Riding The Storm (The Gods Made Me Do It Book 4) Read online

  “I’m more interested in why you asked a weird question like that in the first place. Lights in a rainstorm?” Lasse took Jason’s hand and although Jason glowered he didn’t pull away. The mating bond was clearly alive and well between those two.

  “It’s probably nothing.” Thor shrugged. “There was a wonderful storm over Manhattan yesterday. You know how I like to watch people scampering about in it….”

  “Were you in a bad mood again? What upset you this time? Did someone put sugar in your coffee or something equally outrageous?” Lasse nudged his shoulder.

  “The why wasn’t important.” Thor wasn’t going to start coming across as needy, or telling his friend he missed him and that was the reason for his tantrum. “Picture this, dark gray clouds, rain pouring down in torrents, the wind whistling through the skyscrapers and all those little worker ants running around as if they could evade the rain drops.”

  “Not everyone enjoys the rain as much as you do,” Lasse laughed. “Go on.”

  “You can picture it, right? All that gray with drab overtones and then, out of nowhere, there’s this one person and he was like in technicolor or something. It was as if a strobe light shone above his head and I thought at first, the light was coming from one of the nearby offices. But the light moved when he did. He twirled around, right there in the middle of all that gray and wet as if he was enjoying the storm before he continued on his way. No one else seemed to notice the light or his twirling.” Thor shrugged immediately worried he’d made too much of the sighting. “It’s probably nothing, but I can’t stop thinking about it. I’ve never seen anything like it before.”

  “Coming from a god, that’s saying something,” Jason laughed. “I didn’t think there was anything that would shake your boredom levels by now. You’ve both lived almost as long as time himself.”

  “I’ll never get bored with you,” Lasse promised, and Thor wanted to groan at the love sparkling from those sea-blue eyes.

  “Can you pay attention to me for just one minute,” he grumped. “Why was that little person lit up like that? It doesn’t make sense. Is there a paranormal type that glows when they get wet or something?” Thor hadn’t been able to shake the colorful person from his head all night and he was no closer to finding any answers, seeing as his friend wouldn’t stop canoodling with his mate. If Lasse and Jason started making out on the rock ledge, he’d push them off.

  “Nereus said when he saw Raff for the first time at a distance, it was as if he was bathed in light,” Lasse said thoughtfully, tearing his eyes from his mate. “Nereus knew exactly what the little wolf meant to him right in that moment. Sebastian said he saw the same beam of light when he saw Madison for the first time struggling in the waters Nereus called at Damien’s club. The same thing happened to me when I spotted Jason fighting in that cage. You saw what that dive was like. You took me there. All that dim lighting and the smoke haze in the air so you could barely see two feet in front of you. But Jason stood out as if standing under a spotlight.”

  “The lights were bright over the fight area.” Jason chuckled as he brushed a kiss over his mate’s knuckles. “I always knew you were a romantic at heart.”

  “It was more than just the overhead lights.” Lasse laughed too. “I couldn’t look away. It was if the light was calling me, shining on you like a beacon I couldn’t ignore.”

  “It was my sphinx that told me who you were. I’m so glad you forgave me for being an ass that night.”

  “Yes, yes,” Thor said irritably. “You were an ass, Lasse’s a romantic soul, but that still doesn’t tell me why one person in the whole of Manhattan shone like a beacon when he got wet. Could he have been part merman?”

  “The only thing that shines about a merman when they get wet, is their tails.” Lasse shook his head. “I’m sure you’d have noticed if he had one of those, flopping about on the pavement. Mermen can’t shift and walk on land – they can’t breathe the air for a start. The only ones with mer blood who can walk on land are direct descendants from Dad, like me. I don’t sparkle in the rain and neither do any of my brothers. I think you’re missing the obvious here.”

  “He’s a magic user that just loves playing in the rain?” Thor asked hopefully. He already guessed what Lasse was hinting at. It was time to put a stop to the conversation. “Come on, enough dawdling. You guys promised me dinner.”

