Gods & Ghosts Collection

Chapter 9

I kept dropping my brush as I got ready to go to the Covington house. The damn thing kept slipping out of my hand before I could stop it. I kept telling myself that there was no way Elliot could continue to hurt those spirits after they died.

Yeah. I also knew I was lying to myself.

I dropped the damn brush for the tenth time when Cyrus opened the door to the bathroom. He shut it behind him and I swallowed.

"Nothing happened between us, Cyrus."

"You were in that room with Jonah for more than a day and a half." He seethed. "I don"t believe you for a second."

"Jonah can"t stand me. I made sure of that."

"He can"t stand you, but had no problem having his hands all over you?"

"He put his arm around my shoulder. I don"t consider that-"

Cyrus punched my arm and I hissed between my teeth as I grabbed at it.

"That boy is not to touch you, understand?" He snapped. "We"ll take care of that new attitude you"ve developed since you got here."

"What new attitude?"

"Running off on your own, not listening to me, getting too damn close to strangers. This is for your own good, Eva. You have no idea what these people are capable of."

I knew what that meant. I felt my anxiety churn in my stomach.

"Ok."

"Ok?"

I nodded and held back the tears in my eyes at the thought of never seeing Jonah again. It was a stupid thought, anyway. Once we left North Carolina, he"d be just as glad to get rid of me as everyone else had been.

"Finish getting ready. You have five minutes."

Cyrus didn"t slam the door, but I heard the force behind his motion as he closed it. I took a breath, closed my eyes, and forced myself to ignore the throbbing in my arm.

I couldn"t help but think back to my conversation with Jonah last night. I could have told him the truth. I could have told him that I let Cyrus do whatever he wanted because of the power he held over me. He was the only one who could physically harm me. Kill me. That alone was enough to keep me in line.

I took another breath and headed over to the closet. I pulled off the short sleeve blouse I had on and replaced it with a long sleeve one. It was hot as hell today, but I didn"t want my newest bruise to show up on camera. I just finished pulling my hair back into a high ponytail when I heard a knock on my room door.

My heart skipped a beat when I saw Jonah on the other side. He wasn"t dressed all fancy; just jeans and a t-shirt, but that didn"t matter. Jonah had a face that made everything look good.

"Ready to go?"

"Yeah. Just let me grab my bag."

I looped my messenger back over my neck and freed my hair from it. When I approached the door again, I gestured for him to go out into the hallway.

"Is Cyrus already down there?"

"Yeah," Jonah answered. "He"s down there."

I glanced at Jonah and gave him a small smile. "He"s just doing his job, Jonah."

"I get he has a job to do," Jonah grumbled. "But the way he goes about it isn"t cool, Eva. It"s not."

"It"s fine."

"Is it?" Jonah reached out and caught my arm right where Cyrus had hit me. I made a low yelping noise and Jonah raised an eyebrow. "What"s wrong?"

"Nothing. I smacked my arm on the door jam this morning. It"s still sore."

I hated myself for lying. I hated myself even more for covering Cyrus" ass.

"Anyway, Cyrus has literally been like this forever. He learned how to be a commander back when it was ok to kill your own men if they disobeyed you. That hard ass approach just stuck."

"Big deal,"Jonah said, unmoved. "Just because something was commonplace doesn"t mean it was right. He works for you, Eva. He should worship the ground you spit on."

you"It..doesn"t work that way with us."

"Why?" Jonah stopped in the hallway. I stopped, too, though I knew the clock was ticking. "Why won"t you put him in his place?"

"It"s not-"

"Why?"

"He can kill me, alright?" I let the words out before I could stop them. I pinched the bridge of my nose for a second, leveled out my voice, and continued. "There is a clause in the whole Sibyl-Keeper relationship that says he can harm me or kill me. My immortality is mute if he strikes out against me. It"s a protection amendment that allows the Sibyl to be taken down if ever possessed."

Jonah stared at me. "Eva, answer me honestly. Does he lord that over you? Does he remind you of that, and swing it over your head, like the sword of Damocles?"

"The what?"

"Never mind," Jonah waved an impatient hand. "Does he never let you forget that?"

"He"s mentioned it a time or two." I rubbed my arm subconsciously. "Let"s get going."

"Let me see your arm first. You could have reaggravated it."

"I"m-"

Jonah gave me a look that told me not to argue with him. I sighed.

