by Amy Sumida
“What's wrong with you people?!” Hera screeched as she stood. “The greatest god who ever lived is dead, and you sit there laughing? But you would, wouldn't you? You all wanted this. Especially you, Godhunter! How dare you bring me back here when I was vulnerable! It was just to mock me and my pain, wasn't it? Well, go ahead then; have a good look and a nice laugh.” She held her arms out. “You've finally destroyed us.”
“Hera,” I stood. “We weren't laughing at Zeus or you. We were laughing to—”
“Go to Hell, Godhunter,” Hera growled and strode out of the room.
“Been there,” I muttered. “Not gonna rule it.”
Aidan leaned out the dining hall doorway to make sure that Hera left and didn't go for a walkabout around the palace. He came back in and nodded at me; she was gone. I can't say that I wasn't relieved. It had been like having a wounded viper curled before my fireplace.
“This is all fuckin' bananas!” Donnie declared. “I can't believe the shit we saw today. I'm going to need some serious surfin' therapy; get my glide on.”
“I think I may join you, Father,” Triton said.
“Cereal?” Donnie asked in surprise. “It's been like eons since you jazzed the glass with me.”
“Cereal,” Triton said with a grin at his dad.
“Righteous!” Donnie fist-bumped his son. “I'm frothing; can't wait, Son.”
“Me too, Dad,” Triton said. “I think it's time that I got back in the water for some fun, instead of just sailing atop it for business.”
“Preach it, Son,” Donnie said approvingly. “And by the way, Godhunter,” he turned to me. “That was some gnarly shit back there; the whole dragon thing. Totally boss!”
“Thank you,” I said as I blushed.
Donnie may sound like an idiot, but he was a powerful, intelligent, ancient, and very attractive god and receiving a compliment from him was special.
“Thank you for helping me save my son,” Donnie said with earnest seriousness and without his surfer accent; giving me a glimpse of the god who hid behind the dude mask. “I will never forget it, and I can never repay it.”
“There's no debt between friends,” I said softly. Then I transferred my gaze to Athena. “I wish I'd been a better one to you. I should have helped you sooner.”
“Bullshit,” Athena swore; surprising us all. “You set me straight, and I was a bitch about it. And still, you came to my rescue. We're good, Godhunter, and we're definitely friends.”
“You're damn straight we are,” Triton said. “Which brings me back to what I was getting to before. This was about power, and as much as they wanted to take Greek power, we weren't their primary target.”
“I was,” I whispered.
I had known it; sensed it from the second Mayup had called me by my title. I suppose it had felt arrogant to assume it was about me, or maybe paranoid. But it isn't paranoia when you're right.
“Yes,” Triton said. “They were after you; your star. But here's the really awful thing; I got the distinct impression that someone had told them about you. I believe they were steered in your direction and their hatred for us Greeks was only a convenient catalyst to get them moving.”
“You're saying that I still have an enemy out there,” I concluded.
“When doesn't she have an enemy?” Aidan asked dryly.
“Never,” Odin said. “But they're not always actively pursuing her. It sounds as if this one is.”
“Did they give you any clues as to who this person is?” Toby asked.
“It sounded like someone close to their pantheon but not a part of it,” Triton mused. “This was someone they respected and trusted. It wasn't difficult for them to steer the Argentinian Gods your way.”
“Someone close to the Argentinians who hates Vervain,” Azrael mused.
“And one more thing,” Odin said, “we have a pattern of gods consuming other gods and taking their magic. Our evolution theory may be right.”
“Evolution?” Triton asked in shock.
“We have a theory that Gods may be evolving, and a possible evolution would be that they could kill each other and steal magic,” I explained.
Donnie, Triton, and Athena all went white.
“I disagree, Odin,” Hades said. “I'm not sure how Katila managed it, but the Argentinians have always had this ability; they just didn't know to use it. I think this may simply be a horrible coincidence.”
“I hope so,” Trevor said softly.
“Let's talk about it later,” I said. “I can't deal with more intrigue right now. It weakens our victory and my resolve.”
