16. In Which a Discussion of Morals Leads to Speed Dating
Chapter 16
In Which a Discussion of Morals Leads to Speed Dating
Modern-day, on a cruise ship somewhere in the Atlantic
“ Y ou’ve got that skin-suit stare going on again, mate.”
Evander blinked and tilted his head to the side. “Pardon?”
Liam looked amused. “You are staring at her like you’re sizing her up, Evander. Better stop before she calls the cruise ship officers on your creepy ass.”
Evander sipped the beer in his hand. It had gotten warm in the sun, his favorite way to drink it. He never could get used to the American way of chilling every drink until it was practically frozen. He turned the beer bottle around in his hand and reread the label. Boddingtons. He let out an exasperated sigh.
“I’m not staring at her in any such way.”
“Aye, mate, ya are. I know this job has everyone on edge, causing you to be more broody than usual. It’s not as if she’ll disappear right in front of us. She’s been sitting in the corner with her knitting she’s always working on.”
“Crochet.”
Liam shrugged. “Like there’s a difference. She’s a house cat. Look at her.” He gestured with his hand towards where Ellie was sitting. “She hasn’t moved for hours. This job would have been over already if we had that damn book.”
Evander nodded, agreeing in principle. She had just been sitting there for hours, but something nagged at him. His dream, in truth, had unsettled him more than he liked. That and Hypatia coming to the human realm. What was her angle? The goddess he understood. Athena’s misgivings were apparent but understandable. The oracle had said that it would be humans that came for the gods in the end. But Hypatia? That was a mystery. She was always so obedient. While she was one of the more respected human pets of the gods, she still had a healthy fear of them. So her coming to Earth, risking Athena, or Hestia, or even Artemis finding out, had to mean something. He eyed Ellie once more.
Protect her or kill her.
Go against his orders and risk his life. Or kill her and add one more innocent human life to his list of crimes. He took a swig of his beer.
“Let’s talk about tonight.”
“What about tonight?”
Liam grinned. “The Lotus Lounge.”
Evander scowled. “Why?” He turned and looked at Liam. “I thought you hated lounge singers.”
Liam raised his eyebrows and nodded his head slowly. “Isn’t it obvious?” Evander shook his head. “Look around you, Evander.” He swept his arms wide. “Ladies. Everywhere.” He winked.
“I think not.” He shook his head, dismissing Liam.
“Fine, then tonight is my night.”
Evander chuckled. “Every night is your night.”
Liam’s eyes followed a petite blonde and her friend wearing skimpy bikinis. “Aye, well, when you have a winning streak, best to play until your hand runs out.”
Evander didn’t respond. Liam touched his shoulder, and when Evander brought his head up, his crisp blue-green eyes were stormy.
“Athena threatened her.”
It was Liam’s turn to look surprised. “What? What did you say?”
Evander turned sideways in his chair, his face dark. “When she kept me behind, she ordered me to kill her.”
“But she’s an innocent human.”
“Then Valerius paid her a visit the night before she left for the ship.”
“What the hell is going on?”
Evander shook his head. “I don’t know, but I don’t think Athena is considering all her options. Or how her order might impact Olympus.”
“Threatened her how?”
He looked around them and used his powers to allow Liam to see the dagger while still concealing it. “She enchanted my blade to kill only Ellie. She can read ancient Greek, Liam. Athena knows, and because of that, she has ordered me to kill her.”
Liam sat for several moments, his mouth gaping open in disbelief. “Athena is never this rash,” he finally said.
“Isn’t she?” Evander challenged. “What about Medusa?”
Liam nodded at the logic. “And if you don’t?”
“If I don’t kill this human, she has threatened to send the Chthonian after her.” Liam paled at that admission. He went on. “At first, I was inclined to believe her. I reasoned Ellie can read ancient Greek, and maybe she was a threat to us, to everything Athena is trying to rebuild.”
“Evander!” Liam snapped. “She’s human.”
“I know”—he nodded—“but the prophecy says it will be a human that brings down the throne of Olympus.”
