I hated seeing her cry. I put my arms around her, and she cried into my hair.
“But Claire,” Nyx stepped forward, “you don’t have to. We’ve been doing it all this time—making sure she’s safe. Isis is part of our family. Are you forgetting she’s carrying my grandchild, too?”
Nyx’s words made Claire cry harder. She released her hold on me and hugged Nyx. “I’m sorry. You’ve been such a good friend to me. I just get so crazy when it comes to Isis.”
“You don’t say?” Galen mumble, and Galilea elbowed him in the stomach.
Knowing I didn’t have to lie to Claire any longer lifted the heavy veil I’d been hiding under for months, which to me seemed like decades. But now that she knew, she was at risk, too. If the Council found out she was aware of the existence of deities, they’d send someone to erase her from the face of Earth. Luckily, we’d soon have an army to help protect us.
CHAPTER 30
It may have been the pregnancy or my new genetics, but my hair grew fast and long. The ends of it touched my waist—the length it’d been before I left for Greece, back when my life still held a tinge of normality. But normality was a foreign notion to me most days, the rare exception, today.
I stood in front of the Christmas tree, staring at the twinkling lights and the carefully placed ornaments on each branch. Colorful pieces of giftwrap lay scattered on the living room floor. The scent of fresh pine and gingerbread warmed the air. Alezzander offered toasts in the name of family, while Galilea made Galen jealous by allowing Frederick to kiss her on the cheek under the mistletoe.
It was uplifting to have a holiday feel so familiar. What added more to the day’s festivities was there were no more secrets to keep from anyone. And though knowing it wouldn’t last but a few more hours, it’d been a long time since life felt ordinary. Nevertheless, I was thankful. But this feeling of normality was a sole illusion.
Frederick, my first commander, began to train me to think like a leader, a title I’d never get used to. He said my mind needed to learn how to demand and command. He told me I didn’t have to think of myself as a leader, but I did have to convince the deities who’d join his my army I was one.
I glanced out the window into the dark night. Outside, hiding in the forest and below ground, a few dozen fresh members of his my allegiance stood watch. I’d met two of them—Chrosis and Zedin, who switched off with Ayrie and Onarit when they needed rest. All four were present tonight. Chrosis and Zedin were plastered against the living room wall like wallpaper. They didn’t look as though they were having fun. I often caught them giving me funny looks and wondered what they were about.
Chrosis wasn’t conventionally handsome. He was rugged and dark, but had all the sexy deity mojo. That was how Galilea described him, anyway. His counterpart, Zedin, was a seven-foot-tall redhead with a braided beard. Neither of them talked unless spoken to. I tried to make conversation with the two on several occasions, but their answers were curt, and they called me “madam” a whole lot, which annoyed me. They may not have been people persons, but one thing was certain, they were very good at looking bad.
I’d learned Ayrie, who was currently flirting with Eryx by the fireplace, was my second in command under Frederick. Onarit, who was talking to Dr. Gunn and Samuel, was an advisor.
This thinking like a leader crap was proving to be very confusing.
“Hey…” David hugged me from behind. “What are you looking at out there which could possibly be more interesting than me?”
“I’m not looking at anything. I’m staring blankly at nothing,” I said. “I’m wondering what we’ll be doing this time next year. Where we’ll be.”
“Somewhere nice, I hope.” He slid his hand over my stomach and kissed my cheek. “You realize we’re two months away from becoming parents?”
“Yup.” And closer to war.
“We’ll have to decide on a name soon. Do you have any in mind?”
“No. Do you?” I asked. He nodded. “Let me hear them.”
“You may not like them.”
“You don’t know that. C’mon. Tell me.”
“Okay,” he said, turning me to face him. “I was thinking maybe, Juliette, Karis, Valentina, Eve… What do you think?”
“I like those.”
“Honey… Isis.” Claire waved with her phone from across the room. “It’s for you.”
“It’s probably my grandmother,” I told David. “I’ll be right back.”
I took the phone from my mom’s hand and walked into the kitchen where it was quieter. Ayrie followed.
