Goddess by Chance (Demi-God Daughters Book 2) (10 page)

Chapter Twenty

She sat next to him, blinking rapidly, but for the last ten minutes she hadn’t spoken a word. Studying Arienne, he was amazed at the change the phone call had brought. The sweet, smiling girl with sparkling eyes was gone. A tear ran from her right eye and her hand reached to wipe it away, but he stopped her by gently catching her hand, and placing it in her lap. Sniffling, Arienne turned to face him. Tear-filled eyes met his as her lower lip trembled. Using his thumb, he wiped the tear from her cheek, but another quickly took its place.

“Please don’t cry. We don’t know anything yet, so let’s not think the worst,” he said.

“He’s … he’s all I have.”

Her voice was a cracked whisper. Triton took her hand and held it in his.

“Your father is going to be fine. More than likely he wasn’t anywhere near where the explosion occurred. What kind of work does he do?”

“He’s an engineer. He works on the Mars Exploration Program.”

“That’s high level work. Any clue what had him going to work on the weekend?”

“They’re getting ready for a new launch.” Her bleary eyes studied his. “I can’t imagine my life without him.” Fresh tears ran in rivulets down her face.

“Come here,” he said gently.

He eased her into the circle of his arms and placed her head on his shoulder. She cried silently as he held her close, and the rigidness of her body made it easier for him to hear the frantic beating of her heart.
If he’s really dead, she’s going to be absolutely devastated.
He nuzzled her ear. “Arienne, listen to me. No matter what happens you’re not going through this alone. I’ll be right here with you.”

“You don’t even know me.”

“I know you better than you think.”

Softly he pressed his lips to her forehead, and Arienne snuggled closer to him. The pain she was already feeling had to be nearly unbearable. He knew the pain well.
Pallas.
Triton blinked back tears that tried to form. He didn’t have time to wallow in his own pain. He had to be strong for Arienne because a feeling deep in his gut told him she was going to need it.

Cerceis’s words came flooding back to him.
What I have in store for the girl will bring her to her knees.
Was Cerceis behind this? Had his vengeful ex-lover escalated the stakes of her war against Athena? For Arienne’s sake he hoped not. Besides Raymond Marcos, the girl was alone in the world.

No, she’s not, Triton. She has you.

Triton tried to ignore his conscience. Arienne was the daughter of his enemy. Even his own father cared little for Athena, though for slightly different reasons.

That doesn’t matter. None of it does. Arienne hasn’t done anything to anyone.

Triton knew his inner voice was right, but letting go of his own pain, all his animosity and thirst for revenge would be a feat like no other. He was a god, but he had feelings, too, and right now his were conflicted in a way they had never been. Triton looked down at the sleeping woman in his arms. The desire to protect her rose up strong in him, but then there flickering slowly in the depths of his soul was still the desire to do her harm. He had no clue which aspiration would ultimately win, and for the first time in his immortal life, Triton was terrified.

****

“Arienne. Wake up, sweetheart. We’re here.”

Arienne’s eyes opened. She hadn’t meant to fall asleep, but with Chris holding her so close, worry had lulled her to sleep. Sitting up, she rubbed her eyes as Chris let down the window. Orange barricades blocked the end of the paved street, and white news vans with satellites perched on the top were parked all around.

“This is bad. This is bad,” she said.

“We don’t know that, sweetheart. Let’s go see what we can find out. You ready?”

Arienne faced Chris, and he smoothed her hair from her face.

Why is he being so sweet? We barely know each other and yet he’s ready to take the longest walk of my life with me.
She cleared her throat. “Yes.”

Chris nodded and opening the door, stepped out before offering her his hand and helping her from the limousine. He held her hand tight as they started walking towards the barricades. There was a small throng of people gathered, and she recognized some of them from the news. A few of them were getting ready to go live, and others were already speaking into the cameras.

“It’s Chris Triton.”

“Who’s the woman with him?”

“Mr. Triton, can you please tell us what you’re doing here?”

