For The Love Of A God (21 page)

"It's okay,” Artemis said in her soothing voice. “I've had worse.” And, as calm as a librarian at story time, she popped her eye back into its socket. She blinked once, and it was fixed.

"Well,” said Maia. “That was neat."

"You,” said Dionysus, pointing to Maia's chest, “were fucking awesome out there. Who taught you to fight?"

She let out a nervous giggle. “The only thing I've ever fought over is the last donut in the box."

Eryx was still frowning at her, as proud as he was. “You, my love, will not be fighting again, do you hear me?"

"The girl's a natural, Eryx,” said Apollo, wiping his bloody arrows on a nearby fury corpse.

"I said no."

"I'm not going to stand around while all of you risk your lives, or whatever, for me,” Maia insisted.

"You will not fight,” he insisted.

She was about to argue, was about to protest, but the words were cut off in her throat as another sound echoed from inside the museum. They all stopped and listened. It wasn't a fury shriek or a hissing mummy. This sound was different. Darker and more insidious. A fear with no name. An enemy they could not envision.

It sounded as if hell itself was coming for them.

It terrified Maia, shook her to the bone until her body rattled with it. She looked at Eryx, saw the fear in his eyes, and knew even he wasn't sure what was coming. He turned white, which was amazing for someone so naturally golden. And then he and the other gods turned and stared into the dark hallway.

As she waited for death to show itself, Maia uttered a quick prayer to her own God. At that moment, she was distracted by a movement coming from a nearby dead fury. Its body twitched in a post-mortem contraction. The massive wing jerked, a violent spasm of tough muscle, and hit Maia across the head. She was knocked out cold.

Somewhere in the black hole of her unconsciousness, she wondered if she could die in such a way.

Death by chicken wing seemed like such a strange way to go.

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It wasn't the first time Maia gave thanks for Eryx's strong arms, but as she awoke encircled by them, she gave thanks again. As well as for the fact she wasn't drowning in buffalo wing sauce, which she'd been dreaming.

Groggy, she stared up at him. It was quiet in the museum now. Too quiet. And he was gazing at her with such sadness in his eyes that her own eyes started to water. “What happened? Did I miss the battle?"

He ignored her question. “I wish you'd stayed asleep. I was tempted, you know, to make you sleep through this."

"Sleep through what? Eryx?” She tried to sit up, but he was hugging her too tightly. And why was he staring so wistfully at her, as if he were somehow saying good-bye?

"I love you, Maia. Don't ever forget."

She stared up at him, petrified. Too scared to move or talk or say “I love you” back. All she could do was cry, damn her tears, and look at his beautiful face. And something horrible tugged at her heart, telling her she had to remember his face. Had to remember each exquisite detail.

A velvety woman's voice cut through the tension in the hall. “Eeny, meeny, miny, moe. Who shall I kill first?” Her voice erupted with tinkly laughter. “Sorry, folks. I've never been one for rhymes."

From her place on the floor, Maia looked past the broad expanse of Eryx's chest. The other gods were standing in front of them, weapons drawn. But beyond them, taking up much of the space in the dark hallway, was a strange figure.

It had to be almost twenty feet tall, so tall it just about grazed the ceiling. It had the body of a man, but every part was elongated, exaggerated. Hideous. Its fingernails were claws. Its hair was bristly and long. Every wrinkle, every fold was caked in some sort of otherworld grime, and it smelled moldy. It had great black eyes which blinked incessantly at Maia. But its mouth scared her most of all. Rather than having two rows of teeth, it had four, and each razor-sharp tooth looked sharper than the last.

And the worst part of all was the two people the creature held in its gnarled hands, its fingers closed around two very human necks.

Those of Dino and Sheila.

Their eyes were glazed, and their faces were white, as if they'd witnessed great horror. But they already looked as dead as her father had in his hospice bed.

"No,” Maia whispered, pushing past Eryx and standing with the others.

The woman's voice rang out again, although Nemesis was nowhere to be seen. “Do you like my pet, Maia Douglas? He'll do anything I say. If I tell him to, he'll gobble your friends in one gulp."

She turned to Eryx, desperate. “If they die, can you bring them back?"

Nemesis laughed from her hiding place in the darkness. “Didn't he tell you? We Greek gods don't do resurrection. It's a big no-no. You never know what you'll get. If I kill your friends, they're dead. Plain and simple."