  Lasse grinned and Thor tensed. Don’t say it. Don’t say it. But Lasse surprised him. “We haven’t had a night out for a while. How about when we’ve finished here, we pop over to that British club you took us to a while ago. You probably haven’t been laid in at least twenty four hours and you certainly drew plenty of attention there.”

  Phew, thank you. “It’s actually closer to forty-eight hours seeing as I’m hanging around with you lot. Sounds like a great idea.” Thor carefully stood up. “Last one to the top buys the first round of drinks.”

  That’s what I need, he thought as he started to climb, leaving Jason and Lasse snogging on the ledge. It was tempting to slap them around the head, but he was in a better mood now. A good night out with some adoring fans, and a hearty fuck to round out my night. It sure beats standing at that window like an idiot watching for random lights on the streets of Manhattan. Keen to get on with the rest of the day, Thor concentrated on getting to the top first.

  /~/~/~/~/

  “Orin. Orin. Oh, thank goodness you’re still here. You’re needed up in Foggerty’s office.” Orin was pulled from a fascinating archaic and probably fictional account of the Great War between the gods by some urgent hissing. Looking up, he saw one of his colleagues, Jack, looking like someone had stolen his snow cone and beaten his puppy with it.

  “What’s the matter? Why does Foggerty want to see me?” Orin glanced at his watch and saw it was almost closing time. He’d missed lunch again. “I thought he would have left by now.”

  “Yeah, I wished he had. Gods, this is all my own stupid fault.” Jack sat in a vacant chair and rubbed his hand over his face. “I probably shouldn’t mention this, but seeing as you’re going to know anyway, I can’t see it will do any harm. I’ve been working on a ‘secret’ project for Foggerty.” He looked over his shoulder, but there was no one else around. Orin could have told him that now he was paying attention. They were the only two people in the basement archives. Most sensible people had probably left for the day.

  “It’s all very hush hush,” Jack continued in a whisper. “I wasn’t allowed to tell anyone about it. But between you and me, I think the book is from Foggerty’s private collection, nothing to do with the library at all. He’ll get hell if anyone on the board finds out he’s using company translators for personal projects. But the thing is, I can’t make head or tails of the damn book. The language is nothing I’ve seen before.”

  Orin felt a fissure of excitement run up his spine. He loved a good mystery. “That doesn’t explain why Foggerty wants to see me. You know he can’t stand to be in the same room as me.”

  Jack ran his fingers through his messy brown curls. He was in his late twenties and was married to a lovely lady who worked in the cartographer’s department. Between them, they had two children to support. He’d been the one to show Orin around when Orin first came to work for the Manhattan Library and Antiquities department and had always been friendly.

  “I might have given Foggerty a bit of BS when he first gave me the book,” Jack confided, keeping his voice low. “Foggerty offered me a bonus if I could translate the book in two weeks. I could do with the money – our little Mavis needs a new costume for her dance recital – so I told Foggerty I’d be happy to do it and keep quiet about it. I glanced at the book, it’s only tiny.” He held up his hands to show a small size. “I thought it would be a breeze. Admittedly, I didn’t recognize the language when I flicked through the pages, but I figured it wouldn’t be that difficult to work out what language was used. But I was wrong, so freaking wrong.” Jack’s sigh came from deep in his chest. “That was a month ag
o.”

  “You couldn’t decipher any of it?” Orin’s fingers tingled with excitement and he wanted to translocate to Foggerty’s office immediately, but of course, he couldn’t for a number of reasons. For one thing, Jack still looked upset.

  “It didn’t help that the writing was so tiny, you needed a magnifying glass to see it. But there’s only like four lines on each page and only twenty pages in the whole book. How was I to know the damn thing was written in some sort of code? Even then it shouldn’t have been an issue, but this one stumped me. I’ve seen a lot of things since working here, but nothing like this.” Jack shook his head. “I finally came clean and told the professor I couldn’t do it just before, and you can imagine how well he took that.”

  “At least he can’t fire you.” Orin patted Jack’s shoulder. “Do you think he wants me to have a look at it?”

