Yes, but what does that have to…
Dagon, I’ve checked my watch. We were only given three hours of rest.
She could see him mulling this over, but as his mind churned, the carnassial creatures who had been conferring turned their eyes to Dagon again.
Shit! This doesn’t look good, Holly warned him.
“Where is the energy?” One of the ghost-things held the blade against Dagon’s chest, ripping down the front of his shirt.
“What energy do you seek?” Dagon sounded almost urbane. Holly bit back a sob. He might as well have been asking them if they took cream and sugar in their coffee.
“The energy from the idol,” the demon said, and drew the blade across Dagon’s collarbone deep enough to draw blood. Holly sat impotently as he hissed in pain.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he lied. “And you don’t know what you’re getting yourself into if you make me angry.” Already his serpent was hell-bent on coming out.
A similar line was drawn in his flesh across his opposite collarbone and now the blade was poised at his sternum.
“We were warned about your monster, but this blade will draw your power away if we drain enough blood.” The fiend scored a deeper line from Dagon’s neck all the way down to his indrawn belly. He howled as blood gushed from his torso.
Holly had seen enough.
She hurled herself across the space, fists flying. “Stop hurting him! Stop!” She pummeled the first demon she came to, the force of her anger driving him to the ground. But before she could continue, two others grabbed her arms and dragged her, kicking and shouting, away from her mate. She received a backhand across the face that had her seeing stars.
Dagon’s roar bounced across the space. When her vision cleared, she stifled a sob. He strained ineffectually at his chains, half serpent now, but still unable to free himself. Shit. They had it right about draining him of strength. She snuck out her tongue and wiped away the blood that trickled from one corner of her own mouth. She gathered her fortitude. Dammit, there was no way she’d give up. They would find a way out of this. Holly would be damned if she let some cartoon rejects get the better of her.
After two more agonizing drags of the knife under each side of Dagon’s ribcage, the demons turned their attention to Holly.
“Let’s see how much your girlfriend can take before you’ll tell us what we want.” The head ghost approached Holly. Dagon hissed furiously, barely able to hold up his own head.
Don’t tell them anything, Holly implored. You can see that Nergal’s not behind this because he could have taken the idol at any time. Whoever is pulling these demons’ strings isn’t playing by any rules.
I’m afraid you’re right. Dagon’s words emerged, barely audible. But if you think I’ll let them harm you, you don’t yet understand the bond between a god and his Chosen. His eyes, across the cave, looked haunted.
Their chances weren’t good. I’ll tell you what I understand. She swallowed convulsively, backing up as much as possible before the demons attacked. In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve become everything to me. You’re the first man I’ve ever said this to, and I want you to hear it before things get too messy. I love you, Dagon, and I’m not dying down here without exploring everything that means. Do you understand me? She blinked back tears waiting for his reply.
Holly. A long growl and a hiss emerged from his bleeding body. You love me. He yowled, and Holly thrilled at his response. His serpent emerged, angry and filled with purpose, his golden hue more glowing and pronounced than she’d ever seen it. His limbs thickened and energy crackled all around him. Dagon’s alter ego, stronger and larger than ever before, burst forth. Despite the blood loss and the osmium they’d used against his flesh, her serpent…her amazing Dagon…with an enormous roar, ripped at his restraints.
“No one will harm my woman!” he roared.
Holly had only seconds to watch his transformation. Her arms were pinned behind her, and she kicked viciously at the fiend to her front, who made arcs with his knife and tried to connect with her midsection. She doubted her ability to hold him off much longer and hoped that Dagon’s strength had allowed his escape. Just as she spent the last of her strength, Dagon approached with a snarl. Before he could reach her to seek his retribution, the enemy disappeared as one.
Holly fell down, blinking. The serpent stood five feet away looked equally surprised.
“Does that mean we won?” Holly slowly got to her feet and approached him, still shaking with the adrenaline that had coursed through her body moments before.
“I don’t know,” he said gruffly, reaching for her but also holding her far enough away to assess the damage to her body.
