"Leave! Before I kill you!" Chaam raged and then sank back into his pit of despair.
Maggie hesitated for a moment and then wrapped her arms around Chaam's hunched-over frame as he began to sob.
Saints of yore! Máax moaned in his head. Gods didn't cry. Ever. This is too much to bear.
"No, baby." Maggie squared her shoulders. "I won't go. I don't care what you say. I've watched you suffer"-Maggie pointed toward Cimil's cell-"because of that evil … evil cow whore! I'm not leaving you! And I won't rest until I see her pay."
Máax glanced at Cimil, who seemed to be looking at someone nonexistent, and mouthed the words, "Cow whore? What the hell?" She then began singing "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious" while merrily smacking that paddleball.
Máax groaned. He didn't have time for this fucking drama. He had a crisis to tend to.
"Chaam. Brother. Tell me why you are so distraught," Máax said, already suspecting he knew the answer.
Chaam shook his head with regret, the tears sheeting down his cheeks. "I killed them, my own daughters. I seduced their mothers. I had children with them. Then I slaughtered my own. I am a monster."
Maggie punched Chaam, a man twice her size, in the shoulder. "No! That was Cimil! She made you do it."
"No!" Chaam argued. "If I'd been strong enough, I could've resisted her. I'm weak and evil."
Maggie looked up at Máax, and for a moment he wondered if she could see him. But of course, she could not. "Please help him, Máax. He trusts you. He knows you can't lie. Tell him it's not his fault."
Máax took a deep, satisfying breath. These were the moments he lived for. Setting things right, helping others, serving truth. Yep, made him feel like a complete badass. Of course, he was a badass. Who else could pull off the kind of shit he did? No one. That's why he would be the one to save the world. Okay, Ashli would, but he was her protector. Same thing.
Máax said with a loud voice for all to hear, "It is not your fault, brother. You are not evil. You have done no wrong."
Chaam's head snapped up. "What?"
Yes, Máax had gotten his attention, because everyone knew that Máax did not lie. Ever.
Máax crossed his arms over his chest, not that anyone could see him. Fucking sucked to be invisible. "I have undone every evil act, brother. Your children live on and you are free to enjoy a happy and peaceful life with Maggie, and blah, blah, you're welcome, blah, blah, blah."
Cimil suddenly jumped up and started clapping. "Yippee! Give that man a gold star! Woo!"
Chaam stood, crossed the cell, and looked straight at Máax. Well, straight at his ear. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Brother," Máax said, "why the fuck do you think I made those trips to the past? To prove my badassery cannot be surpassed? I already know that."
Chaam stared, speechless.
"Nice shooting the shit with you, as always, but I must-"
"I don't understand," Chaam said.
"I saved every one of them," Máax admitted. "None have died by your hand, and most are happily living out their lives. And for those whom I could not find a safe home, I brought them forward."
"You mean … " Maggie's words crackled with emotion. "Those women, the Payals who can't remember who they are?"
Máax's patience wore thinner by the second. "Yes." What? Did he have to spell it out? There had been approximately a thousand women of Chaam's descent (called Payals), spanning over the course of eighty or so years, whom Máax had quietly plucked from death's doorstep, relocating them before their fates took a turn for the worse. He'd helped all but two hundred find new lives, safe from Chaam's evil henchmen, the Maaskab. Those two hundred had been severely traumatized, leaving him no choice but to employ the help of his sister, the Goddess of Forgetfulness. The women were now safe, living right there on the Uchben base where they could start anew. Not a perfect ending to their stories, but sometimes perfect wasn't possible.
Maggie wailed and then jumped on Chaam, wrapping her arms around his neck, her legs around his waist. "I told you so, baby. I told you. We were meant to be happy."
Chaam's face whitened with astonishment. "But why? Why did you do it?" he asked Máax.
It had taken Máax the equivalent of one human year, working around the clock to accomplish the task, but what the hell. Not like he had had anything better to do. " 'Cause I'm the only one with the balls big enough to pull it off. Why else?" Okay. Maybe he cared a little bit, too, but no one needed to know that.
"But all of those times you traveled back," Chaam said. "You will be punished for breaking our laws."
"Really? No shit. Now if you don't mind," Máax grumbled.
"Thank you, Máax. Thank you," Maggie offered.
Chaam glared at Cimil. "You are not off the hook, Cimil. I still have a score to settle with you."
Roberto moved in front of Cimil's cell, faced Chaam, and crossed his arms. "Over my dead body."
"That, my vampire friend, can be arranged." Chaam's eyes flickered over the faces of every vampire standing guard.
Maggie nudged Chaam. "Will you stop, you arrogant, overgrown manchild? Don't you see what's happened? You can let go of your guilt. You're free-well, sort of-and we're together."
Chaam looked down at Maggie and threaded his fingers through her mahogany-colored hair. "Yes. Yes. Of course. You are right."
"Oh," Máax added. "And brother? Before you thank me again, I'd like to point out that you're now the proud father of two hundred daughters. Good fucking luck with that."
Maggie squealed. "I've always wanted a big family!"
Chaam's lips hardened for several moments, but then he grinned. "So have I, actually."
Sloppy tongues began to fly, and Máax suddenly wished that they were invisible. Or that the prison cell had tinted glass, anything to hide what these two looked like they were about to do.
Oh, well. At least they'd stopped talking. Máax could go back to focusing on his own damned carnival-of-crap situation.
Máax's mind drifted to visions of Ashli.
Ashli. Mmmm. Ashli. Gods, why couldn't he control the wanting and lust for a few lousy minutes? It was as if she'd taken over his mind. And his cock.
He leered at Cimil who disco danced to a phantom song in her cell. "Cimil?" Máax warned. "We need to talk. Now."
She ignored him completely.
He walked over and pounded on the glass. Surprisingly, Roberto took a step back, though he remained on his guard.
Good choice, asshole. Máax was in no mood to play Cimi-games. "I know you are hiding something."
She stopped dancing and raised her brows. "I hide nothing!" She covered one side of her mouth and whispered, "Except for the new unicorn tat on my bum. It's a surprise for Roberto." Cimil paused for an accomplished sigh.
Máax was not amused. "Tell me what you really know about Ashli. And do not play stupid, because clearly you have deceived me."
Cimil pointed to herself. "Moi? Well, I have been known to lie. But what can I say? That's how I hop." Her disco move transformed into a bunny hop to prove her point.
"This isn't a joke," Máax growled. "She's going to die, and I won't be able to stop it if you don't help me."
"Cimiiiil? What is going on?" asked Roberto who stepped to Máax's side. "I, too, am beginning to suspect there is more going on here than a simple attempt to halt the end of the days."
Máax was surprised by Roberto's suspicious attitude.
Cimil's eye toggled between the floor and Roberto's face. "Okay. You got me." She held up her hands.
"Speak, my evil little turnip," Roberto prodded.
"Well," she said, "I do have another reason for this lockdown. I kinda thought this would be a nice opportunity for a family therapy session."
Roberto visibly fumed. "You locked everyone up for that?"
"Nooo, you locked them up! This was all your idea. Okay. Maaaaybe I planted the idea in your head. But!" She held up her index finger. "When I told you that the gods go to war against each other and destroy the planet, that was true. What I didn't tell you was that we are also carrying massive quantities of baggage. It's time to let it all go and find peace. I mean, whether we all live or die, it would be nice. Don't you think?"