“Not on your life.” Laurie raked him with a disgusted look then stalked over to stand next to me. “I’m not a circus sideshow.”
“Could have fooled me.” Achy had obviously gotten another mental message from Circe. “You women are really on a roll tonight. Don’t think I’ll forget this, Circe. When we get to Olympus, we’re going to the top about this.”
“Sure, Achy. Let’s do that.” Circe didn’t look concerned.
“Yes, sire. What do you wish?” Aggie climbed out over the stone wall, her wet dress clinging to her body. I’m sure Jerry and Rafe appreciated the view; Achelous certainly did.
“Tell the group here how many kills you have. Since you became Siren.” Achy stroked Aggie’s wet shoulder in a familiar way that made me shudder.
“One million, seven hundred fifty thousand, five hundred six.” Aggie smiled apologetically. “It would be more but GPS and other things—”
“Okay, we get it.” Achy looked proud while I felt like throwing up. Over a million people killed? And she’d smiled, with no regrets except that she’d posted what she seemed to think was a low number. “Now I know you’ve been snooping in the archives about Gloriana here. Right?”
“Yes. Is it forbidden?” She blanched when he tugged on her wet hair.
“Yes, but I’ll let it go this time. Tell the crowd how many kills she had before I tossed her out on her fat ass.” He gave me an evil smile. “I made you wide on purpose when I tossed you, by the way. Bet that bothers you, doesn’t it, Gloriana? Look at this Siren next to me.” He ran his hand down Aggie’s hip. “Her body is perfect. I wasn’t about to let you have the same.” He frowned at me and I braced myself. “Go ahead, Aglaophonos, spit it out. Gloriana’s kill number.”
“It was an embarrassment to you, sire. A mere one hundred and thirty-three thousand, four hundred sixty-one. And she’d worked for you for over a thousand years!” Aggie gave me a censorious look. “She was a disgrace to the sisterhood.”
I hit the ground. Yep, my legs just could not hold me up. I’d killed over a hundred thousand men. And no telling how many more I’d seduced and let go. Thunder roared, lightning flashed and, for me, darkness fell.
• • •
“Glory! Wake up!” I felt hands on my back and groaned. Obviously Achelous had given me a parting shot of lightning as a going-away present. I sat up carefully, my feet and head Pain Central. I wasn’t surprised to see my boots were charred on the soles.
“Are you all right?” Flo brushed back my wet hair and stared at me anxiously. “That bastard. He hit you with such a jolt. I was afraid you were done for.”
“Yeah. He and Circe just disappeared after that. Aggie too.” Laurie paced around us. “What a nightmare. I’m pissed that I couldn’t do anything for you.”
“Are you kidding? Laurie, you brought Circe here. She saved me.” I reached down and unzipped one of my ruined boots, tossing it aside. The effort made my head throb but my feet were much worse. I hurriedly got rid of the other boot. Healing sleep would take care of my feet eventually but I dreaded the walk back to the car.
“Yes, well. You’re right. I guess I did earn that paycheck, Flo.” Laurie grinned then gasped when she saw my blackened feet. “Damn, but he got you good, didn’t he?”
“You’re going to need help.” Rafe stood behind Flo. “Let me carry you.”
“No, I’ll do it. I may be under a damned spell, but I still want to take care of Gloriana.” Jerry squatted down next to me.
“Jerry.” I reached out to touch his cheek. “What you heard…”
“I know we were both manipulated, Gloriana.” He carefully slipped his arms under my hips and lifted me. “I’ll carry you to your car. Florence can drive you home.”
“Can you ever forgive me?” I whispered this against his chest as he strode across the rough terrain to where we’d left my car.
“Forgive you?” He stopped and looked up at the sky instead of down at me. “What have you done?” He started walking again, stopping beside my car and waiting while a silent Flo opened the passenger door.
“Oh, your beautiful car!” She began pushing water out of the seat with her hands.
I glanced down. Right. I’d left the top down and Achelous had made it rain buckets. Swell. One more thing the god had ruined tonight.
“Flo, relax. Gloriana can have it dried out professionally. I’m sure insurance will cover it.” Jerry shifted me in his arms, like he was anxious to get rid of me. I didn’t blame him. “You are both already wet and I don’t think the engine has come to any harm. The keys are in it. See if it will start.” Jerry spoke calmly as he set me in the passenger seat and secured my seat belt. Flo scurried around to the other side and soon had the engine purring, all the while muttering in fierce Italian and English about Sirens and gods who threw rain and lightning around.
