A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6)

by Sumida, Amy

  “No fucking way,” I marched into the room, taking up a position between the cat and my men. “Back down guys, I know him.”

  “You know him?” Trevor gaped.

  The cat shifted, turning into Roarke, who looked delicious in tight leather pants and a loose blue tunic. He leaned casually against one of the bed posts, boy he liked to lean on things, and gave me a knowing grin. I wanted to punch it off his face but I restrained myself because I thought it better to keep him clear headed enough to answer all of my questions. Besides, I could always punch him later.

  “What the fuck are you doing here?” I narrowed my eyes on him and then grabbed a handful of his tunic and pulled him up, “and get off my bed.”

  “My apologies,” he bowed to the men, “I am Roarke of House Earth, Prince of the Cat-Sidhe and general ne'er-do-well. Oh, and I'm currently an emissary for High King Cian.”

  “This is Trevor,” I waved a hand at him. “Wolf Prince of the Froekn and First-Born of Fenrir, and this is Kirill, Ganza of the Intare and hot Russian werelion. Both are my boyfriends and both are bad ass motherfuckers. Now I suggest you tell me how you got through the faerie barrier before I let them have at you.”

  “That, my dear,” he grinned wider, “is entirely your fault.”

  “Pardon me?”

  “Have a little faerie experience earlier?” A black eyebrow quirked up over Roarke's green eye. “Some tingly, fiery, body-changing excitement?”

  “Obviously you know the answer to that already,” I took a deep breath. This couldn't be good.

  “Yes, well,” Roarke pouted, probably because I wasn't willing to play his game. “Your little entrance and then subsequent exit from Faerie caused a teeny tiny break in the ward. When you had your little faerie explosion, the aftershocks ripped it wider. About big enough for a cat to get through. King Cian thought it best that I make use of the opening and come warn you. The tear will most likely widen and he's unsure whether he wants to repair it or not.”

  “Why wouldn't he repair it?” I glanced over at my silent men but they just continued to stare grimly at Roarke.

  “He's being petitioned by several representatives of the fey Houses to keep it open,” Roarke gave me a sly look. “King Arach in particular is making a convincing case.”

  “Uh huh,” I grimaced. “I fail to see why a booty call should be the reason to open a gate that's been sealed for centuries.”

  “A what?” Roarke's eyes gleamed. “A booty call? Oh that's fantastic. Does it mean what I think it means? Lasciviousness of some kind, yes? Oh please say yes.”

  “It means a base sexual encounter,” I confirmed.

  “Oh, you have brought me such joy,” he sighed and clasped his hands together over his chest. “I can't wait to use it back home.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you're a randy tom cat, we get it,” I rolled my eyes. “Now an answer would be nice. Why would King Cian listen to Arach?”

  “King Arach, my lady lioness,” Roarke smirked. “The High King must listen to the lower rulers, it's part of his duty. Now as to why he would do as asked, King Arach has declared you to be the last remaining female dragon-sidhe in existence. The fey take extinction of races very seriously. If you had been brought up in Faerie, you'd already be getting your booty called from King Arach, probably numerous callings of booties,” he winked at me for added effect. “Your belly would most likely be swelling with King Arach's bootiness already.”

  “Okay, enough with the booty thing,” I groaned. “There's not going to be any booty calls or bootiness or swelling of my belly.”

  “Extinction or not,” Trevor growled. “She's not giving birth to some dragon faerie's baby.”

  “Da,” Kirill agreed, “no fire-breathing babies allowed.”

  “Thank you, Siskel and Ebert, for the two thumbs down,” I grimaced, “but I got this.” I returned my attention to the cat. “Tell King Cian it's not going to happen and tell King Arach to go fuck himself because I'm not going to do it.”

  “Oh, another lovely human colloquialism,” he rubbed his hands gleefully, “and how appropriate, bravo. I can't go back yet though. King Cian bade me stay and see to your safety.”

  “What?”

  “He wants the last female dragon-sidhe to be protected,” Roarke shrugged. “So where can I sleep?”

  “In the Faerie Realm,” I growled. “How did you even get through my wards?”