“A few scrapes and cuts,” she assured him, knowing it would hurt like hell to walk tomorrow. But if he got a hint of the extent of her injuries, he would refuse to hold her as tightly as she needed to be held right now. She moved into his embrace, and barely felt the pain as he crushed her into his large, scaled chest.
“I thought I wasss going to lossse you,” he rasped. The heat came back into her chilled body, and sure enough, his subtemperature serpent slowly morphed back to his regular god-self. “I could never live if sssomething had happened.” His skin softened beneath her cheek and the blood dripped from his wounds again. “Holly,” he looked down at her, his eyes still dark with fear and passion, “you’re not just my Chosen.” His sincerity made her heart melt. “You are my entire existence.”
He lowered his head and captured her lips. The kiss was immediate, demanding, and searing. Her senses reeled. But as consumed as she was by the kiss, something felt off. It took only moments before she realized it wasn’t passion making her dizzy. The small chamber slowly filled with gas. The mouths of the hideous creatures were breathing their poison in through the doorway. She had a brief moment to wonder if the gas would kill them or simply leave them at the mercy of their captors once again.
“Whatever happens,” Dagon’s voice came out weakly behind her, “remember that I love you.”
He lowered them gently to a sitting position against the wall, cradling Holly to his chest. He was the first to succumb, and she was not far behind.
Chapter Thirty-Three
“It’s confirmed. All communications with the Underworld are down.” Marduk and the gods had been combining energy for a full hour trying to reach Ereshkigal and even Nergal.
The thunder god’s face was inscrutable. “There’s something terribly wrong. We can’t risk waiting.” He looked over at the architect who was their only hope. “Kulla? I’m sorry, but your dedication ceremony for the new structures is hereby moved up.” He was pained to say the next words. “We need you in Hell before the day is over.”
Dead silence blanketed the room, with only Dani-Lee looking puzzled. Enlil, newly out of the sickbed, leaned down and filled her in. “When Kulla finishes a project and the dedication is complete, he’s forbidden to approach his buildings during three days of cleansing and is always swept away to the Underworld.”
Kulla stepped forward, resolute. “I’ll do anything I have to.” The architect didn’t care one way or the other about Dagon’s fate, but he adored Marduk’s goddess, Tess, and wouldn’t want her devastated, not knowing the fate of her twin. Kulla’s feelings for Lenore had to be more complex. She was technically a witch, and the architect had shown his complete distrust for that ilk. But Lenore was also a goddess, the Chosen of their good friend, Anshar. Not helping? That would go against everything he and all of the gods’ stood for.
“Let’s get this party moving.” He quirked a smile toward Marduk, then Tess, and finally turned his attention to where Anshar stood with the witches. Marduk admired Kulla’s grit as the god went over and placed a hand on Angie’s shoulder, considering she could see him and Addie May could not. “I’ll bring her back,” he said, looking earnestly into her eyes. “I promise.”
She reached up and squeezed his arm. “I know you will. You’re a go
od man, Kulla.”
The architect looked unsettled, but quickly turned around to hide his confusion by confronting Tess. “It’s a good thing you picked up all those offerings yesterday, even if we have to make do without the goat,” he half joked.
Lahar came forward. He spoke quite seriously, “I’d be more than happy to shed some blood on the stairs of each structure.” Marduk bent to his wife and whispered to her that the god’s alter ego was a ram.
“If it will hurry along your trip, I will gladly plunge a stake through my heart.” Lahar bowed.
“No need for anything quite that drastic, but thank you, Lahar. I’ll take you up on your minor blood offer.” Kulla turned to address the rest of the room.
“I’ll need half of you on clean-up to remove staging, ladders, and all the trash and nails laying around. The rest of you need to procure all the flowers you can for decoration, and make the outside porches as festive as possible. Put all the food offerings in baskets to line the stairs, half on each cottage.”
“I’ll let Erra know that the ceremony has been moved up,” Tess told Marduk, a speculative gleam in her eyes. He growled low, and she playfully punched his chest. “You have nothing to be jealous of,” she teased. “I’m just anxious to play matchmaker and see if we can sweeten up our enemy a little more.”
