Fates' Folly (5 page)

Hades took her hand, and with a tenderness I
would have thought impossible of him, kissed it. "Thank you," he
whispered. Then, still holding his wife's hand, eyes now back to
deep blue, he turned to Riley and me. "I understand why you acted
as you did Caisus Black, but now I am left with a ward, and I still
have a rogue soul collector on the loose."

"I will find Sebastian," Riley said.

Hades smiled. "I know you will, and before
Peter gets his saintly hands on him." He turned to me. "I would
like nothing better than to stick you in Tartarus and never see you
again, Myra Jane Collier, but as my wife has reminded me, you are
my responsibility- one that cannot easily be hidden away with Zeus,
The Fates, and all of Olympus watching my every move."

Persephone leaned over to whisper in Hades'
ear, bringing a slow predatory smile to his face. Still staring at
me he said, "Riley, you will see to her training so she may
eventually take Sebastian's place. And to show her readiness to
serve as one of my Assassins she will be ready to prove herself at
the Olympian Trials."

Riley took a deep breath, then answered, "I
will do my best."

Hades laughed, "No Riley. She will prove
herself to be more than adequate, or I will prove how much of an
asshole I can truly be. Leave."

Riley and I skedaddled out of Hades' lair.
I'm not really sure what skedaddled means, but my high school art
teacher use to say it, and I liked her- and the way it sounded much
better than hauled ass.

Carrie started asking questions as we ran
through the doorway, but Riley was in a get- out- of- hell fast
mode, so all I managed was a squeak before he jerked us back to my
apartment.

"Don't ever do that again- at least not
without a couple of tequila shots or a chocolate moon pie, or both.
Now that I think about it, it will have to be both," I said, bent
over, waiting for my internal organs to shift back into place.

"You are insane. Do not ever do that again,"
Riley said, though I wasn't really listening.

"I don't know about you Riley, but I don't
think my body can take doing that again. Right now my muscle and
fat are proportional but one more time with the move the molecule
dance, and I'm scared my fat will be displaced, and not in a
favorable fashion. Now if it ends up in my boobs, we might not have
anything to argue about, but truth be told, my rear-"

Riley put his hand over my mouth. "This is
important. Do not ever insult Hades again. It is true that you are
immortal now, but that doesn't mean you won't feel pain. Making you
compete in the Olympian Trials was mild compared with what he could
have done. You were very fortunate Persephone intervened. Though
why she intervened and what it means for your future is worrisome
in itself."

I pushed Riley's hand away. "Maybe she was
being nice," I said.

"She is a god. They do not do nice."

"Should I be worried?" I asked, worried.

"No, not yet, but I would be cautious in the
future."

Yay for me. "Well, I'm not sorry I called
Hades an asshole. He was being an asshole. God or not, I told
myself a long time ago I would not let anyone, especially any man,
treat me badly."

Riley shook his head. "You may want to
rethink that when you've been skinned and hung by hooks on display
in Hades' meeting room for the months it will take you to
heal."

I shrugged my shoulders. "Maybe." I didn't
really think so though. Making that promise to myself had been what
I would call a hinge moment. It made it possible for me to shut the
door on some of the more painful memories from my childhood, and I
don't think even horrific torture could make me want to open that
door again.

I sat down in my orange chair and swiveled. I
always swivel when I first sit down in my favorite chair. It makes
me happy. Who doesn't like to spin?

Riley was watching me with- if I interpreted
his furrowed eyebrows, clenched jaw and thinned lips correctly- a
somewhat exasperated look on his face.

"What?"

"Why aren't you hyperventilating or crying?
You should be reacting in some dramatic display of fear."

Okay I guess the look was more perplexed than
exasperated. I've always been a little off with emotional body
cues- probably why I suck at poker.

"I don't know. I asked Carrie if it was all
real, and she said yes." I shrugged- something I was doing a lot of
lately. "I believed her."

"Why didn't you think she was a figment of
your imagination?"

"A three headed dog, shaped like a man, with
perfect breasts, dressed like a woman? Come on, I know I got bombed
last night, but even I can't make up something like that."

