by Unknown
“The problem is that they're Vervain's friends, not Constantin's,” Blue explained and widened his eyes when Rain glared at him. “What? Am I wrong?”
“No, you're not,” I gave Rain a sympathetic look.
“So ask them to do this as a favor to you,” Rain said as if it were obvious.
“Rain,” Ilario shook his head.
“What?” Rain glared back. “This is Constantin!”
“Yeah and for us, this is a big deal,” Adriano patted Rain's shoulder. “But for Vervain's friends it won't be. It's wrong to ask her to get them to fight for someone they don't even know.”
“If it was one of your lovers, you would,” Rain pointed out to me and the room went silent.
“Yes,” I finally answered. “I would and I would shoulder that debt gladly but I won't ask people who have fought beside me to risk their lives for a man they don't even know.”
“Why not?” Rain nearly screeched.
“Because they could die, Rain,” I tried to explain it gently. “They could lose several of their people just to rescue Constantin from imprisonment. Not death but imprisonment. It's not fair to them and I won't ask it. I don't even like asking my Intare to do it.”
“We fought beside you too,” Rain growled.
“I know,” I sighed. “Which is why I'm going to risk my life and those of the men I love to try and save Constantin.”
That shut him up.
“I may have a solution,” Brahma offered and Sara made a startled sound.
“You're not thinking what I think you're thinking?” She asked.
“The nagas,” Brahma nodded.
“But Brahma,” she whispered. “They haven't fought a battle in centuries.”
“What better time for them to start?” He looked over to me and then glanced at Rain. “The nagas have an interest in conquering the vanara.”
“So I saw,” I remembered the abused girl vividly again. “Why is that? Why do they hate each other so much?”
“It's a long story,” Brahma sighed.
“They lost a bet,” Sara said simply.
“Excuse me?” Trevor asked.
“A bet,” she looked over at him. “A wager.”
“Yes, we know what a bet is,” Mrs E said gently before anyone could snap at Sara. “What was it about?”
“Oh,” Sara laughed. “So the mother of the nagas is sister to the mother of the suparnas. They were also married to the same man.”
“Whoa, literally sister-wives,” Kate chuckled.
“Well, they weren't both married to him at the same time,” Sara shrugged. “It's just another point of contention with them. Anyway, Vinata, the Suparna Goddess, made a bet with her sister Kadru, the Naga Goddess, the terms of which were that the loser would be enslaved to the winner.”
“What was the bet?” Teharon asked.
“No one remembers, it was so long ago,” Karni Mata, Teharon's girlfriend, answered.
“So the nagas lost the bet,” I concluded.
“Actually, no,” Sara continued. “The nagas won and the suparnas, including their mother, were enslaved.”
“Then why were there naga slaves at the vanara palace?” I was totally confused.
“The nagas are ruled by a kind-hearted god named Ananta,” Sara explained. “After awhile had gone by, he begged Kadru to release her sister as well as her children and Kadru relented. The only problem was, the suparna had grown bitter in their slavery and vowed vengeance upon the nagas. So every time they caught one alone, they'd abduct it and enslave it.”
“Ah,” I nodded. “No good deed.”
“Yes, but this also means that they might finally be wanting a little payback of their own,” Karni added.
“Are their enough nagas to take on Hanuman?” I asked.
“Oh yes,” Karni Mata chuckled while she shared a look with Sara.
“How many are we talking about?” Odin asked.
“They are noted as having numbers which defy calculation,” Brahma said dryly. “There are thousands of snakes.”
“Whoa,” I breathed. “Do you think they'll talk to us?”
“That's the thing,” Brahma gave his wife an annoyed look. “I'm not sure if they will. I'm the one who advised Ananta to plead for the suparna's release.”
“And you think he might blame you for the current situation?” Morpheus asked.
“Oh please,” Sara rolled her eyes. “Ananta isn't one to hold a grudge. Just go see him, Brahma. Stop being such a baby.”
