Part 11 (1/2)
”You heard that?”
”Comes under the heading of distressed, which I'm attuned to, so yeah, I heard.”
While she ate, Ken focused on his phone, grunting occasionally, reading the headlines to her. Mayhem must have been tired from causing all the ruckus yesterday. Things seemed pretty quiet around the world. Anxiety soured the taste of yogurt on her tongue. It sucked waiting for the next wave of turmoil Pierus had planned.
When she'd finished off the last section of her orange, Ken stood, pocketing his phone. ”Ready?”
”I left my car at the square. We'll have to go there first.”
”No worries. Once we are done at Helios, you can drive me to the Athenian. I need to pack a bag if I'm staying here until after the full moon. I'll need my car, too.”
”I'm sorry, I should have thought about that before insisting on coming here first.”
”Girl, you were h.e.l.l-bound on getting a nap. Not that I blame you. You're my priority. My s.h.i.+t will always come second to what you need.” He grinned as he placed a hand on her shoulder. ”You'll do well to remember it.”
Her back twinged uncomfortably when she stood. She washed and dried her hands at the sink. She trudged across the room to retrieve her purse. Once it was in hand, Ken moved into place behind her.
Pressure tightened the air around her chest as the real world dissolved into the Hollow. Ken's vibrant cobalt aura flashed into her field of vision. Her own lighter sky-colored aura blended with his as they metaphysically moved from her kitchen to downtown Delphi. The light changed as Ken set them down in an alley around the corner from the square. Brows furrowed, he kept their presence cloaked until they determined the area was clear of mortals. As their bodies solidified again, the cloaking dropped like a blanket falling to the ground. Strolling casually, they exited the dank, narrow alleyway and headed toward her car. Ken's gaze swept the street, while Nia focused on the treetops. She doubted Mayhem would have wandered far away from the scene of their little skirmish yesterday. Relief trickled through her heart when she didn't spy the magpie anywhere near her.
Nia dug in her purse for her keys as they approached her car.
Ken whistled his appreciation. ”Sweet ride, Nia. Can I drive?” His tone held a hint of gear-head hope.
”Is chauffeur part of the protector service?”
”Nope. I just always wanted to drive one of these.”
She underhand-tossed the keys to him. ”I'll navigate.”
”I knew I'd won the partisan lottery!” The car chirped as he unlocked it.
”Hang on. You guys switch your charges around for each of our lifetimes?”
”We used to. It added another layer to the secrecy each time. But eventually, we kind of all fell to protecting the same Muse existence after existence.” Ken slid into the driver's seat and sighed. The engine growled to life, then purred like a well-fed cat.
Fastening her seat belt, Nia shook her head. ”Have you always been a Ken? Because I'm fighting the urge to say 'Drive on, James.'”
Ken's laugh was swift and infectious. ”Our names change in each existence, but I haven't been a James. Not yet anyway. But if the job comes with perks like this car, maybe I will be in my next lifetime.”
”Okay, then.” Nia chuckled along with him. ”Take me to Helios, Ken-James. My presence is needed.”
Chapter 15.
After Nia introduced her new houseguest to Bradley, Barry and the other techs in the observatory, she excused herself, instructing Ken to find her when he was ready.
She left him in Bradley's capable hands and hustled to her office down the hall. The constant ping on her phone was a sure clue her email was exploding with messages from around the world. The Helios Inst.i.tute was a go-to source of information for astronomical sites as well as some scientific and tabloid journalists. When something as big as tidal s.h.i.+fts occurred, Nia would naturally be the first person many people sought out for the facts.
Ken eventually joined her in her office, placing a paper cup of fragrant, and direly necessary, coffee in front of her. He spun the guest chair around, straddled it, and rested one arm along the back. After frowning at the muddle of papers scattered across the surface of her desk, he pulled a printed lunar chart toward him. Resting his chin on his arm, he studied the complex detail on the page. One good thing about having a partisan who was MIT trained in meteorology was he'd understand every word and line on the chart.
Nia replayed the video from the coronal burst last week as he read. Putting a hand to her neck, she rubbed hard at the knot that had formed while she'd been talking to the director at the Royal Observatory in Scotland. She'd failed to convince him the calculations were wrong and that there was no problem with the sun's axis.
”I wonder how much Mnemosyne would be able to make people forget if she did a broadcast memory wipe?” The G.o.ddess of memory was on call for the duration of the challenge. She'd be a good option for removing the most important information. Like the little detail of a celestial body out of place.
”A world-wide broadcast? Has it ever been done?”
”Not to my knowledge. But this Royal scientist's theory is troubling.”
”Got a little tension there?” Ken pointed to her shoulders.
She tipped her chin from side-to-side, hoping for relief. ”Yeah. I'm debating how much relief I'd get by travelling to Scotland and gagging this buffoon. He doesn't seem to understand, even though I've sent him doctored data.”
”Why would you alter the data?”
The question p.r.i.c.kled painfully along her already taut neck. ”If we can keep a lid on the moon's new orbit until we fix it, no one will have to know how close the world is to the edge of reason. Better for us G.o.ds and G.o.ddesses, don't you think?”
Ken shrugged. ”Devil's advocate here...the general population discovers you've known but didn't reveal how the world was essentially going to h.e.l.l. How are they going to take it?”
”Not good.” She rolled her shoulders instead of shrugging. ”I've got to figure this out. What will make Thomas believe?”
Ken stood. Skirting around her desk, he stopped behind her chair. His hands warmed her tight muscles as soon as he laid them on her shoulders. ”Maybe some kind of demonstration. What do you think his biggest hang up is?” He dug his fingers into the knots on her shoulders.
She dropped her head forward, squeezed her eyes closed and moaned. ”G.o.ddess, maybe you should give him a ma.s.sage. Your hands are magic.”
Chuckling, Ken swirled his thumbs in circles. ”My hands are infused with magic. But I doubt that will work for Thomas.”
”That's the problem with pairing with a man whose popular television show is called Doubting Thomas.”
”I can see where that would be an issue.” He stilled his hands on her back.
”Hey, keep rubbing. It helps me think.”
Ken thumped the heel of his hand down her spine. Sunlight streaming in from her office window flickered over her closed eyelids.
She rounded her back. ”Pierus predicted that if I fail, an innocent life would be lost. This person's destiny is to help someone bring aid to the poorest people. What if that person is Thomas's niece, Hailey? She's his world. If anything happened to her he'd never recover.”
”We need to figure that out. Maybe the Fates could read Hailey's line. We could ask Lachesis. She spins the length of everyone's life. Makes sense to have her check on Hailey's life span.”
”Seems like the challenge would negate all her hard work. Doesn't matter how long the Fates spun Hailey's lifeline. All bets are off if Pierus wins.”
”Well, s.h.i.+t! Didn't think about that.” Ken sighed. ”Another problem we need to address is the ident.i.ty of Pierus's silent partner.”
He shoved his fingers under her hair and ma.s.saged her scalp. Tension began to melt faster, in spite of their somber conversation.