Лори Девоти - Amazon Queen

Bubbe sighed. The corners of her mouth edged down, pulled by disapproval. "We are the daughters of Ares and Otrera, a god and our first queen. Our long life, your strength, they come from them."

Long life and strength. That wasn't much, not when compared to all the other talents the Amazons held.

"All of our talents are part of who we are," she added.

I relaxed, then stiffened. While I found comfort in the idea that our talents were part of us, that no matter what happened we would retain them, it also meant the other Amazons, the ones who had deserted Artemis, would hold those skills too.

"However. . " Bubbe ran her fingers down the leather thong that hung from her neck and grasped the tiny stone wolf that dangled from it. "While we are born with our talents, our worship of the goddess enhances them-especially our magical talents."

I smiled. "So these Amazons who have deserted Artemis, they will have lost some of their skills." It was good news, the best news.

Bubbe's hand closed more tightly over the wolf. She held her breath and for a moment I thought she wasn't going to answer. Then she placed the stone against her lips and kissed it. With it still held in front of her, she replied, "But their new goddess will bring them more."

"More? More than the Amazons?"

Bubbe's lips lifted on the sides, a shade of a smile, but still the wire that had started to weave around my heart loosened a tad. She opened her fingers and the wolf thumped into place over her heart. "More, perhaps is wrong. . different, like the goddess they choose. Each goddess, she has different skills from the next. Artemis strengthens our magic, our use of the wild forces of nature. She looks down on us during childbirth, and helps us to hunt. She attracts us to the woods, and gives us the strength and skills of her chosen animals." Bubbe's fingers flitted over the stone wolf. "But another goddess, she would have skills too. If she accepts the worship of these Amazons, she could bestow her skills, like Artemis has bestowed hers upon us."

"What kind of skills. . stronger skills?"

Bubbe lifted one shoulder. "I tell you what I know. It depends on the goddess and how she receives these Amazons."

I clenched my jaw, uncertain again. "What about Artemis? Could they have her talents too?"

Bubbe smiled, a full smile this time. "Artemis, she is a jealous goddess. She would not like to share."

I sat quiet for a moment, letting this new information sink in. Finally I looked up. "What now? How do we know who is following Artemis?"

How do you identify your enemy when she looks just like you, is you?

We talked another hour or so but got nowhere. Bubbe had no more idea than I did of what to do next. As the morning sun began to creep up on the horizon, we split up. Mel left to research other goddesses. Lao and Tess went to start breakfast so Dana could get some sleep.

I ordered Bern to take a nap too.

I was sure Bern could survive without sleep, but while things were calm I wanted her to take the opportunity to get some.

Our future was uncertain, and I needed everyone in my circle strong.

We were officially in war mode. We would sleep by rotation and be on constant alert.

I plodded toward the gym/cafeteria building myself, not sure what I planned to do. I was exhausted yet at the same time fairly sure I wouldn't be able to sleep.

Cleo had already made it clear she and Bubbe would be up for the next few hours, as would Mel. I could take this turn to sleep, or I could sit and stew and hope some solution came to me.

As my feet pulled their way through the long grass that covered the hillside, I knew which one I would do.

I didn't even bother going all the way to the gym. I lay down in the grass and stared at the sky. The day was going to be warm. At maybe five in the morning it was already approaching seventy degrees. I jerked off my T-shirt, lay back down, and enjoyed the feel of the cool grass against my bare shoulders. The jog bra I wore had a high neck to cover my givnomai. So if one of Mel's customers came by, it was decent while still being cool. The sky was a ruddy pink now, and the birds were in full swing, chirping and fighting for whatever territory they thought of as theirs.

It was peaceful-the most peaceful place I could remember being in for quite some time.

My eyes were closed and my brain had just started to settle when I heard someone approaching from behind. I shot forward into a somersault, landed on my feet, and turned immediately.

Jack stood a few feet from where I had lain, his hands shoved deep into the pockets of his camouflage pants.

"Mateo is going to have to sleep in the gym with you and your camp if you won't let him take Andres home."

"Andres?"

He pulled his hands from his pockets, then shoved them back in. "Your brother."

Right. The baby. . Andres. I wasn't sure I liked knowing his name; it made him more real.

"So what's the plan?" He took a few steps down the hill.

"Did you talk to anyone?" I asked. I wasn't sure how much I wanted to tell Jack, should tell him. My loyalties were a tangled-up ball of yarn right now.

"No." He stopped and stared down at me. I could see he was waiting, knew what I said or did now was going to set a tone for where we went from here.

I glanced up at the sky. The moon was barely visible now. Maybe it would be one of those strange days where you can see the moon, even when the sun was at its highest. I took it as a sign.

I gestured for Jack to sit, then I told him everything Bubbe had told us. When I was done, I sat down beside him. The silence that settled between us felt right, comfortable. We were both lost in our thoughts, but we were lost in them together. I wanted to stretch out again, to share the peace of lying on that hillside with him, but I knew I couldn't.

This wasn't the time to relax; this was the time to act.

But how?

Mel walking up behind us brought part of my answer.

She dropped a stack of papers onto my lap. "I don't know that there are answers there, but maybe some clues. I printed out descriptions of thirty of the most popular goddesses."

The papers felt like it; they weighed a ton. I carefully picked them up and thumbed through them. My eyes quickly blurred.

She smiled. "I know." She kneeled and took a place on the grass beside me. I was flanked now, her on one side, Jack on the other.

"But if we do notice something strange. . a power we've never seen before or something. . we have something to reference."

I stared at the stack of paper. Amazons were not scholars. As an Amazon destined to be a queen, I'd been taught more than most, but by modern human educational standards I'd probably have barely graduated high school. . unless the school gave credits for wrestling or sword fighting.

The thought of reading these papers made my head ache.

"Too bad Harmony isn't here," Mel murmured. "She'd love diving into this."

Her face turned sad. If I'd been a different kind of person I would have reached for her hand, but that wasn't me and Mel knew it. It would have just made us both uncomfortable.

As it was, Jack reached over and grabbed the papers. "Let me. I studied Greek mythology in college."

I looked at him, surprised. "You went to college?"

He grinned, a slow sexy slide of his lips over those impossibly white teeth. "When I was fifty. The sons don't have the same antimingling beliefs the Amazons do. I figured a little education would be good."

"What did you major in?" Mel asked.

He rolled the papers into a scroll shape, or tried to. They were too thick and sprung back out flat. He slapped them against his palm. "I didn't graduate, just took classes, whatever interested me. Mythology did."