"I can"t roll my sleeves up and I"m not about to get topless on the stairwell. Can we just go?"

"Come here." Jonah opened a door we had just passed. "You can show me in here."

"It"s just a bruise."

"Uh huh," He shut the door. "Go on. I won"t look at anything other than your arm."

"I know that. I trust you."

I unbuttoned my shirt and slipped it off my shoulders.

"See? It"s fine."

"Was that his grab from last night, or this morning?"

"Neither. I-"

"Eva, if anyone"s never told you this before, you need to know that you are a terrible liar." Jonah ran the tip of his finger around the darkening red spot. "See this? Those are impact bruises. Fighters get them alot."

"You"re not supposed to do that."

I whispered and Jonah looked up. If I moved forward just a bit, I could have kissed him. I didn"t dare.

"Do what?"

"Care."

"Why not?" Jonah questioned. "Does Cyrus frown on that too?"

"Yes."

I pulled my shirt back on and was in the middle of buttoning it when I heard Cyrus coming back up the stairs. I forgot all about his five minute time limit.

Shit, s**t, s**t.

Shit, s**t, shit.I slipped past Jonah when I heard Cyrus" footsteps pass the door. He gave me a look of confusion.

"What the hell-"

"I gotta get downstairs," I turned to him. "The second I hear Cyrus shut my room door, I gotta make a run for it."

I shouldn"t have, but I moved away from the door and kissed Jonah quick on the cheek. It was nothing. Barely a caress, but I felt something stir in me that I couldn"t place.

"Thank you for caring."

Jonah placed a hand to his cheek. He looked at me, surprised by the gesture, but he didn"t wipe it away. That made me feel better.

Well, until he stepped around me to open the door. Jonah moved out into the hallway where Cyrus was standing.

"Come here, Jonah." Cyrus beckoned with two fingers. "We need to talk."

"No," Jonah said simply. "Get to your charge and do your job, pumpkin."

"Excuse me?"

Jonah headed down the stairs without another word. I heard the exchange out in the hallway then rubbed my forehead as I followed Jonah downstairs. Cyrus" eyes were like daggers on me. I knew that I was going to be in a s**t ton of trouble, but I also knew he wouldn"t do anything until we were alone.

He stormed after me and towards the rented SUV. Joey was already chilling in the backseat listening to music. My guess was Broadway"s Greatest Hits. I was surprised to see Jonah heading to the other side.

Broadway"s Greatest Hits"You are going to accompany us, Blue Aura?" Cyrus sounded cold. His tone was a hard one. "Why?"

"Jonathan said stay with Eva for the duration of this, remember?" Jonah got in the seat. "Like I told you before, if you"re butthurt about it, go complain to him. Or maybe you can get in and we can reach Covington on time?"

Cyrus cut his eyes over at me and I turned away from him to get in the passenger seat. I buckled myself in and cleared my throat.

"How did we lose time?"

"Pardon?"

"How did we lose time?" I shifted to see Jonah snap his seatbelt on. "I don"t understand how that"s possible."

Jonah sighed. I could tell he really didn"t want to answer this question. "When, uh, when there is a convergence of preternatural stuff and earthly things, sometimes normal things, Like time, get caught in the crossfire. Elliot meddled with ethereality and he isn"t an Eleventh. It"s like bad medicine, with loss of time as the side effect. This is something bullies don"t understand, you know? Their actions have unexpected consequences and unexpected karma."

"Ok. Was it like that for everyone at the estate or just us?"

"All of us," Cyrus answered between clenched teeth. "One minute, I was talking to Jonathan and the next minute, it was daylight. He realized something was wrong and we all came upstairs to check on everyone."

Everyone? Or did he come to make sure I wasn"t doing something I wasn"t allowed to do?

I chided myself for the thought. It didn"t matter. None of this mattered. In a few days, I would either be dead or on a plane back to California.

"Does that kind of stuff happen often at the estate?" I focused back on Jonah. "Or is this all because of Elliot?"

"Not often at all," Jonah answered. "Loss of time is a direct result of meddling. People have tried to manipulate time, but the consequences have always been disastrous. So no. It"s not a common thing."

"Your girlfriend does that, does she not?" Cyrus chimed in as he looked into the rearview mirror. "Jonathan was speaking about her last night. The Time Item?"