  “Ah, Tima,” Kirill cleared his throat. “You have no vards here, I've been meaning to talk to you about zat. Ven Nyavirezi died, her vards died vith her. It just recently came to my attention. You need to make new vards to protect Palace.”

  “Oh, great,” I rubbed at my head.

  “I can't go back,” Roarke looked rather green. “I have a direct order from my King and the High King. I must stay and watch you. They,” he swallowed hard, “will not be pleased if I return now.”

  “Oh fine,” I threw my hands up in the air. “Kirill can help you find an empty bedroom, we have enough of them.”

  “Thank you,” he gave me a quick bow.

  “You're welcome,” I sighed. “Can you send messages to the King?”

  “Yes, of course,” he frowned. “King Arach said he'd already...”

  “Yes, yes,” I cut him off. “That's right, he told me about the mirrors.” Roarke frowned but held his tongue.

  “Mirrors?” Trevor asked.

  “They can be used to contact other realms,” Roarke shrugged. “Surely the gods know this.”

  “Yes but we also have other means of contacting each other,” Trevor ground out. “It hadn't occurred to me that they could be used to access the Faerie Realm.”

  “Huh,” Roarke shrugged. “No matter, I can use any mirror here to send word to King Cian and King Arach too if you'd like me to relay your colorful message. Or you could contact him yourself. I can show you how.”

  “Really?” I raised a brow. “Yeah, okay, I'd like to say a few things to that bastard.”

  “Oh, King Arach is most assuredly not a bastard,” Roarke explained seriously, as if this status might affect my decision about sleeping with him. “His parents were King and Queen of the House of Fire, before him. They were killed tragically though,” he dropped his voice to a whisper, “by humans. He doesn't hold your kind in very high regard because of it. In fact, most of the dragon-sidhe were killed by humans. It was one of the reasons the High King chose to withdraw Faerie from the Human Realm.”

  “Oh,” I frowned, not liking the twinge of sympathy I felt for Arach.

  “It's also a big part of why King Arach enjoys leading the Wild Hunt,” Roarke continued, “and why you caught his attention so quickly.”

  “Until he discovered the type of fey blood I had mixed in with my human,” I huffed.

  “Yes, I expect that was a shock for him,” Roarke chuckled. “It's rather enjoyable to see the Fire King all puffed up over a human witch.”

  “She's a goddess,” Trevor corrected.

  “Thank you, baby,” I smiled at him, “but I'm not insulted to be called a human either.”

  “I meant no disrespect,” Roarke held up a hand. “We fey find humans to be fascinating.”

  “And delicious,” I added.

  “Well, yes, some of us,” he shrugged, “but goblins will eat anything.”

  “That one seemed disgusted by the taint of my fey blood,” I reminded him.

  “Oh, they just think human blood is sweeter,” Roarke waved it off. “Something about magic tasting too acidic.”

  “Good thing he knew a way to soak the meat,” I countered.

  “Ah, he was a renowned chef among the goblins,” Roarke nodded. “It's why that red cap was so upset about you killing him.”

  “Goblin chefs,” I rolled my eyes, “go figure. Look, I think I should put up some new wards before you contact anyone. Why don't you go get some sleep and we can make the calls in the morning?”

  “Fine with me,” he yawned dramatically. “I can always use some sl
eep.”

  “You are such a cat,” I said as he followed Kirill out. “Hey, by the way, have you seen my real cat?”

  “He's fine,” Roarke laughed. “We went hunting together earlier but he fell asleep in the hallway, so I left him in search of a softer bed.”

  “Great,” I shook my head, “Nick's gone over to the dark side.”

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  “Vanishing Acts, Veerings, Walking on Clouds, ah, here we go, Wards.” I flattened my spell book, the one I'd got from Ku, out on my bed in front of me. Before I did anything else, I was going to handle this ward situation. “Alright. Position yourself facing the trace point you'd like to ward,” I skimmed the spell, to make sure I didn't need any accessories like herbs and such. God magic usually didn't and now that I knew where my human magic stemmed from, the fey and their connection to nature and the elements, it made perfect sense to me that doing human magic would require elements of nature to work. But the warding I was doing wasn't human warding, it was god magic, so I didn't need anything but my intent and my words.

