Page 70 of You Can't Fight Lightning
Even now, after two months, I felt amazement at how this felt. This was why humans had, for millennia, been willing to go to such lengths for love. In all the thousands of years I’d been in existence, I’d never cared for anyone like this. Not ever. I mean, I loved all my children, even when they made me want to zap them into oblivion, but this was different.
To me, it was because Roxy was different. She didn’t care that I’d once been the most powerful being in the universe. Well, perhaps on Earth. I was willing to admit that ‘in the universe’ might have been taking exaggeration to a new level. Not all that much, but it was perhaps a bit over the top.
After our last fight, Roxy had, as she’d said, been careful and cautious. I made amends where I could to the descendants of some of my past loves, and for those who had passed on—which was all of them—I made sure that they were not in the Asphodel Meadows. There was nothing wrong with the meadows, but it was the part of the Underworld where those who had no greatness, nor any great evil, were sent. There were also a few in the Mourning Fields, reserved for those who lived a life of unrequited love. When I thought of them, I felt guilty. But Roxy had helped. She insisted that all my former amours and my children were to be allowed into the Elysium Fields, where souls lived an existence of rest, of comfort, even of joy.
“They have earned it.” The look in Roxy’s eyes brooked no discussion from me.
I’d done it. Then I’d done the hardest thing—admit to Roxy that she was right. By making amends, I was able to lift a burden I hadn’t realized I’d been carting around. And it freed me—freed me to love. It freed me to accept love. She had been right to insist on the things I’d done.
I heard a whooping in the stands, and something about the voice caught my ear. Scanning the people in the stands, I saw Nyx, a pair of large silver glasses covering most of her face. The diamonds—yes, diamonds—on the frame sparkled in the sun. But she was dressed in black and gold, the colors of Big Pete’s Biker Bar team. She waved, her face cheerful as she gave me a wide smile. I’d never seen her smile like that. Or in the bright daylight like this. Then she jerked her head to the right.
The assault of pink that hit me was unexpected.
Hera.
Like Nyx, Hera was smiling broadly, and she waved.
I waved back.
“Old girlfriends?” Roxy’s voice was husky in my ear.
“Well, the one with the sunglasses is Nyx, who is a friend, and the walking cotton candy is my former wife, known to one and all as Hera.”
Whatever she’d been expecting, it wasn’t that. Her arm slid through mine. “Hera?” The words came out in a whisper with a touch of anger behind them.
“Yes. But nothing for you to worry over, as you well know.”
Roxy leaned into me. The intensity radiated from her like rays of sun on a bright summer day, but with a hint of a wicked thunderstorm right behind the sun.
Much like me, I realized. That’s what made her so perfect. She was like me. She understood me.
How in Hades had it taken me all this time to realize it?
“Because you’re a man.” Roxy’s words tumbled into my ear as she bit the bottom of my earlobe.
“You have no idea what I was thinking.” I didn’t do that with her unless we were alone, generally naked. The sharing with one another, the opening of our souls to one another, had turned into something so amazing, so special. I never wanted it to end.
“I don’t need to. Whatever it was, it’s because you’re a man.”
“Yours.” I kissed her fiercely, pulling me to her. I wished the damn game was over.
“Easy. I’m up.” She pushed me away and walked out of the dugout, a spring in her step. Once at bat, she hit the ball with a crack that was shocking, and then tossed the bat aside and raced for first base. She made it to second and then gave a thumbs-up to the general direction of the dugout.
It was my turn. As I stepped out, Hera and Nyx both clapped, with Nyx whooping again in a decidedly non-Nyx manner. I ignored them. Swinging the bat, I let my muscles stretch. I had to play this as a human. None of my real strength.
Okay. Roxy was on second, which meant I needed to hit a home run, but nothing too insane. Just your standard, human-sized home run. Nothing like my normal godlike strength.
The ball cracked against my bat in a satisfying manner, and I jogged toward first. Roxy made it to third, and sped around, heading for home. The ball was long gone, so I took my time working my way around the rest of the bases.
When I got to home, and kept going past it toward the dugout, Roxy jumped at me. I caught her just in time as she kissed me.
“That was great!” She kissed me again.
“I meant what I said.” I held her eyes. “In the dugout. I’m yours. Forever.”
Her smile faded. “What does that mean?”
“It means whatever you want. I can make you immortal.”