I couldn"t explain the sinking feeling I had in my gut. Of course, Jonah would have someone. Someone who wasn"t necessarily at the estate. Someone that he hadn"t mentioned because the only decent conversation we had was maybe twenty minutes long.

"What"s her name again? Vera?" Cyrus cut his eyes over at me. "She is a proper actress. Perhaps Eva can help her get started on Broadway."

"First of all, Cyrus, Vera is not my girlfriend," Jonah sounded slightly brine. "She"s actually out of town with another guy as we speak. As for proper actresses, what would you know about them? The scrolls Jonathan found described your wife as a woman who tried and failed every time she auditioned for the acting troupes. What was her name? Delphine? The first Sybil?"

"She was a wonderful actress," Cyrus responded with pride in his voice. A pride I had never heard directed at me. "Delphine was ahead of her time in many ways. It is a pity she committed a Sibyl"s suicide, but it was for an honorable reason."

"What reason?" I looked at him now. "You"ve never told me this."

"Because you don"t need to know."

"I"d like to know."

"Fear not, Eva. One day, you will have your own reasons just as Delphine had hers." Cyrus went back to watching the road. "At any rate, I"m sure Vera will come around sooner or later, Jonah. Perhaps sooner, since Eva is going to put in a good word for her play. Right, Eva?"

"Yeah, sure," I cleared my throat from the knot that had formed there. "I"m not one with the Broadway crowd, but I can talk to some people."

"Ahead of her time," Jonah shook his head. "People said the same thing about Yoko Ono. And Eva, since Cyrus has decided to fashion himself the gatekeeper of information, I"ll tell you. Jonathan told us that Delphine chose to exit her role after she outlived her two boys."

"Those two boys were my sons and I prefer to keep that information private."

Once again, Cyrus was speaking through gritted teeth. I wanted to feel sorry for him - the story was tragic - but I couldn"t do it. I still said the words I was expected to.

"I"m sorry that you lost them, Cyrus."

"It"s the true cycle of life. Everyone passes into spirit when their time comes."

Cyrus glanced back at Jonah and I knew what he was silently implying. I felt a sudden rush of fear so strong, I paused before I turned to look at Jonah once more.

"Are you sure you want to do this with me? I really don"t want to put you or anyone else in danger. And you saw Elliot. You see how damn determined he is."

"I"m not afraid." Jonah caught Cyrus " look, and seemed thoroughly annoyed by it. "He may have abilities and knowledge, but he still eats and sleeps like any other animal. And just like all other animals, he can be put down. He might think he"s safe behind supposed immortality, but that means a grand total of d**k around here. He"s determined? So am I."

I studied Jonah for a moment longer before I nodded.

"After the woods, I know you can handle yourself. I wasn"t questioning your abilities. I just wanted to give you the option of bowing out. It"s not fair for you to be dragged into my mess like this."

"What was the deal with you and Elliot anyway?"

"We were friends once, back in college. He offered me the spot on Grave and things went to hell after that."

Grave"Why?"

"Jealousy? I failed to prove my loyalty to him?" I shrugged. "Who knows? Everyone has their motives. Elliot is no different."

"Elliot got pissed off because of me. Don"t deny it, Eva." Cyrus flipped the blinker as we reached the downtown area of Rome. "He didn"t like the fact your attention was divided. Now, I can understand why. You tend to get too focused on one thing when there are a thousand things going on in the background that are equally as important."

"Oh," Jonah said. He must have noticed the jab Cyrus had thrown at me. "So Eva sounds like a human being. Short-sightedness and tunnel vision aren"t gifts, Cy. They"re handicaps."

"That"s precisely my point. Thank you for emphasizing that." Cyrus nodded. "Your tunnel vision is a weakness, Eva. They handicap you, just like Jonah said."

"Thank you for the reminder," I managed to keep my voice neutral. "I"ll work on that."

"You should. In a fight, those handicaps could be deadly. Take the Shades for example. They were able to ambush you from behind since you were so focused on the ones in front of you. Had you been more observant of your surroundings, you wouldn"t have needed our help."

"Or if I had just stayed on the porch, right?"

I went ahead and threw that in. I knew that was coming up next. There was no point in telling my keeper the truth. He wouldn"t believe me if I did. Cyrus nodded.

"Exactly. We"ve been together for four years now and you still don"t understand the importance of what I tell you."

