Chapter 34 - Austin
Life is like underwear, change is good.
~ Austin Brite
I didn’t really feel any different. I was still me, and as I observed my reflection in the mirror, I took comfort in the fact I still looked like me. Walker hadn’t changed upon his transition into an immortal, but there was still a part of me that expected something to be different. There was an undercurrent of adrenaline thrumming through my veins, a twitchy sensation that made me feel full of energy, maybe a bit too full, but it wasn’t painful or uncomfortable. It was just there, like background noise or a vibration that I could probably ignore if my mind was focused elsewhere. I felt like I needed a work out, something to just wear me down and absorb the influx of energy. It made me wonder if I’d be able to just sit down and rest.
“I still need to sleep, right?” I asked Walker who was sprawled on the obnoxiously large bed in the room behind me playing on his cell phone.
“Eat, sleep, shit, piss, fuck, it’s all still there. You won’t need as much sleep, and you can go longer periods without food, but otherwise it all stays the same. Oh, apart from the fact you’re a shit load stronger, immune to disease, and will live forever.”
I walked back into the bedroom that was almost the size of my entire studio apartment.
“No erectile dysfunction for us, my friend.”
Walker raised his fist for a bump, but I ignored it.
“Any lingering pain from the death?”
“It wasn’t painful,” I told him as I glanced out the windows, amazed at how normal everything outside appeared. I mean, I was in another fucking realm! It looked like Bee’s parents lived in a secluded mountain range, an unfamiliar place, yet just like the mortal realm in every way.
Walker’s head tilted to one side and his brow furrowed. “What do you mean it wasn’t painful?”
“When I died, it didn’t hurt. Eros just stuck his finger on my forehead, and it was lights out. Then I woke up here.”
“You’re fucking with me.”
“Nope, I’m not.”
Walker stood up and began to pace. “When I died, it was with a giant fucking knife through my heart!” he growled, angrily.
“I’m assuming it was Hades who did the deed.
Walker shook his head. “I can’t confirm or deny that.”
Rolling my eyes, I pulled a shirt that had been laid out on the bed over my head.
“Did you really expect him to tickle you to death? You are roasting your broomstick in his daughter. Of course he was going to make it painful.”
“Eros didn’t hurt you!” Walker shot back.
“God of Love, versus Lord of the Underworld, think about it, shit for brains.”
“Damn, when he told me if I made his daughter cry that he’d peel the skin from my body before sawing my cock off and shoving it up my ass, I just assumed he was being overdramatic.”
Walker looked nervous, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Dude, I repeat, he is HADES . . . allegedly. Anyway, if you feel for Mac what I feel for Bee, you won’t make her cry.”
“You already made Bee cry.”
Walker might as well have punched me in the face. The thought that I’d made Bee cry made me feel ill. Bee didn’t cry, she got angry, and she got even. She didn’t spend her time sitting around feeling sorry for herself. Imagining her hurting with fresh tears on her face because of me was a sobering experience.
“Austin, I would like for you to meet my wife, Psyche.”
The familiar and austere voice of Eros penetrated the walls of the room as if delivered through a speaker system right before the door slowly swung open, and in he strode, his hand on the lower back of a petite woman who looked no older than twenty-five, tops.
Psyche was painfully beautiful, her features so flawless and precise it actually made me a little lost for words. Her dark blonde hair was piled up on top of her head in an intricate style, and she wore a floor length dress in a blue that rivaled her husband’s pale blue eyes that glared down on me with the challenge and dominance that only a god possibly could. In contrast, Psyche’s eyes were big, brown, and brimming with compassion, her lips full with a radiant smile. She was simply stunning.
“It is wonderful to finally meet you, Austin,” she said with a voice surely blessed by the angels.
She eagerly stepped forward, an enthusiastic spring in her step.
I caught Eros roll his eyes, and it reminded me of Bee. She was definitely her father’s daughter.
“Damn woman has been fussing to meet you for months,” he growled, though the humor dancing in his enigmatic features told me he was anything but angry.
Psyche reached out for my hand and I automatically took hers, the power that emanated from the simple touch surging through my body, making that low, background vibration become more intense, demanding to be noticed. It wasn’t painful, just a very obvious hum that made the hairs on my arms and the back of my neck stand on end.
“You are worthy,” she murmured with a sigh, before reaching up to place her warm hands on my cheeks and pulling me down for a chaste kiss to my forehead.
Meanwhile, I was in a stupor, unable to string a sentence together, the combined beauty of the two beings before me, and their even more imposing power, had me feeling more than a little awestruck and very much inadequate. Worthy, I doubted it, but we would soon see. If Bee refused to forgive me, I wasn’t sure what would happen. My gaze flew to Eros and I raised a hand to my throat. Would I lose my fucking head? A small smile tipped one corner of Eros’s lips as Psyche returned to his side. As if completely in tune with each other, Eros draped his arm around Psyche’s small shoulders just as she wrapped her arms around his waist, both sets of contemplative eyes remained on me the entire time.
“You scored, dude. They are way less intimidating than Hades and Persephone.”
I turned to look at Walker, wondering if he realized he’d just blown Mac’s big secret.
