1
Santa Monica
The two girls stared at each other. Calliope tore her gaze toward the incessant ringing of the telephone.
“Aren’t you going to get that?” Calliope asked.
Calliope picked up the phone. “Hello?”
“Calli?” They had a horrible connection.
Calliope tried to place the voice. “Cory?”
Static. “Yeah –”
“Are you okay? Are you with Ares? Has he hurt you?”
“I’m fine. Where are you?” More static, the connection was terrible.
“I’m at someone’s house picking some stuff up,” Calliope said and then realized the absurdity of the conversation. “Where are you? I’m coming to get you.”
“Hello? Calli, are you still there? Hell-loh?” Cory was fading in and out.
“Cory? Cory?” All that answered was static. “Fuck. What, is she calling from a fucking bomb shelter?” Calliope threw the phone on the couch. A green LED screen blinked to life on the face and she scrambled to pick it back up to see the number it had read. It was the villa.
Calliope turned back to Alice, who had nearly composed herself.
“I’ve gotta go, family emergency.”
“I’m coming with,”
“No, you’re not.”
“Yes. I am.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I’m coming with.”
Calliope sighed. “Get your stuff.”
2
The Villa
“No good, I lost her.” Cory hung up.
“What did she say before you lost her?” Crow asked.
“Something about picking some stuff up at someone’s house?”
“Why the hell would Calliope be answering my grandma’s phone and what the hell is she doing there so late?” Crow said.
Clio exchanged a worried glance with Crow from where she lay on the couch. Somehow, she mustered the strength to sit up. “Cory, can you run back upstairs and get us a change of clothes? Throw it in a bag, it’s a to-go order.”
“What are you doing? You’re in no condition to be going anywhere.” Crow said. He really did look worried.
“If we don’t leave, Annie will come here and find Bliss, find us.” Clio gave him a sorrowful look. “Now, go get a baggie of ferret food, some water bottles, and some road supplies for us. Hurry.”
When Crow and Cory left to follow her orders, Ares watched her struggle to find the strength to get herself together. Clio rubbed her face with the heels of her hands and stretched with a deep groan. Her body had been possessed by someone else’s soul, causing a great deal of trauma to it, and she had even given her own blood to said possessor. She was completely drained.
“You know, Historian, I could take this fuckhead out for you. He’s only mortal.”
At the thought of Ares killing Annie, Clio finally snapped. “Listen to me, Ponyboy, don’t even think of laying a finger on him.” Her eyes were full of hate as she measured him up. “I have a feeling I know why you’re here, you want to tell me, or should I tell you?”
The space suddenly disappeared between them as he grabbed her arms and shook her like a doll. The room filled with intense heat from his sudden fury.
“Who do you think you’re talking to? All you seem to be good at is following your sister around like a sodding puppy dog. What exactly does the Muse of History do?” He said with a tight grip on her elbow. “I thought all of your tough little bravado was charming at first but now it’s as tired as an old whore. I am the God of War and I kill whom I choose when I choose, starting with this abomination.”
His gun was aimed at Bliss’s temple.
Much to her own surprise, Clio slapped him across the jaw and his head rocked. She stared wide-eyed at what she had done.
“I am not backing down, Ares. Do you want to play this war your way or my way?”
Ares looked at her incredulously. Without warning, he backhanded her back, causing her own head to rock. Clio only glared at him. She wiped some blood from her nose.
“Are you sure you want to play war with me, little librarian?”
“I’ll tell you why you’re here, Ares,” she said through gritted teeth. “Do you have any clue what is going on here? This little fuck, Annie, has discovered our immortality, but he didn’t keep it to himself. He went and took our blood to a lab, and now there is concrete evidence sitting in a lab twelve stories beneath a skyscraper. Now think long and hard, why the hell do you think Zeus wants Calli and me home? Because he knows we screwed up. Do you think he’d be real pleased with you if he found out you left that evidence here? Do you?”
She was practically spitting in her irritation. “Now, I know Annie and he’s moved that lab and all its contents somewhere else. He may be many things, but he is not a fool. If you shoot the only person who knows where that lab was moved to – what would they make of that at your little homecoming? Geez, Ares.” Clio stood, straightened her skirt, and marched into the bathroom.
She could feel his gaze burning a hole in her back.
“Fair enough,” he said and twirled the 9mm on his forefinger, holstering it expertly.
Clio saw him graze the cheek where she had slapped him. She shut the door.
Clio turned the sink on and splashed cold water onto her face. Biting her lip to keep from crying didn’t work, so she snatched a towel from the rack and stuffed it into her mouth to stifle her sobbing. Her knees gave out and she slipped to the tile. This tough girl act was wearing thin and she cried for all she was worth.
Cory knocked on the door. “Clee, open up, I’ve got a change of clothes for you.”
Clio opened the door and let her sister slip in.
Cory helped change her into some boots and jeans. She brushed Clio’s hair for her and turned to the sister she hadn’t seen in too many years. Cory made her face the mirror where she made a silly face at her.
“What am I doing? I shouldn’t be the one in charge here,” Clio said.
“You’re doing what Calliope would be doing if she was here, all we need to do is go get her and it’ll all be over, Clee.” Cory pushed a curl out of her sister’s face and saw the exhaustion etched there. She regarded the bandage Clio had changed.
Clio moved her wrist from view. The gauze had reddened, which meant the bleeding hadn’t stopped yet.
“I don’t know how much longer I can keep this up. Did he hurt you?” Clio’s fingertips swept across the slight damage to Cory’s face.
“I’m a tough ass stripper. Do you want me to call Mel to come and take Bliss away? You’re going to need some sleep, you look like you’re going to drop.”
Clio nodded in agreement. “Call Mel, maybe she’ll take charge. I don’t how much more I can handle,” she said and sighed.
“She won’t take charge, but she’ll mommy us to death. You’re the only one that can handle this, Clee.” Cory smiled. “If it’s any consolation, I’ll never in a thousand years forget his face when you ordered him to do something.”
“Do I look like I’ve been crying? He can’t see me cry.”
“You look like you’ve lost your sister, been beaten and kidnapped, possessed by a lamia’s soul, and sliced open your wrist.” She kissed Clio’s cheek. “And you still look hot.”
They stepped out and found Ares and Crow in the atrium. Ares had Bliss slung over one shoulder and Crow had the bags. Clio regarded the ruined Apollo mosaic with a mournful air.
“You even think of calling in that ponce and I’m quittin’ the band,” Ares said as he lit his Lucky and strode out the door.
Clio snapped out a short, disturbing laugh, prompting nervous glances from the others. She shook her head and wiped at the tears in her eyes.
3
The Villa
Stasia’s Jetta pulled up to the villa and she cocked her head at the lack of cars in the driveway. She had been hoping to catch Calliope home at so late an hour.
With a shrug, she went around back to the kitchen door and went inside. The bag was deposited on the kitchen counter and she was about to leave when a crazy idea seized hold of her.
“Hello?” She called. “Clio? Calli? I brought your purse.” There was no reply. The house was quiet.
