by Lila Jean
“Oh, thank the gods.” Anthony joined the hug, tightening his arms around her and cradling the back of her head as he kissed her brow.
Zane, Flynn, and Draven joined the embrace, and Killian felt his friends’ arms going around him as they all held her at the center of their circle.
“What the hell happened?” Draven asked, pulling just far enough away to look into Tina’s eyes with a protective “I’m going to kill someone” expression.
“A god is here,” she said, her voice tense. She squared her jaw, fist tightening in anger, and Killian couldn’t help but be impressed by his feisty woman as she spoke. She tenderly rubbed her temples, her gaze glossing over as she lost herself in some thought. “His eyes …”
“What about them, Tina?” Zane sat on the bed, transfixed as he waited for her answer.
“His eyes were glowing,” she said softly, as if in disbelief. “Glowing white.”
The color drained from Zane’s face, but he didn’t say anything.
“What is it?” Killian asked. “Zane, what does that mean?”
“There are a few possibilities,” Zane said hesitantly. “And to be fair, only one of them is bad.”
“Oh, well that’s reassuring.” Draven rolled his eyes.
“I can’t be sure until I do more research.” The tiger shifter stood and began to pace, running his hands through his messy hair.
“What do you think it is?” Flynn pressed.
“Let me do more research first.” Zane shook his head. “I need to be sure.”
This guy, this god that’s here, Damara knows him. I can feel it.” Tina groaned in disappointment. “I just wish I could access her memories. She’s warning me about this guy.” Tina shook her head, clearly frustrated. “Something about him just isn’t right.”
“What does he want, Tina?” Zane asked.
For a moment, Tina simply stared at her hands, eyes glossy as if she were recalling the conversation. Killian waited, tense and nervous, both eager to hear what the god had said and nervous that it would open a can of worms none of them wanted to mess with.
“He said he’s coming for me,” she said in a soft voice. “I don’t know exactly what that means, but my gut instinct is that he wants me dead.”
3
Tina
For the rest of the night, Tina didn’t sleep.
She sat up in bed, her back resting against the headboard, Killian’s arms around her as she stared at the comforter, eyes glazing and out of focus as her mind raced. Killian’s touch soothed her, allowed her to stay calm despite this crazy new development of a god coming after her, as if it wasn’t enough that her lovers’ fathers all wanted her dead or in shackles. Her other darling princes had stayed only long enough to ensure she was okay before Flynn ushered them out to secure the perimeter, and she now sat in silence with her beloved eagle shifter as they finished their night together.
“I need to open the god connection again,” she said softly, thinking back over what Zane had told her not long after she came to. “I need to see what this god is like. Ask him questions.”
“Is that safe?” Killian rubbed her shoulders. “I can’t bear to see you in pain, and the connection looked like it hurt you.”
“It didn’t, actually.” She shrugged and planted a kiss on her sweet man’s cheek. “But thank you for always looking out for me.”
“Forever.” He kissed her forehead. “According to Zane, the connection itself isn’t dangerous, but we don’t know much about it.” Killian rubbed his chin, staring at the comforter as he seemed to process her idea. “You’re right, though, Tina. It seems foolish not to use this tool if you think you can control it.” He sighed deeply. “Time to find out what this guy wants.” Killian patted his lap, inviting her closer. “Let’s do this.”
“So bossy.” Tina chuckled and indulged him, crawling over the blanket to sit in his lap, pressing her back against his chest as his strong arms wrapped around her. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, trying her best to listen to Damara, asking the goddess deep in her core what she needed to do.
Her intuition told her to focus on the god she wanted to speak with, to lower her guard, and Tina knew she could do it. With Damara guiding her, however subtly, she would be fine. She focused on the face of the god, doing her best to recall the details of his expression and features.