“You're right,” Kirill said. “Ve must take our triumphs vhere ve can.”
“And our happiness,” Re added. “We have a wedding to look forward to.”
I smiled brightly at Re because I really could look forward to it now. And I wasn't going to let some unknown enemy ruin that for me.
“By the way, Alpha,” Azrael said to Trevor. “Are you really going to hold us to that bed thing?”
“Bed thing?” Donnie waggled his brows at me.
“Don't ask,” I said to Donnie.
Donnie pouted.
“That may be up for negotiation,” Trevor said with a wink my way.
Chapter Forty-Eight
I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. It was finally here; my wedding day. My third wedding day, actually; fourth if you counted the one Re helped me escape.
My stomach knotted as I stared at my reflection in the tri-fold mirror. I was seated at an amazing dressing table that I had every intention of recreating when I returned home from my honeymoon. It was an elaborate expanse of polished, hand-carved wood with gilded accents and lots of drawers for storing makeup. A glass top protected the delicate inlay and over that, the mirror sat in a frame of twining gold roses; guarded by cut-crystal decanters of lotions and perfumes. A framed picture of Horus sat to the right side.
It was Isis' vanity.
“Calm down, you damn fool,” I growled at myself. “It's not as if this is your first time.”
And there was the rub. My first wedding had been to Arach. Next, I'd married Trevor, Kirill, Azrael, and Odin in one ceremony. That had felt right, but this... I took another calming breath. How could I walk down the aisle again; right in front of my husbands and my boyfriend? I felt like a traitor.
Why hadn't this occurred to me before? I should have prepared for it. It was so stupid to be sitting there—at the final hour—having these doubts. I loved Re, and I wanted to marry him. But this ceremony would have me focusing on Re as if my other men didn't exist. As if I hadn't already pledged my eternal love to five other men. At least Arach wasn't here; that would have been—
“A Thaisce,” Arach's face filled the mirror.
I shrieked and fell backward; off my seat.
As my heartbeat slowed, and I scrambled back onto the padded stool, my dragon husband laughed his scaly ass off.
“That's not funny, Arach!” I snarled as I smoothed my hair back. “You nearly gave me a damn heart attack.”
“You told me to mirror you,” he said with a lingering grin.
“I did not.”
“You did, A Thaisce,” he assured me. “You said you were having doubts”—he glanced aside and nodded—“right at this moment.”
“Am I there?” I asked in horror. “Standing right next to you?”
“Indeed.” Arach chuckled and shook his head. “It is strange for me as well. I'd even venture to say that it's stranger on my end.”
“Damn,” I whispered. “Was I about to make a runner?”
“I believe you were,” Arach went serious, “and that would have been a horrible mistake.”
“You think it's a mistake for me not to marry Re?” I asked in shock.
My dragon husband was even more possessive than the Wolf. I couldn't imagine what reason he could possibly have to encourage me to marry another man.
“It will break your heart,” he said gently. “And tha
t, I cannot abide.”
“What about your heart?” I whispered. “What about Trevor's and Kirill's and O—”
“Yes; I get the idea,” Arach cut me off. “Vervain, we are all grown men; beyond that, even. I think we know our own hearts and what those hearts can take. If any of us thought that we could not bear you being with another man, we would have protested this engagement... violently.”
“Okay,” I whispered.
“Do you want to marry him?”
“Yes,” I said instantly.
“Will you be unhappy if you don't?”
“Yes.”
“Then why are you sitting there pouting?” Arach smirked. “So, you have to deal with the golden buffoon's narcissism every day. So, you have to put up with his poorly timed humor. So, you—”
“I get it,” I cut him off with a laugh.
“I think you'll endure all of Re's annoying habits to be with him,” he went on. “Because you don't love halfway, A Thaisce. You love with all of your being, and that means that you love his bad qualities as well as his good.”
“Grudgingly,” I said. “Just as I love yours.”
“I have no bad qualities.” He frowned in genuine confusion.
