Destiny of a Good Deity

Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Mya woke in a hospital bed, confused and disoriented at first. She looked around, her eyes finally landing on Zach sleeping in a chair in a corner. He had sunk down in the chair with his head tilted in an uncomfortable position. He was going to have a sore neck later. His long legs stretched out on the floor, and Mya could see he was exhausted. His brilliant and witty green eyes were closed now, but she would love to see them smile at her later. His slightly long brown hair was disheveled and had fallen across the front of his forehead.

She looked at his strong jaw and his unshaven face then moved her eyes to his lips. Something about them made her want to taste them and savor their fullness.

She shook her head. Stop it, Mya! What if he wakes up to find a deity drooling sinfully over him? You’ll have no dignity left at all.

It was time for her to take inventory. She shifted and slid down under the blanket so that if Zach woke, he would not see what she was doing. In her deity form, she knew her eyes looked a bit glassy. It might be considered spooky from a human perspective.

In her deity form, she searched for the little girl’s files.

“Oh, damn it. I knew this would happen!” she exclaimed. The girl was destined to finish this life. She had been a criminal in her previous life. She’d served a short life this time and was supposed to move on to be born a brilliant scientist in her next life. Because Mya had saved the girl, she’d interfered with God’s plan. This one was going to cause a big ding on Mya’s score card. It had been more than a thousand years, and she still hadn’t learned to look away from people in need.

“Oh, crap. s**t. s**t. And triple s**t,” she cursed boldly underneath her blanket.

“Professor Portman?”

Mya heard Zach call out. She flipped the blanket down to reveal her face. “Don’t call me Professor!”

Zach recoiled at her tone. “I’m sorry, Pro … Mya. How are you feeling? Who would you like me to call?”

Why did he assume she had someone to call? Why didn’t he just ask if there was someone to call? Not everyone had loving parents, understanding brothers, sisters, in-laws, nieces, nephews, and friends to die for or call for help from at any moment.

Yes, she had followed him to get the information. In her profession, following him was not considered stalking. Her Goddess had given her a long list this year to protect, and Zach’s name was on it. So effectively, she was his guardian angel. She preferred that job title to deity, but beggars couldn’t be choosers. She had been lucky to hang on to her job after so many centuries where she hadn’t been able to fulfill the tasks Ishtar had given her.

She never had personal relationships with her subjects. It was a formula for disaster. A few months ago when she was bored out of her skull, she had gone to the club where Zach and his band played every weekend. A fan of his who had been sitting next to Mya threw her bra at him on the stage. There was nothing Mya could do when Zach thought she was the one who had thrown it.

Later, he had approached her table to thank her for her support. She had no choice but to explain that she wasn’t the one who had tossed him the bra. Of course she followed up with, “Don’t get me wrong, I do love your music. It was just that I wouldn’t express my support the way your other fans do.” She had given him her business card, and the next thing she knew, he turned up at the university asking for her help.

When he wasn’t playing in the band, Zach gave guitar lessons at a small music school he founded. He wanted to know how he could bring some of his material to courses at the university. She couldn’t help him much in that regard because (a) she was tone deaf and (b) she didn’t have any real friends in the faculty due to her situation. But the interactions between Zach and her had started from there. They weren’t exactly friends—that was obvious from the fact that Zach still called her Professor Portman.

“No, I don’t know anyone here. If you could check me out of the hospital, though, that would be great,” Mya said and sat up in her bed.

Zach nodded. “You were really brave, Pro … Mya.” And attractive, and smart, and…

“Oh no!” Mya shrieked out loud. She had left her deity vision on, thus she could hear Zach’s thoughts. As much as she enjoyed it, it was totally unethical by her heavenly standards. Mya grabbed at her head and closed her eyes. Switched off.

She opened her eyes and saw Zach sitting on the end of her bed.

“Are you okay? I don’t think you should check out of the hospital so soon. You were hit really hard. The doctor said you have a mild concussion. Look, if you don’t want to call anyone, I’ll stay until you’re steady. But leaving you alone is not an option.” He bit his lower lip, having more to say but trying not to say it.

“I’m fine.”

“No, you’re not.”

“How are Dan and the kid?”

“They’re both fine.”

“I’m hungry.”

“Huh?”

She arched an eyebrow. “A girl’s gotta eat.”

“Oh, right. I’m sorry. What would you like?”

“Wonton noodle soup with extra wontons and fewer noodles, a wedge of lemon, and some fresh chili with no fried onion.”

“Ah…noted.” Zach smiled and turned on his heel. As soon as he closed the door, Mya slid down in the bed, dropped her head back against the pillow, and started tallying her balance. She suddenly realized she had lost count of how many cases she was supposed to save to fulfill her original contract with her Goddess.

Not reading the fine print in the agreement had hurt her for more than a thousand years. She knew now that she wasn’t allowed to kill anyone, including bad guys—a rule that she continually violated. She wasn’t allowed to save those who were supposed to die. And there were a dozen more forbidden actions in the fine print. She wondered if there was an ultimatum clause—she had an odd feeling that there was.

She concentrated and tried to retrieve her original agreement. But all she had now was a blank document.