Oh, quick thing about tailbones and evolving and now-useless body parts. Like the tailbone, goosebumps are a completely redundant survival instinct for humans. Back in the day, our ancestors had a shit-ton more hair than us, and the goosebumps activated under duress of fear, shooting the hair on end and making our super-great grandparents appear bigger and more threatening.
Fun fact for the day. Hope you enjoyed it, tell a friend, spread the knowledge around.
Gladas meant to lie. I couldn’t prove it, but I knew it.
“Like most Nephil, Circe’s greatest weakness is her pride. She believes we’ll do whatever she says, as she’s the only one who can reverse the curse placed on Annabel.”
“Xander,” I said, reeling to think of a way to share my instincts without Gladas knowing what I suspected, “this just popped into my head.” I chuckled. “Listen to this.” I nudged Gladas’s arm and grinned. “Remember the time we hunted that skin-walker in France, and we didn’t have any weapons? Well, guess what? We lived and it didn’t, and everyone was happier because of it. The end.” Please don’t judge the story. It actually never happened, and I made that up on the spot under very extreme circumstances.
Xander snickered. “I do remember,” he said, “though you still had a pact with Hephaestus then and were able to use your magic quite effectively. Do you think that’ll be the case tonight?” That son of a bitch understood my veiled meaning… I think. Either that, or I’d told a fictional story that wasn’t so fictional, after all. Had we fought a skin-walker in France? I feel like I would’ve remembered that. I bit my lip and searched the ceiling, but couldn’t recall.
“With our help, Joseph should be able to contribute to the battle,” Gladas said, sealing the deal and twisting that pickle cap on tight. No spilled pickled juice around here. You know what I mean? Don’t give me that cockeyed look.
“Well, I don’t know about you guys,” I said, “but as much as I love foreplay, I feel like we’ve diddled around enough. Gladas, don’t get any ideas in that perverted head of yours. By the way, while we’re on the subject, I’m going to need your address, so I can warn your neighbors that you prefer the womenfolk as girlfolk. It’s my civic duty.”
“When is she expecting us?” Xander asked.
“Any minute. I called her when Joseph was sleeping and informed her we were headed her way.”
I didn’t like that one bit. But, then again, if he planned something nefarious with her, why do it with me right beside him? I could have faked being asleep while he spoke to her. I hadn’t faked it, though. I never do… wink, wink. Was I being too paranoid about Gladas? Had the nightmare shaken me that badly?
I turned around and checked the rear window. Xander had his vehicle parked behind us, headlights turned off. “See you on other side,” I said, flipping him off in the dark.
Gladas pressed the ignition, and the Tesla whispered to life. We rolled back onto the street and headed toward our destination.
We parked across the street from a private lot wrapped in chain-link fence topped with spiraling razor wire. The property was dark, with no exterior lights. A few vans were backed up to an open hangar door. Fluorescent lights exposed the interior of a warehouse—rows of shelving units were stocked with objects that I couldn’t quite make out, and ambiguous figures paced around, occasionally stopping to speak with one another. They carried assault rifles across their chests. Also, they weren’t Empousa—at least not in their Raven form.
Ne the back passenger doors opened, and Xander and Annie loaded into the vehicle. Even though our destination was across the street, Xander took the time to strap his seat belt across his body. Annie murmured nonsense under her breath, plucking single strands of white hair from her head and dropping them onto the floor.
“Hi,” I said, turning over my shoulder and grinning at them. “Annie, I’m glad to see you’re crazy wasn’t just an act put on for us. Tell me, did Andrew come along on this little outing?”
“Joey, not now,” Xander said. He cleared his throat.
I didn’t really care about his advice. Even though I didn’t have a celestial pact with Gabriel, I trusted my spider-senses, and Gladas had triggered them. My earlier coded conversation with Xander made it seem like he understood my concerns, but I had to make them a little more clear now that we were all in the same vicinity. “Here’s the thing, big boy,” I said, looking at the Demi. “I have to take a shit—I’ve had to all day. Not only that, but my stomach is cramping with hunger. It’s a weird feeling to have to shit and want to eat at the same exact time, and I don’t like it one bit. So, if there’s a chance we’re going to die tonight, I’d prefer to die on a shit-empty stomach full of cheeseburger. Does that make sense?”
“I guess,” Gladas said, curling his upper lip.
Xander loosened the seat belt from his chest and leaned forward. “Joey, what are you doing?”
“Two,” I said, ignoring Xander, “what are we walking into? We’ve created a plan, yes, and you told us a little about Circe, but for the most part, you’ve been extremely vague. You see, I might look like a ton of bricks, good for nothing but clobbering some fools in the head, but there’s a few areas in my brain not littered with cobwebs.”
“There are no surprises,” Gladas said. “Circe will be in there, expecting both you and Xander. She will be accompanied by some of Hecate’s Empousa, most likely. I don’t know specifics on how many or if there are any