“Everything okay?” she asked. I showed her the phone. “Ah… Well, I’ll be in the hall if you need me.”
“I won’t.” I placed the phone on my ear. “Hello?”
“So are we not friends anymore or what?”
“Andy?” I was so happy to hear her voice. “Oh my goodness, it’s been…”
“Months,” she said, finishing my sentence. “I’ve left you voice mails. You never call me back. I’ve gotten zero texts from you since I last saw you.”
“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry. I’ve been…uh…busy.”
“That’s a lame excuse, but whatever. It’s Christmas Eve. I forgive you.”
“Thanks,” I said, smiling.
“So your mom said you were at David’s house. I didn’t know you guys were back together. Can I drop your Christmas present off there? See you for like a minute? And you can’t say no, because I’m two minutes away.”
“Two minutes?” I panicked.
“Well, okay, like five, unless I hit a red light. Oh, and I picked up a big surprise for you.”
“Oh yeah?” I looked down at my gigantic belly. “I bet my surprise is bigger.”
“Stop trying to outdo me, girl. See ya in a few.” She hung up.
“Ayrie,” I called out. She was next to me in the blink of an eye. How was she so fast? “Ayrie, I have a visitor coming, so you have to tell whoever you need to tell not to kill her.”
“Yes, madam.” She nodded and walked away.
“Ayrie, wait,” I said. “Chrosis and Zedin might scare her, so get rid of them. And I guess you can be a distant Chios family member or something. Pretend to be, I mean.”
“Can I be Eryx’s girlfriend, instead?”
“Yeah, sure. Whatever. Just go tell your army not to kill my friend, please.”
“I’m sorry, whose army did you say?” Ayrie asked.
“My army,” I corrected.
“That’s right.” She smirked.
I watched Ayrie signal Chrosis and Zedin from the hall. They walked out the front door. I returned to the living room and stood at the entrance.
“Look at what you’re standing under,” David said, pointing up at the mistletoe. “I get a kiss.”
“Later, hot lips,” I breathed. “Andy is on her way here.”
“Who’s on their way?” Frederick asked.
“My best friend,” I said.
“I thought I was your best friend,” Galilea sounded offended.
“My other best friend,” I said. “Hey, Frederick, could you lose all that,” I motioned to the weapons strapped on his leg, “dangerous-looking stuff while she’s here? And could you pretend to be human?”
“Isis, calm down. Why are you so nervous?” David asked. “It’s just Andy.”
“You don’t know her like I do. Andy picks up on things. She’s always been good at it.”
“Well, if she gets out of hand, I can make her forget,” Galilea said. “That’s not a problem.” I glared at her. “Or not. Geez! Someone woke up on the hormonal side of the bed today.”
“What’s happening over here?” Nyx walked over to us.
“Isis is freaking out because her,” Galilea made air quotes, “best friend is coming.”
“Andy?” Nyx asked, her eyes glazed over. “How nice of her to drop by.”
“Are you—drunk?” I asked her.
“That depends on your definition of drunk,” Nyx
said in a loud voice, and then snorted.
“Here we go again. Why did I marry a woman who can’t hold her liquor?” I heard Alezzander say from the sofa. He walked over to Nyx. “Dear, I think you’re done for the night. It’s time for us to go to bed.”
“Why, Alezzander!” Nyx slapped his arm. “You shouldn’t say those types of things to me in front of the children.”
“Holy smokes! What were you drinking?” Claire laughed.
“Ambrosia liquor,” Nyx said. “Pairs well with… everything, I guess.” She cackled.
“It certainly doesn’t pair well with you,” Alezzander told her. He whisked her up in his arms. “Good night, everyone. Merry Christmas.”
The doorbell rang. I turned to Frederick. His weapons were gone. Ayrie was back, holding Eryx’s hand. He didn’t seem to mind. I took another look around at everyone. They looked normal enough.
“Are you going to get the door?” David asked.
“Oh. Right.”
I straightened my dress out before I turned the knob. I opened the door and there was Andy, holding a pizza box and a small gift. We’d eaten pizza together on Christmas Day when we exchanged presents every day since we’d met.
