11. Sam
11
SAM
W aiting on top of an overpass was not my idea of a good time.
“Loki? Any movement through town?” Horus used the walkie-talkie that Loki had supplied us.
“Ten-four, good buddy.” Loki snickered. “I’ve always wanted to say that. I was a huge fan of BJ and the Bear. But, alas, nothing has come through our roadblocks. No trucks that were hauling god-killing material. Only eggs and fruit.” Loki sounded annoyed. Actually, both times I met him, that was all he sounded like.
“Got it. The highway has been incredibly quiet. If it doesn’t go through town, it has to be coming here.”
“I know that you moron. That’s why you’re there .” Loki droned as if he would prefer a root canal instead of communicating with any of us.
“Is he always so prickly?” I whispered to Apollo, who burst out in a cackle.
“Worse! Normally he’s trying to kill you if he’s not trying to fuck you. That guy’s the worst,” Apollo replied, but he said it with too much mirth. It just confused me.
“So, we don’t like him?”
“Zeus, no one likes Loki, but he’s doing the best he can.” He raised his eyebrows quizzically as he thought about it. “He’s actually seemed to turn a new leaf recently.”
“So, we do?”
“No, we don’t. But we no longer hate him completely.”
I was lost.
“Headlights,” Horus spoke like he was a general ever since he got the walkie-talkie. “Seems too small to be carrying the metal, but you never know.”
“Do we know how much metal they're bringing in? This whole thing just confuses me,” I huffed. It was getting chilly out here, and I hadn’t brought a heavy enough jacket. The weather had fallen at least ten degrees.
“The jury is still out on any questions you might have, Sam. The truth is that we don’t know. But it can’t be in the back of a sports car, I can assure you.” Apollo snickered as a red Camaro sped under us.
“Sorry, I just don’t know what it is I'm supposed to do.” I bit my bottom lip to stop myself from crying. Last night, I was in Hermes' arms, and all day, I had been in meetings about standing on top of an overpass. I was tired and pissy. I was completely useless, and everyone knew it. The only two people who treated me nicely, besides Hermes, were Syke and Kitty, and they weren’t here. I felt like a fool.
Apollo must have noticed and felt bad. He came over and put his arm around me.
“Sorry, I’m just stressed. I didn’t mean… Do you know what celestial bronze is? I guess you should now that you’re mated to my half-brother. Any idea?”
“No. I’ve never heard of it.”
“That’s because it does not exist – not in the world of man.”
“What do you mean?”
“Celestial bronze was mined in the depths of Tartarus and forged in the fires of the river Phlegethon. Have you ever been to Tarturus? Oh… Yeah, I know you haven’t, and you never want to go there. It’s a place of despair and pain, but the Cyclopes were allowed to mine there by a peace treaty created by the Titans, before my father cut them to pieces and threw them down in Tarturus. Things got weirder then. Our family tree is a shit show, trust me. You'll find out when you get invited to a family reunion. Anyway... Where was I? Oh, yeah. The Cyclopes continued their forging of the metal even if the Titans were sliced and diced. When Olympus began to fall from grace, Zeus had the forges closed down, and the Cyclopes left Tarturus and moved somewhere less ashy. I heard they moved to Easter Island. Who knows. Did you know that the Cyclopes are like my great-uncles?”
“What is… Why was it created?”
“It was made for only one purpose. Weapons that could kill magical beings, including gods. Hephaestus, another brother of mine, almost killed himself with a piece of celestial bronze. He was forging a weapon for one of our favorite demigods and sliced himself open. The wounds are very slow to heal for us. It’s almost like a poison.”
“I see. So it’s very dangerous for you?”
“It also conducts magic like a bitch. It’s an all-purpose, world-destroying metal. Honestly, I have no idea why the gods even wanted it created. It’s never brought us anything but annoyance and fear.”
