The Tainted Web (The Godhunter, Book 7)

by Sumida, Amy

  “No, honey,” I smiled gently at him. “We just said we can't do that, it'll hurt too many people.”

  “No, not the whole Inter Realm,” Meilyr smiled back at me like I was joking with him. “Just Iktomi's web, the tainted threads. Like you did with the threads to distract him. We can tear about the large columns, the center of the web, and lure him through the Inter Realm, possibly here,” he stopped to listen to the other imps, speaking so fast and high, I couldn't understand them, and then he nodded. “Yes, this would be a good place because there is only one connection to the Inter Realm here and that is easily shut down. We lure him here, you shut down connection, and you squish the spider.”

  “That's brilliant,” Pan clapped his hands and the imps beamed at him. “You need to bring these guys around more often, Vervain. I like them.”

  “We like you too,” Meilyr continued to speak for the group. “Funny god with horns like a faerie.”

  “Ah,” Pan looked around the table with wide eyes and we all laughed at him. “Thank you.”

  “What do you think, Torrent?” I directed everyone’s attention back to our newest ally. “You know him best.”

  “Would Iktomi chase down anyone messing with his connections?” He mused for all of one second. “Absolutely. It might even make him mad enough to chase them blindly, not noticing where he was going. I'd say there's a good chance you could catch him here and if you turn off the router, he'll be stuck but my only concern is how you're going to bring him down once he gets here. I honestly don't know if you have enough godpower here to kill Iktomi.”

  “I think it's a good plan,” Thor frowned around the rock in his forehead. Yes, there's an actual shard of rock embedded in his thick skull, don't ask me why, he never really explained it to me. Something about a bar brawl. You usually couldn't see it behind the fall of his hair anyway. “Whether we have enough power doesn't matter, it'll have to be enough because we can't allow this madman to live after what he's done to Vervain but what about the other one?”

  “Mica would definitely retaliate for Iktomi's death,” Torrent admitted.

  “But what could he do with his entire network down?” I wondered.

  “Put it up again,” Torrent shrugged. “I'm sure the imps do good work but machines can be replaced and Internet connections re-established. Mica would come back with a vengeance, especially knowing that the company and all its power, would finally be his.”

  “We'll have to come up with a separate plan for Mica then,” I mused. “It's doable, we know where he works after all.”

  “He doesn't come in very often, remember?” Torrent rained on my parade. “I told you, he stays away unless Iktomi calls him in.”

  “Yes and I bet he simply traces in and out of there,” Thor frowned around his rock again. “It's getting to him that's going to be difficult and we should have that plan in place before we act on Iktomi.”

  “Between a rock and a hard place,” I murmured as I stared at Thor's forehead.

  “What?” He narrowed his eyes on me.

  “We're between a rock and a hard place,” I blinked innocently. “It's an expression, it means we're stuck basically, with nowhere to go for the moment.”

  “Oh,” his glare melted.

  Azrael coughed to cover his laugh but the imps just burst into gales of merriment.

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Are we going to talk about this?” Trevor interrupted the peace of my inner courtyard, where I was talking with Torrent.

  The butterfly courtyard, as I liked to call it, could only be accessed through the master bedroom. It was my sanctuary, a lush paradise in the middle of my African influenced territory. Crowded with ferns, tropical flowers, and thickly leafed trees, it was the home of hundreds of butterflies. Since my love magic took the form of butterflies, I felt a deep connection to the insects and watching them calmed me. I had thought to share some calm with Torrent but it looked like that wasn't going to happen.

  I looked up to see that it wasn't just Trevor who had invaded my sanctuary but all of my men; Kirill, Odin, and even Azrael. They stood in the artificial mist that was released from pipes over the doorway. The mist kept the butterflies from leaving as well as added necessary moisture to the air. There they stood, four gorgeous men amidst an enchanting haze, looking like something out of a fairy tale. How ironic that faeries were the very thing they were there to talk about, and my comparison would probably be unwelcome.

  “I'll go and hang with your lions,” Torrent stood up, smiling awkwardly. “I could use some fun.”

