Warrior Rising (Goddess Summoning #6)(86)

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CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

"I really did think it was a good idea,” Venus said with a long-suffering sigh after Patroklos and Jacky had disappeared. “I mean, how was I to know he’d run into Hector? Hector and Achilles have avoided each other for an entire war. It just doesn’t make sense.”

“It does if you factor in divine interference,” Kat said.

“What? Me? I didn’t do anything to Hector. I barely did anything to Patroklos except to maybe nudge along an idea he’d already been playing with and sprinkle a simple glamour over him.”

“I don’t mean you. But we all know that there are several goddesses playing in this sandbox.”

“And gods,” Venus said, considering. “Hera did have to keep Zeus busy. He was showing far too much interest in Troy, and she said he said he’d heard the Olympians were interfering in the war.”

“Ya think?”

Venus frowned at Kat. “I am not talking about Hera, Athena and me. Well, at least not about Hera and me. Athena has lost her head a little, but it was bound to happen some time. By Apollo’s hard shaft she’s just so repressed! Nevertheless, what the three of us have done is really inconsequential. We shouldn’t have attracted Zeus’s attention.”

“I think you’re underestimating the effect the three of you have on mortals, but whatever. Here’s the point—this war needs to end before anyone else dies.”

“Exactly our point, darling.”

“Fine. Let’s get it done.” Kat glanced nervously at the tent door flap. “First, what in the hell am I going to tell them about where Patroklos and Jacky went?”

“Don’t tell the Myrmidons anything except that your maidservant, a healer gifted by the gods, must be alone with him to pray and fast and heal him. They’ll assume divine intervention, but they’ll stay fairly quiet about it unless they see Patroklos, healed and healthy, walking about.”

“And I’ll tell Achilles the truth.”

“If you must, although you know there are some things Love even keeps to herself.”

“He knows.”

“Pardon, darling?”

“I told Achilles the truth about us. Patroklos knows, too.”

“Oh, of course they do.”

“You don’t seem surprised,” Kat said.

“Darling, you and your delightful friend are many things; unobtrusive is not one of them.”

“Okay, well. As long as you know. Now, how are we going to stop this war?”

“If you will remember, this is the point at which I brought the two of you—you in particular—into this mess,” Venus said. “If we’d known a quicker way to stop the war, we would have done it ourselves, but short of starting a war in Olympus—another war in Olympus, which none of us are willing to do, we settled for you.”

“I keep coming back to the horse.”

“Darling, what horse?”

“The Trojan horse. The one written about in the stupid Iliad,” Kat said.

“You mean the enormous horse that carried the Greek army inside it within the walls of Troy? Like Achilles can be killed if you kick his ankle? That horse?”

“Okay, yes. Clearly there was fictional license taken by whatever his name was, but maybe there’s a sprinkle of truth to it. I did see some of the war brides wearing pendants that looked like horse heads.”

“And some of them also wear pendants that look like erect phalluses, but that doesn’t mean we’re going to build a giant penis, fill it with warriors and roll it into Troy. If that would work I would have thought of it years ago. I am rather a penis specialist.”

Kat rubbed her head. She felt terrible—all hot and sandy and salty and bloody. And Venus was giving her a headache. And she needed to tell Achilles that everything was going to be okay with Patroklos. At least, she hoped everything was going to be okay with him. “I have to go talk to Achilles,” she told Venus. “Patroklos is really in Tulsa, right?”

“Absolutely.”

Then Kat’s stomach flipped. “Venus, you are going to bring them back, aren’t you? Jacky and Patroklos? You can’t just leave them over there, what with Jacky being in the wrong body and all.” And in a different world than me, her panicky mind voice added.

“Of course they will return. Both of them. If he lives. If he doesn’t I’m not certain that Jacky would want…” The goddess paused, noticing Kat’s wide-eyed look, and then shook her head. “No, he simply must live. And, yes, I will bring them back. In the meantime I’ll just do a little zapping here and there, quickly, before word leaves this tent that they’ve, well, left. Actually…” Venus raised her hand. “Darling, you should go now. I’m going to seal the tent.”

“But what if someone notices? Or tries to get in?”

Venus smiled. “It’s the ancient world, Katrina. If they can’t open the tent they’ll believe it’s cursed—or blessed. It all depends upon point of view.” The goddess fluttered her fingers at Kat. “Go on.”

“Okay, I’ll take care of Achilles. You keep thinking about ways to end this war,” Kat said.

“Yes, yes, of course. Call if you need me,” Venus said.