Eli said to the group, “Why do I get the feeling she is going to do something dangerous?”

“Not dangerous,” I said. “Well, not really. It will only be dangerous if I get caught.”

Aaron moved close to me. “I know you are talented, but we are talking about immortals here. We are not talking about mortal soldiers who are distracted by a battle. Mortals always have a difficult time seeing us if we don’t want them to.”

“But, it wasn’t just mortals, you recall. The Trojans had Olympians and Titans helping them. Aphrodite, Apollo, and you to name a few. I was able to listen to your battle plans, Aaron, former god of war, Ares. I listened to you and Aphrodite in the night. No, dear brother, you didn’t know I was there.”

“If Aphrodite was in the area,” Dion said, “Then, he was so distracted by her beauty that he could see little else. I, too, have been so bedazzled that I could scarcely see anything else.”

Aaron stood his ground. “I don’t think you can do it and remain undetected.”

“Simple, then,” Demi said. “Try it among us, first.”

“We don’t have a lot of time for game playing and experiments,” I said thinking about the experiment from the early morning. I shuddered deep down in my chest when I saw the destroyed valley in my mind’s eye.

“We have to take the time,” Demi said. “If you can move among us without us being able to see you, then you will do well at Phobos’s lair.”

“I can do it, too,” Hermes said. “In fact, I do it all the time. Even Zeus cannot see me if I don’t wish him to.”

Hercules said, “I have never been able to do it.”

“Well, of course not, you big horse,” Dion said, playfully. Apparently, Hercules was the butt of many of Dion’s jokes. “You couldn’t hide in a cornfield.” Dion and Hercules laughed.

“Good,” I said. “All right, you all want an experiment, we will give you an experiment. I will creep around the house for the next few minutes and see if you can see me.”

“I can do it, too,” Hermes insisted, speaking a little louder. “Two are always better than one when it comes to subterfuge.”

“Two, then,” Eli conceded. “Both of you go upstairs and then begin the experiment when you are ready. Personally, I don’t think you can do it. I am too attuned to Athena. I will know when she is in the area.”

“We shall see, Titan Helios,” Hermes said. Hermes took my hand and we were suddenly in the bathroom I had used a scant few minutes before. He immediately released me upon arrival. Hermes was shorter than me by at least six inches. His thin blonde hair always seemed to be filled with static electricity as it floated around his head. He was so slender, he was often mistaken for a teenager. Hermes was my half-brother by Zeus and Maia but we didn’t look anything alike. He favored his mother. However, Hermes’s eyes were the same sky blue eyes that Zeus possessed. In his blue jeans and t-shirt, he looked the part of a teenager very well.

Very quietly, Hermes asked me, “How long do you think we should wait before we get started?”

“They will expect us to wait a few minutes, so we either need to proceed immediately or wait for a couple of hours.”

“Why don’t we go to your bookstore while we wait,” Hermes said.

“I am not very good at this transporting thing, but I will give it a go.”

“No. Allow me. I am better at this than Helios. Sorry. I just can’t think of him as Eli.”

I smiled at my younger brother and then said, “All right. Take us to my apartment.”

“No. There is someone inside working on the door. I will take us to the stairwell.”

I nodded and suddenly, we were there, in the stairwell that led up to my tiny apartment. I started up with Hermes on my heels. A man was indeed in my apartment. He had the plywood down and the broken French door off its hinges. A new French door leaned against the refrigerator.

“Hello, folks,” the man said. “I’m Walter Adams, Julie’s husband.”

“Athena Weaver and this is my brother, Hermes,” I said. “I told her to get someone over here, but I had no idea she would act so quickly.” I felt guilty for a moment because in all the years I had known Julie, I had never asked about her personal life. I suppose I didn’t because I didn’t want to explain myself in return.

“That’s Julie. Tenacious. Reliable.”

“And that is why she is in charge of my bookstore. Thank you for coming.”

“I was sitting at home on my lazy back-side when Julie called. Happy to help. I picked this door up at Home Depot. I am going to have to fit it in, and that will take a while, so I hope I won’t disturb you folks.”

“No please, continue. We are going down to the store and we will be off again. I am not going to be staying here tonight, so take your time. Come on,” I said to Hermes. “Let’s leave him to it.” I went down the stairs and out onto the sidewalk, Hermes on my heels.

Julie stood outside the front door, cigarette burning. She smiled when she saw me. “I didn’t see you arrive,” she said. She certainly had an odd way of putting things. Julie knew more than she let on, I suspected. She pulled on her cigarette and then tossed the butt into the gutter. A cloud of smoke followed her into the store.

“Julie Adams, this is my brother Hermes.”

“Hermes, is it? You have a family reunion in town? First brother Aaron Battle, now brother Hermes...” she left the word hanging as a question, asking for his last name.

“Messenger. Hermes Messenger.”

“Pretty odd that your brothers have different last names from yours,” Julie said to me. She looked at me with very old eyes.

