Need to catch up?<\/p>\n
Some people have noticed that this story has veered wildly off the course set by the blurb my friends wrote for the fictional book cover. That\u2019s because this nonsense is flowing through me. I am a conduit for the whims of the universe. And that universe is full of Greek mythology because that and ragging on Nathaniel Hawthorne were the only parts of English class I liked in high school. #OriginalClashOfTheTitansWasBetterThanTheRemake<\/p>\n
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The skies over Elysia sparkled with Apollo\u2019s light, but soon, Nyx would pull Erebos together, and Selene would take to the skies on her nightly visit to the mortal realm. Time in the Astral held no real meaning, but Marcaeus estimated it would take fourteen Earth years to reach Chiron\u2019s temple at the pace with which Fiona traveled.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWhy can\u2019t we use one of those magic portals?\u201d Fiona whined.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cBecause Chiron\u2019s secrecy and protection are absolute. He won\u2019t allow anyone to travel directly into his home. If you rode me, we would be there by now,\u201d he grumbled at her, not for the first time.<\/span><\/p>\n And not for the first time, she grumbled back, \u201cStop phrasing it that way.\u201d This time, she added, under her breath, \u201cYou\u2019re my boss, for Christ\u2019s sake.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI thought it would be obvious that you\u2019re fired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n She trudged slightly behind him through the hip-deep, iridescent wheat, and her ill-suited footwear carried in one hand. Now and then, a soft curse would escape her; the ground could not have been comfortable under tender mortal feet.<\/span><\/p>\n Not that he cared a bit for her comfort. <\/span>She is an enemy. You should treat her as such.<\/span><\/i> But empathy dictated he do something to help. \u201cIf you won\u2019t ride me\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cStop saying that!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201c\u2014at least, let me carry you. Your feet will be bloody by the time we arrive.\u201d He twitched his tail in annoyance. \u201cAnd several decades older, if we have to wait for you to pick over every rock and broken stalk. Not to mention the serpents.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSerpents?\u201d She turned in a circle, skittering on the balls of her feet.<\/span><\/p>\n Marcaeus fought against a smile. Any serpent they met would likely be Zeus out hunting for nymphs. Of course, that might also complicate things for Fiona. The God of Olympus could be incredibly persuasive, and Marcaeus assumed a half-snake offspring wouldn\u2019t be welcome in the Trasket dynasty.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cSuit yourself, though. I would hate to give you the impression that I\u2019m bossing you. As I am not your boss,\u201d Marcaeus added pointedly.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFine!\u201d she acquiesced, still standing on her toes. \u201cI\u2019ll\u2026get on your back. I just don\u2019t know how.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLike this.\u201d He reached down before she could protest and gripped her upper arm firmly, pulling her from her feet and swinging her behind him in one smooth motion. She shouted in outrage and surprise and grabbed his shoulders as she scrabbled to get her leg over his back.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo. Here,\u201d he said, guiding her arms around his torso. \u201cHaven\u2019t you ever ridden a motorcycle?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo. But somehow, I don\u2019t think it\u2019s the same at all.\u201d Her sentence ended with a startled noise as he took off at a gallop, and her fingers dug into his sides.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cHold on,\u201d he warned her belatedly.<\/span><\/p>\n After some time, her hold loosened, though he would likely bear scars from her fingernails, and not in the way he would have preferred.<\/span><\/p>\n And in what manner would you have preferred such maiming?<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n \u201cI wasn\u2019t lying,\u201d Fiona said, startling him. Was she one of the rare humans who could read minds or emotions?<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou were lying,\u201d he replied evenly after the context of her remark occurred to him. \u201cFrom the moment you stepped through our doors, you have been lying.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI meant I wasn\u2019t lying about my motive for lying. I really was trying to protect someone from my brother.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDishonesty is dishonesty, no matter the reason.\u201d That was a difficult truth for mortals, he\u2019d learned, especially in business. It seemed that any lie could be justified if the deception benefited the deceiver in some way.<\/span><\/p>\n To his surprise, she agreed. \u201cYou\u2019re right. But sometimes, the end justifies the means.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDidn\u2019t your human, Machiavelli, write that?\u201d The book had come out recently; he was fairly certain.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cMy father quoted that around the house, more than he quoted the Bible.\u201d She snorted in derision. \u201cRegardless of what his campaign ads said.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat is something I\u2019ve never understood about mortals.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOur hypocrisy? I can\u2019t figure it out, either.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cNo. Your belief that there is a god who wishes you well or grants boons based on a system of goodness or morality. The truth is, all-powerful deities are only as all-powerful as their attention spans allow. Once they lose interest, you\u2019re all on your own.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAnd you think God has lost interest in us?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019re a shrewd person. You make foolish decisions, but you are no fool. Do you really need me to answer that question for you?\u201d The mortal plane had been burning when the Astral races had stepped in. Where had the god of man been? Why had he not intervened? And yet they still could not bring themselves to believe in his disinterest.<\/span><\/p>\n Her hold around his waist tightened. \u201cWhat\u2019s going to happen to me?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He wanted badly to reassure her that no violence would come to her, that she wouldn\u2019t be detained in the astral for long, but no matter the sweetness of her voice and the courage of her convictions, she was still a spy\u2014still his enemy.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s for Chiron to say. Not I.