Soulceress (The Mythean Arcana Series Book 2) (21 page)

She tapped her foot, then raised a hand as if she were going to cast a spell at him.
 

“Fine. I made a fire for him.”

The Chairman
did
like fires. “And...?”

“Might have opened a tuna can. He can open the fridge himself and get whatever meat is inside, but the tuna can was giving him trouble.”

This big warrior had opened a tuna can for her cat? A cat he used to hate? What the hell was going on here? Lies and manipulation, while mending her jacket and feeding her cat?

Overwhelmed, she spun around and headed over to another group of spectators to fuel up on more power and get some space to try to ground herself after such startling revelations. If the Chairman wanted to be a traitor for a fire and some tuna, he was his own cat. If she were honest with herself, she couldn’t blame him.

Warren watched Esha storm off and cursed.

“Why are you such an asshole?” A feminine voice demanded from behind him.

He turned to see the small blonde who’d tossed the caber so far. She was slight and pale, but an angry energy radiated from her and made her appear far larger. Apparently she’d snuck up on him while he’d been watching Esha.

“You’re Esha’s friend?” Warren asked.
 

“Yeah. And the Celtic goddess of victory, so you’d best not be messing with my friend or I’ll make you regret it.”

“You’re Andrasta.”
 

“Yeah, you got that right.” She stuck out her chin. She was an antagonistic little thing, with speech that was far more modern than most gods’.

“What’s your problem?” he asked.

“You. I watched you from the other side of the field. What’d you say to Esha to make her storm off?”

“I probably put my foot in my mouth.”

She stepped back, as if surprised by his admission, but recovered quickly. “You do that a lot, from what I hear.”

Esha had told her about him? “Aye, I’ve been known to.”

She scowled and tapped her foot, taking his measure.

“So, you know about Esha’s past,” he said. He didn’t understand her, but he wanted to. She wasn’t pissed that he’d fed the cat; it ate anything it could get its paws on. Once he’d even heard her tell it they’d order pizza soon and that it could have half Hawaiian.

So why hadn’t she liked the fact that he’d been nice to her cat? He’d done it because the beast had grown on him when he realized how important it was to Esha’s health and happiness, but she’d been upset by an innocuous deed. As she’d been upset last night, ready to jump to the worst conclusion about him.

A conclusion he deserved. He’d been a lying bastard. But even before she knew the extent of his lies, she’d been ready to write him off. Why was trust so hard for her?

“Why is she so...” He gestured with his hands, trying to explain her.

“Awesome?”

“Nay. I mean, aye, she is. But no’ that. Why is she so—ah—difficult?”

“Difficult? You mean, wary? Tough? Prickly like a porcupine?”
 

“Aye. She doesn’t trust easily. At all, really.”

Andrasta’s eyes lit up. “Because you are all assholes.” She gestured wildly with her hands. “Every single one of you at that university is a giant asshole. Except that new girl, Diana. Esha said she doesn’t suck.”

“What the hell?”

The goddess, who looked more like a pissed-off college student, grabbed an arrow out of thin air and twirled it in her fingers, faster and faster as she scowled at him. She chewed on her lip, clearly thinking of what to say next.

“Esha cherishes her badassery. It’s her armor. I’m not going to give anything away that threatens that. But think about this... What if every Mythean in the world treated you like shit because of something you couldn’t control? Everywhere you went, you were met with sidelong glances or outright disgust? For her, it started as soon as she came into her power, with some stupid boyfriend who ditched her, and it only got worse. She doesn’t even actually hurt anyone.”

As he’d suspected. “But her power reaping...?”

“Oh fates, don’t call it
reaping.
How creepy is that? Like that guy in the black cape that some mortals believe in. Who is he? The grim reaper? You’re comparing her to the freaking death guy when you do that. Anyway, it doesn’t actually hurt people. Makes them a little weak for a while. Maybe they won’t win their next fight. But if they don’t get into one, it doesn’t ever matter anyway.”

“I never—”

“Yeah, you didn’t know, because she doesn’t get power off you. She told me. But you still hate her for something she can’t control, and it doesn’t even affect you.”

“I doona hate her.” The opposite—more every day. “But she doesn’t care that other people doona like her. She relishes it, from the way she acts.” But that wasn’t true now. He was just fighting it because it made him realize how badly he’d probably hurt her.
 

And how much she probably wanted Aurora as a friend. Aurora had played her so well. And him. Dangling the one thing Esha truly wanted in front of them both.
 

Once, he wouldn’t have cared whether Esha got what she wanted. Now, he wanted nothing more than to fill her days with friends, to show her that they’d all been wrong about her.

When the hell had he become such a sap?
It was threatening his end goals, which truly were a matter of life or death. Not for him, but for her as well.

Andrasta confirmed his suspicions when she said, “Yeah, because she has to. She’s pretended that she likes it until it has almost become a reality. She comes off all
I don’t care
and badass to protect herself—it’s really not that hard to figure out. But deep down, it kills her. And lately, her shell has been cracking. I think it bothers her more than ever. Anyway, the moral of the story is that you’re an asshole. Try not to be.” With a smile that was more a snarl, she strode off toward Esha. Briefly, she turned around to say, “Oh, and go fuck yourself.”

