The way he said the name was familiar, almost warm, yet it was a name I had never heard him say in the twenty years I’d known him. Whoever Leo was, he was so important that Seth had kept him secret even from me.
That stung a little.
Cade was still standing close to me, near enough his jacket brushed against my sleeve. I leaned the slightest bit so my arm bumped into his chest. That same grounded, safe feeling I’d experienced when he picked me up flooded through me again. I didn’t take time to dwell on why Cade’s presence made me all warm and comforted, because that would be a whole suitcase of issues I wasn’t prepared to unpack. For the meantime I just wanted whatever human connection I could find.
The longer I was around Seth for any given time the more unmoored I felt from my own world. It was a very discombobulating feeling to be caught up in the magic that surrounded an immortal being.
With Cade close, I was able to keep my head clear enough to ask the necessary questions. “What do you need me to do?”
Not what do you want me to do.
It was an important distinction. Want implied I had some say in the matter when it came to fulfilling his request. He and I both knew that no matter what he asked, I’d do it. That was simply how this relationship worked. So it became a matter of needs, not wants.
“You will get him and bring him to the temple.”
Easy enough. Find the kid, bring him back to Seattle. I was expecting something trickier.
“Where is he?”
Seth shrugged. The rain had begun to taper off, more of a fine mist now, as opposed to a deluge. His mood must be improving. Thunder still rumbled at irregular intervals, but that was merely how the storm spoke to him. There was no threat in the air anymore.
“I bedded his mother in Louisiana a few years ago. I imagine they’re still there.”
Some favorite this Leo kid was if Seth didn’t even know where he lived. What was I supposed to do, go through all the schools and daycares in Louisiana and ask, “Pardon me, do you have any children named Leo who exhibit demigod tendencies?”
I restrained myself from sighing. I’d have plenty of bitching to get out of my system as soon as he was gone, though.
“Do you remember her name?” I hoped he wouldn’t take offense to this question. Honestly, I was just hoping he could give me a little something more to go on than Leo.
“Jacqueline. Jacqueline Marquette.”
All right, that was a start. If only a few years had passed, Jacqueline and the child probably hadn’t moved anywhere. I would haul ass down to Louisiana before Prescott or any of Manea’s other goons got wind of where the boy was. That she’d be willing to kill a child to punish Seth wasn’t surprising per se, but it wasn’t how things should be done. The kid’s only crime was having the bad luck of
being sired by a god. Should he die for that?
No.
Granted, Seth had said Manea wanted to take the child, not kill him. But she was the goddess of death. It didn’t take much of a logical leap to assume she would punish Seth by taking the child’s life.
This could have all ended if Seth was simply willing to return the idol I’d won from Manea, but his pride and his greed outweighed everything else. I was stuck between a rock and a hard place once again, knowing I was on my own when it came to protecting Leo.
“You will accompany her.” This Seth said directly to Cade, surprising us both.
I jumped away from Cade self-consciously, hoping to keep him out of it. If I could wave my hands and shout Nothing to see here in order to get Cade free of this situation unscathed, I would. But inattention didn’t mean Seth was actually oblivious. His focus was set on the man behind me, and there was nothing I could do to deter him now, so I watched as they made eye contact.
“Pardon?” Cade was looking directly at Seth with a ponderous, if somewhat irritated expression on his face.
I understood why he was annoyed. Seth was not his liege god. Whereas most other humans were at the whims and fancy of all gods, those of us chosen to serve were just beholden to our own. Technically Seth couldn’t command Cade to do anything, Cade only answered to Ardra.
“You will accompany her.” Seth’s tone seemed to ask, Are you simple, boy?
Cade’s jaw tightened again, only this time Seth could see it happen. I reached over, wrapping my hand around Cade’s wrist. I gave him a firm squeeze, hoping we could keep each other from making too big a mess of this.
“I answer to the goddess Ardra.”
“I have asked for Ardra’s assistance. You will go. She has agreed.”
If it were me in this situation, I would nod politely and then confirm with my temple after the fact. Cade and I must have been on the same wavelength because he gave a slight nod and said, “If the goddess wills it, so it will be done.”