Sunburn (21 page)

She was helpless as Hades laid a hand on his fellow god’s arm.

There was a blinding flash. The two gods turned to her, distracted. Patience felt, rather than saw, the presence behind her. The presence that reeked of moldy onions and sizzling flesh at the same time. An odor she’d smelled only once before. She turned her head.

Nicodemus the demon stood behind her, leering. “I said I’d finish the job, boss.”

As Apollo rushed forward, his eyes wild, Patience felt the searing pain inside her body. Dazed, she looked down at her torso, only to see the demon’s hand moving about inside her body like a large, kicking baby. Her jaw fell slack as she endured the unimaginable pain.

Apollo reached his hands out. “Patience!”

The demon yanked, and Patience felt like she was being pulled inside out. There was a tremendous
whoosh
in her ears, and a blanket of fog surrounded her. A stunned Apollo and an equally shocked Hades called out for her.

And then she saw nothing.

Chapter 17

As soon as Nicodemus made Patience disappear, Apollo rounded on Hades, seething. He felt his eyeballs explode into white-hot flame as agony whipped through him like a mighty cyclone. “You did this!”

Needing to unleash his rage, he turned his pyrotechnic gaze toward a nearby palm tree and allowed his fury to issue forth. Twin beams of light fired toward the tree, incinerating it until all that was left was a pile of smoking ash. The night sky lit up for a second, as if lightning had streaked across the Mexican horizon.

Hades backed up, taken by his nephew’s angry grief. “I did not tell Nicodemus to return. He did that of his own accord.”

“You’re a lying, deceiving fuck!” He stood, staring at Hades, until he swayed with the pain. “You took my woman.”

“She wasn’t yours to keep. She was already practically dead.” He ran a hand through his hair in frustration. “You know you’re not supposed to interfere with the cycle of life.”

Hades paced. If Apollo didn’t know any better, he could swear he glimpsed a sliver of regret in the older god’s cold eyes.

“All I asked was this one thing. But no. All you ever do is take, take, take! Take people; take souls. Hades, when are you going to start giving?”

Hades stared back, his eyes round, his face whiter than usual. For the first time in his life, Apollo saw fear ghost across his fearless uncle’s features. Whatever it was, it disappeared when Artemis and the nine Muses appeared in a flowery puff of smoke. Artemis already had her finger knocked against an arrow, her bow at the ready. The Muses were each armed with identical, shining daggers.

“Where’s Patience?” Artemis asked, looking around.

“You’re a bit late.” Apollo grunted, as the first overwhelming deluge of grief rolled through him, inundating him.

“No!” The cry went up among the Muses.

“We took a while,” explained Uma, “because someone let a few demons loose near the build-your-own-margarita station.” She glared at Hades. “We had to take care of them.”

Hades rolled his eyes. “What? I’m ruler of the Underworld. Demons tend to follow me around. We don’t exactly have buffets in hell. They got excited. Sheesh!”

Artemis, her eyes rimmed in silver, approached Apollo and put her hand on his shoulder. “Brother?”

“She’s dead. I failed her.”

Artemis gave her head a solemn shake. “It was doomed from the start. You know that.”

No
. Apollo closed his eyes as a headache of monumental proportions rocked his brain. He was growing really sick and tired of people telling him he was never meant to have Patience. The knowledge would never stop him from wanting her, and it certainly wouldn’t help him to fall magically out of love.

With his eyes closed, the ember orbs under his lids burned like a smoldering fire blanketed by leaves. His eyes were itching to destroy. They sought relief and escape in ruination.

Apollo the Destroyer was suddenly desperate to watch things burn.

He opened his eyes, and his intentions must have been written clearly on his face.

Artemis looked at him, alarmed. “What are you going to do?”

He didn’t stop to answer his sister, as scared as she appeared. Instead, feeling only an engulfing loneliness and isolation, Apollo took flight. Veering high into the heavens, he flew over his resort, high enough he could see each villa in Helios. So high the winding swimming pool, lit as it was at night, resembled a bright blue serpent.

From his height, the Destroyer looked down on his creation, loving yet hating the place where he first saw Patience. And as he did with Daphne, so many years ago, he contemplated destroying it so there would be no memorial. He’d wanted no laurel wreath then; the poets had made that part up. And now, he wanted every memory of Patience to sink into oblivion like she had.

