What are you looking at me for? Claire wondered. When he tried to touch a leaf, she s.n.a.t.c.hed it away from his fingers.

He straightened. "Why?"

"Because my father," Hermes answered, "can't keep his withered old p.e.c.k.e.r in his pants."

"Here now, a little respect," Zeus began, but when he saw the expression on Dean's face, his voice trailed off and he sidled over behind Hera.

Weight forward on the b.a.l.l.s of his feet. Dean brought his hands up, fingers not quite fists. "Change her back."

Hermes sighed. "As attractive as all that flexing is, it's not going to get you anywhere. At least not right now," he amended, glancing over at his father and Hera. "Let me deal with this." Adjusting the belt of his bathrobe, he fixed the G.o.ddess of Marriage with a steely glare. "Try to remember this isn't some mortal or nymph you're unjustly accusing here. Even in a vegetative state, this is a Keeper. Eventually, she'll change herself back."

Hera sniffed. "I don't believe you."

"Then believe the cat. Would he be so calm if Claire's form were dependent on your whim?"

Austin yawned.

"Dean." Hermes turned around, came face to muscle with Dean's chest and took a moment to reengage cognitive faculties. "You know Claire better than I do. How do you think she feels about all this?"

"About being a plant?"

"Yes. Do you think she'll be angry when she's herself again."

"Oh, yeah."

Hermes shifted his attention to the G.o.ddess. "Change her back, Hera. Or you're going to have to deal with an angry Keeper."

"What can she do?"

"She can confine everyone to Olympus. For all the years of her life, it'll be nothing but shuffleboard, listening to Ares screw up the plots of old war movies, and actually looking forward to the night the Valkyrie come by for choral singing."

The G.o.ddess folded her arms. "So what."

Austin stretched and stood. "She can also cancel your cable."

Round circles of rouge stood out against suddenly pale skin.

"She didn't know what she was doing, lambie-kins." Zeus reached out a tentative hand and patted his wife's arm. "Change her back. For me."

"For you?" Penciled brows drew in, wrinkles falling into their accustomed place. "All right. Since you got her into this, I'll change her back for you."

He started for the door.

Hera grabbed the two, three-foot eyebrow hairs and yanked him back to her side, her other hand gesturing toward Claire.

The world didn't so much twist as flicker.

Fortunately, Claire had already pulled nearly enough power to effect the change on her own. Using the path Hera had opened, she stretched, straightened, and felt her lips draw back off her teeth. She couldn't remember ever being so angry.

h.e.l.l's silence stopped her after a single step. She could feel how much it was enjoying itself at her expense. Breathing heavily, she smoothed her pajamas and forced a smile. "Thank you for your intervention, Hermes. Now go to bed. All of you."

YOU STILL WANT TO SMASH THEM.

"Extra points for overcoming temptation," Claire told it. When the ex-Olympians hesitated, she added, "I'm going to try to forget this ever happened."

"Not very convincing," Hera muttered.

"Best you're going to get," Claire told her through clenched teeth.

The G.o.ddess nodded and, still holding Zeus' eyebrow hairs, headed for the stairs.

"Ow! Honeybunch, that hurts..."

Hermes bowed slightly and followed.

Only Dean remained.

She had her hand raised to remove the humiliating memory from his mind when he asked, "Are you okay, Boss?" and she realized that was all that mattered to him. He didn't care that she'd been a plant as long as she was all right now.

But there were one or two things they still had to be clear on.

"I didn't invite Zeus in."

"Okay."

"He just appeared in my bathtub. As a swan."

Dean looked appalled. "I'll scour the tub tomorrow."

"I could have gotten rid of him on my own if Hera hadn't shown up."

"I don't doubt it for a moment."

And he didn't. "Good night, Dean."

"Good night. Boss."

"You know," Austin said as the door closed behind him, "that Boss is beginning to sound rather like an endearment."

This was not the time, nor the mood, to deal with that. "At least the others didn't show up."

"I suspect they keep a low profile when Hera's on the rampage."

Claire slapped the wards back up and staggered to the bathroom. "I need a drink."

"May I suggest a little compost tea?"

"No."