Rock Hard (18 page)

“Acquire things,” Lahar interjected.

“Okay, acquire things,” Tess agreed. “Why don’t you just go acquire some women? It can’t be that difficult.”

There was a huge collective groan. “Rule number one!” They all chanted it together like monks.

“Rule number what?” Tess shook her head.

Marduk sighed. “Rule number one, and the bane of our nonexistence. People can’t be acquired.” Silence filled the room. “The rest of the rules are on the refrigerator if you’re interested.”

“Oh, okay.” Tess subsided lower into her seat. Nobody looked ready to answer any more questions.

Marduk returned to roll call. “Enten is next to Emesh, and they’re twins. You might say that if Emesh is summer, then Enten is winter.” Enten did look rather chilly in a luscious kind of way. Tess was able to keep that thought private and mentally patted herself on the back.

“Ninurta is over to the right.” A god with spiky dark hair raised his hand. “His favorite pastimes are archery, long walks on the beach, and conquering everything with massive earthquakes.”

The “fuck you” was implied as Ninurta cranked up his middle finger.

“Which brings us to Dumazi, who doesn’t give a shit about much of anything and had the dubious distinction of having been banished to the underworld for being ‘unfeeling.’”

This time the gods around the table snickered, not ruffling Dumazi’s feathers in the least. The tousled haired immortal in question looked like he was ready to go back to bed. He was most definitely the god-like equivalent of a present day stoner.

“Oh, and did I forget to mention he likes his critters? Kind of like the pretty girl on that hillbillies show,” Marduk poked.

Still no reaction.

“Did I leave anyone out?” Marduk asked the room at large.

“Not surprisingly, yes.” Sea-green eyes would have drilled Marduk a new asshole if they were capable. “The name is Absu, my lady, and if the buffoon at your elbow watches not his manners, you have but to report to me and I will dispatch him poste-haste.”

Marduk clapped his hands. “Nice speech, Absu.” He looked annoyed and turned to Tess. “Absu has some stick up his ass, and he won’t share why. Most of us have lost patience with him,” he admitted. Tess wasn’t sure what kind of a response to give, and instead sent a mental question out about Absu’s speech.

“Oh that,” Anshar stepped up to answer. “He also refuses to update to modern English vernacular. Refuses to get with the program, so to speak.” Anshar was adorably cheeky.

“I prefer to concentrate on the task at hand.” Absu speared Marduk with a look of contempt. “Whilst your attentions were diverted, Enlil and I thought to question our guest, whom we have sequestered in the dungeon.”

Tess gasped. “You have a dungeon?” Her heart fluttered. Were they savages after all? After hearing a few of their exploits, she wondered if they could they be trusted.

“All good homes have dungeons,” Enlil answered matter-of-factly. “Don’t they?”

When Tess was unable or unwilling to answer, he continued for Absu. “Anyway, before we were, uh, unable to get anything more from our prisoner, he gave us some unwelcome news.” He turned to face all his brothers. “Our bad guy? Dagon.”

A thunderous reaction caused the room to quake. It seemed none of them were too happy to get that little tidbit of information.

“He has gathered a group down in Plymouth to wipe our pagan asses off the earth.” Enlil’s face held contempt. “Can you believe Dagon is spouting that nonsense again?”

“Wait. What?” Tess felt like she had missed several pages of information.

“You remember Dagon from the visions I showed you before,” Marduk prompted.

“I do,” Tess agreed. “The hottie with the wicked blue eyes,” she said, knowing the reaction she’d get and, sure enough, all the gods erupted with “scum bag,” “douche,” and “scoundrel.” The last coming from Absu.

“He deserted us at Merrymount and threw in his lot with the Myles Standish crowd from Plymouth. He’s the one who got Standish’s ear and had him believing that Morton was conducting all kinds of pagan ceremonies.”

“But why would he do that?” Tess wondered aloud.

“Power,” stated Marduk. “What other motivation can a dispossessed god have? He knew that our salvation was somehow tied to our care of Thomas Morton and, if he changed sides, and we failed, he would be able to steal all of our powers and become some kind of mega-god. But the joke was on him. When Dagon and Standish overran Merrymount, we were banished to mist, and Nergal, instead of rewarding Dagon, put him to sleep for a few hundred years.” Marduk’s lip curled in satisfaction.

