Page 59 of Beer & Broomsticks
“Sure, and why don’t you remind me?”
* * *
Isis waved her wooden staff,topped by its baseball-size amber gemstone, and the image shimmering in her pond dissolved into ripples, allowing the couple their privacy.
“She still hasn’t accepted him completely?” asked a deep, raspy male voice from behind her.
Turning, she pasted on a welcoming smile. “Goibhniu, it’s good to see you again.”
And it was. As provincial as the lessor god was, he was still quite handsome. Today he appeared in a leather jerkin, left to hang open over his barrel chest. He didn’t bother with a shirt underneath, and all his endless muscles rippled with the tiniest movement of his body. It was all Isis could do not to release a girly sigh in the face of all that blatant masculinity.
“Why is the woman being stubborn?”
“I’m sure she has her reasons. Women don’t like to be played by men. It makes them… What’s the word my beloved Thornes are so fond of?Salty.” Isis was clad in a strapless dress of the finest white silk threaded through with gold, and it seemed to fascinate him, based on his unwavering attention. She shrugged one delicate bare shoulder and noted with satisfaction how his hot gaze fell to her breasts. Men were predictable, and she like predictability.
He shook his dark head and managed to tear his attention from her curves. “Yeah, and I don’t know what that means, but I can guess.”
“You were always happy making your weapons, Goibhniu,” Anu said as she joined them. “The intricacies of human interactions are beyond your scope. There’s something to be said for a basic man such as yourself.” She bussed his cheeks then turned and repeated the gesture with Isis. The two women locked gazes, and Isis recognized the twinkle in Anu’s intelligent eyes for what it was. Mischief. “Tell me, what’s the trick to the sword the O’Malleys hold?”
“’Tis no secret. If the wielder of the sword has a true heart, the blade will always find its target,” he explained with a casual disregard to polite social norms as he picked the dirt from beneath his fingers with the fine tip of a dagger.
When they remained quiet, staring at him with raised brows, he whirled the knife and shoved it into a scabbard at his hip. “Pardon me manners. It’s only me two brothers and me. I forget women are more refined, I do.”
Isis and Anu exchanged another conspiratorial look. They both knew he was more than a simple blacksmith. He’d been embodied with godly powers for his skills. His were the weapons that always struck true, be it sword, arrow, or war hammer. As skilled as he was with metals and magic, he created impenetrable armor and amulets to protect those he’d gifted the items to. But he liked playing a country bumpkin or a hulking brute, and Isis suspected it was so others underestimated him.
“Goibhniu, I’d like to ask you a favor.” Anu sauntered over and touched his bulging bicep, fluttering her lashes in a seductive manner.
The man didn’t so much as bat an eye as he stared down into her enchanting visage. As attentive as he appeared to be, he didn’t strike Isis as a fool, and she couldn’t wait to see how this request played out. They were two practiced flirts trying to outdo one another.
“I need an amulet for one of my descendants. Can you do that?”
“Can I? Ya doubt me skills?” A flush started across the exposed V of his barrel chest, worked its way up his thick neck, and settled on his sculpted cheekbones. Goibhniu might be a bit unsophisticated, but he was the perfect eye-candy as far as Isis was concerned, and she could watch the emotions play on his interesting face all day.
“Not at all,” Isis inserted smoothly, gracing him with a warm smile she hoped appeared sincere. “Our beloved Anu was merely wondering if you had time and the inclination to help us.”
His dark brows snapped together, and he sought confirmation from Anu. Her smile blossomed and widened to encompass them all, and she shrugged daintily. “Truth be told, we have a problem on our hands, and we believe you’re the only one who might be able to help. Those wayward humans…” She tsked.
“Are they the ones who lost me sword? I don’t hold them in favor, I don’t.” His growl sounded like thunder in the clearing, and the forest creatures roaming free lifted their heads to sniff the air uncertainly.
Capturing her plump lip between her perfect white teeth, Anu shot Isis a lend-me-a-hand-here look.
“I think what she’s trying to say—and this is strictly my interpretation—is that Bridget O’Malley needs protection from the villainous warlock who absconded with your precious weapon to begin with. She’s been able to retrieve it, but the curse hasn’t been lifted.” With a gesture toward the pond, she said, “As you witnessed, she’s overly cautious about giving her heart.”
Adding an approving nod, Anu touched his bicep again, and Isis assumed she couldn’t help herself. The urge was hard forherto resist, much less an earthy goddess like Anu. “A non-magical woman against the descendant of Zeus? She likely doesn’t stand a chance without your help.”
Lips compressed in a straight line, Goibhniu’s suspicious gaze darted back and forth between them. “Yeah, and I think you’re trying to trick me, ya are.”
“No.” Isis’s sharp retort and cool, steady stare conveyed her displeasure. “I’ve laid the problem at your door. Help us or not, Goibhniu, but never believe we have set out to trick you. I don’t work that way. If you know nothing else about me, know that.”
“Then why help a worthless witch with no magic?”
“She’s not worthless. She’s honest, hard-working, and innately kind. Go. Disguise yourself as a mortal and judge for yourself. Weigh her worthiness against whatever guidelines you have for bestowing a gift and see if she doesn’t measure up.” She crossed her arms and arched a brow. “I’ll wager she will.”
His ocean-blue eyes lit, and the unholy glow told Isis that Goibhniu was about to rise to her challenge. “And what will ya give me if she fails me test?”
“What is it that you want?”
“You. For acoicís.” His wicked grin made her heart beat faster.
