Page 2 of The Chosen Son

I stepped through the door after him. “Uh… hi, I’m—”

“You’re here about the wanted ad?” he asked, already walking away, his voice echoing in the cavernous entryway. A grand staircase wound up and out of sight, the ceiling vaulted at least three floors up.

I closed the door behind me, my eyes taking in the excessive wealth. “Yes. I talked to you on the phone. I’m Cameron Phelps?” It came out like a question, but I swore I knew my own name.

I saw him shrug just before he disappeared through an archway, and I scurried to catch up. The room we entered was just as lavish as the entryway, with floor-to-ceiling windows, plush area rugs, and a grand piano at the far end. He tipped his head to look over his shoulder. “Sorry, I don’t remember names. I got a lot of phone calls. No onehas been the right fit yet, though.” He dropped down onto a chaise lounge and held his hand out expectantly. “Resume?”

“Oh, right.” My stomach gave another uncomfortable squirm as I handed it to him. It wasn’t like I had a lot of job experience. Though he hadn’t offered me a seat, I perched myself onto the edge of the sofa across from him, watching as he read the resume, trying to analyze what he was thinking.

Did his eyebrow just twitch? What did that mean? He was smiling. Was that good? Or maybe I was about to get laughed out of here.

He stared at the single sheet of paper for far longer than it should’ve taken to read the few lines. Finally, he looked up at me, a hopeful expression on his face that did things to my insides. “Can I be honest with you for a second? This is…veryimpressive. Not many people can claim to be a Chosen One. And you saved the world when you were only 14? Yes, this is really great.”

“Oh!” My breath left me in a whoosh as relief flooded my system. “Your ad didn’t say much about what you were looking for.”

“Well, to be fair, I wasn’t really sure myself. I’ve only been a superhero for a few weeks myself, but anyone who’s ever seen a movie or read a comic book knows that all the best heroes have sidekicks. Batman had Robin, Captain America had Bucky, Snoopy had Woodstock. I just knew once I found the right sidekick for me, we would just… click. Y’know?”

“Right. Yeah. Makes sense.” I wasn’t actually sure it made sense at all. “So… what’s your superhero name?” Was that a rude question to ask?

His face lit up, though—like, literally. He was actually glowing. He stood up from the chair and stood in a typical superhero pose, fists on his hips, head tilted toward the crystal chandelier. “Iam… Phobos! God of fear!” After an awkward moment of silence, he peeked down at me from the corner of his eye.

I wasn’t sure what he was waiting for, so what did I do? I fucking clapped and said, “Woo-hoo!” with as much enthusiasm as I could muster. I fought the wince at how bad an actor I was. Shit, I was never getting this job.

Instead of being mad at me, though, he smiled smugly and draped himself back across his lounge, the picture of an aloof, all-powerful god. “I know, right? I have super strength and speed, I can fly, and obviously, I can instill panic in the masses and harness it to boost my powers.”

“Obviously,” I repeated with a stilted laugh, picking absently at a loose thread on the hem of my shirt. “So, when you say god of fear, you don’t mean you’re like agodgod… right? Like, descended from the heavens? Or is that like a stage name?”

He sighed and waved my question away. “Don’t be weird about it, but my parents are kind of a big deal. Not me, though,” he said, with no small amount of bitterness. “I’m what’s considered a ‘lesser god.’” Phobos used air quotes around the word and gave an epic eyeroll. “My twin brother and I have been major players in nearly every war in history, but you know how gods are.” I didn’t, in fact, but he just kept going. “Up on their high horses, thinking their pantheon is better than all the others.” I got the impression this was a sensitive topic, and I was fully prepared for him to rant. My old handler had been a cynical bastard, so I was used to listening to people complain.

Phobos blew out a sigh. “My father is Ares—maybe you’ve heard of him? Anyway, our family business is war, which sounds big and important, I know, but with the state of the modern world, they don’t really need our help anymore. They seem perfectly capable of killing each other without our help, so I’ve decided to strike outon my own. My dad, of course, is skeptical. He doesn’t think being a superhero is a ‘real job.’” He scoffed, a steely glint in his eyes. “I’d really love to show him how wrong he is.”

After a moment, Phobos seemed to realize that we were still in the middle of a job interview. He blinked a few times. “Where were we? Oh, right! So, what can you do? Shoot laser beams from your eyeballs? Spit acid? Talk to animals?” He propped his chin in his palm, watching me expectantly, as if waiting to see me save the world all over again.

“Well, I have prophetic dreams to help avoid the apocalypse, which, you know, I… avoided, so I guess it’s kind of a useless power now. But there is some lingering precognition.”

A crease had formed between Phobos’s eyebrows. “Ah, I see.”

I was losing him! I really,reallyneeded this job. “I have a connection with the elements too, like water, earth, air, fire.” I swallowed hard, a bead of sweat trickling down the back of my neck. “Oh! I have telekinesis. That’s cool, right?” I didn’t have the best aim when moving objects, but he didn’t need to know that.

He nodded. “Yeah, floating shit is cool.” He stuck the tip of his thumb into his mouth, biting the nail. “And you do have your own car, right? It really is a must. I can’t be driving you around all the time.”

“Yeah, totally.” I nodded, trying to keep my bubbly hope from spilling out.Be chill, man.

Phobos frowned, like he was thinking it over. “I dunno…” But then his face split into a beaming grin, all super-white teeth. “Aw, hell, I’m just kidding. Of course you’ve got the job!”

“Are you serious?!” I popped off the couch like I’d been jolted with a cattle prod. “Like, for real?” All hope of keeping a calm appearance was thrown straight out the window, but I figured it was okay to let my inner geek out. He’d already offered me the job; he couldn’t take it back, right?

He chuckled like he found me amusing. “Yes, I’m serious. You’re clearly the best candidate for the job. You’re ingreatshape,” he said, his eyes roaming down my body with an appreciative glance, “and I can feel the energy you’re putting out. It’s electric! I just know we are going to have the best time together. Now, there’s just the small matter of your name.”

“My—I’m sorry, what?” Had I blacked out for a minute? I’d clearly missed something.

Phobos gestured toward me. “Well, what kind of name is Cameron?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Uh, it’s Scottish, I think.”

“No, no, I just mean…” He sat up, his skin glowing, hair rippling, and his eyes went full black. “‘Behold, the mighty…Cameron!’ Falls a little flat, don’t you think?” Phobos leaned back, letting the god act slip away, until he was just the blond Adonis once again.

I shrugged. “I-I guess.” Nobody had an issue with my name back when I’d been the Chosen One.

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