CHAPTER 11
The library vanished as Cooper shot up from Callie’s sofa, suddenly back in her office and on his feet. He gasped for air, struggling to get a grip on reality.
Callie came to him, taking his hand. “Cooper? You’re safe. Can you hear me?”
He looked down at her and nodded. “Yeah.” His chest heaved. “Yeah. I’m good. I’m back.” He went to the door. “I need to get to Lia. Kronos is here. Not here, I mean, but in this world. Someplace.” Before Callie could say anything, he was hurrying down the hallway. “Lia?”
She walked out of the kitchen with her roommate at her side. “Cooper, are you okay?”
“Yes. I think so, but…” He shook his head. “Sorry. My brain is scrambled.”
Callie stopped behind him. “I’m calling everyone to come over. Maybe together we can make sense of everything.”
Cooper glanced at Trinity. “Can I talk to Lia alone for a second?”
“Sure. I’ll help Callie with the calls.” Trin and Callie headed for the office, and Cooper took Lia back into the kitchen.
She stared up at him, reaching to cup his cheek. Her touch was like a lightning rod in an electrical storm, focusing all his attention on her. He bent to taste her lips, needing to be sure this was real. Her fingers slid through his hair as she tilted her head, her tongue sliding slowly against his.
He held her tighter, crushing her body to his, wanting her as close as possible.
She broke the kiss with a breathless whisper. “Cooper, wait.”
He opened his eyes and rested his forehead on hers. “Sorry. Apollo warned me that Kronos is among us, and I came out of the hypnosis desperate to be sure you were safe. I was so relieved to touch you…I got carried away.”
Her eyes widened. “Kronos is free?”
“Apollo thinks so.” He brushed his lips to her forehead. “That’s why he helped me save Reed. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
“When everyone gets here, we can make a plan.” She rose up on her toes and kissed him. Pulling back, her gaze locked on his. “But before you’re busy trying to remember names while you’re being peppered with questions, I need to tell you something first.”
He lost himself in her dark eyes. “What’s that?”
“Thank you.”
He raised a brow. “For what?”
“Saving my life, communicating with a god to help save my sisters…and for agreeing to a pinball challenge you have no hope of winning.” She grinned, and his heart pounded like a jackhammer.
He chuckled and lifted her off the ground, spinning her around as she wrapped her legs around his waist. “I know we haven’t known each other for very long, but no one has ever made me feel the way you do.”
She searched his eyes. “Confused, frustrated, scared, and in pain?”
“No… Happy.” He swallowed an unexpected lump in his throat. “Even though there’s danger on the horizon, I never knew I could feel this way. It’s like a piece of me was missing and you gave it back to me.”
She kissed him, slow and sexy enough to make his knees weak. He moved to the counter, setting her on the edge to steady himself. Her nails ran up the back of his neck, coaxing a groan from him.
The front door opened, and Lia chuckled against his lips before pulling back. “Company.”
He didn’t move. “Promise me that later tonight we’ll pick up where we left off.”
She smiled up at him from under her lashes. “Right after the pinball ass-kicking.”
He laughed, lifting her up and putting her back on the floor. “I hope your mouth isn’t writing checks your gaming skills can’t cash.”
She rolled her eyes. “You wish.”
He followed Lia into the other room as the woman who had interrupted their first kiss came over to hug her.
“Good to see you.” Lia pulled back and turned to Cooper. “You remember, Clio, right?”
He nodded and offered his hand. “How could I forget?”
Color flushed Clio’s cheeks, and she shook his hand. “Sorry about my timing.” She went over to the large table in the dining room. “You look great for a guy who just got hit by a car.”
Cooper took a chair beside Lia at the table. “Thanks. I can’t take the credit, though. Apparently, Apollo wanted to make sure I pulled through.”
Clio pushed her glasses up and removed a book from her bag. “I’ve been researching the partners of the original muses to see if I can narrow down where we might find our Guardians.”
Cooper stared at her book. “Can I see that?”
“Sure.” She handed it to him.
Cooper turned the pages fast, searching for the picture Apollo had shown him. “When Callie had me under hypnosis, Apollo took a book out of the library and showed me a picture of some kind of nymph.” He flipped a few more pages. “He said she loved Kronos and wanted to punish Zeus for the death of her son.”
Clio’s eyes lit up, and she reached for the book. “It must have been Philyra.” She turned a chunk of pages and then a couple more before spinning it around for him to see. “Is that her?”
Cooper’s pulse raced. Until now, it all seemed like a dream, but seeing the photo made it very real. The conversation with Apollo had really happened. Insane. He swallowed and lifted his gaze. “Yes. Apollo said she’s been behind the Order since they began. She wants to take the daughters of Zeus from him just like he took her son.”
Before Clio could answer, more women came through the front door. Lia was right about him trying to remember their names. He was struggling to keep up. There was Mel, but she was simple because he’d already met Nate and so had a connection with her. They also brought a baby and a bouncy big sister with them.
