Rifts Page 8

  Changing the names had been easy. Convincing my agent that this was a potential new series? Not so much.

  "Must you swear at me, Grace? They balked at first since you're well known for the Romance titles, but they went for it after they read it. I wasn’t able to get as much as I would have for your next Rom title, but they want to know when they can get the next one out the door." The irritation in her voice was obvious. Marisol made less money when I made less.

  "Write one book in a month and everyone thinks you can keep that up. What am I? A machine?"

  "Have you worked on the second book? Have you worked at all in the last month and a half?"

  Guilt pinged my conscious half and I muttered, "No. Remember when I said I needed a vacation? I wasn't kidding."

  "Well, stop vacationing and start writing the next one."

  "Technically, the Publisher has two of my books on deck. I shouldn't have to write another one for at least a year."

  "Well, vacations don't pay the bills, dear. At the very least, outline it for me. I need to show them that you have more on tap."

  How in the world was I going to outline this story? I hadn't finished it yet. Who knew when I'd finish it?

  "By the way, dear, they looooove Adonis' character. Tell me the truth; did you base him off of Drew? Because darling, he is dreamy. You should tap that ass."

  "Whoah, back the truck up, lady." My voice held humor but really, she needed to back that truck up.

  "Where are you? You sound tiny."

  "I'm in the middle of nowhere. The point was to get away from civilization." I had thought that this would do it, but again, nobody escapes Marisol for long.

  "Well, come back home or bust open your laptop and start writing."

  "Marisol, I can't yet. I'm tapped out at the moment. I've got nothing. I have no idea what that character is going to do next."

  She let out a beleaguered sigh and continued breathing heavily into the phone. "Is it me, Grace? Are you just trying to destroy my sanity?"

  "You used that line on me two books ago. It's not going to work this time. You have other authors to keep you in Riviera Vacations, Marisol. Harangue them for a few months. I've got shit to take care of."

  "I don't know if I like this new un-pushable Grace," she muttered. "You used to be so easy to manipulate. Don't forget that the Publisher wants an agreement on the date of the next in your Rom series."

  "I know. Frankly Marisol, I feel like at this point I could copy and paste different paragraphs from previous novels, change the names around and call it good."

  "Dear God, don't do that! You'll ruin me."

  I groaned. "I didn't say I was going to do it. I just said I felt like I could. Give me six months."

  "I'll give you six weeks. You wrote this new book in less."

  "You're killing me."

  "You won't think so when this buys you a new summer home in Tahiti."

  My bark of laughter startled nesting birds in the trees overhead. The flapping and chattering increased before finally dying down.

  "What in the hell was that? Are you in the Rain Forest?"

  "Nope. I'm not telling you where I am. The last thing I need is you para-gliding to my location to force me to write. I'll call you when I'm back in town. Tell the Publisher that I'll have the next book before Christmas. I'll even make it a Christmas tale. They like those."

  "You're a doll and I love you."

  "I'm a doll and you love my money, you maniac. Now leave me alone so I can be at peace!"

  She made kissy face noises on the other end of the line and then cut me off. A sigh of relief was too kind a phrase for what left my body. Why couldn't I have won the lottery? Writing was cathartic on so many levels but having deadlines and worrying about marketing and book tours and deadlines… did I mention deadlines? Before Diana, it was the perfect life. After Diana, it was just a pain in my proverbial ass.

  Oh, for the love of peanut butter and jelly. Guilt always won. Always. Paying the mortgage was still important even if I wasn't currently living in the house. Did I even pack my laptop in my last moments of rage and bitterness? I don't think I did. Briefly, I considered selling the house and just living here in Olympus where it was safe.

  Safe is such a relative word.

  "Hello, husband stealer." The voice was calm - if not a little snotty.

  Immediately, my kukri materialized in my hand and I bounced on the balls of my feet, looking around me for the voice. If only I had a nickel for every time I forgot the obvious plot twists, I'd be a rich woman and the need to write would be moot. Does the busty co-ed ever stay with the group, even though you're yelling at her through the screen? No. Villain monologuing? Hero saves the day only to trip over the wire setting off the nuke. No matter how many times you read the line "They never bothered to look up," it's always the same cliché.

