My Life From Hell (The Blooming Goddess #3)

Presents For Pretty Girls (Part 2)

We needed to get back to Festos' and speak with him and Theo. But I wasn't leaving without my present. I poked Kai. "If I am psychically intuiting my imminent death, then this would be a great time to give me my gift."

Kai looked at me with both fondness and frustration. I could live with that. He leaned over to reach under the bed. I enjoyed the view of his back muscles rippling in the process. When he rolled back up, he held a poorly gift-wrapped box out to me.

I took it and frowned. "It's wrapped in Kleenex."

He shrugged. "Wrapping is wrapping."

"And duct tape."

Another shrug. He really didn't get it.

But there was a present of some sort under there, so I ripped into it with nails, teeth, and a bit of viney light, eventually prying off the lid.

Inside was a bright red T-shirt with the word Phospherocious spelled out in glittery silver letters. I stared blankly at it.

"It's because all your power names suck," he explained.

I still didn't get it.

"You come up with the worst names for your light." Kai grinned, excitedly. "Then I thought, why not combine the word 'phosphorus' from the Ancient Greek for 'bearer of light' with 'ferocious', because when you wield your power you get all kick-ass. Which is hot. So you're phospherocious."

He sat back and waited expectantly for me to say something.

I stared at the shirt again. "You got me a T-shirt with a made up superpower name for my birthday?"

His grin faltered. "Was that wrong?"

"Are you kidding me?" I screeched. "Polar opposite of wrong!" I bounced up and down on the bed to appropriately display my enthusiasm for this most awesome of gifts.

Kai's eyes flared at the sight of all my soft jiggling bits.

I stopped and leaned forward. "Kai?"

His face broke into a wolfish grin. "Yes?"

I was suddenly very conscious of how short my dress was and how very close my boyfriend was. "Got a pair of sweats I can borrow?" His crestfallen face made me laugh. "I want to try on the T-shirt, but not over this dress."

Kai looked horrified. "I don't own sweats."

"Oh, whatever."

Kai grumbled, but he rooted around in one of his cupboards and pulled out a pair of jeans. I motioned for him to turn around.

He leaned back against his elbows with a look of unholy glee.

Not fazed in the least, I shimmied into the jeans while still wearing the dress. I had to roll them up and use the belt already conveniently threaded through the loops, but they stayed put.

I wasn't wearing a bra, though, and I wasn't giving Kai his own personal peep show right now. We had to get back to Fee's. Instead, I did the most awkward maneuver—pulling the T-shirt over my head to cover me, and then wiggling out of the dress before finally stuffing my arms into the shirtsleeves.

Kai gave a resigned sigh.

I looked down at it in sheer delight. It rocked. Even though the cotton was thick, it had that gone-through-a-billion-washings softness to it. And it fitted me to a T, pun intended. It also went very well with the cuff Hannah had given me. "I think the silver glitter brings out my eyes," I said, beaming down at myself.

I was so phospherocious, it was insane.

"I like you in my clothes," Kai said.

I grinned and launched myself at him. "I love you."

Kai yanked me close by my shirt front. "You and me? We're unstoppable."

And in that moment, I chose to believe that we were.

* * *

I tried valiantly to remember that feeling later in the evening, as Kai and I faced Festos and Theo. Their club gear was gone. They were back in their regular casual clothes, and looking grim.

Kai had brought me back a few hours earlier. We'd updated the guys, and waited anxiously while the two went to Eleusis to check out the new ward for themselves.

"There's no way to break it," Theo said.

"You're positive? You checked it from every angle?" Losing the war because we were essentially locked out of the ritual location? Lamest defeat ever, and not going to happen.

"Trust us." Festos sank onto the chair beside me. He moved more slowly and, I could tell, painfully, from his night of dancing without a cane. He used it now and it clattered to the floor as he lay his head down on the table. He had a smear of dirt on his cheek. "We examined it thoroughly."

I rubbed his back.

Festos sighed. "More to the right." He extended his left leg out, gingerly flexing his twisted foot.

Theo gave him a concerned look but kept quiet. They'd had the argument about Festos using his cane enough times. Theo straddled a chair. "Not being able to take the ward down is not the same as not getting through it. There could be ... a back door."

"That's brilliant!" I shouted at the same time Kai said, "Absolutely not."

"Told you," Festos murmured to Theo.

Confused, I turned to Kai. Festos bumped his shoulder blade against my hand, so I continued the massage. "What's wrong?"

Kai waved at Theo. "Tell her."

Theo plucked his glasses off and polished them. "Zeus and Hades placed their ward pretty much butt up against ours. We can't get through theirs to get to ours. Therefore, we can't get to the ritual location."

"Okay." Still didn't get it.

Checking to make sure the lenses were clean, Theo put his glasses back on. "The wards surround an area that was once the Temple of Demeter—"

My hands froze, mid shoulder rub. "No way."

"Told you," Kai said to Theo.

Theo put on his let's-be-reasonable voice. "It's our only hope. Eleusis is like Demeter's ground zero. She still holds power over that place and if anyone can get us inside, it's her."

That may have been true, but it was irrelevant. "At what price?"I yelled. "Felicia already tried to kill me once!"

"Ow! Watch it." Festos shifted beneath my hands. My massaging had turned to painful excavation as I dug the heels of my palms into his back.

"She's not going to try and kill you," Theo said.

Kai made a sound halfway between disbelief and disgust.

Theo rounded on him. "Shut it. You've been useless and basically MIA the last couple months. You don't get a say now."

"I do when Sophie's safety is involved." Kai's voice had gone scary quiet.

Theo went for his chain.