by Lila Jean
“I agree.” Flynn nodded, still rubbing his beard absently. “Don’t even waste energy on a parry. If he uses a sword instead of the fire whips and the blades meet, you risk him overpowering you.”
“Makes sense.” Tina nodded, a ribbon of tension and anxiety snaking through her, though it seemed to feed a more powerful and growing sense of excitement. Damara was a fertility goddess, but she was a damn powerful one, and though she preferred to settle disputes in the sack, Damara had seen her share of confrontation over the eons and won.
If anything, Tina was excited to fight a god to the death, not afraid. The very thought made her feel a little crazy, but she loved it all the same. Damara was a badass, and her goddess would always look out for her, including giving Tina access to deep stores of magic unlike anything she had ever seen. She could feel it, simmering just below the surface, waiting for her to reach in and grab it.
“You don’t think Odin will fight, do you?” Killian’s voice was soft, wary and worried, and he looked at her with concern. “That this was all a trick? That the most powerful god ever known, one of the few to ever surpass Damara for sheer magical ability, will be the champion you have to defeat?”
“No,” Tina said, confident in her answer, tapping into Damara’s energy deep in her core as she spoke. “Damara trusts Odin, knows that he’s just trying to protect the gods under his care.” She smiled reassuringly. “He told me he had intended to simply kill me, but that I impressed him. He wants to give me a chance to prove myself as a host. Odin is a man of his word, Killian.” Tina looked at Flynn, who offered her a thin smile in return. “He said I’ll be fighting Ares or Venus, so those are the only two options.”
“Okay.” Her white knight nodded to himself, apparently satisfied that at least one of the gods had a sense of moral duty and honor. Anthony, however, stared at the table, crossing his arms and tucking his hands into his armpits as he frowned, chewing on some thought he apparently didn’t want to share.
Each of her men was beyond worried, and she could see the cogs in each prince’s brain turn as he no doubt cooked up backup plan after backup plan, rife with contingencies and safety nets. She couldn’t blame them, since it was their duty to protect their mate, but their concern only made her more resolute. She would win for them, for herself, and for Damara. Tina trusted her goddess with everything she had, knew the goddess would have her back, and felt more and more connected to the beautiful energy within her every passing second.
Nothing and no one would stand in her way, and Tina would do everything in her power to fully connect to the goddess within her. The question was … how?
33
Zane
The blue light of his computer screen illuminated Zane’s arms as he stared at the laptop in the dark, scanning page after page of clues about something that was truly starting to make him nervous. A woman codenamed “The Widow” kept cropping up throughout his Noxxom research, and somehow, this elusive person was tied to Tina and the dignitaries that kept popping up around their safehouses. He was closing in on her, and she seemed to have taken notice.
“Zane?” Tina asked, peeking through a crack in the door.
He rubbed his eyes and looked at her, smiling at his charming mate as she slipped into his room. “Hey, darling.” He kissed her on the cheek, wrapping his arm around her waist as he pulled her close. “To what do I owe the pleasure?”
“Just checking on you.” She leaned her head on his, running her delicate fingers up and down his arm as she sighed happily. “I want to thank you for everything you’ve been doing. You truly amaze me, handsome, time and time again.”
He kissed her in thanks, the deep kiss finally bringing him the sense of peace and tranquility only Tina could deliver. For a moment, his mind could focus on the truly important things, like Tina and his brotherhood. His family. He pulled her closer, tugging her into his lap, and she lounged on his thighs as their kiss deepened.
“Feel better?” she asked through gaps in the kisses.
“Yes, by far.” He sighed happily and rested his head against hers, holding her tight to him, simply grateful she was here.
They sat in comfortable silence, neither of them needing to speak as they simply enjoyed each other’s company. Each time she dragged a slender finger over his arm or neck, his skin blistered with need and desire, and all he could think about was her, her kindness, her devotion, her trust, all of the beautiful things about her he wanted to protect.
