Aphrodite's Kiss (33 page)

“Zoë!” Taylor cried.

She ended up plastered like a crab on Mordi’s back, her arms wrapped around his face and her legs locked about his waist. It probably looked pretty silly, but with her strength, she knew she could hold on. And if he was struggling with her, Mordi wouldn’t be able to get to Taylor or Deena.

He twisted and shoved and turned, trying to get her off, while Taylor rushed him, trying to get the chain.

“Stay back, Taylor!”

“The hell I will.”

Hot. She was sweltering hot. She closed her eyes and hung on, trying to keep her grip despite the fire suddenly burning in her muscles. Her skin was slippery with sweat, then blistering from the intense heat.

“Jump, Zo!” Deena yelled. “His clothes are catching on fire.”

Hopping Hades
! So were hers. Already the heat was making her woozy.

Taylor was rushing at them both, and Zoë stifled the urge to shout at him to stand back. She needed to get them both safe, but how?

With all her strength she held on, ignoring the pain as she looked around, oblivious to Mordi’s thrashing beneath her.

And then she saw it.

With a single jerk, she lunged away, but kept her hand deep in the flames, grabbing on to his collar. Mordi stumbled toward her and they both went tumbling into the pool.

A cloud of steam rose into the air, a faint hiss drifting away on the wind.

They went under then, rolling over and over until Zoë was sure she was going to be sick from being dizzy.

And then there was a big metal stick in front of her, but no Mordi—somehow he’d won again.

She gasped for air, looking into Taylor’s eyes as he held the pole end of the pool skimmer out for her. “Where’d he go?”

“Took off that way,” he said, nodding toward the front staircase. His face hardened as he helped her out of the pool. “Are you burned?”

She made a quick check, pleased that her halfling blood had protected her and kept her singe-free. “No.”

“Good.” He hugged her close, managing to soak his clothes in the process. “What the hell were you thinking?”

Deena crawled over. “Wow.”

Zoë raised an eyebrow as she stood dripping on the concrete. “That’s it?”

Deena shrugged. “I never thought I’d see me speechless, but wow.”

“I don’t think you answered me.” Taylor leaned back, then kissed the tip of her nose. “So I’ll try again. What the hell were you thinking?”

She stepped back, out of his embrace. “I was thinking of helping you.”

He frowned. “Well, don’t. I had it under control.”

“Taylor, that’s silly. I’m—” She stopped, not sure what she planned on saying.

“You’re what? You’re fine? Yes, you are. But only because you’re lucky.” He pulled her close again, wrapping his arms around her. “Jesus, Zoë,” he whispered into her hair. “Do you think I can stand watching you put yourself in danger? I’d rather die than see you hurt.”

He pushed a soggy curl off her face. “Stay here. I want to make sure he’s gone.” He disappeared under the stairway, then returned immediately. “Nobody there. Just a big dog sniffing around.”

Deena coughed, and Zoë flashed her a “be quiet” look as Taylor swung his arm around her shoulder.

“Let’s get you upstairs,” he said.

She nodded and let him lead her. Hale would be back any minute, but surely she could get Taylor out of her apartment before his return.

Because, truth be told, she wanted Taylor with her. Maybe she didn’t need his help to fight her cousin, but she certainly wanted his strength after.

As for why she was fighting her cousin, or why Mordi was sniffing around Deena ... about that, she had no idea. What did Deena have that he wanted?

Or maybe Deena was the subject of Zoë’s tests—protect the mortal and make it into the council. She frowned. But that didn’t really make sense either.

She glanced at her friend, still sitting on the concrete looking a little dazed. The fact was, she had no idea. But she did know one thing for certain—whatever was going on, it couldn’t be good.

Mordi planted his rump on the sun-warmed sidewalk and scratched behind his ear with his back leg.

He didn’t have the stone in hand, but still, it had been a successful encounter. He’d pulled the stone’s scent off of the setting, and then he’d let his sensitive doggie nose go to work following his best lead—the blonde.

And his bet had panned out. The mortal still had the stone. He was certain of it.

Excellent.

Of course, Zoë might realize what he was after—first the woman at the tower and now Deena. The only thing they had in common was the stone. Would she make the connection? He let out a little doggie sigh. Best to focus on the good news. The stone was here, with the female mortal. By tonight it would be his, and Hieronymous would finally be proud.

