by Amy Sumida
I grimaced.
“What did Lempo do to you that has offended you so thoroughly?” Ilmarinen asked gently.
“He compelled me to have sex with two of my husbands in full view of others,” I admitted. “Then he touched my back, stole energy from us, and watched us. That may not have been an attack, but it was an invasion of my privacy and will.”
A shiver of arousal flashed across Ilmarinen's eyes, but he quickly doused it as he looked from me to Odin. “The rumors are true? You share your wife?”
“She's worth it,” Odin said with a soft smile my way.
“I have six husbands and one boyfriend,” I added casually. “It's a lioness thing. I've been very lucky to fall in love with men who love me enough to share.”
“Magic can be a demanding taskmaster,” Ilmarinen noted gently. Then he cocked his head at me. “Did you feel desire for anyone else in that room?”
I thought about it. “No, I didn't.”
“Not even for Lempo when he touched you?” He persisted pointedly.
“No, but I don't enjoy putting on a show for men I'm not committed to.”
I waited for Ilmarinen to say something snarky about me being committed to seven men, but he didn't.
Ilmarinen shrugged and said, “That is part of the sacrifice; a gift to Lempo. He gets your vulnerability; a sexual bared throat that makes him feel superior. I'm sorry that you were taken unaware by it; most humans who come here are brought by friends and are warned of what each room holds before they enter. They go into Lempo's room knowing exactly will happen, and they do so eagerly; embracing the inhibition it grants them. If I had noticed you heading into his room, I would have stopped you, but you didn't give me the courtesy of asking to search my club or even announcing your arrival.”
I snorted. “Since you were a suspect in the disappearance of the Muses, we didn't feel that it would be prudent to ask if we could look for them. This is a public place, after all; no one stopped us from coming in or looking around. That makes your club fair game. But I concede your point, and I'll call us even. That being said, I still don't know how I feel about what you're doing here.”
“They're trying to exist peacefully,” Teharon pointed out. “I have to admit that it seems like a good option.”
“Your bouncers need to be more vigilant about checking IDs. They waved us in without asking. That's sloppy; you could have minors getting in here,” I picked on the one thing I could since I seemed to be outnumbered as far as everything else was concerned.
Ilmarinen frowned and blinked in surprise. “They do check IDs. They must have assumed you were all of age. But you're absolutely right, Godhunter. I shall speak to our security team immediately and make sure that they check everyone.”
“Fine,” I muttered.
Was it better than a bunch of gods running amok? Yes, of course. But Vainamoinen was still influencing humans. Perhaps he was only twisting the desires they already had. Maybe the humans enjoyed the wild sex and some may even enjoy hunting rabbits and going fishing. Perhaps the enchanted songs simply stimulated human impulses so the gods could feed on them, but that still felt wrong to me. However, standing there with a bunch of gods who were looking impressed by the idea instead of repulsed by it, I didn't feel as if I could complain without looking like an ass.
“If you see any other changes you think need to be made for the safety of the humans, please let me know,” Ilmarinen said as he pulled a card out of an inner pocket of his suit. He placed it in my hand and closed my fingers around it as he stared earnestly at me. “My personal number is there. Call me anytime.” He looked down my body and smiled. “Anytime at all.”
Trevor growled, and Ilmarinen lifted a brow at him.
“This is my alpha husband,” I said by way of explanation.
“But you said that you have six.” Ilmarinen frowned.
“She does. And a boyfriend. Which is why we're not taking any applications for a seventh,” Trevor said as he took the card from me.
I let him do it because I knew he was still riding high on daddy-wolf hormones. Normally, Trevor wasn't so high-handed, but Ilmarinen's not so subtle interest had threatened my wolf. Honestly, the Finnish God was annoying me as well.
“I wasn't trying to be flirtatious,” Ilmarinen said as he held up his hands. “Just helpful.”
Bullshit. I knew what lust looks like. It's one of my magics, after all. But I let that go too. I just wanted to get out of Sampo as fast as possible.
“It's fine. Thank you for your help, Ilmarinen.” I pulled Trevor away. “Come on, let's go.”
“I want to see the footage,” Apollo said. “I'll meet you outside.”
“All right,” Thor agreed as he herded the rest of us toward the stairs.
“You're all welcome to return whenever you wish,” Ilmarinen called after us.
Then he turned and led Apollo into the security room as I dragged my snarling husband away.
Chapter Ten
“Where is that little horny god?” Horus growled.
When we reached the first floor, we realized that Pan was missing.
“You know where he is,” I grumbled. “He went to find Lempo's room.”
“Except he doesn't know which one it is,” Odin pointed out.
“He could be anywhere.” Blue shook his head.
