Light of the Spirit Page 6

  “Nate is chasing a lead this morning.” Mel’s attention stayed focused on Erica. “They got an anonymous tip after releasing our security footage of the fire.”

  Erica raised a brow. “This is good news, right?”

  “Not sure yet.” Mel ran a hand through her hair. “Someone said they saw the new CEO of Belkin Oil with a gold Kronos mask in the trunk of his car.”

  Lia frowned. “The leads always take us back to Belkin. So, the new Greek guy is taking over where Ted Belkin, Sr. left off?”

  Mel shrugged. “Nate’s not convinced. His gut is telling him it’s a setup. He’s convinced that if the Greek billionaire is heading up the oil company and the Order of the Titans, he wouldn’t be so sloppy.”

  Trinity stared at her hands. “He thinks it’s Ted.”

  Lia looked at her roommate, wishing she could reach across the table and give her a hug. Trin had been in love with Ted Belkin in college. She’d confided in him when the muse dreams began, and now he wielded her secrets like a weapon.

  Mel’s voice softened. “Nate was going to lean on Ted while his partner questioned the CEO. They have a warrant to check Mikolas’s car for the mask, but if they find it without his fingerprints on it, a good lawyer will be able to make sure nothing sticks.” Mel sighed. “Sorry it’s not better news, but I wanted to keep you all in the loop.”

  Lia cleared her throat. “I have some news, too.”

  All eyes turned her way. Cooper’s last words to her the night before still rang in her ears like a bad joke. Only he’d been far from joking.

  “I found my Guardian,” she said. “He has the mark.”

  A crease formed on Callie’s brow. “You don’t look relieved.” She was the Muse of Epic Poetry and took on the role as their leader like a second skin, but she was also an amazing psychiatrist. It was tough to hide anything from her.

  Lia shook her head. “He didn’t take all the muse and Guardian stuff very well.”

  Mel reached over to squeeze her hand. “He’ll come around. Nate freaked out, too. It would be tough not to.”

  “The thing is,” Lia said, “I keep thinking about the fire, about when he saved Reed.”

  “Cooper?” Erica’s attention shifted to Lia like a laser. “The paramedic? He’s your Guardian? I knew it!”

  Lia met her eyes and nodded slowly. “Yeah, but from everything we know about the Guardians, their powers only work to protect their muse, right? He healed a gash in my head that day, but he also brought Reed back from the dead. I did ask him to try one more time, but he can’t seem to turn it off and on either, so I feel like there must be something we’re missing here.”

  Clio pushed her glasses up and picked up her pen, jotting notes as she spoke. “I was researching potential candidates for our Guardians just to see if it might help us narrow down where or who they might be.” She shifted in her chair and glanced at Lia. “Thalia was with Apollo. He was the Sun God and the great healer. It would make sense that a paramedic would be your Guardian.”

  Pain lanced through Lia’s head. Blinding light pierced her mind behind her eyelids. Images of paintings and statues of the golden god flooded her head all at once. He had blond hair, a muscular body, tan skin, and a healing touch.

  She winced, rubbing her forehead.

  Concern lined Clio’s eyes. “Are you all right?”

  “Yeah. I don’t know. I think so?” Lia lifted her gaze to the others. “The mention of Apollo ignited some sort of sun bomb in my brain.”

  Callie got up and went over to Lia’s side. “Maybe meeting the other Guardians would help him. Hunter loves to fire up the grill. At least then Cooper would know he’s not alone in this.”

  “He asked for some space.” Lia forced a smile. “Turns out his grandmother is in my poker group on Wednesdays, though, so maybe she can give me some insight.”

  Mel spoke up. “I’ll keep you all posted on Nate’s investigation, but he told me to remind everyone to be alert. Once the police start getting closer to the Order, there’s a good chance they’re going to try to lash out at us again.” Her gaze landed on Lia. “We’re going to need all the help we can get, so the sooner Cooper is on board, the better.”

  After Callie gave a few updates on the Les Neuf Soeurs theater construction, Mel had to take off to relieve the babysitter, and the rest of the muses said their good-byes until Clio and Lia were the only ones left. Lia cleared the table, and Clio helped reconfigure the chairs.