  I put the book down and gave some thought to the last part of the spell, where I would have to come up with my own chant to allow friends and family through the warding. This was important so I got up, taking the book with me, and went down to our library. In a few minutes, I'd found the words I needed and I headed over to the hallway that ended in our tracing point. When I stood before the wall that was our place to trace in, I laid the book down at my feet, focused on the Aether, and did as the spell instructed, envisioning the trace point as a door that I was bolting closed, only to be opened by the right key.

  “Open ways are now shut against those who are unwelcome,” my voice rang out against the wall and echoed back to me. “I, Mistress of this home, declare it so and bind the way before me that none but those I choose shall pass. Clear the way only for those who speak these words,” I paused and then spoke the chant I'd decided on. “Intaho Intare Ishema.” Home of the Lion Pride.

  The wall shimmered, a pulse vibrating through it and dissipating through the walls of the Palace. I felt the protection sink into the boundaries of my lands and knew we were safe. A relieved breath flew out of my lungs, releasing tension I didn't realize I'd been storing. I guess I was more afraid of a faerie abduction than I thought.

  I went back to my suite, looking forward to a peaceful night spent between my lion and my wolf.

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  “You ready to make that call?” I asked Roarke as soon as I saw him.

  “Just show me a mirror,” he smirked, “but who are we calling first, the High King or your dragon King?”

  “Shut up, cat,” I pushed past him and went looking for Darius, there was something I had to do first.

  Roarke just followed along, content to trail behind me wherever I might lead. I had to go through a few rooms before I found Darius. He was in the kitchen, making himself an omelet. He looked up with a smile that changed quickly to confusion upon spotting Roarke.

  “Tima?”

  “Hey, Dare,” I smiled. “This is Roarke, he's a cat-sidhe and he's going to be staying with us for awhile, which means you'll either see him or a black cat running through the Palace. Please let the others know to let him be.”

  “Yes, Tima,” he nodded.

  “Also, I need you to spread the word about the new tracing chant,” I added. “Tell everyone it's Intaho Intare Ishema. Oh and please send someone to let the God Squad and Azrael know.”

  “Right away,” he grinned and took a bite of his omelet, clearly not doing anything right away except eating.

  “Thanks,” I laughed and headed out of the room, knowing he'd get it done eventually.

  “Your lions all live here?” Roarke asked as we walked back to my room.

  “Yeah,” I shrugged, “they can leave if they want but so far, they've all decided to stay at home.”

  “It's good to have your army stationed near,” Roarke nodded. “You shouldn't allow them the choice of leaving.”

  “The last lion goddess took everything from them,” I said grimly. “I intend to give it back. I don't want them to feel that they have to do anything unless they want to.”

  “Admirable,” Roarke smirked, “but irresponsible.”

  “How so?”

  “You are in charge of these men, you are their leader. You should act more like their leader or things will get confusing at best and violent at worst.”

  “Violent?”

  “There needs to be order established and most men are followers, they need someone to tell them where to go,” he shrugged. “Without a firm leadership, men will look elsewhere to be led.”

  “I do lead them,” I frowned, wondering if the cat was right and I was doing my men a disservice.

  “Really? My mistake,” he smiled like he knew damn well there was no mistake.

  “So what,” I stopped and faced him. “I should make more rules? There are already house rules in place.”

  “If I were you,” he pursed his lips in thought, “I might choose a few men as commanders and then have them separate the men into two groups which can be used to do mock battles against one another. You can schedule weekly training sessions for the groups separately and then monthly battles for them to test their skills against each other.”

  “That's” I stared at him, amazed, “That's quite brilliant actually. It would give them an outlet for all their energy besides hunting game and would improve our strength as a fighting unit.”

  “Yes, I knew it was a great idea when I thought of it,” he nodded sagely.

  “I'll start them on it after our talks with the Kings,” I started walking again and even though he was walking behind me, I could feel the preening pride oozing off of Roarke. Damn cats, I was becoming more and more glad that Nick couldn't talk.

