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CHAPTER SIX
MAXIMUS
We start back toward our cottage but only get as far as the grove when Kara stops in her tracks and wheels toward me. I fight the urge to pick her up, worried about what the pathway’s splintered planks are doing to her bare feet, but her expression brims with purpose.
“Enough,” she orders, yanking me beneath the willows. “I can’t wait any longer. What’s going on?”
I cast a careful glance around. Why it feels vital to check the shrubbery for prying eyes and ears, I have no idea. I’m not bearing state secrets. Just an update that’s going to hit her like one.
A couple of butterflies flit between purple and orange wild flowers, but other than that, we’re alone. Good thing, since Kara’s losing the fight to hide her impatience. Her fidgeting worsens, one hand twisting at the fingertips of the other, as she lifts her head and stabs me with an expectant stare.
“Maximus? Come on. Why do you look like someone burned down a library?”
That earns her my double take, but my gut’s already sounding off with orders to cut to the chase.
“It’s about Megaera.”
She absorbs it with more aplomb than I expect, only flaring her nostrils. At least until she speaks again.
“What about her?” she bites out. “Other than the fact that I’d be thrilled to see her stay in melted-sand-dune mode for another century or two?”
I return a tense frown. “I went for a walk to find a cell signal. McCarthy called me last night, and I figured it was a smart idea to touch back in with her.”
“And?”
“And I was lucky and got through to her. During the conversation, she dropped Erin Levin’s name. Apparently our harpy friend showed up offering to help out with Alameda logistics, which McCarthy is running from home while the national guard uses the campus offices as a temporary command center.”
Kara crosses her arms and rubs nervous hands along her opposing shoulders. “Just showed up, huh? Out of the blue? Out of thekindness of her heart?”
“If that’s code for ordered by her queen, then very likely, yes.”
“Hera.” She looks faintly ill at having to declare the goddess mother’s name. “You’re right. Megaera’s too much of a dutiful pawn to think of reaching out to McCarthy on her own.”
“Especially when the endgame will land her closer to us. Or, at the very least, learning where Hecate is hiding us.”
Her eyes fire with stunned flares. “You think that’s what she’s after?”
“That’s the big bonus question,” I return. “But it all seems like elaborate measures if Hera’s only wanting to mess with me a little.”
She steps in and whacks a flat palm to the middle of my chest. “Do neither of them have anything better to do? Seriously?”
“I don’t know, beautiful. Maybe it’s been a slow decade up on Olympus. Boredom does weird things to people. If necessity is the mother of invention, then boredom is its sly little sibling.”
“Well, if it’s anything like either of my—” She cuts in on herself with a sharp wince. “Oh, damn it. I hope Kell and Jaden are okay.”
“Ssshhh now.” I tug her closer. “I’m sure your mom is helping them…or trying to.”
“And you’retotallypositive about that?” Even my embrace isn’t helping now. She steps free and paces to the other side of the clearing. Her feet pound the damp earth and dry leaves with decisivethwunks and crunches, until she reaches a pair of Adirondack chairs that face a secluded part of the stream. “Back to the other queen bee. I really don’t think Hera is bored. I also don’t think she’s simply messing around with you.”
I settle into another low-lying chair. “Possible.”
“But why?” She lifts her head. Her browns are angry but bleak. “That was why you called out to Z, wasn’t it? And he didn’t know anything either? Oh, wait.” Her posture sags, even in a chair that’s already done most of the job for her. “Let me guess. He went for the easy out. Told you he couldn’t get involved but then invited you to head to Malibu for some surfing.”
“Unbelievably, no. On both accounts. Though some board time might’ve been cool.”
She scoots to the lip of her chair and reaches for the top of my hand. “So what did he say?”
I circle a finger up and around, stroking along her delicate knuckles. “He looked just as punched about the news as you were. And, surprisingly, added a lot of determined to it. He promised that if he learns anything, he’ll be forthcoming about letting us know.”
