Fort Morgan (26 page)

“
But, father!” Zeus
whined.

“
Son, we’ve spoken about
this,” Cronus said.

“
Seriously?” Zeus asked.
“You’re going to confront me in open court?”

Fin moved in front of Tanesha, and Jill
moved closer to Perses. The tension in the court rose. Jill felt
someone move behind her. Turning, she saw an elderly man who shared
the look of her father. He gave her a kind, grandfatherly
smile.

“
Do you even know what the
issue is?” Zeus asked.

Cronus glanced at Perses.

“
I’ll tell you,” Zeus
said. “Eros gave his responsibility and powers to his daughter
Hedone.”

Zeus gestured to Heather.

“
She was granted one human
lifetime by Perses,” Zeus said. “Fair enough. But she’s been shot,
and I want her back in court.”

“
I see,” Cronus nodded.
Her pursed his lips and scowled. “Eros gave her all of his powers
and responsibility.”

“
Yes,” Zeus
said.

“
I’m sorry, Perses,”
Cronus said. “I feel your pain — you know I do — but you see our
dilemma.”

“
I see a young woman who
wishes to see her children grow up!” Perses said.

Jill sensed another presence. She glanced to
her right to see a woman who looked almost identical to the
grandfatherly man. She gave Jill a soft smile, and moved so that
Jill was slightly behind but between her and her twin.

“
These two,” the woman
said in a low voice, “they never got along.”

Unable to speak, Jill nodded.

“
The elder one killed our
father,” the man said. “Then ate his children.”

“
Despicable business,” the
woman said. “This one managed to survive.”

“
You can see why they
don’t get along,” the man said.

Jill nodded. A woman wearing a gorgeous
feathered gown and hat walked up to Perses and gave him a hard hug.
He kissed her cheek.

“
His wife,” the man
said.

Jill looked surprised.

“
Not a love marriage,
child,” the woman said. “Arranged.”

Behind her father’s wife stood a younger
woman wearing a gorgeous outfit that looked like it was made out of
leaves with a pine bough across her waist. She wore a moon pendant.
She winked at Jill and hugged Perses.

“
Their child, Hecate,” the
man said.

She touched Fin’s shoulder. He turned toward
her touch and threw himself into her arms. They were talking and
laughing.

“
Father, you agree with
me?” Zeus asked.

“
I do,” Cronus
said.

“
They are
really. . .” the woman near Jill said.

“
. . . awful
when they agree,” the man said.

Jill glanced at him. He nodded. She saw him
wiggle his finger.

“
I have something that
might change your mind,” Tanesha said in a clear voice.

Tanesha stepped forward. She held up an old
juice bottle filled with a grey mist. Jill gasped. Zeus sneered at
her. He glanced at his father, and Cronus shrugged.

“
How is it that you’re
speaking?” Zeus asked. Shaking his head, he yelled, “Uncle
Crius!”

“
The child deserves to
speak, Zeus,” the man standing near Jill said.

“
You started this drama,
dear,” the woman standing near Jill said. “Why shouldn’t this child
speak?”

“
Aunt Eurybia!” Zeus said.
“Dad!”

Cronus turned to Crius and Eurybia. Brooding
looks passed among the siblings.

“
I will open this!”
Tanesha said.

She put her hand at the top of the
bottle.

“
Why is she talking?” Zeus
whined.

Hera turned her attention to Tanesha. One
moment, the Goddess was at the throne, and, the next moment she was
standing in front of Tanesha. Hera put her face next to the bottle.
With her back to the court and Zeus, she gave Tanesha an impish
grin before whipping around.

“
My Zeus, Princess Tanesha
is holding a bottle full of serpent dust,” Hera said.

Both the Titans and the Greeks gasped. The
host of Gods and Goddesses became silent. All attention was on
Tanesha.

“
I will use it!” Tanesha
said.

“
We should let her,” Crius
said to his twin Eurybia. Eurybia laughed.

Jill scowled at her father’s parents and
walked to Tanesha. She put her hand on Tanesha’s arm. Tanesha
turned to look at Jill, who smiled. Jill glanced at her
grandfather, Crius, and he nodded.

“
Sir,” Jill
said.

“
Why is she talking?” Zeus
whined.

Hera patted his hand in a “There, there”
gesture.

“
Sir,” Jill said again.
“Why do you wish to keep Hedone here?”

Zeus looked at Jill. He glanced at Perses
before looking at his father.

“
Have you met her father?”
Zeus asked.

Jill and Tanesha chuckled and nodded.

“
Hedone is such a joy to
have around,” Zeus said. “She’s funny and friendly. She always has
something nice to say about everyone. She rarely hogs the
limelight.”

“
She’s wonderful,” Tanesha
agreed.

“
Her father on the other
hand. . .”

Zeus shook his head. The host of Titans and
Greeks groaned in agreement.

“
It’s not more complicated
than that,” Zeus said with a shrug.

Causing trouble

Saturday mid-day — 12:15 pm

New York City, New York

Ivan woke with a jolt and
thought:
“Where am I?”

He had no idea. The stabbing pain behind his
eyes indicated that he’d slept only a few hours. He leaned up on
one elbow to look around. Shaking his head, he still had no idea.
He lay down and stared at the ceiling. He was lying on a soft bed
and covered with clean, expensive linens. The room was dark, but
daylight shone around the edges of the curtains.

He closed and opened his eyes. Bracing for
the light, he flipped on the lamp on the table next to his bed. He
gasped against the searing pain. His hand fumbled for his inside
eyewear on the bedside table and silently cursed the man who’d done
this to him.

Then he remembered. Bruno
had said that his boss was on his way to take care of his son. Ivan
smiled and wished the boss Godspeed. His mother’s voice jumped into
his head the moment he made the
wish
.

