"Oh my God!" My hands pressed to my chest as I saw four tiny beaks and beady, dark eyes peering out from under the mother hen. "Baby chicks! Jandro, they're so cute!"
"They're gonna grow up and multiply," he groaned, slapping a hand to his face. "Not thrilled about transporting more animals as we move, but I guess we'll have more to eat soon."
“What?” I stared at him in horror. "No! They're your pets!"
"Mari, we're gonna end up with a flock of five-hundred if we don't do something."
"Then get the eggs as soon as they’re laid. It's not Foghorn's fault, he’s just going off of instinct."
"Yeah, it is," he muttered. "Damn cock fertilizing my eggs."
I snorted, earning a sheepish grin from him. “That came out wrong.”
“Sure it did.” I patted his arm. “Congratulations on the new babies, papi Jandro.”
“It’s not me, it’s that motherfucker!” He pointed accusingly through the coop to Foghorn on the other side, strutting around proudly like the pimp he was.
“What are you gonna name them?” One of the chicks wandered out from under its mother, and I reached out to pet its fuzzy down feathers.
“I can’t name them or else I’ll get attached,” he groaned, extending a finger to pet another one that emerged. “Seriously, we’ll probably have to trade some of them for supplies while on the road, if you won’t let me cook ‘em.”
“I guess that’s better than watching them die with us,” I sighed.
“You’re already attached,” he teased, pressing a kiss to the side of my head.
“How can I not be? They’re so cute.”
“Yeah, just wait ‘til the males grow up and start competing with King Foghorn over here.” Jandro rose to his feet, pulling me with him. “Guess I should let you get back to your tattoo.”
“Shadow told me we’d pick it up another day,” I sighed. “Those anejos last night thinned my blood enough to make me bleed during the inking.”
“So?” Jandro lifted an eyebrow.
“He said no drinking the day before,” I shrugged. “I assume it interferes with his work.”
“Never heard him give anyone that stipulation before.” Jandro scratched his head. “But whatever. What are you up to now?”
“I say we get you,” I poked his chest, “back inside before you burn and undo all that healing.”
“Hmm, now that you mention it.” I heard the grin in his voice as I turned back toward the house, Jandro following me with his fingertips on my waist. “I haven’t gotten anywhere near enough sexual healing.”
I giggled while sliding the door open, his plush lips already teasing the back of my neck. “That is a bold-faced lie. You get all of that in spades.”
“That’s the thing, mi Mariposita.” His mouth skimmed from my neck to my ear. “I’ll never get enough of you.”
Jandro was fast asleep a half-hour later, lulled into utter relaxation by me rubbing healing ointment into his back. He looked incredibly adorable hugging a pillow, lips parted slightly. I knew he'd never say it outright, but he seemed to relish his afternoon naps. He protested at first when I told him to take time off from the shop, but a sensual back rub with soothing balm shut him right up.
As luck would have it, the three remaining members of the Sons of Odin MC were competent bike mechanics and eager to make themselves useful. With the three of them helping out Slick and Larkan, Jandro wouldn’t even fall behind on his work while he recovered.
I slipped out of the bedroom quietly, Freyja following me with a high tail and her loud purr still rumbling.
"Do I have you to thank for that?" I cocked my head toward Jandro's sleeping form as I closed the door softly behind me.
Which part, the healing or the deep sleep?
The warm, omniscient voice made me stop in my tracks. It came from no discernable direction, but stroked over every inch of my skin like a hug. Oh, don't look so bug-eyed. You've heard me before.
"Guess I wasn't really expecting an answer." My feet started moving again, heading downstairs with my companion cat goddess at my side. Shadow was nowhere to be seen, which left the whole bottom floor empty except for me and Freyja.
I answer when a question piques my interest enough. Which is more than what can be said for Hades. She ran ahead of me and jumped up on the couch. Despite the complete lack of human gestures, I knew it was an invitation to sit and have a conversation.
"I thought you and Hades were practically the same." I lowered to the couch, keeping a few feet of distance between me and the cat.
Goodness no, child! What ever gave you that idea?
"Jandro said," I frowned, "when he was...unconscious, that you and Hades talked to him. You both convinced him to keep fighting and not let go. And from what Reaper explained to me, you're both gods of death from different pantheons."
Did it feel weird to be speaking those words out loud as part of a conversation with an actual deity? Abso-fucking-lutely. Did I still care about how crazy and unexplainable this all seemed? Not in the slightest. In the months of my life with the Steel Demons, I had seen and experienced too much to write it off as anything else.
Hades and I represent different aspects of one of humanity's many mysteries—death. And that's where our similarities end. His culture made him masculine, a stern overlord of a dark, cold afterlife, so that is the lens through which humanity perceives him.
"And how do we perceive you?" I asked.
The cat rolled onto her back, twisting her spine as she looked at me. I didn't hear laughter, but got the sense that she was amused.
You tell me, Freyja challenged.
I thought for a few moments. "Feminine," I began. "Nurturing, affectionate, independent."
Yes, go on. Say what's really on your mind.
I waffled over which adjectives to use. "Sensual. Loving."
Also sexual. The amusement bled through her voice. And fertile. I represent the sacredness that is femininity. Both a woman's gentleness and her fierce strength.
"That's why you were with Tessa," I realized. "You eased her pain and turned her baby while she was in labor."
I was always with her, Freyja said lightly. As I was always with you. Just not always in this form. The gods are the tether that bind humanity into one universal existence.
"So why are you here now?" I asked. "In a cat's body, with a voice? Why was I pulled to find you?"
Humanity is on the verge of breaking beyond repair, Freyja's voice turned solemn. It is not just your civilization that has collapsed, but your collective spirit. To turn against each other as you have, you destroy yourselves. And if humans fall, so shall gods.
Three
SHADOW
I left the house silently before Mariposa made it to the backyard, closing the door behind me without a sound.
Her bleeding was a lame excuse to stop the tattoo, but there was no way I could tell her the real reason. Not that I ever wanted to stop. I made the Rod of Asclepius as large as she would allow me on her arm. Once finished, it would be a great piece with lots of detail.