“I’m coming upstairs, it’s Stasia,” she said in case anybody was home.
She found Clio’s room first. “Hello? Ooh, fancy bed,” she said.
Calliope’s room was right around the hall. Stasia poked her head in and saw Calliope’s shoes next to the desk. She examined the books on the shelves, smelled some of the perfume atop the dresser, and turned to regard the bed hanging from the center of the room.
She hopped atop the great swinging bed. “I could definitely get used to this.” Stasia heaved a great sigh and lay back amongst the duvets and pillows, wrapping herself with Calliope’s scent.
Something clattered in the downstairs hall and Stasia bolted upright on the bed.
“Hello?” She jumped off the bed. “Calli? I came to drop off your bag. Clio? Is someone here?”
The soft carpet in the downstairs hall thump-thump-thumped with muted footsteps. Stasia brought her hand to her mouth.
“This isn’t funny, you guys! I just came upstairs to see if anybody was home!” Stasia ran to the top of the staircase and the entire villa dropped into darkness.
4
The Villa
Calliope and Alice pulled up to the villa and parked. Weary of a confrontation with Ares, Calliope had her stun gun at the ready. The phone disconnection could only be his fault and she had worked herself up to a paranoid frenzy by the time she reached the villa. She motioned
The busted front door told her to turn around and run, but concern for her sisters won out. Her fingers fumbled with the light switch but nothing came on, and the dark swallowed them whole.
A disconcerting dripping noise echoed in the hall and she hoped Clio hadn’t left something running. Little pieces of what felt like rock pushed under her shoes and she reached down to feel for it.
The mosaic was destroyed, Ares’ handiwork, she had no doubt.
“I think someone is in here.”
Calliope squeezed her hand to remind her to be quiet. She was trying to thread her way through the dark halls in search of the kitchen, where Clio kept the flashlights and candles in the bottom drawer of the island. The wall became her guide as she ran her fingertips along the cool plaster to keep from bumping into anything.
Her hand hit something wet. With a deep shudder, she wiped the mess onto her pants, and brought her hand to her face.
The smell hit her like a branding iron. The coppery sweet smell could only be one thing and she found it in several different spots along the wall.
They made their way to the kitchen and she found one flashlight that worked. Calliope turned the light onto her fingers, illuminating the blood that covered her right hand and jeans. She jerked her hand back and hid her palm before
From where they stood in the kitchen, she aimed the beam at the floor and dragged the light up to the wall where she had felt the wet. The flashlight slipped from her grasp at her discovery and the room dizzied with light as it spun on the tile.
Calliope grabbed her stun gun and it crackled to life with her fear.
No where to run
No where to hide
From their point at the end of the hall, Calliope shined her light on the entry hall with the wrecked door to determine if that would be their best exit.
Feet were swinging below the top of the arch. Blood ran down the legs and dripped from the painted toes into puddles on the inlaid tile. The wall obscured everything above the corpse’s knees.
“We have to get out of here,” Calliope whispered. “If something happens, run and hide, and don’t come out for anything.”
“Swear to me, no matter what happens, no matter what you see, you stay hid,
“I swear.”
Calliope’s fingernails bit into
“I swear to god, Calli, I promise,” she said.
Calliope decided the front door might not be the best way out. Stopping for a moment to gather her wits, she listened. All she could hear was the blood tapping the tile in the hall. She took the flashlight from
Calliope stopped suddenly and
It’s just a coat on a hook.
The figure shuffled towards them. Both girls yelped and Calliope turned the beam on him.
All she could see was his heel disappearing into the hall bathroom. The water turned on.
In a low voice
“He knows we’re here.”
The light clicked off and they were sunk in darkness again. Calli whirled around at
In the entry hall hung the body, careful not to touch it, the girls reached out for the front door.
A thunderous boom crashed the front door.
Stasia lay torn apart and eviscerated as though some wild animal had ravaged her. They lay beneath her in a vast pool of her blood on the shattered mosaic.
5
They drove the
Crow watched the girls in the rear view, wondering again, why he had never heard of this other sister. If he started asking questions now, he knew he would never stop, and it would eventually overwhelm them both. His gaze landed upon the man in the passenger seat.
Ares had twisted in his seat to study Clio. She had given up the ghost and had her head on her sister’s shoulder, sleeping restlessly. Crow cocked his head and thought Ares might have underestimated her.
Bliss sat with the same dull lack of coherence. Her copper hair hung in her face and she quavered from tremors running through her. Crow was terrified of her, though he would never show it. She had been the biggest surprise of the day. Crow had never seen anything like her feeding before and he would be fine if he never saw anything like it again.
Ares rolled his window down, much to the others’ relief. Crow had turned the air on upon discovering Ares’ unique temperature.
They pulled up to the house and Crow told everyone to wait in the truck, he didn’t want to alarm his grandmother. He walked up the drive, into the house, bounded up the stairs, and knocked on his grandmother’s bedroom door. With no answer, he noticed the bathroom door was open down the hall, and went to check it out. The ferret was gone along with Clio’s bag.
Crow knocked on his grandmother’s door again and still had no answer. His grandma’s room was empty. Something terrible had happened, he was certain of it.
He checked the other rooms and discovered a carry-on bag in the guestroom. A quick glance to the luggage tag perplexed him.
“
6
The Villa
She calmed and Calliope slowly removed her hand.
The door erupted open and Calliope was tackled to the tile.
From the corner of her eye, she could see the moonlight glint off Calliope’s knife as she sliced at her assailant. He dodged it and tried to knock it from her hands. He swept a leg out beneath her and knocked her to the floor. She landed on her ass with a dull thud and she dropped the butcher knife.
“
Once down, he was immediately upon Calliope. She grappled with the intruder while on her back and
Calliope bucked beneath him, knocking him off her and got into a sitting position. The knife glittered beneath the body and Calliope dove for it. She pulled herself up, brought a knee to his face, and knocked him back. She spun around to run but he seized hold of her ankles and brought her crashing back to the floor. A dull “unh” sound was pushed out between her lips, but she quickly flipped herself onto her back and kicked out in his direction with both feet flailing. He didn’t see the knife she gripped and he leapt on her to keep her from kicking.
They were both stunned as the butcher knife sank all the way to the hilt into his side. Calliope’s eyes were enormous with fright and surprise. He rolled onto his back and worked the knife out.
He pulled himself up and rushed at her with it. Calliope’s hands closed around the blade and she tried to knee him in the groin. The blade sliced into her palms and
His slippery hands lost the knife when she pulled it from him. It flew down the hall, swallowed by the darkness. Her ruined hands were clenched into sticky, red fists and she threw a wild punch at him. Calliope shrieked in pain when the punch connected to his jaw and she dropped to her knees.
Her stun gun had worked its way from her pants and clattered to the floor. He reached for it, the blue light crackled to life, and he stunned her. She jumped once, fell back from her knees, and lay prone on the tile.
When he thought she was down, he crawled over her. She lashed a bloody wet fist out and caught his wrist, knocking the stun gun down the hall.