  “Okay,” I returned his smile. “You remember how to get to the common room and then your bedroom if you get tired?”

  “Yes, I'll be okay,” he grinned, looking for a moment like a little boy, before he slipped past my men.

  My men. I looked them over and was suddenly angry again. I couldn't help what I was and wanting to know about my people was not such a bad thing in my eyes. That I'd just had a horrible experience with the Wild Hunt, made me even more defensive somehow. If they'd have just let me be, I might have distanced myself from the fey on my own(or at least Arach) but their words had prompted a stubborn response from me. I wouldn't give up my heritage to suit the whims of my lovers and frankly, Arach wasn't looking so bad after my experience with Iktomi. If these guys didn't want me as I was, I'd find others and I'd start with the Faerie King of Fire.

  I felt the hardness settle into my face, seeing the automatic response to it in the faces of the men, and I felt a twinge of wrongness. This wasn't me. Why was I behaving like this? Why was I so upset? Then my confusion was squashed beneath their angry eyes.

  “What is this,” I finally spoke, “an intervention?”

  “Vervain?” It was Azrael who came forward and sat beside me on the stone bench, his midnight wings folded back but still brushing against my shoulder. “What's happening with you? We all love you and anything that was said to you earlier was done out of respect for that love, I'm sure.”

  “Are you? Sure, that is?” I smiled at him, stroked his cheek. It was hard to be mad at my angel, especially when he had nothing to do with the earlier attack on me. “So it's out of love that they want me to turn my back on my blood, deny what I really am. Even though with my father's ring, visiting Faerie wouldn't take any time away from them?”

  Azrael frowned and looked back at the other men. They wore various expressions. Trevor's was defiant, Kirill's unsure, and Odin's was blank, carefully composed. I don't know which pissed me off the most but they all made me angry.

  “Vervain?” I looked back to find Azrael staring at me in shock. “Where is this anger coming from? Your eyes, they look...”

  “What?” I focused my anger onto him and he flinched back.

  “They're flashing red,” Azrael answered.

  “See?” Trevor waved a hand at me. “It's the damn faeries, they've enchanted her again. That dragon will stop at nothing to have her for himself!”

  “Trevor,” Odin held out a calming hand to my wolf. “This is not helping.”

  “This has nothing to do with that dragon,” I growled. “In fact, if you must know, I had almost decided there was no hope for Arach and I but now,” I waved a hand toward them, “he's looking like he might not be so bad by comparison.”

  “Seriously?” Trevor stalked forward and pulled me to my feet. “You're gonna choose a reptile over me? Over them?” He jerked his head in the direction of the others. “And you think this is normal behavior? There's something wrong here, either you've been bewitched or your fey blood is taking over and changing you into a woman I don't recognize. You need to snap out of it, Vervain!”

  “I'm the same type of fey as Arach,” I hissed. “You just called me a reptile too, you fucking mongrel!”

  “Vervain,” Trevor flinched. “That's not what I meant. Please. Think about this.”

  I stared at the angles of his face, as familiar to me as my own, and a small part of me fluttered, tried to break free of the ang
er weighing it down. I swallowed hard and looked away, searching inside myself as I realized I hadn't felt the stirrings of any of my beasts lately. Not the wolf who was a part of Trevor's soul, not the lioness who connected me to the Intare, not even my Nahual who was part jaguar/part dragon now and who somehow managed to keep all my magic under control. The last time I'd felt her was when I'd sent a part of her into Arach and Kirill, and then she'd disappeared once more.

  I sat back down on the bench heavily but even with the realization that Trevor might be right, I couldn't let go of the anger. It burned brightly inside me, growing steadily to block out any other emotions I had for my men. I was even beginning to feel it when I looked upon Azrael and I'd just reasoned to myself that he'd had nothing to do with the earlier argument. For that matter, I felt it when I thought of Arach.

  “It's not faerie magic,” I whispered and they all crept closer. It was so quiet, all I could hear was the light spraying of the water mister above the door.

  “So there is something wrong?” Odin finally broke the silence.

