Part 81 (1/2)
”So you'd as leaf not?”
”Oh, shut up.”
Back in his own apartment. Dean pulled Claire's business card from his pocket expecting that it would give him some indication if she really wasn't all right.
Aunt Claire, Keeper your Accident is my Opportunity (100% organically grown)
Rea.s.sured, he went back to bed.
The Olympians left directly after breakfast. Claire watched them climb into the van, fighting over who was sitting by what window, and raised a neutral hand in response to Hermes' wave. The moment the van pulled away, she raced upstairs.
”Where are you going?” Austin demanded.
”Something woke Hera last night. I'm going to find out what it was.”
”With grape flavor crystals?”
”You'll see.”
Standing by the bed in room one, she flung the crystals into the air. When they settled, there were tiny purple three-toed footprints on the bedside table.
”Go get Dean and Jacques,” Claire said.
Unusually quiet, Austin left the room.
”When Hermes said Poseidon leaves a room damp, he wasn't kidding.”
”You think you have problems? I work like a dog for that Persephone and she does not even tip.”
”You're dead. What would you do with money?”
”So I am dead.” Jacques sniffed disdainfully. ”It is, how do you say, the principle of the thing.”
As they rounded the bed and saw Claire's expression, they fell silent. She pointed toward the bedside table. ”I want that imp caught,” she said.
It wasn't as easy as all that. Both men, the living and dead, were unsuccessful. The traps remained empty. Claire's mood grew worse.
”If anything's going to get done,” Austin sighed, leaping down off the bed as the bathroom door slammed the next morning, ”I've clearly got to do it myself.”
”Uh, Boss? I can finish the wallpapering myself if you'd rather be somewhere else.”
Fighting the urge to photosynthesize, Claire stepped out of the shaft of sunlight. ”No. I said I'd help.”
Wondering how much trouble he'd be in if he mentioned she was being more of a hindrance. Dean rolled the next sheet through the tray and laid it against the wall. ”Could you please hand me the smoother.”
”The what?”
Hands still holding the paper to the wall, he turned to point and froze.