I shook my head. “You and Re are a lot alike.”
“Take that back!” Arach hissed. “What a horrid thing to say to me when I called to selflessly support you.”
I laughed. “I'm sorry; I take it back. You're nothing like him. You're nothing like anyone. You are uniquely you.”
“Thank you,” he said in a stiff but mollified tone. “Now, one other thing.”
“Yes?”
“You look absolutely beautiful.”
I beamed at him. “Thank you.”
“Except you may want to fix that small smudge just there.” He motioned his finger to my face.
I scowled and looked into the right, side panel of the mirror and saw that my eyeliner had smeared up my temple. I groaned and reached for a make-up wipe.
“You do look beautiful,” Arach said with a soft smile. “Enough to make me want to marry you all over again.”
“I love you,” I whispered. “Thank you for mirroring.”
“I love you too, A Thaisce. Be happy; be blissfully happy.” Arach's face faded away.
I was still smiling five minutes later when I'd fixed my make-up, and my bridesmaids had popped in to see if I needed any help.
“Well, you look happy,” Bastet noted.
“Blissfully,” I murmured.
“You'd better be,” Sekhmet said. “You're marrying the most eligible bachelor in the God Realm.”
These goddesses wouldn't have been my choice for bridesmaids, but they were Re's daughters and, as I may have mentioned, I've already had a wedding done my way. So, instead of asking my best female friends to attend me, I had made Re supremely pleased by asking his daughters.
Of course, things were still a little awkward between Sekhmet and me, but we were both making an effort to get past that. Her comment would have normally been scathing, but today the tone was teasing, and she gave me a playful wink.
The women were twins, although, you'd never know it to look at them. Bastet had sleek, black hair, gold cat eyes, dark Egyptian skin, and an athletic body that still managed to be curvy. Oh, and fangs; she had a delicate pair of kitty fangs.
Sekhmet, on the other hand, was a lushly curved, fair-skinned (with a gold tone to it) goddess with wavy, golden hair down to her waist and a more substantial set of fangs than her sister. It was like day and night with them; sort of like their father and me.
They were wearing silver, Egyptian-style dresses with thick beaded collars around their necks and gold, tube beads in their hair. Each woman had a small bouquet of lavender-colored flowers which they set down on the vanity so they could fuss with my veil.
When I told Re he could have the wedding of his dreams instead of catering to my wishes, I'd suggested something Egyptian. I thought he'd want that. But Ancient Egyptians didn't really have a ceremony. There was a basic acknowledgment of the couple becoming husband and wife after the bride moved into her husband's home, and then there might be a party if they were wealthy enough. But other than that, nothing. So, there were no traditions to restrain him. In short; Re went wild with his metrosexual self.
Normally, I prefer manly men. I like alphas with big muscles whose idea of fashion usually includes a lot of leather and steel. Okay, maybe not that bad. I don't go for cavemen. I like my big, muscly guys to have a brain too. But the point is; I don't normally go for pretty. And Re is pretty.
So, why was I attracted to him? Because it went further than that; Re is panty-droppingly, chest-heavingly, fan yourself at top and bottom, jawline for days, I can't look away no matter how hard I try, mouth-wateringly gorgeous. He was so damn beautiful that it took me awhile to be comfortable around him. It simply wasn't possible for a woman to not be attracted to Re. Period. Don't shake your head. You may think that it's impossible for one man to be every woman's cup of tea, and you'd be wrong. He is. It's Re tea for everyone, and when you drink it, you'll wonder how anything else will ever live up to the taste. Soon, that tea would be mine... forever.
Yes; that was enough to make me smile.
Back to my wedding. I was in a gown that Re had picked out, but I had approved. Surprisingly, it looked nothing like the gown I'd worn in our wedding in the last wrong timeline I'd been in. I had kind of expected to see some repeats. But Re had memories of that time too, and he wasn't the kind of guy to repeat himself, even if no one else knew about it. So, the only thing that had remained the same was the location; Osiris and Isis' home in Aaru. And I think that was only because Re had asked Osiris and Isis to host us way in advance. If he hadn't, we might be on a yacht somewhere in the Pacific.
