A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6)

by Sumida, Amy

  “I have no idea,” Blue whispered in shock.

  “Can they be moved?” I mused aloud. “Or maybe someone else moved in to take care of them?”

  “To where?” Pan frowned and kicked the husk at our feet. “And who has the time to take care of Heaven?”

  “You wouldn't really have to take care of it, right?” I looked to Azrael. “Just tie yourself to it and let them be.”

  “Well,” Az blinked. “Technically, yes, that's all that would be needed. Someone whose magic could be linked to the place, claiming it, and keeping it going.”

  “Then, I'll do it,” I growled and lifted my sword.

  “Wait,” Az held out a hand.

  “What now?”

  “Take a moment to consider this first,” he shook his head at me. “You jump into things without looking, Vervain. Take one blasted second to think this time.”

  “He's got you pegged,” Ull chuckled.

  “Stuff it, Ull,” I snapped. “What's there to think about? No one else is going to do it and I can't let this bastard live. I can't. I'll never be able to close my eyes without seeing those skinless bodies!” My voice had steadily risen till it became a screech.

  “Alright,” Az came around Tlaloc and wrapped his arms around me from behind. His wings draped over and around us and calm instantly settled into my body. “You do what you think is right.” He put his hands over mine, around the hilt of my sword, helping me raise it as his wings spread out behind us. “But we'll do it together. You'll have to claim his lands as you deliver the blow.”

  “I'll do it,” Hades' voice rang out, stopping us. “I'll claim his lands.”

  “Excuse me?” I lowered the sword once more and stepped away from the stunned angel.

  “I've always wanted to know what it'd be like to run Heaven,” Hades smirked and shrugged his shoulders.

  “Are you sure, Sizzle-Butt?” Persephone's tone was serious. I have no idea how she managed it while calling the Lord of the Underworld Sizzle-Butt. “This is a lot of responsibility.”

  “As if I don't know what it's like to care for souls?” He rose a brow at her and lifted his shades, giving us all a glimpse of the fires raging behind the transparent brown of his irises.

  “Okay, okay,” she held up her hands and he replaced the glasses. “Do your thing,” she waved a hand toward Tlaloc.

  He walked up and I offered him my sword but he shook his head with a smile. Out of the air he plucked a magnificent weapon. A longsword, its metal catching the sun and sparking, literally sparking and catching afire. The fire ran along the blade, coating every edge, till the whole thing burned.

  I sighed, having a moment of aching jealousy for both the beautiful weapon and the fact that it was going to kill Tlaloc. Hades lifted the sword above Tlaloc's neck and I suddenly noticed that Tlaloc's eyes had filled in. They were staring up at Hades in terror, so white against his shriveled skin. I felt supremely happy at the sight of that, and when Hades' sword fell, his words claiming Tlaloc's Heaven as his own, I watched Tlaloc's head part from his body with satisfaction.

  I had an image to replace the dead children with.

  Chapter Forty-One

  “Did you catch him?” Trevor was waiting for us in bed at Pride Palace. “Is he dead?”

  “Da,” Kirill started stripping on the way to the bathroom. “Hades kill him and take his child souls.”

  “What?” Trevor looked after Kirill but the lion was already starting a shower.

  “He's dead,” I leaned over to kiss him. “Hades had to do the deed so he could claim Tlaloc's land in the God Realm, which is full of souls and would vanish without someone to care for it.”

  “Oh,” Trevor sat back against the pillows. “Don't let Kirill explain things anymore.”

  “Right,” I laughed and began to remove my weapons. “How did everything go with the police?”

  “Well, there were two casualties so they weren't too happy,” he rubbed at his temples, “but it wasn't like they could charge me with murder. They did take great joy in shutting us down until they're finished with their investigation.”

  “I can't say I'm either surprised or upset by that,” I dropped my gloves on the coffee table in our little sitting area. “I think it's for the best right now.”

  “Maybe,” Trevor frowned, “I just don't like being pushed around.”