The girl with a head full of strawberry blond curls stared up at him with a gap-toothed grin. “I’m Maggie Malone. I used to be Keen, but Nate and Mel adopted me.”
Cooper chuckled and shook her tiny hand. “Great to meet you, Maggie.” He lowered his voice. “They’re lucky you picked them.”
Her eyes widened along with her smile as she looked up at her parents with a giggle. “He thinks I adopted you!”
Nate mussed her hair. “You did. You made me a dad even before your brother did.”
Maggie hugged each of their legs and ran down the hall.
Cooper smiled at Mel. “Good to finally meet you.” He glanced at the hallway where Maggie disappeared. “She seems like a great kid.”
Mel nodded with a warm smile. “She keeps all of us sane when the Order makes us think the world is on fire.” She sobered. “How are you feeling? Nate told me about the hit and run.”
“I’m recovered,” he answered. “No injuries. But I guess we’ll tell you all about that once everyone gets here.”
Lia introduced him to Erica next, who skipped shaking his hand and gave him a tight hug. “I owe you,” she whispered. When she stepped back, she pulled her fiancé forward. “You remember Reed, right?”
Cooper smiled and shook his hand. “Good to see you upright again.”
“All thanks to you, man.” The firefighter went with Erica to find a spot at the table.
Another woman Cooper didn’t know was seated between Callie and Trinity. She must’ve slipped in while he was hugging Erica.
When he sat down next to Lia, she whispered close to his ear, “That’s Tera. She’s the Muse of Dance. Talking isn’t her strong suit. She’s a little shy.”
He gave Lia a nod and glanced at Callie. “Is this everyone?”
“Almost.” Right on cue, the front door opened, and a guy in board shorts and a white tank came in.
He took the chair on the other side of Callie and kissed her cheek before facing Cooper. “Sorry I’m late. Had to wait for Scott to come in and watch the surf shop for me.”
“Hunter’s always late.” Reed leaned forward to see him and chuckled. “Don’t try to pin it on Scott.”
“Screw you, McIntosh.” Hunter grinned.
Cooper finally recognized him. This was the guy Reed had pulled out of the burning theater. Hunter and Reed reminded him of his unit at the station, and their banter helped Cooper relax in a room full of people he barely knew.
Callie gave Hunter a playful nudge. “Enough. We’ve got something big to talk about.” She looked across the table at Cooper. “Are you ready?”
He nodded, and Lia’s hand moved to his thigh. He glanced at her, encouraged by her warm smile. “I guess I should start at the theater fire.” His gaze wandered around the table. “When I first met Lia, something happened. My hands tingled, and the cut on her head closed up without stitches. Apparently, I’m her Guardian, and I can touch her and heal her injuries.”
“Do you know how you fixed me up?” Reed asked. “I’m not a muse.”
Cooper nodded. “Yeah, that part wasn’t me. I mean, it was, but…” He shook his head, trying to collect his thoughts. “Turns out, Apollo is more than just a nickname one of the guys at the station gave me.”
Clio scanned the table. “Apollo was the original Muse of Comedy’s lover and the father of her children.”
Cooper took the baton and ran with it, explaining how all-encompassing light had entered his body that day, moving through Reed’s wounds to stop the bleeding. Apollo’s power had nearly killed Cooper, but it had saved Reed.
“Since the fire, Apollo’s been reaching out to me to communicate, but always in Greek.” He met Callie’s eyes. “Today, Callie put me under some light hypnosis, and I could understand him.”
Clio’s eyes widened behind her black-rimmed glasses. “You spoke to Apollo, the god of the sun? Seriously?”
“Yeah. I think so. Anyway, he was surprised I was mortal. Apparently, when Zeus promised to protect the reborn muses, Apollo assumed the Guardians would be gods.”
Nate cleared his throat. “But why is he making contact now?”
Cooper’s voice dropped an octave. “He touched my shoulder and so many images flashed; it was hard to keep track, but he told me that Kronos is among us now. There was a flash from an explosion on an oil rig out in the ocean, then the visions flooded my head so fast. A circle of people in golden masks of Kronos, a temple in Greece, a line of chess tables in a park, and an old folks home. None of it made sense.”
Lia straightened up beside him. “The oil rig. It has to be the fire on the Oceanus.” She looked over at him. “Belkin Oil has an off-shore rig that had a fire recently. It killed a few employees, and Ted Belkin, Sr. got fined for drilling past the oil beds.”
“I had a vision this morning when I touched Cooper’s coat,” Nate jumped in. “A voice whispered about the door being open.”
Clio picked at her nail polish. “What if the explosion was Tartarus cracking open?”
Lia shook her head. “If something came out, especially a huge Titan, it would’ve been all over the news.”
Clio shrugged. “Maybe. But if Kronos has been trapped in the center of the Earth for a few thousand years, there’s a good chance he wouldn’t make a grand entrance, right? He can change his form in the blink of an eye. What if he chose to blend in until he understood this new age of humanity?”