Eryx gazed at her, pained. “It's true, Maia. We can heal people, but we can't bring someone back from death."

A low growl issued from the creature's massive mouth, and it sniffed Sheila. And then it licked her face.

"Oh my God,” Maia murmured.

The voice of Nemesis rang out again. “When I first decided I needed to keep an eye on you, Maia Douglas, I knew I couldn't show myself at the museum. My Eryx would have recognized me. So I had to pick a body. It's fun. Sort of like role playing."

Eryx put himself in front of Maia, holding her behind him. “Show yourself, Nemesis!"

She laughed again. “Oh, how sweet. He can't wait to see me."

"So I can send you back to hell."

"Now, now, Eryx. You know that's not how this works. I've never been overly fond of Hades anyway.” From far down the hallway, there was a noise. The sound of high heels on the marble floor. Walking toward them. “And you may think you can protect your little whore with your gang of Olympian rejects, but you all know I can kill her friends and father with a mere thought. We all know that would make our little Maia so very sad."

"What do you want, Nemesis? Enough with your games,” Eryx shouted toward the sound of the high heels.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, dearest. First tell me what you think of my borrowed body!"

The heels advanced. Maia watched as the body wearing them strolled toward them. Long legs. Killer bod. Angel's face.

Sarah.

"Shit,” Dionysus muttered. “I slept with her."

"Oh, admit it, cousin,” Nemesis growled out of Sarah's glossy mouth. “You loved it.” She turned to Eryx. “Stroke of genius, don't you think? Your own assistant? It's how I knew you loved Maia. I place the perfect woman, the perfect body, in front of you. Young, sexy, willing. And you wanted nothing to do with her. Barely even looked in my direction.” For a moment, Nemesis/Sarah actually looked sad. “Of course, I'm used to it."

"Is she...?” Maia began.

"Oh, Sarah's dead, all right,” Nemesis said. “You see, that's the tricky thing. When I borrow someone's body, they sorta have to die. And now I'm tired of carrying this corpse, pretty as she is."

Maia felt her stomach pitch in disgust as she watched Sarah's form quiver and crumple in front of her. From the fleshy rubble, Nemesis materialized as her true self. The gorgeous dark-haired woman who'd watched Eryx make love to her in her apartment. The villainess she'd seen in her nightmare. The one who'd butchered Chloe and so many others.

Nemesis, clad in a brilliant golden robe and sandals like the others, strolled over to where Dino's and Sheila's bodies were suspended from the creature's hands. “What's it going to be, Maia? You, or them?"

"Aren't you tired of this?” Artemis huffed.

"Oh, hi, Artemis. I didn't notice you there,” the goddess of vengeance drawled in her mean-spirited way. “How's your eye? Sorry about the whole fury thing. My quarrel's not with you or your brother, or even Dionysus."

Apollo grabbed his sister's hand, restraining her. “Don't. It won't help."

"You're right. It won't,” Nemesis said, turning to Eryx again. “Give her to me. You can see it in her face. Maia's just dying to sacrifice herself for her friends. And I love a martyr."

"Let me go,” Maia cried against Eryx's chest. “Let her have me. Then she'll leave you alone."

"She'll never leave me alone, love. And I refuse to watch her hurt you."

"Maia,” Nemesis trilled, laying a hand on Sheila and Dino's stiff figures, “I get a strange sense your dad isn't doing well. I can just hear his heart slowing down."

She stared up into Eryx's eyes, pleading. Broken. Lost. “Please, Eryx. I can't bear this."

He kissed her fiercely, and she felt fire shoot up her core. Searing her as his forever love. Their tears mingled, as their lips sought to remember what they knew they had to lose. No matter what, they had to lose.

He pulled his mouth from hers, slowly, slowly, resting his forehead on hers. With a final, heated kiss on top of her head, he quickly pushed Maia into Dionysus's waiting arms. The god of wine held her back as Eryx ran to Nemesis.

"You want me?” Eryx seethed at his enemy. “Then you take me, not Maia."

"No!” Maia heard herself scream over and over, struggling to get out of Dionysus's unyielding grip.

Nemesis stared at him through surprised blue eyes. “What's this?"