“Same father, different mothers,” I said. Then, to distract her, I said, “We have come to look over the bookstore.”

“So, I presumed. But, didn’t you tell me you were going to be out of town for a few days?”

“I am out of town. I am in Newport News.”

She gave me a look, again. “So tell me who you really are,” Julie said.

“What?” I asked.

“You are not like everyone else,” she said. “Every time I talk to you, I get odd readings, like you are not... human.”

I laughed. “If not human, then what?”

“Athena, I have known you for several years and you have always been a little off my normal radar. In the past couple of days, something has changed. What I sense is off the scale.” She seemed to hear what she had just said. She glanced at Hermes and said, “I sense the same from you, too, by the way. Neither of you are from... around here,” she said, carefully.

“Must be a family trait,” I said.

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

“Oh, I have no doubt about that,” Julie said.

“What are you saying?” I asked her.

“I simply thought you may like to know that someone knows you are totally different and doesn’t care.” She paused and then asked the question she wanted to ask all along. “You’re not the real Athena, are you?”

I almost denied it, but at the last moment, I nodded. I could trust Julie and I knew it. I was a little surprised that she didn’t bring up the subject previously. She could keep her counsel, without a doubt. Funny, though, she rarely crossed my mind beyond thinking about the bookstore. Julie Adams was a powerful psychic and a potentially great ally. Julie paused, again and then said, “What has happened to you to change your aura over the past couple of days?”

“Change my aura?”

“Yes, you used to be consistently lavender with some yellow. Conservative with intelligence and wisdom. Now, Goddess Athena, you are bright gold—almost too bright to look at—purple and the red of anger. Gold is extreme wisdom, purple is high ideals and high spirituality. But, the shocking thing is the change. People don’t change that radically. It is almost as if I am looking at an entirely different person today than I looked at last week. So, something extreme happened.”

“You’re correct. Something did,” I said in that tone of voice that should have ended the discussion.

“What has happened?” she insisted.

“Julie, I don’t have time to go into this now. We are trying to stop whoever or whatever is responsible for some particularly heinous murders. Suffice it to say, several major things have happened this week. But, you have earned the whole story and I will tell you. Just, not right now.”

She nodded and then asked, “Who is Eli?”

“Helios,” I said, simply.

“Of course he is. I should have known. And Aaron is Ares?”

I nodded. “But, now, we must be off. Take care of my store.”

“As if it were my own,” she said and smiled.

Hermes and I walked to the garden in the back of the store. He spoke quietly. “Do you think it was a good idea to tell her everything?”

“Hermes, she knew, anyway. Now, let’s be about our pressing business. Should we go back to Bill’s together? Never mind. We will have to. My attempts to transport are dismal at best. But, once inside the house, should we stay together?”

“Yes. If we hold hands during the experiment, we will appear as one.”

“I don’t want to appear at all, remember. Bloody waste of time, anyway.”

Hermes smiled and said, “Allow them to care about you, Athena. Helios and Ares and even your friend Bill all care about you very deeply. Accept it. Also, none of us will allow you in harm’s way by yourself. It was a damned foolish thing you did, going to Phobos’s house by yourself.”

“But, only I got hurt. If I had invited others to my party, they would have been hurt, too, and that is something I cannot tolerate.”

“So, the cold, distant goddess does possess a heart like warm custard.” Hermes’s blue eyes twinkled and then he said, “You are in great danger of becoming a caring individual, Athena. I would be careful, were I you. Worse, you may contaminate the rest of us. Changed aura, indeed. You simply hid what you are and have always been. Now, shall we be about our business?” He held out his hand and I placed mine in it.

Hermes didn’t even give me a chance to contemplate his last little speech. I had a feeling he had said something profound. I put it on a shelf and would pull it down to examine my treasure more carefully when I had more time.

In an instant, we were back in Bill’s house. This time, it was on the sun porch that was off the living room. Hermes opened the door and we stepped inside the butler’s pantry. In the small room that doubled as Bill’s liquor cabinet, Hermes and I prepared ourselves. It is not easy to define what we did. Like most things metaphysical, it defies description. We decided no one would be able to see us in a particular location and metaphysics made it so. Their eyes would slide over us and we would be as unnoticed as a picture that had been hanging on the wall in the same place for years. Even if the picture is removed, it may take some people several days to notice its absence. The same principle applied.

We were ready and Hermes and I stepped out of the butler’s pantry and into the hallway. I motioned toward the kitchen with my head and Hermes and I walked that way. Demi and Ariadne washed and dried dishes while Hebe looked in cabinets for places to put them. “She is different,” Hebe was saying. “Although she still has that mind that works more like a man’s mind. In Olympus, she didn’t act at all like the other ladies. Her mind went toward logic, strategy, and planning. She was always planning, that one.”

“I remember,” Demi replied. I knew they were talking about me. Hermes and I moved closer to the pantry so we could listen and stay out of the way. If one of them ran into us, the game was over. Demi continued. “Small wonder Zeus made her his heir. He decided it ages ago.”

