Warrior Rising (Goddess Summoning #6)(15)

Kat breathed in the sparkling dust with Jacky, sneezed, and was suddenly taken back to the aftermath of Susie’s party. As if watching a macabre play, she saw the two of them stumble, laugh, and hold onto each other as she and Jacky got into the cab. The cab drove down Reservoir Hill to the four-way stop. Horrified, Kat saw an SUV run the stop sign and smash into them. There was a soundless pause, then with an awful whooshing the cab burst into flames.

“Oh, god! We’re dead!” Kat said.

“We’re dead and I’m white!” Jacky said. “This just can’t be right. I was sure I was going to heaven.”

“Well, me, too. I’m supposed to be going to heaven, too.”

“I dunno ’bout that, Kat. Remember your sorority girl days? The TU quarterback on the fifty-yard line? That kind of behavior adds up. That’s all I’m sayin’.”

Kat’s mouth dropped open. “Take that back! I cannot believe you think I’m going to hell because of a few college indiscreetnesses.”

“Indiscreetnesses? Is that even a word? And you’re not just goin’ to hell—you sucked me down here with you.”

“Jacqueline, did it ever occur to you that you may have gotten me sucked down to hell? What about all those times you returned shoes? You said you never wore them but you really paid way more than you could afford and then wore them a few times and then returned them. Huh? How about that?”

“Oh, please. You know shoes are never a sin. And besides, I haven’t done that in years.”

“Years?”

“Okay, months.”

Kat snorted and put her hands on her hips. “And what about your cursing?” she said decisively.

“I don’t curse. I use expletives.”

“You use what? That is such a load of—”

“Ladies!” Venus stepped between them. “No one is in hell. You’re dead, but you’re not dead.” The goddess frowned and shook her head as if she needed to clear it. “No, it’s not as confusing as that. Your bodies are dead. Your souls live on. They’re eternal. They’re the essence that is really you. All I did was to zap them into bodies that are now working.”

“Now working? Where are the eternal souls that were in these bodies?” Kat said.

Venus looked uncomfortable and in the silence Hera stepped in. “You, Katrina, are now dwelling in the body that did belong to Princess Polyxena of Troy. You, Jacqueline, are now dwelling in the body that did belong to Melia, her maidservant.”

“I’m a f*cking maid! A white maid! Jesus lord, it just keeps getting worse and worse.” She looked blearily at Kat. “I really did get sucked into hell with you.”

“I am not in hell,” Kat said.

“Neither of you are in hell,” Venus said quickly.

“Where are the souls that were in these bodies?” Kat asked her again.

Hera answered before Venus could. “They are enjoying eternal happiness in the Elysian Fields of the ancient Greek Underworld.”

“Oh, lord, let me sit down. I’m in a dead white servant girl’s body.” Jacky sat heavily on the steps of the altar, fanning herself again.

Kat was staring down at her body in horror. “But I don’t see any wounds. What did she die of?”

“Oh, lord! An awful plague? Kat, we’re plague-some.”

“No, no, no,” Venus hastily reassured them. “They didn’t die of any illness. They were killed by Greek warriors.”

“Then where are the wounds?” Kat looked inside her robes, turning this way and that trying to see all of her body.

“We healed them before we re-ensouled the bodies with you,” Venus said.

“Now that’s the first good news I’ve heard,” Jacky said, recovering enough to stop fanning herself. “So just heal our old bodies and send us back. We’ll forget any of this ever happened.”

“I’m sorry. I can’t do that. Your bodies were completely burned. I took your souls only because I’d already decided to ask you, Kat, to do a small favor for me.”

“Okay, let’s see if I have this right,” Kat said. “You were somehow spying on me—”

“And me,” Jacky inserted.

“And Jacky,” Kat continued, “because you wanted me to do something for you, but then we died and you grabbed us? This makes no sense whatsoever.”

“Of course it does darling,” Venus said. “Although I certainly don’t think of my oracle as spying. Hera, Athena and I decided we needed the aid of a modern mortal woman. I was given the task of finding her. You seemed perfect. Then the tragic accident happened, but you still seemed perfect. At the same time Hera’s temple was being sacked—two bodies became available—a little zapping here, a little healing there, and here you are, decidedly not dead and still perfect for the little task I need you to perform. And darlings”—Venus included the scowling Jacky in her brilliant smile—“I’m going to grant you each a boon for aiding me.”

“The only boon we’re interested in is being put back into our old bodies,” Jacky said firmly. “And that doesn’t mean nasty old burned-up dead bodies. We want to be put back into cleaned-up healed bodies.” She glanced down. “Like these, only ours.”