The God Wheel Read online

  Lorna squirmed free and rushed past her father. “Is Mom . . . ?”

  Her father motioned for me to come in. “She’s in the kitchen.”

  “I’m Felix Martin, sir. Nice to meet you. Sorry about the late night visit. She wanted to be sure you two were okay.”

  He stared out at the driveway, and I immediately knew what he was looking for. “Where’s your car?”

  “We took an Uber. The guy didn’t stick around.” I almost added the lie of the driver being paranoid that whatever was inducing the comas was airborne, but I felt that was just a tad morbid and cruel.

  My answer seemed to satisfy him. He closed and locked the door. He picked up a shotgun that had been propped up against the wall behind the open door.

  He spotted my gaze and gripped the gun tighter. “Can’t be too safe.”

  We entered the kitchen to see Lorna embracing her mom, both crying profusely.

  A television in the adjoining family room was on, a newscaster doing her best to sound calm. I caught only snatches of the broadcast. The reporter spouted words like riots, wreckage, and pathogen as if all too eager to get their unpleasant tastes out of her mouth. It was clear that end-of-the-world was not her beat.

  Lorna’s mom pulled away from her and hit the redial on her cell phone. “Wendy’s not picking up. It keeps going to voicemail.”

  Lorna squeezed her mom’s upper arm. “It’s okay. Felix and I will go check on her.”

  “That’s two hundred miles away. With the way the roads are choked by abandoned cars and wrecks, it’ll take you hours to get there.” Her dad’s lower lip quivered. “I don’t want you leaving.”

  Her mom seemed to finally notice me. She lowered her phone and said, “Who’s that?”

  Lorna rushed out her answer. “My boyfriend, Felix.”

  I straightened up and did my best to hide my smile. Now was not the time to celebrate my new relationship status. “I can get your daughter there safely.”

  He studied me.

  “I’m sure she’s okay. Probably sleeping,” Lorna said. “She worked a shift at the hospital today, didn’t she? Bet she’s crashed on her couch, Beats on, and her music blaring. Maybe she doesn’t even know about . . .”

  Her daughter’s mention of what was happening caused her mom to unravel. She’d reached her breaking point. “It’s all so crazy. So many people just falling over. Some sort of coma. It’s everywhere, not just here in the States. How does that make sense?”

  Lorna spoke calmly as she guided her mom to the couch. Her dad clicked off the television and got a glass of water for his wife.

  He left his family and approached me. “Come with me.”

  He went down a hall and into a mudroom. He opened a lower cabinet. Inside was a locked gun box. He calmly worked the combination lock and soon had it open. He pulled out a handgun and ammo. I had no idea what type of weapon it was. He fed the clip into the gun. Holding it by the barrel, he handed it to me with the grip forward.

  “I’ve never shot one before in my life. I mean, a BB gun back when I was ten, but nothing real.”

  “That’s fine. Give it to Lorna. She knows how to use it.” Before I could take the gun, he thought better of it and spun around and marched back to his family.

  He handed the gun to his daughter. She protested at first, but when it became clear he wouldn’t let us leave without it, she double-checked that the safety was on and tucked it in the back of her jeans.

  I noticed they did this in the kitchen, out of his wife’s field of view.

  He grabbed a set of keys from the counter and tossed them at me. “Take the Prius in the garage. Stay off the interstates and major highways. Back roads should be clearer.”

  “Okay,” I said.

  Lorna kissed her dad and squeezed him hard. He whispered to her and nodded in my direction several times. She spoke reassurances to him.

  He eventually disengaged and went over to sit next to his wife, who was rocking slightly and staring into space. I noticed he left his own gun in the kitchen but still within reach.

  Lorna didn’t say goodbye to her mom. She dashed down the hall, through the mudroom, and into the garage. She activated the garage door and prompted me to climb into the white Prius. The other vehicle in the garage was a Jeep Cherokee.

  I got in. She slid on her seat belt and urged me to do the same.

