by Amy Sumida
“I'm good,” Viper said again.
“I know.” I took a seat on the deck chair beside him and admired the streaks of lavender and gold that painted the sky. “But I still have something to tell you.”
I'd decided that Viper needed to know everything; he deserved to know. And now was the perfect time to tell him.
“I'm going to be okay, Vervain. Better than okay.” He took my hand. “I feel... I feel as if this is the way things are supposed to be for me. As if I've been heading toward this for a long time.”
“I'm glad, and I agree. I think you have been heading here. To me.” I gave him a soft look.
“I'm glad we're on the same page.” Viper lifted my hand for a kiss.
“More than a page; we're on the same thread.”
“Now, you've lost me.” His expression went blank.
“I've spoken to Faerie and Alaric. They are the Consciousness of the Faerie Realm and the Void respectively. They've been guiding my life; protecting me when they could and leading me down my thread of Fate. Sometimes, multiple threads of Fate.”
“Threads. Okay; got it. So, you're even more special than I thought.” He paused to chuckle then gave me a little frown. “Consciousness? Are they like supreme gods?”
“Not in the way that the Dark Star was trying to be, but yes. They are the sentience of the magic that powers those realms. Alaric also looks after the Human Realm and the Aether, but I usually shorten his title to the Consciousness of the Void.”
“Well, of course, you do. No one likes extensive titles; they sound pompous. It's much better to go with something short and to the point. Like; the Viper.” He winked at me.
“Precisely.” I giggled.
“So, these supreme gods told you that we are on the same thread of Fate?” Viper's eyes went soft, the green darkening to sage.
“Not exactly; I was just waxing poetic. They said—” I shook my head and started again, “You told me once that you were waiting for me in the Void; that you knew I'd come for you.”
“I knew that I was waiting for someone or something important,” he corrected. “When you came to the Void, I recognized you as that someone.”
I went quiet, thinking it through. I was botching this; explaining it badly. I needed to go back just a little further so he'd get the full picture.
“Al told me a long time ago that Toby and I weren't meant to be,” I whispered and looked away. “I brought him into my life anyway. I couldn't...” I shook my head.
“You loved him,” Viper said simply.
I nodded. “But now I understand that I was never meant to be with him. Toby is someone who needed to come into my life and influence me but not become intimate with me. He wasn't meant to stay.”
“So, you're okay with letting him go?”
“Understanding doesn't change the way I feel,” I said softly. “I'm not okay with it, but I will be eventually. I'll be okay because Alaric and Faerie both told me that you were meant to be in my life. I didn't mess things up when I brought you into the world. We are not a mistake or a deviation; we're meant to be.”
“I told you that.” He grinned smugly.
“No, it's more than that. More than romantic words. I...” I tried once more, “Awhile back, my fate got messed up. I had more than one fate, one for each of my souls, and the threads got tangled. Then evil infected my star, and I broke off from Fate completely. But even when I was drowning in evil, separated from destiny, my soul knew who to turn to. It was drawn to you because even without Fate, we are connected. You weren't meant to be in my life so soon, but you were meant to be in it. You helped me realign my threads. You healed them and set me on the right path again.”
“No, Vervain.” Viper stood and pulled me to my feet to face him. “You are my path. You led me out of the Void and brought me back to life. You found me, and we found our destiny together.”
“I suppose we did.”
“I don't care about Fate or the Consciousness of Realms.” He cupped my face with his large palm. “None of that matters to me. You could stand here and tell me that the Universe thinks we're a mistake, that we were never meant to be together, and I still wouldn't care. Toby's a fool; he should have fought for you. He had a chance to love you and be loved by you, but he tossed it aside. For what? To have a woman to himself? What the hell does that matter when the woman won't be you? Fated or not, I'm here to stay, Vervain. You gave me your heart, and I'm never giving it back. It's mine as much as this body that you gave me is. I'll fight for you, or with you, or even against you to keep our love safe. What we have is stronger than magic or some cosmic plan. Nothing, not even Destiny or a supreme god, can take me away from you. I fucking dare them to try.”
Al's voice echoed from my memories, The Viper has forged a destiny for himself as well; a magnificent one. Viper may not care about Fate, but it cared about him. Hearing him declare himself, watching his passion and determination animate his body, I knew that Al was right. Viper was going to shine brighter than even I had expected.
“You're right,” my voice had gone rough with emotion. “Nothing will take you away from me, because we'll defend our love together and together, we are invincible.”
