I gawked at the thing. It was obvious why it was hidden from the road; there would have been no privacy for its occupants otherwise. All the exterior walls were glass panels set into steel frames; displaying the entire interior like a movie set. At night, with the lights on, it would have been a stage for all the world to see.
The top floor of the structure had a balcony encircling it completely with a stainless steel balustrade. The first floor had a deck that mimicked the upper balcony perfectly; balustrade and all. A woman was standing on the balcony above; braiding her long, golden hair. It was so long that it rippled over the side and fluttered in the breeze. She hummed contentedly as she stared out over her private river; acting as if she hadn't noticed us. There was no way that she hadn't; we had rumbled up her drive and creaked to a stop right in front of her. And still, she just kept braiding.
She reminded me of Orco, and it wasn't just the way she was ignoring us. Their faces were different, and so was their coloring, but something about this woman was similar to the other.
“Pardon me?” I called up to her. “But do you happen to know Orco Mamman?”
The woman stopped braiding—letting her hair fall even further over the balcony—and turned to stare at me. She smiled a little and then nodded. Then her gaze strayed to the others; stopping on Triton. I glanced at the Sea God and found him staring back at the woman with the fascinated look of a besotted man. Great; Rapunzel had found a prince to climb her hair-ladder. I sighed deeply and shook my head. No good would come of this.
“Hey.” I whacked Triton in the chest. “That's the goddess who just wrecked your boats. You wanna snap out of it on your own or should I pull a Cher on you?”
Triton blinked as Donnie chortled.
“She means she's gonna bitch slap you like Cher did to Nicholas Cage in Moonstruck,” Donnie explained to his son. “Might be a good idea; you're lookin' a little swishy around the gills, Son. Like a noob spottin' a Betty for the first time.”
“I'm fine, Dad,” Triton huffed.
“You are the god who owns Trident Fishing?” The woman's eyes narrowed on Triton.
“I am,” Triton said as he stepped toward the bridge. “Are you going to come down and face me or stay up there and hide from what you've done?”
“Hide?” She laughed. “Does this look like hiding to you?” She waved her hand at her glass house. “I am Mayup Mamman, and I have only done what my magic has prompted me to do; sink the canoes of those who fish excessively.”
“Canoes?” Triton growled. “Lady, do I look like I'd fish in a fucking canoe? I'm a professional, and I've never over-fished in all my life. I respect the sea. But you wouldn't know anything about that.” He looked around himself with derision. “You're a river goddess, aren't you? You have no salt in your veins, no waves in your water. You're out of your element and your league.”
“Whooee!” Donnie declared. “That's my boy!”
“Fishing excessively is not the same as over-fishing,” Mayup said calmly. “Excessively means taking more than your share, and that is exactly what you've done, Greek. You came to my land—my territory—and fished my waters without permission. Then you took that bounty and profited from it by selling it to humans. You're a trespasser and a thief, and it is you who are out of your league. You just don't know it yet.”
“Why did you really attack his boats?” Odin asked before Triton could respond. “Your words reek of half-truths and secrets. Tell us what you want and be done with it.”
“I want the Greeks out of Argentina for good!” Mayup declared furiously. “Take your boats elsewhere, fisherman. Or I will continue to sink them until you have none left.”
“The hell you will,” Triton growled as a trident formed in his hand. “Territories in the God Realm are sacred and every god is entitled to protect their own, but the Earth is free game. You're playing by your own set of rules while you expect everyone else to not only know what they are but abide by them. That's not going to fly. I'm not leaving Argentina, and you aren't touching another one of my boats. Do so, and I will end your game permanently.”
Triton cast his weapon at Mayup and it sped by her; missing her head by half an inch. Instead of smashing her brainpan, it crashed into her glass house and shattered the panel it hit. Glass came crashing down in millions of tiny pieces like deadly rain. Obviously, Triton had added a little something extra to his throw; window glass doesn't break like that—not when its built to form walls.
Mayup barely moved; not when the trident whizzed by her, or when the glass shattered, or even when Triton called the trident back to his hand with a smug gesture. She just stared at Triton as if she was memorizing his face. I knew that stare; I had worn it myself. It wasn't about cataloging his features for her midnight fantasy session; not unless she was fantasizing about cutting him into pieces. No; that was the look of a hunter remembering the markings of her prey. And Triton stared back at her in the same manner.
After the stares of doom were exchanged, Triton's gaze slid over the three prongs of his weapon. He pulled something free; a few strands of golden hair. Triton inhaled deeply as he looked back at the goddess and then wound them into a tidy loop and
