Murdered Gods (Shadows of the Immortals Book 2) Page 2

  I took a long look around the little apartment. Closed the kitchen window that I always left open so Syl could come and go. Straightened the throw hanging over the back of the couch so that it hid the tear in the seat. I didn’t want to leave this place, or the new friends I’d made here. But hopefully it wouldn’t be for long. I could even give the damn ring to Alberto for safekeeping once I’d had my questions answered. He’d forgive me, then, for taking off with it. Probably.

  Bag over my shoulder, I hurried out onto the landing and met Joe coming out the door of Number 1 across the hall. One eyebrow rose at sight of the backpack.

  “You going somewhere? I was just coming to ask if you wanted to see the baby now she’s all cleaned up.” His eyes softened and a goofy smile played around his lips as he spoke of his new daughter, a smile that said proud daddy loud and clear. “Rosie’s bringing Cody over to meet his new little sister.”

  “I’d love to, but I’ve got a train to catch.” My car was still in Crosston where I’d left it last night. I’d have to catch the train in and pick it up before I could get to Newport. There was no train service connecting the shaper territories with the human ones. If I didn’t want to walk the whole way, I’d have to risk showing my face again in Crosston.

  “Is something wrong? Because if you need help—if you need anything—you just let me know.” He closed the distance between us and took both my hands in his big ones. “After what you did for Holly, you’re pack now.”

  If it hadn’t been for me, Holly and her baby would never have been in danger in the first place. Trust Joe to forget that bit. He had a heart bigger than the great outdoors. Even Syl liked him, and cat shifters weren’t usually big on werewolves. She wound round his legs now, rubbing her head affectionately against his jeans.

  He reached down and picked her up. “That goes for you, too. Holly tells me there’s more to you than meets the eye. I can smell it on you now.” He held the cat in front of his face and gave her a little shake. Syl stared back, unblinking, her long black body dangling from his grip like a fur stole. “Why don’t you come out of there and say hello properly?”

  I scooped her out of his big hands and held her against my chest. “Maybe later. We’ve really got to get going now.”

  “What’s the rush?”

  “I need my car back. I’m going to catch the train into the city and pick it up.”

  He was shaking his head before I’d finished the sentence. “Crosston is the last place you should be going right now. Sounds to me like you made quite an impression there. It’s not safe.”

  I shrugged. “I can’t just abandon my car there. It could lead the provosts straight back to me.” Not that it had a label saying If found, please return to Berkley’s Bay. But it was still registered to my Crosston address, and that would give them a name to attach to the CCTV footage they no doubt had of the fight in the plaza.

  “Then I’ll head into the city tomorrow and pick it up. You can stay here where it’s safe.”

  “But I need a car now, Joe. I had a call from home. My mother’s sick.”

  “Well, why didn’t you say so? Take mine.”

  “I couldn’t do that—”

  He folded his arms across his broad chest. “Not up for discussion. We can use Holly’s if we need to go out. Stay right there.” He disappeared into his apartment and came back carrying a set of keys, which he pressed into my hand.

  “Thanks, Joe.” I stood on tiptoe and kissed his bristly cheek. “I appreciate it.”

  “Hey, save those kisses for Lucas. I’m taken.”

  I punched his arm. Lucas was the brother he’d been trying to set me up with since I’d moved in. “You know you’re my favourite werewolf. How could anyone else measure up?”

  Then I hurried down the stairs, still carrying Syl, before he could think of a good comeback. At the bottom, I shook my hand out. Note to self: don’t punch werewolves. They have muscles like bloody bricks.

  Joe’s big diesel engine rumbled into life first go.

  Syl eyed me from the passenger seat. *So now we’re stealing cars from our friends too? It wasn’t enough just to endanger their lives?*

  Well, that was a low blow. It wasn’t as if I’d wanted Anders to kidnap Holly.

  “It’s not stealing when they give you the keys.”

  *Semantics.*

  I reversed out of the parking spot, feeling like I was driving a truck. Joe’s four-wheel drive was a lot bigger than my little car. “Nobody’s forcing you to come, you know. In fact, I wish you wouldn’t. It’s not safe. You could stay here and cover for me.”