  “Of course you don't,” my boots came off, landing on the floor with solid thuds. “We're going to have to push back, as soon as we can figure out how to find someone to push. I just think we should take this as a gift in disguise and use the break to get our shit together. I'm tired. There's so much going on right now, I just need a little, teeny tiny break.”

  “You're right,” he grinned. “It's not like we need the money and the Froekn are all due for a vacation. The club is warded, it'll be fine. We'll just let the human police worry about this situation for awhile. I'm going to stay in bed with my mate and enjoy my life for once.”

  “For once?” I asked affronted.

  “You know what I mean,” he got out of the bed, gloriously naked, the thick muscles in his chest and legs twitching under my appraisal.

  “I think I'm beginning to understand,” I smirked and grabbed a handful of werewolf ass.

  “If you don't,” he huffed a hot breath on my neck. “I got some understanding for you right here.”

  “Oh that was the worst line ever,” I laughed but pulled him closer. “I need a bath first.”

  “I'll go tell Kirill,” he wandered off, sending a wicked smile to me over his shoulder. “Kirill, turn the shower off, we're coming in. And put your hair up, man, it'll only get in the way.”

  “Oh, I love my life,” I started removing my clothes as fast as I could.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  I awoke in a tangle of limbs and hair, blissfully happy. I unwrapped myself and carefully slid free of my men. I stood there, smiling down on them for a moment before I realized that something had woken me. I tensed, searching the room for danger and finding nothing. Finally, I noticed the haze over the mirror and cursed. I made a mad dash for my bathrobe just as it cleared, showing Arach's smiling face.

  “Good morning, A Thaisce,” he said before his eyes took in the rumpled and overfilled state of my bed. “I see you've had a nice evening.”

  “Very nice, thank you,” I slid into the chair in front of the vanity. “We killed a very bad god yesterday and celebrated last night. What's up with you? Burn anything to death lately?”

  “Not within the last few days,” he said seriously. “Experience any desire to do so yourself?”

  “I've felt the pull,” I admitted, “but Trevor's helped me through. I think I can manage this on my own but thanks anyway for your offer of assistance.”

  “What do you mean manage on your own?” His eyes narrowed further, starting to slant upwards at the temples. “No dragon-sidhe has ever come into their powers on their own. It's impossible and way too dangerous.”

  “I'm fine, really,” I huffed. “I think you're playing this up to try and scare me and I don't appreciate it.”

  “I'm not playing with you at all,” smoke started to come out of one of his nostrils. “The pull will only get stronger and stronger. It cannot be managed, it must be dealt with properly or you will release it in an uncontrolled manner. Stop behaving like a child and come back to me so I can teach you.”

  “I'm not going back into Faerie,” I scoffed. “The only exit is the size of a cat, I wouldn't be guaranteed a way back home.”

  “This is your home!” He slammed a hand down on the table he was seated at and the wood cracked.

  “Whoa,” I leaned back. “Lay off the caffeine, Elliot.”

  “What is wrong with you, woman? My name is Arach, not Tinkerbell and not Elliot. Who is Elliot?”

  “Man I hate it when no one's here to appreciate my movie references,” I grumbled. “See, that's another reason I can't go live in Faerie, you've never even heard of Pete's Dragon.”


  “Now who is this Pete?” He frowned, his face losing some of the dragon aspects in his confusion, “and how could he possibly own a dragon?”

  “Never mind, Norbert,” I sighed. “We're too different and I'm too taken. You're gonna have to try and find another lady dragon cause this one ain't biting.”

  “Norbert?” He was blinking rapidly, completely baffled.

  “How can faeries not know about Harry Potter?” I whined.

  “Harry Potter?” He was going to blow a gasket any minute.

  “Forget it,” I waved at him, “I gotta go.”

  “No,” he stared at me intensely. “I shan’t be the one forgetting. Dearmad gac aon rud,” he chanted, catching and holding my attention. “Dearmad, dearmad, dearmad!”