Warren heaved a sigh and rocked back on his heels. What a bitch. With a grin, he realized that he liked her. And that Esha was so much more complex than he’d realized. Beneath her tough exterior, years of rejection had her ready to be disappointed, ready to mistrust, ready to run.
 

He’d lived down to her poor expectations. Hurt had shone through the anger in her blazing eyes last night. She hated being feared. Being despised for what she was. Decades of rejection had her looking for it at every turn, and he’d obliged. He hadn’t meant it. His panic had been about his own fucked-up self. But how was she to know that? And when she was so damaged, how was he to convince her?

Esha frowned at the sight of Ana walking away from Warren. She’d been watching the hill race and absorbing the power of the spectators when she’d caught sight of the pair of them out of the corner of her eye. What had they been talking about? Ana was headed toward her, and she picked up her pace when she got closer.

“Esha!” Ana called, a broad smile stretched across her face. She flung herself into Esha’s arms for a hug when she reached her, and Esha grinned broadly. They pulled apart. Damn, it was good to see Ana, even if it had been a short while since she’d seen her last. With her life acting so crazy all of a sudden, the familiar felt even better.
 

“You wipe the floor with them?” Esha nodded toward the caber field.

“Yeah. Almost didn’t, but pulled it out in the end.”

“As you do. How long are you out of Otherworld for?”

“Another hour or so.”

“Too bad it can’t be longer.”
 

Ana shook her head and danced nervously on nimble feet. “No. Things are happening in Otherworld.”

Esha frowned at the look on Ana’s face. She was scared. “What is it? What can I do?”

“I don’t think you can do anything. But I think Camulos might be alive.”

“What?” The word came out in a near-screech. “No, that’s terrible.” Fear made her skin prickle. The god whom Ana had killed was still alive? He’d want vengeance on her friend.
 

“I don’t know what to think. I don’t know how he could still be alive. I thought I killed him. But I can feel him, and I couldn’t before. I came here to the Games to see if anyone had heard anything, but they haven’t. I don’t know where he is, but he could be after me. He might want his godhood back.” Ana’s mouth was pinched in fear.

Esha’s stomach dropped. To get his godhood back, he’d have to kill Ana. Nothing could happen to her best friend. She wouldn’t let it. “He won’t get to you. He won’t. I’ll help you.”

“You’ve got stuff to deal with.”

“I can fit it in. I can always fit it in for you.”

Ana smiled, reached out, and squeezed her hand. “Thanks. I don’t think he can aetherwalk. So few can. As long as he can’t, I’ve got a huge advantage. I’m on my guard here, and I’m protected in Otherworld.”

“Seriously, Ana, if you need me, I’ll be there.”

“I know. If I learn more, I’ll let you know.”
 

“Swear?”

“Yeah. But more important, what’s up with Warren?”

“Things are a mess, of course. What were you two talking about?”

“He wanted to know about you. I gave him hell, but I don’t get what your deal is with him.”

“No deal. He can’t see past what I am, and I’m too smart to deal with that kind of shit.” The words sounded false even in her own ears.

“Are you sure? Because he was asking about you. I think he was trying to understand you.”

Really? She scowled at the little burst of hope. “It doesn’t matter. We’re a mess, and we can’t seem to meet on equal ground. It’s bound to end in disaster.”

“Maybe. Or maybe you’re just waiting for people to reject you.”

“Can you blame me?”

Ana sighed and looked away. “Well, no. But I think Warren might be different.”

“I wish
.” And I wish I were different.
 

She felt like she was drowning in this situation, unable to figure out Warren’s motivations and feelings and unable to interpret her own. All she knew was that he made her feel crazy. And she hated that. Worse, he was still determined to kill Aurora. “It doesn’t matter anyway. He’s been lying about Aurora, the other soulceress. Apparently she wants to see me specifically. And he won’t budge on sparing her life, even when he knows how important it is to me. It’s a deal breaker, so there’s really not much to be done.”

“Bastard.”

“Yeah. But it’s cool. It sets me straight on how this is going to go—all business from here on out. And the first thing on the list is finding Aurora and keeping Warren away from her. I’m not going to worry about him anymore. It was a bad idea in the first place.” He made her too freaking melodramatic, crying and yelling and throwing all kinds of fits that weren’t normal for her. It was unacceptable, and frankly, it freaked her out.

“Yeah, good idea,” Ana said.

Esha could tell from her voice that Ana didn’t believe her. Worse, she wasn’t sure she believed herself.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

“That puddle jumper is supposed to get us to Iceland?” Esha asked.

“Aye. It’ll do fine. The university has been using it for years,” Warren said.
 

The pilot gestured to them from the small set of stairs that led up to the university’s private jet, and he started forward across the rain-darkened tarmac of the small Mythean airstrip on the south side of Mull.