  *Stay here and explain to Hades that you’ve run off with that ring they’re all so worked up about? No, thanks. Besides, you need me. Someone’s got to stop you from charging in and doing something stupid.* There was a short pause. *More stupid, that is.*

  “Look, it’s just a quick trip. In and out, ask some questions, get some answers, home again, safe and sound. With a bit of luck, no one will even miss us.”

  Syl’s tail flicked, showing what she thought of that idea. *You know, one of the things I hate about you is your relentless optimism. Oh, and the thrill-seeking. And the fact you never take my advice. Not to mention the way you jump straight into things without thinking them through.*

  We were through town already—Berkley’s Bay was only a little holiday town—and the truck turned onto the road that led to the highway.

  “You done enumerating my flaws?” If Syl got into one of her moods, this could be a long trip. I was sick of arguing with her. “Feel free to go into a sulk and refuse to talk to me the whole way instead.”

  Her tiny pink nose lifted haughtily. *I do not sulk. And you have plenty more flaws. I could fill a book, I swear.*

  “Sometimes I wonder why I like you so much.”

  She snorted. *Your one redeeming feature is your good taste in friends.*

  After that, she settled down and appeared to go to sleep. Well, it beat listening to her bitch the whole way, but I could have done with something to distract me from my thoughts. The ring ate at them; the eerie way it whispered at the edges of my mind whenever I wore it, its words just beyond my grasp. Strange. So alien—and yet familiar somehow, too, like hearing a half-forgotten childhood story again as an adult.

  As if my life hadn’t been messed up enough already. I’d spent years hiding the fact that I could link to animals from everyone around me. And now I had some weird-ass link to a piece of jewellery too? What the hell was wrong with me?

  Not to mention that the shapers’ gods were real, and at least one of them would be gunning for me the minute he worked out what had happened to that weird, whispering ring. I was banking on the fact that Hades seemed quite fond of me—hopefully he wouldn’t hit the smite button straight off once he figured out what I’d done. I just hoped that Jake was still out of it. That way, it might take longer for Hades to realise he didn’t have the ring. Although, the way my luck was running lately, he’d probably pulled some miraculous shaper recovery and they were both hot on my heels already.

  Damn shapers. I’d always known they were trouble. I should have walked straight out of my shop the minute Jake had walked into it, and never looked back. Too late now.

  And what would he think, when he woke up in hospital and found the ring missing? Not that I cared, of course. Just because his eyes had seemed to promise something that sent a thrill right through me, it didn’t mean we had any kind of connection. We’d saved each other’s lives; I didn’t owe him anything more. I felt kind of bad about picking his pocket while he was wounded and half out of it, that was all. But seriously, who’d be mad enough to try robbing a fireshaper when he was fully conscious?

  I turned onto the highway, feeling a little safer as the big car settled into a ground-eating speed on the long, straight road. It would take Hades and Jake a little while to figure I had the ring, even if they’d already missed it. And then they’d waste time searching Berkley’s Bay for me. As long as I had a couple of hours’ head start, I should be fine.

  And that was when the giant dog appeared in the middle of the road.

  2

  I slammed on the brakes. Poor Syl went flying, arse over turkey, and fetched up in the foot well, a hissing bundle of scrabbling legs and lashing tail.

  *What the hell are you doing?* she spat, trying to clamber back onto the seat but getting thrown around again as I swerved, trying to avoid the giant dog.

  And I do mean giant. The thing was bigger than a horse—bigger than the four-wheel drive, even. Its legs were like tree trunks, and it might have looked like it was planted in the road, rock-solid, but it skittered to the side like a giant damn cockroach, blocking the way past. The two wheels on that side slid off the tarmac and onto the shoulder, and the car skidded wildly, spraying gravel as I fought for control.

  The car came to a shuddering halt and rocked before settling onto its springs. I revved the motor, staring out at the nightmare on the road.

  It was black, so black it seemed to eat the light, and its eyes glowed red like coals. All six of them.

