Mayhem: Goddesses Of Delphi Part 3

"Hey, I don't give her s.h.i.+t about how she messed up with the Dead Sea Scrolls. They'd still be lost if it wasn't for me."

Zeus chucked her under the chin and gave her a toothy grin. "Perhaps, if you did hold her responsible, she'd let your failure go." The king of G.o.ds laughed loud and long.

Nia raised her brows, but didn't say anything. He knew as well as she did that the sun was more likely to rise in the west than Callie was to forget Nia had slipped up. Of course, if Pierus had his way, maybe the sun would end up rising on the opposite side of the world.

A booming, pleasant chuckle spilled from Zeus's lips. He wiped tears from his eyes before he spoke. "You girls keep me young."

"Says the gazillion-years old deity." Nia rose on her toes and kissed her father's cheek. Pressure built in her chest cavity as Zeus prepared to leave. She laid a hand on his arm to stop him. "Can you ask Atlas to join us tomorrow? We might need him to rehang the moon."

"Most certainly. I will see you tomorrow at the resort."

With a tiny pop of light, he vanished.

Nia took another look at the moon. The benign orb had ruled the seas and the temperament of mortals since the inception of time. Seeing it even the slightest bit out of place left her out of sorts. Her chest tightened at the idea of the coming challenge. Would she succeed, or would her failure doom her and her sisters to spend an eternity as reviled birds, as foretold by Pierus when he issued his challenge?

Clio had defeated the demi-G.o.d and his daughter, Tyranny. Judging by the position of the moon, Nia was pretty certain she'd face Mayhem. Countless innocent mortals could be maimed or even killed before she got into the heart of her challenge.

Pierus had warned them in the first challenge that there would be one mortal man chosen to help her. But that man would be jaded, and unwilling to suspend disbelief. Perhaps her hardest task was going to be convincing this one person to believe in magic again. To ask what if?

Who would be the man destined to stand by her and help achieve victory? Clio had known almost instantly that Jax was the one. Nia searched her mind for which of her male acquaintances could be meant to help save the world.

The only image she could conjure was Thomas Wilde. The startling fact was he'd heard through her illusion when she nudged that awful woman who criticized him and his niece. By itself, that had to be some kind of portent. And she was attracted to the man's casual good looks and innate charm.

There could be worse partners in the quest to defeat one of Pierus's magpie daughters.

Chapter 5.

Before heading to the meeting at the Athenian, her parents' resort, Nia spent the morning at the Inst.i.tute. The a.n.a.lysis of the overnight reports would show whether or not the G.o.ds had effectively masked the new position of the moon with the web of illusion they'd spun. When she entered the observatory, the weekend techs sat in a corner sipping coffee and shooting the s.h.i.+t. That alone was an indication of success. She held her breath as she typed her way into the report queue on the mainframe.

Phillip, the tech, sauntered over. "You looking for anything special, Nia?"

"No, just had some numbers to run." She nudged him away with a nearly silent mumble. "You should go finish your coffee."

"If you need me, just holler." Phillip patted the gut overlapping his belt. "Gonna finish my coffee before it gets cold. Maybe have another donut." He returned to the other tech in the corner.

Nia moved her finger down the column of numbers on the monitor, silently studying the report of yesterday's event. She relied on memories of thousands of years to determine that the moon appeared to be sailing in the same spot as it had since the birth of the universe. She breathed a sigh of relief. The secret was safe. For the time being.

The media had scarcely mentioned the news of the coronal burst. Astronomical news typically lost out to reports of terrorist attacks, military build-ups and human interest stories, like dogs or cats finding a family after being lost for months. Normally, the lack of coverage on celestial happenings angered Nia. This time, she experienced only relief that they'd left it alone. In fact, the only inquiry came from a reporter on a radio program called Star Date.

Nia went to the Inst.i.tute's cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee before heading to her office to return the call. At the condiment station, she added a generous splash of cream and tore open a little yellow sweetener packet. As she sprinkled the contents into the dark brew, she heard her name being called.

