The Immortal Game (book 1) (12 page)

“Why do you even stay here?” she asked, glad he did. “Don’t you have a home?” She knew he had an apartment, in the same building as Sage, but he never wanted to go there.

He snuggled deeper into the curve of her body. His hand slipped up inside her shirt. “I never liked that place,” he said kissing her neck and her earlobes. “I never stayed there anyway.”

“Where did you sleep?” she asked before she decided if she really wanted to know.

He pulled his hand flat against her stomach. “Never mind,” he said. “That’s over.”

She rolled to face him. “Where did you go?” she asked, remembering that he had always looked tired then.

His eyes darted past her.

“I was just curious,” she said. She wouldn’t press him. It was his business.

“I used to go to the war,” he said quickly. “I’d play chess until I couldn’t stand it anymore. Then I’d go to fight.”

She thought of the bullet wound in his chest and put her hand on the now healed skin there.

“I almost never got seriously injured,” he said. “I already knew I loved you that night. I got upset when you told me to leave. When you said …”

Ruby shook her head against the pillow. She didn’t want to hear what she had said.

“This cease-fire is surreal,” he said. “I’ve never heard it, or felt it, or sensed it so little.” He touched her face and stroked strands of hair behind her ear. “Wherever you are. That’s where I want to be.”

He pulled her tight again and settled his chin on the top of her head. Her cheek lay flat against his chest with the sound of his heart slow and steady in her ear. She dozed to the rhythm.

Later she woke with a start. “What time is it?” she said, trapped in Ash’s arms and unable to see the clock.

“I don’t know,” came his mumbled response.

She pulled away and sat up. She glanced at the clock on the nightstand. “Crap …” She threw off the blankets and ran down the hall.

She dressed in her room and ran back to Ash with her shoes in one hand. “I have to go. I’ll see you later.”

He sat up and the blankets fell away from his bare chest. “Where are you going?”

“Class,” she said, pulling her eyes away from his body. “I’m already late for chemistry.”

“Why are you going to class?”

She put one sneakered foot on the floor and began to wedge in the other foot. “If you want good grades it helps to go to class.”

“But— You won’t need any of that. Not on Olympus.”

She left her shoe half untied and let the laces fall to the floor. “Ash, I told you. I need to honor my father’s memory. There are still other wars in the world. Medics for Mercy sends help to all of them.”

“Ruby, you are helping people,” he said. “You have already saved lives. The peace talks are ahead of schedule.”

“I know that’s what you think. But
I
don’t control wars.
I
haven’t done anything.”

“Ruby …” He took her hand and hesitated.

She expected the same argument he had given her before: he needed her, he would fight Zeus for her, and if Apollo’s visions came true then it was high time for a change on Olympus anyway.

Instead he said, “But his dream
isn’t
your dream.”

She blinked.

“You loved your father and you miss him.” His voice was gentle. “But being a doctor won’t bring him back. Healing
everyone
on Earth will not bring him back.”

She sat heavily on the edge of the bed.

“You have to discover your own dream,” he said. “Whether you’re here or on Olympus.”

She glanced away. His answers felt too easy.

“I’m late,” she said. “I’ll see you later.”

…

This time there was no hesitation. Ruby flipped her test packet over and beamed down at the red ninety-eight in the corner. She thought of meeting Ash at the coffeehouse the night before the test. Had the god of war given her the power to ace her chemistry exam?

From what she was learning about gods, it didn’t work that way. It wasn’t him, at least not directly. It had come from within herself somewhere. Somewhere that he helped her to reach.

Dr. Reed tapped on the whiteboard to get the room’s attention. “Aldehydes …” he began.

After the lecture Mark caught up with her. His spikey hair was messier than usual. “Ruby, I …”

“Listen Mark, about the other day …” She realized that she had never got in touch with him about the exam.

“Yeah, who was that guy? I mean, it’s none of my business, but he seemed pretty intense.”

“He’s just a guy I met,” she said.

Mark fidgeted with one of the straps that hung down from his backpack.

“Thanks for the coffee,” she finally thought to say. “And for letting me know about my grade.”

