The Cloaked Maiden: A Reverse Harem Romance (Rise of the Ash Gods Book 2)

by Cara Wylde

  Valentina looked at Jove. She couldn’t believe she’d let him fool her! When he’d said he already knew everything, she’d thought that he literally did know everything. To her surprise, he’d turned rather pale. Veles’s words had shaken him.

  “What are you talking about? Fourth-dimensional creatures can’t...”

  “Oh, I can’t believe I have to go over this again!” Val sighed. “Also, why didn’t you tell me you knew some of the story, not all of it? Why do you have to make this so, so hard?!”

  Jove straightened his back and placed his hands flat on the table. He looked like he was ready to stand up and leave at any moment. His shoulders were tense, and his jaw was set.

  “Because I don’t want to be involved more than I need to. Your thing is not my thing, Keeper. Do yourself a favor and remember that. Whatever is happening here, whatever is going on with the Major Arcana... It’s not my business.”

  Valentina crossed her arms over her chest. He really knew how to play hard to get.

  “Well, do you want to hear about the High Keeper of the Coins, or not?”

  Jove thought for a moment. Eventually, he nodded. As much as he wanted to leave the table and never look back, never even think about Valentina De Rossi again, as usual, his curiosity was getting the best of him.

  “He had this thing inside him,” Val explained. “Moving under his skin, making his features shift and morph. I think it was painful. He was fighting it. He fought it long enough to find me just as I was going inside the Temple of the Coins, to take me far away from what once was his coven and give me the Suit of Pentacles.” She placed a hand on top of her deck. “The cards are in here now. They’re safe. He guarded them with his life, and right after he gave them to me, that thing... That smoke being... It broke through.” Her voice was trembling now. “Like... it broke through his flesh, pushed his bones and muscles aside, and emerged from his body. Like a parasite that had consumed its host, but hadn’t managed to break his soul, and now it was angry.”

  “What was it? The thing. What did it look like?”

  “A nāga. It attacked me. Thank Goddess for Magnus. I didn’t know hobgoblins could be so powerful. Then again, I think the nāga was tired. Weakened. Goddess knows for how long the High Keeper had fought it, prevented it from taking over his body and mind completely, from destroying the Suit of Coins. I... I don’t even want to think about it.” She shuddered. “To have that thing inside you... A foreign creature hijacking your very being...”

  “Walk-In.”

  “What?”

  “Sounds like a Walk-In to me,” Jupiter repeated.

  Valentina cocked her head. She’d heard of Walk-Ins before. She’d read about them, but she didn’t know much. Just that they were bad news.

  “I thought about it, too,” said Veles. “Still, nothing explains how they got here. Fourth-dimensional beings should be trapped in the fourth dimension until they evolve. They’re the only ones who can’t travel. Now they’re here, possessing witches? What’s next? Will they possess Ordinaries, too? Are they already doing it? But how? Why?”

  Jupiter ran a hand over his face. He rubbed his jaw, then finally pushed himself to his feet.

  “What are you doing?” Val jumped to her feet, too. “You’re not leaving.”

  Jove smirked. “I have business to attend to tomorrow, and it’s getting rather late.”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “You’re a god. You don’t need sleep.”

  “But you do, my witchy witch. You might want to catch a plane tomorrow.”

  She shook her head. Goddess, he was impossible! “I’m not... I’m not leaving Cairo. Not now. I found you.”

  Jove let out a long sigh. He eyed Loki and Veles. Seeing them so etheric and transparent made him feel uneasy. Two mighty gods reduced to holograms. Whatever that was, well... it wasn’t life. Why did they accept to be carded, anyway? Were they really that enamored with Valentina? He couldn’t deny the pull he felt toward her, the urge to draw her in his arms, whisper in her ear that everything would be okay, that he was there now, and he wouldn’t let anything bad happen to her... To kiss her worries away. He fought it. He had to resist it. He had to resist Valentina, or he’d soon end up in a card himself.

  “Can we be alone for a second?”