From her place beneath the hassock,
He was tugging Calliope’s pants off.
He flipped Calliope over on her stomach and yanked her pants and underwear down to her knees, she clawed the floor trying to crawl away from him.
Her neck was drenched with tears as she witnessed the assault from her hiding place beneath the hassock. Terror had her in a tight embrace and she found she couldn’t move.
With a triumphant grunt, the beast ripped into her as he grabbed a fistful of her hair. He rose and fell upon her like an animal, pulling her head back by her hair with such force the muscles in her throat must have burned. When
Eerie silence settled over the villa when he finished. Crickets could be heard chirping in the yards. His heavy breathing and the sound of his zipper were the only sounds from the entry hall.
From upstairs, a resounding gong filled the house. The trio in the front rooms stared up at the ceiling. A soft sigh escaped Calliope and drew
Calliope whispered something that sounded like “club cider.”
Not bothering to cover her back up, he grabbed Calliope by the throat and dragged her down the hall.
“I’m sorry, did I catch you while you were entertaining?” He spewed with malicious mirth. His gaze twisted towards the sitting room.
Calliope’s feet were too tangled up in her jeans to find purchase on the floor and she made small, wet, choking noises as she tore at his grip.
He swept down, grabbed the errant stun gun off the tiled floor, and stunned her once and a second time when she lay unconscious.
Calliope was hoisted over his shoulder, and he turned at the entry hall.
“I’ll be seeing you, Alice,” he said and slipped into the warm July night.
7
Santa Monica
Ares laid a hand on Clio’s knee. “Wake up, pet, your boyfriend is beckoning.”
Her silver eyes flew open at the sound of his voice. Glancing bewildered about the truck, her expression bore the mystified look of someone who had awoken only to find themselves still in their nightmare. She shot up and shook the cobwebs off. They locked Bliss in the car and went up the walk to the house. Crow waited for them at the door.
“There’s nobody here. I think Calliope was here because Homer is gone. What’s really weird is my sister is here, too,” Crow said. “She lives in
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” Clio replied grumpily.
“Yeah, well, I didn’t know you had anymore yourself.”
Ares pushed past the pair and busied himself with searching the house for clues of the errant poet. Calliope’s perfume hung in a thick cloud about the room. The scent was the strongest in the drawing room about the harpsichord.
A white rectangle lay on the carpet beneath the easy chair. He swooped down and picked it up, it was an old photograph. The photo bore the image of the harpsichord, Clio, and Calliope, and a kid he didn’t recognize.
Stranger and stranger, he slipped the picture into his jacket with the newer one he had taken from Clio’s room.
Ares joined the rest of them on the riser. “I’ll have to agree with Special Ed here,” he said. “Calliope was definitely here.”
Clio drew her eyebrows together and looked around. “How do you know?”
“Take a whiff, Historian, don’t you recognize your own sister’s perfume?”
“Where’s your grandmother?” Clio asked Crow, she tried to subtly sniff the air without Ares noticing.
“That’s the other problem.” Crow tried to appear less worried than Ares could tell he was. “She doesn’t seem to be here.”
Clio whirled around and said, “Cory, call Mel and tell her we’ve got a situation down here we could use her assistance with.” She thought for a moment and turned to Crow. “Does your grandmother have any friends that might know where she is?”
He nodded and went to the kitchen. “I’ll get her book.”
Ares sat on the sofa and rested an ankle on his knee. “Take a load off, luv, there’s only one phone, and only so much you can do at a time.”
“I’m sure you find all of this amusing.” Clio said as she sat across from him.
“On the contrary, you don’t know how pissed Big Zed was. I think he might actually do me damage this time.” He flipped open his Zippo to light his cigarette. She leaned forward and plucked it from his lips.
“Not in here. Don’t you have any manners?”
“Not many,” he replied and lit the one he had tucked behind his ear. Her cold gaze sliced into him and he smiled. They sat in broody silence for a few minutes, listening to Cory talk on the phone in the next room.
“What’s in this for you?” Clio suddenly asked.
Ares cocked his head at the question, his icy eyes studying her quiet silver ones. “Now, what makes you think I’m not doing this for dear ol’ dad out of the dearness of me heart?” He blew his smoke in her direction.
“C’mon, Ares, I know you’re still exiled, what did he offer you? Is this a plea bargain?” Her level stare measured him up.
With a deep drag off his Lucky, he matched her even gaze. After a few moments, he shot her a sharp smile and out of the corner of his mouth he said, “I’m truly wounded, pet, you misunderstand my intentions. Don’t you worry your pretty li’l head what Big Zed offered me, we’ll clean this mess up right nice and you won’t have to see me for another few hundred years if that’s what you wish.”
“Yeah, Ares, that is exactly what I wish. Stay the hell away from me and mine when this is all said and done.”
He dropped his smirk and tipped an invisible hat to her.
Cory came in and sat next to Ares on the sofa. “Mel wants to talk to you, Clee,” she said as she pushed the speakerphone on. Ares noticed something like annoyance cross her face when she saw the way he looked at Clio.
“Hey,” Clio said.
“‘Hey’ yourself, my darling, where’s our Calliope?” Mel asked.
“I don’t know. We had some trouble down here, we have someone for you.”
“I heard. Has she been taken care of?”
“I fed her.”
“Bagged or beast? The initial feeding is the most important, it will influence her strength,” Mel said.
“Mine.” Clio coughed uncomfortably into her hand.
“What do you mean?”
“I opened myself up and let her drink from me, what did you think I meant?”
“That’s not funny, Clio, you shouldn’t joke about things like that. We are already on our way to join you.”
At the mention of ‘we’, Clio looked directly at Ares. “If you’re thinking of bringing
He raised his eyebrow at the mention of his name.
“Ares? Why didn’t Cory tell me? Are you okay?”
“Your standard battered wife syndrome, he hits us and we excuse it, you know, same ol’, same ol’.” Clio looked into his blue eyes as she said this and he raised an eyebrow at her. “There’s only so much I can do for her, she’s still Catatonic Girl.”
“I understand, dearest, we will see you soon.” Mel hung up.
“Miss Goth and her pet bloodsucker are comin’ to the party, I’m to take it.” Ares asked her. Clio nodded her head and started to say something, but he interrupted her, “Is this where you’re going to tell me to play nicesies with your sister’s dead boyfriend?”
A slow, steady grin spread across her face. “You’re catching on.”
Crow picked up the phone and walked into the kitchen with it. Ares could hear him ask for someone named Martha. Clio got up, walked over to the kitchen doorway, and leaned against the jamb.
“Hi, Martha, this is Dean.” He raked an unsteady hand through his coal black hair. “No, ma’am, I’m fine. I was wondering if you know where my grandmother is?” His expression paled. “Yes, I see. Thank you, no, there’s no need. I’m fine, no, don’t worry. Yes, I’ll see you tomorrow. Good-bye.” Crow looked shocked as he replaced the phone on the charger.
“Crow?” Clio asked.
“My grandmother’s at the
“Then where is
Crow called the hospital to check on his grandmother. Clio had reasoned they probably wouldn’t let him in to see her so late anyway.