"I have served as one of Hades' Assassins for
well over a thousand years. Every soul I have taken has reacted,
most in fear, some with joy, but all have reacted. Other than your
few minutes of cowering in the cave, you have not had a reaction-
it's suspicious."

"Look, first off I don't really grasp my
predicament. Second, you can't assume that because I'm a woman I'll
handle stress by having a good cry or acting out dramatically,
that's so stereotyping."

"How do you handle stress?"

I got up and started walking into the
kitchen. "Chocolate."

I didn't have any of my stash left, so I
decided to make cookies. Riley followed me into the kitchen. He sat
in one of the kitchen chairs, immediately rocking back, balancing
on two of the legs as he watched me gather ingredients.

"I love cookies. Chocolate chip is my
favorite-sweet, salty and crunchy." I got out butter, flour, sugar,
semi-sweet chocolate chips and pecans. "I would be hanged if I did
not put home grown Georgia pecans in my cookies," I said to Riley,
tossing the plastic container of pecans in front of him where it
slid off the table into Riley's hand.

"Good catch."

"It's almost an insult that you thought I
wouldn't catch it."

"It's not that I thought you wouldn't catch
it. I was just happy that you did."

"You are very unusual," he said

"One of a kind my mama always said." Of
course, I don't think she meant it as a compliment.

"So what happens next?"

"I continue my search for Sebastian, find a
trainer to help you prepare for the Olympian Trials and find
somewhere to sleep."

I started digging through the utensil drawer,
looking for measuring cups.

"You could sleep here." I stopped mid search-
what the hell did I just say? My throat tightened, and I couldn't
catch my breath. "Holy shit, holy… shit… holy… shhh …"

Riley stuck a white cardboard box in my face.
"Breathe. Deep. In. Out. In. Deep breath. Out. Close your eyes, and
focus on your breaths," he said in a low calming voice.

I did. I closed my eyes and breathed into the
box, only thinking of each breath and the sweet smell coming from
the inside of the box that had held snack cakes only hours before,
until I calmed down enough to feel stupid. I opened my eyes.

Riley was bent over, his eyes meeting mine.
"Are you okay?"

"Yes," I said, taking one last breath of
yumminess before crumpling the box and putting it in the trash,
hoping we could forget the last five minutes.

Riley backed away from me, claiming his seat
at the breakfast table. "You're sure you're alright?" he asked.

I returned to the utensil drawer. "Yes, I'm
fine," I said, finally finding the stack of red plastic measuring
cups and the matching measuring spoons.

I set them on the table in front of a smiling
Riley, who was again balancing on the legs of the chair. I started
measuring out the flour, ignoring Riley, who was still grinning
from ear to ear. I grabbed a teaspoon and measured out the salt and
baking soda, and Riley snickered. I stirred the dry ingredients,
and he snickered again.

Obviously he wasn't going to shut up until I
asked, "What the hell is so funny?"

Riley rocked the chair forward, putting his
arms on the table in front of him. "Within twelve hours you've had
your soul ripped from your body, been made immortal, met one of the
most vicious monsters of all time, survived insulting one god and
being saved by another, all without any real concern or fear, only
to have a full blown panic attack because you offered for me to
stay at your place. It's funny- odd, unexpected, and somewhat
unsettling, but still funny."

"So basically, you think it's funny that I
don't fit into your idea of what is supposedly typical human
behavior, and even though it could be because of my horrible
childhood that I react so differently from the norm, it's okay to
laugh at me."

Riley laughed, "Yep, pretty much."

I grabbed a wooden spoon and started smashing
butter into the mixing bowl. "Well if you think my reaction is
funny, wait until Mrs. Crowell finally keels over and arrives at
the river Styx instead of the Pearly Gates," I said, adding
sugar.

"Actually, she would not be under Hades'
rule," he said, opening the pecans and stealing a few.

"Well damn. Why not?" I asked, as I stirred
in the eggs and vanilla.

"It's not easy to explain."

I started adding the dry ingredients.
"Explain anyway," I said, putting the bowl down and switching
hands.

