He brushed back her red curls. “I promise. Everything will turn out exactly as it’s meant to.”
“I love you. You know that, right?”
“I do.”
“Good. Because whatever happens, our love is the only thing that matters. Well, that and our spoiled-rotten children. But you get my drift, right?”
He nodded. “Yeah. I get your drift. What do you say we take a quick vacation? You, me, the kids.”
“To the villa in Bacalar?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“Ohmygod. We haven’t been there in forever. Yes! Yes! When can we leave?” she asked.
“Just call the nanny and have her pack the children’s swords and clothes. We can go immediately.”
“You’re sure it’s okay?” she asked. “I mean, we are in the middle of another apocalypse.”
“There’s always an apocalypse. And I see no point in saving the world if I never get to spend time with the only things that truly matter in it.”
She stood on her tiptoes and pulled his nearly seven-foot frame down to her, reaching for a kiss. “I fucking love you. You know that, right?”
“And I love you, Emma. Forever.”
“Good. Because you’re stuck with me until the end.”
He nodded solemnly, masking his grief. “Yes, until the end.”
CHAPTER THIRTEEN
Brutus was impressed by how resilient and determined Fina was. Dare he say, his little leaf skirt was chafing in a new place, a place where the chubby General kept poking out his head. He wished he could stop and attend to it—yes, yes, in a dirty way—but they’d been running all day with those Amazons on their trail. These trackers showed no signs of giving up.
Well, neither will we!
“How much farther do you think it is?” Fina panted from a few feet back. “We’ll need to stop soon and give Zeus some water and food.”
“You mean Señor Gato?” Brutus called out, winded from the running.
“Stop it,” Fina threw back.
“Chuck sent a scout ahead to measure the distance to the base.” Colel spoke loudly, not even a little winded. She was keeping up just fine and continued to deploy her hive to slow down Fina’s stalkers. “Hopefully, we’ll hear back soon.”
“But what if it’s too far?” Fina asked. “The trackers are close, no more than ten minutes.”
It was a good question. He and Fina would eventually have to stop and rest. Immortal or not, they still needed fuel to make their bodies go. And poor tiny kitten must be getting thirsty. Unfortunately, they’d stopped following the river hours ago, and the next water source would be at the abandoned Uchben base, where they had a well.
“Do you think they know where we are going?” Brutus asked.
“Yes. My people have lived in these jungles for centuries. So if you’re thinking we can lose them, forget it.”
“What if we split up?” he asked, trying to come up with a way to divert them.
“They are the best trackers in the world and travel in packs of eight. Whichever way we go, even if we split up, they will follow.”
He still wondered why Fina’s people had come at all. According to Fina, they would not bother. “What do you think they want?” he asked.
“My head. On a stick.”
“Because you saved me,” he assumed.
“Because my mother can’t stand to be disobeyed by her own daughter,” she replied.
Suddenly, he heard Fina yelp. When he glanced over his shoulder, she was on the jungle ground, gripping her ankle.
Brutus rushed back to have a look. “What happened?”
“Ow! Ow! Ow!” Fina winced. “I think I broke it.”
“How?” he asked.
“I stepped on that rock and lost my balance.” She pointed to a stone the size of her fist.
Colel came up on their flank, still naked as a baby save for her living bee bikini. “What happened?”
“She thinks it’s broken,” Brutus said.
“Oh my,” Colel said. “Well, I can carry you.”
“No,” Fina protested.
“Then I will carry you.” Brutus crouched to scoop her up.
“To what end? That will only slow you down, and then not only will the trackers hurt you and Colel, but Señor Gato will get caught in the crossfire.”
She’d called him Señor Gato. “What do you propose?” he asked.
“Look, Brutus, I appreciate the fact that you believe you’re a powerful warrior,” she wiggled her hands toward the sky like two tambourines, “but the truth is, I saved you. I got you to this point, and I did it because you’re weak.”
“Weak?” He frowned.
“Yes. Weak. I didn’t say anything because what would be the point? Your ego is so bloated that you’d never believe it or listen to me. But hear me now, oh cocky one, I only planned to take you as far as your base and then return to my village to confront my mother and take over in the challenge ritual.”
Challenge ritual? “How come you never mentioned this?” he asked.
“Because you wouldn’t understand—having a penis, and all. But now that doesn’t matter. You need to accept that you are but a child I only saved due to its innocence. Honestly,” she sighed, “killing stupid things is not right.”
Stupid things? “You think I’m stupid?”
“I’d spell it out to you, but I doubt you know how to read. Did you even finish high school?”
“There was no such thing when I was a youth, but yes, I read very well.”
She clapped and offered him a dour look. “Congrats. Well, maybe when you get home, you can use that skill to get a clue. By the way, clue is defined as a fact or piece of evidence leading to the truth.” She crinkled her nose. “In this particular case, the clue is telling you bye-bye.”
Brutus stared. He had never encountered such a cruel-hearted woman, but if she truly thought so little of him, then why risk life, limb, and paw to save her? “All right. We will go on without you, but I’m keeping the cat.” He turned and started marching away. “Come, Chuck!”
The bees swarmed around him, leaving Colel completely bare again. Over time, he’d developed a strong relationship with the flying perverts and knew summoning them would persuade Colel to continue on with him. No argument. A warrior learns a thing or two when traveling around the world with a goddess.
“Hey! My bees!” Colel called out.
He ignored her, but felt the need to leave a few parting words for Fina. “And good luck with those bottom-feeding haters you call ‘people’!”
“No luck required, Brunhilda! Unlike you, I’m an actual warrior! Born this way—didn’t take me centuries to grow half a pair!”
He huffed and stomped ahead, holding the fur ball to his bare chest. “Not to worry, SG. All will be well now that we are rid of that horrible woman.” Brutus marched on ahead, barely able to hear a thing since the hive was all around him.
A half hour later, Colel caught up with him and cut him off. “Brutus! Stop!”
“What?” he snapped, feeling rage rolling around in his gut.