“Jerry, are you, I mean, will you come over? To talk about what just happened?” I leaned back in the seat. Had I ever been this wet or this miserable before? Even the pain in my burned feet was minor compared to the terror I felt about my relationship with Jerry. And Rafe? He stood behind Jerry, his gaze questioning.
“Not tonight, Gloriana. Let your friends take care of you. I need some time. To think. Surely you understand.” He closed the car door. “I’ll call you.”
“Glory!” Rafe moved up to take Jerry’s place next to the door. “If you need me, call.” He reached through the open window and cupped my cheek. “For blood to help you heal. For anything. What you heard tonight… I know it’s not what you wanted to hear. But it makes no difference to me. I don’t need time to think.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead then slapped the hood as Flo began to slowly back the car down the driveway.
I saw Laurie standing by her own car, just observing the scene. She stopped Rafe when he turned away and I saw them talk to each other. Jerry had disappeared. He’d probably shifted to get here and was already flying home.
“How are you, really?” Flo asked as soon as we were on the open road.
“Horrible.” I looked at her. She was soaked, her outfit ruined, her hair plastered to her head. “How are you going to explain this to Richard?”
“I’m going to have to confess everything. He will be furious, of course, that I went to see the Storm God with you and didn’t tell him… Hah! As if I would have wanted him there.” Flo’s eyes glistened with tears. “That Achelous. Ché bastardo! I hate him.”
“I think we can agree on that.” I patted her hand on the steering wheel. “I’m glad you weren’t hurt but that won’t help soothe Richard.”
“No, but I’ll let him get me into the shower since I am so upset, you see. That will make everything all right.” Flo winked at me. “Or at least help him forget I was in danger.” She squeezed my hand. “But I wasn’t. Not really. I was scared for you, amica. That god was so angry. He wanted to kill you.”
“Lucky for us, Circe is for women’s rights.” I managed a smile. “And Laurie. She really did come through for me.”
“Sí. I’ll meet her tomorrow night to pay her.” Flo held up her hand when she saw I was going to object, offer to pay. “I am glad to do it. She saved our butts. No?”
“Yes, she did. Who knew she had connections on Olympus?” I leaned back and closed my eyes. “At least I had on my old boots.”
“Yes, and I checked the trunk. Our new shoes are still dry. Somehow Aggie got hers already or I would have thrown them into the lake. So many men she killed! I cannot like that.”
“I killed—”
Flo reached over and clapped her hand over my mouth. “We will never speak of that again. I will not tell Ricardo that part either. You were a different person then, Glory. A different, how you say, species, I guess. So you cannot be held to blame. Move on. It is what I do when I have done something I am not so proud of. And I have plenty, I tell you, in my past that I would rather not think of again.” She took her hand away. “Is it a deal?”
“Deal.” I wasn’t going to cry. No, that had to be water from my wet hair dripping into my eyes. But could I have a better friend? I certainly hated to see her head to Paris. My phone bill was obviously going to be astronomical because who else could I talk to about girl stuff?
When we got to my apartment, Flo fussed about how I was going to get up the stairs on my blistered feet. Obviously Rafe had figured things out because he showed up next to the car, shifting out of bird form just as Flo was about to call Richard for help.
“I snapped to the fact that you weren’t going to be able to make the stairs.” He eased me from the seat and lifted me into his arms. “This okay?”
I snuggled against him. We were both wet but I could feel his shifter’s heat through our clothes. “More than okay. You’re a godsend. No, scratch that. Not mentioning gods. Or at least—”
“Don’t try to make sense now, Glory. Just close your eyes and let me carry you to your bed.” Rafe’s deep voice made his chest vibrate under my cheek. I sighed and relaxed, letting him take over.
Flo ran ahead, taking care of security codes and opening doors. “You’ve got to get out of those wet clothes but I don’t want you to have to stand on your feet. If you lay on your bed…”
“Let Rafe take over, Flo.” I waved her off when she began to pluck at my wet jeans. “Honestly, I’m beyond being embarrassed and you need to get home to Richard. He’s bound to be worried about you. It’s late and we were only supposed to go shopping. The mall closed hours ago.”
Flo dug into her purse, which fortunately we’d stuck in the trunk of my car before we’d headed to that terrace. “Yes, he’s called and left messages. I think it’s better if I just go home.”