Page 43 of Goddess of Storms

Phoenix closes his eyes, and when light snores come from the back seat I turn back to Nile. “Have you seen him fight?”

“Nope, we met up when I first started on the cruise ships. No real fights there. Just drunk people.” He laughs.

“With him being the son of Ares, he better damn well know how to fight. If not, I’m not babysitting him,” I tell Nile.

“Don’t worry, I’ll get us to our girl, you relax.”

“It’s hard to do that when I don’t know what they are doing to Harper. I try not to be controlling, but I like it when I can see her.”

“She’s a spitfire, I’m sure she’s giving them hell,” Nile says.

“We’ll know when we get there, if we see smoke, she is on a rampage,” I joke.

“I for one, am hoping for smoke, these bastards need to leave her the fuck alone. We lost time with her because of them.”

Harper

Hermes leers at me as I peck at my food. “It’s not going to get any deader, you should just eat it and not play with it.”

“Whatever you say, old man,” I mutter.

“You agreed to eat with me,” he shrugs.

“When I did, you didn’t say you were going to creepily stare at me the whole time.”

“I’m not used to being in the company of anyone so beautiful. It’s hard to keep my eyes off of you.”

I drop my fork and push back from the table. “If you’re going to talk like that, I’m done. There is no sense in eating when you’re going to make me puke.”

“Sister, don’t be like that. Eat, I’ll keep my comments to myself and play nice.”

“You are to treat me like your sister, nothing more. I’ll never be more to you than that. How can I get that through your thick skull?”

“I’ll get you to change your mind.” He winks.

“Stop talking, I have my soul mate. I will never be yours.”

“Well, if you’re not going to eat, how about a stroll along your new town?” Hermes smiles.

“Sure, but I won’t be here long enough to enjoy it.” I whisper under my breathe.

Hermes comes around and pulls my chair out, “My lady.”

Bile rises in my throat, but I stand and follow him out, refusing to take his arm.

He heads out the same doors I arrived at when I left the car. The sun has started to set, so the street lamps are lit.

I didn’t pay much attention when we entered the gates, I should’ve, so I could have planned an escape route. I was too concerned with who was doing this to me to think anymore than that.

Hermes transformed what would’ve been town hall into his house. His house was at the end of a main street. We walked and he told me all about the little town. Who ran this store and that. Small talk and mostly himself listening to his own voice.

Gods, are they so self-absorbed? May Zeus strike me down if I’m an asshole like my brother.

On this mini tour, I spotted a few armed citizens, some dressed the same as the ones that had come to get me.I wonder what happens when lightning hits a gun?

All the smiling faces, this façade doesn’t sway me. This place is not my home, I won’t stay here; I don’t belong.

Stone

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