Accidentally in Love With a God (2012) by Mimi Jean Pamfiloff Page B

flirting.”
    Flirting? On what planet was this considered flirting? Maybe on Guy’s planet. He had called me human, implying that he was not?
    He released me, and I shook off the buzzing. “The only place I’m going is away from this troll.”
    I turned toward the door to find Arturo blocking my way.
    Astonishing.
    “Seriously?” I scowled. “Now you’re on his side? He threatened to snap your wife’s neck two minutes ago.”
    “He doesn’t frighten me.” Arturo looked at Guy. “You are welcome to leave the half-breed with us. We have family a few hours north and can hide her there.”
    “Half-breed?” I felt the searing vibration of Guy standing directly behind me, but before I could turn, he’d grabbed my waist.
    “I’m sorry, my sweet,” he whispered in my ear. “But I made a vow, and the gods do not look kindly on oath-breakers.” A jolt of pain ran through my body.
     

Chapter FIFTEEN
     
     
    Gazing affectionately at Emma’s serene face, Guy cradled her limp flushed body for several moments before concluding the shock was sufficient.
    He didn’t like using this power, especially given how in the past he’d miscalculated and killed a few unlucky people. Sure, they were deserving of death, and centuries had passed since his last slip-up, but nevertheless, it was a crude and dangerous way to gain compliance.
    Bloody foolish woman. Why does she never listen to me? Well, he had to do something to get her away from Bacalar.
    He gently set Emma down on the dirt floor, propping her in the corner, planting a tiny kiss on her forehead before turning to the elderly couple who stared. His presence, to those who knew who and what he was, was never too welcome. These two were descendants from Petén’s village and, therefore, wary of his kind.
    “I need a phone,” he said.
    Señor Arturo reached into his pocket and handed Guy a thin, flat, square device with glowing numbered buttons. Guy studied the object, scratching his thick black stubble with his free hand. The last phone he’d seen, with its large black hand-piece and numbered rotary mechanism, was in the 1940’s. Sure, during his time with Emma he heard about cell phones and other such modern devices, but that didn’t mean he knew how to use them or what they looked like. For the first time ever, Guy felt old.
    More weakness , he grumbled in his head.
    “How do I use it?” He shoved the phone toward Rosa who gave a quick demonstration.
    Okay, one down. Next: computers, the Internet, and a Porsche 911 GT2. Emma had told him all about the new cars. He couldn’t wait.
    He dialed, hoping the ancient code might still be the phone number—it was. Speaking in Greek, he gave a few instructions to the person who’d answered, and then hung up. “My Uchben have a team three hours from here by plane.”
    “The Uchben? They’re coming here?” Arturo said nervously.
    Guy nodded. “Who else?”
    “It’s that—we thought they were mythological creatures.”
    The Uchben were hardly in the same category as the Loch Ness Monster, or Big Foot; although, they were practically their own race and their society was equally as old. But, regardless of their archaic traditions or military style governance, they were the human embodiment of cultural refinement and enlightenment. They had their own language, religion, schools, and judicial system.
    The Uchben’s original function was to serve as human muscle, an army of sorts, for the more complex and sometimes violent situations that popped up from time to time. But as their trustworthiness grew over the centuries, the Uchben’s role expanded. Since the beginning of the last century, they invested and managed the gods’ assets and acted as eyes and ears in the human world. Regardless of what human’s believed, gods were not omnipresent, though they could view just about any one spot in the world at any given time.
    So what was in it for the Uchben to be the gods’ loyal servants? They possessed knowledge no