"Ms. Nia! You're here. I didn't think you would be." A little hand patted her arm, scattering the powder outside the Styrofoam cup.

Hailey Wilde stood next to her, the little girl's face bright and eager, her green eyes s.h.i.+ning with joy. Thomas stood just behind his niece wearing a wide grin. He looked better than yummy in jeans that rode low on his hips and a tight, black T-s.h.i.+rt.

Nia brushed the scattered sugar subst.i.tute toward the trash opening in the coffee stand. She smiled at the little girl and leaned her hip on the counter. "Good morning, Hailey."

"You said you didn't work on Sat.u.r.days. Uncle Thomas brought me so I could look at the sun. He said it blew up yesterday." Hailey leveled a mature glance at Thomas. "But I think he's wrong. It's still up in the sky."

How did he know? Was he one of Star Date's handful of fans?

"I said it erupted, Hailey," Thomas corrected. He lifted his gaze to Nia's face for a quick glance, and then returned his attention to his niece. "Remind me to get out a dictionary when we get home so I can show you the difference."

The easy relations.h.i.+p between the man and the girl intrigued Nia. She tipped her head and regarded Thomas as he bantered with Hailey. The man's confidence and comfort blasted warmth to Nia's heart. His sun-kissed good looks and his ovary-exploding hard body sent s.h.i.+vers of awareness down her spine. What would he look like in her bed, with no clothes? She bit her tongue to keep it from trailing over her lips like a D-list p.o.r.n star.

Hailey tugged on Nia's hand. "Can we, Ms. Nia?"

Nia jumped, realizing she was guilty of fantasizing about the uncle rather than focusing on the niece. "I'm sorry?"

A slow, s.e.xy grin spread over Thomas's face, reaching his seagla.s.s-tinted eyes. "Hailey, I'm sure Ms. Nia has other things to do. She doesn't have time to take us to the big telescope."

Charmed that he'd filled her in on what she'd missed while taking a side trip to paradise in her mind, Nia spread her hands. "You know, I don't have to be anywhere until later. I'd be happy to take you to the observatory and let you look at whichever part of the sky you want."

"I want to see the stars we looked at yesterday. Where my mom and dad are."

Nia shot Thomas a helpless look. Had it been a mistake to agree to let the child look through the large scope? A grief-filled shadow flitted over his expression. It made Nia want to kiss the pain away.

Thomas shrugged, apparently as helpless as Nia. "Hailey, I-"

"I know you made that up, Uncle Thomas." Hailey's face was somber as she continued. "But it makes me happy to pretend they're there, looking down on us."

Nia reached for a lid for her coffee. "Pretending is okay, Hailey. The ancients made up a lot of stories to explain all kinds of things. They believed G.o.ds lived among the stars. They were called constellations. I happen to know beyond a doubt they made up Sagittarius the archer. But he's visible right now. What do you say we look for him?"

Thomas heaved out a relieved-sounding breath. "Did you know that the Argonauts believe old Sagittarius was placed in the heavens as a guide?"

Hailey shot him a perplexed look, then shrugged. She skipped ahead as they walked toward the observatory.

"Thanks for helping me dig out of that mine field," Thomas remarked quietly as they walked down the ornate hallway. "When she first came to live with me, she cried all the time for her mom and dad. In the day, in the middle of the night, time didn't matter. She was lost and needed her mom and dad."

Nia struggled not to mentally nudge away his sadness. That wasn't what her gift of inspiration was about. "How did she end up believing her folks were stars?"

"I'd read somewhere babies will stop crying when you take them outside. One night, when it was really bad, I dragged a six-year-old into the back yard in the middle of the night. Then I made up a story about her parents being stars and she could talk to them any time she wanted." His face scrunched up in a self-deprecating smile. The diamond stud in his lobe twinkled in the high intensity lights from the arched ceiling as he tucked strands of hair behind his ear. He nudged her shoulder as they strolled after Hailey.