  Loki seemed more than happy with Jove’s suggestion. As Valentina was getting ready to perform the ritual, he leaned in and whispered in her ear: “Next time you summon me, make sure you can do it properly. I want to touch you, love.” As she absorbed him in the Hanged Man card, she still felt tingles on her cheek and neck, where his breath had caressed her. Touch. Oh, how she longed to be touched! She still dreamed about their first kiss. Almost every night.

  And Veles... As she turned to him, blushing and smiling stupidly, she remembered what she’d dreamed the night before. It wasn’t her fault! If only he put on some clothes once in a while, maybe she’d have more decent thoughts about him.

  “Well?” Loki and Veles were back inside their cards. Valentina placed her deck in its leather pouch attached to her belt and looked up at Jupiter. “We’re alone now.”

  “We are, indeed.”

  He rounded the table and stopped in front of her. Valentina looked up into his golden eyes, her heart picking up the pace. She felt a flutter in her stomach, and she wondered whether it was the dinner she’d just had, or Jupiter’s closeness. What was happening? Why was he looking at her like that? He smelled of sea salt and hot sand. He reached out and cupped her cheek, and she almost melted into his touch. She did her best not to lean into his hand, when all she wanted was to close her eyes and imagine herself on a wide, deserted beach, with only the sea and the sky to keep her company.

  “What are you...”

  He leaned in and captured her lips in a kiss. Her eyes went wide, then she relaxed against him, her arms coming to wrap around his neck. She felt so small and fragile. His tall, wide frame covered her completely, shielding her from curious eyes. Not that there were many... The restaurant seemed even emptier than before, and the waiters were busy clearing the tables.

  It was soft and sweet. His lips moved slowly against hers. When his tongue asked for entrance, she moaned and parted her lips. He explored her mouth sensually, and she relished at how soft and warm his tongue was, at how gentle his lips. So different from Loki. The God of Mischief had wanted to devour her and possess her, but Jupiter seemed to want to enjoy her slowly and carefully, like one enjoyed a meal on a cutting diet, when every bite counted and had to be celebrated. Her knees felt like jelly, so she let all her weight fall on his strong chest. When he broke the kiss and stayed like that for a minute, so close to her, his breath warming her face, she didn’t move. It felt good to have someone dominant and powerful hold her like that. She felt guilty for a moment, thinking that there she was, in Jupiter’s arms, when Loki was stuck in a tarot card. Veles, too. Had she just betrayed them? But she’d never promised them anything. She’d never promised them her body, nor her soul. Then, why did she feel like this was wrong?

  Valentina stepped away from Jove, and when he refused to let go, she pushed him away. Her cheeks were red with embarrassment. She ran her hand through her long hair and cleared her throat.

  “What was that?”

  Jupiter laughed. “You seemed very into it.”

  She blushed harder. “You took me by surprise. I thought you didn’t like me.”

  “Oh, I like you alright, my bratty witch. If you weren’t all about getting me inside your card, this could be a thing. Alas, we can’t always get what we want.”

  He shrugged, dug his hands into the pockets of his tailored pants, and turned to walk away. Just like that. Valentina blinked in confusion, then tried to catch up with him.

  “Wait, we’re not done. You have to...” She made a step, but the second one seemed impossible to make. Every time she lifted her leg, she felt like an invisible rope wrapped itself around her ankle, pulling her back. She almost
tripped over her own feet and grabbed the edge of the table when she felt she was in real danger of making a new best friend – the floor. “No! What... What did you do?”

  Jupiter laughed louder. He didn’t even turn to look at her. “You can’t follow me anymore, so stop trying.”

  “You put a spell on me?!”

  “Just a tiny one. Nothing to worry about. Why? Did you think that was a kiss?”

  “You... you... bastard! Ugh!” She tried to follow him again, but her legs simply refused to advance.

  “You’ll be able to walk again once I’m out of your sight. Relax. Have another glass of wine.” He reached the door. “Good night, Valentina De Rossi.”