Marduk doubted she’d have any luck, and by the looks of the rest of the gods, they felt the same. They’d all known Erra for millennium…and nobody softened up the god of war.
Everyone went their separate ways to do as Kulla had bid. The compound became a whirlwind of activity, things being acquired and un-aquired. Rough dirt became manicured instantly with a few rolls of turf and some purloined bushes. Kulla pointed and prodded, bullied and cajoled until the cottages resembled nothing more than fairytale abodes. Their arts-and-crafts columns twined with purple clematis, and spills of rambling white nasturtiums overflowed into the walkways. Blue columbine graced mustard-colored ceramic pots placed on porch railings, and hanging baskets of pink-globed fuchsia dangled from the rafters.
Dani-Lee and Addie May were speechless as they added their baskets of honey and wine to the wild, beautiful array of flowers. They couldn’t see most of the hands making the transformation possible, but that probably only made everything that much more wondrous for them.
Kulla rushed over to where Marduk and Tess put the finishing touches on chairs with bows and ribbons. He didn’t look happy.
“I can’t get in touch with Ishtar Dinitu.” He actually wrung his hands. “You know Ereshkigal makes it possible for us to talk to Ishtar in the Overworld, and the goddess of the dawn was supposed to bring a few dignitaries with her to give the ceremony more weight. Now, because of our disconnect with the Underworld, I can’t get anything through. I’m afraid if we don’t have the proper credentialed gods present, the dedication might not be taken seriously enough for me to warrant a trip to Hell.”
Before he could continue his lament, Tess jumped in, “Erra isn’t going to like it if his Ish-Din doesn’t show up. Moreover, I’ll bet his powers of communication haven’t been revoked, because my guess is that he’s working for the somebody who did the revoking. I’m going to ask him to get in touch with Ishtar.”
****
“No.” Erra crossed his arms across a massive chest and refused to look at Tess again. Marduk knew what was going on. The big god would not call upon Ishtar Dinitu and risk a humiliating refusal of his invitation.
“But you have to,” Tess pleaded. “We’ve moved the ceremony up and if she isn’t told of the new time, she’ll end up coming days from now for nothing. Please Erra.”
The god stood resolute. Marduk listened nearby as Tess tried a different tact.
“All right then. We have several other gods Ishtar told us agreed to come. What if you contacted one of them?” She started naming gods and ticking them off on her fingers. “Musdamma, the god of building houses, Nebo, the god of speeches, Nin-Ildu, the god of carpenters.” Erra gave no reaction. Tess blew out what looked to be a frustrated breath.
“How about Girru? He’s the god of fire. You have to be friends with him.” Still nothing. “Mes-Lam-Taea? He’s a war god too, right?” She got a raised eyebrow and a grunt for that one. Marduk bit back a cough. Apparently, Erra didn’t like competition.
Marduk grinned. His wife had saved what she hoped was the best for last. “Gunuru planned on coming. I understand he does earthquakes.”
“Gunuru?” Erra’s mouth quirked up.
Finally, thought Marduk.
“Not seen Gunuru in over 2,000 years. We made school together.” The god reminisced in poor English. “When disaster time, we two unbeatable.”
“Wouldn’t you like to see him again?” Tess prodded.
Now Erra pinned her with eyes that glowed like hot coals. “Why do this for you?”
Tess was not easily intimidated. “You wouldn’t be doing it for me, you’d be doing it for Kulla. He’s been your friend for thousands of years, and you know how hard he’s worked on those buildings. He hasn’t been honored at a ceremony since you all lived in the ancient world.”
Marduk saw Erra’s posture lose some of its rigidity and Tess pressed harder. “It would mean so much to him. Please?”
Erra grunted. “I can contact Gunuru,” he told her. “It might be good to see him again.” Marduk blew out a relieved breath. Tess had given Erra a viable pathway toward getting Ish-Din to the ceremony.
“It will be done.” The god grunted.