Clio and Crow moved to the side and spoke in low whispers to each other.
“I think we should just crash here,
Ares shot off the couch and said, “No way, we aren’t retiring for the night at
Clio reluctantly spoke up, “I have to agree with Ares. We need to find Calli tonight.”
Crow blinked at Clio incredulously. “Can I talk to you in the kitchen, please?”
8
Clio found herself being pulled into the kitchen by her elbow.
“What are you doing? Are you planning to let him drag you home?”
“You don’t understand. I have to go home, but I’ll be back.” Clio answered, she knew this would happen.
“No. That’s not what I meant, I mean let him take you to your father’s, not to the villa.” Crow’s jaw played in and out in his frustration.
“That’s what I meant, too.”
“How long will you be gone? How far away is it? When were you planning on telling me?”
“Look, Calli and I haven’t been home in a long time, we need to go home, put in an appearance, and then we’ll be back.”
“Where is it?”
“Where’s what?”
“Where’s home?”
“Oh.” She refused to look into his eyes, “Near the Peloponnesian Islands in
“You’re Greek?” He shook his head at the question’s absurdity, “You’re going to hop on over to
“You wouldn’t understand.”
“Like hell I wouldn’t! As far as boyfriends go, I’ve been the King of Understanding! Your sister’s boyfriend steals her blood, sticks it into a sixteen-year-old groupie, she wakes up as a vampire, and I’m not being understanding? Some British greaser shows up at your house with another sister I’ve never heard of, intimidates us, and smacks you around and you just take it? He calls me ‘mortal’, you tell me you were married a long time ago, but you don’t look older than twenty-two to me, did I mention I have a vampire locked in my truck?” His voice rose in pitch.
Clio stared at him wide-eyed.
“Fine,” she said. Spinning on her heel, she walked out of the kitchen. The duo on the couch focused on the exchange with a great deal of interest.
“‘Fine’? That’s it, just ‘fine’?” Crow pursued her into the drawing room. His handed rested on her shoulder and he spun her around to face him.
“What do you know about Ancient Greek history? Moreover, what do you know about Greek Mythology? I can assume you read the Iliad and Odyssey, saw Clash of the Titans and Hercules?”
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?”
“Okay, in that cartoon, Hercules, who were the narrators?”
Crow groaned. “I’m seriously at the end of my rope here. I don’t know and I don’t care.”
“Can’t you just tell me?” Clio’s gaze pleaded with him to be patient a little while longer.
“The muses,” he said.
“Alright, now tell me everything you know about the muses.”
Again, he had to take a few moments. “Nine, right? But there weren’t that many in the movie, they looked like En Vogue, or something. They were supposed to inspire people, like in music and the arts.”
“Okay, do you remember any of their names, even one?” Her finger traced his tattoo.
Finally, he said, “There was one in The Sandman comic book.” He thought harder, “Calliope?”
“She always gets all the credit,” Cory said from the couch. Clio shot her a warning glance to keep quiet.
Ares lightly kicked her. He was obviously interested in how Crow would react to this.
Clio continued, “Right, to be exact, Calliope, Terpsichore, Urania, Polyhymnia, Melpomene, Erato, Thalia, Euterpe, and Clio.” She named them off on her fingers, counting herself on a pinky last, wiggling it with obvious exaggeration.
Crow still hadn’t grasped what she was getting at. Clio looked around, and then remembered something. With a soft touch, she grabbed his wrist and dragged him closer to the spinet.
“You’re familiar with your grandmother’s stuff? You’ve lived here, you know these things intimately?”
“Yes, but I still don’t see what you’re getting at.”
Clio took a deep breath. “How about this,” she said as she walked up to the harpsichord and picked up the bust. She placed it face down in his hands. “This is the Greek Muse of History.”
“Do you think this is such a first-rate idea?” Ares said from the couch, Cory and he exchanged glances.
Crow turned the bust over. Clio’s delicate beauty chiseled in marble stared at him for a whole two minutes before he dropped the antique. Clio was ready and caught it before it hit the floor.
Her thumb ran along the Greek letters on the base as she whispered, “Clio, the Historian.”
“‘Historian’,” Crow said, stunned with his sudden epiphany.
“‘Historian.’” She mimicked Ares’ accent. Clio’s gaze swung to where they sat on the couch, Ares was smirking, and Cory’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
“This was your big secret.” Crow whispered. A statement, not a question. Clio nodded and pointed at her sister, “Terpsichore, Muse of Dance.” Her finger turned on Ares next, “Ares, God of War.”
“Sorta explains the temper,” Cory said.
“And Calliope?” Crow asked.
“Muse of Epic Poetry, officially. Since there seem to be a distinct lack of Homers in this generation, she’s taken over music and sometimes literature, but her attention span has gotten a lot shorter.”
“Oh.” Crow said distantly, trying to take it all in.
“Are you mad?”
Crow touched her cheek with his forefinger. “You’re immortal?”
“Yes.”
Crow let out the breath he had been holding. “When were you going to tell me?”
“I just did.”
“Oh.”
“Crow –”
“Give me a sec, would you?” He leaned against the wall. “Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah. Okay,” he said and pulled her close. Crow closed his eyes and inhaled her scent, “I still love you. It doesn’t change anything.”
“Oh, fuck, I think I’m gonna puke. I’ll be out for a fag if anyone needs me.” Ares stormed out of the room.
Cory shifted on the couch and said, “I’m gonna check on Bliss, Crow.”
He tossed his keys to the dancer without once tearing his gaze from Clio.
“What are you going to do?” Clio whispered as she quivered under the intensity of his gaze.
“First, I’m going to kiss you, to see if you taste any different to me,” his arm snaked behind her and she felt his hand on the small of her back, he pulled her toward him.
Clio closed her eyes in anticipation. His lips moved over her bottom lip and chin and she tilted her head back as he kissed down her throat. His lips made their way back to her mouth as he tried to still her slight shaking. He kissed her so gently she thought she’d die from need. Her lips parted, his kiss deepened and her knees lost their strength, he held her up, his mouth never leaving hers.
When they parted, he said, “You taste like the same girl I’ve been kissing.” Her slim frame was scooped up and he carried her up the stairs.
His face was buried in her hair. He laid her on the bed, took off his shirt, and lay down next to her. His fingers ran across her face, tangled in her hair, and pulled her into another kiss.
Needing to breathe, she pulled away. “Crow, when my husband died. I…I went a little mad and went to the Underworld with a key I stole from… from someone. The key was supposed to give me one soul back and Hades saw right through me and knew what I had done to get the key.”
His finger brushed across her lips. “You don’t need to explain anything to me.”
“No, I do,” she whispered.
He looked deep into her eyes and brushed her lashes with his thumb, tracing down her cheek. “Okay.”
“Hades promised me my husband’s soul back, but at a price. He sent me back twenty years later and told me I’d have to find it on my own. I’ve been searching for a dead man’s soul for the last fifty years, Crow.”
