Okay, we were all a little tense. A little off our normal footing.
Especially Cooper, who not only had a hell of a black eye, but was also glowering at me.
“What the hell is this all about, Delaney?” he demanded. “You send out your…your hitmen to kidnap me? This is taking crazy ex-girlfriend to the next level, don’t you think?”
“Kidnap? Where did Crow find you?”
“
We
found him,” Ben corrected. “Here, at the casino, rehearsing for the show.”
“Escorting you down to a conference room isn’t kidnapping,” Jame rumbled.
“Keeping me here is,” Cooper said. “There’s a band. For me to be in that band, I have to rehearse with it, not sit in a conference room with people who won’t answer my questions.”
“Give me a minute with him alone, please,” I said.
Hera’s voice was smooth and alluring. “I would rather we stay with you.”
I held open the door, not falling for the bedazzlement she was oozing. The Reed family immunity was good for that. “I’ll call you all back after we talk, and he has a chance to make his decision.”
They all filed out past me. I pointed at Raven. “No eavesdropping.”
He pressed his fingertips to his chest and made an offended sound.
I shut the door in his face and heard his muffled cackle.
The song of power was louder, a chorus of voices clashing and shattering into breathtaking harmonies.
If Cooper wasn’t the right person to take Heim’s power, he sure did have a way of stirring it up. I could barely hear myself think through it.
“What is going on, Delaney?” Cooper asked again.
I sat in the chair next to him, swiveling it to face him.
“Okay, I need you to hear me out on this, Coop.”
He shut his mouth and blinked hard a couple times. It had been a long time since I’d called him by his nickname.
“There are things about Ordinary that you don’t know. You might have suspected them when you were little, or in those odd moments when there wasn’t an easy logical explanation for weird things that you saw or heard.”
This was the speech my Dad had given more than once. But my nerves were wired so tight, I thought maybe Cooper could hear the blood rushing through my head, the song leaking out my ears. I’d never had to explain this to other people.
I’d never had the lives of all the people in town hanging on if I was able to convince someone of the impossible.
“Ordinary was founded many hundreds of years ago. Before America was called by that name. This little stretch of beach was chosen as a vacation place for people, for beings, who carry power. Those people set aside their powers while they vacationed here. Their idea of a vacation was to be mortal and live a normal, ordinary life.
“Some of those people have come back every year, or just stayed on in Ordinary and lived a long…very long time. You know them. You grew up with them. Crow, Herri, Odin, Frigg. They carry great power, except for when they’re inside Ordinary’s boundaries. Outside of Ordinary, they are gods.”
I swallowed and wiped my hands on my jeans, waiting to see how he would react to that.
“That’s…impossible,” he said quietly.
“Almost impossible.” I patted the air in front of me, begging for his patience. “These people—these gods—are vulnerable when they vacation in Ordinary. They not only live a mortal life, they are also actually mortal. Which means they can catch colds, break legs, fall in love. And they can be killed.
“But their power cannot be killed. When a god dies, that power must be picked up by a new person. A mortal person. Someone with the strength, endurance, and dedication to carry that power and all the burdens and joys that come with it.”
His lips were pressed together in a tight line. He was scowling, his eyes intense. “It can’t be true.”
“It is.”
Time ticked out between us.
“Remember junior year?” I said. “Spring? The Barnacles were playing the Smelts and weather was supposed to be a downpour?”
He nodded. He played second base for the Barnacles. I knew he’d remember.
“We got three inches of rain that day. The entire town flooded. But not the baseball field. It hardly sprinkled there.”
“Wha—”
“Thor. He had a bet riding on the outcome, picked up his power, and influenced the weather.”
“That was just a freak storm.”
“That was a god. The bus crash?” I said before he could argue. “Elementary school kids going on a field trip to the zoo. That eighteen-wheeler smashed head-on into the bus at sixty miles an hour. Should have killed them all. Everyone walked away without a scratch, including both drivers.”
“Who?” he asked.
“Bast. She was driving to a hair appointment and saw it coming. Drew on her power. Saved those children.”
“But… Jesus.”
