by J. C. Diem
Their conversation halted and they looked at him in trepidation when he entered the room. Excitement buzzed inside him when he realized he had absolute power over them. He wasn’t a mere mortal like they were used to. He was now their god.
“I am hungry,” he said regally and sauntered over to an armchair. “Make me some food,” he ordered when no one snapped to attention. They all turned to leave, but he spoke before they could disappear. “You,” he said and pointed at the small brunette he’d first chosen. “Stay.” Gulping in fear, she clasped her hands together and quaked while the other girls hurried away.
“I won’t bite,” he said with what he hoped was a benevolent smile. When she made no move to come closer, he crooked his finger at her. With great reluctance, she walked over until she was standing in front of him. He pointed at the carpet and she frowned in confusion. “Kneel,” he commanded. Her dread returned as she sank down to her knees. While she was fairly young, he was certain she was far from innocent, but he had something other than sex on his mind right now. Willing his boots away, he glanced down at his now bare feet. “I would like a foot massage,” he declared.
Relieved that was all he wanted from her, she obligingly picked up his right foot and propped it on her thigh. His eyes closed in bliss when she dug her thumbs into the arch of his foot. She let out a soft gasp when his golden helmet disappeared and his clothes changed to a green tunic and brown pants. He seemed less frightening without his armor.
Opening his eyes a sliver, Loki smiled inwardly when the brunette’s tongue crept out to wet her lips. She was staring at his face in fascination. He knew he was handsome and that some women found him to be irresistible. It seemed his dark allure worked just as well on human women as it did on Asgardians. He had a feeling it wasn’t going to be too difficult to persuade two of the beauties to join him in bed each night after all.
He’d watched King Rho and his soldiers all day and they didn’t appear to be hatching a plot against him. With luck, they could finish converting the population of this city into slaves within the next few days. He found he wanted to be gone from this place. Next time, he would choose somewhere cooler to focus on.
His musings were interrupted when his alpha leopard sent him a warning. The shifters sensed something dangerous lurking nearby. They’d only caught a whiff of the beings, but it was enough to alert them that the undead were back. They’d picked up on far more than just one this time. While the animated corpses hadn’t made an appearance yet, they were too close for comfort.
Cursing, Loki surged to his feet so quickly that the brunette fell backwards in surprise. He strode past her, calling on his boots and armor once more. He ignored the women as they carried trays with an assortment of food and beverages into the room and headed for the door. Food would have to wait until after he’d taken care of this new threat.
His leopards followed him down in the elevator. He sensed that he would need every resource he had to quell whatever was coming this time. Lexi controlled the zombies and she was up to something. At least his shifters wouldn’t hold back when fighting the undead. He’d created them to destroy walking corpses after all.
Rho saw him emerge from the casino and scurried over to meet him. His black staff was far more than just a prop. He held it ready to use as a cudgel when he saw his ally’s alarm. “What is wrong?” he asked.
“My pets picked up the scent of zombies,” Loki replied. His piercing blue gaze swept around, searching the shadows for danger.
“How many are there?” Rho queried. He also searched for dead men who had inexplicably been brought back to a semblance of life.
“I am not sure. Perhaps many.” Loki’s nerves were tightly wound as he sensed danger rapidly approaching. He’d had this feeling many times before, usually just before a battle was about to erupt. He gathered his pets around him with a thought and drew his sword as he waited for disaster to strike.
~~~
Chapter Thirty-Seven
~~~ Alpha World ~~~
Bianca spent another restless night pressed up against Loki’s chest. While she knew he was dangerous and possibly slightly mad, it was hard to fight her increasing attraction to him. He’d saved her life several times and she was indebted to him. In the dark of night, her mind was free to dwell on how strikingly gorgeous he was and how nice it felt to have his arms around her.
Come morning, reality returned along with the daylight. He’d saved her life and was keeping her at his side because of a whim even he couldn’t quite explain. She was relieved when he informed her he was going to check on the progress of his allies after breakfast. “Remain in this building,” he cautioned her with a warning look.
“I will,” she promised. It was far safer in here than out in the city with the robots and Grimgorg scouring the streets for victims. Going out at night would have been even worse. That was when the Viltarans and their clones hunted.
Several hours later, she was standing on the balcony watching the distant chaos when she spied a unit of soldiers approaching on foot. Twenty men and women closed in on the building, taking cover and peering around for enemies. They were so tiny with distance that she could only recognize them by their uniforms. One lifted binoculars, spotted her staring down at them and pointed. They clustered together to talk for a few moments before they hurried towards her building.
Bianca had a terrible feeling that she was their target rather than Loki. They must have recognized her from the footage that had been taken in New York. There was no point trying to hide from them. They would search every room in every apartment until they found her.
Surrendering to the inevitable, she waited for the soldiers to arrive. It was a surprise when they knocked rather than trying to break the door down. She tried to open it, but Loki had used his magic to lock it again. He still didn’t trust her. “What do you want?” she asked loudly.
“I’m General Stuart Meyers,” a gruff voice replied. “I’d like to speak to you. Can you open the door?”