  “I'm not sure,” I looked up at the beautiful faces of the men I knew I should love, and felt nothing but that consuming anger. “Yes, there's something wrong,” I amended. “I'm just so angry. What you said about my blood-”

  “I didn't mean it like that,” Trevor interrupted. “I want you to know who you are, where you came from. I just see you changing and it scares me. It scares us.”

  “If this isn't fey magic,” Odin disregarded Trevor's declaration, “what is it? It can't be anything Iktomi did, you were like this before you left.”

  “I'm not sure,” I looked inward again, forcing the anger aside, pushing it down into a cold, tight ball. “My feelings for Arach have deteriorated as well and I can no longer sense my magic.”

  “You can't sense magic?” Kirill stepped forward, a frightened look replacing his concern. “How vill you control Intare?”

  “It's still there,” I waved away his fear, “I just can't see it. It's buried under my anger. Look, I just need some quiet time alone here,” I rubbed at my aching forehead, it was like the anger needed to be released or it would take out its frustration on me. “Then we can take care of the Spider God, save humanity... again, and discuss what's going on with me.”

  “Fine,” Trevor growled and stalked out of the room.

  Kirill nodded, though he held his shoulders rather stiffly as he left. Odin stayed for one defiant second before sighing, closing his one, remaining eye, and turning away. Azrael, though, he just stayed seated beside me.

  “Az,” I huffed, he was finally starting to give me a reason to get angry. “Just go.”

  “Vervain,” he ran a gentle hand over my hair and a feeling of peace swept through me, momentarily driving out the anger. I took a deep breath and enjoyed it until the heat came rushing back. “We made love just yesterday, I trusted you and your lion enough to bring you into my Garden and be with you beside the sacred river of wine. There we forged something stronger than what's controlling you now. You're the Goddess of Love, you know it's the most powerful magic. Use it now, Carus, call it forth and burn this evil away.”

  He kissed me lightly on the forehead and left.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  “Teharon's back from talking to Estsanatlehi,” Trevor said as I walked back into our bedroom. “Everyone's gathering in the common room.”

  “The common room?” I frowned, we usually met in either the dining room or library.

  “The Intare asked to be there,” he shrugged. “Looks like your lions are ready to rumble.”

  “The phrase is Ready to Roar,” I nodded to Kirill, who stood behind my wolf.

  “Da,” Kirill agreed, “we have T-shirts.”

  I felt a little of my joy in my men return at the lighthearted banter. I smiled and let them escort me to the common room, a room filled with pool tables, couches, tables strewn with board games, computers, and tvs with game systems. It was the room the Intare liked to relax in.

  All my lions were there, as well as Torrent, the imps, and the other members of the God Squad, but what surprised me were the new faces in the crowd. Teharon stood amidst a group of striking men and women with sharp features and long, dark hair. They all wore feathered cloaks with long plumes in a mix of earth tones, and very serious expressions on their faces.

  “Hello,” I said. “You're with Teharon so I'll assume it's okay to welcome you to Pride Palace.”

  “Vervain,” Teharon said as the group nodded at my welcome. “These are the Thunderbirds.”

  “The Air Force jet pilots who do all those aerial tricks?” I looked them over with a grin. “I thought their uniforms would be different.”

  “No,” Teharon chuckled in spite of himself and even some of the flock laughed a little. Good, it made me more comfortable to know they had a sense of humor. “These are the original Thunderbirds, the ones the Native American myths are about. They are shapeshifters who change into giant birds of prey.”

  “We're also the sworn enemies of Iktomi,” a man stepped forward.

  His long hair was choppy, now that I had a better look I could see it clearer. The black locks fell in tapered chunks that mimicked the shape of feathers. His nose was long, very Native American but a little sharper, like Horus', and his eyes were jet black, a gentle almond shape. Overall, his visage was stern but kind.

  “Iktomi has sworn enemies?” I raised an eyebrow at Teharon. “I thought he was just a trickster?”

  “He's played some horrible tricks,” the Thunderbird replied before Teahron could, “and he's played them on the wrong gods.”

  “Fair enough. Please,” I indicated the several couches strewn about the room, “sit down everyone. I think this is going to be a long conversation.”

