“Two words—get naked. There. Done.” Vale peeked her head from the doorway. “Does that mean I get 50 percent of the profits?”
A laugh slipped from her. “Sorry, but the electric company gets 100 percent of the profits.”
“Boo. Hiss.”
“Ready for another meme from the queen?” she asked her sister. “How do you make millions as a writer of articles? You start off as a billionaire.”
Vale howled with amusement.
—I need you, princess. You know where I am. Come find me.—
Nola gulped. The daytime delusion had just doubled down and jacked up the volume. Which meant the need to reach Russia jacked up, as well.
She wondered...what if her golden god was actually real?
What, like some gorgeous blond guy had the ability to speak telepathically? No. Not possible. Would she make the trip and search for him, anyway, just in case? Yes. Except, a new fear took root.
Would she have anything else to live for when she returned?
* * *
MIRACLE OF MIRACLES, Nola strengthened as soon as she reached Sweden. Her pains faded, the sense of fatigue vanished and she started resting well, her brain free of fog. While she no longer dreamed about the golden god, he continued to speak inside her mind with an increasingly snarly tone. She’d heard:
—Please, take your time, princess. I don’t mind being tortured for another thirteen hundred years.—
—Useless royals.—
—Do you want someone else to rule your world?—
Every day she endured a new mental tug-of-war. He couldn’t be real, but he had to be real, but he couldn’t be, but he had to be. On the plus side, his aphrodisiac voice kept her body in a state of sexual arousal without a hint of sickness, no matter how often he complained, and she loved and hated the wonderful, terrible sensations.
Nola had tried to respond to him, and failed. Clearly. Not once had he ever answered her questions.
What’s your name?
Why did you stop showing up in my dreams?
Will you do a striptease for me?
She wanted to enjoy every day, hour, minute in Sweden, but every day, hour, minute, the desire to reach Russia magnified, until urgency ruled her thoughts.
Finally, though, the day, hour, minute arrived. She and Vale rented a car and hit the road, with Vale at the wheel, and Nola in charge of navigation.
Now, excitement ruled her. Golden god—GG—here I come!
“You are practically foaming at the mouth,” Vale said with a little laugh. “What’s going on?”
Selective mutism wouldn’t let her spill the truth, so she’d have to approach this a different way. As Carrie used to say, If you can’t go up, go down. If you can’t go down, go around. If you can’t go around, kick that mofo to the ground.
“I have a weird question.” While Nola loved to read romance novels in her spare time—she might have given up on love, but baby, she sure did like to read about others taking the plunge—Vale watched sci-fi movies and went gaga for all things supernatural.
“Shoot,” Vale said. “You know you can ask me anything, any time.”
Here goes. “Do you believe telepathy is possible?”
“Oh, absolutely,” Vale responded without missing a beat. “I believe there’s a grain of truth in every myth, legend and ability, and that we can do anything we can imagine.”
“Why do we have no irrefutable proof of... I don’t know, aliens or something?” Wait. What if people with supernatural abilities couldn’t admit the truth? What if they experienced, say, selective mutism? “Let me rephrase. If superpowers are real, why aren’t mutants taking over the world?”
“Maybe we are.” Vale wiggled her brows. “I mean, I don’t want to brag, but I have the power to make grown men cry.”
Nola snickered.
“What brought this on?” her sister asked.
Tell her. Open your mouth, say the words. Simple, easy. She opened her mouth...but no sound emerged. Dang it! In the end, she shrugged and said, “How awesome would it be to go through a fast-cure drive-through to order a healing and a side of Hulk-smash strength?”
“Dude! Yes!”
As they lapsed into silence, a sinister presence seemed to awaken inside her mind and whisper, Forget healing and strength. Order the ability to kill with a glance.
Kill with a glance? What? Where had that come from?
Chills crept down Nola’s spine. For a moment, she felt like her body wasn’t her own and some previously unknown dark side had overtaken her. Who was she kidding? She’d never felt like her body belonged to her.
Reeling, she sank deeper into her seat and peered out the window. Mountains with rocky plateaus, a plethora of lush trees and a babbling brook. She could almost smell crisp pine and dew-kissed wildflowers. Unfortunately, the breathtaking view failed to calm her.
—Find me, princess. I need you.—
Mmm, his voice. So sexy! But dang it! He was a figment of her imagination and the source of her predicament. Why did he calm her?
Soon, she and Vale would reach their destination and go on the hike. Nola would look for GG. Once she’d proven he wasn’t real, she could finally lay him to rest and move on with her life.
And sob.
* * *
THE HIKE DIDN’T go as planned.
Nola and Vale stood in a picturesque valley, taking pictures. Their guide remained nearby. So far, there’d been no sign of GG. Of course.
Suddenly, a sense of weightlessness hit her, the world going dark. She blinked, and light came back. Only, their little threesome wasn’t in the valley anymore. They were in a wasteland, surrounded by a sea of snow, fierce winds howling.
“What just happened?” Nola had to shout to be heard.
“I don’t know,” Vale shouted back, her voice tinged with fear.
Their guide raced around, frantic, shrieking in Russian.
Though Nola wore a fleece jacket, hat and gloves, hiking pants and trekking boots, the frigid temperature chilled her to the bone. “Look!” She pointed to a spot up ahead. “Footprints.” Help could be nearby.
They followed those footprints to a small cabin, with an already lit hearth. Thank goodness! Heat!
Once they got inside, the guide stole a coat and boots and went out to check the perimeter for signs of life.
As warmth washed over her, Nola sank to her knees, overcome by relief. But where was the owner?