“Surprise!” She held out the pizza to me with a wide smile. But her smile quickly faded, replaced by an expression of surprise on her face.
“You remembered,” I said, taking the boxes.
“What—is that?” She pointed to my stomach.
“Uh… Surprise?”
“No shit,” she said, eyes wide. “And you didn’t bother to tell me?”
“I thought you might’ve already known. This town is so small, and news tends to travel fast.”
“Yeah… I don’t live here anymore, remember? This the first time I’ve come home since I started college. Of course, if you’d read my emails, you’d know that.”
“I haven’t checked my email in a long time.” I winced. “Sorry.”
“This isn’t like you. Like at all.” Her brow creased. “Should I be worried?”
“No.” I shot a glance at David, who was watching me from the living room. “It’s just that there are new changes in my life. They’ve been taking up a lot of my time.”
“Mhh.” Her mouth was tight. I could sense the hurt in her eyes.
“Andy, it’s good to see you,” David said as he walked up behind me. I breathed a sigh of relief. “Would you like to come in?”
“I can’t,” she said. “Bill’s in the car. We’re going over to his parents’ house. They’re waiting on us to open presents.”
“Speaking of presents… I didn’t know you were coming, so I don’t have your gift,” I said. In reality, I’d forgotten. Claire had been the one to buy the items on my gift list since I was closed off from the world. Galilea had been the one to make the list. Maybe she’d left off Andy on purpose.
“That’s all right,” Andy said. “Just answer my calls once in a while, okay?”
“I will,” I said, “but my phone keeps dying, so…”
“Story of your life.” She rolled her eyes. “Anyway, have a Merry Christmas, you two.”
“Merry Christmas,” David and I said.
Andy hurried to Bill’s car. She waved before she slid in, and then the vintage Mustang drove away.
CHAPTER 31
The New Year arrived and along with it an eerie silence. There’d been no Turpis attacks, which I found strange since I was a month away from giving birth. Galilea’s block was failing, which gave the demons a perfect opportunity to attack. Yet not one hellish creature showed its ugly face. I wasn’t complaining, but it made me nervous. Very nervous.
Part of my army, now composed of one hundred sixty-seven immortal deities, set up camps in different sections of the eighty-two acres of forested land of the Ebony Estate. Frederick told me of a deity among my warriors with the power of camouflage—sort of like a chameleon, but he could extend his ability on a grander scale. He helped disguise the camps to look like the forest. I hadn’t met any of the warriors, but I’d met this one. His name was Cezario. He helped conceal not only the campsites, but also the estate and me when Galilea’s invisible block grew weak.
While most warriors were stationed above ground, dozens remained hidden underground, in Sub Terra Station as Frederick called it. Of them, a handful of warriors served as moles, traveling between Caelum and Earth to keep us informed about my enemies’ plans. As of late, none of the spies had anything to report.
***
I woke up extra early to surprise David with heart-shaped pancakes in bed. I tiptoed past the remodeled den where Ayrie was asleep on the couch. I heard Frederick and Onarit having an indistinct conversation on the front porch as I walked through the foyer and to the kitchen.
From the cupboard, I took a bowl and fetched the necessary ingredients. As I reached for an egg, I felt a pain in my lower abdomen. It was so sharp it made me bend over. I grabbed hold of the counter with one hand to steady myself. It disappeared as fast as it came.
Probably gas, I thought. I began to beat the batter, wondering if there were any candles in the house to stick on top of the tower of pancakes I planned to make.
“Hey,” Ayrie said walking into the kitchen. “What are you doing up so early?”
“Making Valentine’s Day pancakes for David. It’s also his birthday, which he didn’t tell me about until a few days ago. I feel bad I don’t have a present for him.” I pouted. “He says birthdays aren’t a big deal to deities. That’s the oddest thing I’ve ever heard. Why don’t you guys celebrate birthdays?”
“Early on, when we’re children, we do. What kid doesn’t like birthdays, right? But after a thousand huge birthday parties, it gets boring—loses its appeal.”
