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Kane pointed to the crossroads. “Second tree to the right and straight on ’til morning.”
Pakhet tilted his head upward and closed his eyes. “I feel the energy. It’s quite powerful.”
The Aztec god offered his arm to Invidia, and she accepted his invitation with a smile. Matilda muttered something unintelligible.
One by one the gods disappeared between the mighty oak trees.
Aergia winked at Kane as she passed by. “Nice abs, by the way. You should go shirtless more often.” The former donkey’s gaze skated to me. “You, too, hon. The two of you together are…” She licked her finger and made a scorching sound.
I looked away before I could see the expression on Kane’s face.
Finally, only Matilda was left.
The Celtic spirit smiled. “I’m off as well. I’ll take the crossroads home. I’m spent after that exertion.”
“Thank you for coming on short notice,” I said. “You know how much I appreciate you.”
“‘Course you do. Isn’t everybody who would risk life and limb for you.”
Kane and I watched her leave in companionable silence. The forest fell strangely quiet, as though all the woodland creatures were holding a collective breath, waiting to be sure the powerful beings had vacated the premises.
Kane spoke first. “I understand your reasons for this, but I’m still uncertain.”
“Sometimes we have to accept uncertainty. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll pivot. Choose a new path. That’s life.” I’d started over more times than I cared to count. It was the price of freedom, and I gladly paid it.
Kane slid his hands into his pockets. “If it doesn’t work out when you start a new job, you get a new job. If it doesn’t work out because the god of war decided not to turn over a new leaf, you get dead people, and it will be our fault.”
“Not all our fault. There would be a lot of names on that list before ours.”
He frowned at me. “You seem surprisingly blasé about this.”
“I’m not, trust me, but we can’t control the outcome. We can only trust ourselves, that we did the right thing with the information we had at the time.” I genuinely believed those deities were going to forge better paths for themselves. They’d tasted the negativity The Corporation offered them and rejected the flavor. They may be avatars, but they were more like me than any other gods on the company payroll.
“Is that your grandfather’s influence?”
“Pops was a very wise man. He would’ve made an excellent god.” I started to walk, but Kane moved to block my path.
“Before you go home, there’s something I’d like to say.”
“We don’t have to talk about the goat.” I wasn’t sure how else to reference our almost-tryst.
“This isn’t about the goat.”
I felt slightly disappointed but refused to show it. “Okay, I’m listening.”
“When I first showed you the crossroads and explained their importance, you were shocked to learn there was no crossroads deity to guard them. I told you that the world was too short on gods and goddesses these days.”
I nodded. “I remember.”
He moved to place his hands on my shoulders but then quickly lowered them again. “Lorelei, what if you’re meant to be that deity? What if the universe lured you here for that very purpose?”
I laughed. “You think I’m destined to be the queen of the crossroads?”
He smiled. “I like how you jumped straight to the top of the royal food chain.”
“If I’d jumped to the top, I would’ve said empress.”
“These are no ordinary crossroads. It isn’t a simple intersection of two realms, remember. This place serves as a gateway to all the realms that are and ever will be.”
