Page 24 of Lovesick Gods (Lovesick #1)

“If this job…was just running after you …” Zeus panted and shook his head with a bitter laugh.

He glanced dismissively at their bags of loot.

“But he’s out there too. Hurting people.

Killing people. Someone needs to pick up the pieces when innocents get caught in the middle.

I don’t even know who that woman was.” He choked out another humorless laugh, not caring that all four Elemental Titans surrounded him.

“Sorry if I don’t feel like playing tonight, Ice Man.

Guess you get a free shot if you want it. Can’t take on all of you...”

Stepping forward to take Oz’s place in front of Zeus, Mal noted that the man didn’t even flinch. “Where’d the fun be in that, Sparky?” he said and gestured that Zeus was free to go. Dom and Lucy gave no complaints—they wouldn’t—but Oz stood tense, conflicted by what had happened.

Zeus picked up on it when he pushed from the wall and started to trudge out of the alley. “I understand them,” he said to Oz. “I know why they do this. But why do you? You were a medical student once, Percy.”

Oz still wore his mask, but Mal could tell his eyes widened. “How do you know that?”

Zeus wore his mask too. Mal didn’t know the man’s face yet, but he imagined he smiled.

“I’m good at solving puzzles. Your father died with mountains of debt you couldn’t pay off.

You were desperate, I get that. But these heists with Cho have made you enough to start over.

We could use a few more good guys in this city. ”

Any other night Mal would have spoken up to counter that, but tonight he couldn’t find the words.

“Thanks for the assist,” Zeus nodded at Oz, then at each of the others, and finally landed his attention on Mal, not knowing that Oz had acted alone. “Almost forgot we were enemies for a minute.”

Taking in a deep breath, Zeus summoned enough strength to lightning jump away and was gone in a shimmer of yellow.

Oz took his mask off right there in the alley and never put it on again.

?

Now, Mal knew that the reason Danny was so good at solving puzzles was because he was a detective. He’d chosen to give Oz a pass despite having learned his identity. In this case, that gamble had paid off.

“I’ll go put that order in,” Carla said with a warm smile.

Mal watched her leave with fondness that he quickly covered up when Lucy grinned at him. Oz had introduced them to his nursing school friend when the trouble first started—or at least when Oz learned how bad things were.

He’d asked them to escort Carla and her son Michael to the abuse shelter in Mal’s neighborhood because her ex was on the rampage.

Having Oz owe him and the chance to get Hermes back in the field were enticing incentives on their own, but barely thirty seconds of the story and who it involved had won Mal over to the benefits of lending a hand.

“Does she know?” Mal turned serious as he looked to the others.

“That Sean was in the neighborhood the other day?” Oz said. “No. Why worry her?”

“She’s not supposed to get overly stressed,” Lucy said. “It’s bad for the baby.”

“Look who’s the expert all of a sudden.” Mal smirked at her.

Oz chuckled. There was no strain between them since he’d chosen to leave the Titans. “Wish I could join you, but I just stopped in to see Carla before class. You two take care.” He made to follow after Carla into the kitchen.

“You sure I can’t interest you in an upcoming business proposal?” Mal folded his hands on the tabletop. He knew what the answer would be, but he still had to ask.

“Maybe next time,” Oz grinned.

Lucy kicked Mal under the table once he’d walked away.

“Stress isn’t good for anyone, Mickey. That’s just common sense.

And Sean’s being bold. Stupid . At first he had other goons with him, but lately it’s just been him.

Sure, we know his father wants him to wash his hands of Carla and back off so as not to piss off you , but if you take the idiot out sometime in the near future, we’ll have a war on our hands no matter who shoots first.”

“I’m aware.” Mal took a sip of his coffee. Usually at Haven, it was sludge, but Carla had a knack for making do with what she had. “I’ll take care of it. Sean was lucky he didn’t run into me .”

“Mickey…”

“Relax. My only plan is to put a little fear in him should our paths cross. This lack of respect is becoming grating.” He paused and met eyes with his sister. “Let’s send something nice to his old man for staying out of it.”

Lucy nodded. She knew how to handle that side of the business. Mal tended to get—at least in Lucy’s words— dramatic .

“You’d think he’d be more protective of his grandchildren,” Mal mused.

“He is,” Lucy said in more somber tones. “That’s why he wants Sean to stay away. But he still can’t bring himself to act against his son.”