As she called to the god, light drained from the room around her, throwing her into sudden darkness. Her eyes opened, she could still feel her body and Killian’s hard chest pressed against her, but all light faded completely as if she had gone blind. A flicker of despair sprang to life in her chest, but she did her best to keep calm and suppress it. She was in control, now, not him, and she wouldn’t let anyone, not even a god, threaten her or make her feel small.
In a flash of red and gold blistering through the darkness, the god’s face appeared again, large and looming over her in the shadows as if it were on a large screen. He smirked again, cocky and arrogant as ever, and lifted one curious eyebrow.
“Tell me what you want,” Tina demanded, frowning as she took in as many little details about his face as she could, from the small scar under his eye to the way his mouth twitched with mischief as he spoke.
“I’m impressed, little one.” He sneered, and even though Tina couldn’t see his irises through the blinding white light of his eyes, she could feel his gaze rake across her body. “You actually reached out to me?” he asked with a laugh. “That was brave, little human. Very brave.”
“Tell me why you came here.” Tina pressed on, focused entirely on her mission of getting information out of this asshole, absolutely refusing to let him intimidate her in any way.
“For this.”
In a rush, his face neared her, wind billowing past her from nowhere as the wide gap between them closed. She gasped and tried to step back, to move away, to regain some semblance of distance in the dark void of her mind, but she was paralyzed. She struggled, grunting with effort as she tried to get away from him, trying and failing to shove him backward as he violated her space.
With the golden image of his face now inches from her, what had once been nothing more than a flat image, like a portrait or a screen, began to round into a full figure. The gold lines on his face seeped down his neck, his shoulders, his chest, manifesting into a human shape.
Whatever was happening, it wasn’t good. It seemed like he was breaking through the connection, infiltrating her mind, taking control.
“Oh, Damara.” He laughed, reaching out a golden hand and grabbing her jaw. “What secrets can I steal from you?” His blazing white eyes peered into her, deeper, into her thoughts, into her very soul, and she felt his violating gaze grabbing information from the depths of her mind, the sensation like a red-hot knife slicing open her skin. She grimaced, trying her best not to scream in agony as he pushed too far, stole from her.
Shit. Tina fought against him, gritting her teeth as she tried everything she could think of to escape his grip on her body and mind. This hadn’t gone as planned. As far as Flynn or Zane knew, the god connection was only supposed to be for conversation and communication, nothing more. Yet here, it seemed as though this stranger had infiltrated her thoughts to a dangerous, possibly deadly degree.
Damara! Tina tried to delve into her core, reaching out to the goddess who had never once let her down. Help me stop him!
For a brief moment, Tina heard only silence, but thankfully, after a second more of searing pain blistering down her neck from where the god was holding her jaw, energy surged through Tina, starting in her core and radiating up to her fingers, her toes, her neck, giving her power that she didn’t have before. It was her beautiful Damara, no question, rising to the god’s challenge, as desperate to protect Tina as Tina was to protect her. Tina’s body hummed with magic and life, and a worried look crossed the god’s face as she glared at him, full of hatred, fire, and fury.
“Enough!” Using all of her newfound energy, Tina broke through
the paralysis and shoved against the offending god’s chest as hard as she could. He hurtled backward, fading into the shadows as white light swirled around her, banishing the darkness. The ground disappeared beneath Tina’s feet, and she felt like she was suddenly plummeting, her stomach twisting.
With a gasp, Tina snapped awake, nausea burning in her cheeks as she fell onto her hands, the soft mattress catching her as Killian’s warm arms wound around her, holding her close. For a moment, Tina couldn’t see or think or feel anything other than the surging remnants of Damara’s magic still coursing through her, the adrenaline still powerfully strong as she sucked in deep breaths, trying to calm herself from the god’s assault.
“We need to leave,” she said abruptly. “Find Zane. Get us a new safehouse. We have to go.” She frowned, her mind still racing back over the interaction with the god, unsure of what information he’d stolen from her, if any. “We have to go, now.”