  Did I bother to look up? No, I whirled around in a circle, desperately hunting for the voice - desperately trying to ready myself for what could be my last battle.

  She dropped down on top of me and pounded my head into the flagstone path a few times before jumping off and laughing at my bloodied face.

  Frustration and seething rage boiled up inside of me. I'd spent countless hours preparing to meet her again and she not only got the drop on me, but I think she broke my nose in the process. I hated this bitch.

  It went beyond sibling rivalry. She was just evil.

  "Laugh all you want, bitch. At least when he fucked me, he got me pregnant."

  An inhuman squeal nearly burst my eardrums. Now would have been a good time to teleport out. Oh right, they hadn't taught me that yet. I struggled to my feet and wiped my bloodied nose with the back of my hand before gesturing to her to 'bring it.’

  She charged at me, and I brought my sword up at the last second, slashing her outstretched arm. Logical Grace should have been concerned that she didn't feel the need to call in weapons when battling against me. Logical Grace had left the building after the first knock on the head.

  Pissed off Grace called in a Colt .45 and fired three bullets point blank. The bullets pierced her chest, arm and shoulder. Unfortunately, it didn't slow her down at all. She ducked under my arm and knocked me backward toward the ground. I wasn't going down again. She had a tendency to do pretty horrible things to me while she had me pinned.

  My body twisted. I slashed out with my kukri toward her back and fired again. She compensated and moved with blurring speed, dodging the bullets and the sword.

  Calling out to the ground below her feet, I pulled a series of short bricks to the surface, trying to slow her down. This would have worked so well if I hadn't needed to move out of her way in just that moment.

  She spun and charged me, this time with daggers flashing in her hands. My feet scrambled backward and I tripped over my own stupid brick. Thrown off balance, I wasn't able to twist in time and the steel slammed through my breastbone, puncturing a lung.

  My breath rattled and blood filled my mouth as I fell backward. Not enough to kill me because the nanites would work to repair the damage, but it hurt like hell and I was having a hard time pulling in enough oxygen to keep me moving. Did I even need to breathe?

  She yanked the dagger out of my chest and smiled with pure malice. "Let's see if you can still be funny without your mouth, dear sister."

  Her daggers crossed themselves and drove toward my neck with blinding speed. I pushed upward, trying to buck her off my body. It didn't work. She just gripped my waist tighter with her knees making it harder to breathe.

  It was so bloody unfair. I'd never done anything to this woman to deserve this hate. I'd taken a beating from her for no reason whatsoever and the injustice of it all filled me with fire.

  My body burst into living, breathing flame. The smell of charred flesh reached my nostrils and I realized with an ugly smile that it wasn't mine.

  The louder she screamed, the higher I raised my body's temperature. She finally had the presence of mind to call down a Ri
ft and leap through before her singed hair caught fully on fire. My body slumped in relief. I was still on fire, but the fight or flight instinct wasn't in control anymore.

  "It looks like you've learned how to control your temperature. You can come to the forge tomorrow and start your training." The voice - like a river rushing over rocks - sounded behind me.

  I twisted my head around with a stare of disbelief. I couldn't see him, but it didn't stop me from mouthing off. "Were you going to just sit there and watch her kill me?"

  "Naw, I would have stopped her before she'd completely severed your head." He sounded bored and that pissed me off.

  "Wow, that's just generous of you."

  "We've all got lessons to learn, Grace. It would do you good to perhaps learn your sister's as well." With that he turned and walked down the lane toward his compound.

  "Dick!" I called out.

  "You'll pay for that one tomorrow," he called back.

  I was torn between disbelief that Heph had actually left his house and anger that he could have stepped in sooner but had chosen not to. Disbelief won. Hephaestus hadn't left his compound in over two-thousand years, as far as anyone knew. He'd literally not stepped foot outside his door.