It was all too reminiscent, which Lucy never failed to point out to Mal. But their grandfather had been better, done more to get them away from their tyrant of a father; he’d simply died before he could succeed.

Still though. Young son. Baby girl on the way. Abusive father worth little more than the dirt beneath Mal’s shoes. It was a familiar story. Even if, in Carla’s case, no Elementals were involved outside of the Titans and Oz. Mal’s father had never held back with his ice when he hit him and Lucy.

“We’ll just have to clean up the trash ourselves,” Mal said.

“So chivalrous, Mickey?”

“This isn’t about protecting Carla,” he said, likely too quickly on the defensive judging by how the corners of Lucy’s mouth twitched. “This is about protecting our investments in our territory. And keeping the Dunkirks from thinking they have any right to my streets.”

Lucy tapped her fingernails on her own coffee cup. “Funny how quickly ‘our’ turns into ‘my’.”

It was a figure of speech, but Lucy always had to correct him if he dared call Olympus City or any of its streets his .

“Even funnier,” Lucy continued, “is how you can pretend this isn’t just as much about making sure Carla, Michael, and the baby are safe as sticking it to Dunkirk.

” Leaning her elbows on the table, she propped her chin on twined fingers.

“You’re not going soft just by staying a few steps ahead of the real scum, Mickey.

But you can’t deny we wouldn’t even know Carla’s name without Oz, and suddenly, she’s not only safe at the shelter but moving into her own apartment in your building and getting a cushy job right here where you can keep an eye on her. ”

That had nothing to do with how much Carla reminded Mal of his mother, right down to the shade of her skin and curve of her smile. Absolutely nothing…

“Like I said,” Mal narrowed his eyes, “protecting our investments. Oz wouldn’t look too kindly on something happening to his girlfriend. Neither would you, I imagine.”

“Oh I’d kick your ass,” Lucy smiled with equal affection and menace. “But I’m not worried. You want to feel the baby kick just as much as I do, you just won’t admit it.”

Mal squirmed in his seat and Lucy took on a triumphant expression. He did not want to feel the baby. It was just…fascinating.

“Speaking of you going soft…”

“Don’t start.”

“Come on, I know you’ve seen this mystery man more than once now. And Dom is being way too tight-lipped about it, which must mean she knows something I don’t.”

“Why are you wasting her time asking about my love life?” Mal scowled. “Can’t imagine she has much patience for it.”

“Love life instead of sex life. Interesting…” Lucy trailed.

Mal fanned his hands out on the tabletop, anxious for their food to arrive so he had somewhere to look other than at Lucy or into his coffee cup. He wasn’t ready to share Danny with her just yet. That would be accompanied by far too many I told you so’s .

“Focus on the heist, Luce,” he said. “It’ll sneak up on us before we know it.”

She got the hint, emphasized by how Mal didn’t look away when their eyes met. “About that.”

“That?”

“The heist, Mickey. I know we’re down to the wire, with everything falling into place, but with Dunkirk hanging around—”

“We’re not pushing back the heist,” Mal said with authority.

“Mickey…”

“We planned things down to the last detail. Including the timeline. The night guard at the history museum is retiring. New guy starts the day we hit the place. We throw off any of the planning now, we open ourselves to mistakes. And you better not be thinking of testing out that lipstick on this one. We have the gas. There’s only one guard. It’s taken care of.”

“Wasn’t planning on it,” she batted her eyes at him innocently. “Just gave the order to Priestly while it was on my mind. I’ll think of something useful for it.” Smiling to herself, she glanced up and off to the side.

Mal reached for his coffee, and as he did so, he let one finger tap the edge of his sister’s cup. Taking a drink, he waited for her to mimic the action. When she did, she grimaced at its now ice-cold state.

The single flower in a sad little vase on their table wilted as she glowered at him.

“Jerk.”

“Brat.”

Mal’s ire dissipated. He never could stay angry with Lucy for long.

And he wasn’t really upset; he understood her caution, which was smart, but Dunkirk was no real threat to the heist as long as they kept an eye on things.

Knowing that he was mostly working solo now made an important difference.

No one was going to mess up this job for him. Not even Zeus.

If all went according to plan, Danny wouldn’t even know the heist had gone down until the morning after, and then there would be nothing to pin the blame on Mal other than a little leftover ice.

And that would just be between Prometheus and Zeus, not nearly enough for Detective Danny Grant to pin on anyone.

“Let’s go over the basics again, sis. I want to be sure you’ve got the timetable down.”