We all did our best to hold back our laughter as Brahma inhaled sharply and pulled himself up in his seat.
“Fine, woman,” he growled, “and since you want to interfere so badly, you can come along.”
“Um,” Sara swallowed hard and began to look nervous.
“Are the nagas really that scary?” I asked.
“It's not the nagas, so much as where the nagas live,” Brahma smirked at his wife.
“And where's that?” I asked.
“Bhogavati,” Karni Mata answered for them. “It's an underground city and it's really not so bad.”
“Says the Rat Goddess,” Sara snorted.
“Watch it, Sara,” Karni set her rim to rim black eyes on Sarasvati. “Rats see everything and there are some things they've seen you do that you may not want people to know about.”
“Have I mentioned how lovely you look today, Karni?” Sara asked sweetly.
“That's what I thought,” Karni sniffed and smoothed out the folds of her sari.
“And I'm so happy that you've found love,” Sara kept going. “Congratulations. After all these years-”
“I'd stop there, if I were you,” Karni narrowed her eyes back on Sara.
“I was only trying to be nice,” Sara blinked innocently.
“We'll leave immediately,” Brahma practically drug his wife out of her chair. “I'll let you know how it goes when we return.”
“Thank you,” Rain got up and shook Brahma's hand before he left.
“I consider Constantin a friend just as I do all of you,” Brahma nodded to the other dark horses. “We'll get him back.”
“Maybe I should stay here to help with the-” Sara started but Brahma started to drag her away.
“Got to go,” he said gruffly. “Important not to delay.”
After they traced away, we all looked at each other and burst into laughter.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I was heading up to our bedroom with Kirill, Trevor, and Odin when I remembered that I needed to talk to them about dragon babies. I sighed and then stiffened as I remembered something else even more important.
“Oh no,” I whispered as my eyes went round.
“What is it?” Trevor looked down at me in concern.
“Something not good,” I chewed at my lip.
The elevator came to a stop and I walked out of it in a daze, my mind racing. I was all the way into the bedroom when Kirill stopped me with a hand on my arm.
“Tima?” He asked, his blue eyes worried.
“I told Arach that I was ready to have a child with him,” I confessed as Trevor and Odin came closer.
“Are you?” Trevor asked, as intuitive as ever.
“I think I am but that's not the problem,” I caught my lip between my teeth. “I undid the spell that I use to prevent pregnancy so we could start trying. Then I realized that conception might take awhile and I'd have to keep renewing my spell when I returned here, so that I didn't end up conceiving by one of you instead of him. So we decided it might be easier to wait for a time when I could stay in Faerie until I did conceive. Plus, I wanted to talk to all of you about it.”
“Uh huh,” Odin frowned. “And then?”
“Well, then I put my ring back on-”
“You take your ring off when you're in Faerie?” Odin interrupted.
“Arach doesn't like seeing it,” I shrugged. “It's never been an issue before but then you guys got in trouble. When I put the ring back on, it showed
me that all of you were imprisoned. Even Azrael.” I let that sink in before continuing. “Azrael had felt that you all were in trouble and had gone after you alone. He was caught as well but when I returned to the time I'd left, Azrael hadn't left yet. So I was able to prevent it from ever happening.”
“Why does this information feel more important than it seems to be?” Odin asked.
“Because it means that all this time I've thought I could spend as much time in Faerie as I wanted to and not worry about Trevor dying from the separation but that isn't true at all,” I stared at Trevor, who was silent and grim.
“But it would just undo itself when you returned to the moment you left, right?” Odin pressed.
“The ring can't undo death,” I whispered, keeping my focus on Trevor. “I could have killed you.”
“No,” he took my hands. “You would have felt me dying and you'd have returned. I wouldn't have died.”
“Maybe,” I sighed. “But it sure does make a pregnancy harder than I'd thought it would be. I won't be able to stay in Faerie the whole time. I'll have to return every month.”
