Sin City Goddess Read online

  Meg went on to explain that they had both posed as mortals enchanted with a hazing spell designed by Hecate the sorceress. You see, humans cannot gaze upon the gods in our natural state—it would blind them—so we use disguises to protect their tender eyes. We still generally look like ourselves, but our normal attire is altered, our skin dulled, and our coloring toned down to match that of the humans. My hair was actually blue-black with threads of pure silver running through it, my skin a shimmering white, and my eyes a vibrant shade of purple, but no mortal had ever seen my true colors, so to speak.

  Shortly after arriving in Sin City, as Meg called it, my sisters had met a man who offered them work as dancers (a job for the Graces, if you asked me, but my sisters were more free-spirited than I was) at the Shadow Bar.

  “He said his girls never showed up that night. We were there having a blue cocktail, and the next thing I knew, we were behind the screen, performing for patrons. It was actually quite exhilarating.” She smiled feebly; then her emerald-green eyes flashed red, and I could smell the anger like lava bubbling beneath her skin. And… something else. Regret? Guilt?

  “Then what happened?” I asked.

  Meg looked at me sincerely. “I honestly don’t know. We ate, drank, and danced for a few days, and then one night she just didn’t show up in our suite.”

  I sat back in my chair and stared at her, my knee bobbing up and down so frantically it rattled the table. I stood, paced, trying to control my anger, but I was losing patience with my middle sister.

  “Well, do you think someone took her?” I shouted. “Was she cross with you? Did she take a lover?” I slammed my fist down onto the table, shattering its leg. Somewhere, Cerberus barked. “Think, Meg.”

  Hades stepped forward and gently squeezed my shoulder. I took a deep breath and dropped my head into my hands. I could feel my wings vibrating in my back with utter frustration.

  Meg said quietly, “Yes, I think someone took her.”

  As Furies, we all had tempers. We’d learned to control them over time, but Alecto—the youngest of us—was the worst of all. Her name actually meant “unceasing anger.” I could not imagine anyone’s trying to kidnap her and getting away with it. In fact, I was willing to bet that whoever had her was sorely regretting his decision.

  “How could this happen? How is it even possible?” I shouted again. “Was it another god? A human?” I rushed forward, shook my sister. “Who?”

  Meg twisted her arms free, stood, and screamed back as smoke billowed from her ears. “I don’t know, Tisiphone! Curb your fury, or, I am warning you, I will curb it for you!”

  We glared at each other.

  Zeus stepped forward then. “That’s enough, ladies. This is not helping.”

  I spun around and kicked the wall. None of this made any sense.

  “Athena,” I asked, remembering something, “did you not invent a device that monitors the gods and goddesses while in the mortal world? Can you not track Alecto through your machine?” Shortly after my crime, thirty-five years earlier, the Fates had insisted on a tool to better watch over us while we performed our duties.

  Athena nodded. “Yes, there are measures in place to track goddesses who travel through portals, but we don’t track them on holiday unless they plan to be gone a full moon cycle. Your sisters planned on being away only two weeks.”

  “So can’t you try?”

  “We have, Tisiphone, but the signal that was trained on Alex has been compromised. Whether by accident or intentionally, we don’t know for certain.” Her eyes softened as she tried to reason with me. “Believe me, we’ve exhausted all the options, run through all the scenarios. We wouldn’t have called on you otherwise.”

  “And we cannot waste time arguing,” Hades said. “You have less than a week to find Alecto and bring her home.”

  “And why is that?” I asked.

  Athena shifted uncomfortably. “Because when the new moon arrives under the earthly cycle, her tether will break. And we may never be able to retrieve her. It’s the law of the Fates, I’m afraid. No unplanned absences.”

  I raised one eyebrow, looked at Meg, and said, “Well, that’s just brilliant.”

  My sister threw her hands in the air and said, “I’m done listening to this.” She started for the door.

  “Oh, no you aren’t.”

  I reeled her toward me, and in a fit of rage her wings snapped open. I unlocked mine as well, and we stared each other down.