  My flames extinguished and I crawled to my knees. Will miracles never cease to amaze?

  ***

  It took me an hour to limp home. The nanites had mostly healed me, but breathing was still a challenge. As I neared the main quarters, déjà vu struck. It felt like I'd seen this scene before.

  People were moving with a hasty sort of purpose. Some were crying. A feeling of dread seized my gut and I moved into the rushing queue, following the pack to the destination.

  As we ran I turned my head to someone I vaguely recognized and asked, "Another attack?"

  She nodded and looked me straight in the eye before saying, "Casablanca was buried under a tidal wave. Tangier was set on fire."

  I staggered and nearly fell to the floor. My brain couldn't comprehend the devastation. "Oh my God."

  The Hunter pulled me forward with her, ignoring my minor meltdown. "All hands are on deck. Everyone is meeting in the Situation Room for assignments. I can't remember, are you a Healer?"

  I dumbly shook my head. "No, earth and fire."

  She breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, good. We need someone with some Earth mojo. Posy is going to recede the tides, and we need barriers created to make sure they aren't allowed back in."

  "Posy?" I hadn't heard of a demi-god named Posy.

  The Hunter smiled and nodded. "Yeah she's one of Poseidon's kids. He's maintaining the primary source to ensure that none of the other Northern African coastal towns are affected. She's focusing on Casablanca."

  "Who's dealing with the fires in Tangier? For that matter, how do you know all of this?" I skidded to a halt and looked at her, trying harder to remember where I'd seen her before.

  "You probably met Georgie, my older sister. I'm Alex. I'm a telepath like her and we’ve been coordinating tactical placements."

  "Gotcha. Sorry for interrupting." Uncharitably I wondered if their parents had really wanted sons. "Oh, hey," I stopped her again. "I can't teleport. How do I get down there?"

  I could see that she was forcing herself not to roll her eyes at me. "Follow me to the Sit Room and I'll assign you to someone who can ‘port and who can help guide you to where you need to be.”

  I nodded my thanks and followed her to the Sit Room where fifty Hunters were currently gathered. The mood was tense and wariness rose from the bodies like an exotic perfume. Nobody knew where this threat was coming from, and this many attacks in such a short time had everyone's nerves standing on edge.

  Georgie started calling out teams and assignments. In pairs Hunters blinked out until I was standing by myself. I raised an eyebrow at her and she gave me an apologetic grimace. "Grace and Adonis, you'll be hitting the shores of Casablanca. Grace, you’ll be creating levees off along the shoreline to prevent further flooding. Adonis will help glamour you to prevent unwanted attraction."

  Inside I was giggling madly. 'Unwanted attraction.' There was a phrase for you. I shook my head at the madness and gave her a 'Really?' look. She mouthed her apology and waved before we blinked out.

  We appeared under what felt like a thousand tons of salt-water. I shot Drew an incredulous look and swam for the surface. My arms and legs worked to propel me upwards, but I hadn't taken a deep breath before we'd ported out. My lungs felt like they were going to burst. Black spots formed in my vision and I hoped that this wasn't going to be the way I was going to die.

  How deliciously ironic it would be to die by accidental drowning - especially after having survived everything else over the last six months. My arms felt heavy from the lack of oxygen fueling my blood. Honestly, I couldn't tell how close I was. I hoped it was close. It was night here so there were no spots of sunlight to guide me up. I was just hoping for the best and following instinct.

  Granted, with my instincts lately, I could be swimming for the bottom. Something brushed against my back and I struggled not to shriek. It's hard not screaming when you're in a dark place filled with unknown bodies.

  Did I mention that I'm terrified of sharks? It was probably a shark. A big fucking shark was going to eat me before I got to the surface. I wanted to blame Drew for being an idiot, but if a huge tsunami had hit the coast, his placement being off was entirely not his fault.

  Man, I was so tired. Fighting with Hope, fighting with Drew, fighting with myself – it was all draining. It never occurred to me to use the one power that could have helped me. All I could think about was that Zeus would be super sorry he hadn't taught me teleportation when my limp, bloated body washed ashore.