“But only for a few moments,” Trevor rubbed his hands over my arms. “It'll be okay, Minn Elska.”
“Then you're okay with this?” I looked around to include Kirill and Odin in the question. “With me having Arach's child?”
“Zat's been plan all along,” Kirill shrugged. “Ve vill support your decision. It's honorable.”
“Good,” I gave a nervous laugh, “because that's not all. You know how I said it would be difficult for me to remember to keep renewing my spell?”
“You forgot to renew it?” Trevor gaped.
“Yep,” I whispered.
“But we all...” Trevor looked from Kirill to Odin and then back to me. “Together.”
“Yes, I know,” I sighed. “And I had sex with Azrael at the monkey palace.”
“Everyone knows if you take a bath after sex, it washes away the sperm,” Odin scoffed and then frowned when he saw all of our expressions. “What?”
“Have you gotten dumber?” Trevor frowned.
“Fuck you,” Odin growled.
“He's right,” Kirill put a hand on Odin's arm. “You are smarter zan zis.”
“Water won't wash it away,” Trevor snapped. “It's up inside her. Only the ones who didn't make it to their goal come back down.”
“Alright,” Odin huffed. “I was just having a blonde moment.”
“I told you your hair looks a little blonder,” I blinked at him. “What's going on?”
“Nothing, I'm fine,” Odin sighed. “Maybe you should renew that spell now.”
“Yeah, you're right,” I took a deep breath and went to my dresser. In the top drawer was a blue bottle of Devil's Shoestring oil. I took it out and poured a little into my palm. I lifted my dress and rubbed the oil over my belly as I intoned, “Barren as a salted field. This womb has no fruit to yield.”
Then I waited. Instead of the usual white glow of the spell settling into place, there was a green flash and the oil expelled itself from my skin, beading and then dripping off me.
“Zat doesn't look good,” Kirill said dryly.
“Does that mean what I think it does?” Odin asked.
“Oh no,” I whispered as I fell to my knees. “Oh no, oh no, oh no.”
“Minn Elska,” Trevor and the others were there immediately. “It's going to be alright. This child will be loved, no matter who the father is.”
“I think fatherhood will be pretty evident once the baby is born,” Odin observed.
“What?” I looked up at him in confusion.
“Well, you've got a werewolf, a werelion, a dragon-sidhe, an angel, and then your average god all in the running,” he gave me a little grin. “Four out of five of those will have distinctive traits.”
“It's most likely Arach's,” I whispered, as much to reassure myself as to quell any hopes that may be rising in my men.
“But there's a chance it's not,” Trevor looked way too pleased for my comfort.
“In which case, it could be Azrael's,” I gave a grim laugh. “The man I just broke up with.”
“You didn't break up with him,” Trevor stroked my cheek. “You just had a fight.”
“It felt like a break-up to me,” I swallowed hard.
“Then maybe this will change his mind,” Odin offered.
“I'm not going to use a baby to get him back,” I scoffed. “Besides, I don't know if I want him back.”
All three of them made disbelieving sounds.
“What?” I glared at them. “He really pissed me off.”
“You don't love like that,” Trevor chuckled. “You will love Azrael until the day you stop breathing. That's just how you are.”
“Probably even after you stop breathing, if our love is any indication,” Odin said gently.
“Have I told you guys how spectacular you are?” I grinned at them.
“Not today,” Kirill helped me up. “But you can do it now.”
“You're spectacular,” I whispered and kissed him. Then I pulled back and looked at them all. “Wow, I'm really doing this. I'm going to be a mother.”
“You're already a mother,” Odin frowned at me and my heart fell.
“I know,” I went over and took his hand. “I've carried my love for them, and you, into this life. I will always be Vidar and Vali's mother but I didn't have them as Vervain and you know it makes a difference.”
“Yes,” Odin sighed. “It was just a little hard for me to hear. We'll have to tell the boys together.”
“Soon,” I promised.
“You're going to have to be even more careful now,” Trevor said suddenly. “This may be the trouble that Alaric was talking about.”