  “This is your mistake. You fix it, Meg.” I looked at Hades, pointed to my stubborn sister. “Send her.”

  Hades said firmly, “We can’t. Whoever the kidnapper is knows what she looks like. We cannot risk it.”

  “It has to be you, Tisiphone. You’re Alecto’s only hope,” said Athena.

  I flapped my wings to think, and a gust of wind blew several papers to the floor. Then I had it. “She can inhabit a mortal form.” I looked at Artemis. “Aphrodite did it on one of her quests. What was the name of that mortal?”

  “Norma Jeane Baker, or Marilyn Monroe after Aphrodite’s transformation. But that takes weeks to prepare. And it didn’t have the outcome we had hoped for.”

  “There’s no time, Tisi,” Athena said.

  Meg retracted her wings. “I had every intention of going back myself, Tisiphone.”

  I studied her eyes. She was telling the truth. I flicked my gaze to Hades and tucked my wings away too. “What difference does it make if they recognize Meg? She could be the bait that leads directly to Alex.” It made sense. She had been there only recently. She knew the land. I didn’t. She was versed in the people. I wasn’t. And, most importantly, she could tolerate the mortals. She hadn’t killed a single one.

  I continued, trying to convince them that this was a better plan. “Athena can monitor Meg. Should the kidnappers try to take Meg, she’ll resist and track them back to Alecto. She frees our sister, and together they rush to a portal, and both of them are home, safe and sound.” I snapped my fingers.

  “Or,” said a deep voice behind me, “she could be kidnapped, taken to God knows where for God knows what, away from Alex, and you could be minus two sisters.”

  I turned around. The god standing before me was one I did not recognize, although there was something frustratingly familiar about him. He was tall, taller than I was, with hazel eyes and chestnut hair and a build that rivaled Apollo’s. His hands were stuffed into jean pockets, and his T-shirt was the color of Poseidon’s robes. Hermes fluttered next to him just above the floor.

  Zeus said, “Tisi, meet your partner.”

  I took in the newcomer’s cocky grin and thought, Over my rancid carcass. There was no way I was going to get anything accomplished with a god around. Most of them had one thing on their minds, and it wasn’t duty but rather their next conquest. And I was no one’s conquest.

  I took a deep breath and centered myself, plastered a smile on my face, and turned to the three brothers. “All right, my lords, you win. I’ll go to Las Vegas to retrieve Alex. However”—I glared at the interloper standing in the doorway—“I work alone.”

  Zeus stepped forward. “Not an option, I’m afraid.” He motioned to Hermes, who whipped out some maps and papers and went about spreading them across the table. Poseidon got busy with the remote control, and Athena bustled around the room, adjusting monitors. Everyone took a seat around the large conference table, save the stranger and me.

  The god I had never seen before said quietly, “By the way, great hand earlier. Hickok never saw it coming.”

  I widened my eyes at him. How could he have known about that? The weekly poker game I had with Bill Hickok was our little secret. Bill knew better than to tell anyone, especially a god, for his place was not the river Styx but the Elysium Fields, where heroes rested. And Hades did not like the dead to leave their resting place. I never understood that rule. It wasn’t like they could get any deader.

  Wait. Was he the shade? The shade that had dealt the cards for the poker game? Th
at would explain why I didn’t recognize him.

  As if he had read my mind, he pulled a coin from his pocket and wove it through his fingers, smiling at me like a man with an ace up his sleeve.

  No. There had to be some mistake.

  “My lords, you must be joking.” I crossed my arms. “You cannot possibly think that I would work with a mortal.” I could hardly hold back my laughter. Aside from being absolutely ridiculous, it broke all protocol. The Fates would never allow it.

  The king of the gods bellowed, and a bolt of lightning struck the floor near my feet. “My patience is spent, Tisiphone. Sit down and hold your tongue. It has already been decided.”

  My mouth fell open. So they had just been humoring me this whole time? I wanted to take that lightning bolt and shove it up Zeus’s pompous ass. Honestly, I wished the three of them would just retire. Hera, Persephone, and whichever sea nymph Poseidon was poking this week could rule better than these three untrained monkeys.