I stood up, and the twins helped me smooth the layers of handmade lace that fell in swaths from my waist. Diamonds had been sewn onto the lace here and there so that I sparkled when I moved. The lace layers crisscrossed in the front, and when I walked, they spread apart to reveal the silk skirt beneath with is subtle, soft, silvery print of crescent moons. The bodice was tailored to fit me like a glove, with three-quarter length sleeves that belled out in lace at my elbows. The whole of the gown was a soft cream color accented only by a lavender-gray, velvet belt with a diamond clasp.
I stepped toward the door, and the women settled my train behind me. I had wanted to opt out of a long train—it was just too much trouble for a short walk down the aisle—but Re insisted. He wanted grandeur and promised that the aisle would be long enough to make it worth my while. So, not only did I have a train; I had a twelve-foot long train befitting the Queen of the Egyptian Gods—his words, not mine. The train was made of the same lace as my overskirt and sprinkled with yet more diamonds. My veil was a more delicate version of the lace and was held in place by a platinum and diamond tiara with a crescent moon at its peak. Re wanted our wedding theme to be the Sun marrying the Moon so it was silver tones for me and gold for him.
My hair was pinned up in a loose chignon with only the starlight lock hanging loose down my bodice. Around my neck, I wore a single, teardrop diamond the length of my pointer finger. Yes; that big. The chain was so thin that it was barely a glimmer on my neck; making it appear as if the diamond were supported by my cleavage alone. I have no idea how the chain held up the weight of that rock, and I was hoping it didn't snap halfway through the ceremony.
The twins grabbed their bouquets and preceded me into the hallway. I lifted my massive arrangement of lavender roses, peonies, and wisteria and carefully followed them. My heels were thankfully low; a twenties style of shoe with diamond buckles. I didn't say anything to Re about it, but all of the diamonds reminded me a little of the one wedding I had escaped from; that to his grandson, Anubis.
Anubis would be in attendance today. How awkward was that? Actually, now that I think about it; not so much. Anubis had come a long ways from the days of forcing me into sexual slavery. He was a new m
an, and I was happy for him. I was also freshly healed of the damage he'd done. And, oh my gods, why was I thinking about all of this? This was my wedding day; I should be focusing on my groom.
And on walking.
I nearly tripped at the top of the stairs, but, thankfully, no one saw it. The guests were in the ballroom, and the twins were ahead of me. I took another deep breath—my veil fluttering outward—and grabbed the thick stone railing to steady myself.
Have you ever walked down a long set of stairs with a train? I was even more relieved that there was no one behind me once I started navigating those stairs. Although, if I had someone behind me, they could have held the end of that heavy expanse of fabric and prevented the lace from pooling around me and threatening to trip me on my way down.
“Um.” I cleared my throat when I made it to the bottom.
The twins turned around, saw the mess that my train had become, and hurried back to me as they giggled like girls.
“Gravity works,” Bastet said gaily.
“I'm just glad that it didn't work in front of the entire God Realm,” I said.
Okay, so it wasn't the entire God Realm attending, but between Re and I, we knew a lot of people. And then there had been the draw of the location. I'd heard that Re had to enlist several of the gods who lived in Aaru to ferry in our guests. Literally; they had to be brought in by boat. The only people who hadn't been invited were my human family and friends. But they understood; there were certain parts of the God Realm that I never wanted them to see and to get to Osiris' amazing territory, you had to pass through some of those parts.
The point was; the ballroom was nearly overflowing with guests. The Egyptian Gods alone nearly took up all of the space on Re's side of the aisle. His pantheon is enormous; it could give the Greek a run for its money. Then there were the numerous friends I'd made in my years as Godhunter. It was shocking to see them all together; to know that I had started off killing their kind but somewhere along the way, I had learned that they were just like humans. There were good and bad gods, stupid and brilliantly intelligent, enormous and delicate. The Gods were as varied as the humans.
