Page 30 of Seph

Milly nodded, scrubbing her eyes with a balled up tea napkin. “A god, definitely.”

Oh, goody, Emily thought.More gods. My batting average currently stinks against regular monsters, how would I do with a true immortal?

“Haven’t you asked the other gods? Do you ever see them? Is-is that a thing god-people do?”

Milly laughed. “Not like you’d think. We get together every couple of millennia to hang out, but with about sixty-five million clients a year, you can see how busy my dad is. He has to leave and travel to Olympus or the mortal realm if he wants to chat with most of the other gods. No one but my cousin Hermes ever comes to see us. Zeus, Poseidon, Athena, Aphrodite, Ares, Hephaestus—they’re all way too busy. Or too self-important. Everyone’s so scared of my dad,” Milly snorted suddenly, “and he’s the most down-to-earth, humblest god of all. Down to earth? Get it?”

Emily nodded. She’d have to tell Simeon that Hades hadn’t just passed on his good looks, but also his bad dad jokes.

Simeon and Milly would make a stunning couple.

That thought made her sick, made her fists itch to hit something.

Focus, Van Helsing.

“I get it. So, a god did this. Why?”

“Two motives. Revenge or desire. They want to get back at someone, or they want to get something. Either way, you need to start with my grandma.”

“As... as a suspect?” Emily winced. She didn’t like the thought of interrogating little old ladies, and then realized that Milly was at least a thousand years old and looked like a college student. How fast did gods age? Could they alter their appearances at will? If so—great. Just great. Maybe Zag and Milly had been seeing their mother or her kidnapper over and over and never recognizing them.

Milly looked at her hands for a moment before speaking. “I don’t think so—but I don’t know. When I think of people who could get hurt by someone taking Mom, it would be Dad, Zag, and me, or Grandma Demeter. Maybe someone wants revenge on her. She and Poseidon had a pretty hefty fight once, but... I never hear about it these days. The other thing is... Grandma loves Mom. I mean, all moms love their kids, but my mom was never out of Demeter’s sight. She made single parenting an art form. My dad is the only one who could even come close. Demeter took my mom to sit on her lap in Olympus every day. My mother told us that Demeter was no more than an arm’s length away for most of her life. It was like she was afraid someone was going to do this. When Dad whisked her away and Mom ate the fruit of the dead, meaning she couldn’t stay on Earth permanently... Well, it’s supposed to be a secret, but my mom once said,” Milly looked over her shoulder and leaned closer, “Demeter wasn’t really upset. She pretended to be furious with Hades and have Zeus act as a mediator.”

“Why pretend?”

Milly’s smooth brow crinkled up. “I don’t know. Huh. I really don’t know. I never got too far when I asked.”

“Van Helsing? I’m here.” Simeon appeared in the doorway, arms full of designer label bags. “Ah. This is Milly. Milly, I feel like I already know you, the way your dad goes on about you. Oxford girl, are you? I’m a Cambridge man myself.”

“Ooh. Smart, handsome,andimmortal. Nice to meet you, too.” Milly’s teary eyes brightened, and she stuck out her hand.

Emily pretended she wasn’t thinking about throwing the teapot at the goddess’ head.

Jealousy is weird.

Milly left—leaving a table laden with plates, cups, and cookies.

“Uh. I guess we should leave tomorrow night? I mean, we can’t travel during the day. Unless we stay inside. We need a plan, where we intend to start.” Emily hurried to put the beautiful cups in the sink and rinse them out. Simeon’s cup was stained crimson, and she paused to wonder how Milly had managed that.

“I’ve got a lead. Idaho. The state with all the potatoes.” Simeon grabbed the small trash can that sat by her fridge and took it to the table. He began sweeping crumbs from the heavy tablecloth into it.

“Are you helping?” Emily asked.

“Of course I’m bloody helping! I owe you, don’t I? For going on this little jaunt?”

“I’m going to miss a week’s worth of work,” Emily muttered as she put the cups in the sink. Why hadn’t she thought about that first? Survival first.

Because taking care of myself was always low down on the survival list. Survival of the human race first. Why am I helping the vampire race?

Her eyes flickered to Simeon, who was doing something with his phone and wallet.

The thought of him being tortured, the thought of Minegold being hurled into some never-ending pit of suffering— She winced and came back to reality when Simeon spoke.

He wasn’t talking to her, he was speaking into his phone.

“Alban? Can you take credit card payments for rent? No, I know I don’t live in one of your apartments, but the one Van Helsing rents? Yep. Yep. Well... Pay it through to January, okay? Here we go.”

“You can’t pay my rent!” Emily rushed over and grabbed his elbow.

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