Tess threw herself at the huge, gruff immortal and gave him a big hug around the waist. “Thank you, thank you.” She squeezed and rubbed her cheek against his midriff. Tess quirked an eye toward her husband and smirked.
Erra peeled her off, but only after Marduk gave him a very nasty glare.
Hah, Tess giggled, letting herself be removed by the war god. There was nothing like a little jealousy to make things interesting with Marduk.
Erra picked up on it too, because his next words were for her head, alone. I’ll give the message to Gunuru, and pass on the rest of your guest list to him so he can let everyone know. Assure Kulla that his celebration should be complete.
I will, Erra, and thank you. You know, I think your reputation could use a little updating. You’re not such a bad guy, after all.
Two enormous trees behind Erra cracked in half and fell with a violent crash. Tess jumped, momentarily surprised, and glanced up at Erra. His lip curled back in a sardonic sneer. I am the god of death and destruction. You would do well to remember that.
Tess bowed her head, but dammit, he’d probably caught a glimpse of the smug smile that touched her mouth. Okay. Sure, she sent to him. I get it. Marduk likes to play big man all the time too, but when the right woman comes along for you…well, let’s just say that any beast can be tamed, she ended cryptically.
Tess left Erra with his mouth open, and nearly skipped to Kulla where she related the good news. His mood improved remarkably. Poor guy. He had to go to hell in order to get kudos from his peers. She knew—despite their airy bravado—the limbo that the Blue Hills gods had been left in for so long had taken its toll on each one of them.
Tess envisioned a day when they would all find their Chosen, and live once again in a corporeal world, no longer shunned like bad relatives. She didn’t need the witches to tell her that anything was possible.
Three hours later, the inhabitants of the T-Taj—minus Absu who was away and now couldn’t be reached—stood on the rolling lawn that led up to the main house, resplendent in ceremonial garb. A herald had appeared moments before, announcing the imminent arrival of the gods from the Overworld.
Tess was nervous. As the only new goddess present amongst the males, it was her job to formally welcome the entourage and lead them to their places in front of the newly erected dwellings. Marduk had told her fifteen times she looked lovely in her plain, white sheath, belted at the waist by links of solid gold and held together at one shoulder with a fist-sized brooch—al
so in gold—depicting the rampant bull of her lineage.
Tess looked around proudly. All of the gods were draped in their amazing finery. Gold torques and armbands wrapped hard muscle, while jeweled loincloths barely covered the rest of their assets. Erra was present, animosities placed on hold for the time being. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Kulla and Lahar, looking as brilliant as the sun itself.
Huxley had been given similar garb to wear, right down to the sandals with leather wraps twined provocatively over bulging calves. No one looking at him would ever know he wasn’t part of the original group.
Dani-Lee stood back with the witches, Angie obviously filling in details the doctor and Addie May were unable to see. But when the sky split in two, suffusing the lawn with radiance, they had no problem witnessing that highly visual spectacle.
Tess almost felt the crowd draw in a collective breath.
The goddess Ishtar was the first to appear, trailing down from the clouds, her golden hair flaring out behind her. She wasn’t a queen, yet Tess had the urge to fall to her knees as the goddess’s dainty feet touched the ground. She’d never seen anyone more beautiful in her entire life. Tess kept her face off the ground and made do with a deep inclination of her head. “My lady, it is an honor and a pleasure to welcome you to the Blue Hills.”
“Please, call me Ishtar.” The goddess of the dawn took both of Tess’s hands in her own and held them with affection, warming Tess with her enchanting violet eyes. “It has been a long time since a new goddess has been made. Almost as long as the advent of a new birth.” Her gaze went to Tess’s still-flat stomach. “Your child will have so many gods-parents, it will be difficult for him not to be spoiled.”
Tess was overwhelmed, but willing to share the spotlight. “You have yet to meet Anshar’s Chosen, Lenore, and a goddess-to-be who is my twin sister, Holly.”
Ishtar’s brow clouded momentarily. “I know of the Lady Lenore, of course, visiting briefly with my sister, Ereshkigal, but which lucky god has been ensnared by your sister?”
Going Deep Page 28