Once again, his eyes glowed in rage. He picked his first target, the main lobby where he’d offered her the welcome drink.

And then he remembered the look on her face when he’d placed the plastic wristband on her arm. The warmth in her eyes she’d tried to disguise. He recalled her unfortunate attempt on the Segway, and the first time they kissed. He couldn’t stop himself from thinking of how good it felt to make love to her, and how she’d offered him unconditional love.

And she’d be so disappointed in him now.

Who was he kidding? The Destroyer had died ages ago. Patience had believed him to be a better man. He owed it to her to be that man.

“I’m so sorry, Patience,” he whispered into the wind. “I’m so sorry.”

He felt a rush of air on his left side. He turned, and Hades was hovering there with him.

Hades looked nervously at him and then out at the landscape. “You know, I’ve never really been one for views, but this is sort of nice in a non-brimstone kind of way.” He offered Apollo what might have passed for a crooked smile. “You love her?”

“More than anything.”

And for the first time in the eons he’d known Hades, Apollo saw the older god’s eyes darken with fleeting despair. “I envy you.”

Apollo gaped at him, dumbstruck.

“No, really, it’s true. Ever since your cousins Eryx and Dionysus chose their wives, ever since they gave up everything for those mortal woman, I haven’t been able to stop thinking.” He wrinkled his nose. “I don’t like thinking. I’ve always been more of a reacting kinda guy. And in all my thinking, I’ve begun to wonder if maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe it’s not all about unbendable rules and whips and chains.” His shoulders lifted with amusement. “As fun as that can be.”

“Why are you telling me all this?”

Hades sighed. “Look, I’m not supposed to advertise this, but it’s not too late to save her.”

He turned to him in a flurry of wind. Could it be? Or was the unfeeling bastard playing with him? “If you’re lying…”

“Apollo. I’m the fucking Lord of the Underworld. Do you honestly think I need to get my jollies by lying to others? I can think of so many better things to do.”

He grabbed at Hades’ arms as hope dared to sprout inside him. He wouldn’t allow it to blossom; he couldn’t do that and be disappointed again. But a little sprout of hope wouldn’t kill him, would it? “Just tell me what I have to do.”

“You need to catch her before she crosses the River Styx. Once she’s across the river, there’s no hope. She’ll be well and truly dead. Right now, she’s floating in an in-between state. Nicodemus will be with her. It’s part of his duties to get her across the river.” He paused. “But … and this is a big but.”

“Tits of the gorgon! Just tell me already!”

“Because her soul has already begun the transition, she can only be brought back in one way.” He stared hard at Apollo. “You understand?”

Apollo felt chilling prickles of dread infest his body. “The ritual. Shit.”

“You need to make your decision. And fast. I won’t be able to help you further, Apollo. I’ve already said way too much. The rest is up to you. Do you let her go in peace, or do you possibly expose Patience to even greater torment?”

Fuck
. So many eons ago, he’d been willing to have Daphne endure the ritual. But now it was Patience? Could he really do this? It could hurt her. Hell, it could kill her for good. But did he have any choice if he wanted to be with her again?

With a flash of his pale eyes, Hades was gone, but his deep voice still carried on the wind. “Consider this a freebie, nephew. Your last.”

Apollo hesitated, realizing the monumental decision he had to make. A choice he had to make
for
Patience because she might not be able to make it for herself. He wasn’t sure she’d understand even if he did find her. She might already be a shell of her former self, merely following the demon into the abyss, a wandering, lost soul.

What do I do?

He paused. And made his decision. Without wasting another half second, he closed his eyes, expelled a huge breath, and wished himself to hell.

* * * *

Patience wasn’t in hell. She was in room 256 in the Aurora Villa of the Helios resort.

And she wasn’t a happy camper.

Once more, she struggled against her bonds, tethered as she was to Nicodemus. She couldn’t figure out how to break free. They were attached by some sort of infernal metal substance she didn’t recognize, and she couldn’t loosen the bonds. The crazy chain was looped around her middle with a small length of the stuff between them and was fastened on the other end to the demon’s wrist. She felt like a misbehaving child in a hellish preschool, leashed to an unfeeling teacher. “You let me go this instant!”