With a sad expression, he took in her beautiful mouth and studied it, as if trying to memorize her face. Not memorizing it, but remembering it.
“I know,” he whispered with a heavy air. They melted together, trying to become one. Their embrace entangled, it was hard to tell where she ended, and he began.
He unbuttoned her top, kissing her skin as it became exposed, inhaling the sugar cookie scent that drove him mad. Her hands moved through his hair as she felt his lips on her flat tummy. She pulled him up to her, and rolled him on his back. Straddling him, she pulled the rest of the top off.
Her gaze took in his face the way he had hers and she let her gaze drift down his thin, muscular frame. Her lips found their way to his and she kissed him deeply, tracing her hand over his chest, and lightly stroking one of his nipples.
His hands moved deftly to cup her small, firm breasts through the black lace bra she was wearing. Her hair brushed his arms and chest, and he studied her with such unabashed awe, she felt her heart tremble at his touch. She shrugged off the flimsy lace and he pulled her down to him.
His need for her choked the air around them, and she suddenly needed him inside her. The soft skin of his hands slid over her breasts and he brushed her nipples with his thumbs causing a shiver of pleasure to course through her.
Rolling her onto her back, he brought his mouth down to one of the rosy peaks. He drew her nipple into his mouth and heard the sharp intake of her breath. She struggled with his jeans and he gripped her wrists to collect himself. He let out a shaky breath and looked into her eyes.
Her 501’s were unbuttoned and pulled from her hips. He yanked her boots off and the jeans disappeared. His own boots and jeans joined hers on the floor and he wrapped her in his arms.
“It’s like being blind when I’m without you, Clio,” he whispered. His hand dipped into the front of the black lace that covered her and she moaned into his shoulder.
His fingers manipulated her moist center, she was ready for him, and biting his lip for control, he peeled her thong off. His nibbles and kisses moved from her calves to her thighs, where he dipped his tongue to taste her wetness.
Fighting to keep from crying aloud, she wrapped her fingers in his short hair. When her breathing was coming in short, little gasps, he divested out of his shorts and slowly entered her. Her hips thrust up to accommodate more of him and he filled her. She could taste herself on his lips when he kissed her. His movements quickened as she dug her nails into his back and wrapped her legs about his waist. Her kiss became more intense, more passionate and he could sense she was close.
Slowing himself, he teased her with the intensity and her little mewls of pleasure threatened to burst any self-control he thought he had. Her teeth bit into his shoulder to keep from shrieking when she exploded, her orgasm crashing in waves on her.
That was all he could take, and he spilled inside of her. He moaned her name into her hair, feeling her pulsate all around him. Her body slick with their perspiration, her breathing coming in gasps, he was careful not to put his full weight on her small frame. They rolled over on their sides, still inside her, both of them breathing heavily, his arms wrapped around her.
A dam had cracked and she burst into tears from everything that happened, for everything that would happen. The days’ emotions caught her and swept her under. He stroked her hair and looked at her with his serious gray eyes.
“Shh, it’s okay, Clee, it’ gonna be fine,” he said. He gathered her in his arms and let her sob into his chest.
“Nothing is going to be fine,” she whispered. “Don’t leave me again.”
“I won’t, I couldn’t. I promise.”
9
Somewhere in LA
The ‘71 black Dodge Charger with tinted windows pulled up to the warehouse, Annie opened the door and stepped out. He walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. Calliope was unconscious on the front seat. His leather pants creaked as he crouched down to her level and he straightened her clothes as best as he could.
Pursing his lips, he cocked his head. Dark unhappiness clouded his features. He reached a hand out and brushed a lock of her hair from her face. His eyes filled with tears that didn’t fall and he wiped at his nose with the back of his sleeve.
“Demon,” he whispered. With a grimace of agony, he picked her up and carried her to the door. He managed to open the door awkwardly with a keycard. Annie shifted her weight with his knee to get a better grip on his burden and swept her into the warehouse.
Stress from the attack was beginning to wear on his wracked body. The effects of the steroid Vandenheuval had injected him with earlier were finally fading. His strength was waning and he didn’t know if he could carry her much further.
Once inside, he stood on a platform overlooking the Kraken’s new base of operations. A couple dozen people, all in white coats, scurried about, unpacking the laboratory in a rapid and efficient manner. Nobody noticed the man holding the raven-haired beauty, who lay still as a corpse. Annie surveyed the scene with his imperious manner.
Vandenheuval was the first to look up, his eyes widened, Annie was covered with blood. The load he was holding was not as soaked but had streaks of blood all over her face from where Annie had touched her and all over her hands and clothes. She had several lacerations on her face, and her hands were mutilated, blood running from her wounds.
He pointed to two orderlies, “You two, help Mr. Swann.”
They ran up the flight of stairs to the landing and took Calliope from him. A placid expression was etched on his face as he followed them down the stairs.
Vandenheuval checked her vitals, she was alive, but her pulse was thready and weak, her breathing shallow and uneven. She needed stitches on the back of her head and her hands needed tending, but she was alive.
“I take it this is your fountain?” Vandenheuval asked.
Annie nodded.
Vandenheuval relaxed, knowing she wouldn’t die from her injuries and turned his attention to Annie.
Annie held his side in a peculiar manner.
“Are you injured?” Vandenheuval pulled Annie’s hands away from his side. A gaping wound bled copiously and Vandenheuval couldn’t imagine how Annie had carried the girl into the warehouse in the first place.
“It’s bad, isn’t it?” Annie wouldn’t look at it.
“I’m not sure, we’ll have to get a better look at it,” he said. With an anxious air, he pushed his glasses back. “Can somebody please bring me a gurney?” He shouted at the others.
Annie was laid out on the gurney and taken into the medical corner, where he could see Calliope being tended to. The two nurses left to get medical supplies and he sat up.
Calliope was Snow White lying there still and quiet. Her color was pale from the blood loss, her hair black as coal, and her lips red with blood from his kiss. On unsteady legs, he made his way to her side. Annie reached out and found her face. His gaze focused on her lips. The tips of his fingers slid across her mouth.
A monster was destroying her from the inside, a monster she herself had created. He brought one limp, wounded hand to his lips and his tears came unbidden.
“I will destroy you,” he said without trace of doubt, remorse, or even menace in his whisper. Bending close to her ear, he whispered, “I love you, Calliope. Did you hear me? I said, ‘I love you’. I don’t want you to lose sight of what your love shall do to you.”
“Mr. Swann, she’ll be fine, you need to lie down, you are wounded.” Vandenheuval motioned him to return to the gurney.
“No, she won’t.”
“Pardon me?”
“She will not be fine.”
10
“Clio, we have to get going,” Cory said from beyond the door.
Crow sighed and let Clio up, disentangling herself from the sheets.
“I’ll be back before I go to
“This father of yours,” Crow began, “wouldn’t happen to be, like, Zeus, would he?”
“Oh, Crow, we can’t get into that right now – it’s too hard to explain. But, yeah, he is in his own way.”
“Great.” Crow looked daunted while he watched her put her bra and thong back on.