  This was the worst idea ever. Even worse than sending me to that carnival the humans called a town. It would never work. How could they even conceive it would? Surely they wouldn’t be so careless as to strap me with a mortal. It would be like assigning a fox to guard a henhouse. Preposterous.

  The man in the jeans leaned over and whispered in my ear. He smelled of clover. “You didn’t actually think you had a choice, did you?” He winked at me.

  I’d like to say I handled the situation with all the grace and aplomb of a wizened queen. I’d like to, but I can’t.

  I punched him in the face.

  Behind me, I heard Hades say, “That’s right. Get it out of your system now, Tisi.”

  Chapter 5

  I had to sit through a forty-five-minute lecture Athena gave on the workings of the latest modern technology, the sources of power in and around Las Vegas, and the special requirements of the portals as they pertained to Caesars Palace. Only through those portals could we return.

  As if I had just received my wings yesterday. I hated being spoken to like a child.

  “So, to recap,” Athena said as she clicked through her slideshow, “your whereabouts will be monitored at all times with the tracking device that Artemis has installed in this moonstone ring.” She held it up. It was huge and spherical, with a bronze clasp wrapped around the center. “Should you need to speak with us, the statue of the Graces in the lobby will be your closest point of contact. You just lift open the ring and aim it at the eyes, and the signal will be sent. Remember, it could take some time for your request to travel to Olympus, so be patient. Then the god or goddess will slip into the statue.”

  “Excuse me, Athena, but I thought you said that only the god or goddess who represents the form can enter the sculpture,” I said.

  “That’s correct,” said Athena. “It’s the water surrounding the statues that provides the conduit for the charge.”

  “What use would I have for a Grace? They are not warriors, lawmakers, or leaders. They have no talent save for debauchery and shenanigans.”

  Zeus growled at me.

  I rolled my eyes.

  Still icing his jaw, my “partner” said, “You just described Las Vegas in a nutshell. They may come in handy—you never know.”

  Athena smiled at him. I bit my tongue.

  “Tisi, as I pointed out, there is another portal. In the market area, you’ll find what is called the “Talking Gods” show. Aphrodite, Dionysus, and Apollo can be reached there. Just remember, because the city’s energy is highly concentrated, you get only three chances per moon cycle to reach us via the portals, so use them wisely. Otherwise, we won’t have enough power to transport all three of you home.”

  She had explained earlier that because the city of Las Vegas drains so much energy, the signal to Olympus was quite weak, much like a radio station loses its clarity the farther one travels from the broadcast tower. For the transportation of one or two goddesses, it worked adequately, but with the added burden of the reanimated shade and his cloaked human vessel, the strain would be great.

  Although I had no problem ditching his ass if it came down to it.

  Zeus stood and said, “Now, Tisiphone, there is a very good reason I’ve asked Hades to allow this mortal to accompany you on your mission.” The sky lord nodded once to the man on my left.

  He stood, extended his hand. I took it grudgingly, squeezing so hard, I cracked three of his knuckles. To his credit, he didn’t even wince. “My name is Archer Mays. I work…” He caught himself, corrected his mistake. “That is to say, I worked for the FBI. That’s the Federal—”

  “I know what the FBI is, Mr. Mays,” I interrupted. “It’s an organized form of law enforcement the American humans implemented to supplement the incompetent lower levels of law enforcement for the peace of mind of the populace.”

  He smiled. “I’m impressed.”

  “Don’t be. Because it’s been my experience that the FBI is just as incompetent as the local police.”

  I heard Hades whisper to Poseidon, “It’s a good thing he’s already dead, because she’d kill him.”

  The smile faded from Archer Mays’s face.

  “Okay, look, I let that little sucker punch slide because you’re a woman and because I’m still a little freaked out.”

  I stood to face him. “I am not a woman. I am a goddess.”

  He looked me up and down and said, “Not in my book, sweetheart. I’d say you could use a few pounds.”

  I was about to hit him again, when Hades grabbed my arms. “Remember what this is for, Tisiphone.”