"Just stabbing in the dark here," Jonah said, "But that might be because, from my perspective, it seems like it"s all you telling things and not giving Eva the chance to get a word in edgewise. Relationships are all about one hundred percent from both parties. Sounds like the only ways here are the Way of Cyrus and Cyrus" Way."

"Ouch," Joey observed.

"Shut up, Lawson," Cyrus snapped, which prompted Jonah to throw up his hands.

"For God"s sake!" He exclaimed. "You order him around too? Was there an update l didn"t know about that made you the god, instead of Apollo?"

"I don"t order Joseph around." Cyrus snapped. "I am not responsible for Joseph or his safety."

"I just don"t get you, man," Jonah shook his head. "I don"t. You know that you work for Eva, right? Not the other way around?"

"Eva has been exposed to our world for four years. She knows nothing about it. I do what I must to train her in it."

"Then train her!" Jonah spat. "And stop trying to be Big Bad Daddy! Because that s**t is old!"

Cyrus sighed. "Jonah, have you ever been in the military? Have you ever had any formal training other than what your friends do at the estate? If you had, then you know my methods are not uncommon. You may not like them, but they are effective."

Jonah shook his head. "I figured you"d go that route. Well, speaking as someone who has volunteered with veterans of the military, I am well aware of your methods. I am also aware that attempting to spill behaviors and methods that worked in military life has very little success in the civilian world. You were a general, right? Cool. Respect. But you"re not a general now, dude. That was ages ago. It"s time to stop clinging to old glory and get with the times, dontcha think?"

"Why should I abandon methods that have worked for centuries?"

"Because most of those methods were outlawed here in the U.S. decades ago?"

"I am not a U.S. citizen." Cyrus shrugged. "My laws come from Olympus and I have broken none of them. Unlike you. Tell me, how often do you smoke weed, Jonah? I do believe that substance is illegal in North Carolina."

"Every time I"m sore from training," Jonah replied. "And last I checked, c******s didn"t leave bruises on women"s arms."

I winced at Jonah"s comment. I looked out the window instead of looking at Cyrus. It took a moment for him to speak.

"There are times when force is needed to emphasize a point. Do you not see this in your world as well, Jonah? Do you not fight ethereal beings - male and female - and leave bruises on them?"

"If I bruise Reena"s arm, it"s to pull her away from a Reaper or a Haunt or something," Jonah told the Keeper. "But last night, you bruised Eva after all the enemies were down. See the difference, pumpkin?"

after"I was emphasizing my point. Nothing more. Nothing less. That is not abuse. That is being a commander. Someone who takes charge and action to correct the mistakes of his fellow fighters."

"Yeah," Jonah nodded. "And every abusive parent says they were just doing what they could. Excuse me if I"m not moved by your bullshit."

"I don"t care if you are moved or not." Cyrus turned on the street that led us out of Rome. "You are free to question my methods while we are at the estate. But come Saturday, you won"t think another thing about them. You"ll go back to your actress and your weed and forget all about us."

"The actress ain"t mine, I ain"t telling you again. And I bet you"d just love to be away from Rome. Back to where you can try to assert control? Well you ain"t getting rid of us that easily. Joey and Eva are friends now. That puts them in our zone. So your last desperate hope to be free of us? Fail."

"I"ve already explained to you that Eva doesn"t have friends." Cyrus sighed. "It is far too dangerous and she is far too busy."

"I wouldn"t mind being friends with the Elevenths," I spoke up since Cyrus was determined not to let me talk on my own behalf. "I"d like that very much, actually."

"Please stop embarrassing yourself, Eva. Joseph is the only one you haven"t run off yet and the only reason he is still here is because of his contract." Cyrus snorted. "If you take Jonah up on this "offer of friendship", it will just end badly for you and I don"t want to deal with the aftermath."

"Now, you"re a psychic." Jonah rolled his eyes. "My God dude, ain"t you just the Renaissance Man. Eva, Terrence, Reena and l would like very much to be friends. Since you don"t hear it often, I"ll tell you both: you don"t need Cyrus" permission. If you"re uncomfortable going over his head, I"ll happily do so. Who do we need to speak to?"

"Now see here, you impertinent--"

"Look, pumpkin!" Jonah pointed. "There"s the house. Eva, we"ll talk later. Terrence is making meatballs tonight. We can all talk over dinner."