“Don’t worry,” she said and buttoned her jeans.
“Oh, trust me, I am not as cool with all of this as I seem, it hasn’t all sunk in yet, there will definitely be some major freaking out and denial later. It’s easier to be cool about it right now.”
“We’ll talk about this later, Crow, okay? You can look some of it up on the Internet, I suppose, don’t believe every myth you hear. The cast is much the same, but it’s like playing the same game of telephone for more than a thousand years.” Clio pulled her boots on and buttoned her shirt. “Now get dressed and see me out.”
She opened the door and went to wait for him downstairs.
Ares was waiting at the bottom of the stairs, scowling up at her. “If you and Loverboy are finished, then, we need to get a move on and find that sister of yours.”
“I’m coming. You realize, you can quit playing bad cop with me, I’m going to go home with you.”
Ares cocked his head.
“You’re helping me with this Kraken thing. You scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours,” she said.
“What’s the matter with you, Historian? Are you in love?” He sneered at her and slammed the front door. Clio exchanged a glance with Cory who shrugged her shoulders.
“Must have a larger hair up his ass than usual,” Cory said.
Crow came down and gazed at her. “Call me when you find her.” He thought on this for a moment and added, “Call me if you don’t find her. Keep me up to date on what’s going on.”
“I will,” she captured his face and kissed him. “I’ll be careful.”
“I’ll still worry.”
“I’ll call to check on how your grandma is doing and if
Cory pulled on Clio’s sleeve. “C’mon, Clio.”
“Bye,” he said.
“Bye.” Cory pulled her out the door.
11
The Villa
Ares pulled Crow’s SUV into the villa’s driveway and the first thing Clio noticed was Calli’s Boxster.
“Calli’s home,” she said as she unbuckled her seatbelt. Her door was open before he even stopped the truck.
His hand shot out and grabbed her wrist. “Hang on, pet, we don’t know if she’s got company.” He released her when he felt she wouldn’t run off without him. They all got out of the car together. Cory had the lamia, which went where she was directed, but was still more than a little catatonic.
Clio caught sight of a bag sitting on the Boxster’s driver seat and scooped it up. The ferret inside woke up and demanded to be let out of the confining bag. She pulled him out and snuggled him. He struggled to be put down, but she kept him in a firm grasp.
Darkness radiated from the villa from their viewpoint in the garden, which didn’t sit well with Ares. He looked around, his senses on fire. When they got to the front door, he stopped.
The light-switch inside the entry hall proved useless. Ares pulled out his Glock and the flashlight dangling from his keychain. His hand stayed Clio from going inside. The sweet stench of blood assaulted his nose when he entered the hall.
In a low, careful voice he said, “Don’t come in here, Historian.”
Ares shined the light on the ruined remains of a girl, her torso ripped open from throat to crotch. Her neck sat at an odd angle, a rope swollen with blood tied about it. Red hand and shoe prints patterned the tile. Two sets were slighter than the third and one set led into a sitting area, but did not return.
He shined the light into the living room. A tiny moan of terror came from the area he was pointing the light into.
“Where’s your fuse box?”
“In the laundry room in the basement, through the kitchen pantry, down the hall,” Clio said from the doorway.
“I’ll come back for you, stay here until I get some lights on.” Ares disappeared into the dark hall after he pushed the front door closed.
He found the fuse box at the bottom of the stairs and flipped the switches back on. On his way back, he reached out, grabbed a heavy velvet curtain, and ripped it from the rod without pause or expression. He carried it back to the entry hall and laid it over the corpse.
When he opened the front door, he warned, “Mind the tile.”
12
The Villa
Clio came in, saw the curtain and blood, and looked uncertainly at Ares.
“Not my handiwork, luv, and not Calliope either so stop looking that way. Don’t know who the bird was, if you’re itchin’ to know, I’d only uncover her face as little as I had to, if I were you.” He stepped into the hallway, his gun still drawn. “There’s someone in your parlor, muse.”
Clio’s eyebrows drew together and she stepped into the other room. The ferret was passed to Cory. Whimpering came from somewhere in the furniture. Bloody tracks led to the hassock and she knelt down in front of it.
“Hello?” She asked without attempting to move the hassock.
Clio listened to the rapid breathing coming from behind the wicker. “My name is Clio and I live here. You’re safe now, do you want to come out?” The petrified girl’s teeth were chattering and Clio worried she might be in shock.
Carefully, she lifted the hassock and saw the black slip. Dried blood tattooed the hands she next uncovered. When Clio pulled the hassock completely away, the girl scrambled backwards in her terror and hit the couch, where she kept trying to back up, to no avail.
With a wild gaze, she hissed and scratched out like a feral kitten. The girl’s short, red hair was mussed and she had raccoon rings around her red, swollen eyes. A sweater tied around her waist was damp and sticky from blood. Her whimpers were ragged and rough from the abuse her screaming had rent on her vocal cords.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” Clio told her and reached an open hand out to her.
Clio took the girl’s hand and held it, causing the girl to throw her arms around her and cling to her like a drowning swimmer.
Clio held her and rocked her back and forth, “Shh, it’s alright, it’s okay, can you tell me what happened?”
“I’m going to check upstairs,” Ares said.
The girl opened her mouth to speak, her trembling impairing her ability to get the word out, she still hadn’t focused her wild gaze on anything in particular.
Stuttering and shivering, she finally managed to scream out one word only.
Calliope.
The girl shrieked for all she was worth, she screamed Calliope’s name and fainted.
Clio dropped the girl and stared at her with wide eyes. Cory’s mouth hung agape as she sat on the loveseat next to the passive Bliss. Clio twisted her glance about the room and was on her feet. She ran to the entry hall and pulled the curtain back.
Tossing the curtain aside, she ran for the stairs. Three steps up and she tripped, banging her shin on the Mexican tile that made up the staircase. Ignoring the pain that blossomed before her, she continued her panicked scrambling up the stairs.
She collided with Ares at the top. His hands rested on her shoulders and steadied her, his heat enveloping her. “She’s not here, pet,” he said and pulled her closer to stop her terrified struggling.
“Calliope, something’s happened to Calliope,” she said.
“Calm yourself,” Ares said.
“If something’s happened to her, I’ll never forgive myself, it’s gotta be Annie, that’s his makeup artist downstairs, oh my god, something’s happened to Calli,” she was babbling.
Ares made a rough grab at her face and made her look at him, “Clio.” His gaze softened. “We’ll find her, I promise,” and then he did the unexpected. Ares jerked her into his arms and held her head to his chest.
Clio let him hold her for a few awkward moments before she remembered who he was. She pulled back. Ares looked away, his mouth a thin line, and took her hand to pull her down the stairs.
Ares carried the unconscious redhead into the atrium. She had him lay the girl on the futon in front of the fireplace and she wrapped a blanket around the girl’s cold frame.
Clio moved like a sleepwalker and found herself in the kitchen where she put some tea on and made something to eat. She couldn’t remember when she ate last. She made meatball subs in the microwave from leftovers in the fridge.