She tugged on the chains again, but only succeeded in tiring herself out further. In fact, each motion, each little struggle, made her feel foggier. Who was kidding whom? Each blink of her eyes made her feel, well, more deceased. Still, she persisted in fighting back in the hopes she’d break the chain and could find Apollo again.

Apollo! What must he be thinking? He’d be in agony over this. He’d be blaming himself.

What she’d give to see his face again.

“I mean it, Nicodemus. Release me.”

The demon took little note. He was too busy rummaging in the room’s safe. “Stop squirming, human! You’ll just make it worse. The more you fight, the more you’ll fade away. Comprende?”

Instead of complying, Patience clunked Nicodemus over the head with the flat of her hand.

“Hey!” He turned and batted at her swatting hands.

“Yeah, well you killed me! I’m not really thrilled with you right now.” She looked about the room, searching for some sort of reason why they’d be there, instead of quivering at the mouth of hell. “Why are we here anyway?”

Nicodemus muttered something under his breath. He pulled an object out of the safe and turned. “Look. When I was dismissed back to Hades after failing in my mission…”

“You mean after failing to murder me the first time?”

“Yeah, yeah. When I got back, my supervisor wasn’t too pleased with my performance. Between you and me, I haven’t been at the top of my game for a while. They gave me this assignment because they figured you’d be an easy mark but, well, I get easily distracted.”

Patience shook her head. “Great. I get the only demon underachiever.”

He growled. “I’m smarter than I look. My captain locked me up in a cell as punishment. What my boss didn’t realize was I
borrowed
a little something from him first.” He held out the object he’d pulled from the safe. It was a sparkling gem, set as a pendant in a necklace fashioned out of the same material that bound her to the demon. “These types of amulets are handed out to captains in the underworld. They allow one to travel. With it, I was able to escape my cell when the captain wasn’t looking. I figured I’d finish the job, return you to Hades, and I’d get a nice recommendation on my employee file.”

Patience stared. “And you left the amulet in your hotel safe.”

“What?” he demanded, affronted. He placed the amulet around his neck. “Helios has an awesome security system!”

“Nicodemus, you’re not very good at this demon thing, are you?”

The creature sighed. “To be honest, I find the subterfuge a tad overwhelming.” He stared off into the distance, wistful. “Life was so much easier when I was mortal and had a real career.”

“What did you do?”

“It was a while ago.” The demon broke into a happy smile; at least, it was the happiest she’d ever seen him appear. “I was an executioner back in the French Revolution. Things were so much more clean cut back then.”

Reeling at this information, Patience let him drag her from the room.

“Okay, girlie. Off to your new home!”

He yanked her out of the room and down the hallway. As they ran, Nicodemus put out his hand and conjured up a black mist in front of them. Just before he launched them both into the mist, she heard a cry.

“Patience!”

She and the demon turned around, only to see Doris and Angie standing there.

“Oh shit,” mumbled Nicodemus. “This just hasn’t been my week.”

Patience realized he’d forgotten to disguise them in demon camouflage. Doris and Angie stood still, their jaws open and their eyes wide. The women were taking in every detail, from the chain around Patience’s middle to the demon’s horrible, pockmarked skin.

Angie recovered her ability to talk first. She wrinkled her nose. “Patience, why are you attached to that
thing
?”

Nicodemus bristled. “No need for that.”

“Jesus Christ,” swore Doris. “Is this fucking Hallowe’en? And why have you tied up my friend, dipsheet?” She advanced on Nicodemus, her index finger pointed at his face.

“Stay back, guys,” Patience warned, more woozy now. All the running had worn her out. She just wanted to sleep … for a long time.

“That’s right, stay back,” the demon concurred in an uneasy voice. “Or I’ll take you with us!”

Angie frowned, her pretty green eyes narrowing to angry slivers. “Our friend’s not going anywhere with you, buster. Patience isn’t into bondage.
I’m
the one who’s into bondage!”

“You heard her,” threatened Doris, her hand on her jutting hip, her Czech accent thicker than ever. “Take those chains off her, or I will fuck you up, Communist-style.”