“I’ll never let anyone hurt you,” he said softly, eyes shut as he held her tightly. “I love you too much to lose you, Tina, and I’ll do anything for you. You know that.”
“Just be you, Zane.” She nuzzled her head against his neck. “That’s everything I need.”
With that, she wound her hands around his waist, holding him as tightly as he held her. He briefly eyed the futon against the wall, momentarily entertaining the ways he could best prepare her for the impending battle by spreading her legs and pleasing her until she screamed his name, but for now, he simply wanted to hold her.
Three wars were brewing, and each was banging on the door, trying to steal his mate from him. Whether it was the gods, Noxxom, or the kings themselves, everyone wanted a piece of Tina, and Zane would employ every trick he knew to keep her from harm.
Success was his only option. There was simply no other choice.
34
Anthony
In one of the many rooms in their safehouse, Anthony stretched out on a sofa away from the hustle and bustle of the house so that he could finally catch a quick nap before resuming his research into Noxxom and the remaining kidnapped dignitaries who hadn’t yet turned up dead. He settled into the couch, finally comfortable after a solid ten minutes of tossing and turning, only to hear footsteps run down the hallway toward him. Zane’s by the sound of it. Anthony sighed, preparing for the door to slam open in three, two, one …
The door creaked open and slammed into the wall, Zane’s quick breathing proof he’d run the whole way across the house to find him, and Anthony groaned in annoyance. “What now?”
Anthony lifted the arm he’d laid over his face to block out the light to find a truly exhausted looking Zane standing in the doorway wearing an expression of exasperated concern. It looked as though the tiger shifter hadn’t slept in days, and Anthony softened his gruff demeanor a bit to be more sympathetic to the tiger shifter helping them stay one step ahead of all the people who wanted to hurt Tina.
“Flynn’s on patrol,” Zane said, panting. “So, I need your thoughts on something. Here.” Zane tossed his phone to Anthony, letting go of what was no doubt his most prized possession, something the wolf shifter had never thought in a million years would happen. Whatever he was about to see had to be bad if it meant Zane was letting go of the phone that held all of his intel, research, and access to his vast network of spies.
On the screen was the picture of a corpse dressed in priest robes, the man’s back resting on a pile of rocks with cracks split through them. His tanned skin had rivers of blood over it, and dark red patches stained the fabric of his white clothes.
“Scroll down,” Zane ordered, gesturing for Anthony to hurry.
Frowning, the wolf shifter obliged and scrolled to see several more shots, all courtesy of an Indonesian police department and time-stamped with their agency’s name watermarked in the bottom corner. The next shot was a wide-angle view of a large, dark room pockmarked with rays of sunshine from a decimated roof, large boulders littering the floor with a familiar golden throne overturned in one corner of a battered raised platform.
“Is this …?” Anthony tensed, eyes wide as the pieces clicked together for him.
“It’s Epara.” Zane rubbed his face, staring at the floor as he spoke. “The priest is one of hers.” He gestured again for Anthony to hurry. “Look at the next photo.”
Anthony obliged him and scrolled down to see a message painted on the cracked wall beside the dead priest, written in dripping blood: I ha
ve them all.
“Damn it.” Anthony sighed and slouched his shoulders, mind racing to think of who this could be. “It can’t be the gods, and none of your fathers would do this.” He stood, pacing. “Not even my father would do this. He just wants Tina and doesn’t care about the priests or priestesses, even as bait. He just wants to get her alone because he knows he can’t win against me.”
“Right.” Zane grabbed his phone and stared at the photos. “That leaves Noxxom, really, or rather someone working for them. I’ve been chasing this person for weeks, a woman I think from some of the communications I’ve intercepted, but she’s good and has managed to stay hidden. I think this is her doing.”
“Any leads?”
“None,” Zane admitted through clenched teeth. “But I’m close. She knows it.” The tiger shifter nodded to his phone. “I think this is desperation, trying to flush us into the open before I find her and take her out.”
“I think you’re right.” Anthony walked out into the hallway and gestured for Zane to follow. “It’s time we talk to the boss.”