  I started the car and stared at her. “We don’t need to drive to your sister’s place. Zartua can take us there.”

  She slipped the car into reverse for me, and I eased out of the garage and down the drive.

  “That’s the plan, but we need to at least drive off and make it look like we took the car. We can park it down the way in the elementary school parking lot.”

  When we reached the end of the driveway, I glanced at her parents’ house. Her dad stood looking out the large bay window.

  Our deities still hid among the trees off to the side. No way would Lorna’s dad spot them unless one or both slipped out from under cover and waltzed down the drive toward us, which looked likely.

  I quickly backed onto the road and zipped down the street so they could exit their hiding spot out of view of the dad.

  They did just that. When we drove past, the pair of gods dashed across the neighbor’s front yard.

  Lorna opened her door and squeezed into the back seat. Kni joined her.

  Zartua eyed the now empty front seat.

  “Get in,” I said.

  “This will be an ordeal.” She struggled to get all seven feet of herself inside the Prius. She had to angle her sword up onto the dashboard, and her knees were pressed tight against it as well, but she managed. Kni reached out and pulled the door closed, and we drove off.

  ****

  We left the car at the school, and Zartua teleported us to Lorna’s sister. We hopped out onto her front lawn.

  Lorna tensed and yanked the gun from her pants. She tossed it on the ground. “What the heck?”

  Remembering the penny and how hot it had been, I explained the deal with non-organic material as best as I could.

  She cautiously retrieved the weapon. “Not hot enough to burn me, but it definitely spooked me.” She tucked it again in her pants.

  “Sorry,” I said. “I should’ve thought to mention it.”

  We dashed up to the front porch.

  Lorna rang the doorbell for a long time. We could see a light on in the kitchen and living room.

  We circled around back. Lorna spotted her sister asleep on the couch, her headphones hooked on an outstretched arm.

  All four of us tapped at the glass of the French doors. Wendy didn’t stir.

  “She is lost,” Zartua said.

  I didn’t like how final her statement sounded. “They’re all in comas, remember? That means they can come to. We just have to defeat the Entropy Queen.” Even as I said it, I wasn’t so sure that would work. The comas had been due to some magical backlash from the queen soaking up all the squires she’d abducted. She’d obviously found some sort of way to nab a huge number. Maybe as her prison had weakened, that had allowed her greater power and reach.

  “Can you take us to her god wheel, so I can be sure?” Lorna asked Zartua.

  The goddess agreed, and we plunged through yet another crude portal, this one even smaller than her first. I suddenly feared that there was a limit to how many portals could be summoned without a break. Zartua looked exhausted as we dropped into Wendy’s god wheel. Her squire was indeed missing.

  Lorna looked lost at this realization. She walked up to the god wheel and stared at the names on it. Her gaze was unfocused. She wasn’t registering the names of her sister’s pantheon at all.

  I put an arm around her and patted her shoulder. “It’s going to be okay. We’re going to make all this right.”

  Lorna shook but then, just as quickly, let an air of calm drift down over her. “Yes, we are.”

  Noticing that Zartua had kept the rift open and her efforts were fading, I c
onvinced Lorna to move on. We departed for my dad’s place.

  ****

  I found him upstairs, unconscious on the bathroom floor. The sink was overflowing, and his toothbrush lay discarded near the toilet. Lorna turned off the water, and Zartua helped me move him to his bed. When I say helped, she really picked him up like a ragdoll, all by her lonesome, and deposited him in the bed with surprising compassion.

  The goddess looked at me. “He is a noble fallen warrior, but his time is not at its end.”

  Lorna and I waited for her to continue because it seemed like she had more to say, but she stayed tight-lipped for almost a minute.

  “Can you get us back to my god wheel?” I asked the goddess.

  Before she could answer, Kni stepped in. “Let me.”

  He summoned a portal, and we returned to my god wheel. It still spun at a frightening speed but seemed to be slower than before. I could actually make out the names again as they whizzed by.

  Lorna took note. “Hey, the names are back. That’s a good sign.”

