Page 28 of Midlife Demigod Unexpected

“Came to check on you.” He tilted his head to the side. “I figured you’d be awake.”

“I tried searching up everything on the Internet to do with a golden egg and Dagda. Do you know what I found?” I asked. “One stupid reference about Dagda turning a turnip into a golden egg. So, what if I’m doing all of this freaking work and I’m trying to figure out what this thing is, and it turns out it’s not something cool like a key like my mom thinks. Maybe it’s just a turnip.”

“Whoa, girl,” Jag said, holding up his hands with a disarming smile. “We’re trying to solve one problem at a time. So, you did some research on the golden egg and didn’t find anything useful to do with the Dagda, right?” he asked.

“Exactly. I’ve been sitting here since midnight trying to figure out different ways this could possibly unlock something. I’ve gone over it with a fine-tooth comb, looking for a tiny hole. I’ve gone over it with my fingers, looking for a tiny ridge. I’ve literally been looking at these tiny little dots right here, it’s like a beauty mark. It doesn’t do anything. It’s just a speck on a golden egg for some stupid reason.”

“At least we know your dad’s not Jack, stealing all the eggs from a giant.” Jag pointed out.

“No, but that’s a small comfort,” I said. “We can’t figure out the one thing he did give me.”

“He gave you a lot,” he said. “Considering he gave you a pub, a sword, and a golden egg.”

“I don’t even know if the sword was his,” I said. “The stories say he had a harp, a staff and a cauldron. It says he turned a turnip into a golden egg, and it doesn’t say anything about a sword.”

“Maybe you’re not looking hard enough,” Jag said.

Mae had placed the sword on the mantle and in some strange way, it looked perfectly normal. We both stared at it.

“What if it’s always supposed to have been there?” I asked. “What if it belonged to one of the original members of the coven?”

“Do we even know who they are?” Jag asked.

“We know they were all ancestors of ours. We know whose Mae’s ancestor was. She was the original Hayes, the mother of the Celtic martyrs. Bianca’s ancestors we also know, were her great grandparents. We don’t know about Jane’s or Kartika’s ancestors. Chloe’s, we know.” I laid it out for him.

“Maybe we should do some research on some of the original members of the Coven. It shouldn’t be too hard to trace genealogy back,” Jag said.

“This wasn’t exactly what I had in mind,” I said. “All I want to do is get my pub fixed. I don’t want to figure out who all their ancestors were and why they did all this crazy shit they did around here.”

“I understand,” Jag said, “but you’re kind of in it now and there’s not any way to get out of it. You’ve got to go through it to get out of it, and honestly, I think you’re always going to be here.”

“I always want to be here. Cougar Creek is my home. This is where one day I imagine I’ll be buried, in that cemetery. Well, I never thought I would before, but now I’m supernatural. Then again, if the cemetery’s going to have zombies, maybe not.”

“I think that’s the thing we have to stop.” Jag pushed a hand through his hair. “It’s getting worse. I was down there this morning and there are zombies actually walking around inside the cemetery. It’s not even safe to go inside the wards now.”

“What’s actually keeping them inside though?” I asked. “I mean, the wards are weak, and we still don’t have a human sacrifice inside the crypt.” Suddenly my mind had a brilliant idea.

“We don’t need to research the original Coven. We need to ask Toern. He was here. He was one of the ones the vampire did a number on. I bet he knows exactly who the original members of the coven were and what they were doing. The more we find out, the more suspicious I get. It’s not like that vampire that made Chloe was a very nice guy. And it’s not like my dad should say sorry before he impregnates my mother, right? Unless he was sorry, he had to do it because we have an impossible task ahead of us and he knew we were all going to be destroyed by zombies.”

“I think talking to Toern is a great idea. When it’s not two in the morning we can maybe get Jane to bring him over and we can sit down and talk to him,” Jag said, “but for now, maybe it’s time you went to sleep. I’m going to stay down here keep an eye on the fire.”

“Of course, you are,” I said with a smile. Then I couldn’t help myself. As I stood, I walked over to him, leaned down and gave him a quick kiss on the lips. At least, that was my plan. I felt like it and I wanted to, and I didn’t mean anything by it. I knew he was a demon, and I knew a demon and a demigod weren’t going to work.

I wanted to give him a quick kiss but when I leaned over, he reached forward and grabbed the small of my back and pulled me towards him. He explored my mouth with slow lingering kisses that took my breath away.

I gasped and pulled away from him. “Sorry,” I said. “Sorry. I didn’t mean…I’m under a lot of stress and for some reason I do crazy things when under a lot of stress, but like I said, I didn’t mean it.”

Jag looked up at me, his eyes dark, his mouth grim. “Of course,” he said. “Sorry.” He stood up abruptly. “I’m going to go do a perimeter of the cemetery. I’ll go check in with Branson and the other guys.”

“I’m sorry,” I said again.

He passed quietly out the door and turned to look at me his head tilt to the side. “You know there’s nothing more unflattering than having someone kiss you and then apologize for it. You may regret the kiss, I guess, but I will always cherish it.”

And with that he was gone.

Chapter 21

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