“Hasn’t come by as far as I know. The mudslide that should have wiped out half the town, but somehow missed every house, did no damage to the roads, and instead left behind a rather nice waterfall and hiking trail? Nilus wanted a new park.
The lighthouse—”
“Okay. There’s been some weird stuff.”
I nodded.
“But gods? In Ordinary? In this crummy town?”
“In this crummy town.”
“Crow and Herri?” he asked.
“And others. Aaron, Kim. Um…Zeus and Odin, obviously.” I rolled my eyes. “Heim,” I added, a little more softly.
“But Heim’s dead.”
“I know. His power isn’t. That’s why I’m here. It’s my job to make sure his power is picked up by a mortal worthy of it. A mortal who will become a god.”
“That comes with the badge?” he asked.
“Nope. That comes with being a Reed. I think you came back to this crummy town for this. For power.”
“I came back because I thought I left something behind.”
“I think you’re right.”
He rocked back in his chair and rubbed his hands over his face. When he dropped his palms, his smile was still confused. “I’d be crazy to believe you.”
My stomach dropped and all the butterflies turned into razor blades. There wasn’t much time left. What could I say to make him believe me? I opened my mouth, not ready to give up. He spoke before I could.
“But I’ve always been a little crazy, right?” He grinned.
I exhaled a shaky breath. “Yeah, you have, Coop. It’s one of the things I like about you.” My hand trembled as I dragged it back through my hair. “So what do you think about becoming a god?”
I could practically see the gears in his head working through hope, fear, lust, doubt, and a chaos of other emotions.
“Me?” he finally said.
“You.”
“What…what kind of god?”
“Heimdall’s power is one of protection. He is the watcher of the gods, the sentinel with his eyes on the horizon, the one who will warn the other gods of war, of the end of times, of Ragnarok.”
“He’s the amber alert god?”
I grinned. “He’s whatever it is you make the power become. He has a magical horn. And he was in that superhero movie.”
“I haven’t seen it.”
“You should. Heimdall was badass. Hot.”
“Yeah?” His grin was back.
I resisted rolling my eyes at him again. “You know this isn’t a movie, though. You will have responsibilities you can’t ignore. For all of your life, which might be very, very long. It’s a big commitment and one you have to step into willingly. It will change everything.”
He shifted in his chair, fingers gripping his knees as he leaned forward. “Tell me honestly that you’re not bullshitting me, Delaney.”
“God power is real. I think you’re strong enough to take one on. I think…I think that’s what you came back into town for. What you were really looking for. Not me. You were looking for the power that belongs to you. I am not bullshitting you. All you have to do is say yes, and the power will be yours and then you’ll know I’m telling the truth.”
He held his breath, his eyes searching my gaze, no longer lingering on my mouth.
I tipped my head. “Breathe, Cooper,” I said gently, reaching over toward him. “You’ve still got a little time to decide. To think this through.”
I pressed my palm against his hand on his knees, and the shock of that connection rocked through me.
A small moan escaped his lips, and I had to catch my breath at what that sound stirred in me. Not an emotional need—or not
my
emotional need. That sound, that desire I could feel rolling off Cooper stirred the power.
And the power was hungry, singing, calling.
For him.
“Do you feel that, Cooper?”
His eyes were glazed with heat. With desire.
“That’s the power. Your power, if you’ll take it.” I kept my hand firmly over his, the contact of our hands strengthening the connection.
All the worries, all the butterflies, all the tension in me was wiped away. Just asking that question, offering the power to someone as my family had done throughout the generations, seemed to settle something in me. It was like climbing a rope and finally reaching a knot I hadn’t ever made it to before.
“If I say yes?”
The power’s song shifted again. Harmony and trill.
“If you say yes, then you’ll need to come back with me to Ordinary. I’ll give you the power, and then…” I shrugged.
“And then?” He leaned forward, rolling his hand beneath mine to slot our fingers together.
“And then you’re a god,” I said.
He stared at my mouth a moment before his gaze lifted to my eyes. “Yes.”
The song roared to a stunning single note that swelled with joy. It was so loud I didn’t know how everyone in a three-mile radius wasn’t hearing it.
I grinned. “Good choice.”
