Mostly they centered on the handsome vampire whose mouth I couldn’t stop feeling on my own. Or the way his body pressed against mine and made me think things I was pretty sure would send me straight to hell. That being if I wasn’t already going there. Who was I kidding? I was a monster. I was going to hell according to my mother.

“If I’m going to h-e-double-hockey-sticks, maybe I should do whatever I want,” I whispered to myself. The thought was both electrifying and terrifying. To live without a myriad of rules, answerable only to my own sense of right and wrong. What if I turned into a bad person? Other than being a monster, I really wasn’t any different. I hadn’t done anything wrong. Had I?

But did it matter? By virtue of what I’d become, I was damned.

My thoughts consumed me, keeping me from noticing anything around me, including Ernie as he flew in from around the next alley. His wings fluttered frantically and he was breathing hard. “This is why I let Hermes be the damn messenger.” He all but collapsed above me. I caught him in my arms, cradling him so I wouldn’t bend his wings.

“Are you all right?”

“Just winded. You’re damn hard to keep up with when you’re running. And I got news you’re going to want.”

“What news?”

“Those thugs you embarrassed at your place?”

“You mean the Bull Boys?”

He grunted. “Sure, the Bull Boys, I’ve got dibs on them you’re going to want.”

I nodded. Why did I think this was not going to be good? Instincts. I was beginning to hate them. “What are they doing now?”

“Well, they’ve gone after Zeus and are currently demolishing the Blue Box Store.”

I shrugged. “Why would that matter to me?”

“Because unlike your vampire friend who just left”—Ernie twisted around and launched back into the air—“if you help Zeus, he’ll owe you a favor. And let me tell you something, in your situation, you could use a favor from the god of thunder and lightning, previous ruler of Olympus.”

He had a rather good point there. But if Remo was telling the truth, I had a reprieve from Achilles. If I went to help Zeus, the Bull Boys would tell Achilles where I was and that small window of time would be lost to me.

“No, it’s too risky. Besides, I can’t fight. I don’t know how.”

“I thought you might say that.” He fluttered up and out of my arms, his baby-blue eyes deadly serious. “The thing is, your yaya and brother are still there. And they’re right in the center of things.”

CHAPTER 10

I clutched the steering wheel of the sports car so hard the plastic creaked under my hands. The vibration of the engine transmitted through the wheel and up my arms, which made me want to scratch like crazy. That or get out and run beside the car and burn off the excess sensations rolling over my skin. The feeling was so insistent, demanding of my attention, I had to grit my teeth and force myself to keep my hands clamped tight. The last thing I needed was a wreck at these speeds, seeing as I had my foot jammed to the floor, the pedal as far down as I could push it without driving it through the floorboards.

“Slow down, I think I’m going to shit myself,” Ernie gasped out as we sped off the highway, the off-ramp curving hard enough that we were pushed into the side of the car by the g-force. Rubber squealed on the pavement and the car tipped precariously, balancing on only two wheels. Ernie yelled and I made myself ease off the accelerator a fraction of an inch. As soon as the road leveled out and the car dropped to all four tires, I punched it again.

“Where did you learn to drive like this?” Ernie yelped as I wove around cars, into oncoming traffic, and then back into my own lane. Cars and trucks laid on their horns, and a big rig jackknifed as I took a hard left in front of him.

“Gran Turismo.”

“We’re going to die,” he whispered.

I spun the wheel and did a full drift through the next corner, the sports car responding as though it were a part of me. “Nope. But those Bull Boys are about to get a surprise.”

“You realize it’s probably a trap?”

“Yes.” I couldn’t look at him and still keep us on the road. “Stop talking, Ernie. We’re almost there.”

Behind us came the flashing lights and sirens I’d expected right off the bat. Not that I cared. Nobody was going to get between my family and me. Not when they were in danger, not when I’d only just gotten Tad back.

With a second spin of the wheel we drifted into the Blue Box parking lot. People mobbed outside, peering in through the main doors. Above the store, a storm cloud gathered, dark and violent as it rumbled and flickered lightning as if it couldn’t contain the energy.

At least the humans were out of harm’s way.

I slammed the car into park, was out the door and running across the asphalt before the engine quit humming. Behind me, the police shouted at me to stop.

I didn’t pause, didn’t even consider it. A few short weeks ago, the old me would have put her hands up and tried to explain. Tried to get them to help.

A few days . . . who’d have thought a few days would be enough to turn my world upside down? That a few hours could suddenly make me flout rules I’d followed my whole life? Certainly not me, I would never have thought I was capable of such blatant rebellion.

My mom would be horrified. Who was I kidding? I’d already disappointed her; what was another reason to make her think me a heathen?