  “So, is Cooper nice?”

  “Yeah.” Lia glanced up at Clio, a smile creeping onto her face. “But he’s sort of…complicated.”

  “Complicated?” Clio rested a hand on her hip. “Like good complicated or…”

  “I don’t know yet,” Lia admitted. “I don’t know him that well, but the time we’ve spent together has been pretty amazing. He’s got a good heart, he’s smart, and I love his grandmother.”

  “But not him.”

  Clio was the youngest in the group and by far the most romantic, probably from reading all the epic romances that changed history.

  Lia chuckled. “It’s a little early for that.” She paused for a beat. “Have you ever been in love before?”

  Clio tossed her ponytail over her shoulder. “I’m not a virgin, if that’s what you mean.”

  “Not what I meant at all,” Lia said. “I mean, have you ever told a man you loved him?”

  Clio paused and slowly shook her head. “No. There was a guy in college. We went out for a few months, but…I never said the words.”

  Lia nodded. “Well, I have a couple times before, and it’s never happened after a couple of dates, at least not for me.” She patted her chest. “You have to trust the person before you offer them your heart.”

  “But he’s your Guardian.”

  “Yes, but he’s also hiding something.” Lia blinked. She hadn’t put it together before, but now it seemed obvious. “I thought he was worried about the sudden healings he was doing, but now I think there’s something more to it.” She swallowed the lump in her throat. “Trust goes both ways. He has to trust me enough to let me in, and last night”—her voice wobbled—“he shut me out.”

  Clio took a step closer, empathy in her eyes. “I didn’t mean to press. I just thought…”

  “I know,” Lia said. “The others fell in love with their Guardians.”

  She nodded. “I thought you might, too.”

  “Maybe someday. There’s definitely a spark there.” Lia draped an arm over Clio’s shoulder.

  Her face brightened. “I knew it.”

  “But he makes me work to get even a smile or a laugh out of him.”

  Clio giggled, shaking her head. “That must make you crazy.”

  Lia nodded. “At least I finally got a belly laugh out of him last night.”

  “So there’s hope.” Clio raised a brow.

  Lia’s lips curved into a smile as she nodded. “I definitely have hope.”

  Ted walked to his car, unable to wipe the smile from his face. He kept replaying the scene in his head. Standing at the window in his office, staring down at the parking lot below as the detectives helped Mikolas into the back of their car. The Greek had tipped his head up, his glare knocking Ted back a step, and then he was gone.

  Inside the parking structure, he clicked his key fob to unlock the car.

  A tall man stepped out of the shadows. “If you continue to push me, I will be forced to retaliate. I can promise you won’t enjoy it.”

  Ted flinched but quickly buried his surprise. “They let you out already? Your daddy must’ve paid for an amazing lawyer.”

  “They found a Kronos mask in my trunk,” Mikolas growled. “How do you think it got there?”

  Ted shrugged. “I don’t know. Maybe you should be more careful.”

  Mikolas shot forward and pinned Ted to one of the support columns, his fists gripping Ted’s shirt. “Don’t fuck with me. You’ve already cost me too much. I didn’t come all this way to hurt you, but if yo
u get in my way again, I will.”

  “What did you come here for?” Ted grabbed Mikolas’s wrists, trying to jerk free, but Mikolas didn’t let him go. “Because as far as I can see, you haven’t done a damned thing to help bring back the Golden Age of Man. Kronos hungers for freedom. What are you doing to make that happen?”

  Mikolas pulled him forward, then slammed him back against the column, and finally released him. “The drill on the Oceanus rig has been repaired, and the public relations nightmare is almost behind us. As long as no more murders lead the police to our doorstep, we’ll continue on the mission.” A muscle clenched in his cheek. “Now back the fuck off, you whiny piece of shit. You’re a figurehead here. Nothing more.”

  Ted glared at the Greek’s back as he vanished into the shadows. Asshole. Mikolas didn’t know who he was dealing with. Ted smoothed out his shirt. He got in the car and took out his cell phone. He pressed a couple of buttons to make a call.

