Страница 43 из 53
“Why bother? If it’s all going to go wrong anyway, why even try?” She grabbed the scotch bottle and swirled the little bit that was left before drinking.
She leaned into Quick. He wrapped his feathers around her. “Where did you find that?”
“Cupboard. Didn’t even know it was in there.” She laughed bitterly. “Lucky break, huh?”
“Maybe we try because what’s the point in not trying? Just sitting around, thinking about ourselves all the time, it doesn’t work out either. Trust me. I learned that the hard way. So if we’re going to screw it up, we might as well screw it up with good intentions rather than bad.”
She cried in the serpent god’s embrace. Her tears glittered off his rainbow scales.
“Want some coffee?” he asked.
“I don’t want anything.”
“A little caffeine in the morning never hurt anybody. Maybe we’ll get some eggs going, too.” Quick called to the kitchen. “Lucky, could you make us some coffee?”
When there was no response, Quick excused himself to check on Lucky.
The kitchen was empty. The back door was open. Lucky was nowhere to be seen.
“Damn it, Lucky.”
Quick closed the door, turned on the coffeemaker, and started making breakfast.
“Hey, baby,” said Lucky with a smile on his face and a bouquet of flowers in his hands. “I’m back.”
She took the flowers. They were the cheap kind, found in discount drugstores everywhere. But it was the thought that counted, she supposed.
“No hug?” he asked.
“Sorry.”
They shared a brief embrace. He stood there a moment, waiting for her to invite him in.
“So…” he said.
She apologized again, stepping aside.
“Great news, babe. Gorgoz is handled, so no more worries there.”
She perked up. “Really?”
“Yep. You’re free and clear.”
Janet scooped him up in her arms and squeezed him close. “Oh, Lucky, I’m so glad to hear that. You have no idea how worried we were.”
“Why worry? I am the god of good fortune. Things always work out for me. And my special lady.”
She hugged him tight. “This is wonderful news. Have you told Phil and Teri yet?”
“They already know.”
“That’s terrific.” She whirled around in a dance across the room.
“I was thinking, babe,” said Lucky. “We should take a vacation. Go somewhere nice. Ever been to Tahiti?”
“I have a job.”
“We’ll fly over for the afternoon. Be back by midnight. I promise.”
“I’ll pack my swimsuit.” She rubbed his ears and ran into the bedroom. “So what did you do?”
“What?”
“How did you solve the problem?” asked Janet.
“Does it matter?” He sniffed the flowers. “It’s solved.”
She stuck her head out of the bedroom.
“Well, if you have to know, I didn’t actually have to do anything. Good ol’ Phil took care of it, the romantic lug. Seemed he went and made a deal to get you and Teri out from under Gorgoz’s thumb. Very proactive. You know the old saying. He who helps himself… something like that.”
Janet walked over and put her hands on her hips. “What about Phil?”
“Oh, he’ll be fine. He’s a survivor, rolls with the punches, makes the best of it-”
“Lucky…”
“I didn’t stick around for the exact details. But I think you’re losing sight of the big picture. The problem is solved. Who cares who solved it?”
“I care. And I’m willing to bet Teri cares, too.”
“To make any deal with Gorgoz, Phil had to renounce me,” said Lucky. “That means his fate isn’t my problem.”
“You’re just going to abandon him?”
“I kind of have to.”
Janet cupped his head in her hands, leaned in, and kissed his forehead. She unclasped her necklace and put it on the coffee table, then headed toward the front door.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“I like you, Lucky. I like you a lot. You’re romantic and sweet and able to fly me to Tahiti at a moment’s notice. But if you can leave Phil to the mercy of some mad chaos god then you’re not the guy I hoped you were.”
“Babe, I want to help. I do.”
She glanced over her shoulder at him. “Then help.”
“It’s against the rules.”
“Gorgoz doesn’t follow the rules. Screw the rules. If you’re interested in doing the right thing, you know where to find me.
“You don’t get this guy. He’s bad news. He’s dangerous. Just because I’m immortal that doesn’t mean he can’t do all sorts of nasty things to me.”
“That’s it then? It’s all about you?”
“You, too. If you go up against Gorgoz, an ugly death is the best you can hope for.”
“And you’ll let me go to that ugly death.”
“I am trying to stop you.”
She opened the door.
“Wait up.” Lucky hopped off the couch and fished around in his pockets. “You might want this. It could be important.”
He handed her the driver’s license. “Took it out of the collective unconscious. Might be worth something.”
“Thanks.”
She reached for the license, but he pulled it away.
“This is it then?” he asked. “You’re breaking up with me?”
“I don’t know.” She snatched the license away. “Am I?”
Lucky shrugged.
“Whatever, babe. You just blew a good thing. Have fun with the rest of your life. However brief it might be.”
He jumped back on the sofa and turned on the television.
“Mind if I just kick back here for a few hours? There’s a Gilligan’s Island marathon on. Hate to miss that.”
“Fine. Just remember to lock up when you leave.”
After the door closed, Lucky turned off the television. Janet might have had a nice rack and great ass. She might have been fun and cool and the kind of mortal a god didn’t run into every century. But she was just another mortal skirt. There were millions of them on this pitiful planet. It would be absurd to go up against Gorgoz for one insignificant woman.
Lucky wasn’t heartless. He felt bad about Phil. But that was the way it went in this world. Mortals came and went. Civilizations rose and fell. There was no point in getting attached to any of it. His relationship with Janet had been doomed from the start. Better to have it end now before it got any more serious.
Janet’s necklace stared at him from the coffee table. He made it disappear. Then made it reappear. Then made it disappear once again.
Grumbling, he made it appear again and stuck it in his shirt pocket. Then he turned on the television and tried, with only marginal success, to lose himself in the antics of zany castaways.
Bo
“I still don’t see why I had to drive you here,” said Bo
“Because I’m conserving my energies,” said Syph. “I’ve gathered just enough tribute for what I need.”
Bo
Syph had been taking on as many clients as she could and throwing in a few stinking boils and withered genitals to keep the clientele coming back for more revenge. She’d been stockpiling tribute. Bo
Syph jumped out of the car.
“Stay out of it,” Bo
The sky darkened overhead. The three fluffy white clouds contorted into twisted, agonized faces.
“Stay out of it.”
A cat in a tree let out a howl and fell off its perch. It was dead before it hit the ground.
“Oh, hell.”
She exited the vehicle and caught up with Syph.
“You should stay in the car.” The goddess never took her eyes off Janet. “This won’t take a minute.”