Pleasure zipped through her with the brightness and energy of a hundred fireflies, all lit at once. The intensity of her reaction to him startled her, but she didn't question it. If he heard her nudges, as she was certain he did, then she could accept her attraction to him would be heightened as well.

Knowing the magnetic feelings she had for him might be supernatural in nature didn't stop her from wanting to push him into the small maintenance room they were pa.s.sing and beg him to strip away her clothing.

A wall of windows flanked the observatory entry, providing a view into the telescope lab. Hailey hopped excitedly in place in front of the secured door to the observatory, motioning them to hurry. No time for a rendezvous in the maintenance closet.

Thomas laid his hand on Hailey's shoulder, stilling her perpetual motion. "Settle down, munchkin. And remember, once we're inside, we keep our grubby mitts to ourselves, right?"

Wide-eyed, the child nodded and thrust her hands behind her back. The kid was definitely a cutie.

Nia waved her name badge over the security reader on the wall by the door. Even though she'd s.h.i.+elded the entry with her own brand of security, the scanner kept the curious at a distance for those times when they didn't want a tremendous number of people just wandering in. That's what the wall of windows was for.

The diode on the security panel flashed green and the lock clicked. Nia pushed the door and held it open for Thomas and Hailey to walk past her. Hailey wriggled her fingers at Phillip as the tech approached.

"Phillip, Hailey would like to see Sagittarius today. Can you make that happen?" Nia asked.

"Sure thing, boss." He held his hand out to Hailey. The child didn't hesitate to slip her hand into his. "Come on, short stuff. I know just where he is hiding." Phillip led her away to the staircase and made a game of them hopping up each step to reach the viewing platform.

"Boss?" Thomas asked.

"I'm the science officer for the Inst.i.tute."

"Like Spock?"

"You could say that. My job is to explore the galaxy for new life."

"Ever found any?" Curiosity made his voice climb a little.

"Unfortunately, no." Nia grinned. ""But I remain hopeful."

"Do you really look for little green men?"

No, but she was looking at the most attractive green-eyed man she'd ever seen. "And women. Don't you believe other civilizations could exist?" She tipped her head to the side and studied him.

He frowned. "In all the years we've been able to listen to s.p.a.ce, we haven't discovered another species. Therefore, I tend to lean toward a theory of it's only us out there."

"Skeptic."

"If I can see it... " -he ran the tips of his fingers along her arm and leaned toward her- "And touch it, I believe in it. Everything else is simply hocus-pocus. You're a scientist. Do you really believe?"

The smooth glide of his fingers swirled need under her skin, like a ribbon dancing in the wind. "Absolutely. You can't see or touch love, but surely you believe in it?"

He pulled his fingers from her wrist. The brown ring around the outer edge of his green eyes darkened and a ghost of despair flitted across his face. He glanced away toward his niece. When he looked back, his expression was blank. "That emotion is a fallacy. What people think is love is nothing more than a chemical reaction to pheromones, like insects or animals."

"You don't believe that," she accused. And how sad it would be if he did believe it.

He shrugged and moved toward the viewing platform. As he climbed the stairs, the view of his b.u.t.t almost made her forget he'd just declared that love didn't exist.

Something, or someone, had jaded his view of the world. She studied him as he interacted with his niece. There was love there. She could see it in his affectionate and playful manner as he teased Hailey. She witnessed it from the tactile side of his nature. He was a man who loved to touch. When he'd trailed his fingers over her arm, he'd ignited a fire that still burned in her belly.

The man lied to himself that love didn't exist. And she might be the one to prove to him it did.

When she pinned her gaze on him and poked him with a mental command to look at her, he complied. A grin flickered across his mouth as he needled his brows together.

Barely moving her lips, she mumbled, "Challenge accepted."

Chapter 6.

