Fates' Folly (23 page)

"Why?" Riley asked.

I sighed, not really wanting to get into my
childhood. "Look, my mama would never have been considered a good
person. In truth, she could be downright mean unless she was
working at capturing a man's attention or in the overly
affectionate stage of drunkenness. There is no way she would be
granted wings and become an angel."

Riley shook his head. "You are assuming that
becoming an angel is a blessing, just as you thought immortality
was supposed to be. As far as I've witnessed, angels serve the same
basic purpose as Hades' Assassins- though they have a more
elaborate costume, their service is still mandatory. From what
you've described of your mother's personality, it doesn't seem it
would be an easy place for her to be."

"I still don't believe it," I said, feeling a
bit defensive.

Riley laughed. "It would be funny, you and
your mother serving in basically the same capacity in the
afterlife."

"Strangely enough, not for the first time, I
have found myself not appreciating your sense of humor," I said,
stuffing the rest of the fudge round into my mouth while Riley
continued to laugh.

My mama always said she had the
soul of a gypsy. We're from a wild and romantic people. It just
isn't in us to stay in one place too long. We can never be held
down baby, we're meant to fly, to be free. This was said to me
whenever I complained- about her being out all night, or about yet
another move to a different town, sometimes only miles down the
road, sometimes to a different state. It became her mantra, she
said it so many times. I guess, in a way it was true because when
she finally did stop flying, it wasn't long before she died.

I felt like my mama, like a wild gypsy, as I
stood in front of Riley, waving my arms and screaming, "We should
check out Sebastian's apartment and the old folks' home instead of
sitting here waiting for him to make his next psychotic move!"

Riley was sprawled out on the couch, as much
as was possible for a man his size. Glasses folded over his collar,
eyes closed and head laid back, he cracked one eye open and calmly
said, "I have checked out Sebastian's apartment numerous times and
found nothing. The place couldn't be more non-descript if it was a
hotel room."

"What about the old folks' home?"

"What about it?"

"Obviously, Sebastian was up to something.
I've only met him twice, but neither time did he strike me as the
benevolent type."

"Whatever Sebastian was doing at the
retirement home has no bearing on me finding him and taking him to
Hades for judgment."

"How can you say that?"

Riley leaned forward, no longer pretending to
be lethargic. "I was ordered by Hades to drop it. I was ordered to
forget about Sebastian's activities prior to taking your soul. I am
only to find Sebastian Black."

I hated the look of frustration on Riley's
face, but I couldn't sit back and ignore the nagging sensation that
something else was going on and that I, who the hell knows why,
felt a responsibility to find out.

"You were given a weapon capable of killing
him. Aren't you the least bit curious why that was? Why did Hades
pronounce Sebastian Rogue before he took my soul?"

Riley put his glasses back on. "I've been
given the Sword of Peleus before when hunting an immortal, enough
times that it could be considered standard procedure." He frowned
at me. "I don't care why Hades categorized Sebastian as Rogue, it's
not my concern, and neither should it be yours."

"Innocent lives are being screwed with, how
can you just stop caring? I know you have to be careful because
Hades has his panties in a wad-"

"Panties in a wad!!!" Riley suddenly erupted,
now standing up and glaring down at me. "That's how you would
describe Hades threatening you?" He ran his hand through his unruly
hair. "By the gods, Myra, you have no clue how close you came to
being taught a lesson last night, and I'm not speaking of lashings
or something so quick. The last time I was required to watch Hades
administer punishment, he slowly dismembered the body of a
disobedient daemon. He used a jagged blade to tear the daemon's
body into small chunks of flesh and bone, leaving only the tiniest
connection of nerves between parts, so that the poor creature could
feel and experience every cut and the painful mending of
regeneration.

“Hades made sure the mutilated daemon was
always on display for all to see, so I was also present when the
daemon, who was almost whole again, stupidly let a flash of relief
shine in his eyes." Riley sat back down, a look of weariness across
his face. "I can still hear Hades' laugh as he produced the blade
and began to repeat the process of butchering that the daemon had
just spent seven months regenerating from."