“Maybe we should split up and search,” Katie suggested.
“Fine, but I'm searching with my wife,” Trevor declared.
“I think I'll be okay, Honey-Eyes.” I grimaced at him. “I'm stronger than every human here, and the Finnish Gods are too busy to mess with me.”
“Maybe we should just leave Pan; I'm sure he's fine,” Toby said.
Horus glared at him.
“All right.” Toby held up his hands. “Let's search individually then; it will be faster.”
We split up and spread out; Trevor grudgingly going off in one direction as I headed slightly to the right of him. I'd be near enough that he'd be able to reach me in time if he felt anything through our link. We were bound by both the Froekn Binding and a Blood to Heart oath I'd made him. Trevor would sense if I were in trouble.
Despite the questionable practices of the club owners, I didn't think I'd run into anything more deadly than the sight of Pan's pumping buttocks. I headed into the shadowy sections of Sampo with a confident and slightly irritated stride. I love Pan, but we were there looking for missing women. This was not the time to run off and take advantage of some sex magic.
Then I turned a corner and collided with a broad, muscular chest.
“Oh, son of a witch!” I exclaimed. “Sorry about that.”
“Vervain?” A familiar voice asked in surprise.
I looked up and gaped at the tall, dark, handsome, and rainbow-eyed god before me. “Qaus?”
I don't know what startled me more; his appearance there or the appearance of his non-glamoured eyes. But I suppose that strange eyes can be explained by contacts.
“What are you doing here?” He asked.
“Looking for Apollo's missing muses,” I said. “What are you doing here?”
“I heard this place was run by gods, and I wanted to check it out.” He shrugged. “It's kind of tame beyond the light trickle of enchantment in the air.”
“Tame?” I asked in surprise. “Did you miss the sex room?”
“There's a sex room?” His eyes went wide.
“Down the corridor across the way. Last door on the right.” I laughed. “But enter at your own risk; even Gods aren't safe from that sex magic.”
“I seem to be missing a lot these days,” his tone went grim.
“You know about Disani and Gish,” it was a statement, not a question.
“I do,” he confirmed. “Harsh, Godhunter, very harsh. I don't think I've seen such carnage in... oh... ever.”
“I'm trying to stop an apocalypse.” I grimaced. “Sorry about your friends; they refused to answer my questions.”
“An apocalypse?” He
made a scoffing sound. “Which one?”
“One that the humans haven't written about. A God Apocalypse. My son showed me a vision of the future and in it, the Gods were at war; a war so vicious that the God Realm was utterly destroyed by it.”
“What?” Qaus whispered.
“Disani and Gish were involved with a goddess who showed them how to take god magic.” I watched his face carefully. “They were very powerful; it took a lot to kill them.”
“Take god magic? You're saying that they were killing Gods and then stealing their magic?”
“Yes; exactly.”
“Isn't that your thing?” He lifted a thick eyebrow at me.
“Not anymore and it's not only them who were doing it. Disani and Gish said that the goddess who taught them how to steal magic has moved on to teach other gods.”
“And your son saw that this would lead to war among the Gods?”
“Annihilation, Qaus,” I clarified. “I saw Asgard burned to ash; dead gods lying at the bottom of the lake.”
“Fuck,” he whispered.
“We're trying to stop it. Do you know who this woman could be?”
“The one who taught them to take magic?” Qaus asked in surprise.
I nodded.
“No, Vervain.” He held his arms out innocently. “I haven't taken anyone's magic; I swear.”
“Okay. Well, if you find out anything, would you call me?”
“Call you?” He blinked.
“You have a cellphone, right?”
“Sure; you wanna give me your number?” He asked in an incredulous tone.
“I know we're not friends, but you don't seem to be down with the extermination of the entire God race,” I pointed out. “You know what this kind of power will do to Gods; what it will turn them into. I thought maybe you wouldn't be opposed to helping me stop this.”
“Yeah. Okay.” Qaus grimaced as he pulled out his phone. “What's your number?”
As I was giving him my phone number, Trevor walked up.
“You have got to be fucking kidding me,” Trevor growled.
“Back up, wolfling.” Qaus made a shooing motion with his hand. “Your wife was just giving me her number so I could call if I heard anything about this goddess you're hunting.”
“You're going to help us search for the War Goddess?” Trevor asked dubiously.
“I'm going to call Vervain if I happen to learn anything concerning the Goddess,” he corrected. “I don't want in on your gleeful little god group, but—as Vervain pointed out—I don't want all the Gods dead either.” He finished typing in my number and then nodded to me. “I'll let you know. Good to see you, Vervain.”
“You too, Qaus,” I said. As he started to walk away, I added, “I'm glad you weren't with them.”
