“But if there was proof that gods were real? Something more convincing than those yahoos in my living room?”
His blunt fingers picked at the weather stripping on the inside of the window. “Not sure anything could prove that to me.”
I thought that a god could do a heck of a lot to prove exactly what he or she was. I wondered if he’d believe in gods once we met Mithra. I wondered if he’d be able to see the powers in the water bottle. Understand that there were things, big things that none of us mortals would ever have a real grip on, and if he could come to terms with our incredible smallness in the big scheme of creation.
“Good,” I said. “Good to know.” Because, really, maybe it was better that he didn’t believe.
Chapter 15
“The casino?”
I looked over at Ryder. “Great powers of observation, Bailey.”
“Someone stole god powers and hid them in a casino? I thought you were joking.”
We walked toward the front doors. He strode along a little closer to me than was absolutely needed. The back of his hand brushed mine gently, perhaps by accident.
He turned to look down at me. Winked.
Okay, maybe not by accident.
“It’s not a joke. Someone stole the...items and gave them to someone we’re meeting here.” We were in front of the sliding glass doors, and had to wait a minute for people to exit the casino before we entered.
I made a mental note to check and see if there was any mail for the gods while we were here.
“Who’s the someone?”
“Mithra.”
He frowned. “The giant moth that fought Godzilla?”
I laughed so hard, I almost tripped over my own feet. “That’s Mothra. Hoo-boy. Hold on. I have to text that to my sisters.” I pulled out my phone and tapped away at the screen.
“So happy I could be a source of amusement.”
I grinned up at him. “Mithra is, uh...someone who is a real stickler for details.” I hadn’t really put a lot of thought into what I should tell Ryder to expect. “He’s true to his word, but to the very letter of his word. He’ll want us to be true to ours too. Don’t promise anything, don’t agree to anything. You know, maybe just stay quiet and let me do the talking.”
“Is that why you wanted me to come with you? So I could be silent and watch you work?”
“No. I wasn’t the one who asked you here. He was.”
“He?”
“Mithra.”
We were through the main hallway and headed to the coffee shop at the end. It was the place where I usually met with gods who wanted to enter Ordinary for vacation time.
“Why does Mithra know me? Why does he want me here?”
“I have no idea.”
He lightly gripped my elbow, stopping me. I turned to face him.
“How dangerous is he?”
“Inside Ordinary? Not very. Here?” I shrugged. “He could probably kill us.”
“What?”