\u201d Let her believe danger awaited her; perhaps it would serve as warning enough to stop her from participating in her brother\u2019s schemes.<\/span><\/p>\n She is not your student.<\/span><\/i> His own voice sounded too reasonable in his head. It wasn\u2019t his place to teach this mortal ethics, especially since she came from a family who so deftly maneuvered around them.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI assume I\u2019ll be interrogated,\u201d she said, her sentence tilting slightly upward at the end.<\/span><\/p>\n This, Marcaeus had learned, was referred to by humans as \u201cfishing.\u201d If they didn\u2019t state what they meant plainly, someone might correct them, and that correction might come with additional information or context the querent sought.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cYou won\u2019t trick me, mortal.\u201d He reached behind his back with one arm to hold her steady as they approached a stream tumbling merrily down gently sloping rapids.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m not trying to\u2014\u201d she began. \u201cWait\u2026you\u2019re not going to swim us across that thing.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cOf course, I\u2019m not.\u201d The water was hoof-deep at most. \u201cBut you do not wish to be pulled down.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cPulled\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n He stepped into the water, moving carefully over the rocks, and almost immediately, a playful squirt arced a hair\u2019s breadth from his face.<\/span><\/p>\n Water flowed upward to form the deceptively pleasing shapes of Naiads, spirits of the river who lazed decadently along the banks and peaked over the swirling rapids.<\/span><\/p>\n A fluid hand crept up his back leg. He flicked his tail, dispersing the droplets. \u201cLet us pass without mischief. I have no time for Fae foolishness.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n One of the Naiads lifted herself from the water\u2019s surface, rising on a waterspout of foam. \u201cOh please! We\u2019re ever so lonely here\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n The water spirit walked its fingers up Marcaeus\u2019s chest, soaking his shirt through in seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n Fiona yelped, \u201cHey!\u201d and clung to him tighter. He turned his head to see another Naiad gripping the human\u2019s leg while she fought and kicked free, spraying them both.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cLeave her be,\u201d Marcaeus snapped at the stream.<\/span><\/p>\n A chorus of sinister, bubbling giggles answered him. Fiona screamed, and her hold on him vanished; he whirled in time to see, but not prevent, her fall into the dangerously shallow water. Her head struck the rocks and lolled to the side, a grim red flower blossoming at her temple.<\/span><\/p>\n The water receded in horror, leaving the human stranded on the moist rock. Marcaeus cursed and bent his forelegs to kneel beside her. He laid a hand at the side of her neck, feeling for the current of energy through her, the electrical impulses that raced the pathways of human bodies. He found no evidence in the flow of her energy to suggest anything had broken, but he was no doctor. He scooped her up, looking about the now dry streambed and cursing the damned Naiads to Tartarus.<\/span><\/p>\n Fiona\u2019s head lolled against his chest, her blood staining his sodden shirt pink, then crimson, spreading across the fabric like sinister flowers opening.<\/span><\/p>\n With another frustrated curse, he bowed his head. \u201cAsclepius…I know I am still indebted to you. Grant me this favor, though?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n A sliver of golden light flared and took form; Apollo\u2019s son had inherited his father\u2019s flare. \u201cYou\u2019re knee-deep in favors, you know. And those are higher-than-average knees.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cTo those who chose to appear as mortals, perhaps.\u201d There was no time to trade barbs. \u201cConsider it a favor to Chiron. This mortal is his prisoner.\u201d However,<\/span> he does not know it yet.<\/span><\/i> \u201cHe\u2019ll want her alive for questioning.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n With a weighty sigh, Asclepius rolled the sleeves of his golden robe up to his elbows. \u201cFor Chiron, then. But only because he taught me everything I know.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n That, Marcaeus knew, bothered the god more than he would let on, despite the fact that he\u2019d surpassed his teacher. Any comparison to Chiron or his skills wounded Asclepius\u2019 vanity. This was why Marcaeus said, \u201cAnd his hard work certainly shows through in yours.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cI raised Hippolytus from the dead, you know,\u201d Asclepius grumbled under his breath. Still, he would never deny a patient, no matter who\u2019d brought the injured individual to his attention. He raised his hands and laid them gently upon Fiona\u2019s head. The still-wet blood staining Marcaeus\u2019s shirt lifted off in a twisting curl of red smoke that slowly dissipated into golden sparks that raced back to her body as if suddenly remembering where they should be. But then they popped and fizzled back to the surface, crackling like the embers of a dying fire, and the mortal did not stir.<\/span><\/p>\n Asclepius raised his eyes to meet Marcaeus\u2019s. \u201cThere\u2019s something\u2014\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cA demonic mark, yes.\u201d His gaze flicked down to Fiona\u2019s paling face.<\/span><\/p>\n Asclepius\u2019s normally arrogant tone took on a foreboding gravity. \u201cThen I fear this healing may require more than my powers can provide.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019ll die, then?\u201d Marcaeus could no longer bear to watch her fade in his arms, but they felt suddenly empty when Asclepius reached for her limp body.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cFor once, I must set my ego aside. But there isn\u2019t much time. I will take her to Chiron. Perhaps by the time you arrive, she will be conscious.\u201d The god fluttered his glorious robes and vanished, leaving Marcaeus stunned and alone.<\/span><\/p>\n He\u2019d done this. Brought the mortal into the Astral, where she might die.<\/span><\/p>\n It was his fault.<\/span><\/p>\n The stream slowly crept back, water rolling to collect in an apologetic puddle around his feet.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re sorry,\u201d it simpered.<\/span><\/p>\n Marcaeus stamped and galloped toward the temple, his guilt growing with every hoofbeat.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Need to catch up? What is\u00a0The Business Centaur\u2019s Virgin Temp?\u00a0 The Business Centaur\u2019s Virgin Temp: Prologue The Business Centaur\u2019s Virgin Temp: Chapter One The Business<\/p>\n