  My heart seemed to slow, the sound of it getting louder till it was all I could hear. Thump, tha thump, tha thump, in my ears. My eyes tried to focus but they didn't seem to be working, everything was hazy. My stomach fell, and the cry of three types of animals overcame the beating of my heart for just a moment before a roar silenced them. My body began to tingle and the tingling spread up to the base of my skull, creeping into my brain and taking over. I frowned, trying to remember why I was sitting in front of the mirror.

  “A Thaisce,” a voice drew my attention to the glass. There was a man there, looking back at me where my face should have been. “Come home now. Go to the tracing point and come home to Faerie.”

  “Faerie?”

  “You remember Faerie, it's where you belong.” His words resonated through me and suddenly I did remember. It was where I belonged because I was fey. I got up but his voice stopped me again. “See this chamber?” I nodded at his wave to include the room behind him. “This is where you want to be, understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “You remember me,” again, his voice trembled through my veins. “I am your lover, remember?”

  “Yes,” I smiled and leaned toward the glass. I distinctly remembered making love to him, looking down on his face and then biting him, taking his blood into my mouth because that was the right thing to do when you mated a dragon-sidhe. I frowned, there was someone else's face beneath his.

  “Vervain,” he cut off my thought. “There's only me, Arach.”

  “Arach,” I whispered and smiled. Yes, I knew that name.

  “You've been gone so long,” he looked sad. “It's time to come home. Now clear the mirror and come straight home.”

  “Okay,” I felt so good, so warm and light, without a single care on my shoulders.

  I swept my hand over the mirror, turning Arach's face to fog and then returning the mirror to its natural state. I walked out of the room and found myself in a hallway. I didn't know where I was. How did I get home? I looked up and down the corridor and frowned. I knew I had to get to a tracing point, Arach had said as much, but I didn't know where such a thing was.

  “Tima?” A beautiful man in jeans and a T-shirt walked up to me. “Are you alright?”

  “Um,” I frowned at the man's shirt. It proclaimed in big letters that he was ready to roar. Why would he be roaring and what was a Tima? Arach had called me Vervain, that was my name. “I don't remember where the tracing point is,” I finally said. Maybe this man would help me get home.

  “You don't?” He frowned, his blue eyes going wide. “I think maybe we better get you back to bed,” he started to turn me around but I pulled away.

  “No,” I backed up, “I need to go home, if you won't help me, I'll find it on my own.”

  “Tima,” the man sounded like I'd hurt his feelings. “Please, of course I'll help you. It's this way.” He turned and led me through the corridors until we entered one that ended in a flat wall. “Here it is.”

  “Oh,” I looked it over. “Thank you.”

  “Are you sure you're okay?”

  “Yes,” I tried to smile widely at him but I was anxious to figure out this tracing point thing. “I'm fine.”

  “Okay then,” he frowned but walked away.

  I turned back to the wall and cocked my head. What did I have to do to get home? I knocked and all I got was a hollow sound. I rubbed at it, searched for a hidden door, kicked it, but nothing worked. Finally, I sighed and just asked it to take me home.

  “Please,” I put my hand on the wall. “I want to go home.” I thought about the room Arach had showed me and how much I wanted to go there. Then a tingling began and I felt my body start to loose its form. Just as I became pure thought, I heard someone screaming after me.

  “My lady, not without me!”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  I reformed in front of a huge tree. I was standing in the middle of a dirt road, at an intersection. One path led from my left to my right in a sort of circular fashion, and the other led straight ahead. Both went through a forest of trees that seemed strange to me. I would have inspected them further but there was also a black carriage in the road and it was kind of hard to ignore. Four black horses were attached to it, their eyes a bright red, and on the door was the crest of a dragon breathing fire, the tips of his wings coming to a point above his head.

  The door opened and a man emerged.

  “Arach,” I whispered.

  “A Thaisce,” he had me in his arms in a moment, smiling as he lowered his lips to mine and my heart started beating wildly. I opened my mouth to him, accepting the fire I knew was coming and feeling it pit in my belly, collecting my own fire before I breathed it back out into him. I had a flash of lying beneath him in the grass and accepting his flame for the first time. I leaned into his kiss, adding tongue to fire and his body tightened against mine.