Riley stretched his legs out in front of him
and laid his head back against the couch, in the identical pose he
had been in at the beginning of our argument, and I realized that
my earlier assessment of his faked relaxed state had been wrong. He
wasn't sprawled out in pretend laziness- he was stretched out in
defeat.

I sat down in my orange chair and swiveled,
one, two, three times. "Okay, Riley, I'll concentrate on preparing
for the Trials and leave Sebastian to you."

Riley tilted his head in my direction.
"Truly?"

I nodded my head. "Yep. It won't even be hard
to do. I've always been self-centered, it doesn't take much effort
for my wants to replace anyone else's needs."

He seemed to relax a little. "Nothing is
wrong with being selfish if it keeps you safe."

"Yep. Speaking of wants, how about I order us
some ribs and corn nuggets for dinner?"

I took Riley's grunt for agreement and headed
into the kitchen. I rifled through the junk drawer and shuffled
through the take out menus until I found the one for Gooey Suey's,
the local barbecue joint.

I figured Riley knew I was lying through my
teeth when I said I'd forget about Sebastian, but there was no way
we were going to get anywhere in our disagreement. He didn't want
me to be tortured, and I, having the blessing of never experiencing
such a thing, still felt I could do what I thought necessary and
get away with it. It’s not that Hades didn't scare the crap out of
me, but my sense of denial, combined with my stubborn nature,
overrode my fear. Besides, no matter how much I had tried to make
it otherwise in the last year, it obviously just wasn't in my
genetic make-up to live a docile life of safety. I might as well
embrace it- make my mama proud and raise a little hell.

***

Thursday morning beamed brightly into my
bedroom while I tried to bury my head under my pillow. Finals and
the end of school year carnival preparations that I was working
very hard at not being suckered into, meant I didn't have to be at
school until 10:30, when my beginning drawing class started.

I remembered earlier last week thinking how
great it was going to be that I'd get to sleep in today. Of course,
that was before I became immortal and acquired a six foot tall, two
thousand year old roommate, who I just realized was standing above
me, staring, with a crooked grin plastered on his face.

"What?" I growled.

"Your butt is clothed in purple turtles," he
said.

I looked over my shoulder. I hadn't really
registered that my butt was basically sticking in the air, as a
result of my efforts to pull my pillow over my head. "So, I like
turtles." I rolled over, sitting up to face him. "I thought we
already had the talk about the inappropriateness of you discussing
my ass."

"That was your naked ass. I wasn't talking
about your ass, I was speaking about what you have chosen to cover
it in."

I sighed, "Riley? What do you want?"

"Hades summoned me early this morning, I just
got back. I didn't expect you to be home but I heard you sleeping,"
he said, making a snoring noise. "I thought you might have
overslept. I was going to wake you, but I was distracted by the
purple turtles." He laughed, "I can honestly say it's the first
time I've encountered such a thing in my many years as an
immortal."

"Once again, I'm so glad I amuse you. Now go
away."

Still laughing, Riley turned and walked away.
He started to pull the door closed, and I had just thrown myself
backwards onto my pillows, when he said, "Oh yeah, I have
donuts."

I jumped out of bed yelling, "Give me two
minutes. I'll meet you in the kitchen and you can continue to laugh
at my underwear."

"I was going to do that anyway," he said,
through the now closed door.

Riley had a plate piled high with Krispy
Kreme donuts and donut holes sitting in the middle of the kitchen
table. He had a Scooby Doo jelly jar sitting in front of him,
filled to the rim with milk, and was in the process of stirring
chocolate syrup into a milk filled Velma jelly jar when I sat down.
He pushed the glass of chocolate milk toward me and smiled.

"Good grief, either you had sex with Linda
Farnsworth and you feel guilty or…" I couldn't think of anything
else. "Damn, Riley, you could do so much better than Linda
Farnsworth."

He didn't reply, only smiled, pulled a glazed
donut off the plate, and sat down across from me.