  She felt like screaming, but there was nothing she could do. Okay, another glass of wine didn’t sound that bad…

  CHAPTER FOUR

  Back in her room, there was nothing she could do to lift the spell Jupiter had put on her. Or more like, on her ankles. Mr. Sneaky had used his sneaky kiss to breathe the binding spell right inside her mouth, so it was a strong one. It wasn’t like a sigil drawn into the air and pushed inside someone’s aura. It was like something she’d willingly ingested herself. She tried every cut and release spell she knew with no luck. Magnus tried a couple of things too, but it was useless. Eventually, she summoned Loki and Veles, but they couldn’t help either. In fact, Loki got so mad when he heard what had happened between her and Jupiter that he jumped back into his card before she even had time to explain herself. That left Valentina feeling even guiltier, which only added to her despair. Now Jupiter could as well vanish into thin air. She’d never know. If she did see him around, she’d be unable to follow him. If he didn’t want to talk to her, he could easily avoid her. So frustrating!

  In the end, she and Magny had to call it a day and go to sleep. Valentina asked Veles to sleep next to her, in his dragon form. Lately, they had slept like that almost every night, with Veles curled up on the other pillow, like a huge black cat, slowly slipping against her side during the night. His presence calmed her down and kept Ravenna away. Especially now that she’d screwed up royally, the last thing she needed was the voice of her twin sister’s Higher Self in her head, making fun of her.

  “I have to pull my shit together,” she thought as she snuggled with her pillow and wrapped the summer duvet around her body, turning herself into an oversized burrito. She usually got cold during the night, no matter the room temperature. Veles inched closer to her. She could feel his warm breath on the back of her neck, and it calmed her down. “I’m doing this. I’m saving the Major Arcana. I’m saving the entire Tarot. That’s that. There’s no way around it. I might as well come to terms with it and do my best.” After she’d seen what had happened to the High Keeper of the Coins, Valentina was getting closer to accepting that she might have actually been the last Keeper left alive. And whole. And if she was, then there was no one that could take this burden off her shoulders. “Not all days will be as crappy as this one. I’ll make it work. I don’t know how, but I will. Jupiter or no Jupiter.”

  The next morning, Valentina woke up feeling like a different person. After breakfast, she had so much energy that she could take on the entire world. She wasn’t thinking about Gideon Jove anymore. If he didn’t want to help her, then it was fine. She’d find herself another Emperor. She wasn’t going to beg and humiliate herself hoping that he’d change his mind. She wouldn’t be able to find him, anyway. She didn’t need him. She had Magny, Loki, and Veles, and she had her powers. She could do this without Gideon Jove and his annoying antics. Maybe, the next aspect of Jupiter she found wouldn’t giant up on her just to make a show of himself.

  Today, she wasn’t going to let her energy go to waste. She pulled the Hanged Man card, but Loki was still grumpy from the night before.

  “Don’t even bother to summon me. I won’t come out.”

  “I know, I know... I have to learn how to do it right.”

  “You know what? I don’t care about that anymore. I wouldn’t come out even if you did know how to do it right.”

  Valentina sighed. She stole a glance at the old book she’d found in an antique shop in Cairo. It claimed to teach young witches summoning spells, but she hadn’t had time to read it, let alone practice some rituals. On the other hand, she doubted the book was for real. What she really needed was access to a decent witch’s library, and she’d hoped to get that at the Temple of the Coins. Better luck next time. That was, if she ever found the Suit of Wands and the Suit of Cups. The Major Arcana cards that could track them down were all asleep.

  “Look, I’m sorry. I... I didn’t mean to.”

  “Didn’t mean to kiss him?”

  He could see right through her.

  “Okay, I did mean to kiss him. I... I don’t know what’s wrong with me. I feel like I’m lost.”

  “Even if you are lost, that’s no reason to...”

  “Oh, shut up already, Trickster!” Veles yelled from inside the Magician card. He’d shifted into his human form, and he’d covered himself with the Magician’s red cloak. “We both know you won’t be the first to have her. Stop making a fuss about something Fate has already decided.”

  Valentina blinked in confusion. “What now? No one will have me. What are you two talking about?”

  That was when Magny decided to poof himself back into the room. After breakfast, he’d gotten hungry again, as he always did, and he’d gone to raid the kitchen. He brought with him a huge bag of cashews. Well, it was huge compared to his size. He immediately noticed the tension in the air.