All he had to do was wait.

After all, she couldn’t stay in Cousin Zoë’s apartment forever.

Hale glared at the mortal, not at all sure how to handle this latest bit of news.

“Don’t look at me like that,” Deena said. “It wasn’t like I asked to be jumped by some shape-shifting doggie gangster.”

Hale had to give the mortal credit. She hadn’t burst into tears or run screaming from the room, swearing to never look Zoë in the face again. Not yet, anyway.

“Mordichai.” He said the name like a curse. Damn their cousin for siding with his father. If the little worm had any backbone, there’d be no problem.

“What the heck did he want?” Zoë asked.

The stone, of course, but Hale couldn’t tell her that. From what Zephron claimed, all hell would break loose if he did. Instead he shook his head in feigned ignorance.

“Even more,” she added, “what did he want with Deena?”

“Probably trying to get to you. The tests and all.”

“He seemed so sweet as a dog,” the mortal said.

“He’d just as soon bite your head off,” Hale said, just to shake her up.

“Hey,” she said, staring him right in the eye. “I didn’t say he was sweet, I said he
looked
sweet.”

“Fair enough,” Hale said, his estimation of Zoë’s mortal friend increasing.

“Sweet or not, what was he looking for?” Zoë asked. Her eyes widened. “Of course! He wanted the belt.” She looked at Deena. “He smelled it on you.”

“You’re probably right,” Hale said, thinking fast. The fact was, Mordichai sniffing around Zoë meant one of two things: either Mordi had given up looking for the stone and was simply going to tail Zoë, figuring one of them would end up with it before the eclipse, or Mordi knew something the rest of them didn’t.

Both options meant bad news for Zoë, and the best thing Hale could do was get back to Olympus, report in, and see if Zephron or Donis had learned anything useful. He glanced around aimlessly, trying to think up an excuse for leaving, and his gaze landed on Deena’s overstuffed tote bag. “If he wants the belt, I should get rid of it,” he said, pointing at the bag and urging the belt up and into his waiting hand.

“Cool trick,” Deena said.

Zoë’s brow furrowed. “Get rid of it how?”

“I’m taking this back to Zephron. I should have done it earlier.” He shoved the belt into his backpack and headed for the door. He took a quick look around for Elmer, but the little guy wasn’t to be found. The ferret had been hiding since he’d snapped at him earlier, and he was probably still sulking. Well, he’d just have to camp at Zoë’s then, because Hale didn’t have time to scour the place looking for him.

“Hale?” Deena said.

He turned to the mortal, his hand resting on the doorknob.

She smiled. “It was nice to meet you.”

Hale stared at her, trying to decide what to say. He didn’t have mortal friends, didn’t want mortal friends. Didn’t want or need any warm, fuzzy feelings for these creatures he’d sworn to protect.

But this one had stuck by his sister, so maybe he could make an exception. The world probably wouldn’t come crashing down if he added one mortal to his list of friends. He sighed. “Yeah,” he finally said. “It was nice to meet you, too.”

Lane was waiting in the doorway to her apartment when Taylor got there. “Well, well, well,” she said with a grin.

“What?”

She stepped into the apartment, tossing him a knowing glance over her shoulder. “The clothes, hotshot. Those were what you were wearing yesterday. Guess the
job
went well, huh?”

He rolled his eyes skyward. “Lane—”

“Not that I’m prying or anything. I’m just glad to see you back in the saddle. So tell me, brother mine, is she
normal
?”

Shaking his head, he could only grin.

“All right, Taylor. Good going. Maybe I’ll get a sister-in-law yet.” She bent down to scoop up Davy, who waved at Taylor and then buried his face in Lane’s shoulder.

“What’s the matter, buddy?”
And thanks, kid, for helping me change the subject
.

The boy shook his head, but no smiling face appeared.

“He missed his nap,” Lane explained, an apology in her voice. “It’ll make it easier on Janet, though. He’ll probably sleep the whole time we’re gone.”

“Did you talk to any of the store owners yesterday? Or is that on today’s agenda?”

“Talk?” A wide grin split her face. “I did a lot more than talk. Big brother, I found our flying mystery woman.”

“What?”

She nodded, clearly pleased with herself. “Yup. Managed to track down her home address and everything.”