“We had something different in Egypt. Of course, all of the god-slaying metals of all the different pantheons would work on all of us. Hell, we used to use them against each other back when we all tried to kill each other. Ours was mined from the Milky Way, which is and is not the same thing that we call the Milky Way today. It’s a celestial river, and we created metal from the stars, which was cooled in the Nile. It, too, was a bad idea for us to ever create. We gods never had anyone's best interests at heart, including our own. We were too far removed from the realities of what was actually happening in the Earthly realm. It was more of a playground for us.”
“Now we reap what we sow.” Apollo sounded so sad.
“And in the end, it may be the downfall of every living being on this planet we now all call home.” Horus sighed.
“Look over there.” Apollo stood up. “Is that a truck?”
“Looks like it. Not a semi, though. I’ll check it out. Here’s the walkie-talkie.” Horus handed it to me and ran towards the edge of the bridge before he jumped off.
I almost screamed.
A piercing cry shot through the night, and the most beautiful, giant, golden bird flew back into view. I had forgotten that someone said he could do that. His wings caught the moonlight, and he sailed over the highway.
Apollo and I stayed quiet as we waited for the signal.
Wait.
I had no idea what the signal was. Did Apollo? We’re flying blind here, and that was not a reference to Horus, who I knew wasn’t blind but was definitely flying after he turned into a bird, and…
Shit. Thoughts were racing through my brain, and I realized I was shaking. It was cold – but I was terrified. I couldn’t decide which was worse.
Horus flew over the truck and circled back to us.
Apollo just stood there, so I did, too. I didn’t know what else to do.
Horus flew back, and as he dove from the sky, he turned back into his human form. “Just a Toyota. Nothing in the back.” He stood there in all his godly glory, half-naked.
“Good,” I murmured.
“Or not good. I guess it depends on how you look at it.” Apollo shrugged.
“Did your shirt just disappear?” I laughed.
“Oh, yeah.” He flexed, and his shirt materialized back on.
“How did you… Magic?” Horus nodded.
“Do we freak you out?” Apollo smirked.
I sighed heavily. I knew it was dramatic, but I couldn’t help myself. “Can I ask you a question?” I stared at the ground.
“I wondered when you might mention something.” Apollo grinned. “I heard you had a visitor last night.”
“You’re totally the subject of all the GGG.” Horus laughed.
“What is that?”
“Greek God Gossip. We have a text chain.” Apollo grinned. “I am thrilled that Hermes found his mate, Sam. I’ve always liked you. You ask actual questions instead of stupid, moronic banter when you do interviews. You’ve always been nice. You’re very handsome. In fact, I think I remember telling you – perhaps I just thought it – that you even looked like my brother. I was talking about Hermes. Gay couples always look like twins, so it seems natural.” He chuckled.
“I was asking about the… When Eros and Tim got pregnant…”
“Yeah, the bursting out of his heart thing? You know, my sister was born from my father’s brain. It was… weird.”
“Yeah. I guess that’s what I meant.”
“There’s no… I don’t know. Eros is also not a good example, by the way. He’s not exactly a god, by definition. He’s primordial. His power is very fucking scary and Tim was a human. Our mates laid eggs since they were bird shifters.”
“Horus is, too.”
“Well, I guess you could say he is… part bird. But not exactly a shifter. Egyptian Gods are… weird.”
“We are the animal that the animal sprung from. It’s not that we’re a shifter; it’s more that the divine side of Egyptian gods are part animal and part human. I could just as easily sprout wings and fly over there in my human form. I am the falcon, and all falcons know who I am. Understand?”
“Not at all,” I laughed.
“It’s complicated.” He shrugged. “When humans depicted us in the hieroglyphics, we had the head of an animal because we are that animal. The crocodile exists because of Sobek. Anubis is a jackal.”
“Ah, I think I understand. You are the original form of the animal.”
“Yes.”
“How did other… uh… falcons come to be?”
“Sex. Lots of sex.”
Apollo cackled. “Egyptian gods were as much of a ho as us Greek ones. Seriously, all us gods did back in the day was fornicate and breed chaos.”
“So Hermes… He’s the messenger of the gods. Will our baby be delivered by mythical stork?”