We pulled up to the front of the Covington Mansion not a moment too soon. I was sure it had been a sight back in its heyday. But after years of neglect, the old house just looked sad. The windows that hadn’t been shattered were boarded up. The granite exterior was a mottled mix of gray, black, and mold. Three stories rose up, topped off by a rusted weather vane bent by the wind.

“What is it about this place?” I muttered to myself as I stepped out of the car. I needed to focus on something other than the argument I"d just heard in the car. “Why is Elliot so determined that I come here?”

“What?” Joey took off his headphones as he stood beside me. He whistled when he took in the same view I was seeing. “Classic, Evie. This episode is going to be classic.”

“Right.” I shook off the chill running down my spine. “Maybe we’ll win you another award, Joey.”

He grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at me before he rushed to get his equipment out of the back. Cyrus and Jonah came up to flank me on either side.

“This is the glitz and glamour of what I do, Jonah.” I gestured towards the house. “Exotic places, beautiful faces—”

I let my voice trail off when I realized that Jonah had turned pale. He was still wearing his sunglasses, but I could tell by his expression that he was unnerved. Cyrus had picked up on it too.

“Scared, Rowe?”

Cyrus regarded him over my head. Given the events since we’d landed in Rome, I wasn’t surprised that he had tensed up by my side. For his part, Jonah shook his head.

"Hardly. Where’s the owner you were supposed to meet here?”

“I don’t know.” I shrugged. “We’re only a day late. Maybe he got tired of waiting.”

“Cute, Superstar.”

I chuckled. “I thought so. Come on. I want to go check this place out.”

I turned on my heel and marched up the steps. The place was encircled with a large front porch, but I had to be careful when I crossed it. The boards were green with rot. I started to warn the others when I heard a c***k behind me.

“Dammit.” Jonah grunted as he jerked his leg free from the hole he had made. “You couldn’t investigate a place like the Hyatt, could you?”

“Nope.” I turned back towards the ornate front door to see that it was standing open. “Wait, what?”

“What’s wrong?” Joey had joined us, shifting his camera up to his shoulder. “Why are we all hanging out on the porch?”

“The door just opened.” I frowned as I peered inside. “Maybe Frederickson is already here.”

“Frederickson?” Jonah was dusting the dirt off of his pants leg. “The owner?”

I nodded. “Robert Frederickson. Bought the house at an auction back in 2012 as a tax haven. He contacted Theia Productions to do a show in the hopes that the exposure would help him dump it.”

“Stay here.” Cyrus stepped past me and over the threshold. “It could be a trap.”

“Or just an empty old house full of spider webs and broken furniture.” I offered up then shrugged as they all turned to stare at me. “It was worth a shot.”

Cyrus ignored me as he disappeared inside. Joey sat his camera down then knelt beside it to fiddle with the buttons on it. Which left me and Jonah with nothing to do but wait.

“You don"t have to defend me, Blueberry.”

"“Blueberry? Where the hell did you come up with that one?”

“It seems to fit you better than Country.” I tested out the porch rail before leaning back against it. “And I"m serious. I know Cyrus can be a bit of a culture shock, but I"m used to him."

"I"m not." Jonah shook his head. "Superstar, I"m not even trying to be difficult. I"m not even trying to rock the boat. Please believe that. I know Cyrus has a job to do, and it"s not an easy one. But the lack of respect he shows you just vexes me. He treats you like a pouty child who needs to be scolded. It"s not cool. I don"t do well with alpha males."

"I don"t like it either, but-"

"I know you said he could hurt you, but the only way you would know that is if he has done it in the past."

I didn"t know what to say to that. Jonah extended his hand.

"Let me see your phone."

"Why?"

"I"m going to program my number into it. If we"re going to be friends, we need to stay in touch, right?"

"You were serious then, in the car," I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and passed it to him. "Are you sure? Cyrus was right when he said I tend to f**k things up with people. I don"t want to do that with you."

"Eva, if anyone seems capable of f*****g things up, it"s Cyrus himself." Jonah took Eva"s phone and stylus. "Dude is a pimple on the face of life, and he probably knows it."

I chuckled at that and Jonah gave me a small smile as he passed me my phone back.

"What"s funny? He is."

"No, it"s just I"ve never gotten a guy"s phone number before." I laughed then repeated his hand gesture. "My turn."

