“Um, morning, just plain is fine. What’s all this?”
“Breakfast. We need to talk. I took a look at the body of your latest intruder and found something. But first, I need to apologise.” He liked the way the morning sunlight made her purple eyes sparkle and added a shimmering halo to her white blonde short hair. He even liked the way she was dressed for the day in her signature uniform of white blouse, fitted to the knee grey skirt and wide purple belt. Exuding professionalism and an air of being ready for whatever came her way.
A weird thought shot through Nico. What would it take to muss up all that perfection and convince Gigi to wave off her commitments and spend the day in bed indulging in a little fun of a carnal nature?
Whoa. Where the hell did that thought come from? Was it an indication that the dove ring was insidiously taking him over? Even though they thought Gigi muted the more overt aspects ofthe curse, perhaps it had more subtle ways of getting it’s hooks into him. Not good.
Taking a seat at the kitchen bench, Gigi looked down at everything on offer. “This looks great.”
“Pancakes with stewed apples and caramel sauce.”
He watched as Gigi added some apples to her plate of pancakes and then drizzled caramel sauce over everything. A woman not shy about indulging. He appreciated that. Reaching for the apples and adding what was left to his own plate.
“I’m used to working alone. After the incident on The Merry Maverick, it was just me and Matias left to deal with the fallout. But his memories re-set every day. So for a good decade I’ve been the driving force behind trying to find Copper, and get Matias fixed somehow. If it had been left up to me, he and I would still be searching the world. It was his idea to give up. For us to settle down and try and make some kind of life for ourselves here.”
“That must have been a hard decision to make, giving up?” Gigi sipped her coffee and then resumed attacking her plate of pancakes.
“I know he did it for me, for my sake. It was impossible for Matias to move on, but he wanted me to try. You know the rest. We bought the old abandoned fire station and turned it into the Five Alarm Bar. Matias got his memories back. Copper travelled back through time to be with us here in the present. Both are melded, happy. Problem is, I’ve been having a hard time trusting that it’ll last.”
“And when the intruder turned up in your kitchen and you picked up the cursed ring and whammied yourself?”
“It was like the moment I’d been dreading had arrived. The signal that it was all just smoke and mirrors and everything was about turn to shit. I wasn’t blindsided this time. I was ready for it. To step up, take charge, and deal with whatever threatenedme or my family. You, you didn’t factor into my equations. And I need to apologise for trying to push you aside.”
“Because you realise you’re not alone in this or because I’m useful and I mute the curse the ring whammied you with?”
Nico hesitated. He was trying to be truthful here, but it was proving harder than he thought.
Gigi laughed at him. The sound of her merriment causing his gut to heat up and his cock to stir. Saint Medard, was that the ring curse, or the second competing niggling lure that occurred in Gigi’s null space doing it?
World ending. Power hungry douchebag deities out there plotting and planning a smackdown. Push it aside.
“That’s okay. I didn’t expect you to have an immediate come-to-Goddess moment concerning me and my skills. But I think you’re slowly getting there. You can’t deny my good points are starting to stack up. I mute your curse. And I’m handy at dispatching intruders. Which moves us on to the topic of what did you find when you looked at the body of my glowing golden intruder this morning?”
Nico held up a clear small plastic container so Gigi could see the contents.
“What is that?” Studying it closely but making no move to touch take the container.
“It’s a copper bracelet with three rose quartz stones, each etched to look like a swan. He had it around his right wrist. It’s at least as old as the dove ring. Give or take a few hundred years. Don’t worry, I didn’t touch it. Remind me, I owe you a new pair of tongs and a Tupperware container. Rose quartz and swans are both ancient symbols of love. And the bracelet was delicate, made for a woman. So again, perhaps a token or a pledge.”
“Love and birds seem to be a constant theme. Doves. Swans. And my first intruder is, was, a descendent of one of the Goddess Athena’s Owls of Wisdom.”
“Also the dead dude is significantly less golden this morning I’m guessing. I’d say his hair was more brown than gold, and his skin barely glimmered. He also has a lot of old scars. So I’m assuming, like Aploonius, he had a military or war background and somehow was coerced or kidnapped. Either targeted deliberately by whoever cursed the ring and bracelet, or he was just some unlucky sap who touched the bracelet accidentally, and was transformed into that golden thing. He had a crude tattoo, I sent Darcy and Patricia a photo, perhaps they’ll be able to identify him.” Nico dropped the container on the counter, absently wiping his hand on his jeans, before glancing down to study his palm and then the back of his hand closely.
“Don’t worry. No golden glimmer. You look normal. Well, you could use a shave, but other than that you seem fine to me.”
“I should probably pack a small bag with some things to keep here. I presume I can continue using the sofa bed up in the loft space?” Gigi stared at him so long he was starting to think she might refuse him. “Please.”
“Sorry. I wasn’t intending to make you grovel. The sofa bed is all yours. I was just wondering how long we’re going to be able to hide your coming and goings from my incredibly sneaky, insanely curious family.”
“I could come in after dark. Leave before dawn.”
Gigi shook her head. “I think we should get ahead of the rumours before they start. Take control of the narrative. We certainly don’t want the news of us spending time together to hit the gossip mill and for anyone to speculate that we might have formed a partnership in order to thwart an approaching apocalypse. Everyone from the Great-Greats down to my youngest cousins will be offering to help and nosing around in our business giving us advice.”
“I don’t think we need to tell anyone anything. I’ll use the Transportal. No one will know I’m spending the night here.”
“And what about all the time we’ll be spending together during daylight hours? The excuse I gave that we’re collaborating on some catering work will only cover so many hours in the day before the family begin to speculate. Unless you want to chance going our separate ways? I’ll be sure to wave to you whilst you’re being chased around the town square by an adoring horde of lovestruck women.”
Gigi was right. The inhabitants here were insanely curious and interfering. The local grapevine speed was lightning fast. There’d be someone interrogating him every five minutes for confirmation on what was going on between him and Gigi if they didn’t get ahead of it.
