Gods & Monsters by Benedict Lyn

Author:Benedict, Lyn [Benedict, Lyn]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Ace
Published: 2011-03-21T23:00:00+00:00

SYLVIE PULLED OUT ANOTHER HEAVY CHAIR AND DROPPED INTO IT. Tepeyollotl. A god.

She put her face in her hands. Going up against a sorcerer could be difficult enough. But a god . . .

“Sylvie?” Cachita said. She squeaked when Sylvie jerked to her feet, started pacing the room. The movement felt good, eased the shake in her bones. A god.

Maybe she didn’t have to approach him as an enemy.

Yeah, right, her little voice growled. He’s not going to care about five mortal women.

Depressingly true. It was like one of those damn SAT analogies. God is to man as man is to insect. Interaction was based on either ignoring the lesser creature, controlling it, or, occasionally, swatting it.

Still. He cared enough about a mortal to curse Azpiazu in the first place, Sylvie thought. Assuming Cachita’s thirdhand story had truth to it. Tepeyollotl might care that Azpiazu had found a loophole in his punishment.

Or he might be on the other side of the magical divide, mourning his glory days, too lazy to be bothered with human insecta.

Azpiazu had told Sylvie that Tepé would follow him; but then again, Azpiazu expected attention, demanded it. Sylvie had only met the sorcerer once, but she had that much of his personality figured out. Sociopath. Attention whore. It was all about him. Either his fear of Tepé was inherent and false, or a frightening possibility. Gods ruined every party they crashed.

It still didn’t make sense. If Azpiazu was cursed by Tepeyollotl, bartering with another god couldn’t happen: “Curse” or “claim,” the words meant the same thing in divine circles.

There was no way that Azpiazu was bartering with one god to keep another one at bay. But if he was dedicating the souls to Tepeyollotl, if he was trying to appease the god . . . That wasn’t it either.

Somehow, Azpiazu was using Tepeyollotl’s own power against him. Using Tepeyollotl’s strength to hide from Tepeyollotl’s curse.

The god wouldn’t stand for that. He’d come searching for his prey. Azpiazu had said as much.

“Sylvie?” Cachita said again. This time, when she spoke, Sylvie ceased her pacing all at once, found her breath rasping in her throat.

If Tepeyollotl were in the area, the world would bend around him. When the god of Justice had walked the streets, the world had rippled and changed according to his will. And he’d been trying to keep the damage minimal.

If Tepeyollotl were in Florida, there would be signs. Undeniable signs.

“Cachita,” she said.

The woman jumped. The chair rattled against the floor like a chattering of teeth, and Sylvie said, “You brought me here to show me your files.”

Cachita nodded. “The women—”

“You’ve got more on the board than just the women,” Sylvie said. She’d get to the women later. Their information could be easily digested. Tepeyollotl required more thought.

“Where they were last seen, that sort of thing.”

“You’ve been hunting Azpiazu. How?”

Cachita frowned. “You know how—”

“How do you choose the clubs you do?”

“Oh!” Cachita said. “Weird shit happening around them. Like the Casa de Dia restaurant. A man who was a monster.

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