Jonah passed his phone to her. "Never? Well, first time for everything, no?"

"Nope, never. Work people don"t count. And I"ve never dated before, so there"s that."

"Before Cyrus?"

I typed in my number and saved it before I passed his phone back.

"I don"t think Cyrus counts. We don"t go on dates. We spend time together when we train."

"Dear Lord, what does he train you to do?" Jonah asked. "How to scowl and judge everyone?"

I laughed again. I couldn"t help it.

"No," I shook my head. "No. He"s working with me on my fighting style. I"m too slow. Not powerful enough to knock an enemy out completely."

I twisted my face into Cyrus" trademark scowl as I mimicked his voice.

"You have to be faster, Eva. Do it again."

"It sounds as though too much focus is on fixing perceived flaws, as opposed to sharpening strengths," Jonah said. "Maybe you"re not slow at all. Maybe that"s all you"ve been trained to focus on."

"I can"t tell you. I"ve never trained with anyone else."

"Really? Who taught you how to fight? Cyrus?"

"No. Athena. But that was...different."

"You"ll have to tell me that story one day," Jonah said. "Maybe over Terrence"s lasagna and homemade garlic knots."

"That sounds lovely." I smiled. "I take it Terrence is the cook? It"s literally the first thing he said to us once we got to the estate."

"Yeah. Terrence cooks, Reena paints."

"What about you?"

"What about me?"

"What"s your hobby?"

"Writer," Jonah said. "Not a great one at all. And the gym. I hated exercise before l met Terrence, Reena, and our friend, Bobby. But they made a gym junkie out of me."

"Will you share your work with me?"

"Sure. We can workout before supper."

"No, not your workout," I smiled a little. "Your writing. I bet you"re better than you give yourself credit for."

"You don"t want to workout with me, Superstar?"

"I can, but I"m not good at the gym. I haven"t been to an actual workout space since I left Georgia."

"Interesting," Jonah observed. "You have a background in ballet and gymnastics, but you hate athletics?"

"How did you know that?" I asked. "That"s not on my site."

"Fighting stance," Jonah told her. "I picked it up when you were fighting the Shades."

I flushed a little as my heart started pounding. People tended not to notice me. They were too enamoured by the character I had to be in Hollywood.

"You noticed that?"

"I did. I"ve been around all sorts of fighters. I"m able to pick up their backgrounds pretty quick."

"What"s your fighting background?"

"You sure are curious about me."

"I told you I wanted us to be friends and I got your digits." I waved my phone at him. "So yeah, I"m curious."

"Blunt force," Jonah said. "I use batons, and I"m not fond of blades, so it"s strength-based. Hits that"ll rattle ancestors. So I do a lot of arm and back work to build strength. Since I"m not a hulking guy, I"m deceptive. Get to hide some attributes till they"re needed."

lot"I can see that."

"That I"m not a hulking guy?" Jonah responded drily. "Thank you."

"No! That you use deception as a part of your fighting style. I do the same thing in a way."

"How"s that?"

"Look at me, Jonah. Do I really look like I can kick someone"s ass?" I shook my head. "My enemies think I"m an easy target. Even now. So they like to get me alone before they pounce."

Jonah shook his head. "So you"re like Buffy."

"How?"

"You know, the blonde girl goes down the dark alley, but she is the dangerous one," Jonah said. "Nice to circumvent the trope, ain"t it?"

she"I"m a troupe?" Now, I was the one who responded drily. "Thank you."

"Well, you do fit the mold. Blonde, white, tiny."

"I"m no Sarah Michelle Gellar."

"But you are a slayer," Jonah said. "Terrence made me watch the first two seasons of Grave. So l have firsthand knowledge."

areGrave"Yeah? Terrence has good taste in television then." I grinned up at him. "What did you think about the show? Be honest. It"s hard to hurt my feelings."

"I had no expectations, but found it very entertaining and informative," Jonah said. "All the research involved pulls me; research is another of my hobbies. So it"s like...adventurous learning."

"That"s my hobby."

"The show?"

"In a sense, but it"s more about the research for me. I love the stories. The people. The history behind it all just fascinates me."

"Same," Jonah said. "It"s why I know so much about mythology. I blazed through those books over and over."

"I"m glad one of us does."

"You don"t know mythology?"

"I know some of it," I confessed. "But not everything. If I need to know it, Cyrus will tell me."