“Wouldn’t that be cool. I guess it could… Nah, probably not. Hermes is like me. I think that childbirth with him will be fairly normal for you. Does that answer your question?”
“Maybe. Can I ask another?”
“Sure.”
“I feel like I should know more about… I mean, the other gods since they will be family, in a way, I guess.”
“We don’t all hang out.”
“Yeah, but… How many of you are here? You said that some decided to fade.”
“Well, that doesn’t… They still exist. Well, most of us do. Some are in the underworld or whatever realm they typically live in. Poseidon is still in the ocean somewhere. Zeus is on Long Island. I have no idea where Athena or Hera are right now. But quite a few of us are around and living on Earth. It’s just… we’re not that close.”
“But you and Hermes seem chummy.”
“We are. Kind of… Same with Eros now that we’re back in touch. I mean, like I said, we have a text thread. Occasionally, someone chimes in, and I'm like – Hey! You’re still alive. I know it’s hard to understand, I guess. Ares was happy that Hermes found you. Ares is also a huge dick.”
“I fucked him once. He does have a very huge dick.”
“Gross, that’s my brother.”
“You fucked my father, dude.”
“I was very drunk at the time, and that was like three thousand years ago. I can no longer be blamed. You went to bed with Ares in the last millennium.”
“We weren’t a thing then.”
“Boys!” I laughed. “You’re both beautiful. I get it. Gods are sluts until they meet their mate.”
“You got it. Hey… I see headlights, and they look big.” Horus ran once again, and this time, I didn’t flinch. Though I did wonder where the fuck his clothes went. Shifter magic had always been odd to me. Once, my friend, a bear shifter, turned into a human in front of me, and he was stark naked. He was very embarrassed. But even Kitty morphed back to human in her tights and t-shirt.
Magic was weird.
“What are we waiting for? What’s the signal?”
“I have no idea. We didn’t actually work that out.” Apollo scoffed. “Maybe he’ll scream loudly? He can speak as a bird, too, you know. Talk about capital W weird. Egyptian gods are truly freaky, and this thing he does in bed is…”
“Guys! Can you give me a little help, please? I’ve been flapping over this fucking truck trying to get your attention!”
Apollo was right. It was very weird. How did he talk with a beak?
A giant ankh flared from Horus, and he fell onto the top of the truck. A large sword appeared in his hand, which he stabbed into the metal. Apollo shone like the brightest star as he flew from the bridge and landed with a loud thwack on top. I could see the dent he left.
I just stood there and clapped my hands.
Don’t judge me. What else was I supposed to do?
The top of the truck ripped open, and they disappeared inside as the truck’s tires screeched against the concrete.
I mean… If you were going to make a statement, they did. How in the hell was that truck driver supposed to explain this?
The truck screeched as it slowed down and passed under the overpass. I ran to the other side and saw Horus carry Apollo out of the hole in the top of the truck. White particles scattered throughout the air, and they landed on top of the overpass once again. Horus shifted back into his human form, and Apollo looked annoyed as he was deposited with a thump right on his ass in front of me.
“Nothing?” I asked breathlessly. I know I just stood there, but I was nervous as hell.
“Chickens. I think we just scared the shit out of some chickens.”
“And the truck driver.’ I looked over the overpass to see him scratching his head.
“We failed.” The walkie-talkie blared to life from where we had left it on the other side of the overpass. “Hermes texted me. It’s been delivered. We now have to prepare for war.”
Loki sounded pissed.
“How?” Apollo asked. “We had everywhere covered that a truck could come.”
“It was delivered by a helicopter. I think it’s time we called in some reinforcements. I’ll meet you back at Eros.”
“You have a feather in your hair,” Horus chuckled as he reached out and pulled it from Apollo’s blond locks.
“Shit. This is the worst day ever. Tim is going to be so annoyed.” Apollo held out his hand, and a giant flake of snow melted in his palm. “It’s beginning to snow.”
We had no idea. By the time we got back to Eros’, the ground was covered.