by Amy Sumida
Chitinous carapaces like giant insects held heads covered in matted fur and baring razor teeth. Thick, elephantine legs pounded the earth, carrying bulbous bodies leaking pus. Scaled limbs stretched out from skeletal forms, talons seeping poison from their tips. The Hidden-Ones are nightmares, even among their own kind, and very few are immune to their spell.
As soon as the Mesopotamians spotted the Wild Hunt, they buckled. I could see whole sections of their army folding in upon itself as soldiers panicked. Our troops saw the opportunity and rushed forward to claim it; beasts and gods filling the gap like a spearhead. Blood sprayed and bodies burned. Arach, Odin, and Lucifer rained fire over our enemies as they tried to flee. It was glorious, but I was focused on one goddess. I wanted my magic back. My fury had blinded me; making me forget that I couldn't have taken back the love magic even if I did reach Ishtar. But I didn't reach her. Before we got within twenty feet of the Love and Lion Goddess, a shape launched into our path. Kirill came skidding to a halt.
“Marduk,” I sneered and slid off Kirill's back.
“Vervain.” He grinned at me. “Shall we finish this, dragon whore?
“We shall, poopy-pants.”
Marduk blinked, long and slow.
“Sorry.” I grimaced. “It's a mother thing. Let me try that again. We shall, you magic-stealing dickweasel.”
“Better.” He made reluctant side-nod.
I latched onto the water within Marduk while he was distracted and used my moon magic to increase it. Marduk's eyes went wide. His skin plumped. He stumbled. Blinked. He looked down at himself with a scowl.
“What the fuck is this?” Marduk lifted a swollen hand and stared at it in bafflement.
“Water,” I smirked at him, waiting for his magic to drain away.
Marduk narrowed his eyes at me and slapped his hand on his chest. The Tablet of Destinies lay within its leather harness as usual. It came to life as soon as Marduk touched it; the ancient writing filling with light. His whole body filled with it—with the electricity that should have drained out through all that water—and he started chanting. I pushed more water into him. Marduk wobbled on his feet but kept going. I scowled and increased it even more. A wet stain appeared in the front of his pants. Marduk's expression went furious but he pulled a Fergie and kept chanting.
As I gaped at him in confusion, Kirill bounded before me and knocked Marduk to the ground. My husband reared back, lifting a deadly paw, but before he struck, light flashed between them, and Kirill went flying. His wounded whimper had my head swinging in his direction anxiously. Kirill's whole body twitched but he managed to give me a nod; he was okay. I breathed a sigh of relief. Then his sapphire eyes widened in horror.
“Your destiny is mine now, bitch!” Marduk's hand landed on my bicep and gripped me like a manacle.
All around us, the world came to a halt; monsters and gods paralyzed in midair and mid-swing, magic suspended between enemies, and flames frozen into sculpture. Only Marduk and I still moved, but I just barely. Energy surged through my body, stealing my control. Not electricity, this was something far worse. My magic drained away with it, and I swayed with the loss of power. Marduk shoved me with both hands. I fell onto the sand, and he straddled me. I couldn't lift a finger or use a smidgen of magic; it was too busy flowing into him.
Marduk grinned into my face. “I rule the whole fucking Universe, you stupid slut. You were never going to win against me. I don't care how many monsters you fuck into following you.”
Gods blurred and faded around us. A strange, creaking sound filled my ears. The air vibrated like a plucked cord. My breath stuttered, and I was certain that this was it. I would die on the sand beneath that grinning bastard with his pissy pants pressed against my belly. But I continued to draw breath, and Marduk continued to grin at me. Why was he keeping me alive? What the hell was he doing?
“Wondering why you still live?” Marduk asked gleefully. “I'm not after your death. I want your power. I want your territory. And I want you to live to see me take it all. To watch as I steal everything that's yours. As I tear your family and friends away from you and destroy you in ways far more painful than mere death. You will serve as an example to the rest of the God World; that none should challenge the strength of the Great Marduk!”
With his last words, the magic consumed me, and I felt something shift inside me. Ties broke, vows vanished, and love died swiftly. My cheeks were soaked with tears when I finally fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
I woke in a strange room. The A/C was too cold. I tried to turn up my internal temperature but it didn't work. I couldn't find the fire inside me. The chill sank deeper. I shivered and pulled the silk comforter over myself as I peered around warily. Masculine and luxurious, the bedroom reeked of money. Black silk and velvet draped the bed and windows, a hand-carved dresser stood to my right, and an enormous mirror casually leaned against a forest-green wall.
“Vervain!” Sin declared and lurched out of a chair beside the bed. “Are you all right? How are you feeling?” He sat on the bed beside me and took my hand. “Do you want some water or food or anything?”
“Sin?” I frowned at him. “Where am I?”
“I didn't know what to do.” Sin's expression made my chest constrict with worry. “So, I brought you home with me.”