“I’m sorry, but Loki locked it with magic.”
Her response was met with silence for a few seconds before the general spoke. “We’re going to head up to the roof. My men will lower me down to your balcony with a rope.”
He must have really wanted to speak to her face to face if he was willing to take these measures. “Okay,” she called back and crossed to the balcony. Several minutes later, she looked up to see a man being lowered over the side. He descended rapidly and landed lightly on his feet. He was in his late fifties and his black hair was heavily streaked with gray. His eyes were brown and intelligent. He disentangled himself from the rope before offering her his hand. “I’m Bianca Caldwell,” she said and shook his hand politely.
The general stepped inside and glanced around the penthouse, assessing the place for danger. “What exactly is your relationship with Loki, Ms. Caldwell?”
“I guess you could say I’m his prisoner.”
He wasn’t surprised to hear that and nodded thoughtfully. “What do you know about him? What are his strengths and weaknesses?”
“I was just about to make coffee,” she said to give herself time to think. “Would you like a cup?” He nodded and she bustled about in the kitchen while she thought over his questions. A tiny part of her felt like a traitor to her captor, but she squelched it down. General Meyers waited patiently as she gathered her thoughts. “I know very little about him,” she said at last when their coffee was ready. “He doesn’t seem to have any physical weaknesses. His only flaw that I’ve seen so far is his pride. He tends to lose his temper pretty quickly when he’s humiliated and he makes rash decisions.”
Meyers took the mug she offered him and followed her over to the dining table before responding. “I thought this might be the case.” He switched his attention to another matter when they both took a seat. “Who is the masked female that saved my men from Loki?” She’d given them the opportunity to flee and they hadn’t squandered it. One of them had managed to snap
a photo of her on his phone before they’d run.
Bianca shrugged and wrapped both hands around her mug. “He said her name is Fate, but he doesn’t know much more about her than that.”
“Is she an Asgardian?”
“No.”
“Yet, she seems to be on our side,” he mused.
Uneasy with having the soldier inside the penthouse, Bianca checked her watch. “Loki will probably be returning soon. I doubt he’ll take it very well if you’re still here when he arrives.”
Meyers turned his full attention to her and she sensed she was being judged. “How badly do you want to escape from him?” he asked.
In truth, she actually felt safer around the demi-god, but she could hardly tell him that. “Pretty badly,” she said instead.
“Do you think the aliens and their robots will leave Earth if we destroy Loki?”
Her shrug was uncertain. “I don’t know. I really doubt you can actually kill him, though.”
“We have a plan,” he said and studied her again. “The only thing we’re missing is bait.”
Grasping his meaning, she hunched her shoulders in fear. “I take it you want me to be the bait?”
“Loki seems to be invested in your safety. I’m willing to bet he’ll come for you if we take you away from here.”
Despite the general’s politeness, Bianca knew it wasn’t a request. He was going to use her for his own gains whether she liked it or not. If the Earth itself hadn’t been at stake, she would have resented being used. “What do you need me to do?” she asked.
His response was immediate. “I need you to come with me.” He checked his watch and stood. “There’s no time to waste.”
They stood and left their untouched coffees sitting on the table. There was no time to rinse the mugs out. Bianca followed him to the balcony, trotting to keep up with his brisk steps. He quickly and deftly put the harness on her. She was glad she was wearing another pair of pink sweatpants and sneakers rather than a dress and heels as she was lifted into the air.
Two soldiers grasped hold of her arms and lifted her over the railing. They remained close to her and she had the strong sense that they were her captors rather than her guardians. General Meyers was hauled up next. He didn’t require any help climbing to safety.
The door to the roof had been kicked open and stood ajar. They entered the stairwell and exited into the foyer of the penthouse, then took the elevator to the ground. Bianca endured the flat stares from the soldiers as they left the building and headed for the street. They clearly believed she was on Loki’s side. One of the few female soldiers worked her way in close enough to utter a comment. “Loki must be pretty good in the sack for you to turn on your own species like this.” Her tone was full of contempt.
“I’m sure he is, but I haven’t had the pleasure of finding that out for myself,” Bianca ground out. The soldier lifted her brow in obvious disbelief. “We’re like animals to him,” she explained. “He has no desire to have sex with me.” She wasn’t entirely sure this was true anymore. She’d seen the way he looked at her sometimes and she was pretty sure he was tempted.
“Then why are you with him?” the woman asked loudly enough for the entire squad to hear her. They listened in, but kept their eyes out for trouble.
“What choice do I have?” Bianca retorted. “I tried to run once and I was almost raped by four men. Loki found me in time and saved me from them. I don’t know what he wants with me, but I’ve been safer with him so far than I’ve been with my own people.”
Ashamed glances were exchanged, which sent alarm thrumming through her. No one had told her what their plan was yet and she suddenly wondered if her life was in danger.
“That’s enough chatter,” General Meyers barked. His stern frown included both Bianca and the female soldier. They continued their march in silence.
Dallas had once bustled with movement, but it was growing increasingly silent and still as the population was rounded up. They marched through deserted streets to an army truck. It was large enough to carry all of them and they piled inside.