A microphone was thrust into Chris’s face, but his stride didn’t slow. Instead, he bared his teeth, and a cold, flinty look came in his eyes. Arienne swallowed.

“If you don’t get that microphone out of my face, before this day is through you’ll be in the unemployment line,” Chris growled.

The microphone disappeared, and Arienne turned to see the same pushy female reporter from the library scowling.
Bitch.
The barricades were less than two feet away now, and more people had appeared. Kennedy Space Center rose up in front of them halfway charred. Smoke billowed around one of the burned buildings, and Arienne’s hand flew to her throat.

“Calm down, Arienne. We’re going to get to the bottom of this.”

She nodded, unable to speak. Chris marched them up to the barricade where police and firefighters were milling around.

“Excuse me. Excuse me,” Chris yelled.

One of the policemen looked his way and slowly came towards them. “Can I help you?” the grey-haired African-American man asked.

“Yes, you can. This is Arienne Marcos. Her father Raymond Marcos was here working. She received a phone call.”

“Who called? We have a specific officer assigned to each set of families.”

“Ryan Ducane.”

“Okay. Give me just a minute.” The police officer walked away.

Arienne’s grip on Chris’s hand tightened. A million thoughts raced through her mind, but she couldn’t process any of them. “Chris, what if?”

“Don’t say it, Arienne. Don’t say it.” His eyes were hard as he stared at her.

She swallowed, nodding.

“Arienne Marcos?”

A brown-haired, blue-eyed officer stood before her with a clipboard clenched in his hands. He appeared to be in his early thirties.

“Yes?”

“I’m Officer Ducane.”

“Officer, my father … is he?”

The man sighed and readjusted his clipboard. “Ms. Marcos, there’s no easy way to say this…”

“No. No.” Arienne’s lips trembled. She pressed a fist to her mouth.

“We have your father’s body.”

Arienne couldn’t breathe. She felt as if she was choking.

“Are you sure?” Chris asked.

“Yes. Dental records and fingerprints match.”

“I want to see him.”

“Ms. Marcos, I’m…”

“I want to see him. I need to see him.”

“Arienne, you don’t have to do this now,” Chris said.

Arienne rounded on him. “Then when? When I’ve had time to calm down? I’m not going to calm down. This man just told me my father is dead. I will never be calm again,” she yelled.

She turned back to Detective Ducane. “Take me to him now.”

“Follow me, ma’am.”

Arienne leaped across one of the barricades. She could hear Chris’s footsteps behind her. They walked to where a large grey van was parked with back doors open. A stretcher holding a large plastic body bag stood alone, and Arienne felt a prickling in her scalp. Officer Ducane put his clipboard down on the back of the van. Reaching for the zipper on the bag, he turned to face her. She nodded, throat too dry to speak. Arienne barely registered Chris’s arms sliding around her waist.

The zipper was slowly lowered. Blood. There was so much blood, more than she’d ever seen in her life. The right side of the man’s face was obscured because of it, but the left side was pristine. Dark black hair, bushy brows, dimple in the cheek and dusky skin. Arienne fell to her knees a keening wail tearing from her throat.

“Daddy. Daddy.”

The gravel from the pavement cut into her knees as she slammed her fist into the ground. The asphalt splintered beneath the force of her blow.

“Daddy! Daddy!”

“Arienne, sweetheart ... baby…”

Chris’s words came to her in a fog. Her chest was aching, and there was a soreness in her throat as tears blurred her vision. The world was spinning around her. Life as she knew it was over. Her daddy, the only man who’d truly loved her, the only person in her life to accept her for who she was … was gone. Her very heart felt as if it was going to tear from her chest.

“Oh Daddy.”

And then she fainted.

****

Triton pulled Arienne into his arms as her body went slack.

“Do I need to call someone?” Officer Ducane asked.

“No. I’ll take care of her. Thank you.” He rose, holding Arienne in his arms.

The officer nodded. “We’re taking the bodies to the Medical Examiner’s Office.”