I lifted my lips to Viper's and as the sun sank behind the mountains and darkness covered my territory, I kissed my star god and finally accepted my fate. Despite Viper's protests, I knew that Fate did matter but it wasn't some entity to fight for or against. The pattern formed in my mind; the intricate weave that had brought us together. All of us. Trevor the Wolf. Kirill the Lion. Arach the Dragon. Azrael the Angel of Death. Odin the God of Death and Transformation. Re the God of the Sun. Viper the Star. And me, holding all of them together. The Sun, the Star, and the Moon to rule the heavens. Wolf bound by the Moon and connected to the Lion and the Dragon by their primal natures. Dragon tied to the Sun by fire and sky. Angel bound to the sky and Death. Death aligned with Transformation. Transformation that ruled the Lion, Wolf, Dragon, and Viper. Viper the Star, which takes us back to Heaven. So many connections. So many threads woven together too tightly to see at first glance. You have to look deeper to find their individual colors; to recognize the parts that made up the whole.
Fate is a funny thing. Go ahead and deny it. Fight it all you want. You might even win for a short time. But Destiny will catch you in the end. I thank my lucky stars for that.
Keep reading for a sneak peek into the next book in the
Godhunter Series:
Destiny Descending
Chapter One
A high-pitched shriek echoed out to the veranda where I was having a tea party with Lesya on a Persian rug. We both looked toward the open front doors of Pride Palace where an anaconda came slithering out followed by an angry werelion. The snake was actually a giant pit viper. When it reached the bottom of the veranda steps, it transformed into a gorgeous, naked man, powerfully built with dark hair and eyes the color of the viper's scales; a shocking lime green. The man immediately bent over double in laughter. The werelion in pursuit stopped at the top of the steps to furiously shake his fist at Viper, my newest lover.
“I swear to my goddess, Viper, if you jump out at me like that again, I'm going to shift into a lion and literally bite your head off!” Aidan shouted.
At the door, a horde of Intare chortled with glee.
“And the rest of you can stick it up your furry—”
“Aidan!” I shouted before he could finish his sentence.
Aidan looked over at Lesya and me then grimaced. “Tima, your new boy toy has taken to scaring me in his snake form!”
Viper's newly discovered shifting abilities came in handy for torturing the Intare; specifically Aidan, who had previously held the title of the Most Annoying Male in the palace. Aidan had tried his tricks on Viper, in the way that men do when they're bonding, and Viper—the still-laughing Viper—had turned the tables on Aidan and stolen his coveted title. Much to the delight of the rest of the Intare.
“Viper, please st
op scaring Aidan,” I admonished my star god. “You know he has a snake phobia.”
“That's precisely why I do it,” Viper came striding up the steps and plopped down onto a chair beside me.
Shifters; they have no shame. Thankfully, my daughter is a shifter too, and she had seen plenty of naked people in her life. This was normal for her. I hope that she marries a shifter someday because otherwise, her husband (or husbands, most likely, she's inherited my lioness magic, after all) will be in for a big surprise.
“You're exploiting my weakness!” Aidan shouted at Viper.
“You shouldn't have told me about it if you didn't want it exploited,” Viper reasoned.
“I didn't! You shifted and saw my reaction.”
“As I said; you shouldn't have told me about it.”
“Well done, Viper!” Aaron, our resident Fabio-look-alike, smacked Viper's shoulder. “You got him to scream like a girl; that's rare.”
“The funniest thing I've heard in ages,” Kevin agreed.
“That was you, Uncle Aidan?” Lesya asked innocently.
“No, Lesya,” Aidan said adamantly, “that was a bird. I don't scream; I'm Intare.”
“I'm Intare, and I scream,” she said.
I pressed my lips together to keep from laughing but little amused sounds were puffing out of my nose.
“But you're a girl,” Aidan argued. “It's okay for you to scream like a girl if you are a girl.”
“That sounds sexist.” Lesya crossed her arms and glared at Aidan.
Aidan gaped at her while the rest of us burst out laughing.
“Where did you even hear that word?” Aidan asked Lesya.
“Mommy.”
“Of course.” Aidan grimaced and rolled his eyes. “It wasn't sexist, Lesya. Intare are led by a goddess. We obey a woman so we can't be sexist. It's impossible.”
“I'm not sure that's right.” Lesya frowned in thought.
“That's my girl!” I stroked Lesya's thick, ebony curls affectionately. “So smart.”
Lesya beamed at me.
“I'd flee before she remembers you're here,” Viper whispered to Aidan.
“This isn't over, Snake,” Aidan vowed as he pushed through the crowd of laughing lions and disappeared into the palace.
“I'm a viper; get it right!” Viper called after Aidan.
“Slithering snake!” Aidan shouted back.
After congratulating Viper on his latest victory, the lions went back into the palace, and Viper leaned forward to check out the plates of tiny sandwiches and little cups of juice that Lesya and I had spread between us.
“Can Uncle Viper have some tea too?” He asked Lesya.
“Yes!” Lesya cried excitedly and quickly gathered a new place setting from the wooden box that held the coveted tea set she'd gotten as a birthday present.
Lesya set the teacup down on its saucer then filled it from the pitcher of apple juice nearby. Then a tiny plate painted in delicate roses joined it. A miniature sandwich and one cookie went on the plate; everything set precisely.