“How the hell did you manage that?” He stifled a sigh, suddenly feeling rather useless. First Zoë fighting like a banshee, then his sister doing all the gumshoeing, and doing it well.

“Easy.” She took a deep breath. “Boomer figured she had to be one of the two girls who hang out on top of the tower, so I talked to the guard, and he told me their names—they have to sign in to get to the roof—and then I went to the school, but it was closed for the break, but the principal was there this morning, and I told her who I was looking for, and she pulled the file, and while it was on her desk, I read the address upside down.” She’d rattled the whole thing off without taking a breath, and now she sucked in air. “That’s it.”

He blinked. He’d barely followed her speech, and he had no idea who Boomer was, but it had sure sounded good.

“So can we go talk to her? I’ve been waiting for you all morning, but you were otherwise indisposed.” Her gentle smile told him that she’d forgive his tardiness since his love life was looking up.

“Let’s go.” He moved back out of the apartment and waited while she passed Davy off to her across-the-hall neighbor.

“It’s almost too bad you had a hot date last night,” she teased as they headed toward Francis Capra.

“Yeah? Why’s that?” Lord knew Taylor couldn’t think of a reason in the world why his night with Zoë could even remotely be classified as “too bad.”

She shrugged as he held the door open for her. “It’s just that this woman—the one who flew off the building—is right up your alley. Normal, I mean.”

“Flying off buildings is normal?”

“Well, not that part. But everything else about her sure is.”

He circled the car and opened his door, amused by her smug expression. “Okay, give.”

One eyebrow raised as the corner of her mouth curled up. “She’s an elementary school librarian. Wasn’t that just the kind of woman you said you were looking for?” Lane chuckled. “Her last name’s even Smith. How much more average can you get?”

“You
jumped
off a building?” Taylor ran his hands through his hair as he paced Zoë’s living room, confusion and fear clinging to him like dust.

She cringed and shrugged, wanting to explain. But she couldn’t bring herself to tell him the truth. Not yet. “I—”

“She didn’t jump,” Lane said. “She flew. I told you.” She grinned. “I still can’t believe Zoë is your girlfriend. This is just too—”

“Lane.” He held up a hand as Zoë warmed to the sound of the word
girlfriend.
“I’m trying to figure out what’s going on.” He turned back to Zoë. “Tell me. Sweetheart, what’s going on?”

“It was no big deal, Taylor,” Zoë said, her eyes darting to Deena, silently pleading for help.

“No big deal? Thirty stories is a very big deal.” He looked from Deena to Zoë.

“What difference does it make to you?” Deena asked.

“What difference? The woman I love jumps off a building—”

Love
? Zoë twisted back around to look at him.

“—and you think I’m just going to—” He snapped his mouth shut and closed his eyes, apparently realizing what he’d just said.

Lane clapped her hands and generally looked like she’d just won the lottery.

The room seemed to vanish as Zoë lost herself in his words.
Oh, Hera
. He loved her.

Then she remembered—the belt.

He didn’t love her at all. Not really. No matter how much she might care about him, he just was feeling the after effects of what the belt had told him to feel.

She blinked back tears and looked to Deena, who managed to look both sympathetic and encouraging at the same time. Elmer padded over and pawed frantically at her foot. She swooped down and picked him up, hugging him tightly against her.

Taylor’s eyes opened and the corner of his mouth twitched. His shoulder rolled in the slightest of shrugs. “It’s true,” he said, and she could see in his eyes that he really believed it. He ran his fingers through his hair. “I had planned on saying it under more romantic circumstances, but it’s true.”

“Oh, Taylor, I...” She trailed off. What could she say? She needed to tell him the truth. No matter how much she wished it were true, he really didn’t love her.

Elmer twisted in her arms, and she scowled down at him. “What?”

He squeaked and fidgeted, but she had no idea what he wanted.

“Maybe he wants down,” Deena said.

Taylor’s eyes were still on her, ignoring the ferret’s antics.

“Tell me the truth, babe. What’s going on?”

Zoë shrugged and put Elmer on the back of the couch.

“There was no movie, was there?” Taylor asked, taking her hand.

“Not exactly. I, um, I—-”

“Work part-time in R and D,” Deena rushed to put in.

“Right,” Zoë said, grateful Deena could still think. Zoë’s brain was more or less fried.