  “Bryce?” he confirmed. “It’s Ted.”

  “Yeah, Boss.”

  Ted checked his mirrors. “Give me something I can use.”

  “The muses were all at that improv club again. Most of them left, so I was going to tail one of them, but then an ambulance pulled up. The paramedic just went inside. Maybe one of the muses dropped dead?”

  They couldn’t be that lucky. Ted turned on the car. “Wait for me. That guy could be another one of the Guardians from that prophecy.”

  “I didn’t see any marks, but I’ll stay here.”

  “Thanks, Bryce.”

  Ted hung up and drove out of the parking structure, half expecting Mikolas to jump out again. Thankfully, the Greek was nowhere to be seen. The CEO could threaten Ted all he wanted, but he didn’t have anything to leverage. He already banished Ted from the Order, and Mikolas couldn’t fire him from the company that bore his family’s name.

  He headed toward the improv theater on the east side of town, an idea forming in the back of his head. His father’s extra Kronos masks were in a trunk at his place. He grinned. If he planned his next moves right, he could lead the police right to Mikolas’s door with so much evidence that even his rich, Greek father wouldn’t be able to bail him out.

  CHAPTER 7

  The front door to the improv club opened just as Lia turned out the lights. She spun around, expecting it to be Clio. Instead, Cooper’s broad shoulders filled her doorway.

  “Lia? Can I talk to you?”

  “Yeah. Sure.”

  Cooper came inside and Lia waved to Nick in the ambulance outside. She flicked the lights back on and walked Cooper over to the nearest two seats. She sat down. “What’s going on?”

  “Hell if I know.” He sat beside her, his eyes haunted. By what, she had no idea. “I don’t have much time, but something happened this morning. There’s no one else I can ask about it.”

  She shored up her emotional defenses. “Okay, shoot.”

  He ran a hand through his hair and met her eyes. “First, I need to say I’m sorry I left the way I did last night. This is…big. I didn’t handle it well.”

  “I get it.” She nodded, not allowing herself to touch him. “It’s not often that you get pizza, go for a swim, get a haircut, and then find out you were marked by the gods to protect one of the Greek muses—me.”

  A smile tugged at his lips. “Can’t be a picnic for you, either. The Muse of Comedy should’ve been paired up with somebody funny. Instead, you got…me.”

  She worried her lower lip, fighting to keep from smiling. “You’ve got a sense of humor in there somewhere, but you keep it hidden pretty well.”

  He glanced at the door and then back to her. “I wish I had more time. I’m still on call.”

  “How can I help?” she asked.

  He reached for her hand, his touch sending a ripple of awareness through her. “I had a vision or something this morning.”

  Lia frowned. She and her muse sisters had experienced dreams, not visions while they were awake. A chill shot up her spine. “Maybe it’s part of your gift. Nate, Mel’s Guardian, started to have visions after he met her. It’s called psychometry. You could have it, too.”

  He winced. “Psych-what?”

  “Psychometry. He can touch an object and get a vision about it.” She held his hand a little tighter.

  “No. That’s not it.” He shook his head. “I was in the shower.” He swallowed, his gaze locking with hers. “I blinked, and light came at me from everywhere. There were statues of Thalia. She had the comedy mask in her hand, and then the light took the shape of a man and reached out to me.” He chuckled, but there was no humor in it. “Jesus, it sounds even crazier out loud.”

  She gasped. Light. It made sense, in an insane kind of way. She’d had a flash of it, too, when the other muses met up earlier. “Apollo.”

  He frowned, tensing. “Did Nick tell you that?”

  It was her turn to be confused. “Nick?”

  “Yeah.” Cooper glanced at the door and back to her. “Did he tell you Garcia calls me that?”

  She blinked. “How did Garcia know?”

  “You’re not making any sense.” Cooper groaned, rubbing the back of his neck again.

  “Why does he call you Apollo?”

  “It’s dumb.” Cooper shrugged. “Just a nickname. I came into the station all big, blond, and tan, and Apollo was the only Greek God he could remember.”