The tea was for their fainted guest and she pulled out sodas for the other two. The ferret sat in his cage, sulking on his hammock, and Clio checked his food and water. Anything to keep busy.
Cory and Bliss were sitting in the atrium. Bliss a beautiful, quiet creature before them. Cory’s worry was drawn in marker on her face, her large eyes sunken, and her face ashen.
Clio brought in the plates of sandwiches and chips and tossed them each a soda.
“What’s this?” Ares asked.
“It’s a meatball sub and crisps, what does it look like?”
“What for?”
Clio sighed. “As much as you are uninvited, you are a guest in my house.”
“You’re a bit of all right, muse,” he said as he shoved the sandwich in his mouth.
They ate silently, each deep in their own thoughts.
Clio went back into the kitchen, lifted the phone from the receiver, and dialed Crow’s number. “Clee?” He had picked up on the first ring.
“Hey, you.” Her tight voice sounded tired, frightened, and far away, even to her.
“What happened, did you find her?”
“No.” Her slim hand pressed against her temple. “It was awful when we got here, Crow.”
“What happened? Do you want me to come?”
“No, there’s nothing you can do here. Has your sister come home yet?”
“No, not yet. What happened over there?”
“Stasia’s dead.” It was quiet on the other end. “Did you hear me?”
“She was at your house?”
“Yes, there’s someone else here, too, something happened here, Crow.” She looked into the atrium at the sleeping girl.
“Someone else there?”
“We found a girl here. I think she might be one of Stasia’s friends. She is scared to death. I don’t know if I’ve ever seen anyone more terrified. I think they were here with Calli. I think someone took my sister.” Her voice was shaky on this last statement. Hearing it aloud was terrible.
“I’ll take my grandma’s car and come over there right away.”
“No. Don’t worry. I’ll be fine. Get some sleep. I need you to sleep, one of us needs to.” Clio closed her eyes and felt a migraine looming before her.
“Okay. Keep me informed.” Crow sounded reluctant.
“I will, don’t worry about us, Ares is here.” The phone was dropped back onto the receiver and she went upstairs to find her Imitrex.
The medicine wasn’t in her bathroom, so she wandered into Calli’s room. Clio found it on her sister’s bathroom counter and she popped the top and took one with a handful of water from the sink. She rinsed her face with the cool water and examined her reflection. With a wet palm pressed to the mirror, she looked at her frightened silver eyes. Nothing came close to the dread of losing her sister. She shuddered at the thought.
She was about to walk out when she paused. The perfume Ares had mentioned was overwhelming in the closet. Clio grabbed an armful of her sister’s clothes hanging on the rod and she sobbed into the garments.
“Do you think he’s, you know, hurt her bad? Like, Orpheus, bad?” Cory stood behind her in the closet. Her bow-shaped mouth trembled with her question.
“I don’t think so, but I don’t know what he’s capable of.” Clio wiped at her tears with the backs of her hands. “I would never have thought he could have done what he did down there. Never.”
“Why didn’t you tell Crow you thought it was Annie?”
“Crow was his friend.”
“But –”
“Crow was his friend.”
Cory put her arms around Clio. “We’ll get her back, Clee, you’ll see.”
“So everyone keeps telling me,” she sniffed and turned to go downstairs. She stiffened her posture and regained her cool composure. “Call Mel and find out her ETA,” she said as she exited.
“I think there’s a way to find Calliope, but we’ve gotta wait for Mel.” Clio said to the blonde war god in her atrium.
Ares nodded, indicating he had been thinking the same thing. “She’s starting to wake up.” He pointed his chin toward their guest.
Clio sat next to her on the couch. “Hi, remember me?”
The girl bolted upright and saw Ares, she struggled to flee, but Clio caught hold of her.
“No, it’s okay. He’s with me. He won’t hurt you.”
The girl looked from Clio to Ares and back again, still disoriented and shivering.
“Would you like some tea?” Clio had made some chamomile tea to relax her some. The girl looked at Clio and nodded, Clio thought her throat probably ached and mentally added some honey to the tea.
Ares followed her into the kitchen with her and said, “Look, I –”
Her hand quieted him. “Look, I know you were just trying to placate me. I still hate you and you still hate me, deal?” She said as she squirted some honey into the cup of tea.
“Whatever.”
The girl took the tea and sipped slowly from it, trying to keep her hands from shaking the liquid out of the cup. Her hands were caked with blood.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.” Clio took her hand and led her down the hall to the stairway. The bloody messages on the wall caused the girl to pause and Clio had to tug her past them.
Cory was lying down in Clio’s bed when the girls walked in. “Mel said if there are no cops, she’d be here around
“Good, that’s only two and a half more hours.” She said as she twisted the shower knobs on in the bathroom.
The girl tried to say something and nothing came out. Not even a hoarse whisper would come from her ravaged throat. Clio hoped the steam would help.
After a long scrubbing, the redhead got out and toweled herself off. Clio handed her some fresh clothes and waited while she dressed.
“Did you need anything else?”
The girl shook her head. Her hand caught Clio’s shoulder before she left and wrote one word in the steam on the mirror. “
Clio’s eyes widened, “Crow’s?”
Her short red bob swished with her nod.
“Crow’s been waiting for you in
“Calliope?”
Relieved, Clio asked, “Was there only one?”
“Was it Annie? You know, Annie Christ, the singer?”
“Let’s go call your brother.” She sighed and went into her room to pick up the phone. “She’s here.” Clio said into the phone.
“Who’s there? Calliope?” Crow said, half-asleep.
Her face darkened, “
“
“Yes, she was with Calliope.” Clio couldn’t imagine for the life of her why, though.
“Is-is she okay?”
“Other than witnessing my sister’s kidnapping, I think she’ll pull through.” Clio winced at her own words.
“I’m sorry you’re going through this, Clee,” Crow said.
She let out a shaky breath, “Yeah, me too.”
“I’m coming over right away.”
“I figured as much, drive carefully, you’re still tired.”
“Okay, see you in a few,” he said.
The phone clattered to the nightstand. “He’s coming here to be with you,” she said to
Clio showered and changed. Her eyebrows shot up in surprise by the sight that greeted her downstairs.
Ares was mopping the blood from the walls and Stasia had been removed from the entry hall. Her expression couldn’t have been more bemused when he turned around. Pursing her lips to keep from crying, she cleared the lump in her throat. Her fists were tiny balls at her sides.
“What are you doing?”
Embarrassed, Ares shrugged and said, “It was upsetting you girls, and it was beginning to reek.” Picking up the mop, he resumed cleaning the mess.
“I don’t understand you,” she said from where she stood behind him. “I don’t want to.” A cautious pause sliced each sentence. “You frighten me.” Her fingers reached his shoulder. “But, thank you.” Her hand lingered on his strange heat, her face heavy with emotion from this bizarre gesture of friendship from him and she could only shake her head.
His posture stiffened and he didn’t say anything, didn’t even turn around.
13
The Villa
Bliss was curled up on the futon. Her breathing was rhythmic as though she was sleeping, but her eyes were wide open and staring at the empty hearth.