  “Should I... come back later?”

  Val waved him off. She grabbed Loki’s card and held it at eye level. “Look, help me one more time, and I’ll leave you alone. I promise.”

  Loki ran his hands through his hair, exasperation written all over his face. “I don’t want you to leave me alone! You don’t get it, do you?” He looked her square in the eyes. “Or maybe, you do. Maybe, you understand much more than you let on.” He smirked. “In which case, you’re a piece of work, love. You really are.”

  Val shook her head. “You’re not making much sense right now.”

  “Oh, I am. You’re just in denial and you don’t want to see it.”

  “See what?”

  “All the sense that I’m making!”

  Val took a deep breath. He wasn’t going to let this go, was he? Her kiss with Jove... The fact that she wanted him, but then she wanted Loki and Veles, too... And they knew. Because they were gods. They knew what she wanted, how she wanted it, and they probably knew who she’d choose, too. Or maybe, they didn’t. Because if she looked deep down, there was a single desire in her heart that rang true: she never wanted to choose. She swallowed hard and tried to focus on something else. What was it that she’d wanted to ask Loki? “Focus, Valentina. Focus.” Or else, Loki and Veles would probably be able to see what was going on in her head. Since they’d been carded, they could use their abilities more easily.

  “I’m not ready to leave Cairo,” she told Loki. “I don’t know if Jupiter will change his mind. He probably won’t. But I owe it to everyone to, at least, wait a while longer.”

  “Who is everyone?” Magny asked while stuffing his face with cashews.

  She rolled her eyes. “I don’t know. Just... everyone. The Keepers of La Congrega di Denari? The High Sorceress and Sorcerer who gave their lives to protect the Major Arcana?”

  “Oh, okay. Go on. I just wanted to make sure you’re not abstractly martyring yourself.”

  “Magnus, I swear that sometimes...” She wasn’t sure what she wanted to say, though. That he sometimes drove her mad?

  “What do you need?” Loki mumbled coldly.

  “The shaman recommended past-life regression. Do you know anyone here? I mean, if I’m not actively working on tracking down the rest of my Ash Gods, then I might as well try to tackle my other problem. Ravenna.”

  “Sure. Get me a map.”

  O
ne hour later, she and Magny were walking through the doors of an old building on the other side of the city. It was entirely made of stone, and the owners had preserved its Egyptian style even after renovating it countless of times. Up on the rooftop, where the old man who was going to hypnotize Valentina and guide her through her past lives had invited her for tea, there was a round table with chairs around it, a sofa in a corner, and a small fountain surrounded by flowering plants. In the distance, the three pyramids of Giza dominated the horizon. It was a view to behold!

  “Before we begin, I need to know why you want to see your past lives,” the man said. His name was Femi, and he looked like he was in his sixties. His hair was still as dark as night, although his long beard was streaked with gray. “Depending on what problem you need solved, I will know how to guide you.”

  “Do you think I’ve had many?”

  He smiled and the wrinkles around his blue eyes intensified. “I believe you’re a very old soul, Miss De Rossi. And you haven’t always been a witch.”

  She took a sip of her chamomile tea. She’d already told him who she was and what she was doing in Cairo, but they had yet to dive into the real reason why she wanted to try past-life regression. As expected, Femi knew Loki, and when Valentina had told him the God of Mischief had sent her, he’d welcomed her with open arms. Anything for the Trickster, apparently. Even though Femi was Egyptian and had tremendous respect for the ancient Egyptian gods, he also honored many other gods and goddesses, Loki included.

  “This is hard for me,” she began.

  “Take your time, child.”

  Valentina bit her lip and looked in the distance for a long minute. It was strange, but the longer she gazed at the pyramids, the more she felt her courage grow. Magny was right there with her, sitting at the table, with a stack of books under his round bum. Femi had never seen a hobgoblin before, so the second he met Magny, he was ready to do everything he could to make the little creature feel comfortable. Needless to say that Magny rather enjoyed the attention. Finally, he was being treated like a god! And his throne was made of old, dusty books. Not too shabby.