  “Apollo was the God of the Sun, a healer.” She cleared her throat and added softly, “And he loved Thalia.”

  Before Cooper could process her words, his radio buzzed. “Sorry, Coop,” Nick said. “We got a call.”

  “Shit.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead. “My head is swimming.”

  “Mine, too.” She stood with him. “When are you done working?”

  “I’m off at ten tonight.”

  “Perfect. I was running out to get dinner, but I’ll be back here for rehearsal tonight. Come by the theater, and we can go back to my place. I’ll make you a killer ice cream sundae.”

  He chuckled, shaking his head. “Ice cream is my favorite.”

  “Your grandmother told me.”

  He smiled. “You’re slick.” He took a few steps toward the door and stopped. “See you soon. Be careful.”

  She nodded. “You too, Cooper.”

  He glanced back at her as he opened the door. “I don’t understand any of this, but being with you…calms the storm. Thanks.”

  He jogged out to the rig and hit the lights as Nick drove away. His partner spoke without taking his eyes off the road. “You seem better.”

  “Lia has that effect on me.”

  Nick smirked while he made a right turn. “You like this one.”

  “Yeah.” Cooper stared out the window. Baring his soul didn’t come easy. “I don’t recognize myself when I’m with her. She makes me laugh.” He shook his head. “I’ve never met anyone like her before.”

  “Doesn’t hurt that she’s good-looking, either.”

  Cooper chuckled, glancing at his partner. “Oh yeah. She’s beautiful without even trying.”

  Ted followed the petite assistant with jet-black hair into the library. She turned around, all business. “Pamela will be with you shortly.”

  She exited the room, closing the large double doors behind her. He wandered to the north wall, running his finger along the shelf in front of the aged leather volumes. Pamela had expensive taste, and it apparently carried over to her books, too. First editions of Charles Dickens, Washington Irving, Percy Shelley, and Robert Louis Stevenson lined the shelf. Under a glass case was an ancient copy of The Iliad, and another housed a hand-lettered edition of the Bible.

  He flinched when the door opened. Quickly composing himself, Ted made his way over to take her hand. “Hello, Pamela. You look stunning as usual.”

  And he wasn’t lying. The mysterious, wealthy heiress had dated his father for a couple of years while Ted was in college. And while the years had weakened his father, Pamela stood before him un
changed. Her olive complexion showed no signs of wrinkles or discoloration, her dark eyes sparkled in the soft lighting of the library, and her cleavage in the red silk blouse was distracting to say the least.

  She shook his hand and went to the wet bar in the corner, her shapely hips swaying in a hypnotic rhythm. “Why are you here, Teddy?”

  He ground his teeth to keep from correcting her. He was hardly the twentysomething she’d known in the past, but he needed to win her over so he swallowed his pride. Pamela wielded power with a good majority of the members of the Order of the Titans. She could get him reinstated, maybe even get his leadership position back.

  “I’m here about Mikolas Leandros.”

  She turned to face him, forcing him to stop in his tracks. “The new leader of the Order?” A red, perfectly manicured fingernail poked into his chest. “Interesting. Why?”

  He cleared his throat. “He banished me and our enforcer after the theater fire.”

  “I’m aware. We watched the ashes of your masks and robes fly up to Father Sky.” She spun on her heel and went to the bar, turning over two glass tumblers. “He explained that you were reckless and have led the police closer to discovering us.”

  “Tartarus is nearly opened. If we can silence the muses—”

  “You want to continue your father’s mission,” she cut in. Her full lips curved into a seductive, barely-there smile as she removed the lid to the ice bucket.

  “Yes,” he answered, probably too quickly. The last thing he needed was for her to decide Mikolas was right about his recklessness. He smoothed his hair back. “Mikolas doesn’t have the mettle to see this through. We can’t fail when we’re so close to the finish line.”

  She dropped two ice cubes into each glass, her dark eyes meeting his. “Kronos.” The way she whispered his name was almost sensuous. “He will reward those who free him from his prison.”