“No,” Liam corrected. “It states that the Serathena will rise, then the final war will come to Olympus. The Serathena is a demigod born of a god and a human. The scholars believe—”
“That’s another thing. Hypatia visited me,” Evander interrupted.
“Is your name Scrooge? You’ve been visited by the three Christmas ghosts,” Liam joked half-heartedly. “What did Hypatia say?” Then, quieter to himself, “Zeus! Hypatia on Earth. This is bad.”
Evander nodded. “Hypatia said to protect Ellie. Athena is becoming paranoid, and if she is wrong, something worse could befall Olympus. And before you ask, no, I don’t know what, and I didn’t ask. But Hypatia on Earth, risking any gods finding out—” He shook his head.
“Sending the Chthonian after a human because she knows a little Greek sure puts her in the paranoid category, in my thinking. And if Valerius is sniffing around, he knows something we don’t.”
“Right.” Evander said. “He’s dangerous. It’s far beyond the simple book now.”
Liam snapped his head at Evander. “What if he’s trying to get that mate of his out of prison?”
Evander’s jaw tightened as he clenched his teeth. “How are we to protect someone who doesn’t want our help and does not know what we are truly protecting her from?”
“Or that any of us exist?”
“Right?”
“Now I see why you’ve been extra broody and intense. She needs our help, Evander.”
He looked at his friend. For centuries, they had shared a special bond, had each other’s back, read each other with a simple look. His face fell, as he knew what Liam would risk. “I can’t ask you to do that, Liam.”
Liam’s brow furrowed. “You aren’t asking, mate.”
“I know, but we both know the consequences. When Athena finds out I have disobeyed, I am a dead man. And so is whoever aids me.”
Evander opened his mouth to say more but snapped it closed when movement caught his eye. Ellie stood packing her things away. Beside her stood a man with dark hair, his back to Liam and Evander. His shoulders were broad enough that he partially blocked Ellie. She was bending to put something in her bag. As she straightened, she threw her head back and laughed. Its mellifluous sound reached his ears over the rumble of random passengers. He watched her reach out and touch the stranger’s arm. Just then, a large family passed between them, arms flailing and kids running between the adults. Evander strained to keep sight of her. When he finally found her, she was almost in front of him. She smiled sweetly at the pair as she approached.
“Liam”—she nodded her head—“Evander. I didn’t see y’all sitting here.”
“We’ve been here for a bit,” Liam answered.
“Ahh.” She tilted her head, as if pondering something, her gaze directed at Evander. “I’m headed to the speed dating thing.”
“Speed dating?” Liam asked.
“It’s supposed to be fun,” the man next to her spoke up. He looked at Ellie and smiled, which Ellie returned with one of her own.
Evander straightened himself in the chair. “I didn’t think that would be your sort of thing,” he said coolly, as an odd sensation sparked through him.
She shrugged. “It’s not, but what’s a single girl to do?” She shrugged again and adjusted her bag on her shoulder. “Besides, I can only eat alone so much, before even I’m bored with myself.”
His chest squeezed. He hadn’t realized she’d been eating alone. He compressed his lips into a thin line; his jaw ticked as he watched the exchange of glances between Ellie and the stranger.
“We’re going to the Lotus Lounge this evening, Ellie.” His voice was sharp and flat, a warning veiled in a request to join them.
She arched an eyebrow at him, seeing right through his ruse.
“I think she’d rather go to speed dating,” spoke up the man standing next to her.
“Oh?” Evander’s gaze never left Ellie.
He rose to stand, towering over all of them. As he pulled himself to his full height, the man craned his neck, sizing Evander up. His eyes flicked to Ellie, who had pursed her lips together. Her eyes narrowed, and she looked as though she was going to scold him.
“Yes. I think I’ll go to the event instead of the lounge,” she said, her face set as she dared him to object further. For added insult, she gave the man a quick smile, before turning her annoyed expression his way. She cocked her head at Evander and raised both eyebrows—a warning of her own. Evander’s face darkened at the exchange.
“Gentlemen.” She nodded curtly and walked past them.
Evander watched her, every instinct in his body yelling at him to follow.
“Don’t,” Liam warned when he took a step forward.