by Unknown
“No, we're going to reclaim the land for the original Americans,” Toby added.
“You're going to conquer the surrounding states until you have yourselves a nation to compete with the US, within the US?” Blue was also sitting forward in his seat at the head of the table but he wasn't horrified like Pan. In fact, there was a little twinkle in his eyes. I think he was fascinated and possibly impressed.
“Something like that,” Naye nodded. “We'll do it piece by piece, little by little. If you could see the conditions on the reservations, you'd understand. Everything works against them, even the programs meant to help them. Something must be done and if not by their own gods, then who?”
“But not civil war,” I said as my thoughts turned briefly to the Water Kingdom. “I'm sure you remember the first one. Do you really want a repeat of that?”
“I'm a war god,” Naye grinned.
“Oh, right,” I grimaced, “stupid question. For a second there I was thinking you were the good guys.”
“We are-” Naye started to growl but was cut off by his brother.
“It's not about war,” Toby protested. “It's about change, improvement. Something drastic must be done or our people will die out. I cannot stand idly by while that happens.”
“No Nation can last which has made a mob of itself, no matter how generous at heart,” I shook my head. “You'll kill so many innocents, a lot of them your own people. You know the US Government won't allow this to go unanswered. They'll do whatever they have to do to stop you, destroy you.”
“Not if we act carefully,” Naye shared a secret grin with his brother. “They won't even know what hit them.”
“I can't approve of this,” Mrs E chided them. “You risk too many lives.”
“And you betray your people,” Naye spat and Toby inhaled sharply. “Father is dead because of your betrayal. If you had stood beside your followers, where you belong, you wouldn't have been fighting someone else's war and he would still be alive.”
Mrs E slapped her son across his face and the sound of it echoed through the room.
“Mother, he doesn't mean it,” Toby started to say more but Naye got up and yanked him to his feet. Toby's chair fell back with a thud on the thick carpet.
“I meant every word,” Naye snarled at Mrs E. “You feel the truth of it, I know you do. In the quiet of the night, does he haunt you? Do you hear him whisper? I do. I hear my father's voice telling me how wrong he was. How he should have stood beside his family, his people.”
“You hear what you want to hear,” Mrs E stood and faced down her son. “I've been to the Void and spoken with your father. He has no regrets.”
“What?” Nayenezgani gaped at her.
“You've seen Father?” Toby asked eagerly.
“Vervain helped me, taught me how to cross into the Void where his soul lives on,” Mrs E nodded.
Nayenezgani turned wide eyes toward me and a chill went down my spine. There was more to his stare now, something urgent and excited. I glowered at him. If he thought I was going to teach him how to journey to the Void, he had another think coming.
“You are full of surprises, Godhunter,” Naye said before turning back to his mother. “But you are still a traitor. Come, Brother, Tawiskaron.” He stalked from the room.
Tawiskaron nodded a farewell to Teharon and Toby kissed his mother quickly before following after Naye.
“That went well,” Torrent said to a wide-eyed Artemis.
Chapter Fourteen
“I'm sorry, Estsanatlehi,” Trevor growled, “but I don't like that son of yours.”
“Which son?” I tried to joke. “The sun son or the wet son?”
“The sun son,” Trevor shook his head at me before returning his attention to Mrs E. “What was with all the staring at Vervain?”
“I don't know,” Mrs E looked way too serious for my comfort, “but it doesn't bode well. When Naye gets that look in his eyes, he doesn't give up until he gets what he's after.”
“I wish we knew what that was,” Pan gave a little nervous laugh.
“He seems a little unstable,” Thor said gently.
“So they're why we're meeting here instead of Bilskinir?” I asked Thor.
“I'm the Defender of Asgard,” he nodded, “and it's a shared territory. I can't bring possible threats into our borders.”
“But it's okay to bring them to Blue?” I lifted a brow.
“I offered,” Blue surprised me by saying.
“Really?” I gave him a little grin. “That was sweet of you.”