"All these years,” he continued, his voice ragged, “you've killed in my name. Killed because of your so-called love for me. It ends tonight. You want me so badly? Take me. But you let Maia go, and you release your grip on her father and friends. I'll be yours, Nemesis, but there will be no more killing."

She was tempted. It was clear in the way her calculating gaze faltered a little. She raised her head, channeling her every ounce of bravado. “How do you think I felt all those years ago? In love with the god of love. A man who fucked every female creature within reach, but who refused to even look at me. A goddess! How do you think I felt, Eryx? You think you're somehow better than me? I've punished mortals for centuries for their hubris. I'm not above punishing you."

"I'll go with you now. Forever.” He turned at the sound of Maia's cry, and then turned back, drained of all color.

"How do I know I can trust you to stay? You have a god's strength. How do I know you won't just walk away one day?"

He gestured toward Dino and Sheila. “Let them go, as well as Maia's father, and I'll prove it to you."

Nemesis stared long and hard at him. Then something in her cold gaze softened, became almost girlish and hopeful. Maia almost felt sorry for her. Almost. God only knew she understood the pull Eryx could have on someone.

Nemesis waved her hand toward the toothy creature. With a hiss, he disappeared and Dino and Sheila tumbled to the ground. Unhurt, and blessedly unconscious. “Your father is released,” the goddess said to Maia, even as she turned to Eryx. “Now, prove it."

Eryx breathed in deeply and began to mutter something in an ancient tongue. Even within the confines of the museum, winds whipped up from out of nowhere, surrounding him. As he chanted his strange words, his body began to sway, caught up in a spell so powerful it was mesmerizing.

Maia felt Dionysus stiffen behind her, as the other gods gasped. “What's he doing?” she demanded. “Tell me!"

Dionysus went white. “He's giving up his immortality."

"He can do that?” She watched, horrified, as the cyclone made his body lurch. His eyes rolled back into his head, and still he spoke the words that were his undoing. “Can't you do something?"

"It's already too late,” Apollo whispered, grief-stricken.

The wind picked up Eryx's limp body at the same time a blinding, white-hot light flashed through the darkened chamber. His body was tossed up high, like a plastic bag caught in a tempest, and then it was dashed to the ground in a heap.

For many minutes, he lay there as the others watched, unable to move or speak. Then, slowly and with obvious pain, he lifted his head toward Maia.

And smiled.

Maia felt her body convulse with sorrow. He was mortal. Still so beautiful, but clearly mortal. He didn't glow anymore, didn't radiate his wonderful heat. And he looked tired and worn.

But always beautiful.

He'd sacrificed himself for her.

Nemesis crept toward him. “I can't believe you did it."

"Make no mistake,” he said, fixing her with his weak gaze. “I didn't do it for you."

She stiffened at the insult, but a sly grin spread across her wickedly perfect face as she looked over to Maia. “Enjoy the freedom your lover bought for you, mortal.” Then, placing a delicate hand on Eryx's shoulder, she said, “Stupid man. You'll never escape me now."

With another gust of wind, they were gone.

Maia collapsed against Dionysus, as her world fell into shadow.

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Maia cracked her eyes open just a sliver to see if anyone was still in the hospital room. Watching her. They were always watching her. Her dad, Dino, Sheila. Other family members and colleagues from the museum. They all wandered in at various times, talking in hushed tones and waiting for her to wake up.

She didn't ever want to wake up again.

He was gone.

She squeezed another tear from between her gunky eyelids. The nurse hadn't washed her face yet today, and her eyes were crusted in sleep. Good. It made it easier to keep them closed.

She heard voices in the hallway. Doctors and nurses. Always talking about her. Saying how sad it was one so young could be so ... catatonic. Wasted. Dead inside.

Of course, none of them knew what had happened inside the museum. She barely knew herself.

She heard them mention something about time. Had it really been a month since they'd brought her here? Two? She didn't know.

She didn't care.

If only she could shut out the images from that night and forget. But it was no good. Each time she closed her eyes, she saw him. Lying on the museum floor, mortal. Smiling at her.

And she never even told him how much she loved him before he did the unthinkable.

She'd killed a god. She'd killed her Eryx.

Agonized, she opened her eyes, wanting to banish the taunting image of him. But then another nurse shuffled into her room, blubbering something about a sponge bath, and she closed her eyes again.