The Lion, the Witch, and the Werewolf

by Amy Sumida

  “That sounds workable.” Toby focused on the area before us and the landscape started to shift.

  Territory magic is marvelous. It's probably one of the easiest god magics to master once you got the basics down. A god could focus on any aspect of his territory and add, subtract, or alter things with will alone. Mainly, it transformed one thing into something else. For example, Toby could have focused on a tree and turned it into the pool. It's much harder to create something from nothing. In fact, I wasn't sure how to do that, or that it was even possible with god magic. The Fey had helped the Gods create the God Realm, and I believe it was their magic that had filled the realm with the foundational materials the Gods worked with. Undoubtedly, I could learn how to do it since I was a faerie, but there was no need. My territory abounded with things I could shift around to my liking, and so did Toby's.

  Within minutes, Toby's favorite stream bubbled and gurgled into a freshwater pool before meandering onward toward the villa.

  “Very nice,” Odin said in approval. “Shall we test it out?”

  We hurried to change into swimsuits and then raced out to Toby's new pool. Up close, I could appreciate the size better; a good thirty feet across. The pristine water allowed us to see clear down to the pebbled bottom. It dropped gradually from the shallows into a depth that nearly outdid its width. The deepest end spread out below a collection of boulders conveniently placed for easy climbing. A few plants grew out of the nooks between the rocks, helping to blend the new pool into the old scenery. Deep emerald grass coated the bank all the way to the water's edge, and a flowered meadow created a serene swath between the pool and the forest that provided just enough space for sunlight to make it past the canopy and reach the pool.

  We tossed our towels on the sun-warmed grass and headed into the water gleefully. As I surfaced, my thought returned to the last pool I'd been in; the one in the Mirror. I saw Narcissus again—stroking himself like a peeping Tom—and I shuddered. But then Toby swam up beside me and spun me through the water before he kissed me soundly. The nasty memory faded away.

  We lingered at the pool long enough for Kirill, Trevor, and Lesya to return. Lesya was upset that we'd gone swimming without her, but while she was whining at me in her cub form, her father shifted to human and tossed her in. She transformed underwater and came up as a sputtering little girl. Instead of being upset, she laughed and called for her daddy to join us.

  Trevor shifted to his human form, and the two, naked men hurried into the pool. Maybe it should have felt weird to have my daughter and two of my husbands skinny dipping while the rest of us had swimsuits on, but they were all my men, and Lesya was still young enough that it didn't matter. I'd take these moments while I could. With her rapid growth, she'd soon be too old for this sort of thing to be okay. She had already knew the distinct difference between girls and boys and wavered a step away from noticing it too closely. Although, I wasn't sure if it would be like that with her. Lesya's a shapeshifter, and they tend to be more relaxed about nudity. We'd just have to wait and see, I guess.

  When our stomachs started rumbling, we finally went back to the villa. We had lunch on the terrace and then enjoyed the sunset together. I passed on the offer of coffee and opted instead to head upstairs and take a shower... by myself. Moments alone were hard to come by, especially when my lovers were being extra vigilant. But there in Toby's secure territory, I was safe, and they could relax their vigilance a little. I could take a nice, long, hot shower by myself. You don't realize how wonderful that is until you can't.

  I luxuriated in it and in Toby's modern, full-body shower system. Steel panels slicked down the sides of the indigo-tiled stall. They gently fanned water over my sides while the large, square shower head above me rained it down. It was heavenly. I may have stayed in there a little too long. Odin even came to check on me, but I shouted that I was fine, and he let me be.

  I stepped out of the shower and dried off as I hummed happily to myself. Despite the threat of Narcissus hanging over my head, it had been a lovely day with nearly all of my lovers. I wrapped the towel around my body and glanced up into the steamy mirror.

  Something moved in the misty reflection but it wasn't me. I froze, my heart starting to pound. I was about to head for the door when someone lunged through the foggy glass and grabbed me. I screamed as I was pulled through the looking glass.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  I was still screaming when he dropped me. I scuttled backward, my towel lost somewhere along the way, and then got to my feet hastily. Narcissus stood before me with his hands held out in a placating gesture.

  “I'm not going to hurt you, Vervain,” Narcissus said gently.

  Then his gaze lowered.

  I stiffened and narrowed my eyes at him.

  “Sorry.” He picked up the towel and tossed it to me.

  The towel shifted as it flew through the air. I held my hands up automatically and caught a silk robe. With a grimace, I slipped it on and belted it tightly.

  “How did you do that?” I hissed at him and started to point back at the mirror he'd pulled me through.

  Except the mirror wasn't the size of Toby's bathroom mirror, it was enormous. I stared up its height and then down its length. Just as in his old prison, this mirror reined in Narcissus' territory in a seamless ring. I gaped around myself again; at the familiar forest and then the path that I was certain would lead to a lake. And in the center of that lake, a palace would dominate a tiny island, connected to the shore by an arched bridge. I hadn't recognized it at first since the grass spread verdantly beneath my feet, and the forest burgeoned in full color, but this was an exact replica of the Mirror's forest. Narcissus had recreated it all.