  “I recommended you.” Jack stood up, bending to adjust the creases on his pants before he straightened again. “I don’t care that he doesn’t like the color of your jacket, or that you barely look working age. None of that has got anything to do with the way you do your job. He wasn’t happy about it, but when I pointed out you were the only one who could read that ancient Mayan slab just last month, he told me to find you. Go on. You’d better get up there. Lord knows it must be way past his dinner time.”

  “Just perfect. You’re sending me into the lions’ den just before feeding time.” Orin grinned to show he was teasing. “Why don’t you go and see if Lucy’s ready to go home? I wouldn’t worry about Mavis’s costume – you know life has a strange way of giving you all you need.”

  “It wouldn’t be the first time. Thank goodness Lady Luck is on my side, because Foggerty isn’t.” Clapping him on the shoulder, Jack left Orin to put away the box he was working on. But not before he’d done a little finger wiggle. A hundred dollars should be more than enough to buy Mavis her new outfit and Jack would find the hidden note next time he pulled out his drivers’ license. Grinning wide enough to light up the archives, Orin hurried towards the stairs. Getting his hands on a mysterious book was well worth anything Foggerty might say about his appearance.

  Chapter Three

  Thor was ready to shoot thunderbolts and lightening down on the heads of every person in the damn club. When had people become so insipid, so banal, so fucking boring? This was his third visit to the London club in the past six months, and on the outside, everything looked the same as it did before. The drinks were stupidly expensive, not that Thor cared about money; people wandered around and laughed in their oh so high voices about things working class people would find heartbreaking. Cleavages and tight asses were in abundance, and Thor knew with a click of his fingers he could have any one of them. But he couldn’t seem to summon the energy to find someone to suck his limp dick.

  It was most annoying. Perplexing. Slightly terrifying. Every person who leaned towards him, winked, and smiled in his direction fell short of Thor’s standards – namely, someone who would make his dick sit up and take notice. But his usually eager appendage was on strike. Scratching his nose, Thor debated on having another drink, although a big part of him just wanted to go home.

  “No one here catching your eye tonight?” Lasse slid into the booth they’d reserved. Thor immediately looked for Jason spotting him up at the bar. Guess that answers the drink question for me.

  “It’s all same old, same old, you know. I think I need somewhere different.”

  “We can do different.” Lasse grinned up at Jason who appeared with three glasses in his hand. “What do you fancy? Biker bar, strip club, jazz bar?”

  “No cage fights, though,” Jason warned as he slid in the booth beside Lasse. “My face is too well known, and my poor mate would have a hernia if someone tried to pick a fight with me.”

  Thor frowned as he thought of all the options open to him. He could think of a hundred places they could go to have an enjoyable time, all over the world. There probably wasn’t a major city anywhere he couldn’t get laid in, and quite a few not-so-big cities as well. Some of his sexiest times came from being in the right place at the right time in some small, out of the way place. But no matter which club, pub, or bar he thought of, he couldn’t summon up any enthusiasm for it.

  “Maybe we should just call it a night,” he said sipping his drink. “Lasse’s probably worried about you getting swollen ankles or something.”

  “No, no,” Jason sipped at his orange juice and grimaced. “Lasse agreed we could stay out as late as you like tonight, as long as tomorrow I spend at least half a day in bed. Where do you want to go?”

  Oh, goodie. Thor was being sarcastic. He plastered on a smile. “Why don’t you guys choose? You know me, I can get laid anywhere.” I’m just not sure if I want to and by thunder, what the hell does that say about me?

  The strip club was loud, garish and made Thor’s head hurt. The jazz bar was full of insipid types, male and female, who all seemed to be wearing beige and green. The biker bar was fun, only because Thor managed to get a few punches in when a brawl broke out, but Lasse pulled him out the back exit before the police arrived.

  “Fuck this.” Thor whirled and threw a punch at the alley wall. “I’m going home.” He disappeared and reappeared in his Manhattan loft. A glance outside showed the night streets were still busy, but there was no sign of the colorful man with his personal light show.