Clio and Alice sat in the atrium on the other futon. Clio could see Ares in the laundry room, rinsing the blood out of the mop and dumping the bloody bucket down the sink. Maybe he was restless, gods only knew, she was.
Clio had almost forgotten he had kidnapped Cory and broken into their house. Ares was always peculiar. Zeus had a strange hold over him, Ares used to be one of Zeus’ favorite children, but they had a falling out a long time ago. Now they hardly spoke, like the rest of the Pantheon.
The rest of the Pantheon had scattered to the four winds after a time. They were ancient, no longer worshipped, except by the handful of Wiccans today, and that was only casual. When the gods went out of style and
Ares had pulled his stint as ‘Mars, Father of
The gods decided to look to the Egyptian Pantheon and saw they had begun living their lives for themselves instead of living their immortality for the mortals that worshipped them.
So, Zeus and his clan started living for themselves. Mortals had ceased paying attention, and at one point, the mere mention of Clio or Calliope could get someone burned at the stake. The mortals had found a new God and the old ones were set free into the world.
Sometimes, being forgotten could be worse than death.
Calliope and her sisters could never stop meddling with the mortals, they were each unique, and they each had their own expiration date. Calliope became the inspiration for some of the greatest literary works of all time.
The music she could inspire, though, was what was spectacular. She loved to inspire something that would be considered ‘Christian’, and Calliope would laugh and laugh when they would play something she inspired in their great cathedrals.
Clio smiled at the memory.
The modern world was dangerous for the immortals. If they were to ever be discovered, mortals would naturally desire what they possessed – their immortality. They would be hunted, tested, and dissected.
For most of the gods, it was only a matter of living a life with a low profile, but this proved difficult for Calliope. The parties, the cameras, the paparazzi, she lived for it. Pictures of her were plentiful, from the time of the first camera to the digital ones today.
What Clio couldn’t fathom was how Annie had figured it out.
Suddenly, she was plunged into the cold reality that a madman had her sister. She had to find Calliope before it was too late.
14
The Villa
Crow walked into the villa and heard a gun cock behind his head. He slowly raised his hands above his head.
“You wouldn’t be sneaking up on a house that has been through as much as this one has tonight, would you now, mate?”
Crow lowered his hands and turned to look at the bleached blonde war god. “Is she okay?”
“Which ‘she’ would you be talking about? Your sis or the muse you’re shagging?”
“Don’t you have a “Rumble in
The two men measured each other up. Ares raised an eyebrow, the muscle in his jaw played in and out with his irritation. He holstered the gun and motioned towards the atrium with his chin. “She’s in there.”
Crow made his way into the atrium and saw his sister and girlfriend sharing a futon.
“Are you okay?” He didn’t know whom he said it to, maybe he said it to both.
The redhead leapt from the couch, ran to her younger brother, and threw her arms about his neck. He patted her back in the caring, but still awkward posture that only little brothers have towards their sisters.
“It’s okay, geez, you’re all right, right?” Crow asked her.
Crow sat
Confused, Crow sat back on the couch. “Why haven’t you said anything yet?”
“She can’t.” Clio replied. “She damaged her vocal cords earlier this evening.”
“And Stasia?” Crow asked.
Clio’s gaze darted to Ares, who was standing in the atrium’s dark corner, smoking a Lucky, and watching the trio on the couch. Nobody moved to ask him what he did with the body.
Clio got up and squatted down next to where Bliss laid on the other futon. Her slim hand moved over the girl’s forehead and she frowned. Bliss still wouldn’t respond to anything, not even when Clio pinched her arm.
“Clee,” Crow began from where he was sitting, but he didn’t know what to say. The quiet in the room was deafening, and only their breathing could be heard. Finally, he said, “Are you alright?”
“No,” she said. “I’m going to take a nap, somebody wake me when Mel gets here.”
15
The Villa
After two hours of eerie silence in the villa, Clio’s eyes snapped open at the sound of tires on the driveway. With a cold hand running through her tangled locks, she pulled herself off the bed. She rubbed her eyes briskly, trying to clear away the sleep and went downstairs.
Ares stood at the door with a sawed-off shotgun.
“Do you have an arsenal in that car or what?” She asked as she shook her head at him and tried to get past. He shot his arm out to block her path.
“What?” Clio was exhausted with fighting him.
“We don’t know who it is yet.” Ares wasn’t about to lose Clio, too and be completely fucked when he went home.
“You know damned well who it is, Ares, it’s Mel. Take a whiff, I’m sure you smell a corpse close by.”
Ares wasn’t taking any chances. “I’ll take a look first.” He disappeared into the dark garden.
With a great roll of her eyes, she followed him out. Two figures stood at the garden gate, and one was indeed her sister, Melpomene. The tallest of the sisters, at least 5’10”, she had alabaster skin and long, dark blue hair with short, scooped bangs. A pair of black rimless sunglasses covered her eyes and her lips were painted a full, rich red.
“Mel,” Clio said, the name a thankful prayer on her tongue.
“
“Always a pleasure, Clee,” he replied.
“Oh, Mel, thank gods you’ve come,” Clio said and hugged her sister. Clio looked over her shoulder to where Ares stood unnoticed in the garden’s darkest corner.
Mel’s fingertips lightly danced over Clio’s face, tracing the muse’s expression. “You’re worried,” she said.
“Mel!” Cory whooped and tackled the blue-haired muse in her embrace.
Mel patiently let her cling to her for moments on end.
“You should go to her,” Mel said to
He sat beside her where she lay and lifted her tiny frame to sit up. With a gentle hand, he cupped her chin, looked first into one eye and then the other, and finally said, “How long has she been like this?”
“About twelve hours,” Crow said.
“I’ll take her from here,”
“Top of the stairs, second door on the right,” she replied.
When
Clio took Mel and led her to sit on the futon. She motioned for Cory to make some tea for their weary sister.
“Has anyone else been alerted to the dire situation we have here?” Mel asked.
“No, you’re it, you’re the last one who knows, if everyone knew what’s happened here, they would blame us for being careless.” Clio looked at her bare feet and said, “Maybe we have been careless.”
“Clio, my darling, you can not tame Calliope. After so many years, I thought you had come to be au fait with that.” Mel said.
“Besides, Calliope will always be careless, even when we get her out of this mess, she’ll go right back to what she always does,” Cory said from the kitchen.
Crow sat next to Clio and put his arm around her. “Look, talking shit about Calli isn’t going to get her back and it’s obviously doing nothing but distress Clee, maybe we should concentrate on getting her back.”
“I agree with the pillock, we need to focus on whoever nicked the muse and where they might have bundled her off to,” Ares said from the doorway, startling Melpomene.
“Geez, Ares, I despise when you do that,” Mel said.
“You’ll get used to it,” Cory said.
“I have an idea how we can find Calli, but I need your input, Mel,” Clio began. “I think Bliss was turned by a transfusion of Calliope’s blood. I’m not sure how up to date I am on lamia lore, but isn’t a newborn lamia linked to the original source?”
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