Cooper nodded slowly. “And there’s the nymph. Apollo said she’s been trying to free Kronos ever since he was imprisoned.”
Clio looked around the table. “Kronos seduced Philyra. They had an affair, and his wife, Rhea, caught them in the act. But she was too late, and Kronos fathered Philyra’s child, Chiron. He was a centaur who grew into a sage advisor and became the trainer of heroes.”
She shook her head and stared at her hands. “Her son got a bad deal. The stories vary a little, but basically, Chiron was training Hercules, and after some wine, there was a fight with other centaurs. Hercules was shooting arrows, and accidentally hit Chiron with an arrow that had been dipped in Hydra’s blood. Chiron couldn’t heal himself. Parts of the story have been lost over time, but it ended with a trade—Chiron’s immortality for Prometheus’s freedom. Zeus accepted the bargain and Philyra’s son died.”
Cooper frowned. “What does Prometheus have to do with it?”
“Good question.” Clio pushed her glasses up. “He gave humanity the secret of fire, and Zeus punished him by chaining him to a rock. Every day birds pecked out his liver, but he was immortal so he never died. Since Chiron couldn’t heal himself, the pain was excruciating. He bartered the deal to make the pain stop.”
Clio paused. When no one spoke, she went on. “So Zeus’s son shot her son, and then instead of using his power to heal her son, Zeus allowed him to give up his immortality. She has every right to be bitter.”
Trin frowned. “And she’s had eons for the bitterness to fester. I guess it makes sense that she’d encourage the Order to come after us to get back at Zeus, but if she wanted to free Kronos, wouldn’t he go back to his wife?”
Clio shrugged. “Rhea actually teamed up with her son, Zeus. Kronos was so worried about the prophecy of his children being his downfall, that he ate most of them. Rhea saved Zeus, and when he was grown, she helped him imprison Kronos. If he finally broke free of Tartarus, he probably wouldn’t have any loyalty toward his wife. And maybe he really loved Philyra.”
Cooper sat back in his chair, resting his hand over Lia’s under the table. “If we can find this nymph, she might lead us to Kronos.”
“And then do what exactly?” Hunter was all business now, his expression grim. “Kronos isn’t just a god; he’s a damned Titan. What if he frees all his brothers? We may be Guardians, but we’re mortal. How can we possibly kill a god without dying ourselves?”
Cooper’s gut twisted. Hunter was right.
While Cooper’s head spun, Lia spoke up. “It’s not our job to kill gods or Titans.” She made eye contact with each person at the table. “We’re here to inspire humanity, and our Guardians are here to help us. It’s that simple and that complex. Apollo made contact with Cooper to warn us to be wary and watchful. And if Apollo is getting involved, he’s probably not alone. All those Olympians traveled together, right? For all we know, Zeus is hanging around someplace drinking a shot of tequila and arm wrestling with Hercules, and we don’t even know it.”
Damn. She was beautiful, intelligent, and in spite of the danger, she inspired a few smiles around the table.
“Technically, Hercules wasn’t a full-blooded god,” Clio muttered.
“Well, whatever, he could still be around.” Lia clicked her tongue. “We can sit here all day and make ourselves crazy, but I think we’ve already got enough of that on our plates.” Lia looked over at Nate. “Until last night’s hit and run, the Order had been pretty quiet since the fire. Maybe they saw the lumber deliveries at the site. The attack may have nothing to do with the doors to Tartarus opening.”
“She’s right,” Callie said. “We have to stay focused on our mission to reopen the theater. Inspiration is our calling, not battling immortals. But we do need to be careful.” She took over the conversation then, updating everyone on the carpenter’s progress.
Cooper listened intently, learning that Ted Belkin from Belkin Oil had threatened contractors and leveraged future contracts to keep them away from the Les Neuf Soeurs theater project. They’d been lucky when Mason Knowles rolled into town and agreed to work with them. Ted Belkin didn’t have any power over the new carpenter in town, but finding a crew hadn’t been fruitful. Nate, Reed, and Hunter were working to help during their off hours.
“I can swing a hammer a couple days a week, too. When I’m not running calls at the station,” Cooper offered.
“Thanks, man.” Hunter nodded in Cooper’s direction. “Another set of hands would help.”
When the meeting was finally adjourned, Lia leaned in close, her lips brushing his ear. “Ready for that ass-kicking?”
He chuckled. “Mine or yours?”
“Guess we’ll have to find out.” Her sexy smile had his heart pumping extra fast.
Lia stood, pulling him up with her. She looked around the table. “I’m starving, so we’re going to head out.”
They said their good-byes and slipped out to the car. Cooper pressed her against the passenger door, kissing her long and slow until she moaned into his mouth. Damn. Suddenly the last thing in the world he wanted was to battle her at pinball.
She pulled back, moonlight dancing in her dark eyes. “If you’re trying to make me go easy on you, it won’t work.”
His teeth brushed her lower lip. “No way. Just getting an early taste of my prize.”
She grinned. “I feel like I’ve already won.”
He kissed her once more, whispering, “I know I have.”