Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(28)

Girlish laughter drifted from the open doors of her room. Mikki sighed. She was also supposed to be getting dressed. And deciding on her destiny.

"Damn, my head hurts." She rubbed at her throbbing forehead. The newly illuminated temple tugged at her gaze, and she found herself staring across the dimly lit gardens at the domed building. A little rush of excitement fluttered through her stomach. If this was real . . . if all this was actually happening, then she was being offered the opportunity to be High Priestess of a powerful goddess - a goddess who had watched over the women in her family for generations. Mikki couldn't deny that the possibility fascinated her.

And if none of this was real? If she had fabricated all this and the world and the goddess were nothing more than figments of her delusion?

If that were true, then it didn't matter whether she chose to stay or return. Either way she was screwed - figuratively speaking.

So why not ride it out? Why not choose to become High Priestess of Hecate over being a psych patient?

She thought about the goddess. Hecate was powerful and intimidating. What would it be like to be her priestess? The thought was like a bright flame, and it drew her with its exotic warmth. Hecate had said that her first duty as Empousa would be to care for her roses. Mikki stared out across the dark expanse of gardens. The soft night breeze swirled around her, carrying with it the compelling and familiar scent of roses. She closed her eyes and drew a deep breath.

It smelled like home.

The thought startled her. Could it be possible that she belonged here? Was she brave enough to consider believing this was her reality . . . her future . . . her destiny? She was many things - stubborn, opinionated, too cynical - but she was not a coward. Resolutely, she crossed the wide balcony and entered the beautiful, rose-themed room.

Like a small school of exotic, silk-finned fish, the young women turned to her and bobbed down and up in quick curtseys.

"Empousa! Your ceremonial dress awaits," said the brunette. She gestured to a fabulous length of glittering purple silk that cascaded over the edge of Mikki's bed.

"Thank you," Mikki said automatically and then her mind caught up with her words. "But before we go on, I think introductions need to be made. My name is" - she paused for only an instant - "Mikado. As you probably already know, I've been brought here by rather unusual circumstances, and all of this is new and more than a little overwhelming to me."

The brunette frowned. "Are you not Empousa in your own land?"

"No," Mikki said.

The four young faces registered mirrored expressions of shock.

"If you were not Empousa, then what did you do?" the brunette asked.

"I was . . ." Mikki hesitated, carefully choosing her words. "I was an assistant to a very important woman. She made sure sick people were cared for."

The brunette's frown deepened. "This woman could not have been as important as Hecate."

"No!" chorused the others.

They had her there. "Maybe working for a less important, uh, goddess" - Mikki's lips twitched at what her boss would think of being called a goddess - "was preparing me for this job."

"Job?" the flame-haired girl tittered. "Empousa is not a job; it is a destiny."

"A divine privilege!" added the handmaiden dressed in buttercup silk.

"Yes, I'm beginning to understand that." Mikki felt like she was futilely trying to hold the reins on a runaway horse. "But where I'm from, things are a lot different. It's going to take some time for me to get used to my destiny."

The brunette suddenly gasped, green eyes bright with understanding. "You are from the mundane world!"

"Yes, yes I am," Mikki said.

Clearly horrified, the handmaidens stared silently at her. The golden blonde pressed her hand against her mouth as if to hold back a sob.

"It's really not that bad there," Mikki said, feeling the need to stand up for, at the very least, Tulsa. "It's filled with interesting people and things. Like the Internet and" - she grasped at straws - "and some really excellent restaurants. Especially around Utica Square." Far from convinced, they continued to stare at her. "So," she said, purposefully changing the subject, "how about you tell me your names and then I'll get dressed and you can give me some pointers about how to handle the rest of the night."

"How incredibly rude of us, Empousa!" the brunette said quickly, giving the other three girls a hard look. "I am Gii."

"I am known as Floga," said the striking redhead.

"You may call me Nera," said the blonde who had been there to welcome her with Gii.

"And I am Aeras," said the final girl.

"It's nice to meet the four of you," Mikki said, smiling warmly at them and mentally crossing her fingers that they would become her allies as she took in the unusual names.

"Shall we dress you, Empousa?" Gii asked.

Mikki wanted to say "Thank you very much but no." Then she looked at the long length of silk and realized she had not one clue about how to put it on. Did it wrap like a toga? What held it together? (And where were her panties?)

"Fine. Let's get me dressed."

"I cannot go out in public in this. Really. There has to be another piece to it." Mikki stared at herself in the full-length mirror. The royal purple silk was caught in a braided silver tie over her right shoulder. From there it swept down her torso in a graceful drape, leaving her left boob and her right leg, from waist to ankle, completely, utterly, totally bare.