There were no windows to see where they were going, but they didn’t travel far. A few minutes later, the truck pulled over and they disembarked in front of a stadium. It had been deserted when the aliens had attacked and had been left largely alone since then. It now boiled with activity as uniformed men and women went about whatever tasks Meyers had given them.
“Come with me, please,” the general said to Bianca.
She stayed close to him as he entered the stadium. A platform had been erected in the middle of the grounds. Her blood ran cold when she saw a metal pole in the center of the stage. It looked far too much like the pictures she’d seen of witches being burned at the stake for her liking. “You’re not going to tie me to that, are you?” she asked uneasily.
“I’m sorry,” he replied as two of his men stepped forward to take her by the arms. “Your sacrifice will be remembered by future generations,” he added gravely. He couldn’t meet her eyes as she was dragged over to the platform.
Bianca didn’t scream, cry or beg to be released. The only thing she had left was her dignity. She wrapped it around herself like a shield as she was hauled up the stairs and was secured to the pole. The sun baked down on her as her wrists and feet were bound with plastic ties. Their hard edges bit into her flesh, but she didn’t cry out in pain.
She watched the two men scurry away with shamefaced backward glances at her. Once again, she had the disturbing sensation that she’d been through something like this before. Her mind insisted that she’d survived an event that was eerily similar to this. She pushed the notion aside and chalked it up to being brought on by fear.
Within minutes, the stadium appeared to be empty, but it was just an illusion. The soldiers were simply hiding and biding their time until they could spring their trap. Bianca almost felt sorry for them if they thought Loki would fall for this pitiful ruse. He was the master of illusion and he would immediately see it for what it was.
~~~
Chapter Thirty-Eight
~~~ Lexi’s World ~~~
While it was too dangerous for Lexi to be within sight of Loki, she wanted to at least be in the vicinity of Las Vegas when they put their plan into action. She’d sent a zombie to keep watch during the day and to report back to her if anything changed. She hadn’t heard anything alarming from him so far and it was now time for them to act.
Everyone gathered on the grass at the front of their compound. Mortal enemies, the vampires would normally have been restless being near her small pack of shifters. But her control as their supreme master was absolute. If they’d had the ability to think, they wouldn’t have been happy following the orders of a strange vampire from another dimension. Since they had to do Lexi’s bidding, they really had no choice.
Wearing her blue leather jacket and favorite jeans, Lexi slung a backpack full of weapons and ammo over her shoulder. She gave Nat the nod that they were ready to go. In the blink of an eye, the vampire teleported half of their group to the outskirts of Vegas. The zombies arrived a moment later. Five thousand corpses flowed up through the ground like magic. Lexi would have raised more of them, but she’d already used up too much of her inner strength. It took a lot of blood to call up a large number of minions and they just didn’t have that much available. Ten thousand undead in the form of vampires and zombies would have to do.
Nat had taken them to the highway near the drains that she, Violet and the other vamps would use to infiltrate the city. They would spread out through the tunnels and emerge at various places throughout Vegas.
“Keep your distance from the city,” Mark ordered his squad. He didn’t want them to fall beneath Loki’s control again.
“Yes, Dad,” Kala said mockingly and rolled her eyes at his stern look. “We’re not stupid. We won’t let him capture our minds again.”
Mollified, he turned to Lexi expectantly. At her mental command, three of her zombies took hold of Ma
rk, Ava and Elijah. They sank into the ground and Lexi watched through one of her minion’s eyes as they popped up near the soldiers. Her zombies would stay with the trio until this war ended.
Natalie rubbed her hands together, barely able to contain herself. She was itching to use her swords on her enemies. “We’d better get going,” she said to Lexi and Reece. The pair were bonded so strongly that they practically shared the same mind.
“Be careful,” Lexi warned her and shifted her glance to include Violet as well. “I don’t want to hear about any heroics. Just get in there, get rid of Loki and stay safe.”
“Yes, Mom,” Violet said drolly.
Kala sniggered, then made a request. “Make sure you kick Loki in the nuts for me.”
“Yeah, we’ll put that on the top of our agenda,” Nat said dryly. She’d learned her lesson about humiliating Loki after she’d kicked her version of the god in the backside. Stabbing him in the back when he wasn’t looking would be a much safer way of dealing with him.
Knowing the vamps wouldn’t need her assistance to climb down the perilous cliff to the drains, Nat leaped over the edge. Violet was right behind her. She flailed her arms to keep her balance as she slid all the way to the bottom. They were both wearing their own clothing and footwear this time. They grimaced in unison when they examined the pipes again. “This is going to ruin our boots,” Nat complained softly, then ducked into the drain on the left.
Vampires could see in the dark and they moved with eerie silence deeper into the sewers. Already grubby and wearing tattered clothing, the living dead didn’t complain as they slogged through the filthy water in their bare feet.
Catching Violet’s curled lip from the corner of her eye, Nat turned and grinned at her. Noisome water sloshed over the tops of her boots. Something squished between her toes and she didn’t want to know what it was. “I bet you never thought your life could get as glamorous as this,” she joked.