  Syl scrambled back onto the seat and hissed, all the fur down her back standing up. *There’s a dog with three heads in the road.*

  “Yeah, I noticed that.”

  And all three of them were focused rigidly on us. Those baleful red eyes stared, unblinking. Flames danced in their depths. Trying to swerve around the monster hadn’t worked so well. Maybe a game of chicken? If I drove straight at it, who would blink first?

  *What the actual fuck, Lexi? There’s a dog with three heads in the road.*

  “Heard you the first time.”

  *It’s Hades, isn’t it? He’s found us.*

  I revved the engine. I had trouble imagining the urbane Alberto taking on
such a monstrous form. “I’m no expert on gods, but if you’re suggesting that’s actually Hades, then I’d have to say no.” My hands were trembling, and I clenched them tighter about the wheel. “But I’m guessing that he’s figured out where Apollo’s ring went.”

  I was pretty rusty on my Greek mythology, but I remembered something about Hades owning a three-headed dog—though he was supposed to be guarding the gates to Hell, not standing in the middle of the main road north, growling like a goddamn earthquake. But I guess if Hell’s master wanted him to, he’d follow orders like a good puppy.

  I put my foot down.

  *Lexi!*

  I winced as Syl’s mental shriek pierced my brain, but I drove straight at the dog.

  He didn’t move.

  *Lexi!*

  I stomped on the brakes just before the car thudded into the beast. Syl went flailing onto the floor again, and my breath whooshed out of me as the steering wheel slammed into my chest. There was an awful crunching sound, but the dog didn’t move. One of its massive heads bent to eyeball me through the windscreen. Another decided to chomp down on the car’s roof.

  Metal screeched and protested, and then a small patch of daylight appeared as a piece of roof tore away. I looked up just in time to catch a faceful of giant dog slobber.

  “Whoa, boy! Easy there!” I pulled a knife, wincing at the pain in my chest.

  A glowing red eye as big as my hand stared down at me through the hole. It would be an easy shot, but what good were knives against a thing that size? And I only had two. Even if I took out two eyes, that still left two whole heads who were then going to be mighty pissed with me. And surely Alberto wouldn’t have sent his pet to kill us. He couldn’t even be sure I had the ring.

  “Nice doggy! Cerberus, isn’t it?”

  *Nice doggy? Are you out of your tiny little mind?*

  One of the other heads had torn a hole on the other side of the car. I shuddered at the size of the teeth in those great jaws. It could rip the whole roof off and scoop us out like beans out of a tin.

  The heads swooped in again to the music of crunching metal. Muscles in those massive necks strained, and the front of the car lifted off the ground. Syl wailed and clawed her way up my body.

  “Ouch! For God’s sake, Syl! Are you trying to choke me?” I peeled her off my neck and held her tight.

  The car swung around until we were facing back the way we’d come. Cerberus let us drop, then gave us a shove. We jerked forward. I twisted around in my seat. The monster stood behind us, watching. Waiting for something.

  After a moment of intense staring, one massive, clawed foot thudded into the back of the car, jolting us a little further down the road. Looked like Hades and his dog were playing a game of fetch.

  “I think he’s telling us to go back,” I said.

  *Then let’s do what the nice doggy wants.*

  Syl’s slim body was trembling in my arms. I guess a giant three-headed dog would be a cat’s ultimate nightmare. She wouldn’t even make a mouthful for one of the monster’s heads, let alone all three.

  The engine was still running, and I nudged the accelerator, putting a little distance between us and the dog. He didn’t follow us—not that that helped. I needed to get past him, not run in the other direction. I wasn’t giving up that easily.

  Cautiously, I reached out with my mind. He was an animal, after all, even if he was a supernatural one, and animals were my specialty. To my mind’s sight, he blazed like a deep red fire, and I paused. That was different to the normal white light that I saw. Did I really want to dive into the head of a monster like that?

  *What are you waiting for?* asked Syl. *You want him to take another bite out of Joe’s car? Let’s go.*

  “Give me a minute.”