“Okay.” Triton turned away, and then he saw her, nearly invisible even to him in all the chaos … Cerceis. Tossing her hair back, with a smirk on her face, she shook her head and then disappeared.

His instincts had been right. The Oceanid had not only just decimated Arienne’s life permanently, but she’d also struck a powerful blow against the Goddess of Wisdom. And in the process killed a myriad of innocent people in no way connected to their plan for revenge. Triton was sick to his stomach.

What did I start? What have I done?
As he carried the unconscious Arienne back to his car, Triton swallowed hard.

The bitter twang in his mouth wouldn’t go away. If Arienne ever found out he’d been the one to set this all in motion, she’d hate him until the day she died. And suddenly the thought of her not despising him, not cursing him to perdition meant more to him than his revenge. He was done. Cerceis had to be stopped. Arienne had suffered enough, and Athena’s daughter or not, he couldn’t let her hurt anymore.

Chapter Twenty-One

Athena stood invisible as she listened to the two men talk. This had been a long time coming.
For mortals at least.
It had taken quite a bit of work on her part to combat her half-brother Ares’ influence here in the Middle East. The war god had been running rampant inciting skirmishes, bombings, and threats of all-out war. But once again, reason was about to overcome bloodlust.  A smile touched the corners of Athena’s mouth. The bearded raven-haired man extended his hand. Her work was almost complete.

Suddenly a shiver went down Athena’s spine causing her shoulders to stiffen. Something was wrong.
Arienne. Raymond.
Peace in the Middle East was no longer her concern.

****

Cerceis couldn’t stop smiling. Her plan had gone off perfectly. The screams of the mortals as their world exploded around them and the look of anguish on Arienne’s face had been nearly orgasmic. She was sure the girl’s wails had reached Olympus. Cerceis had taken away the most important thing in Athena and Arienne’s lives … the only man who’d ever loved them. Yes. What she’d done was magnificent.

She’d already witnessed Arienne unraveling before her eyes, but what of the infamous Goddess of Wisdom? Where was Athena? Surely she should know her one time paramour was no more, but just perhaps she wasn’t yet aware.

Oh but when she does. Talk about tormented. The only man, god or mortal, to want her.
Cerceis couldn’t wait to bear witness to the goddess’s pain.

Athena tried so hard to pretend she was above everyone and that she didn’t have feelings, but Cerceis knew better. The owl goddess wanted to be loved. It was a well-known fact that Athena had always coveted the role of being Zeus’s favorite. Cerceis snorted. Zeus had never loved anyone but himself, and now he and Athena’s lover were gone. If the goddess thought she hurt now, then all she had to do was wait a while. Cerceis wasn’t done. Not by a long shot.

****

Arienne came awake with a gasp, and for a moment, her vision was blurred. As it cleared, she realized she was lying down. Slowly turning her head she saw Chris pacing in front of her … in her living room. She sat up.

“Thank goodness you’re awake. I almost started to take you to the hospital,” Chris said. He came to sit down beside her stroking her face.

“Why would you take me to the hospital?” she asked.

He stopped touching her and grabbed her right hand holding it in his. “Sweetheart, you’ve been unconscious for over half an hour. You fainted when … when we found out.”

“Found out what?” she asked.

Chris’s brows drew together, and she noticed small lines around his eyes.

“That your father’s gone.”

She stared at him uncomprehending. Her eyes narrowed, and she turned away slowly Arienne searched her mind. A policeman. The body on the stretcher half burned. Her father.

“Daddy. Daddy. No.” Her hand flew to her mouth. She remembered all of it. The explosion at the Space Center and her father’s lifeless body lying on the gurney. Tears ran down her face. She tried to choke back a sob, but she couldn’t and the cry tore from her body.

“I’m sorry, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” Chris said.

His arms wrapped around her.

“I thought it was just a nightmare. That it couldn’t be true. But it is. It is.”

Arienne continued crying as Chris rocked her in his rms. Her chest was heavy as if a two ton truck was parked smack dab in the middle of it.

Daddy. Oh Daddy, why did you have to go to work today? Why did you have to be so damn dedicated to your job?
She cried harder, her tears falling like a waterfall that would never stop.