“Really?” I cracked the egg into the bowl. “I don’t think I’d ever get tired of having birthdays. You only get one a year. It’s nice to have a day to look forward to.”
“Do you have big parties with a lot of people on your birthdays?” Ayrie leaned her shoulder on the kitchen doorframe.
“No. Actually, I never had a birthday party with more than five friends when I was a kid.” I began to hand-beat the batter. “I’ve always been very selective with my friends. Plus, my parents couldn’t afford lavish parties.”
Not that I was upset I’d never had a huge birthday party. My dad and my mom gave me the best they could afford. My birthdays never lacked at least one present or cake and ice cream. The memories Hector and Claire created for me would always be dear to my heart.
“Do you wish you’d had a big birthday party?” Ayrie asked. “I could arrange one for you.”
“Nah. Big parties aren’t my thing. You want some pancakes?”
“Mmm…” She nodded. “But first, I need to make a perimeter run. I won’t be long, madam.”
“I thought we agreed not to call me that anymore,” I said as she left.
Ayrie peeked her head back into the kitchen. “For the seventeenth time, no, we didn’t. Be back in five.”
“It was worth a try,” I said.
“Stop trying,” Ayrie yelled from the hallway, and then I heard the front door slam, announcing her exit.
As I finished beating the pancake mix, I felt something wet gliding down my legs. I dropped the bowl on the counter and stared at the puddle on the floor. Had I spilled water? Then I realized…
“I peed,” I said out loud. “But how…?”
I heard a gasp and looked up. Frederick’s crooked face expressed disgust.
“Well, color me embarrassed,” I said. “I was five years old the last time this happened.”
“Uh… I’m no doctor,” Frederick fidgeted, “but I think your water broke.”
“That’s what this is?” I blinked once at him. “You mean I’m having a baby?”
“Yes,” he said. “But don’t panic.”
“Frederick, I’m in labor,” I said. He nodded. “Holy shit.” I looked at the wet floor. “Holy shit, Frederick! What should I do?”
/> “If you could hold off on having the baby right this very minute, that’d be great.”
“Okay. Yeah.” I nodded. “Sure.” I breathed deep. “So, like, how do I do that?”
“Very good question. And one I wish I could answer, but I’ve never been in labor—on the count I don’t have the correct reproductive organs to incubate a fetus—so I have no idea.”
“I’m panicking. I’m panicking. I’m panicking!”
“Isis, madam, you’re an intelligent girl. Most of the time. I’m sure you can figure it out.” He took my arm, pulled me out of the puddle, and then dropped a kitchen towel on the wet floor. “Stay right here. I’ll get someone to look after you while I get the doctors.” He looked back at me from the kitchen door. “Stay. Calm.”
“You’re telling me to stay calm when you look like you’re about to pass out?”
“I might, after I vomit,” he said, and then left.
***
I’d been preparing for this day for months, and at last, it arrived. My stomach ached. I didn’t know if it was from contractions or nerves. The medical equipment and birthing bed had been set up in Sub Terra, in a room I hadn’t yet seen. After showering and slipping into a medical gown, Sub Terra was where I was headed.
Frederick opened the door under the stairs, previously a bathroom, revealing the lift installed two weeks prior. It was a small-capacity elevator. I wondered if I’d fit alongside David. We boarded the elevator, and Ayrie closed the wire mesh door.
“I’ll come down with your mother as soon as she gets here,” Ayrie said.
“You called my mom?” I asked.
“No. My mother did,” David said. “I asked her to. I thought you might want her present.”
“Oh,” I said, surprised. “I do. Thank you. Where’s Galilea?”
“I don’t know,” Ayrie said. “She said something about a surprise and ran off. Do have any other concerns, madam?” I shook my head. “Good luck. I’ll see you soon.”
David lowered a lever, setting the elevator in motion. We descended through darkness with a dull yellow light illuminating the top of our heads. The loud metal clank of the elevator gears irritated my ears, discouraging conversation. I felt the muscles in my lower back and abdomen twisting crueler and with more frequency than before. Why was the elevator ride taking so long? I needed to sit down.