“What do you mean? Where are my husbands and Viper?” I instinctively reached for them metaphysically, down the cords that connected us, but I couldn't feel them. Couldn't even feel those glowing cords. There was nothing there; no Blood-to-Heart vows, no Froekn bond, not even my ties to the Intare. “Where are they?!” I shrieked. “Are they all dead?”
“They left you,” Ninkasi said grimly as she stepped into the room.
“Ninka,” Sin growled, “I was going to break it to her a little more gently.”
“What do you mean; they left me?” I growled.
“Marduk changed your destiny,” Sin said softly. “Ninka and I weren't affected, most likely because we're Mesopotamians, but your friends and family”—he swallowed roughly—“they were all changed.”
“Changed how?” I whispered as Marduk's words came back to me. “He took them away from me.”
“Yes. I'm so sorry,” Ninkasi said simply.
“How is that possible?” I looked from her to Sin.
“Destiny.” Sin shrugged. “Marduk altered yours to be what he wanted it to be.”
“And he wanted them all to leave me,” I whispered as a horrible ache started to fill the empty places where I'd been connected to them.
“It seems so,” Sin confirmed.
I lurched out of bed and stumbled.
“Whoa now.” Sin jumped up and steadied me. “You don't have your magic anymore and that includes your healing. You're still weak from the war. You need to rest, Vervain.”
“No, that's bullshit,” I snarled. “Marduk can't change who I am. Even without all of the magic I collected, I'm still a dragon-sidhe.”
“Are you?” Ninkasi asked. “Were you always one?”
“Yes, of course.” Then I frowned as I thought about it. “But most of my life, my magic was suppressed. It wasn't until I went to Faerie and touched the magic there that my Fey essence was released.”
“I think Marduk suppressed it again,” Sin said with a sympathetic look. “I don't sense any magic in you.”
“That's not possible. He can't just bring back a spell that's been broken.” I shook my head and searched myself for my Fey essence; for that fiery, elemental part of me. There was nothing; I couldn't even remember how to look for it. “No.”
“Vervain—” Sin started.
“I need to get to Pride Palace,” I interrupted him. “Thank you for helping me, Sin. You've been a good friend, and I owe you big. But I have to get to my family.”
I tried to trace but nothing happened. No magic. No Aether. No power.
Sin's expression went even more sympathetic.
“Ala
ric!” I shouted. “Al, I need you!”
Nothing.
“Holy hand-grenades, I can't even hear Al,” I whispered in horror.
“I'll take you there,” Sin offered. “But you need to be prepared. There's a good chance that Pride Palace doesn't belong to the Pride anymore.”
“What?” I leveled my stare on him.
“The Mesopotamians don't have a territory, Vervain,” Ninkasi explained. “Sin and I have been talking while you slept, and we believe that this may have begun as vengeance but turned into something else. When Marduk was able to take Love from you, he must have realized that he could take even more. By changing your destiny, he could steal everything you have. He could finally provide a home for his people; your home.”
“So, he took my magic,” I whispered. “He took my lions merely so he could take our territory.”
“We think so,” Sin said sadly. “You see, to gain control of a territory, Marduk needed one of two things to happen; a god had to willingly give Marduk their territory, or Marduk had to take a god's magic that was already attached to a territory. Well, the former was highly unlikely and we believe that the latter could only be done with you.”
“Why only me?”
“Because you're a witch-turned-goddess.” Sin shrugged. “You took your magic from other gods. That magic was protected by your star but once Marduk broke that, your magic became vulnerable. Marduk was able to steal Love from you so he knew he could then take Lions, and your lion magic is attached to a territory.”
“That's how I got the territory,” I admitted. “I took it with Niyarvirezi's magic.”
“But we don't know anything for sure,” Sin hurried to add. “I'll take you to Pride Palace so we can see for ourselves. But if Marduk is there, you must promise me that you'll let me trace you back here immediately.”
“Okay,” my voice had gone soft and lost. “I have to go, Sin. I have to be sure. My children are there. My men. And my cat. I can't leave Nick behind; he'll be so scared.”
“Okay, honey.” Ninkasi wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “We'll find them. All of them.”
“Sin,” I paused. “The water didn't work. Why didn't it work?”
“I don't know, V,” he said softly. “I don't understand. It should have drained him.”
“Oh.”
“What water?” Ninkasi asked.
“Nothing,” I murmured when I saw Sin's widened eyes. “Just a tactic we had discussed.”
If Sin didn't want Ninkasi to know, I wouldn't betray him. Especially not now, after he had done so much for me. He gave me a grateful look.
“Take my hand.” Sin stretched his hand out to me, and I took it. “We'll find your family, Vervain, and we'll figure this out, I promise.”
Then the Aether pulled us in, and my body became pure magic even though there was no magic inside it anymore.
