My Ex From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #1)

It takes two to tangle (Part 5)

"Just tell us already," Hannah said.

I got the feeling that our fight was not over, just kind of put on hold. But Kai did explain.

"There are different types of wards. Some, like the one Theo has at Hope Park, are based on intention to harm."

"Figured that out, did you?" Theo muttered.

Kai shot him a cool look. "Wasn't too hard after Sophie nearly killed herself going after a Pyrosim."

I squirmed under Theo's stare. "I may have forgotten to fill you in about that."

Theo swung his gaze back to Kai. "Convenient of you to happen to be there."

"Doing my part to keep Sophie safe."

Theo didn't bother to respond to that whopper.

I didn't either.

Kai continued. "Some wards are like a closed door. The person warding it doesn't really expect anyone to follow so they don't deadbolt it. Just close it. Maybe booby-trap it. But if you know how to open it and avoid the trap? Instant access."

"She'd hidden the passageway behind the window and figured anyone who managed to find it would be killed by the arrows," Hannah said.

Kai inclined his head. "Exactly."

"So how do we get inside?"

"Give me a minute," Theo muttered, examining the frame.

Hannah looked around at the mess that had been made of the room. "What happens if we touch the ash?"

Kai glanced down at a pile. "Nothing, now that it's cooled off."

Hannah nodded. "Back in a sec." She left, shutting the office door behind her.

With Theo focused on the ward, that left Kai and me staring at each other. A contest of wills. As I gazed into his fathomless eyes, it occurred to me that this was one staring contest I wasn't going to win. "Guess you didn't take that long to get over me," I said, hoping for a sneak blink attack.

It worked. Ha ha. "All those other females to plug," he replied. I couldn't tell if he was being sarcastic or not.

"So much for 'you're my universe,'" I muttered, then caught myself, startled at the memory.

"You were." He sounded equally startled.

An openly hostile fight I could deal with this. Whatever this was, I couldn't. Because however Kai felt about me, it was too loaded a discussion to get into right now. Or was the problem what he didn't feel about me, Sophie, but had felt about me, Persephone? How was a girl supposed to compete with herself?

Time for a new topic of conversation. "I'm sorry about your dad. Even though he's a son-of-a-bitch."

Kai laughed; a bitter sound. "Remember that much, do you?"

"One thing I can't remember. Did we ever go to Olympus? Or were we always in Hades?"

"We couldn't go to Olympus. I wouldn't have been safe there."

"But I was safe in the Underworld?"

"Long as I was around, you were."

"Where'd you go, then? When I was attacked." I tried for nonchalant.

I failed.

"Hades had sent me on an errand." He seemed kind of evasive.

"Doing what?"

Kai avoided my eyes. "Stealing Zeus' thunderbolt."

Theo turned with raised eyebrows at that. I motioned for him to focus back on the window frame.

"Bold move there, son," I told Kai.

He glanced at me, surprised. "You're not mad?"

"Why would I be mad?"

"He is your dad."

"Of whom I have very little memory. Don't forget, he sent a Gold Crusher to take me out. Not so much on the family fuzzies."

Hannah returned with cheap plastic gloves, a few pairs of tweezers, and a wad of sealable plastic bags.

I raised an eyebrow. "Holy CSI, Batman."

Hannah handed me the gloves. "Anything that seems like a promising clue to explain the ward? Or anything else out of the ordinary? Use the tweezers to pick it up. Then bag it. Even slivers. I can put them under the microscope later."

She held one pair of tweezers to Kai who ignored it until Hannah was forced to give it to me, instead. "Ever seen an Inland Taipan snake?" she asked him, threateningly.

"You do get that I'm immortal, right?" Kai retorted.

"Immortal is not the same thing as unkillable," she replied sweetly.

Theo chuckled.

I combed gingerly through the ash for a plausible clue. "How'd you do it?" I asked. "Steal the thunderbolt."

Kai gave me a rueful smile. "I didn't. We'd heard that Zeus was headed to see Poseidon for a secret meeting. I was supposed to steal it from him there. But it was an ambush."

"You weren't even in Hades when I was attacked." My relief was overwhelming.

"Yeah, he was," Theo chimed in, arching his back to stretch it out. "I saw him minutes before I found you."

My stomach dropped. I was never going to get to the truth of the matter.

"I had just gotten back," Kai said defensively. "And Pers—Sophie, was supposed to be on earth."

"Why's that?" Theo mused.

"None of your business," Kai replied.

"It's my business," I said, bagging what appeared to be a broken fingernail.

"Yup. And when you remember it, you'll know."

"You're particularly infuriating, you know that?"

Anything else I was going to say was cut short by Hannah's excited squeal. "Check it out," she enthused. She held up an indigo iridescent scale about three inches in diameter. "Wonder what it's from? Theo?" She noted his pale look. "You're not scared of reptiles are you?"

"I am when they're that."

"Dragon," Kai said grimly. "One's come to Hope Park."