My Date From Hell (The Blooming Goddess Trilogy, #2)

For all the stars in the sky (Part 2)

We came to a busy marketplace with narrow, clean streets. Vendors of every nationality had tables set out in front of small shops, selling everything from backgammon boards to tiny statues of the gods. That was pretty funny, since they looked way off the mark from the ones I'd met so far.

At one stall, a basket of pomegranates sat next to a manual juicer. A thin man pressed fresh juice and held the cup out to me.

My mouth watered. Persephone and I shared a love of pomegranates, but there was no time to stop. I sadly shook my head and kept going. Hannah's head was turned by the blue-and-white painted pottery, while I saw the guys shoot longing glances at the souvlaki stands we passed.

Charcoal smoke swirled up to the moonlit sky from small sidewalk grills as vendors hawked their food to dazed tourists sitting at wooden tables. Cats twined underfoot and added to the overall festive air.

We wound our way through the throngs. A pretty street musician, eyes ringed with kohl, lips rouged, gave Kai a knowing smile as she played what I was later informed was a bouzouki. It was a guitar-like instrument with a really long neck and oval body, and she cranked out traditional Greek music. You know, the kind of tune that makes you want to dance on a hilltop with your arms raised to the sky then maybe break some plates.

After another few blocks, Festos planted himself on a stool outside of the tackiest tourist trap I'd ever seen. The store sold nothing but American sports shirts, their team names spelled out with Greek letters, and novelty Ts with slogans like Ouzo: Making you look hotter one shot at a time.

"Give me a second," he said. He'd kept up with us so far but his foot must have been bugging him.

Locals and tourists alike stared at Festos in his skinny jeans, fedora, and bright red dyed hair.

"One of these things is not like the others," Hannah joked.

The store's eager young proprietor beckoned us in but Kai waved him off.

Festos leaned on his cane and got to his feet. "Lead on."

It wasn't much farther. Kai led us past a shop that had me drooling. The window was piled high with platters of pastries in jewel tones of reds, golds, greens, and browns. I recognized some kind of tiny squares wrapped in pistachio, and baklava in all its sticky glory, but beyond that it was just random yumminess.

A few steps later, we turned into a tiled courtyard, the temperature much cooler due to all the overhanging plants and a Jacaranda tree that still held some of its gorgeous, blue bloom. I went over and patted it softly on the trunk, letting its subtly sweet scent waft over me.

"Hey, baby," I said with a fond gaze. I got a charge off it better than a caffeine rush.

Then I stepped up to the heavy wood door set into the stonework and knocked.

The door swung open, revealing a nine-foot-tall bronze man-creature with a nail in his head.

I fired my ribbons of light and was safely spinning him to oblivion when the others caught up with me. "On it," I said with confidence. "So much for Jack's little security system."

The monster's skin began to undulate in molten bronze, the heat of which dissolved my ribbons.

"Golem," Festos sighed as Kai shot out a shield of black light that temporarily held the monster at bay.

"That's not Gollum," I said.

"Not Middle Earth, darling," Festos said, "Judaism. Kabbalah. G-O-L-E-M."

"It's not that either," Hannah said staring at it in wonder. "Golems are clay. This is bronze."

"Festos is deflecting," Theo said in disapproval. "Probably because he made this automaton."

We all glared at Festos, who shrugged.

Well, most of us glared. Hannah requested a home model. Dork.

Festos clasped his hands on top of his cane. "I may have dabbled. Talos really was some fine bronze work of mine. I don't remember this one, though."

The bronze creature roared and swiped a hotly glowing arm at us, revealing the "FeE" embossed on its flaming underarm.

"Whoops," Festos said. "Now I do."

Kai wasn't going to be able to hold the automaton at bay forever. "Bicker later," I said. "How do we kill it?"

"Pull out the nail. Its insides run out and it dies," Kai said, and Festos nodded in agreement.

"Look at you all with the smarts," Hannah said.

"I'm more than just a pretty face." Kai glanced over at me.

"What?"

"I'm waiting for your snarky retort."

I patted him on the cheek. "I live to keep you on your toes."

He pressed a swift kiss to my cheek.

Ho-boy. I was used to hot Kai. And all its subsets like snarky, smug, and ego-centric Kai. But I kept discovering more about him. And my crush on him only grew. Which made me worry that I was going to fall for him first.

And it wasn't going to take an arrow.

"Fun is fun," Festos said, motioning at the automaton. "But I've had enough. You really make a boy work to spend some time with you," he said to Theo.

"A, this is all on you," Theo replied, with a tilt of his head toward the bronze monster. "And B, I'm worth it."

Festos frowned. "Jury's out, darling." He turned to me and Kai. "Drop the shield, Enterprise."

"No way," Kai said. "You guys get out of here first."

The automaton made some really interesting screeching noises and glowed stronger, as he tried to force his way past Kai's light. He was getting madder.

I placed a hand on Kai's arm. "Be reasonable. We need to get inside and see if there are any clues to Jack's whereabouts. And you can't hold that shield up indefinitely."

"No." End of discussion. He used his scary voice so I knew he meant it.

Talk was cheap.