  Mays held steady, his jaw firm, angry, and, you know, bruised.

  Hades was right. Alex needed me. And I needed to keep my temper in check. I was shocked, to say the least, that the man I would be working with was a modern-day American lawman. I had seen firsthand the mistakes his type and the courts had made. Cleaned up the messes they left behind—messes that led to criminals’ roaming free to rape, murder, and molest again. It sickened me to my very core. That hadn’t happened in Hickok’s day.

  But that wasn’t what this was about. This was about my sister.

  I swallowed hard and said, “My apologies, Mr. Mays.”

  He nodded. “Call me Archer.” He looked at Zeus. The god waved his hand.

  “So, as I was saying. I was an FBI agent. I was just beginning to investigate the abductions. Five women. All taken from the Shadow Bar within a five-week time frame, including your sister. That’s one per week. No one saw or heard anything. In fact—and this is the part that baffles me—some of the women weren’t even reported missing until a day or more later. Their friends, family members, boyfriends completely forgot they were with the victims at the time of the abductions. By the time they recovered their memory, the trails were cold.”

  How odd. I looked at Meg. “Dark magic, perhaps?”

  Meg, who had already told us everything she knew from the moment they had arrived to the exact point in time when she had last seen Alex, a few days ago, said, “It’s possible. Hermes, please check with Hecate regarding all mortal spell casting that pertains to the moon cycles. Particularly those of the dark arts.”

  Hermes said, “As you wish” and dashed off.

  “Is there a connection? Are they related? Same age? Race?” I asked Archer.

  He hesitated, just for a moment, but I caught it. He shot a glance to Athena and said, “Can you please link to my computer and pull up the file titled ‘Shadow Disappearances’?”

  We could link to mortal electronics? Athena must have forgotten to mention this. Not that I would understand the intricacies of the process.

  Athena’s slender fingers manipulated a device that linked to the monitor, and within seconds, a yellow picture of a folder appeared on the screen.

  “Go ahead and open it,” Archer said.

  Immediately, the photographs of four women swooshed into view. Archer explained he didn’t have one of Alecto, for obvious reasons.

  Next to me, Meg gasped. I flo
ated toward the screen in shocked awe.

  All of the victims, my sister included, looked exactly like me.

  I slowly turned to face the gods, the soft buzz of the monitor the only sound in the room.

  “When do we leave?”

  Chapter 6

  Athena explained to Archer Mays the various rules to follow when you’re the animated dead walking around on the outer plane. Things like “Don’t break the skin of this body, or the area will rot and fall off” and “If your true corpse is discovered, we’ll need to get you a new frame ASAP.” Then she jotted down the room number of the hotel at Caesars Palace where the high gods always stayed and handed Archer a card that apparently served as a key.

  I sighed. So it was all set. Not only did I have to work with this mortal, but it looked like I might have to share space with him as well. I couldn’t help but think how cruel the Fates could be. They had to have seen this coming and hadn’t bothered to warn me. Figured. Those wrinkled old bats could sure hold a grudge.

  You see, the Fates controlled the birth, life, and death of a mortal. Clotho spun the thread for birth, Lachesis measured the string that determined one’s life span, and Atropos cut the string that ended a life. Once that happened, they drew up a report on the individual. It included things like what his station was in life, where he lived, what he had accomplished, what he had failed to accomplish, and, of course, his sins. Once the soul traveled across the river Styx, Hades received that report. So when Archer Mays had showed up in Hades’s realm, the dark lord must have known that the FBI agent might be important in finding Alecto. Unfortunately, from what I gathered, Archer had been killed before he’d had the chance to locate any of the missing women. I listened as he explained to Hades that he did have some leads, and that was where he intended to start once we arrived in Las Vegas.

  Artemis got busy cloaking me for travel through the portal so that my appearance would be subdued immediately upon my entering the mortal world. She cast an invisibility spell over my wings, the source of all my power. Hecate had created the spell. I could tuck my wings away whenever I wanted, but the bones where they met my spine still protruded from my back. Hecate solved that problem.