“I'm not sitting the battle out, Trevor,” I set my eyes on him.
“I think you should,” Trevor crossed his arms over his chest.
“I'm a dragon,” I huffed. “I'm the best weapon we've got.”
“And you're carrying our baby,” Odin added. “Which makes you the biggest weakness we've got.”
“Well said,” Trevor nodded at Odin.
“I have to fight,” I rolled my eyes. “I'll be fine.”
“No,” Trevor said.
“Definitely not,” Odin agreed.
“Nyet,” Kirill said with finality.
Oh, you'd think they'd know me better by now.
Chapter Thirty
I debated taking a quick trip back to Faerie to give Arach the kinda good news of his possible impending fatherhood but in the end I decided against it. Mainly because something else came up. Which was par for the course of my life and which also had me questioning(yet again) what kind of mother I could be to this child.
The thing that came up was Brahma's return. I was in the library at the time, trying to read the first page in a book over and over again since I was too lost in my thoughts to actually comprehend anything. The blare of the intercom set into the wall near the library's door, startled me into dropping the book. It was Ryan, one of my Intare, letting me know Brahma had arrived. I put the book away and hurried down to meet him.
“Did someone tell the rest of the squad?” I asked as I walked into the dining room.
“Yes, I called them after I arrived,” Brahma turned to me with a shocked expression on his face.
“They told you about the baby,” I surmised.
“Congratulations?” He tried to smile but it was hesitant.
“Hopefully,” I chuckled.
“Congratulations for what?” Thor asked as he stepped into the room.
“Uh,” I gaped at him as my stomach started doing anxious somersaults.
Of all the scenarios that had been filling my mind lately, never had I once envisioned the one where I told my ex-boyfriend that I was pregnant with another man's child... and that I wasn't sure which man... and that one of those men could be his father. Oh this was going to be awkward.
“We're having a baby,” Trevor c
ame up behind me and put his arm around my shoulders.
“You're what?” Thor's jaw fell open. “Do you think this is the best time for that?”
“There will never be a good time,” I shrugged, trying my best to make it casual but feeling the jerkiness of it. “And it's most likely Arach's child, so he or she will be living in Faerie.”
“Most likely?” Thor raised his eyebrows.
“I may have forgotten to renew my birth control spell when I came home from Faerie,” I grimaced. “Then I found out that I'm pregnant.”
“Oh damn!” Pan exclaimed as he came into the room. “Sounds like I arrived just in time. Somebody get me some popcorn!”
“Should I congratulate you?” Horus looked more concerned over me than I'd seen him look in awhile.
“Yes, of course,” I smiled. “Thank you.”
“I wish you and your child all the best,” Horus said with such a genuine tone that everyone gaped at him. “What? I have compassion. I'm not a complete asshole.”
“You're not even a little bit of an asshole, in my opinion,” Hekate said as she came up beside him. After she shared an intimate smile with Horus, she looked over at me. “A baby, huh? That's fantastic news. Congrats, V.”
“Thank you, Katie,” I grinned at her.
“Do the Intare know?” Mrs E asked as she came in with her husband and... oh damn and double damn, this just kept getting better. My jaw fell open as her son, Tobadzistsini, walked in with her.
Toby. I wasn't in love with him anymore but still, I hadn't expected to see him and it was a bit shocking to come face to face with him so soon after the drama that had happened between us. To do it while giving everyone the news of my impending motherhood made it all the more awkward.
“Hi, Toby,” I finally choked out a greeting when it became apparent that we were standing there staring at each other.
“Hello, Vervain,” he gave me a gentle smile. “Congratulations, a child is always a blessing, no matter who the father is.”
“Thank you,” I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “Not to be rude or to make you feel at all unwelcome but why are you here?”
“My mother said you could use a hand,” he shrugged. “I think it's the least we can do,” he looked behind him and a very unhappy looking Nayenezgani came forward.