  The birds looked at each other and nodded, finding spots throughout the room, amidst my lions and the imps. The God Squad stayed close, sharing a couch with me and my men. Azrael wasn't there so I assumed he'd gone back to work. Death rarely gets time off.

  “We've discovered what Iktomi and Mica have been up to, did Teharon tell you?” I asked the man who seemed to be the spokesperson for the group. “I'm sorry, we can do full introductions later but I'd at least like to know your name for now.”

  “I'm Kohana,” he inclined his head. “It's a pleasure to meet you, Godhunter.”

  “Vervain,” I smiled, “or V, if you're feeling a little sassy.”

  “Vervain,” he chuckled. “Yes, Teharon has told us what the tricksters have been doing. He also told us about your abduction and the ally you've brought back with you,” he paused to nod toward Torrent, who nodded back. “It's very disturbing to think of the power they've accumulated. They've always been more of an annoyance than a threat but now it appears that we need to take them more seriously.”

  “Yes, I was a little shocked at the scale of this attack,” I nodded. “And that's exactly what I consider this, an attack on my people. This goes beyond manipulation, this is much more direct than that. I intend on squashing this threat and we've come up with a partial plan but you're insight would be appreciated. Torrent has given us all the information he can think of but it's not a lot to go on. Do you know of any weakness we might exploit?”

  “Iktomi's weakness is his web,” Kohana said with a very intense gaze. “A spider walks his web confidently, weaving it into complicated patterns as he goes, but catch him in the heart of it, where he hangs mid-air, cut off its moorings, and he is lost. He will fall.”

  “We can't destroy the Internet,” I shook my head. “We've already considered it but it will cause too much damage to the humans.”

  “Not the entire Internet, no,” he smiled wickedly, “but if we can get him in an area where we can cut him out of the web and then prevent his return to it, it will have the same effect,” he paused and looked at the others. “Get him out of his web and we'll take care of the rest. Birds eat spiders.”

  “That's graphic,” I swallowed audibly as I flashed back
to the mass of spiders Iktomi had made me believe were emerging from my stomach. I could have used some birds then. “It sounds like what the imps suggested,” I waved a hand to Meilyr and his group, which the birds had been eying warily. “I'm sorry, you're probably wondering about them. I'm part sidhe and these are some of my people. They're Internet savvy and came back with me to help us vanquish Iktomi.”

  “You're a faery?” One of the women Thunderbirds blurted out in surprise but quickly schooled her expression when Kohana glared at her.

  “It's alright,” I laughed, holding up a hand toward Kohana. “It's a bit shocking, I know.”

  “She's not just any sidhe,” Meilyr stood up, his face a little red, as he shouted. “She's the Queen of Fire! Queen Vervain,” he added in a little more subdued tone as he realized everyone was staring at him in shock. “I do apologize but it's difficult to see you neglect your title. You're such a blessing to us, our hope that the House of Fire shall flourish, and you deserve to be called Queen.”

  “My apologies, Your Majesty,” Kohana inclined his head with a glint of mischief in his eyes. Before I could correct him, Meilyr stomped his foot.

  “No, no, no,” Meilyr shook his head, “her title is Queen not Majesty. Obviously she's majestic but Queen is the form of respect one should use when addressing her.”

  “Okay Meilyr,” I couldn't decide whether to be upset with him for abusing my guests or flattered at his defense. “Thank you for your loyalty but these are my guests and the rules of hospitality apply to them. They're not familiar with the ways of Faerie and Kohana thought he was showing respect by using a human term for royalty.”

  “Hospitality,” Meilyr lost a little of the crazed gleam in his eyes and the claws I hadn't realized he'd extended drew back slowly into his furry paws. “You're right, my Queen. I apologize, Lord Kohana.”

  The imp bowed and settled himself back on his perch on the top of a couch and behind Darius, who was staring at him like he was a Pomeranian who'd just turned into Godzilla. I looked around and realized the entire room had just got a wake up call. In the God Realm things were not always as they seemed, small people could house great power. So you'd think the gods would have known better than to judge the imps by their adorable appearances.