My Life From Hell (The Blooming Goddess #3)

Mommy Dearest (Part 1)

I was shocked that my key still worked. I pushed the door open quietly and we stepped into the small marble foyer. I could hear voices and laughter coming from the living room at the far end of the apartment.

Theo raised his eyebrows at me and cocked his head toward the living room. I took a step forward, listening intently until I recognized the voices.

"It's Felicia," I whispered, as we gathered in a tight huddle. "And her best friend, Kiki."

Theo suppressed a laugh. "You mean I finally get to put a face to the elusive Russian cougar I've heard so much about?"

"She's not that bad." I actually liked Kiki and her totally-inappropriate-for-kids jokes. Brash, overbearing, and loud she may have been, but she'd always been kind to me, cheering me up on more than one occasion after a fight with Felicia. My mother hadn't loved our bond but she hadn't bothered about it either.

"Does she usually stay long?" Kai asked.

Theo brightened. "She's a cougar. You could be prey."

Kai elbowed him.

I glared at both of them and motioned for them to follow me.

We crept down the hallway to the bright, all-white living room. "Lovely to see you as always, Felicia," I said as we stepped up to the threshold.

The shock on Felicia's face was priceless. As was her choking on her drink.

I took in my mother's appearance. She was as immaculately groomed as always in a rust-colored cashmere sweater and brown tailored trousers. Her honey hair fell to her shoulders in exact, blunt edges, probably fearful of being a fraction out of line.

"It would mean more, darling, if you didn't wear rags." Damn. She'd found her voice.

I turned my attention to Kiki, seated across from Felicia on the sofa. She dragged on her cigarette, one hand patting her pouffed up, red-hennaed hair. Her leopard print shirt, worn over a pair of black slacks, was unbuttoned to best show off her goods. She tucked her bare feet and red painted toes along her side.

Kiki exhaled. Her eyes narrowed as she took the three of us in, brazenly scoping out Theo and Kai. "You visit with such delicious friends, Sophinchka." Her voice was so gravely that I'd mistaken her for a guy more than once on the phone. But the sound of her familiar Russian accent was comforting.

Kai and Theo exchanged looks. Theo may have shuddered.

"Down, Kiki," I said. "Theo is gay and both are taken."

"I appreciate beauty." Said with the kind of leer that undermined any potential poetry in the statement. Kiki angled her cheek up and tapped her index finger against it. "Sugar me."

Obediently, I went over and kissed it.

Ignoring Felicia.

Who ignored me.

Kiki tugged me down beside her on the sofa. "What brings you home? Spring break already?"

Felicia shook her head in fond exasperation at her friend. I was very familiar with the gesture, since she'd directed it at me numerous times.

Except without the fond part.

Felicia swirled her drink. "You always encourage her. The only reason Sophie is here is because she wants something."

Yeah, but I wasn't about to go blurting out details in front of Kiki. "Could I speak to you privately?" I asked.

Kiki stubbed out her cigarette in a heavy crystal ashtray on top of the wide leather ottoman that served as a coffee table.

Kai and Theo flinched.

Kiki smiled at the boys. "Nichivo," she said in Russian. "No matter. You can speak freely."

I frowned, confused.

Kai edged toward me. "Sophie," he said in an oddly neutral voice, "A little warning that Kiki is Hekate would have been nice."

Ripping open a new pack of cigarettes, she paused to wink at me.

I open-mouth gaped at Kiki.

Hekate was the Goddess of Night, Magic, Witchcraft, the Moon, and—I racked my brain—Ghosts. Among other things. Hekate had also alerted Demeter when Kai took Persephone to the Underworld, and then been Persephone's companion. Talk about a long friendship.

"But you're Russian," I said, trying to process.

"Da. For now. I needed a new look, and, well, Moskva always provided such amusements." She slid a cigarette into her mouth with a practiced ease. "Light."

I picked up the lighter from beside the ashtray and flicked it. Something I'd done many times before. "Who do you like more?" I asked. "Me or Persephone?"

Kiki barked out a laugh. "You. Especially now that you have everyone's nuts in a twist." She glanced at Felicia, eyes glinting mischievously. "Present company included."

Felicia frowned.

I looked over at Kai and Theo, neither of whom looked happy at this turn of events. I couldn't understand the problem. Okay, there was yet another member of the Greek pantheon to deal with, but this one liked me. What was the big deal?

"How'd you know?" I asked instead. They hadn't recognized her, so something else had given her away.

"The tattoo," Theo said in a flat voice. "When she stubbed out the cigarette." He mimed her sleeve riding up.

I glanced at Kiki's wrist. I'd seen that tattoo so many times that I'd forgotten it was there. The design featured a small circle inside a larger one. Between the two, there was a ring of three semi-circles, almost as if they were trying to keep the small and large circles apart. In the very center of the design, there was a stylized star. I touched the tattoo gently.

"You always did love tracing it," Kiki said.

I smiled, feeling a brief nostalgia for my younger self. "Hekate's wheel. Except I didn't know that then."

She exhaled again, turning her head so the smoke wouldn't catch me full-on in the face. "It's true. You do remember everything."

I nodded.

"Ochen horosho."

I was too distracted trying to figure out the dynamic between Theo, Kai, and Kiki to respond to her praise. Kiki patted my hand. "Don't worry. Kyrillos never liked me having the run of the Underworld."

"Or my father's ear," Kai said.

"I can't help my charms," she replied, with a sly smile.

Okay. That made sense for Kai. But Theo was scowling at Kiki with a hatred I'd never seen from him before. The only thing I could think of was ...

"Holy crap," I gasped. Suddenly it all made sense. "You're the witch that took Theo's power."