  “Come now,” he pulled back but his eyes were still burning. “We should get you home.”

  “Where are we?” I glanced back at the tree I seemed to have arrived through.

  “We're at The End of the Road,” he waved a hand toward the tree, “at the intersection of the Road of Neutrality,” another hand wave to indicate the road that seemed to curve left and right, “and the path to the Castle of Eight which lies in the heart of the Forgetful Forest,” one final wave down the straight road. “Now come along,” he helped me up into the padded confines of the carriage.

  I looked around with interest. I must have been in it before but I truly had no memory of the thick velvet cushions and curtains, or the polished wood of the black walls. It made a perfect backdrop for Arach, who shone on against the black like a fine jewel. His hair looked more red, the scales at his temples shining like glass, and the embers of his eyes casting a glow.

  “I can't express how happy I am to have you home, Vervain,” he had my hands in his and I didn't even see him move.

  “Where is home?” I glanced out the window, seeing the forest roll by.

  “Castle Aithinne,” he smiled and I noticed his canines seemed to be pronounced. “We live in the heart of the mountain that guards the Fire Kingdom. It's beautiful, you'll see.”

  We sat in awkward silence awhile, until he made a satisfied grunt and gestured out the window.

  “There she is.”

  I looked out and saw only the entrance to a cave, which we were stopping before. Arach exited deftly and reached a hand up to help me down. I frowned as I realized my feet were bare but then I looked up and saw the castle.

  So beautiful, he was right. It was as if the mountain itself had decided to form the castle. The range of it spread out to both right and left as far as I could see but at the center it rose up into numerous thin peaks, towers actually or maybe spires would be more accurate, as they came to deadly looking peaks. The mountain was bare of foliage, just strong stone and unmined metal that glinted in the sunlight. The stone was a cinnabar red and the numerous metals glinting inside it gave it a mosaic appearance, like if you stared long enough, you'd see pictures take shape.

  To either side of the section of mountain that was obviously castle, were rivers of lava, flowing from openings low on the mountain. They flowed sluggishly toward each other, dark
crusts forming on their surface, and collided directly in front of a silver drawbridge, where they flowed down into the earth again.

  The glow of the lava spread up over the mountain like a stretching cat, glinting off the exposed metals while trying to reach the tallest spire. The center tower must have been its goal, it being the widest and most prominent, but the glow fell much too short of reaching such a grand height.

  I focused on the central tower, it had a large window overlooking the clearing we were standing in which was just off of the road. Something about that window seemed familiar and I thought that it may be the room Arach had showed me in the mirror. Several windows dotted the jagged spires of the castle, so there must have been hundreds of rooms, but I was certain it was the center spire that Arach had been in.

  “Do you like it?” Arach was standing beside me, his face in cautious lines.

  “Yes,” I smiled and he seemed to relax. “Is that our room?” I pointed to the central spire and he grinned.

  “Yes,” he led me forward as the silver drawbridge lowered, revealing a cave behind it, “you remember. Come, I'll take you there.”

  The bridge was warmed by the lava beneath, even though the magma moat was far below us, and it felt good on my bare feet. Once we were in the cave, I saw that it was long and narrow, like a hallway, and then it connected to real hallways, snaking out to the left and right. We turned down the right and the hallway opened up to a grand staircase, spiraling up into the castle. Arach escorted me up the stairs and we barely climbed at all before we were on a landing and then entering a room that I actually remembered.

  I went to the window and looked down. We were a lot higher than we could have possibly climbed and I frowned, wondering if I'd blanked out part of the way. The door closed with a loud thump and I jerked around, startled from my thoughts.

  He was suddenly there, his hands pulling me close, his lips on mine again, and I could barely think. I wasn't wearing anything but a loosely belted robe, a fact I hadn't noticed until his hands undid the belt and slid the material off my shoulders. He pulled back and stared down at me, his eyes starting to slant up and his cheekbones going into sharp relief. I felt myself heat in response, knowing instinctively that his altered features indicated extreme passion.