  “What do we do next?” I asked.

  Lorna eyed Kni. “I’m thinking it’s time for a refresh with my pantheon. He’s not been doing much.”

  The god had been rather out of it during our trips to check on our families. He really hadn’t offered much other than giving Zartua a break from creating the last portal. Was that a sign Lorna was overdue for a spin? It certainly seemed that way.

  Kni gave us a weak smile. “Hate to admit it, but I do feel overextended. Not quite sure my influence has made a difference.”

  Outside of our well-timed absence from the real world, just when the queen had laid out anyone without a squire, coincidence had been rather absent. Had that big move used up his serendipity magic? Maybe.

  Zartua said, “A changing of the guard, it is.” She pulled out her sword in preparation of creating a portal.

  Kni stepped in again, beating her to it. He generated a portal with ease. Even with his influence on the way out, his portal skills were still strong. I wondered just how long Zartua needed to recharge. Judging from how she sent her fellow god a grateful look, I suspected that was a ways away.

  Chapter 12

  Sit-Rep Misstep

  We soon stood over Lorna’s god wheel. It was horizontal, unlike my wheel, and her sister’s for that matter. Both of ours were vertically oriented. Making it even more unique, the device rested within a stone well that stood almost waist high. I wondered why it was different from the others. She also had a scratched-out wedge like mine.

  She spun her god wheel. After five revolutions, it landed on Marrgul.

  Kni disappeared.

  A second later, a large man made of grey rock appeared. He wore a simple jacket, pants, and boots. Everything about him looked chiseled from stone. He walked up to Lorna and bowed stiffly. It was like watching a suddenly mobile statue. He shook our hands. Afterward, we each wiped the grit left behind on our pants, shirt, and breastplate respectively.

  Zartua seemed miffed at the new god.

  “What are you?” Lorna asked.

  “Marrgul, god of strategy at your service.”

  Zartua mumbled to herself, but I still caught it. “More like god of inaction.”

  “There are so many cogs to fit together to make our undertaking work. We really must itemize your assets, generate a list of goals, and assign responsibilities. We shall run a smooth campaign, one that will not collapse in on its own weight like the flubbed campaign of the last mortal I advised. He was a warlord in name only. Couldn’t manage the logistics of warfare in the least.” He stared at Lorna and me. “Do any of you have access to large armies? What is the status of your armories?”

  I frowned. Marrgul didn’t sound altogether promising.

  Zartua stepped in front of the stone god and held her sword high. “Onward to the battlefield. Even now, I’m sure the queen is gathering her forces and preparing for war.”

  Marrgul scowled and drew up his index finger, looking ready to launch into a response that had a high probability of being rather longwinded.

  Lorna intervened and tossed a question at Zartua. “Okay, so you’re well versed in all things violent and destructive, tell me just what this Entropy Queen wants. That’s not been made clear to me. Has it been made clear to you, Felix?”

  I thought for a moment. I knew the queen was a threat to all of reality but really didn’t know her motive. “No.”

  “Know thy enemy, a very good position. If you can get into what motivates your opponent, you might find a flaw.” Marrgul crossed his arms.

  Lorna addressed her god, “Let me take the lead here. We’re gathering intel. That should make you happy, right?”

  He nodded slowly.

  Zartua said, “She wants to bring about Armageddon, a fit of global destruction so powerful it also damages reality. She thrives on chaos.”

  “But if she destroys everything, won’t the universe just be quiet and empty? She doesn’t want that, does she?” I asked.

  “Perhaps I could explain.” Marrgul rubbed his large hands together, the friction dropping a cloud of grit on Lorna’s god wheel, specifically on the scratched-out wedge.

  Lorna looked ready to deny him but didn’t. She nodded for the god to continue.

  “The queen will sow chaos and drive the intensity of the conflict to the brink, but she will find a way to have it not quite end the world. She will sit upon her throne through the dark times while the world rebuilds itself, and then she will start up the end of the world all over again. I find it’s a never-ending cycle with these elder celestials.”