“I’ll be here as long as you need me, Arienne. I’m not going anywhere.”

Chris’s embrace was warm and secure, but nothing and no one could comfort her enough now. Her dad was gone, and that pain was here to stay.

****

Athena was alone. The coldness of the morgue would’ve nearly frozen most mortals, but she was impervious to the temperature. Reaching out, she opened the labeled drawer in front of her. Inch by inch, it opened, until a body stretched out full length. She was suddenly immobile. The smell of the chemicals wafting from the body told her he had been cleaned. Her hand reached down to touch the side of a face that she knew so well. Her fingers traced his brow and the nose he’d always complained about. Then she touched his full lips. The lips that had been the first ever to touch her own and praise her for not only her intelligence, but her beauty as well.

Just as she’d never see his eyes stare into hers with adoration, those beautiful lips would never again open and confess love. Raymond was gone. Her hand fell away. Her lips trembled as a single tear fell from her eye, and then, she cried. Once the tears started, they would not stop. Athena turned away from the sight of her lover’s dead body.

When her father had been killed, she hadn’t grieved for him, but her heart was torn asunder for this one mortal. Raymond’s mind had been as beautiful as he was, full of ideas, inventions, and thoughts for bettering a world he had no control over. It was the thing that had initially attracted her to him.

Not since Odysseus had a mortal so intrigued her. When Raymond had dared to kiss her, she’d known then that he was not just any mortal. While the surrendering of her maidenhead had resulted in a pregnancy she hadn’t been exactly ready for, Athena never regretted it. Regardless of what her daughter thought of her, Athena loved Arienne and she would always love Raymond as well. With one last glance at the only man she’d ever loved, Athena dried her tears and disappeared.

****

Triton stood outside Arienne’s door.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay? I really don’t think you should be alone.”

Arienne stared at him with red, swollen eyes. The girl had cried on his shoulder for nearly half an hour, and he could only remember one time feeling so helpless. Triton had hoped to never feel that way again, but experiencing the full force of Arienne’s grief had taken him back in time.

“I really appreciate that, but you’ve already done so much as it is.”

“You’ve been through a lot and I’m just glad I could be here to try to lend a measure of support to you. But I still don’t feel right about leaving you now.”

“Chris, you have a life. I’ve taken up enough of your time. You don’t need to be here watching me,” she said with a faint smile.

Her pupils seemed so small in her swollen eye sockets and the urge to wrap her in his arms and spirit her away was so strong. The strongest he’d ever felt for a woman.

“I’d rather be here with you than anywhere else.”

“I don’t know what to say.”

“You don’t have to say anything. Just try and rest the best you can. I’ll be back in the morning.”

“Chris, you don’t need to do that,” Arienne protested.

“I don’t want to hear it. I will be back, and if you need anything before then, don’t hesitate to call me. You hear me?”

Arienne shook her head sighing. “Okay. You win.”

“I usually do,” he said stepping close to her.

Finally he could see it, but barely. The faintest spark in her eyes. Arienne was wounded and raw, but her grief would not leave her immobile because she was stronger than that. Triton’s hands settled around her waist, and slowly he leaned down to kiss Arienne. Her eyes closed, but she didn’t pull away.

His lips brushed hers softly, and then he kissed her full on. She responded to him, lips tangoed with his, biting and softly sucking on his bottom lip. Despite the tragedy that had befallen, Triton was getting aroused. Regretfully he pulled back.

“I’ll see you in the morning, okay?” he said in a soft tone.

“Okay. Goodnight, Chris.”

“Goodnight, Arienne.”

She closed the door, and Triton stood outside leaning his head against the door. A piercing wail erupted from inside.
Arienne.
The force of her pain made him want to tear down the door and hold her until her pain was a thing of the past, but he held himself back. Arienne needed this time to herself to cry and scream and get out her pain as best she could. He clenched his fists together as another scream reached his ears. He was going to see Cerceis. This time she’d gone too far.