The Titan Code

5. A Messenger of Hope

I SCREAM and scrabble backwards across the bed whilst simultaneously trying to grab my phone to call the police. The man is calm and unfazed by my splutters of protest and simply holds his hands up.

"Ella, don't panic, I'm here to help," he says smoothly as if it were perfectly normal to be a stranger in a woman's bedroom.

"Who are you? How did you get in here?" I shriek as my sweaty panic-hands slither across my phone. Not that his answers would matter anyway as I'm still making the call.

He smiles easily.

"I'm here to help you with your Gift, Ella."

My fingers pause over the keypad. Did he just talk about my abilities? I hold my breath for a split second, eyeing the stranger warily. Can I trust his oddball standing by my door? He can't have seen me fade or I wouldn't have gone, it doesn't work around people.

"What do you know about that?" I ask suspiciously, finger poised over the call button. I lick my dry lips, totally unsure if this is genuine or a horrible misunderstanding.

"Well, Ella," he says slowly, deliberately, "I'm the one who's been trying to keep it in check for centuries. I thought I'd come and give you a hand."

I stare at him for a moment, still unsure if I should be accepting help from someone who's broken laws to be standing here but until twenty minutes ago I never had even a whisper of my Gift being anything other than a random act of nonsense. I suppose I don't have a choice but to trust him.

I lock my phone and slowly clamber back over the bed as the man waits patiently. He's dressed in a skinny suit, ultra-modern and undeniably expensive, with patent leather shoes and one of those quiffs boys have these days.

Now I've gotten over the shock of him just appearing out of thin air I notice he's also extremely handsome which is quite disconcerting considering he's in my bedroom, which looks like the returns pile in a clothing shop. Piercing blue eyes, dark hair, a little designer stubble gives the appearance of a textbook description of an attractive man.

"Who are you, then?" I ask and I'm not sure how weird this whole thing is going to get.

"I go by a different name usually when I'm working around mortals, but you might've heard my real name before- Hermes," he says pleasantly.

I frown. Is this guy for real?

"Wasn't Hermes the Greek God of postmen?"

His immaculate forehead creases fractionally.

"No. I am the God of Travel, amongst other things, and I've been trying to keep tabs on anyone who has corporeal manifestations, such as yourself," he says with a slightly snappy tone.

"So you're the original Greek God?" I ask again, feeling that this still seems the most unlikely event of tonight. He says he's actually a God? I travel across the world so why does this seem so ridiculous?

"I am one of them, yes."

I rub my face impulsively. Did I hit my head as I left? Has all of the travelling finally unhinged my mind?

"Surely you realise travelling across the world as you do isn't normal?" he says simply. "Is it so impossible to imagine there's a reason behind it, and also power?"

He makes sense, but honestly, a Greek God in my bedroom?

"Shall we... shall we go into the living room? I have lots of questions, obviously," I offer.

Hermes inclines his head slightly and turns to the door when he stops and pulls out his phone. He starts tapping away.

"Oh, I'm sorry, have you got something more important to be doing right now? Knocking out a quick level on Candy Crush?" I snap, feeling irritated that this man turns up, throws my world into turmoil and then dares to text before talking.