“Tina will want to go.” Zane jogged out after him, shoving his phone in his pockets as he ran a hand through his wild hair. “She’ll insist.”
“I know,” Anthony said softly, his heart melting a bit as he expected what his good-natured mate would want to do. “This is obviously a trap, so all we can do is plan accordingly.”
“Or we don’t tell her.”
“Right, sure.” Anthony barked out a laugh. “I would actually like to keep my mate, thanks, but you can go right ahead with that plan.” He shook his head, laughing. “She’ll find out sooner or later, Zane. She’s too damn smart for her own good sometimes.”
“You’re right.” Zane sighed wearily. “The guilt would eat me alive anyway.”
“Not everyone will care, though.” Anthony’s jaw tensed as he took the final few steps toward Tina’s room. “You know how close Flynn and Draven are to just stealing her away.”
“They’re not the only ones.” Zane snorted, gaze drifting to the floor, and Anthony wondered how many backup plans of his own the tiger shifter had ready to go at a moment’s notice should the battle with the gods go south. When it came to protecting his mate, a shifter would do anything, even risk her anger and in some cases outright hatred, in the name of keeping her alive. As tensions mounted and Tina’s battle with the gods neared, it seemed each of the princes was becoming possessive and worried enough for her safety to risk it all.
“If we do anything against her wishes, Zane,” Anthony said, catching the tiger shifter’s eye, “the five of us do it together. As brothers.”
Zane paused mid-step, and a grateful smile spread across his face. In that instant, it looked as though half of the stress and worry was lifted from his shoulders with that simple promise. That was confirmation enough for Anthony, and it seemed they were in agreement.
Without pausing to say another word, Anthony walked into the bedroom to find Tina laying on the bed, her dark hair spread across her pillow, the sheet covering her bare chest as Draven lay beside her, equally naked. She groggily blinked herself awake as Anthony entered and blushed for a brief second. A sense of understanding flashed across her face, but Anthony wasn’t jealous anymore. He and his brothers had the perfect mate, and he was fine with sharing.
Draven, however, groaned and wrapped his hand greedily around Tina’s waist, pulling her closer to him as he nipped her shoulder possessively. “She’s mine right now, gentlemen.” He chuckled, a warm tendril of smoke curling out of the dragon shifter’s nose. “I don’t feel like sharing tonight.”
“We have bad news,” Anthony said, launching into the heart of the matter. He explained what had happened without showing the photo, wishing to spare Tina from Zane’s discovery, but she insisted. Zane added his thoughts here and there, including who he thought was behind it, until everyone in the room was up to speed.
Tina stared for several minutes at the screen, and the longer she looked at the picture, the angrier she seemed to get. Her veins began to pulse with white light, and it even reached into her eyes. It looked as though she would crush the phone in her hand at any second, and with her abilities, Anthony wouldn’t have been surprised if she could, so he rescued the phone from her grip before she accidentally destroyed it.
Without a word, she pulled out her phone and dialed someone. With the phone to her ear, she caught Anthony’s eye, and his heart skipped a proud beat at the sheer ferocity in her expression.
“Who are you calling?” Draven tried to grab the phone, but she smacked his hand away.
“Ray, obviously.” Tina frowned and put the phone on speaker. It continued to ring, and as Anthony was wondering if it would once more simply disconnect, a man answered.
“I was just about to kill another one,” he said, his voice warbled with electronic interference. “You called just in time.”
Anthony gritted his teeth, disgusted at the brazen tone and wishing he could rip out the man’s throat.
“Don’t touch them,” Tina commanded, her voice smooth and firm, as though she were chiding a child. “Tell me who you are and what you want.”
“We want you.” His voice lowered, and with the warble used to disguise his voice, it sounded like a scratching record. “Specifically, we want you dead.” He laughed, and Anthony growled, focused entirely on the man’s voice as he wished desperately to kill something. “Come back to Epara, little human,” the man said condescendingly. “We even have your grave ready.”
