Gift From A God Ch. 05

I looked up and around the atrium, trying to find the source. Off in the corner, in a small space between the end of the bar and the wall, I saw a dark figure standing in the shadows, glowing faintly. Shit. It was a God. The figure was surrounded by a reddish-gold aura. More then that I couldn’t tell because he seemed to be wrapped in the darkness of the corner. I broke out in a cold sweat, the warnings Hermes had given me coming back fresh in my mind. I didn’t move a muscle.

“That never gets old,” the figure said in a deep voice, followed by another chuckle. “Calm down, I’m not going to hurt you.”

He stepped away from the wall and into the light and I was able to get a look at him. He was tall, and powerfully built. He was native american with long, jet black hair that was held in a ponytail with a beaded strand of leather. He was wearing a dark red shirt tucked into jeans, with cowboy boots. His face was lean and hard, with the kind of tan that only comes from spending years out in the sun. His eyes were smokey with the color of desert sunsets.

He took a seat across from me, in the spot Katie had just vacated, lounging back with one arm across the back and studied me for a moment with that native american face that always seems to express a deep wisdom. I still hadn’t moved, my hand still holding my other hand down. I was too terrified to move, my mouth was bone dry.

“Mmmm, smells like pussy,” he said with a conspiratory smile. “So your Zues’s new conduit huh? I can see why you were picked, that was a nice trick with the woman just now. Very creative. He’ll enjoy that. Oh relax would you, take a drink.”

I sat back slowly and grabbed my lemonade and sucked a long drink through the straw. I drank over half of it before setting it back down.

I looked at him, and he looked at me, obviously waiting for me to say something.

“Who are you?” I asked.

“Coyote. The peoples who used to live in this area worshiped me. I’ve still got a small amount of followers, which is more then those stiff-ass greeks can say. My people care more about the old ways then theirs’ did. They have a deeper connection to the land and it’s past. You Whiteys could learn a few things from them.”

“Y-..You promise you aren’t going to do anything to me?” I asked him, still not trusting him entirely. “Hermes told me you guys aren’t very nice. That some of you are mean.”

“As usual, when the white man isn’t out-right lying to you, he’s speaking in half-truths. I might do some things to you, the attack of the evil appetizer for instance,” He chuckled to himself again, “but I doubt I’ll hurt you. I just better not catch you putting the moves on any of my people. There are enough white women here for you to play with. Leave my women alone. Zues can get his charge from some other source, and you can tell him I said so.”

He reached out to the glass of water and took a drink and made a face. “Ack..chlorine is vile stuff.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t know what you mean,” I told him. “‘Get his charge’, what does that mean. And you called me his conduit, I don’t get that either. Hermes didn’t say anything about that, only that I was the one he picked.”

“Ha! That figures. Well if he didn’t tell you, I really don’t think I am the one to do so. That’s not why I’m here anyway.” He reached out and grabbed one of my mozzeralla sticks and took a bite. He chewed for a second with a thoughtful look, I guess deciding whether or not he liked it. “Humph. Not bad. Do you mind?” He pointed to the remaining ones arching his eyebrows in a questioning glance. His eyes were shifting and swirling in his head. What was I gonna say, No? You tell a God no, see what happens.

“Sure, go ahead. Try them in the sauce, they’re good that way.” I said. “So...why are you here then? Did you just want to say hello or something. I haven’t touched any native american women I swear. Actually one of my best friends is Navajo, his name is Brandon. He’s on his way here right now.”

Coyote sat there still chewing with a grin on his face, and held up a finger signaling me to wait. I waited. He swallowed, and reached over to my lemonade and took a long drink.

“That’s better. The fake lemon helps disguise the taste of the fake water. And haven’t you ever heard that it’s rude for someone to talk with his mouth full. Let a God eat. These are good,” he said, and reached for another one.

So I sat there, in nervous anticipation while a God ate my appetizers. This was just so fucking surreal, I don’t even know where to begin. I was ass-deep in Gods and Godly politics and this one it seemed, enjoys mozzarella sticks and lemonade.

Coyote finished off the rest of my food and my lemonade and let out a loud burp. “Ahh, that’s good stuff. I’ll have to come here more often. Now, to answer your question, I’m here to let you know that The Red God is aware of you, and you need to be careful. You’ll need to get ahold of Hermes or Zues as soon as you can, they’ll want to know this. He’s caused a lot of trouble for them in the past. You got anything else to eat on the way?