4
Flynn
As sunlight cracked over the mountains surrounding a new safehouse three hundred miles from their last one, Flynn yawned and rubbed his eyes, exhaustion pulling his muscled shoulders deeper into the couch in the safehouse living room. After they had relocated, he had given Killian and Tina space, since the eagle shifter’s night with her had been interrupted, and Flynn had retired to the main living area to keep guard. Any moment now, Anthony and Draven would return from their rounds in securing their new safehouse.
With a full-blown god after his woman, Flynn wasn’t going to take any chances and wouldn’t leave her unguarded for even a minute.
Footsteps in the hallway caught Flynn’s attention, and a few seconds later, Zane strode into the room and plopped down on the sofa beside him, sighing deeply, the tiger shifter’s frazzled hair evidence of yet another sleepless night.
“You were supposed to rest,” Flynn chided the cat shifter, though he was half-asleep himself. “We need to take shifts. We can’t protect her if we all stay up.”
“I can’t stop my brain,” Zane huffed in annoyance. “My mind’s racing a million miles an hour, always trying to stay ahead.” He rubbed his temples, his eyes squeezing shut. “There are a lot of players in this game now, with a lot of resources and a vendetta against the woman I love most and the men I’ve come to think of as brothers.” He sighed. “I can’t let anyone outsmart us, not even once.”
Flynn smiled and set a hand on Zane’s shoulder. “I don’t know what we’d do without you, buddy.”
Despite the exhausted expression on his face, Zane chuckled. “You flatter me.”
“It’s the truth.”
“Still, a kind thing to say.” With a groan, Zane stretched his arms as far as he could make them go. “I wouldn’t let anyone hurt you. Any of you.” He tugged off his glasses and polished away the smears from what was most likely a night spent huddled over books and screens. “We need to find a new place, though. This one won’t last us long.”
“Good idea.” Flynn thought about it a moment and eventually huffed in annoyance. “We need to find a place where we can set up shop. Get comfortable.” He glanced back at Tina’s closed door. “I don’t like dragging her all over the world like this.”
Zane snorted. “Our woman is the boss, Flynn, don’t you ever forget that.” He chuckled. “She’s picked the last three safehouses.” The cat shifter shrugged. “I just make suggestions.”
Flynn chuckled, his shoulders relaxing somewhat. “I confess, that makes me feel better.”
The creak of the front door opening caught Flynn’s attention, and his ear twitched as he followed the stomping footsteps over the entryway. He shook his head. “Draven has as much stealth as an elephant.”
Zane shrugged and stood. “He’s all brawn and raw power. Stealth isn’t the only way to win a fight.” The tiger shifter rubbed his jaw. “Besides, he’s plenty stealthy when the swords are drawn.”
“I guess that’s what matters.” Flynn sat upright, ready for the meeting that would happen the moment everyone joined them. They needed to make sense of the brewing chaos, develop a real plan of action, and figure out their next move.
“I can’t wait for this to all be over,” Zane said softly. “I can’t wait to just be with her, to just be a family, the six of us.”
“That will be nice.” Flynn nodded. “And it’ll happen, Zane. We’ll win this.”
“Oh, I know.” Zane smirked, a wave of smug confidence erasing his exhaustion for a moment. “The six of us are the best of the best, but our fathers are going to give us a run for our money.” His smile faltered. “Lives are on the line, Flynn, for real. They won’t make this easy.”
“Hello, gentlemen,” Draven said from around the corner, his heavy boots thudding up the hallway.
“Draven,” Flynn said with a nod of welcome. “Where’s Anthony?”
“Already here,” the wolf shifter said from behind Flynn.
Flynn spun around to find Anthony leaning against the wall, a little smirk on his face despite the lines of exhaustion that criss-crossed under his eyes. The wolf had apparently come through a back door into the open living room, silent as a ghost, as always.
With a chuckle, Flynn shook his head. It sometimes still irked him that Anthony could be so light on his feet, that he could get so close to trained warriors like Flynn without letting them so much as suspect his presence, but at least the wolf shifter was on his team.
