio or home?”
“I’m actually between classes, so I came over here for a few carbs to get me pumped to teach the teenagers.”
This was probably more than Tera had ever said to her. Clio smiled. “So, what made you decide to work on your people skills?”
Tera took a slow sip of her coffee, and for the first time, Clio realized there was a quiet wisdom in Tera’s gray eyes. Until now, it was easy to assume Tera’s lack of conversation was because she was shy or embarrassed, but nothing in her tranquil gaze seemed jittery.
“Polly.” Tera set her mug on the table. “She was my only real friend in Crystal City. We all have a joint goal with the theater, and I consider you all family, but Polly was the only person I ever really bonded with.” Her fingers trembled, and she lowered her hands into her lap. “I guess that fire changed us all in one way or another.”
Clio nodded. “Definitely.” She paused, gathering her thoughts. “I know we’ve never really talked one-on-one before, but I always thought it was because you were shy. Now I’m not sure what to think.”
Tera laughed, a soft lilt like a covey of doves. “My whole life has been dancing. I’m better at expressing myself with my body than with my words. It’s not so much shyness as anxiety. Five years of therapy and I still haven’t gotten over my overbearing mother.”
Clio reached across the table, offering her hand. Tera eyed it for a second before taking it. Clio smiled. “Good to meet the real you, Tera. I’m honored.”
Tera’s smoky eyes sparkled. “Hope you always feel that way.”
Clio settled back in her chair, scanning the coffee shop. “I’ve been researching the original muses’ partners to try to find our Guardians sooner rather than later.” Her gaze shifted back to Tera. “Terpsichore and Melpomene were both wives of the river god Achelous.”
“Scandalous.” Tera tapped her fingernail against the side of her mug. “I’m pretty sure Nate and Mel wouldn’t be too keen on that.”
Clio chuckled. “Probably not. And Nate doesn’t have a lot in common with the river god, but he is from Crystal City, so maybe the coastal town and living close to water plays into it. Or maybe being in law enforcement is the connection. Maybe your Guardian will be a cop, too.”
Tera nodded, glancing at the other patrons. “Even on copious amounts of Xanax there’s no way I’m walking around asking strange men if they’re police officers or from a city near the water.” She focused on Clio. “What about you? Who was the original Clio with? Hercules or…?”
Clio shook her head. “She pissed off Aphrodite, who then cast a spell so Clio would fall in love with a mortal man—Pierus, the King of Macedonia.”
“A mere mortal.” Tera lifted her chin in mock disgust that sent Clio into a fit of giggles.
“I had no idea you were funny!”
“I wouldn’t go that far, but I have my moments.” Tera picked up her mug again. “So why couldn’t Mason be your Guardian? If he hadn’t broken through that security door during the fire, neither one of us would be sitting here.”
Clio stared into her coffee cup, fighting off the memories of the kiss from the night before. “I know.” She raised her gaze to meet Tera’s. “But he’s known me a few months now. Wouldn’t he have noticed if he had a crescent-shaped birthmark that turned red and started burning? Plus, he hasn’t freaked out about a new ability, either, so…” She sighed, lowering her voice. “I do wish it were him, though.”
Tera leaned forward across the table. “I was right behind him when he carried you out of the fire. He tore through that metal security door one-handed with just that little clawed hammer. No normal person could’ve done that.”
Clio was unconscious during the escape from the fire, but she’d heard from the others that Mason had broken down the door. “Adrenaline. Moms have lifted cars up to free their children because of it.”
“True.” Tera sat back in her chair. “But I wouldn’t write Mason off yet. The other Guardians have psychic abilities, but the prophecy you found didn’t say that’s what they would all have. Maybe Mason has Herculean strength with a hammer.”
He had lifted that giant beam the other night…
Clio shrugged. “Maybe, but why didn’t he freak out about it or complain about his birthmark burning?”
Tera’s lips curved into a small, knowing smile. “Maybe he has a hard time opening up to people.”
Clio’s stomach swarmed with butterflies. What if Tera was right? Maybe there was more to Mason than she realized…
A girl could hope.
Mason wiped his brow as Nate and Hunter walked across the parking lot toward the jobsite. This project would have been almost finished by now if Mason could hire some full-time laborers, but the bigwigs at Belkin Oil had blackballed the theater project. Mason’s Help Wanted ads had all gone unanswered.
Luckily, Nate, Hunter, and Reed had been coming by whenever they could, and now Cooper was lending a hand, too. Mason was happy to take whatever time they were willing to give him.
Hunter walked over, his eyes wide. “Damn! How the hell did you get this beam onto the worktable all by yourself?”
“Just determined, I guess.” Mason chuckled and shrugged. “And Clio gave me a hand.”
Hunter clasped his hand behind his neck and shook his head. “I like to think I’m in good shape, but there’s no way.”
Nate came up behind him and gripped the other end of the beam. He frowned. “Clio helped you move this?”
“Yeah.” Mason grabbed the end closest to the saw. “Can you guys help me get it placed?”
Nate kept eyeing him, but he finally nodded. “Sure.” He glanced at Hunter. “Ready?”
All three men lifted. The damn thing weighed a ton. Mason hadn’t realized how drastically Clio’s presence had increased his strength. Weird…
After some careful maneuvering, Hunter and Nate held the beam in place while Mason climbed a ladder to nail the joists to the beam. When he was done, he’d fasten the bottom to the foundation, and with any luck, he’d have the framing done next week. There was still much more to do, but having a completed skeleton would move them a huge step closer to completion.
Nate looked up at him. “I was telling Hunter that you know Pamela Costas.”
Shit. Mason kept hammering, his mind spinning. The truth would be so much simpler, but Nate was a detective. He hadn’t deemed Mason nuts just yet, and Mason didn’t want that to change.
He glanced down at the detective. “Yeah, I’ve been tracking her to try to get some answers about my cousin’s drowning and my dad’s disappearance.”
It wasn’t a lie. Except for the part about getting answers. Mason knew the answers; it was justice he was after now. Maybe the nightmares would go away when he finished the chapter about his cousin’s killer. At least he hoped so.
“Okay, you guys can let go.” Mason stayed at the top of the ladder, his attention remained focused on the beam while the other two men moved away. He thumped the heel of his hand against it. Nothing budged. Solid enough.
Mason went down the ladder, and Hunter faced him. “Pamela is dangerous. You should keep your distance. Nate and the department are already investigating her.”
Mason nodded, but he had no intention of backing off. He knew something Nate’s police department didn’t: Pamela wasn’t human, and Mason could shift into a Lycan wolf.
His wolf was made of magic, and Pamela’s powers wouldn’t affect him in wolf form, or at least that was his working theory. It wouldn’t really matter either way. Since the fire, he had been pretty sure this would be his final shift. He’d only made it back last time because the wolf had recognized Clio. The wolf wanted her out of the fire as much as he did. It had freed his spirit from the primal call, and he’d carried her out of the flames.
Next time he shifted, he wouldn’t be so lucky.
But the sacrifice would be worthwhile knowing Pamela wouldn’t be able to hurt anyone else.