My brain felt like it had partially melted and run out of my ears. I knew the old gods all walked the human as well as the magical world, but so far I’d never had any dealings with any of them. It sounded like that was about to change.
“So…uh… Sorry, I’m trying to process this whole Charlie Tuna thing.”
“It was a salmon,” Declan muttered.
“Right, right. Salmon, because tuna would be waytoocrazy.”
“Are you done?” he said, shooting me a look.
“All done, yeah. Anyway, you act like you know which god it might be. Want to elaborate?”
Declan rose and shuffled through the books, obviously searching for something in particular.
“I saw this asshat the other day when I was flipping through these. I didn’t put two and two together until a few minutes ago,” he explained, pulling a thick hardcover book free of the pile.
He flipped through the pages. “This guy. I’m almostpositivethis is Balthazar’s patron god.”
Slapping the book down, he pointed at a picture of a bronze statue. It depicted a bearded man holding a giant hammer in one hand and what looked like a wine goblet in the other.
“Who is this?” I asked, intrigued.
“The old Celtic god named Sucellus,” Declan said. “It’s got to be him. He’s the only god I can think of that requires such random offerings.”
“Let’s go see him, then,” I said, looking up at Declan.
He gazed back at me for a long time. There was a strange combination of things going on in his eyes—hesitation along with desire. For a split-second, I wondered if he was going to shoot his shot with me. In fact, Ihopedhe would. The sexual tension between us had grown so strong I wasn’t sure I’d be able to handle it much longer.
Leaning forward, he lifted an eyebrow and grinned. “You want to come?”
All the saliva in my mouth vanished. The double entendre was obvious, but I couldn’t tell if he was being a smart-ass or serious.Did I want to come? Yes. But did he mean come with him to find this god, or did he mean come with his tongue, fingers, and cock buried inside me?
“Iwouldlike to come.” I almost addedsirto that sentence, but even I didn’t have that kind of audacity.
“Let’s go,” he said, heading for his bedroom. “We probably won’t actually meet him in person. Gods don’t hang around on this plane unless they have a reason to. We might be able to speak to one of his acolytes or priests. Grab a coat. It’s snowing again. I need to grab a couple other things too. Be right back.”
I sighed, watching him go into his room. I rose from my chair, a savage ache between my legs. MaybeI’dhave to be the one to make the first move. If we survived this new little adventure, that was.
14
DECLAN
“Where are we?” Veronica muttered, peering through the window.
We’d returned to the park a couple days before to get my car, which meant we no longer had to drive around the rust bucket. The temperature had risen a bit, and the snow and ice had turned back into rain. The windshield wipers slapped back and forth in a manic rhythm, but even so, I had a hard time seeing where I was going.
“This is Sucellus’s temple,” I said, swinging the car into a spot in the deserted parking lot.
“Dec,” Veronica said. She’d started calling me by my nickname, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t like it. “That’s an abandoned strip mall.”
“Not abandoned. There’s a nail salon over there,” I said, gesturing through my side window.
“Seriously? Agod—like a real god—has his temple in the remnants of a defunct Dollar General Store?”
“I think it was actually a Dollar Tree, but yeah. This is a guy who hasn’t had a significant number of worshipers since around the time Hadrian was building his fucking wall across England. You lose a little wealth and status without believers. Come on. Let’s do this.”
We got out of the car and ran to the overhang by the doors, getting soaked in the process. I hadn’t been here in years. Not since I’d dealt with a shifter who’d married a lady witch. He thought she’d been seduced and kidnapped by either an incubus or a deity. Turns out, he’d been partly right. It had been one of Sucellus’s priests who had tempted and seduced the poor woman with ancient mysticism tricks. After having his fun, he’d sent her home before I managed to locate her. Once she’d told me what happened and who’d done it, I’d come and demanded reparations for the couple. Sucellus had eventually agreed to a monetary gift and also cast out the offending priest, though only after a long and arduous argument with the deity while he stood before me in a glowing and brilliant form of pure energy and light. It had been one of the strangest days of my life, and that was saying alot.
I pushed the door open, glad Veronica was here. Unless I wasverymistaken, I’d need her soon. Plus, as safe as the townhouse was, I felt better having her with me.