Qaus stiffened but kept walking.
“I don't trust that fucker,” Trevor muttered.
“Language,” I chided. “And that fucker saved me from Narcissus.”
Trevor grunted as he continued to stare after Qaus.
“Did they find Pan?”
“What?” He jerked his attention back to me.
“Did they find Pan?” I repeated. “You know; the whole reason we split up to search Sampo... the second time.”
“Oh. Yeah; he was in Lempo's room with three women.”
“Three?” I lifted my brows.
Trevor chuckled; finally getting over his Qaus fixation. “Yeah; Horus was pissed.”
“Horus found him?” I started laughing too. “I'm sorry I missed that.”
“Me too,” he agreed. “Katie said that Horus grabbed Pan by his horns and yanked him out of the pussy pile.”
I grimaced at him.
“Those were Katie's words, not mine.”
Chapter Eleven
“Now what?” Apollo grumbled as we came out of Pride Palace's tracing room. “That was my only lead.”
“I'm going to check on the children.” Trevor veered to the right and headed into the elevator.
It was getting late, and all the children should be in their beds, but babies make their own schedules. Vero, in particular, was turning out to be a night owl. Well, I suppose he was a night wolf, which is basically just a wolf, what with them being nocturnal animals.
“You're absolutely certain that the footage showed the Muses leaving the club and going into the forest?” I asked Apollo.
“One hundred percent,” Apollo said morosely as he followed the rest of us into the dining hall.
“How long did they stay?” Odin asked.
“Oh.” Apollo blinked. “I didn't think to ask.”
“One of us should have gone with him to look at those recordings,” Thor muttered.
“I should have gone with him.” Artemis grimaced. “Sorry, Brother, that guy was making my hackles rise, and I just wanted to get out of there.”
“Should we go back?” Apollo asked.
“Later,” Artemis said. “I don't think the time they left Sampo is going to make much of a difference.”
“What about their faces?” Finn asked Apollo. “Did any of the Muses seem upset when they left?”
“No; they looked fine.” Apollo shrugged helplessly. “Happy; laughing even.”
“Where would they normally go at the end of a night such as that one?” Hades asked. “Do they frequent certain dining establishments or do they perhaps head to another nightclub on a different continent?”
“Normally?” Apollo sighed. “Normally, they'd come home to have sex with me.”
Everyone paused.
“Apollo, they're you're girlfriends?” I broke the silence. I admit; I was shocked but due to my own polyamorous lifestyle, I could hardly criticize. “Why didn't you say so earlier?”
“In fact, why weren't you out with them? Or they with you in Bora Bora?” Brahma asked. “If I had a group of girlfriends, I wouldn't let them go out alone, and I certainly wouldn't go on vacation without them.”
Sarasvati smacked her husband in the chest.
“But I don't need more than one woman because I have my beautiful, amazing wife,” Brahma quickly amended.
Sara just grimaced and rolled her eyes.
“They're not my girlfriends,” Apollo corrected. “They're my muses. We sleep together, but we're not exclusive; like Pan and his nymphs.”
We all turned to look at Pan.
“Oh, please.” Pan leaned back in his chair and gave us all a smug look. “As if you didn't know that already.”
“All right, fine.” I held up a hand to stop any further questions about Pan's love life. I focused back on Apollo. “They're still your lovers and that makes this even more personal. You should have told us.”
“Oh?” Apollo turned a sharp look on me. “Because you would have done something differently?”
“Valid,” I muttered.
“No; not valid. Now we know to look into the Muses' other lovers as well as yours, Apollo. This could simply be a case of jealousy,” Toby insisted.
“That's a rather good point,” Re, my most recent husband, agreed. “Love can make people crazy.” He glanced at me.
“Why are you looking at me?” I shot back. “You were the one who went nuts and had your daughters abduct me when I was pregnant.”
“Yes; because my love for you made me crazy.” Re nodded as if I'd made his point for him.
“Loving you does entail moments of insanity,” Arach said to me and then slid a commiserating look at Re.
“Yes, all right,” Thor rumbled. “Vervain makes you all insane. Can we move on?”
“Don't act as if you weren't wild for V too.” Pan pointed at Thor. Then he transferred his cheerful, hazel gaze to me. “I swear, Vervain, sometimes it's as if you have your own brand of STD. Vervain Disease; VD. No, wait; that one's taken. Oh, I know! VLD; Vervain Lavine Disease.”
“Too far.” I made a face at Pan.
“Always!” Pan beamed. “I go farther, deeper, and longer, baby.”
“Apollo, do you
know who their lovers are?” Azrael got us back on track.
Apollo made a face.