  Speaking of my tabby, we found him sleeping in the spot Roarke had occupied the day before. He got up, stretched and meowed, first at me and then at Roarke. I gave him a quick neck scratch and he started to purr but then Roarke said something in that faerie language and Nick jumped up onto his shoulder. Roarke scratched at him while Nick swung his tail around Roarke's neck.

  “Well, fine, you little furry traitor,” I huffed and went to the mirror set above the vanity table I'd recently purchased.

  The table was polished wood, like the rest of the furniture I'd brought in, heavy and wide, with a large, oval mirror hung between two posts. My make-up and perfumes were spread out on it and a padded chair was pushed into the space beneath. I pulled it out and sat down a little toward the side so Roarke could stand beside me.

  He came up and looked over the mirror with interest. “That'll do,” he finally announced and pulled some dried herbs out of his pocket. “Eyebright, to see faeries,” he laughed. “Rub it clockwise over the mirror while you call to the one you wish to contact.” He rubbed the herb over the glass, “High King Cian!”

  The glass fogged, like someone had breathed on it, all over the entire surface. When it cleared, King Cian was looking back at us. I flinched a little, I'd forgotten how blindingly bright he could be. He looked serious, really serious as he stared first at me, then at Roarke, and then back to me.

  “Greetings, High King,” Roarke bowed. “Lady Vervain has requested to be present for this conversation.”

  “King Cian,” I smiled. “You look very bright today.”

  “Thank you, Lady Vervain,” he nodded. “I assume Roarke has explained the situation with our wards?”

  “Yes, sir,” I felt like I was in Elementary school again.

  “King Arach has also brought your personal situation to my attention,” he raised a brow. “My congratulations. Dragon-sidhe are all born nobles, so you are a descendant of a ruling House of Faerie. This is cause for celebration and for concern. Which is why I must insist on Roarke being with you. I would have sent Danal but alas, the tear was too small for him.”

  “Yes, the tear,” I frowned. “Roarke said you were unsur
e as to whether or not you'd be fixing it.”

  “Now that you have come through, there have been debates on whether we should have left it open in the first place,” a small crease formed between his eyes. “You've become a symbol of what we've lost, a physical representation of not only excitement and adventure but of a continuation of the race. A few bloodlines have died out since the sever and now here you are, a new hope for the dragon-sidhe. It's been pointed out that maybe other lineages would still be thriving if we'd had human mates to help us procreate.”

  “You think there may be other humans with bloodlines that have been lost?” I frowned, feeling sorry for the lost races but still not wanting to give up my life with those I love, for the greater good of the fey.

  “That hadn't occurred to me,” he sat up straighter. “I'd only meant that sometimes we fey have a harder time conceiving, whereas humans are very fertile. The thought that there might be a trace left of those who have died off... well that is an even more interesting thought.”

  “Glad to have helped,” I was such an idiot. Way to go, Vervain. “King Cian, I would love to help you and your people.”

  “Your people too,” his mouth twisted wryly.

  “Yes, our people,” I continued, “but I have a pretty full life here and have already made too many commitments. I just can't have another man in my life.”

  “That is at it may be but the fact is that you are the last hope of there ever being another dragon-sidhe,” he narrowed his gaze on me. “Can you live with yourself if you let your race die out?”

  “Yes, I can,” I growled and he pulled away from his side of the mirror in shock. “My men have sacrificed a lot for me and their happiness means more to me than a continuation of the dragon-sidhe. Maybe they'll be another human witch out there with dragon blood and Arach can have her but I'm not up for grabs and that is final.”

  “Lady Vervain,” the King frowned, “I don't think you understand. You are not just a witch with some dragon-sidhe blood. You are a full blooded dragon-sidhe. It's why King Arach is so intent on you. Dragon-sidhes need to be full blooded to rule the House of Fire and only pure bloods can shift to a complete dragon form. Halflings can usually only manage partial shifts, they are earth-bound generally. You are the last female who can breed a true ruler for Fire.”