“
Don’t let them take your
beauty, your light,” his mother had repeated over and over again.
“Don’t hope for bad things — or you become bad things.”

Ivan smiled. He remembered how beautiful she
was that day. It was the first time he’d seen his mother as a
beautiful woman. Of course, her bright star was no match for the
dark of his sister’s destruction. And who had shared the news? The
man who’d destroyed his sister and Ivan.

“
That’s a thought
circle.”

Sissy’s voice popped into
his mind. She had been ten and interested in all manners of circles
from crop circles to spinning in circles
en pointe
. She’d told him all about
the futility of thinking in circles. Rather than admit she was
right, he’d just made her work harder. He grinned at the
memory.

And then he remembered what his heart had
kept from him.

As if it were happening in
front of him, he watched Sissy turn slightly when she threw her
heavy bag onto her shoulder. She’d jerked as the bullets went
through her. She fell face first onto her
bag
. His heart constricted in his
chest. The tiny cuts on his face burned
from
the tears running down his
face.

He knew where he was. He
was at the mysterious Bestat
Behur
’s apartment in New York City.
He’d spent the night by Sissy’s side at the hospital. When she was
moved from the ICU to a room, he’d returned to this apartment for a
few hours of rest.

He sucked in a breath. And
then another.
Getting up, he took
a shower — hot water and expensive soap across his scarred skin;
fragrant shampoo through what was left of his hair; a plush towel
to dry with; and another to wrap around himself.
He glanced at his naked form in the mirror. He’d
lost fat since coming to New York. He would have to eat more in the
next few days. This automatic assessment rattled unnoticed in his
head. He stepped into the room where he’d slept.

There was a fresh pot of
hot coffee sitting on the desk. He went to the
pot
and saw a small white
notecard with a letterpress BB at the top.

“
She’s improving,” the
note said. It was written in a flowing script by
a strong
hand.
“One more day, and she’ll be out of the woods.”

Ivan closed his eyes to say a short prayer
of gratitude Sissy’s health and a longer prayer that the evil man
who’d paid someone to shoot Sissy would pay a hundred fold for all
he’d done.

“
Yes, mother, yes,” Ivan
said as the mother in his head started up again.

He went to the closet to
dress. No ballet today. He put on what he called the
“
danceur
uniform”: black jeans, black turtleneck, and black dress
boots. He went to the dresser to grab his black socks, but found
that, once again, Sissy had stolen his “boring” socks. She had
replaced them with
vibrantly
colored socks adorned with
cartoon animals. His hand closed around the bright blue socks with
small yellow ducks on them. They were Sissy’s favorite.

Smiling to himself, he pulled on the socks
and zipped up his boots. He ran a hand through his hair and went
out into the apartment. He found Bestat in the living room with her
infant daughter. He wasn’t sure why, but the idea that Bestat could
create another being as powerful as herself always made him
uneasy.

“
Have you heard
from. . .” he started as he entered the room.

Bestat turned to look at him. She nodded to
a corner of the room where Seth O’Malley was sitting.

“
. . .Seth.” The
word
came
off his tongue before his eyes processed that the man was
sitting in front of him. “Sir.”

“
Ivan.” Seth got up from
his chair. “What a horrible night.”

“
I’m sorry, sir,” Ivan
said. He allowed Seth to give him a fast hug. “I was unable
to. . .”

“
I’ve read the police
reports and spoken
to
the guards,” Seth said. “There was nothing anyone
could have done.”

“
Yes,” Ivan said. “I’ve
heard.”

Seth smiled. He looked into Ivan’s face for
a moment.

“
I understand
congratulations are in order,” Ivan said.

Seth smiled.

“
She is a wonderful girl,”
Ivan said. “It is my sincere hope that you will be
very happy
.”

“
Mine, too,” Seth said
with a laugh. Ivan grinned.

“
Shouldn’t you be with
your bride?” Ivan asked.

“
Oh,
you know me,” Seth said. “I’m not much of a
honeymoon kind of guy.”

“
He’s cocky enough to
believe that every day with him was a honeymoon,” Bestat
purred.

Seth burst out laughing. Ivan smiled before
looking away.

“
Sir, I. . .”
Ivan glanced at the man before looking down at the carpet.
This man had rescued him from the gulag,
allowed him to stay in his home while he recovered, set him up as a
ballet tutor, and stood by him when he had felt his most
alone.
“Sir. . .”

Seth grinned at Ivan.

“
So this ballerina,” Seth
said. “I understand she’s a screamer.”

The tone of his voice was so irreverent that
Bestat gasped a laugh. Ivan gave him a sheepish grin.

“
I’m afraid she’s caused
us some trouble,” Seth said.

“
Sabrina?” Ivan shook his
head. He couldn’t imagine what type of
trouble
the dimwitted ballerina
could cause. “What has happened?”

“
She told the ballet that
you were married to Sissy,” Seth said.

“
So what?” Ivan
asked.

“
They would like to speak
with you,” Seth said. “And me.”

“
Why?”

“
The usual bullshit,” Seth
said.

Ivan nodded and wondered
which usual bullshit Seth was referring to — power plays by
ballerinas? Money hungry ballet administrations? Horrifying
negative
publicity?
Backstabbing
danceurs
? While none of it was easy,
it came with the job. He’d never cared much about this kind of
drama. He shrugged.

“
They feel the need to
separate the two of you,” Seth said. “They are concerned that you
lied to them about the nature of your relationship with Sissy. They
also say that they cannot hold Sissy’s place while she
recovers.”

Ivan scowled.

“
It seems so petty,”
Bestat said.