"Just tell me on thing," I said, as I
unfolded a napkin in front of me and snagged a chocolate iced
donut, "are her boobs real?"

Riley, having just taken a huge swallow of
milk, had to fight hard not to spit it out as he choked on his
laugh.

"What? It's what everyone thinks when they
first meet her. You can't blame me for asking."

Riley wiped his eyes on his sleeve. "I did
not sleep with Linda Farnsworth, and I do not feel guilty about
anything. I didn't even think you were home, remember? I stopped by
the convenience store to listen to any gossip, and Linda wanted to
complain to me about the creepy little guy that came into her store
last night. I needed her to keep talking, so I ended up buying all
her donuts."

"So, that's what they're calling it
nowadays."

Riley threw a glazed donut hole at me.
"Sebastian was loitering in Linda's store last night, asking
questions about you. She said he was a bit obsessed, she had to
call the sheriff's department to get him to leave."

“Why didn’t he use the power of persuasion
crap on her?”

“From Linda’s description he was pretty bad
off, I’m thinking he was too weak. Maybe a side effect of losing
your soul.”

"Did the sheriff pick him up?" I asked,
halfway through my second donut.

"No, he left before they showed up."

I drizzled chocolate syrup onto my last bite.
"What did he ask about? He already knows where I live and where I
work."

Riley tossed a donut hole in the air, deftly
catching it in his mouth. "He wanted to know who your friends are
and if you have any family living in the area. I think he's looking
for leverage. He's looking for a way to control you. Taking a loved
one hostage is simplistic when it comes to strategy, but it
works."

"Well, except for my visiting uncle, I don't
have any relatives or loved ones to worry about. I guess it's too
much to ask that he doesn't realize you're my supposed uncle and
will try to kidnap you."

Riley folded an entire vanilla frosted donut
into his mouth, smiling with overly full cheeks when I shook my
head at him. He guzzled his milk, wiped the back of his hand over
his mouth and leaned back in his chair.

"He knows it's me. From what Linda said, she
gave him an earful, which included my name and description."

"Why in the hell would she do that?"

"She's decided I'm good boyfriend material,
and threatening the creepy homeless guy with my knightly attributes
would, when I heard about it, trigger my protective instincts."

"And she wants your protective instincts
triggered because?"

Riley's mouth spread into a slow cocky grin.
"As Linda figures it, my protective instincts would cause me to
ravish her, preferably against the back wall of her storage room,
culminating in a shared climax so epic, I would vow my undying love
and never leave her side."

Someone's been hitting the Harlequin Romances
a little hard.

"She just told you this?"

"I may have used a tiny bit of the power of
persuasion. I was trying to find out exactly what she had said to
Sebastian when she started in on her plans for me. I think she's
been working on that particular fantasy for some time- she was very
detailed," he said, smirking.

"You sound pleased about it."

Riley shrugged. "Why wouldn't I be? Linda
Farnsworth isn't my type, but it's still flattering."

"You're kidding me."

Riley threw another donut hole at me,
bouncing it off my nose. "If Bo Kelley walked through that door and
confessed he had a detailed fantasy about you involving dark
chocolate, a bubble bath and a couple of cake rolls, you'd be-"

I was shaking my head, laughing, as the idea
of me and Bo in a bath tub floated through my mind, only to have
another thought, laced in panic, hit me.

"Oh shit. Bo!"

I ran for the door but Riley took hold of my
arm, stopping me before my hand could grasp the knob. I tried to
pull away. "Let go! Let go! Sebastian saw Bo and me kissing in the
school parking lot, he even commented on it. I have to go warn him!
I have to make sure he's safe!"

Riley put both his hands on my shoulders,
gently squeezing. I again tried to pull away from him, but the
intensity in his face and voice stopped my squirming.

"Myra, listen to me for a second. I'll shift
to the school and check to make sure Bo's safe. In the meantime,
you should get dressed. I don't think you need to show up at school
in pajama pants and a Wonder Woman t-shirt."