Nia lounged against the cus.h.i.+oned back of the glider on the front porch, refusing to allow Callie's resting b.i.t.c.h face bother her. Due to the balmy afternoon temperatures, they were conducting their meeting outside instead of in the boardroom where they typically convened for family meetings.

Next to her, Corie exercised no such restraint. "Callie, we're all busy. I had to call a subst.i.tute to teach my intermediate hip-hop cla.s.s this afternoon. So quit complaining about your deadlines." Despite her harsh words Corie had kept her musical voice soft.

"I hate this d.a.m.n challenge. It's a bunch of bulls.h.i.+t," Callie said. Gaia tsked her tongue against her teeth and Callie became instantly contrite. "Sorry, Mother. But I need to make my word count today. The story is simply not flowing the way I need."

Aerie's laughter tinkled like wind chimes. Her eyes were alight with humor when she asked, "Do you need a little help from the Muse of Romance?"

"Maybe."

"Wow, Callie!" Nia couldn't hold back her exclamation. "If you'll accept help from one of us, this is one ma.s.sive writer's block."

"It's like I'm constipated or something. I just can't get the words to come."

"Daughter, do not be indelicate," Gaia chastised. None of them liked when their mother became upset with them. She was less fun than a root ca.n.a.l when she was agitated.

Underneath the ma.s.sive oak tree in front of the resort's main building, Zeus stood in conference with Mars. Mars shook his head vehemently, but stopped as soon as Zeus raised his hand. Both men were dressed more for a round of golf rather than what amounted to a war council meeting.

Eight Muses, plus Jax, Clio's fiance, waited on the porch. Polly hadn't arrived as yet. Jax held Clio's hand on his thigh and whispered against the side of her face. His dark curls brushed against the russet hair Clio had tucked behind her ear. Her sister had revealed the truth about being immortal to Jax to convince him to help solve the last challenge. He'd been instrumental in negotiating a truce that circ.u.mvented Pierus's machinations to plunge the world toward tyranny.

Aerie's phone buzzed and she picked it up to reply to a text message. Summer was a busy time for a successful wedding planner. She was also making concessions to be here for the family pow-wow.

Terri, Mel and Thalia sat on the loveseat in the small rotunda on the corner of the porch. They were weaving the long stems of white daisies into chains. Nia predicted they'd all be wearing floral crowns before the end of the meeting.

A bright blue Mustang convertible, with the top down, veered into a parking s.p.a.ce. Polly had pulled her hair into a casual ponytail for the journey over. The cutoff jean shorts she wore made her legs look longer than usual. Her casual white T-s.h.i.+rt was emblazoned with a fanciful picture of a unicorn. Nia had tried to steal the s.h.i.+rt the first time her sister had shown it to her. A high-spirited unicorn named Amyntas had been Nia's first pet. Thousands of years later, she still missed the old boy.

Polly slipped the strap of her backpack over her shoulder and hurried up the path. She joined Zeus, kissing his cheek, before turning to greet Mars with a hug. The trio proceeded up the steps.

Zeus rubbed his hands together. "Shall we begin?"

"Atlas isn't here yet. Should we wait?" Gaia fretted.

"He has been delayed at HQ. Due to the movement of the moon, there have been some minor adjustments to be made on the star charts. He and his team are all working overtime on it," Nia reported. If the adjustments weren't made, navigational problems would arise. After the encounter with Thomas at the Inst.i.tute, Nia had checked in at Olympus and helped until she had to leave for the conference. But Atlas already had his instructions and coordinates for the moon's realignment.

Zeus inclined his head her direction. "Nia, would you please brief us on the latest from the eruption on the sun?"

Scooting to the edge of her seat, Nia tapped the menu b.u.t.ton on her iPad. She'd already logged in to the corporation's network. Around the porch, her sisters all picked up their devices and opened the meeting app to share her screen.

She cleared her throat as she consulted her notes. "The eruption from the sun's surface would have scrambled all communications on Earth in addition to altering certain physical attributes of our world."

"Like our electronics and computer networks?" Mel asked.