“Not long after Mount Dagon, as the prick renamed our settlement, succumbed to famine, Dagon was tucked away by the underworld king.” Marduk paused and looked thoughtful. “And now he’s back to torment us.” He tapped a finger thoughtfully on his chin.

“Along with the frigging PP.” Enten added his two cents.

“The PP?” Tess’s head was spinning with so much information.

“The Pilgrim Posse.” Anshar looked proud. “It’s what I nicknamed Dagon’s followers back in the day, and it looks like they’re up and at ’em again.”

“And all of this now matters to you, Tess,” Enlil threw out. “You turned me and Marduk into substantial beings again, so now Dagon is after your ass.” He turned to his brothers. “Our number one priority is to keep her safe, and number two is to find out why this is happening.”

Words of agreement filled the air. Loud male voices all vying for supremacy. Tess sat in the middle of it, her small hand raised with just a final question. One by one, the man-gods quieted.

Marduk looked questioningly at her still-raised hand.

As she lowered it, her voice came out hesitant and meek, “Does this mean I won’t be going back to work?”

Chapter Fifteen

“You see?” Tess talked around the drumstick she was devouring, pointing at the computer screen. “Neither my mom’s ancestors nor my dad’s could possibly have come from Merrymount.”

She had, after raiding the very well-stocked refrigerator, joined a bunch of the boys in the cutting-edge computer room and accessed her family website. Her father had, quite assiduously, compiled a very complete lineage on both sides of the family that stretched back to the sixteenth century.

“Well, I’m telling you right now, you have my blood.” Enlil seemed as puzzled as anyone. “But I’ve never been to the parts of Italy that show up in your genealogy. There has to be a reasonable explanation.”

Marduk, Enlil, and Shamash exchanged glances. “Road trip,” the three called in unison.

Tess rolled her eyes and snickered at the movie reference. “You guys watch way too much television!”

Tess wasn’t about to admit that she watched a lot of TV, too. But she hadn’t missed one cheesy line Marduk had delivered, so he must have figured it out on his own by now.

Tess eyed them suspiciously. “Road trip where?” She drew her mouth into an uncompromising line. There was no way she was going to Italy with them, if that’s what they were thinking.

“To meet your family.” Marduk made it sound like the most reasonable thing imaginable. Tess was not sure at all.

“Why would you want to go to Maine?” She mentioned the small town where she grew up, and Shamash had it mapped on the computer before she finished the sentence. “You will totally freak out my father and brother.”

“Is that all you have for family up there?” Shamash verified what they’d all seen on her ancestral tree. “I know it says your mother is deceased, but there is mention of a sister. Holly?”

“That’s her twin,” Enlil supplied, then looked at Tess. “She’s not in Maine?”

They all watched Tess’s face drop. “We don’t know where she is,” Tess admitted sadly. “We had kind of a…family upheaval a few years back and Holly took off. She’s okay… She checks in from time to time, we just don’t know where to find her.”

“This could be bad.” Marduk ran a hand worriedly through his hair. “If Dagon is on the same path we are, he’s going to find out about Holly and want to get to her.”

“We’ll have to find her first.” The resolve on Enlil’s face was fierce.

“Yes, we will.” Marduk agreed. “And the sooner we get to Maine, the faster we can have answers and locate your sister.” He didn’t wait for her agreement.

Brothers!
Marduk wasn’t speaking with his voice anymore; he was broadcasting a message for everyone in the house to receive. Tess could hear him loud and, well…very loud.
Decide amongst yourselves, I need eight men to ride to Maine with me and Enlil. Two of you will remain behind to handle anything that might happen here. Ishkur, I need ten bikes ready, pronto, and some leathers for Tess. Lahar, I’ll give you coordinates to Tess’s apartment in Quincy. She’ll need her laptop as well as clothes and toiletries. You’ll figure it out. Everybody move on this! I want to be out of here in one hour.

Tess thought it might be a good time to call her father and warn him. He could be a real sweetie, but easily became overwhelmed when hit with anything unexpectedly. She slipped into the hallway.

Luckily her cell phone still had a charge.
Lahar?
She sent out in her head, hoping to make contact with the god.

Yes, lovely human? What can I do for you?
It worked! Did all of their voices flow like warm chocolate?

No. Just mine,
the god snickered.