“I hardly think they're strong enough to beat all of us and my priests,” Blue smirked, “and if they'd like to try and sneak back in, well I'd welcome the challenge of anyone who thinks they can break in past my wards.”
“You do have some strong wards,” Thor grimaced. He had tried to break past them once when Blue was holding me prisoner.
“Still, I wouldn't want Nayenezgani in our territory,” Trevor looked at me and I nodded in agreement.
“There's good in him, it's just misguided,” Mrs E declared vehemently.
“There are a lot of bad people who would be less dangerous if they had no good in them,” I sighed.
“I think we'd best prepare for war,” Teharon looked shell-shocked. He was sitting beside Karni Mata, one of his hands in both of hers as he stared at the large floral arrangement in front of him. He was a healer, not a fighter, and for him to declare war, on his own brother no less, must have been the hardest thing he'd ever had to do.
“I appreciate your acceptance,” Thor frowned, “but how do you propose we make these preparations?”
“They've outlined their plan for us,” Brahma shrugged, relaxed as usual. “We have the upper hand.”
“All they said was that they'd be reclaiming the largest Indian reservation and then spreading out to the surrounding states,” I thought back to the conversation. “We don't how they're going to do it or even where.”
“The where is easy,” Teharon took a breath and removed his hand from Karni's. “The Navajo reservation that they've been seen around is the largest Indian reservation. It has borders in Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico. That's where they'll begin. The how? They'll rally the people, as we gods do best.”
“So how do we fight back?” Finn asked. “How do we prepare for that?”
“I'll speak to the tribes as well,” Teharon's striking turquoise eyes flashed. “They're not the only gods our people still believe in.”
“That's right,” Mrs E started to smile. “Thank you, Teharon. We needed a man who could come up with a non-violent solution.”
“That's what I do best,” Teharon stood and offered her his arm to Mrs E. “Shall we go and speak with our tribes, She-Who-Changes?”
“We shall,” she nodded and took his arm.
“My love?” Teharon held out his other arm to Karni Mata.
“I'll watch over you both as you commune with your people,” Karni nodded her head gracefully and took his arm.
“We'll let you know as soon as there's any news,” Teharon said to the rest of us before the three of them left.
“Watch over them?” I looked at Odin. “What did she mean by that?”
“They'll be spirit-walking,” Thor answered before Odin could. “Like Teharon taught you to do with Huitzilopochtli.”
“Teharon taught you that?” Blue looked at me with wide jade eyes.
“Yeah, I didn't tell you?”
“Why would you have?” He shrugged and his pin-straight black hair swung across his shoulders. “I never thought to ask.”
“So they'll spirit-walk into the minds of their followers?” I looked back at Thor.
“No, most likely they'll jump into some sort of representation of themselves. An idol or statue of some sort. Either that or they'll go into the body of a shaman and speak through him.”
“Right, like you told me about,” I said to Morpheus.
“Yep,” Morpheus nodded. “They'l
l use the link established by human belief. It'll come in handy now.”
“That Naye guy was a strange one,” Torrent mused. “What with all that talk about heavenly bodies recognizing each other. Your star isn't even a real star, right? Why would he recognize it as such? And why did he care?”
“All very good questions,” Trevor looked at me meaningfully but I'd been distracted by one of Torr's questions.
Was my star a real star? What did that even mean? And what did it mean in relation to the Great Nine Magics of Faerie, if it was a real star?
“No, it can't be real,” I finally decided. “Real stars are just dying suns, right? I don't have a dying sun inside me. That's impossible.”
“Actually,” Torrent spoke up and everyone quieted. The group had gotten used to Torrent spouting wonderful insights out of the blue and we'd learned to listen when he spoke. Torrent paused when he saw the attention he'd garnered with one word. Then he continued a little nervously. “Uh, actually, we've learned that there are new stars forming all the time. Stars form with these great big clouds of gas and dust and they always form in groups. No one knows why. The groups then form into solar systems, planets forming from the leftover debris of star creation. So, in essence, stars are the beginnings of solar systems. They are the source of life in a way. The young stars even interact with each other. They evolve and release heavy elements back into space, thus starting the cycle all over again. In a way, they're more like gods than we are. Creators of worlds.”