Chapter Thirty
Sin and I stepped out of the tracing room and into Pride Palace. It looked the same as always. To my left was the entrance to the dining hall. A corridor began a little way to the right of that doorway and to the left, tucked in the corner, was a door that led to the Southern Tower. Directly before me were the grand, central stairs; creamy stone steps that spiraled to the top floor, and just to the right of those was a golden, cage elevator. To my right, another corridor angled in an L formation to reach the rest of the castle. All was peaceful and normal. The picture of the Pride, all of us standing before the palace, hung on the wall beside the elevator as it always had. I started to relax but then Nick, my gray tabby, came down the hallway on my right and spotted me.
“Nicky!” I cried in relief.
Nicholas, the cat I had raised from kittenhood, the animal I had bottle-fed and who had imprinted on me as if I were his birth-mother, hissed and then started growling. I gaped at him in shock.
“Nick, what's your problem...” Aidan stepped into view and then stared at me. “Oh, I see.”
“Aidan, is everyone all right?” I asked urgently.
“No thanks to you, bitch,” he growled.
“Excuse me?” I blinked at him.
“Ganza!” Aidan shouted. “She's here!”
“Aidan, what the hell's wrong with you?”
“You broke our bonds!” He snapped as he pointed accusingly at me. “You left us floundering. If it wasn't for the magic in Lesya, the Intare might have gone extinct!”
“Marduk changed my destiny!” I protested. “I did nothing to you.”
“Bullshit!”
“Aidan!” Kirill growled as he stepped out of the elevator. “I'll handle zis.”
“Kirill, thank goodness!” I ran to him and threw my arms around his shoulders.
Kirill was alive, and nothing but death could tear this man from me. Everything would be okay now.
Kirill stiffened and pushed me away. “You shouldn't have come here, Vervain.”
I stumbled back and stared at him in horror as the breath stuttered in my throat. My mind stumbled to a stop. I couldn't process; it wasn't possible.
“Why the fuck did you come here?” Trevor snarled as he stepped up beside Kirill.
I glanced behind Kirill to see all of my lovers glaring at me with hatred. Not just anger; hatred. It was the one emotion I'd never thought to see in their eyes and it cut me deeper than any blade could have. The world reeled around me, the entire foundation of my life swept away. This couldn't be happening. Anything but this.
“They were part of your destiny,” Sin said gently as he laid a hand on my shoulder. “Because of that, Marduk was able to change them; he broke their love for you.”
“Vervain broke our love for her!” Odin shouted at Sin. “By betraying all of us on that battlefield.”
“What are you talking about?” I wailed. “I didn't betray you!”
“There won't be any reasoning with them, sweetie,” Ninkasi said. “They're under the Tablet's influence.”
“Do you hear that?” I shouted at them. “Listen to her; she's telling you that Marduk has enchanted you. He's changed you; I didn't do anything to you!”
“None of you are velcome here anymore,” Kirill snarled. “Get out, or I will cast you out myself.”
“Kirill, please! What about Lesya? Trevor, you can't separate me from Vero! They need their mother!”
“Lesya doesn't vant you anymore,” Kirill declared coldly. “She doesn't need a mother who betrays her father. And you vill not be allowed to see her ever again.”
“No,” I whispered. “You can't do that. She's my daughter! You can't keep me from my children!”
“You won't be allowed in Faerie either,” Arach stepped forward to announce. “You gave up your essence out there, Vervain. You gave up everything you are just to try to kill that god. If we mean so little to you then giving us up shouldn't be a hardship.”
“Arach, I didn't give anything up; it was taken from me,” I sobbed. “My boys. Please, you can't. You can't keep me away from my children!” I tried to roar but all that came out was a human shriek. I sounded like a lunatic.
“Your children are better off without you,” Azrael declared. “I thank the Fates that we never had any.”
“This isn't you. Please,” I begged. “Try to remember how much we love each other.”
“Not enough to stop you from throwing us away,” Re sneered at me.
“Get out,” Trevor growled.
“No! I'm not leaving!” I stood my ground. “You can do this; I have faith in all of you. Fight this magic. Fight for us!”
“Ve don't fight for you anymore!” Kirill started forward with violence in his eyes.
I froze, but Sin stepped between us.
“All right, she gets it!” Sin held up his hand. “We're leaving; there's no need to be complete assholes as well as morons.”
“Fuck you, Moon God,” Re snapped. “You have no idea what she did to us.”
“Neither do you, Sunshine,” Sin snarled. “You're all fools; pawns in Marduk's game.”
“My children,” I whispered. “Nicky.” I searched for my cat but he was gone; run away from me.
“Vervain,” Sin turned to me and took my face in his hands, “we'll fix this. We'll find a way, but I need you to come with me now. Trust me, V.”
I took a deep, steadying breath. “Okay. I trust you.”
Sin took my hand and led me into the tracing room.