Damn! She was broadcasting again. She blew out a frustrated breath. She’d get the hang of this.
Could you pick up the charger for my cell phone? It’s plugged into the outlet beside my bed.

Lahar sounded more than happy.
Ooh, that’s right! I get to check out your bedroom. I just got hot thinking about packing your lingerie. I’m going to run my hands over every single piece and taunt Marduk for eternity that I got to touch your panties before he did.
Lahar laughed.
He’s such a pussy.

Tess lips twitched. She was glad he couldn’t see her blush. After wishing him luck, she called her dad, still chuckling. Tess was beginning to like these mad men, uh, gods.

The phone rang twice before her father, Greg Abelard, picked up. “Honey? Is that you?” He sounded pleased with the unexpected call.

“Yeah, Dad.” Tess worried at her lip. “Listen. I’m, uh, headed your way in a little while. Something’s come up…I should be there in, like, five or six hours.”

There was a momentary pause. “Is everything okay?” Tess could tell he was doing his best to stay calm. “I thought you had a job?”

“Everything is fine, Dad.” Tess crossed her fingers. “I’ll explain things when I get there. And, oh, I’ll be bringing two friends along with me.”

“Tess!” Yup, the worry was definitely there. “Should I have Huxley here when you arrive?”

“Seriously Dad, nothing is wrong, and my friends are very nice people. I think you’ll like them. You can have Hux come by if you want, but just to say hi, not to give anyone a shakedown!” Tess sought to assuage his doubt.

“All right, sweetheart,” he sighed. “I’ll try not to worry, and it’s a little cold up here. I’ll sweep out the guest house and get the potbelly stove fired up to make sure it’s ready for your companions.”

“Thanks, Dad.” Tess rubbed her sternum to ease her turbulent emotions. “See you soon.” She terminated the connection.

“Everything okay?”

She hadn’t realized that Marduk was leaning in the doorway, watching her avidly.

“Just talking to my dad,” she smiled. “I didn’t want him to be freaked out when we showed up.”

“That’s good.” He eyed her like a child would candy. “Are you going to be good on the back of my bike? I forgot to ask if you’re okay traveling that way.”

“I love motorcycles!” Tess smiled in anticipation. “We grew up with dirt bikes and ATV’s. Huxley always had one or two he was tinkering with in the barn. You guys will fit right in with him.” She frowned suddenly. “Of course, my family will only see you and Enlil, right? The rest of the guys…and the bikes will be invisible.”

“That’s the way it works, except, up until now, we’ve all been on the ghost list.” Tess hadn’t thought about that.

“So this is going to be weird for you, too.”

“All new stuff, Tess.” Marduk must have considered this for a moment. “First time riding my bike when I’ll be able to feel the wind in my face and the road under the wheels. I also like the thought of you warm up against my back.” He was pulling no punches. Well…neither would she.

“I’ll see if I can keep my hands where they belong.” She turned with what she hoped looked like an innocent flip of her hair, and headed back toward the kitchen. It was going to be a long ride, and her stomach was growling again.

****

When Tess walked into the garage twenty minutes later, all conversation stopped. She was dressed in black from head to toe. Wherever the hell Ishkur had found the leathers that hugged every curve of Tess’s hot little body, it was Marduk’s new favorite place.

He couldn’t tear his eyes away from the delicate curve of her hips, and barely stopped himself from asking her to turn around. If he caught sight of her ass, his erection would strain against the zipper of his leathers and wouldn’t that be as comfortable as shit. Marduk looked down. Too late.

He became aware of coughing and shuffling around behind him and bet that, if he cared to look, he’d find nine more chubbies in the room. Well, okay, maybe eight. Technically, Enlil was related and, if the bastard was sporting wood, Marduk would send his teeth down his throat.

“I’m ready to go,” Tess smiled, obviously unaware of the stir she had caused. She peeked around him. “Did you get all my stuff, Lahar?”

The poor guy looked pained. “Uh, yeah,” he choked out.

Tess quirked an eyebrow at his dubious response, but Marduk was the one to explain.

“Someone had been there before him and taken your laptop. Your desk drawers had been rifled through and papers thrown around. Can you think of anything they would find that might be a problem?”

She chewed the inside of her cheek and thought for a moment. Worried lines formed between her brows. “The address where we’re headed. It would have been in my address book, and on my laptop. Will Dagon be able to get there before us?”