Harvest of the Gods by Amy Sumida Page A

laughed at my dismay.
    “ Not as much as Eris did, and that bitch couldn't have been a fertility goddess.”
    “ You are correct,” Odin grimaced. “If you did have the fertility magic though, you'd probably be the only goddess who could pull this off without a hitch.”
    “ How's that?”
    “ You aren't fully a goddess,” he shrugged. “Just as you can kill us easily due to your mortal blood, you'd probably be the only one who could alter the magic for the same reason.”
    “ Like when I changed Horus' magic,” I whispered.
    “ You changed Horus' magic?” He was fascinated.
    “ Yeah, back when I first found out that I could take magic away from gods,” I thought back to that day in Ull's apartment. The way I pulled power from the earth and then thought to play a joke on the gods and see if I could pull power from them. It had worked a little too well. “They were all watching me work a spell and I took a little energy from everyone there. I didn't know I could, just thought I'd give it a try since you guys have been taking from us for so long.”
    “ There is that,” Odin nodded as if to prompt me to continue.
    “ Well I spooked them and then they told me why they were spooked and it spooked me. Horus made a movement toward me and I threw my hand out in defense, automatically. It sent some of his power back to him but it was different. I don't know if my fear twisted it or what but it made him shift in a different way than he normally does. He had the head and wings of a falcon with the body of a man.”
    “ Holy shit,” he whispered. “You can change the magic.”
    “ Well that's it then,” I said softly as a thought occurred to me. “I just happen to know of a fertility goddess I want dead.”
    “ Demeter,” Odin's face went slack.
    “ Is she a true fertility goddess?”
    “ Yes but-”
    “ Then there's the solution, I'll take her magic.”
    “ No, Vervain,” Odin sucked in a breath but I cut him off.
    “ We'll try to find someone else but her magic isn't another beast, so I wouldn't have to worry about that confusion. I think I could handle it.”
    “ You don't know that,” he took my hand. “Vervain, you've almost lost your sanity.”
    “ Yeah,” I shrugged, “couple of times, so what?”
    “ What if this magic is the last straw for your already fragile mind? We both know it's gone dark. Demeter isn't a good person, to say the least, so her magic will need taming.”
    “ Unless, like Love, it wants to be good again,” I smiled gently at him. “Look, I don't even know when I'll have a shot at Demeter again, this may be a moot point. We can try to find someone else to help Sam before then.”
    “ I have a feeling that this search will not be fruitful,” he grimaced, “no pun intended.”
    “ Hey, what about Persephone? She does that growing thing.”
    “ She's one of those who's fertility is limited to plants,” Odin shook his head distractedly as I deflated. “I don't like this, Vervain.”
    “ Well, who else you got? Can you think of anyone?”
    “ Well, there's Eostre, she'd probably help you, I'm told she's very sweet, but I'm also told she's even more of a hippie than Jesus is. She's always off communing with Nature and she's definitely into free love, if you get my meaning.”
    “ Odin, after all the times people have called me a whore, I really don't appreciate you implying the same about some goddess that you've never even met.”
    “ Yes, of course,” he cleared his throat and turned a little red. “I was merely repeating what I'd been told.”
    “ Well, keep that part to yourself. Who else?”
    “ Well, ah, Epona, but I'm not certain her magic will work on humans since her thing is horses.”
    “ Oh crap, that's awkward at best.”
    “ Yeah, you might want to let Samantha approach Thor's ex-girlfriend if you decide to ask,” Odin smirked.
    “ You're an ass,” I made a face at him. “A giant red baboon's ass.”
    “ Are you referring to those primates