Riley leaned forward and took the bowl and
wooden spoon from me, which was a relief because my arms were
killing me.

"The deities only exist as one believes," he
said, as he set the bowl of virginal cookie dough on the table.

"Huh? I'm an art teacher, Riley. I can
bullshit with the best of them about what made Van Gogh insane but
brilliant, but I don't know anything of religion or philosophy. The
only thing our family bible was ever used for was a booster seat
when I was two."

Riley walked around the table. "It's hard to
explain."

He pointed his index finger at me.

"Hey, get that finger away from me buddy! I
do not allow fingers pointing at me anymore," I said, backing
away.

Riley stopped. "It's called an immortal
touch."

"I don't care what it's called. After your
psycho co-worker touched my forehead and I died, there will be no
more fingers doing any fingering to this girl."

Riley laughed.

"You know what I meant," I said, pushing his
hand away.

"Myra, Sebastian couldn't have taken your
soul by immortal touch. He probably used it to make you more
compliant. That's what I usually use it for. I know it's hard to
believe but most newly departed aren't happy to see me. It can also
be used to impart information. It is especially helpful when the
information is an all-encompassing concept or thought."

"Such as?"

"Such as, showing mortal souls the entirety
of their lives and how their actions affected the mortal world.
It's not a linear thought process- it's more of a holistic approach
to understanding.”

"How did Sebastian take my soul then?"

"I don't know. I guess that's one of the
things I'll need to find out."

"What did Hades say?"

"He didn't. Will you let me do this?" he
asked, moving his index finger in a circle towards me.

I really didn't want him to touch me, but I
didn't think he would hurt me. "Okay. I don't know why, and it's
totally against my nature, but I trust you."

"I think a familial bond formed between us
when I returned your soul to your body. It has affected me as well.
Believe it or not, I'm not usually this jovial."

"Familial?" I smiled. "Okay, Uncle Riley,
give me the juice."

Riley touched my forehead with his index
finger. I expected pain, heat, flashes of light, something on the
lines of what happened before when Sebastian had touched me.

But I guess knowledge is a subtle thing,
because all I felt was a gentle push- a warm breeze swirling in my
head, carrying words and understanding that fluttered and teased
until they settled into conscious thought.

Riley sat back down, crunching another pecan
before he asked, "How do you feel?"

I had to think for a minute, amazed at being
able to instantly comprehend something that I didn't really have
the vocabulary to explain. "I don't know, weird?" I said, feeling
knowledgeable and dumb at the same time.

Riley folded his hands behind his head. "Can
you explain it?"

I've always been a visual learner, so I took
five small candy dishes and some other ingredients out of the
cabinet and spread them out on the table in front of Riley.

"Okay," I said, putting my hands into the
bowl of cookie dough. "This is God, the creator, the all-powerful,
higher power, giant soul in the sky."

Riley rolled his eyes.

"Hey, you didn't give me any real knowledge
on what …" I waved my hands around my head, "GOD, for lack of a
better word, is."

Riley popped another handful of pecans into
his mouth and nodded for me to continue.

"Now, as I was saying," I held up the ball of
cookie dough, "this is GOD." I pulled a chunk of cookie dough off
and put it into one of the candy dishes, sprinkling chocolate chips
on top. "This is Christianity."

Riley raised an eyebrow. I continued pulling
off more cookie dough and filled another candy dish. I added a
tablespoon of oatmeal and peanut butter. "This is New Age."

I filled the third candy dish with dough,
this time adding almonds I had found in the back of my baking
cabinet. "This is Islam."

"Chocolate covered almonds?" Riley asked.

"Work with me please." I filled the fourth
candy dish with dough and pecans. "Pretend the pecans are olives.
Anyway, this would be Greek mythology."

"Yogurt would have been good," Riley
said.

I ignored him. "The point is, they all have
part of the dough, or GOD, as their main ingredient. Adding a
different ingredient can completely change the taste of the cookie,
but they all begin with the same dough." I smiled, feeling quite
pleased with my little object lesson.