  “When you broke the curse, the pieces of it that had befriended me latched onto me,” Narcissus explained. “You didn't just free me, Vervain, you empowered me. You made me the Mirror.”

  I turned slowly to stare at him in horror. “That's why there isn't a tracing point into your territory.”

  “I have no need of one. I can move through mirrors now; all mirrors. I enter one and come out another.” He grinned. “My territory is impregnable to everyone but myself.”

  “Nemesis,” I whispered. “Did you take her too?”

  Narcissus made a face. “I don't want to talk about her.”

  As he pouted, I reached for my magic but it was just as it had been in the Mirror; I could feel a connection to it, but I couldn't reach it. I remembered what Morpheus had said about god magic getting trapped within the glass. Was my magic in Narcissus' mirror-boundary or was he holding it? I searched for my dragon, but she was gone too. That made me flinch. This was far worse than the Mirror; all of my magic had been taken, not just my god magic. Did I even have my witch magic? I wouldn't know until I tried to cast a spell, and that couldn't be done without tools and herbs.

  In short, I was screwed.

  “Come along, Vervain.” Narcissus took my arm in a powerful grip and dragged me up the path. “I've recreated the palace just as it was except I've made it Summer. You'll be able to enjoy it at last. We can swim in my lake and make love on the shore.”

  My blood went cold as my eyes widened. “I'm not having sex with you, Narcissus.”

  “Maybe not today, but you will succumb to my charms eventually.” He sent me a wicked wink. “No one has ever denied me, Vervain. You will not either.”

  Narcissus glanced at my robe and then frowned in concentration. The silk flowed outward until I was wrapped in layers of the stuff; a gown worthy of a Paris runway.

  “There; that's better,” Narcissus declared. Then he pursed his lips. “No; one last tweak.”

  My bodice lowered into a deep V; low enough to show my navel. I tried to jerk away from him, and he laughed.

  “Keep fighting me, and I'll have to restrain you, Vervain,” he warned. “I know you've just gotten over your issues with chains, and I'd hate to be the one to return them to you.”

  “Did the Mirror tell you that?�
� I hissed. “How much did it see in my head?”

  “Oh, it didn't have to tell me. I saw everything as it did; a benefit of those sacrifices I made to it.”

  “It was telling the truth,” I whispered.

  “Oh, yes.” Narcissus grinned. “But you so sweetly gave me the benefit of the doubt. You really do have a kind heart.” He stopped and stared at me with a tender expression. “I've never known anyone so willing to fight and also forgive. I need that forgiveness, Vervain. I need you; a woman who will not simply bend to my every whim but who will fight me and forgive me when it's over.”

  “I think I may be plumb out of forgiveness,” I growled.

  “You're just focused on your husbands right now.” Narcissus pulled me across the stone bridge. The lake gleamed beneath us in turquoise placidity. “After a few years with me, you'll forget them and begin to love me. You'll see.”

  I knew it was useless to argue with him; Narcissus had obviously gone insane. So, I calmed my racing heart and started to watch him carefully. He would screw up, and when he did, I'd be waiting.

  “Was that really the Mirror who sexually assaulted me or was it you?” I asked calmly.

  Narcissus glanced my way as we entered the palace. We strolled down a long hallway to the receiving room. Things had changed slightly there. In the center of the collection of chaise lounges, the floor opened up and the lake filled it, creating a little pond. Narcissus skirted the pool, pushed me down onto a chaise, and sat beside me.

  “That was the Mirror. I was very angry with him over that. I expressly told him that you are mine.” Narcissus took my hand and stroked it; focusing his attention on my fingertips. He started kissing each one. “You're so lovely. These hands can kill or caress just like mine. I see a lot of myself in you.”

  “Did you kill Nemesis?” I whispered.

  Narcissus' hand clenched around mine as he growled, “She was trying to put another curse on me. I had to defend myself!”

  “Did you bring her here? Did your territory take her magic as it did mine?”

  “It's only a siphon.” He went back to kissing my hand and started working his way up my inner arm. “I'm the one who takes the magic.”

  My blood went cold. This was starting to sound familiar.

  “You can't take another god's magic,” I said.

  “The Mirror could.” He grinned cockily. “And now, I am the Mirror. I pulled Nemesis in and took her magic. She died instantly.”

  “But you didn't take mine,” I murmured as I internally freaked out.

  Poor Nemesis; she'd only been trying to do her job. And poor Morpheus; he had lost yet another family member. And the Fates; they had to be dead too. On top of that, another god had manifested the ability to steal magic from other gods. Damn it all!

  “I'm only holding your magic; keeping it safe,” Narcissus assured me as he used my arm to pull me closer. “Behave, and I'll return it to you.”

  I swallowed down the bile rising in my throat. I had no misconceptions over his idea of behaving.

  “I'm not having sex with you,” I repeated firmly.

  “Then I shall keep your magic,” he said simply and withdrew.