  The world was already doing a pretty good job of that on its own. We were on shaky geopolitical ground even with this villainess locked away. With her out and spreading her dark desires, we didn’t stand a chance.

  Zartua approached me. She studied my expression. I tried to return it to an air of calm.

  “You are shaken, Felix.”

  “Um . . .”

  Lorna and her god tuned in to my reaction.

  I swallowed rather inconspicuously, or at least tried to. Thanks a lot, Adam’s apple.

  Zartua returned her sword to its scabbard and thumped me on the back. “Do not be ashamed of your fear. What you and Lorna are being asked to do is difficult, but you will prevail. The prophecy says so.”

  You mean the one that went up in smoke a few hours back? A sudden irrational thought lodged itself in my mind. What if destroying a prophecy somehow weakened it, made the outcome less likely? I buried the notion, knowing it would do no good to share it out loud.

  Lorna brushed at the dirt that settled on the wheel. Her gaze lingered on the scratched-out name. She pointed at the slice. “Can you tell me what’s the deal with that?”

  Both gods shot each other nervous looks.

  “Does everybody have one? I saw it on Felix’s and my sister’s, too. Is it when one of you dies they’re removed?”

  I hadn’t paid attention to Wendy’s wheel but trusted Lorna’s take.

  Marrgul said, “Not anything to concern yourselves with. They are no longer at your disposal for reasons that don’t pertain to our situation in the least.” He added, “And not all have it, just a small percentage.”

  Lorna didn’t like the answer. She spun her wheel. It landed on a different god. Marrgul winked out and was replaced by a large, bare-chested man. His pants looked ready to fall apart. He clomped toward Lorna, his expression made even more manic by the disheveled long hair that tossed about with every spastic move he made.

  With his outstretched hands and curled fingers, it looked like he was going for her throat.

  Lorna must have thought the same. She whipped out her father’s handgun and pointed it at the god’s forehead. “Easy, big guy. We’re all friends here.”

  The god slowed but didn’t stop. Another step or two and he’d be all over her. I sprang forward, intent on coming to her defense.

  Lorna slid the gun slightly downward and shot him in the rig
ht shoulder.

  The god staggered backward, clawing at his injury. Blood flowed freely from it, which I found surprising. A part of me thought the gods were impervious to harm. Seeing this one wounded made me rethink my take. They were immortal, just not invincible.

  “What’d you do that for, ya psycho?” the god said.

  Lorna drew in a measured breath and again pointed the gun at the god’s forehead.

  “Don’t come at her again,” I said.

  Lorna seemed shocked she had actually fired the gun. She shook a little.

  The injured deity put the god wheel between himself and his host. He spoke rapid-fire. “Just put it down. No more crazy, okay?”

  “Why’d you attack? Who are you?” I asked.

  Lorna lowered her weapon but kept it out.

  Zartua gave her a respectful nod and issued me a thumbs up, as if now was the right time to express her approval.

  The god tore a strip from his raggedy pants and bandaged his shoulder. “I’m Russ, her god of self-loathing. I wouldn’t have actually hurt her. I just knock her down from time to time.”

  Lorna slowly put her gun away. “What the hell? I don’t hate myself.”

  “Not for a while, I have to admit. The wheel hasn’t landed on me since eighth grade, really. You peaked early with hating yourself.”

  “Well, I don’t see why you’re here now.” She marched over to her wheel and moved to spin it.

  Russ slapped his hands down on two slices. The wheel didn’t explode like mine when Lorna had touched it.

  She tried to spin it, but he applied just enough force to prevent her. “Not yet. I’m here for a reason. Why do you think you finally let me out?”

  Interesting. He almost made it sound like we had control over what god influenced us. Part of me liked that idea. I wondered if I also had a little self hate tucked away inside, enough to designate one of my pantheon to. I didn’t think Xexxer or Mnemon were likely candidates. The former had seemed too stuffy, while the latter I shared with Lorna. No way would she have two of the same gods. Now the Dark Cloud character had been a little intense.