“Allegedly,” he quickly added. “Fuck. I mean, gosh darn it, sorry, Mr and Mrs ‘C’, I didn’t mean any disrespect. It's just Mac’s going to kick my ass if I keep slipping up and telling everyone who her old man is.”
I tried not to laugh, because hell, Walker sucked at keeping secrets, and he rarely sucked at anything. It was a nice change.
“It’s okay, Walker. We all know of Mac’s familial history, and we all know how to be discreet with her personal information. Hades and Persephone will be coming over for dinner later in the week. You should all come.”
Dinner with the King and Queen of the Underworld? I think, not.
“Perhaps we’ll see how things go with me and Bee first.” I suggested.
Psyche smiled, and she looked a little like the cat that got the cream.
“Bee may be stubborn and prideful, but I think when it comes to you, Austin, she will always be willing to concede.”
With that, Bee’s parents disappeared. Like, vamoose, gone, vanished.
Walker clicked his fingers and pointed my way. “Tracing, let’s teach you how to do it. It’s fucking awesome.”
Shaking out my arms and rolling my neck, I nodded and turned to face him.
“Bring it on.”
Walker scoffed and looked at me like I’d grown a second head or something.
“We are just going to trace, princess, not fight 'til the death. Chill out.”
He was such a smart ass, so I fell back on my usual reply to his sarcasm and stepped forward and smacked him on the back of the head. The next thing I knew, Walker was sprawled on the other side of the bedroom.
“Fuck me,” he groaned. “What the fuck did you do that for?”
I couldn’t answer, I was too busy looking at the hand that had suddenly gone Hulk.
“Yeah, dude, you are stronger than before, so take it easy on the bitch slaps, you big pussy. I’ll give you that one because you didn’t know, but hit me again and I’ll hit back. And I already know you’re going to say I don’t know how to throw a punch, but Mac has been training me.” Walker climbed back to his feet. “I won’t hesitate to go all Rocky on your ass.”
“I don’t want you anywhere near my ass,” I murmured as I let my hand fall back to my side with a small shake. It didn’t feel any different to my mortal hand, my body felt completely the same, but apparently I was ’roided up on immortal juice.
“Okay, tracing, it’s as easy as a thought, like literally. First, you have to picture a place in your head. Look really hard and focus on all the details, and then it’s almost like wishing that’s where you were.”
“You’re fucking with me because I slapped you, aren’t you?” I asked, and Walker raised a brow. “Should I tap my heels together and say ‘there’s no place like home’?”
Walker’s lips twitched. “Yeah, totally, you have to do that, too.”
“Cocknose,” I cursed him, trying not to smile.
“Twatwaffle.”
“Pissflaps.”
“Cumbubble.”
“Shitpouch.”
I knew this could go on all day as it had many times in the past. What I really wanted to do, though, was find Bee. This chase was well overdue.
“Stop being a jizz stain and tell me what to do.”
Walker snorted out a loud laugh. “I already told you what to do. Imagine the place and wish you were there.” It seemed too easy. “And say ‘there’s no place like home,’” he quickly added.
Ignoring him, I closed my eyes and imagined a place in which every detail remained with me, like a Polaroid picture in bright color. A place surrounded by ice and snow, but warm. A place where one of the most poignant moments of my life had occurred.
“Ouch, motherfucker,” Walker cursed, and I opened my eyes.
“Damn, it worked,” I murmured, somewhat surprised.
I was back in Quebec, inside the bar where Bee had said those three . . . well, four words that I knew cost her so much. Words she had always sworn she would never fall victim to. I love you, bitch.
Walker was to one side of the room where the arched ceiling met the wall. He’d hit his head, not expecting the low roof.
“What is this place? A bar for Hobbits?” He scoffed, rubbing his head.
The place was empty, the only light coming from the garish lights behind the bar. It was obviously closed. A pang of disappointment that Bee wasn’t here pierced my chest. It wasn’t like I really expected her to be sitting here mooning over me. I just kinda hoped.
“I came here with Bee not too long ago. It would have been nice to find her here. Romantic, you know? Like the happy ending in a romantic movie.”
Walker just stared at me as his head began a slow shake from side to side.
“Brother, did you bump your head, too? You’re talking shit. Romantic movie?” He made a scoffing sound before reaching over the bar and grabbing a bottle of whiskey. “Pussy,” he murmured before taking a drink.
“I fucked up. I need to apologize. The longer I let this go on, the more stubbornly pissed Bee is going to get. At this rate, it will take me fucking decades to get back into her good graces.”
“And between her thighs,” Walker added helpfully.
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.”
“You’re welcome. You should have told me you wanted to see her. I could have told you where she is.”
I turned to stare at him as he sat down and propped his feet up on a table.
“You know where she is?”
“Yep, in Vegas, with Mac.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“You didn’t tell me you were looking for her,” he said, rather exasperated. “I’m immortal, not a fucking mind reader.”
Running a hand down my face, I took deep breaths, searching for the patience that would stop me from slapping my best friend again.
“Where in Vegas?”
“Caesar’s Palace, they’re vandalizing some statue of Zeus or some shit.”
I had been to Caesar’s Palace once, many years ago. My memories of it were foggy, but I closed my eyes and sought out all the details I could remember. Here’s hoping that a half-assed memory of my destination didn’t get me stuck in some limbo world, or worse, stuffed into a brick wall.