“Um...no, I hadn’t ordered yet. Can we go back to this ‘Red God’? Who is that? Why does it matter if he’s aware of me?”

He seemed to be ignoring me, he had closed his eyes and almost looked like he was sleeping. Suddenly the waitress who had brought the water came back in and he opened his eyes and gave me a wink. before turning to the waitress.

“Hello. Are you ready to order?” she said, giving Coyote a smile that seemed to express more then a desire to provide good service.

“Hello Michelle - what a beautiful name,” he said, turning on the charm. “I’d like some more of – what do you call those?”

“Mozzeralla sticks,” I told him.

“Yes, mozzeralla sticks. Give me 3 orders of those and a pitcher of this lemonade here, if you would be so kind. And are you on the menu this evening?

“Uh! You are baaad,” she said to him, slapping him gently with her order pad. “But I get off at 5, so if you’re still around...I’m sure we could find something for you to eat.”

“Sounds good babe, I’ll be here. Off you go now darlin’.” And he gave her a swat on the butt as she walked away.

“Yummy,” he said to me, with a wide grin after she was gone, and I could see his Canis features moving beneath the skin of his face. His eyes turned briefly yellow before sliding back into the orange-gold color. I couldn’t help it and a cold shiver ran down my spine.

“Now, what were you saying?” he asked.

Getting more then a little frustrated by this hungry and horny god I said, “I wanted to know why I needed to be careful of this Red God guy, who is that?”

“Set.”

“Set what?”

“No, Set is his name, he’s Egyptian. Nasty fellow too. That’s why I came to you instead of going to Hermes myself. He no doubt has his little hell-spawn watching the Greeks every move and I don’t want to be brought to his attention. If my brother were in a helping mood, I might not be too concerned with him, but by myself I am no match for his power. And my brother would just as soon let me get my furry ass handed to me, just to teach me a lesson”

“You, however, I’ve been watching, and while he knows where you are, he doesn’t have you being watched yet. It might draw their attention and he’s still laying low. He thinks the Greeks have lost track of him, and he’s right. Therefore if you get in contact with Hermes yourself, it would not arouse his suspicion and cause his eye to turn on me. Understand?”

“Is Set...is he going to hurt me?”

“Not if you do what he wants.”

“What does he want with me?”

“Did Hermes explain none of this to you?” You could see he was getting annoyed.

“No, I told you. He didn’t tell me any-” Just then David arrived from downstairs with my delivery.

“Here you go sir,” he said. “They just arrived. I have your tickets as well.”

“Oh, thanks.” I fished around in my pocket and pulled out a twenty. “Here you go, and don’t forget about my friends when they get here.”

“Thanks! Don’t worry, I’ll send them right up.” He walked away with a big grin pocketing the twenty.

“No,” I continued after he was gone, “He didn’t tell me anything. All I know is I have these powers, and I’m allowed to do whatever I want. I tried to get him to tell me what was going on, but he bailed on me before I could get anything from him.”

“Damn him! Leaving you unprepared for something like this....” He cursed, and then started mumbling under his breath and looking thoughtful.”

“But you can contact him, right?” he asked suddenly, looking up at me.

“No. At least if I can, I don’t know how.”

“What an ass. Oh, he’s gonna hear about it from me. Pompous prick. He should know better.”

“What do I do now?” I asked him. I was getting really scared. Seeing a God this agitated certianly wasn’t doing anything good for my nerves.

“Hang on for a second. And don’t say anything, I need to concentrate.” he commanded.

He sat back in the seat, and closed his eyes. It was the same looked he got when he called to the waitress, only this time his breathing slowed way down and he almost looked dead. His brow twitched a little and then suddenly my whole body started to tingle. I felt his power crawling up my skin like a hundred thousand ants. It seemed like it was probing at my pores. The urge to get up and scream in revulsion was nearly overpowering but I held still, remembering what he told me. I didn’t know what he was doing and I didn’t want to disturb him.

After a few minutes, his eyes opened and he took a deep breath. It’s incredibly hard to tell when a person doesn’t have pupils, but he seemed to be unsure of where he was for a moment, or like he had to reorient himself.

“Okay,” he said to me, matter-of-factly. “Now we wait.”

“Wait for what?”

“For my mozzeralla sticks,” he said, just as Michelle walked around the corner holding a big tray of the appetizers and a pitcher of lemonade.

