Gods and Mortals: Fourteen Free Urban Fantasy & Paranormal Novels Featuring Thor, Loki, Greek Gods, Native American Spirits, Vampires, Werewolves, & More (247 page)

I was caught off guard. “I don’t know. He didn’t say.”

“I had thought...” He struggled to find words, but I already knew what he was going to say.

“What, Ethan?” I asked, keeping my voice low and cool. “You won a
bet
. What more do you want?”

“So, that’s it?” He straightened up. “I think we both know it was more than that.”

I felt backed into a corner, so, I used the only weapon I had. “I’m sure it’s hard for you to believe,” I said, adding ice to my voice. “But, it’s true.”

“Fine.” He shoved his hands into his pockets and nodded. “I guess I’ll see you around, Al.”

He narrowed his eyes and stared hard into mine, stripping me of the last of my defenses. Without another word he turned and walked away.

I headed inside. It really was a scorcher outside. As I headed up the stairs to take a shower I wiped the sweat from my forehead and the tears from my eyes.

T
he hardware store
was slow that night, and it was even harder to get through the hours than usual as I was constantly fighting back tears. When I could finally close up, I went straight home. I hadn’t heard from Liam yet and it was nearly seven, and between worrying about my mother and replaying my conversation with Ethan, I was completely exhausted and beyond emotionally drained.

Thankfully, everything was quiet when I got home. I walked into the living room to find Gram sitting on the couch folding laundry.

“Just the person I was thinking of,” Gram said as I dropped my purse on the sideboard.

“Hi, Gram. Where is everyone?”

“Your mom is upstairs lying down. Pop is down in the cellar, I think.”

I sat down in the recliner and leaned my head back for a minute.

“Are you feeling okay, honey? You look a little pale.”

I yawned and settled further into the chair, opening one eye to look at her. “Just a little tired, that’s all.”

Gram stood and hauled the laundry basket up to her hip. “There are leftovers in the fridge, I’m just going to put this laundry away, and I’ll heat something up for you.”

“I can manage,” I said, stretching one more time before I stood.

I took the leftover pasta out and heated a bowl in the microwave. As I waited for it to cook, I sliced a piece of fresh Italian bread.

I wanted to be able to tell Gram everything, to share the weight of all I now knew with someone. But there was no way I could even tell Gram and Pop about who Liam was, let alone all the insane-sounding things he’d told me about his life. Plus, I hadn’t had a chance to come to terms with his arrival yet myself, as my father.

I took a deep breath and watched the microwave. Now that my mother was in potential danger, I needed to take care of this myself. There could be no more distractions. But the image of Ethan staring into my eyes, his expression cold and angry, was burnt into my memory. He’d never been angry with me before. But—I reminded myself—angry was better than hopeful.

Once again, I was left waiting to hear from Liam. The hope I’d let myself feel since he’d shown up was being replaced by dread. Liam had said Breanh was dangerous. But would Breanh even know where we were if Liam hadn’t shown up here? Now he may as well hand-deliver my mother right to the bad guy.

The ceiling creaked loudly, and I looked up, wondering what Gram was doing up there. It sounded like she was scurrying in and out of the bedrooms. A second later, she bustled down the stairs. Her face was flushed, and strands of white hair escaped from her bun.

The bread knife slipped from my fingers as she approached me, landing with a clatter on the cutting board.

Mom. Something was wrong.

“Gram?”

She blinked at me before hurrying over to the living room window. “Your mother isn’t in her bedroom,” she said as she turned away from the window.

“Tom,” she called as she walked toward the cellar stairs and opened the door. “Tom, have you seen Beth?”

“Coming, Jane,” I heard Pop holler from the bottom of the stairs. “What is it, dear?”

“I can’t find Elizabeth. She isn’t down there with you, is she?”

“No,” Pop said, wiping sawdust off his brow.

“Maybe she wandered out into the backyard again,” I said. Before anyone could respond, I threw open the screen slider and hurried outside. I ran around the entire house shouting her name, but there was no sign of her.

I climbed the porch steps two at a time and charged upstairs to my bedroom. My hands shook as I scrolled through the numbers on my cell phone, trying to find the one Liam had called from.

I heard him pick up but was speaking before he had a chance to say anything. “My mother,” I shouted. “She’s missing.”

After a moment of silence, he finally replied. “I’ll be there in just a moment, Allison. Stay put.”

I threw the phone down on my bed. Pacing back and forth, I tried to imagine how this could have happened. How could she have left the house without my grandparents even noticing? It just didn’t make sense.