"So you know nothing," Jonah remarked. "Because Cyrus talks at you, not to you."

at"Well, I know the gods I have met."

"But not their histories."

I shook my head. "No. I haven"t had the time to actually read half the s**t Cyrus put down in front of me. I can speak ancient Greek, though. I picked that up at the Academy."

"Really? Say something."

I tapped my finger against my chin then began to speak in the old tongue.

"I am very happy to have met you."

Jonah blinked. "I don"t have one clue what you said, but it sounded cool as hell."

I chuckled. "I said "I am very happy to have met you."

"What other languages can you speak?"

"French and English. That"s pretty much it."

"Cool," Jonah said. "I"m getting pretty good at Latin, because our friend Malcolm is teaching me."

"Latin?" I whistled. "I"m impressed."

"You speak ancient Greek."

"That doesn"t make Latin any less impressive. I can"t speak Latin at all."

"It just comes easily to me," Jonah said. "Like remembering dates and what have you."

"If the small talk is quite over," Cyrus said, his tone cold as he appeared beside us. "Our client has just parked."

I jumped when I heard Cyrus" voice. He trained those cold eyes onto me.

“The house is clear. It’s full of cobwebs and broken furniture.”

“It always is.” I pushed away from the banister. “Let’s go meet up with this man. But Jonah, you owe me something in Latin. I want to hear you say something, too."

Jonah leaned in and lowered his tone. "Potes melior est, quam stulti."

Potes melior est, quam stulti."I gave him a quizzical look. "What"s that mean?"

"It means," Jonah looked over at Cyrus, who was still glaring at them as he went to help Joey, "You can do better than that fool."

I gave him a small smile then whispered in my ancient language. Jonah shook his head.

"Still cool. Still don"t understand."

"I said "Thank you, but I don"t know who would have me. I"m a train wreck."

"Eva! Are you coming?"

"Just a minute!" I turned back to Jonah. "Thank you all the same."

"You"re very welcome, Superstar," Jonah replied. "Now, go do your thing."

Joey grinned as I approached him.

“Speak of the devil.” He waved as an older man stepped out of the vehicle. “Time to get to work, Evie.”

"Yay.” I muttered. “Jonah, if you don’t mind, stay by Cyrus. I have no idea where Joey wants to film this thing. I’d hate for you to end up on the show.”

“Me too.” He took a step back. “Let’s get this over and done with.”

I bounded down the stairs to meet the man as he crossed the lawn. Robert Frederickson looked as if he had just left the Hamptons. Black hair distinguished with gray temples. White blazer and dark blue dress pants. He looked completely out of place here.

“Mr. Frederickson? Eva McRayne.” I offered him my hand. “I apologize for missing our meeting earlier. We’ve had some—developments.”

“Yes, well.” He nodded to Joey. “My time is very precious, Ms. McRayne. I had every intention of being back in New York tonight.”

“Theia Productions will cover the cost of this inconvenience.” I smiled. “Have you ever done an interview before?”

“Not for television.”

"This is Joey Lawson.” I gestured. “Obviously, the cameraman. He will be focusing his attention on you when we get started. But first, he has to get you hooked up with a microphone.”

“Got it right here in my pocket.”

Joey passed it over to the man before passing a second one over to me. He showed our contact how to attach the device to his jacket to get the best sound. Then how to speak into it. When they got finished, I attached my own microphone to the collar of my shirt.

“Where can we get the best shot, Joey?”

“I was thinking on the porch. Mr. Frederickson, if you will.”

Joey led us over to Cyrus and Jonah, both of whom stepped as far away from us as possible. Mr. Frederickson straightened his jacket.

“Right to the point, then?” He nodded. “Good. The sooner this is over, the better.”

“I couldn’t agree more. But we still have to film inside. See if we capture anything.”

“You will. I’m sure of it. My daughters swear by Grave Messages.” The man shifted in place. “As you can see, I don’t keep it locked. Nobody in their right mind would dare come here. You may come and go as you wish.”

Grave MessagesI bit back my response with a reminder to myself that this man was a client. So instead of snapping at him, I held up three fingers in Joey’s direction, folding them down to give him the signal to start filming.

“Robert Frederickson is the owner of Covington Mansion, located fifteen minutes outside of Rome, North Carolina. Mr. Frederickson, what attracted you to Covington?”