“Good, thank you, Ray,” Tina said, her voice muffled from her bedroom door. Seconds later, the knob turned, and she walked into the living room with Killian in tow. Both were dressed for the day, and Tina clicked off her phone and stuffed it in her pocket as they joined the rest of the group.
“How are your priestesses and priests?” Flynn asked with a nod to the phone.
“Good, thankfully.” Tina sighed and rubbed her eyes. “No incidents. They didn’t even know another god was here, though Ray got weirdly quiet when I brought it up.” Tina rubbed her neck absently. “I think she’s scared. I think they all are.”
“It can’t be easy for them to go into hiding,” Killian said, compassionately rubbing Tina’s shoulders. “They’re not used to life outside the temple.”
“We’ll fix this, Tina,” Anthony said, his voice gruff and steely. “We promise.”
“I know, my handsome men.” She smiled warmly, those beautiful hazel eyes brightening. “I know we will.”
A rush of pride swam through Flynn’s body at her confidence in them. She was the glue that held them together, the love each of them never thought they would have. He would do everything in his power to ensure she was safe, always, even though their battle in Epara had proven she was more than capable of taking care of herself. Tina had given him renewed purpose, and it would always be his primary focus to protect her.
“To the matter at hand, everyone,” Zane said, clapping his hands together. “We need to regroup and revise our strategy. For starters, there’s another god on Earth, we don’t know his name, and he’s made it clear he’s after Tina.”
“And I won’t be using the god connection again.” Tina shuddered. “Lesson learned. The way he invaded my thoughts …” Her eyes glazed over, lips curving briefly into a frown seconds before she shook her head and snapped herself out of it. “The god connection is dangerous, and I need to do everything in my power to keep him out.”
“I recommend visualization,” Flynn interjected. “Much of magic is controlled by the mind, so visualizing your intentions or desired outcome is typically the best means of controlling it.” He tapped on his temple for emphasis. “Picture a brick wall, and nothing the god does can knock it down.” He frowned, hesitating. “Of course, if a new god comes to Earth, the connection may be so strong that it, and only it, breaks through. You should be able to rebuild it quickly to block that god out.”
“I’ll give it a try.” Tina nodded, hands on her deliciously curved hips, the gesture distracting Flynn’s laser-like focus as his gaze drifted to her thighs.
“Of course, that’s not all,” Zane said with a frustrated sigh. “While the god is a serious problem, he’s possibly not as dangerous as our fathers.”
“What?” Draven snorted, a huff of dark smoke billowing through the dragon shifter’s nose. “How on Earth is a god less dangerous?”
“We don’t know his skills or how much access to his magic he has,” Zane pointed out. “Our fathers, on the other hand, already have a head start and a vendetta against Tina. Somehow, we must get them to accept Tina as the One Queen, the woman who will unite all five kingdoms.”
“Sure, easy as pie,” Draven said with a chuckle as he lounged across an armchair.
“I confess, the whole One Queen thing makes me feel a little weird.” Tina blushed a little at the title, but she smiled as well. “But I think you’re right. We need to unite the five kingdoms, but they don’t want to give up their power.” She ran a hand through her beautiful dark hair. “It’s almost like they enjoy bickering.”
“It’s more a fear of each other than anything else,” Anthony said, walking toward Tina and setting a hand possessively on her waist. “They’ve never known unity, just a tense peace.”
“We need to be careful,” Flynn interjected, running a hand through his beard. “I’m not sure I agree that our fathers are the biggest worry. I think this god, especially with his control over the god connection, is our biggest concern.”
Tina stiffened for a moment before balling her hands into fists. Beside her, Anthony’s hand tightened around her waist, and Flynn wished he was doing the same. He would, later, when he and Tina had some time alone, but he knew his woman, and she wouldn’t back down from a fight. Not now, not ever. It was one of the many reasons he loved her so completely.
“Tina, darling, do you know who this god is?” Flynn asked tentatively. “Did you get a name?”
