Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(26)

Hecate snorted. "Men are inconsequential."

Mikki felt some of the tension in her shoulders relax. They had certainly been inconsequential in her life. "Well, I decided not to go straight home, so I cut through the park because I wanted to walk in the rose gardens."

"You live near rose gardens?" the goddess asked.

Mikki nodded. "Right across the street from the city's rose gardens. I volunteer there year round."

Hecate looked pleased. "It is proper. As Empousa, your most important duty, after honoring me, is to care for your roses."

"I have always cared for roses. So did my mother and my grandmother - "

Hecate's impatient gesture cut off her words. "The women of your family are tied by blood to the roses. I know that. What I do not know is how you invoked my name."

"It really was an honest mistake. I was walking through the park to get to the rose gardens, and they were rehearsing the play Medea. They needed someone to step in for the actress who was supposed to play Medea at the same time I happened by. The director asked if I would read a few lines, and I did . . ." Mikki's words trailed off as she remembered how the lines on the script had blurred, glowed and then seemed to be spoken of their own accord. "It was like once I said the goddess's name, everything changed."

She hadn't realized she'd spoken the thought aloud until Hecate's stern voice answered her.

"Your soul and the very blood that pounds through your heart know my name, and they called for their goddess, even though your mind has forgotten me."

"It seems so impossible . . ." Mikki shook her head and wiped a shaky hand over her face.

"But there was no blood sacrifice made. The wind would have stirred at your words, the earth would have trembled, and the waters wept as flame blazed, but you could not have awakened the Guardian and been carried to my realm without the letting of your blood."

"I fed the roses," Mikki said faintly, remembering the cacophony of sound that had swelled around her as she had read the goddess invocation. Wind . . . earth . . . water . . . fire . . . had they really all responded to her? The thought thrilled and overwhelmed her. Then the goddess's impatient frown brought her quickly back on track. "Some workers in the gardens had trampled the roses. It was the night of the new moon, and I'd already fed my roses - the ones on my balcony at home. It was a simple thing for me to reopen the cut in my hand and help them, too. I guess I went a little overboard, because I was sprinkling water everywhere. I even got some on the Guardian statue - " Mikki sucked air and stared at Hecate. "The statue. That creature. It . . . It . . ."

"He," Hecate corrected her. "The Guardian is male. And, yes, your call to me - coupled with the sacrifice of your blood - awakened him. He brought you here. It was his duty to return my priestess to her proper place."

Mikki's eyes darted from the goddess to the shadows that were lengthening with the thickening of night.

"He is not near. He has been absent from his charge for too long. There is much that he must correct; many things are amiss to which he must attend. You are not to concern yourself with him. And you have nothing to fear from him. The Guardian's only purpose is to protect the Realm of the Rose, to make sure the threads of reality are woven into dreams and magick."

Mikki shook her head. "Threads of reality? How does he - "

The goddess cut her off. "It is not important that you understand his purpose. Just know that he is not a danger to you. He guards all who reside within my realm."

"If he's your Guardian, then what was he doing being a statue in the Tulsa Rose Gardens?" And, Mikki's mind shrieked, what was he doing seducing me in my dreams?

Hecate's gaze shifted from Mikki, and the dark goddess stared out over the flame-lit gardens that stretched in a seemingly limitless expanse of beauty before them. When she spoke, it was more to the shadows than to the woman who stood beside her.

"I am a goddess, but I am also fallible. It was through an error of my own judgment that my Guardian was banished. It is my desire to correct that error."

Mikki didn't know what to say. If she had thought about the ancient gods and goddesses before today, her basic assumption would have been that they were powerful, omnipotent beings who were immune to simple mistakes in judgment. And now she was standing before a being who proclaimed herself Hecate, who radiated power and authority, and this same goddess was admitting to having made a mistake? It made no sense. But then, none of what was happening to her made any sense.

Again Hecate spoke without looking at Mikki. "Yes, a goddess can err. I have a heart and a soul. I have passions and dreams. I love and I hate. How can I be a wise goddess, worthy of worship, if I do not intimately understand the mistakes of humanity? To understand those mistakes, I must experience some of them," she concluded in a somber voice.

"I'm sorry," Mikki said softly.

Hecate's gray eyes returned to rest on her. "I have missed the presence of my Empousa in the Realm of the Rose. Even though your return appears accidental," this time she added a touch of humor to her voice when she said the word, "I am pleased you are here. I have grown weary of waiting."

"But I still don't know why I am here." Could she really be priestess to this amazing goddess?

"You are here for the roses!" Hecate spread her arms in a magnanimous gesture to include all the gardens before them. "You will reinstate my rituals and bring health and life renewed to my realm."