The line disconnected, leaving Tina staring at the phone while Anthony was nearly frothing with the need to rip out someone’s throat. He balled his hand into a fist, jaw tensed, muscles aching, and he looked up to find Zane and Draven with similar expressions on their faces.
“Why did a man answer?” Tina asked, her voice dangerously tense.
“I think to throw us off.” Zane pocked his phone, arms crossed, as he watched her, tense as ever. “They know I’ve been monitoring a woman, so she may be trying to cover her tracks.”
“Hmm.” Tina sat still as a statue for several moments. “Pack up,” she said in a low and dark voice, throwing off the sheet, revealing her beautiful curves and stunning body as she stood. “We’re saving them. Now.”
“It’s a trap, boss.” Draven stood, quick to block the door with his muscled frame. “Flynn’s going to have my back on this. The answer is no.”
“No?” She glared at the dragon shifter as though he had slapped her, eyes narrowing, the pulsing white light beneath her skin shimmering even stronger than before. “You don’t get to tell me what I can and can’t do, Draven.” She threw on a shirt and tugged on a pair of jeans, leaning one hand on Anthony for support, and her touch sent shivers of pleasure through him. Only she could affect him like this, only she could melt his heart in ways he didn’t know it could be melted. Her touch distracted him temporarily, and when she released him, his skin felt cold.
“Zane said it himself.” Draven pointed to the tiger shifter, who lifted his hands in surrender, as if to say don’t drag me into this. “He’s been tracking this person and is close to figuring out who it is, so she’s panicking.” The dragon shifter reached for Tina’s hands, holding them tenderly as he pleaded his case. “This person is trying to flush you out, draw you into the open, and ambush you. It’s a trap, Tina.”
“Obviously.” Tina dropped his hands, still furious, still fuming after Draven’s refusal to let her leave. “I’m not an idiot, Draven. It’s the most obvious trap I’ve ever seen.” She set her hands on her hips, glaring daggers at him. “But what kind of goddess leaves her priestesses to die? How will that prove to Odin that I can handle protecting Damara if I can’t even protect the people who follow me?” She paused, the silence heavy in the air as Draven’s jaw tensed. “Well, Draven?”
“It won’t,” he admitted softly, his shoulders hunched, and it looked like he was ready to punch a wall in his frustration. “But I won’t let you go.” He loo
ked her dead in the eye, expression intense and serious. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
“Not only will I be going, you’ll come with me.” Tina took a step closer, meeting the dragon’s glare. “And we’ll have a plan to turn the tides on this person once and for all.” Though she still radiated authority, her eyes softened somewhat, and she set a hand reassuringly on Draven’s arm. “We won’t go in blind. I’m no moron, Draven.”
“I know,” he said softly, eyes scanning her face. He paused, tense and still, and eventually set a hand on her jaw, pulling her toward him until their foreheads met. He inhaled her, no doubt debating whether or not to shift and fly off with her in his claws, but it seemed even the great dragon prince knew the limits of defying his mate. “Fine, but damn it, if you so much as get a cut, I’m locking you in a tower.”
“Fat chance.” Tina smirked, but the smile was fleeting. “We have plenty of enemies, my darlings, but tonight, we’re finally going to take one down.” She looked at Anthony, and his chest welled with pride at the assertive and strong woman before him. “I’ve had enough, guys, and this is the last straw. She hurt my priests and priestesses, and she threatened both me and Damara.” Tina squared her shoulders, all beautiful majesty and power. “Tonight, this bitch is going to die.”
35
Tina
The plan to rescue Tina’s priests and priestesses was simple, relying as it did on the overwhelming power of her and her princes. Each of them had natural raw ability, and Damara’s magic had infused in all of them magical abilities that surpassed anything mere humans could throw at them. Based on Zane’s information, no one involved in the priests’ kidnapping belonged to any of the five kingdoms but were all instead either humans or employees in Noxxom, which was, as far as he could tell, an all-human corporation.
