Page 31 of On a Pale Horse
Her smile returned, but it wasn’t the same sex filled look she’d given him before. He mourned that look but, a smile he could accept. “Okay fine. I know I don’t cook but we both are a short hop away from some exceptionally good cooks with drinkable coffee.”
He snorted. “Maybe I should ask for some pointers. Gwyn liked my coffee.”
She patted his cheek. “Gwyn saw you naked and wants to get into your pants, of course he liked your coffee.”
The joke at his expense was worth the smile spreading across her face. She continued. “Now that pointer idea is the best idea I’ve heard in awhile. What use is two baristas in the family if we don’t take advantage of those hard-earned skills?”
He pulled her close and took another deep breath of her scent. The smell of fabric softener, the Easter lily scent that was all her, and most importantly not a single whiff of fire, brimstone, and an imminent and painful death.
Eventually she climbed off his lap and helped him to his feet. They went hand in hand back to their bedroom and when he remembered Persephone, guilt followed too. “Hey, do you know where Phe went? She wasn’t in bed when we woke up this morning.”
Cloris pulled some clothes from the closet and surveyed them. Which amused him since all her dresses were shades of black and gray. And every single one looked exactly the same to his eyes. “I don’t know. She probably went to see her mother. If Demeter got wind Hel did something to her daughter, things would get even more dicey than they already are now.”
Hades halted in pulling on a pair of socks. “Does Demeter have the power to remove Hel?”
Cloris chose her dress and slipped into it easily. “Maybe. But I also thought we had the power to take out Hel, a couple of times.” She zipped up her dress and pulled some escaped hair from its collar. “And look where that’s gotten us. That woman has an uncanny ability to say alive when everyone wants her dead.”
She stopped and stared at the still mussed coverlet beside his hip.
“What is it?” He asked and tried to drag her back toward him in the bed.
She shook her head and dodged his hold. “Maybe nothing. We need a way to get Odin out of the picture. Someone powerful enough to get him to back down, so she loses the only ally she has left. Without control of her undead army, she has nothing to fall back on. Nothing to protect and hold the Underworld.”
He pulled on his jeans and slipped into a t-shirt. “So? You have some thoughts about getting Odin out of the picture?”
“No, but I know some ravens who might give us some pointers. And one of them owes me a favor.”
Fourteen
Cloris
They entered their favorite cafe to find it deserted. Only Katherine and Arwan sat at the countertop. Immediately, Cloris knew the honeymoon phase was effectively squashed.
“What is it?” she asked, taking the seat on the other side of Katherine. They both swiveled on the stools to face her.
Katherine spoke first. “We know what the last piece is.”
“And?” Cloris prompted.
Katherine swallowed heavily, not meeting Cloris’ eyes. This couldn’t be good. “Just tell me.”
It took a moment, but finally she stopped fiddling with the bottom button of her mint green cardigan. “Your piece, the last one, is The Book of the Dead.”
Cloris felt a little like she missed something. She glanced up to Hades, who wore an equal expression to Katherine and Arwan. “For goodness sake. I’m not a child. Tell me.”
Hades cleared his throat before crossing to stand closer. “The Book of the Dead is in the Underworld. But not just anywhere. It’s with the prisoners.”
Cloris shook her head. “I’m still obviously missing something here.”
Arwan leaned out so he could meet her eyes. “The Titans, Cloris, the book is locked up with the Titans.”
A hush fell over the cafe, as if the world had taken a collectively deep breath, and held it at the mention of the titans.
Shit. Not even Cloris could face the titans and live. They’d been locked away ages ago, and many assumed they’d gone mad by now. Not that anyone was brave enough to go poke their cages to check on them.
So not only did they have to face down Hel, in all her unhinged glory, but twelve banished gods bent on revenge any way they could seize it. And not just banished gods … primordial deities.
Katherine surged to her feet and skirted the counter toward the half-filled coffee pot. She began pouring everyone coffee. It was something Cloris loved about Katherine. She lived to take care of others … and her passing out mugs was her way of trying to assimilate the knowledge and try to make everyone feel better about it.