Something within all that confusing science talk struck a chord with me. The source of life. Young stars interacting. Creators of worlds. Evolution and recycling of elements. Birth. The nine-pointed star inside my chest seemed to pulse once in affirmation. What was a star but energy? What was magic but energy? A constant flow, a recycling of power. The fey are born of magic and if they die, they are recycled back into the source. Was the source a star?
I inhaled sharply as the possibility hit me. The source of all the magic of Faerie, the source of Faerie herself and all the fey, could very well be a star. A star in another realm, connected to ours by magic and intent. By energy. Which meant that there could also be another star here, in this realm, and maybe those two stars had been interacting.
Just wait till I told Faerie.
If the source was a star, that meant that I was linked to an actual star, and if Naye was linked to the sun, which was just another star really, then it would make perfect sense that he could feel the star within me. Young stars interacting again. Maybe all that weirdness was just our stars communicating. I felt the truth of it unfolding inside me with startling clarity. The Universe within. Whoa.
“I am a sun god as well,” Blue interrupted my thoughts, “and I must admit, I've felt a strange pull towards Vervain ever since she became this Trinity Star.”
“You have?” I gaped at Blue.
“I didn't think anything of it, barely noticed it really, until Torrent spoke of it,” Blue shrugged. “It's not a strong pull, just enough for me to know when Vervain's in the room. I feel warmer, brighter, when she's around.”
“See,” Torr smiled, “stars can recognize each other.”
“Fascinating,” Horus drawled, killing the moment of awe that the whole room seemed to be experiencing. “But how is this relevant to the current situation? How will it help us stop an Indian uprising?”
“Well,” Torrent shrugged. “If Naye's sun likes Vervain's star, maybe we can exploit it somehow.”
“See,” I said to Artemis. “A lot of talking, then Torrent says something brilliant, and everyone goes home.”
“Did I solve the problem again?” Torrent asked hopefully, green eyes wide and guileless.
“I don't know if you've solved it exactly but you've definitely given us a viable option,” Horus admitted grudgingly.
“Alright,” Thor nodded to Torrent, “let's try and come up with ways to use this. Torrent, you've got a hell of a brain. I'm glad your on our side now.”
“Me too,” Torrent said with grim sincerity.
“Bathroom break first,” I stood up and headed toward the door but I stopped on the threshold and looked back at Blue. “I just realized that the only bathroom I know of is in your bedroom.”
“Oh, of course,” Blue stood gracefully. “Let me escort you to a less intimate facility.”
“You're damn straight,” I heard Trevor mutter and I shot him a nasty look over my shoulder before following Blue out of the room.
He led me down the hallway, past his bedroom, but at one point I stopped dead in my tracks and he had to double back. I was staring at the collection of paintings hung on the hallway's wall. They were set in expensive gold frames and hung beneath little spotlights as if they were priceless. Three paintings, each depicting an Aztec scene. The first was a battle scene with a pile of corpses in front of a pyramid. It was night and there were torches lighting the jungle. The second was the decapitated head of a woman, shining in the sky like the moon. It was shocking but still very beautiful and serene. Last, there was a portrait of Blue himself, blood dripping down his face, emphasizing the matching color of his eyes.
“You bought them?” I turned to see Blue right beside me.
“Of course,” he was staring at the scenes of the worst moments of his life like they were precious.
“I knew they sold but I never thought to ask who to,” I studied Blue's face. “If I'd thought for one second that you would have wanted them, I'd have given them to you.”
“You would have?” He finally turned his gaze to me.
“Of course,” I mimicked his earlier words. “They don't disturb you?”