  How badly did I need to get to Newport? Badly enough to link with a monster and piss off a god? Although the god was probably already pissed …

  Badly enough. I slid into Cerberus’s mind and peeked around.

  My, but the view was different from in there. Cerberus saw the world in shadows. The car in front of him was an indistinct blur of darkness containing two blazing lights. The larger one was golden, and the smaller one burned with a clean, white radiance. I guessed that was me and Syl.

  *How about it, buddy? You want to wander off home and forget you ever saw us?*

  I didn’t expect an answer. Syl could communicate in words across our link, because she was a shifter, with a human mind inside her animal body. True animals had no words, but feelings and instincts could be manipulated, and I rarely had trouble communicating my wishes non-verbally. Sometimes using words helped me push my intentions across the link, even if the recipient didn’t understand them. Generally, dogs were the easiest to give suggestions to, as they were genetically inclined to want to please humans.

  I wasn’t prepared for the growl that reverberated inside my skull. *OUT.*

  I flinched, and Syl dug her claws into me. I put more force into my suggestion, pushing the giant dog away, willing it to turn its back on the two lights glowing in the shadows. I looked over my shoulder. Cerberus was shaking all three of his huge heads, as if bothered by a buzzing insect. I renewed the pressure, severing my link with Syl so I could focus all my attention on the monster.

  Cerberus howled, all three massive snouts pointed at the sky. Syl scampered up my body as if I was her own personal scratching post and batted me imperiously on the cheek. I pulled her off and dumped her on the passenger seat.

  “Cut it out, Syl. I’ll be back in a minute. Spot back there is one tough customer.”

  The door stuck, the top of the frame crumpled out of shape by Cerberus’s massive jaws. I shoved hard and got it open. Syl jumped down too, but she didn’t follow me as I approached the monster.

  He’d stopped howling, but those blood-red eyes seemed to have trouble focusing as I approached.

  “Why don’t you come over in the shade?” I suggested. “You must be getting pretty hot there in the sun, with all that black fur. Wouldn’t you like a nice lie down?”

  The heads swayed lower on their necks. He was still fighting me, and I could feel a headache building behind my eyes. I pushed deeper into his mind. It tasted of death and echoed with the memory of a thousand screams. Ugh. Not a good place to be.

  *EAT YOU,* he threatened.

  “Not now,” I said. “You’re too tired for that. You need to sleep.”

  He staggered under the weight of my suggestion, and took a reluctant step toward the side of the road. I kept up the pressure as he took another, then another. Inch by inch, I forced him off the road and onto the green of the verge.

  Grass shrivelled and died under his massive paws. When he finally collapsed to the ground, a brown stain spread across the earth as every green thing he touched withered and died. His eyelids sank lower, though a slit of red still remained visible as he fought to stay awake. One of his mouths huffed out a hot breath as he sank into sleep; it was like standing in front of an open furnace. I leapt back smartly, but he didn’t stir.

  Once I was sure he was out of it, I hurried back to the car, linking to Syl as I went.

  *There you are!* Her mental tone was giddy with relief. *I didn’t know what happened.*

  I pressed the heels of my hands against my aching eyes. A few moments without our mental connection and she lost her shit? She was the clingiest damn cat I’d ever met. It wasn’t normal. “The big guy there needed my full attention. Bad doggy did not want to lie down.”

  Syl looked back doubtfully as I turned the car around. *Is bad doggy going to stay?*

  I stepped on the accelerator and the car took off. Despite the damage to the bodywork, mechanically, it was still sound. I was doing well—it was the second car I’d wrecked today, and it wasn’t even lunchtime yet.

  “I sure hope so. My head is going to explode if I have to do that again.”

  Syl gazed up at the sky through the mangled holes in the roof. *Wait until Joe sees his car. Now that will be an explosion.*

  ***

  We bypassed Crosston. I’d had quite enough excitement for one day already. As we passed its low roofs and waving trees, I wondered if anyone had managed to get Apollo’s statue back onto its plinth, or if it was still blocking traffic into the Plaza of the Sun. Jake would be in all sorts of trouble over that little stunt.