Seventh Seal - Jacquelyn Faye Page 0,47

her prank," Nana lie smoothly.

"Remind me never to get scolded by you." She leaned over to me and whispered, "Thank you." And then she kissed me on my head. It didn't go unnoticed by Nana, either. She smiled as Marge stood up. "So, keep the chop steak?"

"No. Give it to another customer," I told her.

"Can't do that. I'll chuck it," she answered.

"Health code?"

"Yeah. They get pissy when they find spit in people's food. Refills?"

Nana and I stared at our plates, shaking our heads.

"Oh, don't worry. I like you two." She cackled and wandered off.

"That woman scares me," Nana said deadpan.

"You and me both."

∞ ∞ ∞

"So, what did you wish to talk about, Dorothea?" Nana took my arm as we exited the diner and looked at me out of the corner of her eye. After the incident with Mother, I had gotten sulky. I wasn't feeling guilty, but I regretted starting a fight. It had put me in an untalkative mood, and we'd never gotten around to discussing why I had asked them to lunch in the first place.

One of the diner patrons walked out of the diner and practically shouldered me out of the way. "Fucking witches," he muttered under his breath.

I gripped Nana's outstretched hand and lowered it. He wasn't worth it, and after the show we put on in the diner, we didn't need to stand out any more than we already had.

"I was just going to give him a pig tail."

"Save it for the crowds bearing pitchforks."

Nana sighed but nodded. "Fine. So, what is it?"

"Come on. Let's take a walk."

Arm in arm, I lead her to the park in Central Square and finally parked us on a worn green park bench facing city hall. Staring at the stone architecture and broken clock, I gathered my thoughts.

"You saw him."

"Who?" I asked out of reflex.

"Your father. I can see it on your face."

"You're pretty smart for an old bat."

"Dumb bats don't live long. How?"

"He showed up in my kitchen."

"What did he say?"

"That I was a moron for even thinking about coming to rescue him. Then he forbade it and said goodbye. It felt, I don't know. Final?"

"And you sought our counsel on the feasibility of your plan?"

"Do you think I should go through with it?"

"If I thought you had a bat's ass chance in Hades of convincing Belenus to get you there, I would. But she put him there, Granddaughter. I thought maybe we could find another guide to cross you through the Ethereum, but there isn't a god or goddess that would or could."

"She's right, Sister."

Nana and I both froze. My grandmother might not have recognized Candace's voice, but she could feel the power of the goddess behind us. And we both stared as she walked around the park bench and settled down between us. Nana looked at me in wild shock over Candace's head.

We sat for a moment as she lifted her head to the sun, smiled. And sniffed the cold air around us. We'd hit a warm patch, and had a snow melt, but it was still winter in Upstate New York. What she was smelling, I didn't have a clue. The snot was frozen inside my head and I wouldn't have been able to smell a burger under my nose.

"There are times that I do miss walking this world." The goddess smiled up at me.

Without thinking about it, I returned her smile with a gentle pat on the leg. Power flowed through the touch and almost shocked me, numbing the tips of my already frozen fingers. She, however, was sitting on the park bench without so much as a jacket.

"So…uh…what brings you to the mortal realm?"

"It is not every day that a new god is born. I thought I would come pay my respects."

"Huh?"

"Did you think you could come into your power and think that the whole universe wouldn't feel it, Sister? Your tryst with all of your spheres broke your seventh seal, the one imparting godhood."

"Uh…that was just some freaky shit with my father's spheres and some…uh…intercourse gone wrong."

"That wasn't your father's power, Dorothea. It was yours."

"Excuse me?" I blinked down at her doe-like eyes, confusion warring with fear.

"What are gods, Dorothea?"

"She skipped that day in class," Nana quipped.

I shot her a dirty look over Candace's head. "It was just yesterday that I found out where little witches came from. I haven't got a clue where gods come from, Lady." I bowed my head in a little respect.

"The elder gods aren't born. They're made.