  I stopped swimming and started drifting. Maybe if I relaxed my body, I would simply float to the surface. Maybe I'd get eaten by that shark. Stupid sharks.

  Solid limbs wrapped around my waist and jerked me backwards. 'This is it,' I thought. 'Shark bait.’

  Instead of being mangled by razor sharp teeth, I was sputtering and gasping for air on top of what looked to be a submerged building. Well, that’s one question answered. I did need to breathe to survive. Water streamed from my mouth and nose, my arms and legs felt like they were on fire, and not the good kind. I rolled over onto my back and drug as much air into my lungs as I could.

  Drew leaned over me and peered into my eyes. "Grace, can you hear me?" He was yelling.

  I wasn't deaf. Of course I could hear him. My voice didn't want to work, though. I don't know if I could have spoken to save my life. My throat burned as much as my lungs did. My stomach chose that moment to expel the salt water that I'd swallowed and I started throwing up. My vomit shot upward like a geyser, spraying him in the face.

  I winced and then threw up again. I couldn't help myself. He drew back with a surprised, "What the fuck!"

  I didn't blame him. I couldn’t stop puking up saltwater. My poor abused body heaved again and he gently turned me on my side so I couldn't drown. I appreciated that and projected the thought so he'd grasp not only my gratitude, but my horror that he was now covered in my vomit.

  "I'm so sorry Grace. I had no idea that the water had come in so far." As he spoke, he rubbed my back, massaging the rigidity out of my muscles. It helped. It helped a lot to hear the sound of his voice, even though I couldn't make out half of what he was saying over the sound of my own retching.

  Misery, thy name is throwing up.

  Sooner rather than later, my body stopped and I was breathing normally again. "Total failure," I croaked.

  "No, you're not. Nobody could have predicted that. I'm just glad that I found you before you drowned. You wouldn't have died for good, I don't think. But yeah, sucky way to die."

  I rolled over and shot him a baleful look. "I wasn't talking about me." I took in a new deep breath and said, "I need to get those levees built. Just give me a few seconds and I think I have a plan. If I can build a rolling wall, maybe I can push some of the water back. C
an you ask Posy to pull it out?"

  He nodded. "Yeah that sounds like a great idea. Give me a few seconds to send a message up to Georgie and ask."

  "Great." I sighed and rolled back onto my side, just breathing and concentrating on making a connection with the earth beneath us. It occurred to me that I could have simply made a shelf to push me up out of the water. Stupid, Grace. You need to stop forgetting that you have these powers. It's going to get you killed for good.

  This was the underlying problem. Nobody knew what would happen to me. I was too new. Since Diana hadn't been around to completely activate my genetic code, it was a crap shoot on whether or not I'd survive anything that was thrown at me.

  Oh sure, I'd lived through a knife through the heart and lung, electrocution and some pretty heinous torture, but where was the line?

  Finally, I could feel the Earth's sluggish response. The area wasn't used to being covered with this much water and it didn't want to awaken to my call. Or possibly, I just wasn't good enough to get this done. My powers had a tendency to activate when I was in fight or flight mode. The box was the primary example of that.

  I called it forward, envisioning a rolling hill rising up out of the ocean, and pushing it back. All around me, Hunters were pulling bodies out of the water. Some of them were alive. Most were not. I aimed for the line of buildings and the earth trembled before concrete, mud and rock rose from the waves.

  Chapter 12

  "That's it, Grace. It needs to be a little longer…curve it just a bit and you're good to go."

  I nodded at Drew and closed my eyes, envisioning a half-moon. The earth responded, lengthening and curving to my will. Exhaustion threatened to overtake me but if I could just give the earth another small push of power, it would do the rest for me.

  I wavered as I climbed to my feet. Drew caught me and held me steady as I looked at what had risen from the depths. I didn't know what to do about the water on my side of the wall, but I could push most of what was here out and ensure that nothing else got in.