“Yeah, no problem. We only have a few weeks to get ready for the final.” He dropped the strap and hitched the backpack higher onto his shoulder. “The group was thinking of a Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule. Does that work for you, or would longer weekend sessions be better?”

Cold air washed over them as she opened the door that led out to the quad, but what took Ruby’s breath away was how unappealing a tight studying schedule sounded. A few weeks ago she would have thought it smart, even necessary, but today it felt stifling. That kind of commitment would leave no time to go
do something.

“I don’t know, Mark. I have other classes too,” she said.

He blinked repeatedly, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the low autumn sun or from lack of comprehension.

“I mean, we should study,” she said quickly. “Obviously. I just can’t commit to a schedule right now.”

“Okaaay…” He drew the word out like he was buying time to deal with a deranged person. “The rest of the group is on board for Monday, Wednesday, Friday. We were waiting for you to vote on the format since you didn’t come last time and the phones are still down.”

“Thanks, but the group should probably go ahead and decide without me.”

He slowed his pace. “Are you quitting?”

“No,” she chuckled, mostly to get the sound of the word
quitting
out of her head. “I’m just not sure I can promise anything.”

Mark stopped walking. “Are you sure? They’ll give your spot to someone else. It already came up at the last meeting.”

She swallowed as she pictured them sitting around criticizing her for not showing. Her mind contrasted it with the feeling of free-falling from a railroad trestle in the woods. She turned to him. “I’m sure,” she said and kept walking.

…

After the initial euphoria of the cease-fire, the country fell into a comfortable rhythm of peace. People seemed to have more patience, fewer cars honked at her on her bike, more people smiled on the street. Even the clouds seemed a lighter grey than was normal for this late in the fall. But today a misty drizzle fell outside the plate glass windows at Athenaeum.

Ruby sat with her books, like she had always done, but instead of never looking up at the life around her, she now found it difficult to concentrate at all.

She glanced at Ash often, playing chess in the corner. If he caught her eye he would raise his eyebrows at her. It was his way of asking her if she wanted to play, or if she wanted him to sit with her while she studied. She knew that he would send his opponent packing if she gave even the smallest nod of her head.

She smiled, self-conscious of the way everyone at Athenaeum looked at her now. Ash’s girlfriend. “How did she get him?”
She heard people whisper. It made her smile, not because she knew the answer, but because she asked herself the same question.

Ruby’s foot tapped in time to the soft indie rock music that came from the radio behind the counter as she skimmed her history text. She wanted to know the basics of the Thirty Years War before she asked Ash about it. Movement caught the corner of her eye and she looked up with a start.

“Rubes,” Langston said, journal in one hand, ivy leaf in the other. Her eyes flew past him, to Ash, who was already standing and coming toward them.

Langston pulled out a chair and sat across from her. He sat back in his seat and crossed his legs. “Your body will wither with all this information, you know.” He said it as if they were picking up a friendly conversation. “Look at Sage. It’s practically ruined her complexion.”

Ruby glanced at Sage. Her skin was flawless and her lustrous curls swept her shoulders with her movements. Her grey eyes were bright as she talked to a customer about her latest literary find; some treasure she probably dug out of some basement to save from booklice or careless owners. The customer nodded a little too often for real interest.

“You have to be careful …” Langston paused. Her eyes shot back to him. The phrase, familiar, kicked something up from the depths of her mind. He smiled. “Your skin may never recover.”

“Thanks for the warning,” she said, and tried to keep her voice steady. “I’ll try not to overdo it.”

Langston hadn’t shown up at Athenaeum for days. Sage had gone to Olympus, but he hadn’t been there either. Ruby bit at her lip, not sure where this conversation was going. Not sure why he was here now, talking to
her
.

“Yes.” He drawled the word. “There are perils.”

Then Ash was there, thankfully. He sat with them and glanced once around the crowded coffeehouse, as though he were scoping the area for enemies.

“What do you want?” There was no patience in Ash’s voice.

“Just making sure Rubes understands the consequences of her choices.” Langston kept his eyes level with Ash’s. “But who am I to interfere with her plans. Medical school. Isn’t that right?” He looked at Ruby.

