“Can you tell us more about your brother-in-law? You said he’d tried to bargain away his powers. Who was he bargaining with?”
Cameron’s friendly smile slipped right off his face. “Please tell me you’re not looking to make a deal with her. She can’t be trusted. She was the one responsible for me becoming a Chosen One in the first place, who made me sick from more power than a human can handle. My brother-in-law, Phobos, asked her to take his powers, but instead, she turned him into a supernatural bomb and nearly razed Valleywood to the ground! Please, tell me you won’t go looking for her.”
“Who?” I asked, spine-tingling dread twining through me.
He frowned back and forth between us, gnawing on his lower lip. “Her name… is Apate.”
The knowledge of just who—or ratherwhat—we were hunting sat heavily on my shoulders. A dark goddess, self-proclaimed anyway, though it sounded like she was evil made flesh more than anything celestial. It was no wonder Uly could track her by scent, as she was literally molded from sins, like clay, though he’d said imbibing her essence had been more like overdosing on gasoline.
How was I supposed to keep my mate safe from an ancient monster born from darkness? Cameron had advised us to steer clear of the pocket dimension where she chose to hide herself right under Loki’s nose. His wrath was apparently the only thing she feared, but even if avoiding her was an option, there was no way Uly was willing to leave this alone. He certainly wouldn’t let me go hunting for her without him.
“You should’ve at least let me buy you dinner first,” I grumbled.
Uly looked across at me, smirking. “I promise I’ll let youfeed melater.” From that mischievous look on his face, I suspected he didn’t mean food.
“Minx,” I scolded lovingly.
We were downtown once again, where Cameron had directed us to, not far from Valleywood Studios and The Wolf’s Den, the bar his brother-in-law’s mate owned. It wasn’t yet fully dark. The city was bustling with activity and lights, and I was so distracted watching a couple arguing across the street that I startled when Uly’s handclamped down on my wrist in a vise-like grip, grinding us to a halt right there on the sidewalk.
“We’re close. I can smell her,” he said, and I nudged him behind me, ready to use my body to shield him from any danger.
“Which way?” I asked, trying to attune my senses to whatever Uly was picking up on.
He took a careful sniff, wincing at the apparent reek, then nodded ahead. “This way.” We were just passing a narrow alley when Uly grabbed the back of my shirt, dragging me to a stop. “In there,” he said, gesturing to the shadows. There were no signs, no symbol carved into the brick to mark the spot. It was just a random dead-end alley. How was anyone supposed to find her here?
Though maybe that was the point.
“Stay back,” I told Uly as I inched toward the lone door. I’d made him promise not to interfere, not to attempt any heroics and to let me face her alone, but I could sense his stubbornness even now as he lingered toward the end of the alley, rocking on the balls of his feet.
I shifted to give myself thicker skin, like armor. I wasn’t sure what kind of powers this goddess might have, beyond the increased strength and immunity to pain I’d witnessed, but I was hoping it was tied to the bargains she made. Perhaps on her own, she was powerless.
Being sure to position myself between the door and Uly, I reached out and took hold of the handle. There was no shiver of power, no hint to the evil that lurked beyond. Taking a deep breath, I braced myself for whatever might come, then pulled it hard enough to pop the lock. I cracked it open just an inch, then two, frowning at what I saw.
“What is it?” Uly hissed down the alley, straining to see around me. “Is she there?”
I sighed. “See for yourself,” I said, then I threw the door wide, until it slammed on the brick wall behind.
Uly wasted no time running to my side, and together, we stared in at the bustle of a restaurant kitchen. A few heads turned as the staff glanced at us curiously, no doubt wondering if we were there to deliver an order.
There was no cave. No dark goddess.
“But I smelled… Maybe I was wrong,” Uly stuttered, shaking his head, visibly caving in on himself in doubt. His confidence was shriveling up before my eyes as he curled his arms around his waist. “Just give me a few minutes to pick up her trail. Let me try again. A different alley, maybe, or-or—”
“No, love. You weren’t wrong,” I told him, dropping a kiss on the top of his head. “She just doesn’t want to be found.”
Chapter 18
Ulysses
Ruehadbeenquietsince the alley. I mean, he was always pretty quiet, but this was a different kind of quiet. Athoughtfulquiet, but not in a good way. There was something festering inside him, making his body tight. His knuckles were white from gripping the steering wheel too tight, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he ground his teeth. The frustration and disappointment coming off him were bitter enough to choke me. I wanted to ask him what he was thinking about, but I was worried that he was mad at me. And why wouldn’t he be? Because if I couldn’t track down this Apate, even when we were given directions on where to find her, then what help was I to this case? To him?
A reel began to play in my mind, of every single one of my mistakes. Every time I’d dared to hope I had a place in this world, a home, only to have it all come crumbling down. But this time, I’d felt… Dammit, I thought I’d felt reallove! Cameron had said the M-word—mate—but I should’ve seen how quickly Rue raced to change the subject. He would’ve acknowledged it if it was true.
Dammit, I should’ve known better than to believe when a man told me he loved me. The first time a man said those words to me, he’d quickly forgotten his vow as soon as he learned what I was. The second time I’d tried to forge a lasting connection, I’d made sure to reveal my true nature to him, but it turned out he’d believed I might be able to help him cheat death, that I was somehow the key to everlasting life, and in the end, he too left me.
I slouched further into the seat, watching the city pass by. Would he just drive me back to my apartment and let me take the hint? The all-too-familiar feeling of worthlessness crawled through me, my stomach roiling. It wouldn’t be the first time I’d been discarded once I was no longer useful.
I’d spent five minutes preparing what I would say in farewell, determined to keep the telltale sting of tears at bay, when the car came to a stop. It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize we were in front of his house. “Why are we here?” I blurted without thinking.