Pop was on the phone when I came back downstairs, and Gram stood by the slider, wringing her hands, looking out into the darkening backyard. My grandfather hung up and walked over to where Gram stood. He wrapped his arm around her, and she leaned her head into his shoulder. I could see she was trembling.

“She can’t be far, Jane. I told the police about Beth’s condition—they’ll be here soon. They’ll find her.”

“I just don’t know how this could have happened,” Gram said in a shaky voice.

“Mom?” Aunt Jessie walked down the front hall and froze by the side table, looking back and forth between me and my grandparents.

Gram pulled away from my grandfather and pursed her lips. At Gram’s expression, Aunt Jessie rushed over to her.

“She’s just...gone,” Gram murmured into my aunt’s shoulder as they held each other for a moment.

The sound of car doors cut through the tension then, and we were out on the front porch in seconds. A police car was parked in front of the house.

While the officers spoke with my grandparents, I caught sight of Liam standing on the sidewalk a few yards away. He had his back to me, and it wasn’t until I was just a few feet from him that he turned around.

“What’s happened?” he asked.

I inhaled. “I don’t really know. My grandparents thought she was up in her room. But when Gram went to check on her, she wasn’t there.”

Liam nodded and turned toward the house. His eyes slid over the yard and the vehicles in the driveway.

“You got here so fast,” I whispered, barely even aware that I had spoken out loud.

“That’s one advantage of being a Danaan.” He cleared his throat and glanced over at me. “Speed.”

I wasn’t sure what that meant, but it wasn’t important right now. All that mattered was finding my mom.

I heard one of the officers tell my grandparents that due to her schizophrenia, they’d be able to file a missing persons report immediately. The second officer walked to his squad car to call into the station, while the other continued speaking to Gram and Pop.

Uncle Dave stood at Aunt Jessie’s side, rubbing her back as they listened to my grandfather describe my mother’s physical appearance.

A car door slammed, and I heard the clatter of heels on tar.

“Al?” Nicole said as she and Jeff walked to the sidewalk. She glanced at Liam and then at me. “Allison? What’s going on?”

“My mother,” I said, but my voice came out like a croak and I cleared my throat. “My mother’s missing.”

Nicole’s eyes widened in alarm. “Missing? Oh my God.” Her arms came up around my shoulders, squeezing me with all her strength.

Jeff spoke from behind Nicole. “Can we form a search party? What are the police doing?”

Nicole didn’t give me a chance to answer, she half pulled me toward the rest of our family. I looked over my shoulder at Liam, and he nodded, as though he knew just what to do.

I
hurried
down the cellar stairs and over to the map of Stoneville that hung above my grandfather’s workbench. Standing on my tiptoes, I reached for the pushpins that held it in place. My fingers just barely brushed the rounded heads of the pins, and I strained to get my fingernail underneath. The frantic energy buzzing through my body wouldn’t allow me to pop each pin off the board one at a time, and I ended up tearing the map from the wall, barely keeping it in one piece.

I sprinted back to the kitchen and spread the map across the table. My grandparents sat in two chairs pushed close together. Jeff and Nicole, Joanne and her husband Frank, plus half a dozen friends and neighbors had arrived to help look for my mother. Looking down at the street names, I jabbed my finger into the spot that I knew represented our property.

“Okay, we’re here. If we divide into groups of four, we can each spread out in all directions...” I looked up to see everyone was waiting for my instructions, as if I really knew what I was doing.

As I assigned paths for everyone to follow, the front door slammed and footsteps came down the hall. Ethan walked into the living room, carrying an armload of flashlights and lanterns. His mouth was set in a grim line and fear flickered in his eyes. I breathed deeply through my nose and looked back down at the map.

I felt each step he took as he came to my side. As I spoke to Ethan’s parents and Sean’s parent’s—the Connor’s—I heard the trembling in my own voice.

“You four can take the old cart road up behind the Connor’s house. Do you have flashlights?” I grabbed the lantern Ethan held out and passed it to Sean’s father, accepting the comfort he offered me with a tight smile.

Allison
.

Niamh’s voice in my head caused a shudder to ripple across my shoulders. I looked toward the door, but she wasn’t anywhere I could see.

Ethan touched my elbow. “It’ll be okay, Al. We’ll find her.”

I looked up to see his brown eyes fixed on mine. He squeezed my arm in reassurance, and I pulled back. I needed to keep my head clear, and his touch was too much.