She wasn’t sure what to say. She and Ash were still at an impasse. She wanted him to stay on Earth with her and he wanted her to go to Olympus.

“Very good then,” Langston said. “You go to medical school and save a few lives. Ash can go home and end a few thousand more. Just like normal.”

Her jaw clenched.

Langston stood and left Ruby to glare at his back.

Ash leaned toward her. “Don’t let him get to you.” She was surprised that he was so calm. He had been worried while Langston was gone.

“He has a point.” Ruby didn’t make eye contact with him. She was suddenly angry at them both. “We
are
different.”

“No. We’re not.” He ducked his head and caught her eye before she could look away. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“I don’t know.” She sighed and sat back against the chair. It wasn’t him. She was tired. “I’m sorry. I didn’t sleep much.”

He studied her face. “Why not?”

“I’ve been having these dreams.” She rubbed at her eyes. “I can never really remember them, not the details. They’re just vaguely awful.”

His eyes narrowed. “Can you remember anything?”

“Snakes.” It was the first thing that came into her mind. She glanced at him. “And you,” she laughed, nervous to admit that she had bad dreams about him. “They don’t mean anything.”

“What else?”

Ruby’s eyes darted across the room to Langston.

Ash stood before she could say more, before she could stop him. He strode across the room to the taller god who also turned, as if he was expecting a confrontation.

Langston and Ash—Apollo and Ares—stared each other down. Customers glanced their way. The gods spoke low, barely controlling themselves in the room full of people.

Ruby suddenly worried for humanity. Would the world feel Ares’s anger?

She looked at Sage, who was still standing with the customer, but now her focus was on her brothers. Her eyes darted to Ruby and back again. Ruby wondered if she should intervene, but the idea of getting between two gods seemed crazy.

Ruby approached them warily and bit her lip.

“You, of all people, should understand,” Ruby heard Ash say in a low voice.

“I won’t let your carnal nature break Olympus apart,” Langston hissed. He turned away without looking at Ruby, and strode out the front door as if he had never come back in the first place.

Ash watched him go with his fists balled up at his sides.

…

“You should let me win,” Ruby said as she moved her bishop. She hadn’t beaten Ash since The Immortal Game, but she was getting better.

He looked up from the chess board. “Surrender?”

“I’m just saying that if you loved me you would let me win once in a while.” She smiled, trying to lighten his mood, hoping he would talk. He still hadn’t said anything about the fight he had earlier with Langston.

“I don’t lose. And I don’t give up. Not willingly.” He shook his head. “Not ever.”

“That seems like a character flaw,” she feigned seriousness.

He flinched. “A flaw?”

“Sure. You gotta ‘know when to fold ‘em,’” she quoted.

“Yeah?” He looked to the door, but it was near dark and no one had come or gone in a while.

“What did Langston say?” she asked, her anxiety overriding her patience. “What did you say?”

“He has to leave you alone,” he said as he moved his knight and took her rook. “He can’t invade your dreams like that. I won’t tolerate—”

He grunted and doubled over. A bestial moan, like something from a dark jungle, came from deep within him.

Ruby reached for his hand. A bolt of electricity came off his skin and rushed up her arm. “Ahh!” she cried and pulled away.

He cradled his head in both his hands.

“What is it?” She stood and went to his side, hovering over him. He grunted, and moved his chair out. The chair’s legs grated across the floor. Ash’s face was hidden in his hands.

“What can I do?” Her hands hovered over his shoulders, afraid to touch him, afraid of that feeling. But she needed to help him. She laid her palms flat on his back and tensed her muscles in anticipation of the pain.

When she touched him he relaxed for a moment, until she felt another jolt, a sizzling that came through his shirt. She had to let go. She couldn’t stand it.

He grunted again and Ruby was thankful that the few customers in the coffee shop were across the room from them. He stood and began to move away from her.

Ruby looked to Sage for help. But by the time Sage got to him he was halfway to the door. “What is it?” Sage demanded. But he kept walking, faster than her words could follow. In the next moment he was gone.