“But I–” but he cut me off by holding up his finger and giving me a look to be silent.

MIchelle brought the tray to the table and unloaded it, her and Coyote exchanging little flirts that caused her to leave with her cheeks burning and her ass swaying seductively.

“Now what am I–” But he cut me off again.

“Patience, human.” His aura darkened slightly right along with his mood. “You’ve no idea what you in the middle of right now. I’m going to do what I can to help you, but the process can not be rushed. I like you, but I’m not about to put myself in jeopardy to save your mortal ass, understand?”

“Y-..Yes...sir. Sorry.” I almost pissed my pants just then.

“It’s okay,” he said, picking up a mozzeralla stick and dipping it. “I can understand you’re upset and scared. That’s mostly Hermes’ fault. He should have at least given you a way to contact him if you were in trouble. Hungry?”

“Not anymore.” I said, dejectedly.

“More for me then.” and he dug in.

I looked at my watch, and it was just about four o’clock. Carlos and Brandon wouldn’t be too much longer. I wonder how I would explain my new friend to them.

After he had finished his first order and was working on the second, a thought occurred to me.

“Why are you helping me? What’s in it for you?”

He glanced up from his tray, looking kind of amused.

“I owe Hermes a favor.”

“For what?”

Between chews he said, “Awhile back, I was having a good time with this sexy little chica. Well, it turns out this chica, a fine specimen of a mortal named Isabella, was the consort of another God. When he found out I had been seducing her, he was none too happy. Hermes helped me hide out until things cooled down.”

“Who was the God?”

“Raven, my brother.” he said, nonchalantly.

“Did you know it was your brothers girlfriend?”

“Of course, why do you think I did it,” he replied with a wide grin.

“And that’s why he won’t help you if Set were to come after you?”

He let out a laugh. “One of many reasons, my little human. Eternity is a long time, and some of us get bored with it. We pass the eons by fucking around with one another, jokes, tricks, little things like that. Raven doesn’t usually appreciate my brand of humor. Which is, naturally, why I do it. Ah...we have company.”

I looked around, expecting to see maybe the waitress or Carlos and Brandon. I didn’t see anything but the room was suddenly filled with the sweetest fragrance I have ever smelled. To even try to describe it in human words cheapens the experience. It cannot be described by any mortal tongue. I sucked in the air until my lungs ached and weeped in agony when I had to exhale. My head spun with the scent and all that mattered in the world was my next breathe and that it be as sweet. I would do anything to have it.

Coyote did something with his hand that held me in my seat. I was about ready to fall on the ground and cry with the shear pleasure of it. I saw him out of the corner of my eye, he rolled his eyes (again without pupils it’s hard to tell if that’s what it was exactly, but that’s the impression I got) and made a face of annoyance.

“Laying it on a little thick, aren’t you babe?”

“Just playing with him, dear one.” an angelic voice responded from no where. “His heart didn’t burst, that’s impressive.”

“You know he’s been tapped,” Coyote said to the air, “It won’t kill him, but you may drive him insane if you don’t stop, and Daddy wouldn’t like that.”

And he was right, I could feel my mind starting to give way to the agonizing pleasure from the smell. The SMELL alone did that to me.

“Fine,” said the voice of a thousand seraphim singing joyously in exalted praise, “A girl can’t have any fun these days.”

The smell withdrew from my senses and I collapsed onto the seat of the booth and was overcome with the most intense feeling of loss I’ve ever felt. I cried with the pain of it. It seemed beyond human endurance to feel this much pain. My body was hammered with sobs as I tried to regain control of myself.

“Now look what you did,” I heard Coyote say.

“There there, little mortal, it’s okay.” said the voice of heaven.

I felt a hand stroke my cheek and the pain started to recede. My sobbing slowed and eventually stopped and I looked up to see the most beautiful woman ever. Helen of Troy? Ha! to Helen of Troy. Helen is a toothless crackwhore compared to the sight that sat before me. Men have bled themselves dry, their dying breath wishing for but one more drop to bleed, for lesser beauty. Entire countries have marched to their death singing the praise of females not good enough to lick this woman’s feet. What else can I say about Aphrodite.

“Is that the best you can do? I don’t think he’ll be able to speak if you can’t tone it down more then that. We don’t have a lot of time babe.”