“The history, my dear girl.” He boomed with an exuberance so unexpected, I almost took a step back. “Rome has been the site of so much southern history. Covington is no different.”

“What can you tell us about that history?” I tilted my head towards the man. “Murders? Suicides?”

“Oh, nothing like that.” Frederickson chuckled. “But these walls serve as a monument to the Covington family.”

“A monument.” I focused on the camera. “It was believed that George S. Covington had his family buried here beneath the floors when the house was built.”

“Yes, the old fool went insane with grief.” Frederickson rocked back on his heels. “It happens, you know. When you lose a loved one. Or two.”

I whipped my head around to see a faint spark of green in the man’s dark eyes. Could he—no. There was no way this man could be aligned with Hera.

My paranoia was simply at a fever pitch. It had to be.

I managed a thin smile and leaned back against my perch on the rail. “You purchased Covington in 2012, is that correct?”

“Yes. I was hoping to turn it into a getaway retreat for my own family.”

“Wow, that’s different.” I raised an eyebrow at him. “You wanted to vacation with your family here? In the middle of nowhere? In an oversized tomb?”

The man coughed behind his hand as he narrowed his eyes at me. “Yes, well. As I said. Rome is a beautiful town. It is peaceful here. The fact that this manor is haunted was not a deterrent for me.”

“Let’s talk about that for a minute.” I pressed against the rail. “What have people experienced here?”

“Everything. The stories rebound with objects moving on their own. Apparitions walk through the very walls!” He gestured to the heavens. “Screams resonate through the night and some reports state that previous occupants have been shoved down the stairs.”

So far, so standard. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes at his theatrics. Why did people tend to act so crazy when there was a camera present?

“Alright. What about you? What have you personally experienced?”

“Me?” Robert Frederickson glanced nervously at the front door. “What do you mean?”

“Have you ever been shoved down the stairs?” I widened my eyes with mock innocence. “Have you heard these phantom screams?”

“No. I’ve—” The man huffed up, “I’ve never actually been inside.”

I laughed. I couldn’t help it. Under normal circumstances, I could contain my personal reactions to the people we deal with. But this?

This was too much.

“And—you just added another thirty minutes to my edits, Evie.” Joey lowered the camera as I giggled. “What’s wrong with you?”

“Seriously?” I ignored Joey as I focused on our contact. “You bought this house years ago. You call a television crew to come investigate it for paranormal activity. And you’ve never been inside?”

“I’ve never had a reason.” Frederickson turned bright red. “Are we done here?”

I nodded. There was no way I could continue taking this man seriously. He waved his hand at me with anger before storming back to his car.

“Best. Interview. Ever.” I grinned when I watched him drive away. When the others didn’t respond, I turned to face them. “What?”

“Do you treat all of your clients that way?” Jonah frowned. “Why did you call him out like that?"

“Because he was an ass and a liar.” I all but skipped through the door. “I can’t stand people who turn all dramatic when they are in front of the camera. It screams fake to me.”

“It should.” Joey linked his arm into mine. “He bought this place as a tax haven?”

“Yeah. I figured that out after I checked the building permits. Frederickson never applied for one. I mean, why buy an abandoned house if you have no intention of fixing it up?”

I was still riding high as we stepped into the main hallway. Dust and grime covered everything. Pictures hung crooked on the walls. I was sure that if I held my breath, I would hear the rats scurrying about. We moved from room to room in silence which was all we encountered.

There were no screams. No one tried to push us down the stairs when we stood at the top. Nothing flew at my head.

Of course, I didn’t have a mirror present. Cyrus must have taken them all down when he came in here earlier.

When we reached the bedroom upstairs, I stopped just short of the window as Jonah disappeared into a door I had mistaken as a closet. Cyrus stepped up behind me to clasp the back of my neck with his fingers.

“I overheard your little chat on the porch.” He chuckled. "I found it quite entertaining."

"Why"s that?"

"Because it became obvious to me that I was right. Rowe has no interest in you."

"I know he doesn"t."

"Do you know how I know?"

"No."

"Because he had no interest in learning about you. Every question asked was directed at him. Perhaps, he is a narcissist."

"Or perhaps, he was simply answering my questions." I hissed when he applied pressure against my spine with his palm. "Ow."

"You have been warned, Eva. That is the last I will say on the matter. You have been warned."