  My breath returned to normal, and I calmed enough to think again. “Did you kill Hestia, Hera, and Hephaestus too?”

  “That sounds like a nursery rhyme.” Narcissus chuckled. “Hestia, Hera, and Hephaestus. Or a tongue twister.”

  “Did you? And the Moirai? If you killed the Fates, Narcissus, we could all suffer for it.”

  “Would you like to go for a swim?” He asked. “Or how about a massage?”

  “Did you kill them, Narcissus?!”

  “Yes!” He shouted.

  I didn't flinch. I just stared at him.

  “Those bastards put me in the Mirror,” he sneered. “I knew you had weakened Hera so I went after her first. She was easy, and her magic—the little of it that you left her with—strengthened me. I was able to grab Hephaestus next. And then I was more than strong enough for Hestia. Next, I'm going after Apollo.”

  I knew it. I nearly said something, but I kept it together. If he did go after Apollo, Athena might still be able to lock onto him and catch a ride into his territory. Except, that might kill her too. Would Narcissus automatically take Athena's magic when she passed through his mirror-border? Damn. I didn't know what to do.

  “I tracked you on Olympus,” I said carefully. “Your trail just disappeared. I know now that you took Hestia through her mirror, but your trail didn't lead to her mirror.”

  “Is that a question?” He smirked at me.

  “I'm just curious about how you managed to disappear scent-wise before you entered the mirror. Care to enlighten me?”

  “I don't know about scent.” Narcissus shrugged. “If I had to guess, I'd say it's because I was consuming her power as I took her. Maybe our scents blended for a moment.”

  I let that process and then asked the question I'd been building up to. “What about the Fates?”

  Narcissus grimaced.

  “Narcissus?”

  “Their magic is different,” he muttered. “I can't consume it; it waits in my mirror along with yours. They're how I knew I could bring you here without killing you.”

  “Then they're alive? They're here?”

  “Yes, but I won't let you see them, Vervain,” Narcissus said firmly.

  “Fine.” I held up a hand. “I'm just glad to know they're alive.”

  Narcissus' expression went pensive. “I'd gladly share my territory with you,” he whispered. “If I command it to, it will listen to you; provide you with whatever you desire.”

  “I have my own territory, Narcissus. I know how they work.”

  “Not like mine,” Narcissus said with a secret smile. “My territory is like the Mirror, it holds the power of illusion. I can create anything from nothing; whole landscapes in seconds. I can even change my appearance to anything you wish.”

  Narcissus was suddenly more muscular, his face more chiseled and less feminine. Basically, more the type of man I'm attracted to. But I still wasn't attracted. I'd seen this trick before, except when Morpheus had pulled it on me, he had shifted into my husbands. That had been far more disturbing.

  “If you want a tropical beach”—Narcissus waved a hand and the room was replaced by a golden beach with turquoise waves softly caressing the shore—“you can have it. If you'd prefer a mountain cabin”—another wave, and we were standing on a wide plateau covered in wildflowers with a massive log cabin behind us; smoke wisping from its chimney—“you can have that too. Anything you wish for—from the smallest bauble to the most magnificent palace—can be yours. Go ahead; try it. Wish for something.”

  “I wish I had my magic back.”

  Narcissus grimaced at me as the scenery shifted back to the receiving room. “Wish for something illusionary,” he amended. “Something my mirror magic can give you.”

  “I wish I had a whiskey sour,” I said dryly.

  A glass of golden-brown liquid appeared in my hand. I frowned at it and then took a sip. It was good; sweet and sharp. I grimaced at it anyway.

  “If you truly want to win me over, try not killing people. That may work,” I suggested.

  Narcissus looked me over slowly. “You will look more favorably on me if I don't kill Apollo?”

  “If you don't kill anyone,” I clarified.

  “Well, that's a large request.” Narcissus squished up his face in consideration. “How will you show me your improved regard?”

  “Not with sex!” I snapped.

  “I know.” He held up his hands again. “But how? Will you go swimming with me in the lake; without clothes?”

  “No.”

  “Apollo's life isn't worth a naked swim?”

  “Promise me that you'll stay away from all of my loved ones,” I countered. “My husbands, my boyfriend, my lions, my children, my family, and the Froekn. Do that, and I'll swim with you, and then we can barter for the Olympians.”
r />   Sorry, Apollo, but I wanted my family safe first.

  “Deal.”

  “Break your word, and nothing you do will ever win me over.”

  “Understood,” Narcissus said solemnly. “I vow that I will not kill or even hurt your loved ones.”

  “Very well.”

  “Excellent!” Narcissus grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the room and then out of the palace entirely.

  He scampered over the bridge, dragging me along, and then went down to the shore of the lake. I was completely over swimming by then, and I especially didn't want to do it naked with Narcissus, but it was definitely worth the lives of the people I loved. I held out my arms and nodded at him. Narcissus grinned devilishly and whisked the dress away. I didn't give him a chance to stare. I hurried into the water as he chuckled behind me.