  “Are you ready to admit it now?” Lasse’s voice sounded behind him and Thor turned to see his friend and his mate curled up on Thor’s couch.

  “I haven’t got a clue what you think you’re talking about,” Thor said hotly turning back to the window. If he ignored his friends long enough, with any luck, they’d leave. “I just didn’t find anyone interesting enough to fuck tonight. Tomorrow will be a different story, I’m sure.”

  “Or maybe you could admit that the only person you want to see is the little cutie who loves to twirl in the rain. I bet you compared everyone you saw tonight to him and no one measured up. Am I right?”

  “You do talk some shit sometimes. I barely saw the person. For goodness sake, I was all the way up here. He was all the way down there.” Thor pointed to the streets below. “He was this big.” He held up his hand with his thumb and forefinger millimeters apart. “Hardly big enough to make an impression on anyone let alone me.”

  “So, you didn’t feel the tug to go and say hello?” Lasse came and stood with him shoulder to shoulder. “You didn’t stand here for hours afterwards, hoping to catch a glimpse of him?”

  “I stand here quite often. I like to keep an eye on how my little worker ants are getting along.” Thor wondered how long it would take his friends to leave him in peace. He saw a light coming out of an alley, but as his heart caught and he peered closer, the light was in front of the person instead of over his head. Damn flash lights.

  “You want to see him again.” Lasse nudged his shoulder with his own. “Come on, admit it. You’re not stupid. You know that colorful little dancer is your m….”

  “Don’t you dare say that word.” Thor turned and gripped Lasse by his jacket. “Don’t you dare.”

  “Mate.” Lasse grinned as he shrugged off Thor’s hands. “Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate. Your mate. There now, that wasn’t so scary was it?”

  “Damn it, I told you not to use that word.” Thor glanced up at the ceiling, his heart beating a mile a minute. “If you’ve said it, then the Fates know about it, and if they know about it, then they’re going to expect me to do something about it, and…and…you’ve just made it real.”

  “Would having a mate really be so bad?” Jason asked. He was still sprawling on the couch. “I wasn’t ready for one, but me and Lasse are really happy ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. Every mated couple I’ve met since claiming Lasse seem happy enough. Even that grouch Sebastian had a smile on his face when he introduced Madison, and that’s saying something. Poseidon’s mated for fucks’ sake. He had to be one of the biggest cock-hounds in the cosmos a
nd he’s loving every minute of mated life. It’s not a curse.”

  “You didn’t see the lit up guy.” Thor shoved passed Lasse and started pacing the floor; purposefully not looking out of the window.

  “Neither did you, not properly,” Lasse argued back. “Remember, you said he was this big.” He held up his own thumb and forefinger. “That’s hardly enough of a look to make a generalization about him.”

  “You didn’t see him,” Thor insisted. “He was shorter than the people around him, which must mean he’s short short. And slender, did I mention slender? Tiny graceful body. Hair. His hair was brilliant golden blond – shiny. And his jacket. Who wears a rainbow colored jacket in the middle of Manhattan’s business district on a stormy day? He wasn’t even carrying an umbrella.”

  Shit. The man was soaked through. Maybe he got sick. Thor turned back to the window again, but nothing in the view had changed. Thor wasn’t sure how he felt about that little cutie getting sick all because he was having a temper tantrum when Lasse and Jason wouldn’t go out with him. Somehow, it made his stomach feel uneasy.

  “The Fates know what they are doing, my friend.” Lasse slapped him on the shoulder. “Question is, how are you going to find him again?”

  “I’m not.” Ouch, first my stomach and now my chest. Am I having a heart attack? Thor persisted with his train of thought. “He’s too small, I’ll break him. And, and, I bet he reads for a living or something. I’m not ready to settle down to long boring evenings watching him crochet blankets or something else equally insane. I’m a warrior for fuck’s sake, a god of the storms. I battle giants for fun and laugh about it. The Fates wouldn’t be so cruel.”