Something Wicked This Way Comes

Chapter 19

"Wait, you want me to do what?"

"Volunteer for border patrol," Aanya said again, arms crossed.

Joel frowned, slowly setting the shovel he'd been using against the side of the house. "I'm pretty sure I told you guys that I'm retired."

The daughter of Bellroc laughed. "Demigods don't retire, Joel. You'll never get away from who you are, you know that."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Aanya, I'm forty-eight. I'm not the man I used to be."

"Joel," she put a hand on his arm, brows drawn together. For a moment, he saw genuine fear in her eyes. "Please. We don't have numbers to spare, and I need people on top of this. Trollmarket is taking night shifts, but..." she sighed. "Look, I know you want to raise your family in peace, but there won't be any peace unless we work together to stop what's coming."

"And what is coming?" He asked.

"I don't know for certain," her lips pursed. "But... there was something about that girl. The one who came back from the dead."

Joel nodded slowly. He and Carter had talked before he left, his brother having confessed that he didn't trust Antigone. And it wasn't so much that he thought she was intentionally misleading them, but maybe... it was something else. They both had had enough experience with the "something else" variety to be cautious of things like this. "What do you think?"

Aanya looked stunned, like she couldn't believe someone was asking for her opinion. "Oh. Uh... to be honest, I don't know. All I know is that those things that attacked us were looking for something. And I think they found it."

Joel narrowed his eyes. "What?"

"Call me crazy, but it feels like something or someone is trying to split us up, divide our numbers," her gaze fell away, eyes blazing as she mulled over information and theories. "Like whoever is behind this is driving certain people their way..."

Joel swallowed the anxiety building in his chest. The very idea of another conniving bastard god reeling his little brother in to torment him... but this was just a theory. But theories, especially outlandish ones in their line of work, tended to lean into the truth. "Alright." He said, mind made up. "But if they call you for help..." he looked Aanya in the eye. "You tell me."

Aanya almost smiled. "I thought you were retired."

"Well, I'm not a Trollhunter," he said. "But I want to be there for my family. And I won't let my little brother face this without me."

"Carter is older than you."

"Only technically."

***

"Carter," Jim said, following him into the hallway. "Dude, can we talk?"

Carter looked at him suspiciously. "Why?"

"Because you're my friend and I care about you."

Carter sighed, eyes nearly rolling. Jim frowned. "How about later? When I don't have to worry about my uncle wanting to kill you just for existing."

Jim blanched. "What?"

"Jim." Carter's expression was deadly serious. "Thezius is fucking crazy. He hates Nimue because of Arthur. He blames her for pushing the mortals into hating magic, and he's not going to see you as any better because you carry around that sword."

Jim blinked. "Um..."

"You are Arthur's legacy whether you like it or not," Carter told him. "Just like how Douxie is Merlin's, and I'm Vameus'." He winced at the mention of his father. "And the gods... they hate Arthur for a reason."