“Here's your tea, Uncle Viper. You can have more when you're finished, but Mommy says you can't put too much on your plate at one time. It's not proper eti-cake.”
“Etiquette,” I whispered to her.
“Thank you, baby girl.” Viper slid off the chair and sat between Lesya and me. “And Mommy is right; she knows all about having too much on your plate.”
I lifted a brow at Viper as he got settled into a cross-legged position. He grinned back innocently and lifted his little teacup to his sensual lips. I shook my head and chuckled but as I looked away, my glance landed in his lap... on the impressive package he had on full display.
“Here, honey, have a napkin.” I laid a linen napkin over Viper's lap.
“Why, thank you.” He winked at me. “I wouldn't want to get crumbs all over myself.”
“No, that would be bad.” I rolled my eyes.
Viper popped the sandwich into his mouth and quickly followed it with the cookie.
“This one is my favorite,” Lesya said as she refilled Viper's plate. “But try to eat it slower. Mommy says that you eat slowly when you have tea. You nibble.”
“Oh?” Viper looked from Lesya to me. “You eat slowly with tea, eh? Nibble?”
“I don't know where you're intending on taking that sentence, but don't go there.” I narrowed my eyes at Viper.
“Whatever do you mean?” Viper blinked his long lashes at me.
“You're silly, Uncle Viper!” Lesya declared.
“Thank you,” Viper nodded to Lesya as if she'd just given him the most prestigious compliment.
“When you drink tea, you're supposed to lift your pinky finger like this.” Lesya showed Viper the proper pinky position as she took a sip.
“Vervain, we...” Trevor stepped out onto the veranda, his words trailing away as he took in the tea party and its guests.
“Yes?” I lifted my brows at him.
“Would you care for some tea?” Viper asked in a British accent and then lifted his tiny cup with his pinky extended.
Trevor chuckled and shook his head. “No, I'm good, thanks. But we need you in here, Minn Elska. You have a guest.”
“Go ahead,” Viper said to me. “I'll stay with Lesya.”
“Thanks, honey.” I kissed Viper's cheek and then Lesya's. “I'll be right back. Don't let Uncle Viper eat all the food, Lesya.”
“Okay, Mommy!”
I went inside with Trevor and then through the doorway to the left, into the dining hall. Pride Palace's dining hall is enormous but only has one table in it. One ridiculously long table that extends the entire length of the room. Long enough to sit all of my eighty-plus werelions at it with space to spare. Sideboards stretch along the left wall, leaving the right side bare except for a sitting area in the center of the room in front of the fireplace. That was where my guest waited, but I stopped short before I reached him.
“Qaus?” I asked in surprise.
The Arabian god got to his feet. “Vervain, we need to talk.”
I closed the distance and automatically held my hand out to him. “It's good to see you. Uh, how have you been?”
“How have I been?” He raised his brows and then promptly lowered them over his narrowed eyes. “You think I don't remember,” he whispered in amazement. “Why would you think that?”
“Don't remember what?” I asked innocently.
“Vervain, you may have wiped the humans' memories clean, but you didn't touch us Gods. I remember. We all remember what happened.”
“Great Scott,” I whispered in horror. “I thought I just left the memories of my loved ones alone.”
“You missed a bit more than that,” Qaus said grimly. “And there will be hell to pay for the oversight.”
“I was evil,” I growled. “I fought myself and won, and then I put everything back to the way it was.”
“Yeah, but you showed your hand, Godhunter,” Qaus said. “They know what you're capable of now, and they're not happy about it.”
“If they know what she can do, they should be scared of her,” Trevor reasoned. “This should mean the end of the God War.”
“You and I both know that Gods don't work like that.” Qaus shook his head. “Some might cower and look for cover, but most will want revenge for being humiliated. They'll want Vervain dead so she won't be able to do this again.”
“Why are you here?” I asked wearily. “You wanted in when I was heading toward world domination, but why would you come to me now when I'm back to being myself?”
“Because I like you, Vervain. You impressed me; both with your magical strength and the strength of your convictions. Evil or not, those traits don't change. You were good to me, even when you were bad. So, I've come to warn you. They'll be hunting you now, Godhunter.”
“Who?” Trevor demanded. “Who is after my wife?”
“To start, the Mesopotamians. She hurt them the worst. They want blood.”
&nbs
p; “Then we'll give it to them,” Trevor growled. “We'll drown them in their own blood.”
Grammar Giggles
And just for a little giggle, here are some grammar mistakes found during the editing of this book.
Correct Line: Gasping in the brittle air, I let the wind steal the tears from my eyes.
Giggle: Gasping in the brittle air, I let the wind steel the tears from my eyes.
Correct Line: He watched avidly as I unbuttoned my blouse and set our son against my breast.