Chapter 32
DESPITE RAVEN offering to just “snap” us back to Ordinary, I insisted we wait for Myra to arrive. It gave Cooper enough time to quit the band gig, and for me to change the bandage on my side.
Myra showed up just when we’d finished.
Of course.
“Don’t forget the housewarming,” Ben reminded me as we walked out of the casino and stopped on the sidewalk in front of it. “Saturday.”
“I’ll be there,” I said.
“We’ll have beer.” Jame threw his arm over Ben, who wore what passed for vampire casual: a beanie, sunglasses, long-sleeved shirt, fingerless gloves, jeans, boots, and a lot of sunscreen. “But bring your own rhubarb.”
I grinned and shook my head. Ben slipped his arm around Jame’s wider hips, hooking long, pale fingers into his belt loop as they turned and strolled off to Jame’s truck. They paused beside it for a quick rock-paper-scissors. I didn’t know who won, but Jame opened the passenger door and shoved the slighter man into the cab with a laugh.
“I will be leaving, Delaney,” Hera said.
“Who’s going to look after the bar?”
“I arranged for my absence.” Her eyes hitched up on the horizon. All I saw there were hills thick with trees and a gray sky. I thought she must see a lot more.
“With who?” I figured the least I could do was make sure her bar was cared for while she was gone.
“Chris Lagon. The gill-man.”
It was weird for her to talk to me as if I didn’t know the people in my town. But then, the god power thrumming through her must be all kinds of distracting.
“Good travels to you,” I said, as my father had said many times before. “And when you need a little time off, Ordinary will be waiting.”
Her eyes flicked back down to me and the chorus of song flowing around her was enough to stop my breath.
“Thank you, Delaney. If I can, I’ll be home soon.”
Then Hera simply wasn’t there anymore. She was gone. The space she’d been occupying felt strangely hollow and cold.
“Need a ride?” Raven asked.
I glanced over my shoulder. He waved at the motion-sensor camera over the casino doors. The doors refused to open.
“I’ll catch a ride with Myra.”
“Right, then. See you soon.” He took a few steps back from the door, lowered his shoulder, and sprinted toward the big glass doors.
“Don’t!” I yelped.
Half a second before he would hit those doors, he disappeared.
His bright laughter drifted away over the ramming beat of my heart.
“Jerk.” I didn’t know how they were going to explain that on the security tape. Hoped they’d just write it off as a glitch. Or maybe Raven had made sure he wouldn’t show up on the tape.
“Let’s go.” Myra took my arm and guided me over to the cruiser, where Cooper was already waiting.
I got into the front seat, Myra behind the wheel. “Is it settled?”
Cooper nodded in the back seat. “I said yes. I don’t know what happens next, but I’m looking forward to it.”
I glanced at him in the rearview mirror as Myra took us out to the highway. Power pushed and tumbled in my mind, a thousand songs in one, all of them belonging to Cooper. “So am I.”
~~~
HEIMDALL’S GOD power wasn’t stored in the kiln with the other god powers, since it hadn’t been willingly surrendered. But the heavy concentration of god powers in one place would act as a good grounding rod.
And so we were going to do the transfer at Crow’s shop.
Jean’s truck was in the parking lot, and so was Mykal Rossi’s SUV. Mykal was an EMT, and I thought that was a good bit of foresight on Jean’s part in case things didn’t go as smoothly as we hoped it would.
The neon C
LOSED
sign glowed in the front window, but Raven opened the door and waved us in. “Long time no see! Come on back to the fire.”
Jean pushed past Cooper to give me a big hug. “Good job,” she whispered against my cheek as she clung to me.
I rubbed her back. “Save it for when I get this power settled, okay?”
I walked through the main room and back to the old kiln. Mykal stood off to one side, his hard case of medical supplies, a stretcher, and a defibrillator all resting next to his feet.
I gave him a nod and tried not to worry that he, and all his equipment, were here.
He smiled, showing his sharp canines.
Raven stood next to the furnace and Cooper waited in the middle of the room, arms crossed over his chest, looking lost.
I positioned myself in front of him, Myra and Jean standing behind me.
My heart raced so hard I had to do some deep breathing to stay calm.