“They bring me a strange peace and serve as a reminder of the man I never want to be again,” he touched the edge of his portrait's blood-colored eyes. “I never want to lose the colors of the world again. No matter what kind of power it brought me.”
“Blue,” I whispered and then just hugged him.
“Ah, I've missed having you all to myself, Vervain,” he spoke into my hair and I stiffened. “Not like that,” he chuckled. “Just to be able to talk to. Alone.”
“Maybe I could come by for a visit sometime,” I said as I pulled out of the hug.
“I'd like that,” he nodded.
“Good,” I grimaced, “now how about that bathroom?”
“Oh, yes, this way,” he laughed and started to lead me away from the paintings I'd made of his past.
Chapter Fifteen
“Zariel, you get your little furry butt back here right now!” Samantha's voice filtered through the elevator doors.
When the doors opened, I saw Nicholas, my gray tabby, go streaking by with a lion cub hot on his heels. Upon spotting me though, Nick gathered his courage as one does when seeing reinforcements arrive. He made a complete turn about, puffed up his fur, including that on his long tail, and growled at Zariel.
She came to a floor-scratching stop, pulling her golden head back a little in shock. Then she turned around as well and Nick started chasing her. They nearly ran right into Samantha, who'd been following them down the hallway. She pulled back against the wall as they zipped by, Zariel whining as Nick hissed after her.
“Nicholas!” I called as I chased them but Sam put out a hand and caught me as she laughed.
“Let him chase her, she needs to learn a lesson.”
“Are you sure?” I cast a worried look down the hall, where the sound of Nick's growling was still to be heard.
“He can't hurt her that badly,” she shrugged and we started walking in the direction of the suite they shared with Fallon. “And that girl needs to learn what happens when you chase a cat who doesn't want to be chased.”
“Is she coming on the hunt with us today?” I'd actually gone to speak to Fallon because he was in charge of organizing our bi-monthly hunt.
“Yes, she is,” Fallon opened the door to their suite and grinned at me. “Her first hunt!”
“Yes, she's very excited,” Sam rolled her eyes.
“That's why she's been practicing on Nick.”
As if summoned, Zariel came tearing into the room, snaking around her daddy's legs as Nick came after her. Fallon laughed and scooped her up while Nick prowled around his feet, staring up at her like she'd cheated.
“Nicholas,” I sighed and bent over to call him to me. “Come on, I know your pride's been wounded but I think you've redeemed yourself enough.”
He cast one last look at Zariel before making a sharp turn with his tail straight up in the air and striding over to me. He rubbed around my legs, instantly happy and purring. I laughed and gave him a good stroke for a reward. Then he took off to look for his next victim.
“Is everyone here and ready?” I asked Fallon as Zariel shifted back to her baby girl form in his arms. It was so strange to think that the infant Fallon was holding was old enough in werelion terms to go on her first hunt.
“Yep, they're all downstairs and waiting,” Fallon twisted and adjusted his grip expertly. Zariel cooed up at him, waving arms and legs that wouldn't work the same in that shape.
“Are you sure she's ready for this?” Samantha took Zariel from her husband, staring down into the baby's beautiful hazel eyes with concern.
“She'll be fine, honey,” Fallon kissed her cheek. “She's already shifting easily, more than any of us did as adults. Plus, we'll all be looking out for her. She's just going to be a spectator really.”
“Maybe I should go along,” Sam was still frowning.
I didn't blame her. I knew that Froekn didn't shift until they were old enough to understand the change and even then, they were led through the shift by a parent. For Zariel to even shift at this age was unheard of but for her to do it completely unguided and with such ease was truly wondrous to a werewolf. I managed my first shift easily too though and I had a feeling that Zariel's abilities came from being born both a female and an Intare.
“She's going to be surrounded by all of her uncles and me,” I finally added. “Nothing is going to hurt her, Sam. I promise. Besides, it's not like we're hunting dangerous animals. I think Nick is more dangerous than our prey.”