Ariadne stopped drying the plate in her hand and asked, “You knew Athena was going to follow Zeus to the throne?”

“Of course. Everyone assumed. And no one objected to his choice. Well, rather, those who did object planned to oust Zeus, but those attempts were never successful. Imagine Hera in charge,” she said and the other two laughed with her.

“Imagine,” Hebe added, “Hera in charge with Hephaestus as her heir.” The women laughed again.

Ariadne said, “Hera could make Ares her heir.”

“Hera used Ares,” Demi said, “But she never loved him like she loved Hephaestus.”

I glanced at Hermes and he simply rolled his eyes. The three Olympians were engaging in one of the court’s favorite pastimes: gossiping about the royals. In every royal court that has ever been, the underlings loved to gossip about those in charge. It was one of the things I detested most about life at court. I wondered if I would appreciate the help of three former goddesses who were little beyond kitchen drudges.

Of course, it was easy to hide from them. I motioned with my head to Hermes to follow me out of the kitchen. Three women who were distracted by gossip didn’t prove anything. The real test was with the men. They were in the living room. Or at least some of them. Hercules and Dion were pondering a chessboard while Jason looked on.

“No,” Jason said to Hercules. “Move the rook. The rook.”

Dion responded, “Hey, I didn’t agree to play both of you at the same time.”

Jason smiled and said, “I just hate to see anyone get beat as badly as you are getting ready to beat Hercules.”

“I prefer the direct approach,” Hercules said.

“You mean to step into battle, ax swinging, and no thought about what you are doing? Brute force?” Dion shook his head. His grin was derisive.

“It’s worked up to now,” the man with the deep rumbling voice said. Then, he took his great hand and swept all of the pieces onto the floor. The three men laughed.

Dion looked directly at me and said, “Maybe you can teach this dullard how to play chess properly.” I quickly stepped aside because I realized Dion was addressing Aaron who stood in the doorway, watching the three men play the game.

Aaron fully entered the room and said, “Herc’s strategy isn’t a bad one. When things start to look their worse and you are certain the opponent has the upper hand, then do something crazy, like sweeping them off the battlefield.”

“But, that isn’t according to the rules,” Jason said.

“No, it’s not. But, on a chessboard, you are dealing with pieces of carved marble, or lathed wood in this case, and not people.” Ares picked up one of the pieces off of the carpet and looked at it carefully. “On a battlefield, a commander has to be flexible and change strategy in an instant.”

I slipped out of the living room, leaving the four men to discuss their manly topic so that I could seek Eli, the true test of my abilities.

Nike came down the stairs and walked right by us without seeing us. She went into the kitchen.

Hermes and I started up the stairs and I nearly fainted when the step creaked. In my state of mind, trying to hide from my fellows, it sounded as loud as cannon fire. I glanced at Hermes, in a panic. In an instant, we were at the top of the stairs.

Eli and Bill were in the bedroom where I slept the night before. Eli stretched out across the bed and Bill sat in the chair, one foot resting on a knee and the large white teddy bear on the floor next to the chair.

“She is going through a lot of changes, right now. Even you know that,” Eli said to Bill.

“I don’t like sending her into danger. It is my job to protect the citizens,” Bill said, a deep frown on his face.

“As she says, stop thinking like a cop, Bill. Athena is better equipped to protect herself than you are to protect her. I don’t care how many guns you own. Guns won’t stop an immortal. It will simply piss them off.”

“Then, why am I even here? Why am I in the middle of this party? What can I offer?” He slid down in his chair and appeared to be wilting.

They didn’t know I stood at the door, listening. No one knew I stalked them. I glanced at my watch. Only an hour had passed since Hermes and I transported to the bookstore.

I stepped fully into the room. One part of me was a little disappointed that Eli couldn’t see me, but then I knew I would be safe in Phobos’s camp.

Eli was telling Bill, “Athena said it. You bring stability. You bring a sense of order and a sense of what is right. You keep all of us on track.”

“Doesn’t seem like much,” Bill said.

“It is a big deal, Bill, believe me.”

Bill sat up a little straighter and then asked, “So when will she start this show?”

“I don’t know and that is the point,” Eli said. “We should probably start paying attention.” Eli looked around the room. “I still think this is the most likely place for her to start.”

“I would appear in the butler’s pantry and move out from there,” Bill said.

“Why the butler’s pantry?” Eli asked.

“It’s the one place that is the most likely to be empty most of the time. With ten others in the house, it is harder to find a place where none of us are standing.”

“Good point,” Eli agreed.

Time to reveal ourselves. I motioned to Hermes with my head and we were suddenly on Bill’s front porch. Hermes grinned at me and said, “I would call that experiment a total success.”

“Shall we go inside and give them the good news?” I asked as I reached for the doorknob. I wondered how everyone would react. Positively, I hoped.