Page 31 of The Goddess is Fierce
I knew killing a god wasn’t that easy because their weakness could be anything. I also knew it fucking happened to me and I wasn’t going to let it happen to her. I wanted my memories andmagic back, but I was also scared as fuck to get them because being a god wasn’t even on my bingo card when I was trying to figure out who and what I was.
I didn’t remember my ex-wife, but Odin and Freya had filled me in. No one liked her or wanted me to marry her. I couldn’t explain the pull I felt to George Bell or if I felt the same with my ex, but Odin and Freya had been actively encouraging me to pursue it.
Ineededmy memories and magic back now because this asshole was targeting her. I couldn’t force Muninn to appear any faster, but I could hear the rest of this vision.
oscar
. . .
That awful feeling in the pit of my gut was back. It was there when we knew the killer was targeting witches and I didn’t know George was a god. It had been blissfully gone now that her secret was out, and I knew she was pretty indestructible. It had stayed gone because his MO this whole time had been witches.
Why was he interested in her now when he wasn’t before? From what I understood, killing a god was insanely difficult and if you got it wrong, they were going to come after you. George wasn’t just some lone god the Fates created. Her dad was the God of Chaos. She was dating the God of Death. Her mom wasjust a witch, but she had one of the most dangerous libraries in the country at her disposal and I was guessing she could come up with something to fuck-up a god, too.
Chantico was wrapped around my neck. I could feel her vibrating and she chittered, and she booped my cheek with her nose. She sent me an image of me scoring the winning point and putting my team in the running for state dodgeball championships. I got hurt before the playoffs, but we would have won if that witch hadn’t cheated.
I was under no grand notion my magic would do a damned thing against a god if it came down to me keeping her alive. I wouldn’t even be able to hear them coming. But George’s uncle said dodgeball was important, and I happened to beverygood at that.
“Our visions aren’t date stamped and we haven’t had time to research everything we saw. Catching the killer is going to come down to a dodgeball match and a moon orgy that’s going to happen after. We could tell you what team once we’ve had time to look at the uniforms we saw, but I don’t follow college dodgeball and the sports Freydis likes involve horses because she’s very much my child.
“Every single person on the team you’re playing against has a bone to pick with someone on your team. One of them cheated on a bear shifter in high school and is bitter he got dumped and the bear shifter moved on. Some of them are mad at George over a video. There’s an incubus who is really mad at Michael because he dated Dexter in high school before he transitioned and he hates that Dexter isn’t hung up on him because of Michael.”
Dexter just snorted.
“I was over him five minutes after he left for college.”
“Wait, we’re playing againstthatguy? Why is he mad at me that he’s an incubus who isreallybad at sex?”
That immediately set George off. She covered her ears and started singing. I usually adored that her family was loud and chaotic. I usually joined in, but I really needed them to focus. So did the massive seer with the man bun.
“Yes, anyway. Even their coach has a problem with your coach. They want to beat your team and they aren’t going to play fair. I can’t tell youwhobut one of your strongest players is going to get injured. It’s not going to be enough to take them out of the game, but they aren’t going to ask George to heal them because they don’t want anyone to make a stink about it and get her kicked out of the league.
“The game is going to be close because of this injured player. Ithasto be close and I won’t tell you who is injured because if you heal them or spend the whole game trying to stop them from getting hurt, someone else is going to get hurt because this is a set vision. Right now, this injury just affects one dodgeball game and can be easily healed. If something changes and the Fates hurt a different person, I don’t know what will happen. So, don’t changeanythingabout that part of the vision.
“The killer thinks he’s found George’s weakness. He’s going to test it at the dodgeball game. I don’t know if it’s magic, or he just used sports rivalry to convince someone to hurt George. I can’t tell. He’s going to have a knife dipped in something from the dodgeball field that he thinks can kill her.
“It’s going to come down to the last few seconds of the game. George will have the Air ball. You’ll think you can easily score and win the game, but that’s when the player gets you with the knife. The killer will realizethatis not your weakness and go back to the drawing board. If the player gets the knife in you, the killerwilleventually figure out your weakness from watching you and testing it on the dodgeball field and on campus.
“Since I’ve known you your entire life, I know you’re going to be trying to figure out how to avoid all this and still win thegame. You’re going to think you’re theonlyperson who can win the game, but you aren’t. You have topass the ball.All of this is hinging on you passing.
“The person you pass it to is going to score and win the game. The person who was meant to hurt you is going to call it off because the game is over and they’d get banned from the league. It’s going topissthat killer off.
“The school you are playing is going to have players and students on campus and some of them are going to get invited to the moon orgy since they are away from home. Some of them will be given space in Halliwell Square if they are shifters and witches and they weren’t invited.
“The killer is going to blame that player for their plan going wrong. They will try to punish them during the chaos of the moon orgy. Follow that player and he’ll lead you to your killer. The arrow is also important. Also, this is where the Fates are being assholes with details, but when the killer starts talking, don’t listen to him.
“Also, I canseethe arrow. I used to live during a time when you wanted meat, you learned to set traps and use a bow. I’vemadebows and arrows. Freydis might have been born in this century and loves the internet and indoor plumbing, but she’s also interested in the old ways. My kid could easily kill most of you with an arrow and she knows how to make them rather than buy them. I don’t know why that arrow is important.”
“It’s not functional either,” Freydis said. “Itlookslike an arrow I would make, but it’s the wrong material. It’s too heavy to shoot properly. He might be a god, but he answers to physics, too. The only waythatarrow could go anywhere in the air is by magic, but then how would he lose it? Itshouldhit its mark if it was aided by magic. I just shoot my bow with skill, but Ionlymiss when I want to, and this guy is much older than me.”
I didn’t know about arrows or Norse seers, but one of them just told me I could keep my girlfriend safe by making sure she passed the fucking ball at the last minute at a dodgeball match. Based oneverythingBjorn just told us, it was going to be our first game. The playersandthe coach wanting to beat us that badly and the game taking place on a full moon all added up. They didn’t usually schedule major events on a full moon, but dodgeball was different. Everyone’s adrenaline was pumping, and the sex was better. Dodgeball games were the exception.
I could help that vision come true by just positioning myself right at the end of the game so George could pass the ball to me. I’d take it from her and deal with the laps Zion would give me for not respecting a female teammate if I needed to.
george
. . .
Ihad been raised with the knowledge a god might eventually want to hurt me just for being born, but now that it was happening, it didn’t really make sense. If the killer was an Erotes, then he was like me. Aphrodite would have been his mother. And no one could figure out why he was changing his whole MO to come for me now instead of when he thought I was a witch.