“Let’s go, Ethan. We’re going to look behind the old Miller farm,” Jeff said as he and Nicole walked over. Nicole’s eyebrows pulled down as she assessed the situation.

That’s when another familiar voice spoke behind me.

“Mr. and Mrs. O’Malley? I’ve heard about your daughter,” Liam said. “I’ll search the woods on the property. She’s sure to turn up soon.”

My grandparents barely responded, they just gave him watery smiles.

I closed my eyes and sighed. Liam—in my house, talking to my grandparents. About my mother. I had to hold my tongue and remind myself that this wasn’t his fault, that he was trying to help bring her home.

I felt Ethan watching my reaction to Liam. I didn’t know what was going through his mind, but I was sure any ideas he had about my relationship with Liam were completely off the mark.

My father turned toward the door. Each assigned search party was making its own plans now, so I followed him out onto the porch. Niamh stood on the sidewalk, and she held me in her gaze as I approached.

Follow me
.

I didn’t want to, but without hesitating, I followed her to the path leading up to Liam’s property. My feet felt like they were moving without my consent.

I gave my word to protect your mother, Allison. No harm will come to her
.

I shook my head, not understanding how she could promise that. Or why she would even want to. I got the impression humans meant very little to the Danaans.

I swore to help your father. We will return your mother unharmed
.

I sighed. This mind reading thing was already getting annoying.

Niamh smiled wryly. “I can speak aloud if you’d like.”

“Thanks,” I muttered as we walked farther up the path into the trees.

It was fully dark now, and the moon was waning. The flashlight helped a little, but I still managed to trip over a rock hidden under some leaves. I blew out a frustrated breath and felt someone grab my elbow to steady me. But when I looked over, no one was there.

“Allison, meet Tagdh.”

“What?” I asked, looking at Niamh.

“Tagdh is Niamh’s guardian,” Liam explained. “He’s wearing a glamour to stay hidden from human eyes.”

My eyebrows shot up. “What does that even mean?”

“A glamour is an enchantment,” Niamh said. “It’s like a cloak of magic that keeps your mind from registering his presence.”

I rolled my eyes, but nodded as if I heard this kind of thing all the time. “I see.”

The air shimmered in front of me, and a young man slowly came into focus. He bowed his head, raising his solemn eyes to meet mine. Their color reminded me of the bright green buds of early spring, and his auburn hair curled around his ears.

“Tagdh was able to use glamour to keep hidden.” Liam gestured for me to stop walking now that we were away from the others. “And we have news. The birds we’ve been seeing around your house are confirmed as Breanh’s spies.”

Liam watched for my reaction, but I was determined to keep a straight face. “Breanh is able to control the minds of all creatures, including humans.”

“Your mother could have easily been coerced to walk right out the front door,” Niamh said. “Your grandmother might have seen the whole thing and not remember a bit of it if Breanh wiped her memory.”

“So what are we looking for exactly then?”

“Right now, we’re keeping up appearances, for your family. Wherever your mother truly is, she’s far, far away from here.”

Time stopped, and my mouth dropped open. “Keeping up appearances?”

“Your family would think it was strange if you weren’t taking part in the search.” Niamh shrugged, the slightest pull of her shoulder upward.

“How can you be positive it was Breanh that took my mother? How do you know she didn’t just wander off?” I glared at Niamh, but she remained unaffected.

“The chances that she is still in this world are very small,” Liam began. “We will go to Tír na n’Óg and see Niamh’s mother, Saoirse. She is a Seer, able to see many paths into the future.”

I shook my head. “Okay,” I said, though I didn’t comprehend what that actually meant.

“You will stay here,” Niamh added. “Your father and I will go to my mother.”

I threw out my hands, breathing hard. “You expect me to sit around and wait?”

“Taking you would be too big of a risk,” Liam said.

I gritted my teeth and glared at him. “I need to find my mother.”

“I know you’re frustrated,” he said. “But what’s important is that we keep you and your mother safe.”

“Obviously our ideas of keeping her safe are very different,” I said, spinning on my heel and marching back down the path without sparing another glance at either of them.

I could hear Liam’s footsteps behind me as I walked up the sidewalk. I tried to ignore him for as long as possible, but when I stopped he came around to stand in front of me.

“What?” I snapped.

He chuckled a little under his breath as he shook his head. “I’ve never seen anyone talk to Niamh like that.”

I snorted. “Just wait ‘til she finds out that I’m going with you.”