Page 93 of The Hard Way

We explained a little more of the situation to Vanessa, and she looked sad. Worried about me being in the life of a fugitive with ultrapowerful, ultradeadly enemies.

I tried to explain the good parts to her. Not getting graphic about our sex lives, but about the places we went, the thrills, the luxury hotels. Vanessa was impressed, but it sounded empty to my ears. What did we really have?

But then Zeus came behind me and put his arms around me and his chin on my shoulder. “We’ve burned through the list,” he said, “but we’ve noticed a few other things we could repair. and Odin wants to have a look at the HVAC.”

“You can’t repair the mechanicals. That takes an expert.”

“He’s an engineer,” I said.

Vanessa sat up. She was interested, I could tell. “You’ve done so much. All the drudge work and now mechanicals?”

“It’ll never be enough,” Zeus said. “And it’ll never be hard or a drudge. You’re family.”

She raised her eyes to mine. That’s what I had.

Family. My sisters were family and always would be—I hadn’t lost them. And Zeus and Thor and Odin and I were our own fierce little family, fighting against all odds. And winning.

~finis~

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