She huffed, the spitting image of a teenage girl who can’t get what she wants from her daddy. “Would you have me appear mortal before him?”

“That might help,” he said.

“You owe me,” and she flashed him and wicked look, but agreed.

“Just do it, Aphrodite.” Coyote said, getting pissed. You could hear growls underlying his voice when he talked.

Whatever she did, it worked because my mind and my body were my own again. I could look at her without losing the ability to think. When I looked at her now, I couldn’t recall what caused me to so completely lose myself in her. She was still mind-blowlingly hot. Long chestnut hair, skin of the purest cream, her eyes were a shifting canvas of blue and silver. She had a pinkish-red aura. Now though, instead of losing all motor functions and cognitive abilities, I only got a huge boner

“So why did you go through all the trouble to call me down here? I have more important things to do, you know. And then you don’t even let me have any fun with him.” I swear she was about to stamp her foot in irritation.

I did my best to look small and let them work it out amongst themselves.

“Your father tapped him.” Coyote said.

“I can see that, fuzzy dick; so what. What’s that got to do with me?”

“Your father tapped him and Set knows about it. Daddy dearest also did not give him any protection, or even bother to tell him there could be a problem. He has no way to get in touch with Hermes, and you, babe, are the first one that got my message. I’m not risking Set’s wrath, not with Raven so willing to step aside. And since you all are rarely in the mood to help someone out besides yourselves, I had to go through different channels to get your attention. Set has most of you being watched. You only get this much from me because I owe Hermes.”

“You need to let them know that Set will be coming for him, probably soon, and they need to watch it.” Coyote reached for his lemonade and took a long drink.

All of this had apparently gotten Aphrodite’s attention. She was all ears. Sexy damn ears, let me tell you.

“How did you find out about Set?”

“I have my sources. Once Steve was tapped, he started broadcasting like a fucking radio beacon and Set’s minions were all over themselves to tell him. You all have seriously let things slide.”

Aphrodite crossed her arms and lost herself in thought. “Yes, they have, but I had nothing to do with that. Zues rarely consults me on matters like this. I just get the fringe benefits when he finds someone.” She looked over at me, pondering.

“What do you think, mortal? You think you could withstand Set long enough if he comes for you, for some of us to get there?”

“What is he going to do to me?”

She cast a quick look over at Coyote. “Hermes didn’t tell him anything?”

“Nope,” Coyote replied, shaking his head slightly.

“Bastard! What could he have been thinking. Look, you wrap this up, I’m going to go and kick my dear brother’s ass.”

“Okay babe. Thanks for coming. Make sure you tell Hermes who it was that tipped you off. This way he knows we are square.”

“Of course love. You’ve done more then enough to repay the favor. If daddy lost another one...well it’s best not to think about it. Come and visit me sometime, it’s been a long time since you’ve stopped by. I’ll show you just how greatful I am.” She gave him a smile that was dripping with so much sex I thought my dick would explode.

She got up to leave and then looked at me. Not just a regular look but I felt like I was butt-ass naked sitting there in front of her. There was a small tickle in my brain. She was rooting around in my head.

“Poor thing,” she said to me, “I can already tell it’s not going to be enough for you. You won’t be satisfied, your heart is too pure.” She looked over at Coyote. “I wonder what Zues will say when that happens?”

Coyote simply shrugged his shoulders. “Not my concern sweets. That’s a matter for the old man to work out.”

“Hmm...” Was all she said, and then she just sort of disappeared. Her aura grew until it surrounded her body and then she just faded away. My dick instantly deflated and I sagged in my seat.

“Yeah, she can have that effect on people. Mortals especially. Sometimes she can’t help it, but she was testing you. Seeing your limits. I think she likes you.” And he winked at me. “You could do worse then having her in your bed.” And he laughed at something he found terribly funny.

“What?” I asked.

“Nothing, nothing,” and he just shook his head.

“Okay...well what do I do now.” My whole night seemed ruined now. I’d been at Gameworks barely and hour and I’d had my whole world turned upside down. Again.

“I don’t know. You’re definitely neck deep in the shit pool, I’ll tell you that. I’ve done my part. It’s all up to them now. I told you I can’t get any more involved then I have already. I like you, but your not worth my ass.”

“But he can’t kill me though, right? Set I mean.”

“No, but there are worse things in life besides death.”

“Like what?”

“LIke wanting to die and not being able to.” Coyote said, ominously.