Page 11 of Blaze of Our Lives

I wasn’t sure if it was a trick question or just the regular ambiguous behavior that the Immortals tended to favor.

“Yep. Eyes,” I confirmed.

“That ain’t how you see the Higher Power,” Candy Vargo volunteered.

I stood silently and stared at her. My fingers twitched with the urge to zap her ass back to next Tuesday, and that wasn’t a great sign. Candy was a powerful ally, powerful being the operative word, and chances were good, all that would happen is that I’d end up pissing her off. Did I really need a pissed-off Keeper of Fate on my hands? No. No, I did not. Not if I wanted to get Pandora out of her new box, aka my head. I clenched my hands into fists to keep my frustration under control before I blew it.

Abaddon, who must’ve sensed my patience wearing thin, came to my rescue. “Think of it like an immersive experience.”

“Like one of those water tanks where you get all weightless and shit,” Cher chimed in.

“Not really,” Abaddon said. “It’s a state of mind. Sort of.”

Cher clapped excitedly. “Like wearing those fancy VD goggles the kids love these days.”

“Are their goggles for venereal diseases?” Tim asked with a horrified expression.

Candy flicked a toothpick at him. “She means VR goggles. Virtual reality, not a sexually transmitted disease.” She sniffed. “It ain’t a half-bad notion.”

Cher preened at her buddy’s compliment, her green and red lips smacking as she grinned.

I shook my head. “Unless someone actually has goggles that will get me where I need to go, this is really unhelpful.” Vague answers about immersive experiences were not going to work. “Okay. Let me try again. Where is the Higher Power?”

“On a different plane,” Tim said. “Similar to the Darkness and the Light, but different.”

Again, I wanted to smack everyone. “Do we transport there?”

No one spoke.

So, I did. “Like to the different plane? Do we transport?”

Silence.

I was half ready to open the metal door in my mind and ask Pandora. She had been in the presence of the Higher Power. At least, I thought she had. After all, It had given her the box—the box that she eventually became.

Thinking linearly was probably wrong. I was all human until very recently. Understanding and accepting a concept that people who had lived for millions of years could barely grasp was hard. Not necessarily impossible, but fucking hard.

“Let’s break this down.” I began to pace the room. “Either no one knows the answers, or you’re not allowed to share. However, I have the Shitty Whore inside me, and I want her out. If there’s another way to do that, I’m all ears. If that’s not the case, then I have to get to the Higher Power, and I would seriously appreciate some layman’s instructions.”

Tim glanced over at Candy Vargo. His look was loaded. I was aware that they were besties even though she’d apparently mowed him down with a chariot and chopped off his legs a few centuries ago.

“Candy,” he said, sounding far more serious than when he’d suggested pinching my weenus. “We must share what we know. Losing both Goddesses of the Darkness would bring on the end.”

Candy slammed her hands down on the coffee table. “Only fucking problem we have is that it ain’t explainable.”

I closed my eyes and shook my head. It was the opening of the front door that kept me from screaming. Lilith and Gideon were back. My mother looked pale and resigned, but she wasn’t sobbing. The Grim Reaper was tense. I was beginning to think that was his normal disposition.

“It’s explainable,” Lilith said. “However, the reality is always up for personal interpretation.”

I rolled my eyes. At this point, I was ready to shove my hand down my throat and see if I could pull Pandora out. However, I’d wait and hear what my mother had to say.

The party hadn’t started yet, but I had a wonky feeling it was about to.

CHAPTER FOUR

Gideon took a look at the food and gagged—didn’t even attempt to hide it. I bit down on my bottom lip to keep from laughing. Hurting Tim’s feelings wasn’t on the table. I agreed with the Grim Reaper’s opinion of the dish Tim had created, but it was funny to see the Demon look as if he was going to lose his cookies.

With everything spiraling into I didn’t even know what, it was nice to have a moment of levity.

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