Helen snatched the glass back then stepped closer to me. I suddenly didn’t want her too close but stood my ground. “Oh yeah. Somebody worked you over real good.”
“What are you getting at?” I was starting to lose patience.
She pulled the shot glass from her eye and gave me a look I couldn’t quite place. Partly fear, partly pity, partly mad. “Whoever did this to you didn’t want you to know about it.”
“Know what?” I asked. My patience was wearing thin.
She sighed and set the shot glass down on the counter. “When you ate the Nephilim, you could walk in daylight, correct?”
I nodded. “Yeah, but you said you already knew that.”
“And when you ate the angel, what happened?” She planted her hands on her hips and studied me.
“I don’t know, lots of stuff. The god that I ate–”
“Lesser god!” Laura corrected.
“Right. Lesser god. The lesser god that I ate shoved an angel inside me and made me think that I could do things that I couldn’t really do. He wanted to make me over confident for when he jumped me.”
“He intended to kill Sven, but he got the upper hand, didn’t you sweetie?” Laura gave me a wink.
I couldn’t help but smile back. She’s so damned cute. “Yeah. I did.”
“And did you kill this lesser god?” Helen asked.
I shook my head. “I don’t think so. I bit a chunk from him and drained him pretty good. But his brother came and carted him off before I could finish him.”
Her smile spread and she nodded. “I’m guessing that one of the two lesser gods cast a spell on you.”
“A spell?” Laura and I both asked at the same time. Great minds and all that.
Helen nodded. “Oh yeah.” She inhaled deeply and gave me a sideways look. “Your powers have been stifled.”
I hiked both brows on that one. “Say what?”
Helen sat at the island bar and invited us to do the same. “You see, you ate the Nephilim. You were no longer a creature of the night. Nephilim are children of angels which, in many mythos, are creatures of light. Therefore, you became liken to a creature of light. Once you ate the angel, you absorbed his powers and abilities.”
“But I didn’t. I just maybe got a little stronger.” I admitted.
“Surely it’s about the same as the Nephilim, yeah?” Laura asked.
Helen shook her head. “Nephilim are half man, half angel. A little of both.” She was using her hands to talk now and I was really glad I wasn’t sitting any closer. “Angels are creatures of light and great ability. You should have absorbed his powers as well.”
I slumped in the chair then turned to her as the light above my head came on. “So…all the things I thought I was doing because I was possessed by an angel?”
Helen smiled at me. “You were probably doing on your own. Somehow when they convinced you that you weren’t, it was because the spell had been cast and your powers were muted.”
This was almost too much for my caveman-like mind. I turned to Laura and her eyes were far wider than I was comfortable with. She turned to Helen and asked, “What about once he ate that chunk of the lesser god?”
Helen nodded. “Especially if he still lives, you probably share his powers.”
I swallowed hard and my mouth was dry. I turned to Laura and didn’t know what to say. Helen snapped her fingers in front of my face. “Me and my girls…I’d bet good money that we can break this spell.”
I had no idea what the ramifications of doing that would be. A Viking vampire lesser god? What the hell?
I looked to Laura for guidance and she was slowly nodding her head. “You need this.”
“I do?” I really wasn’t sure I wanted to do this. I meant it when I said good riddance to the powers I thought the angel gave me; for one I wouldn’t have to fly anymore. But, in all honesty, I had been wishing I could visit the master again. There were times I really could use his knowledge and guidance.
My mouth replied to Helen before my brain could engage. “Let’s do it.”
I really need to explain to my mouth that it needs to let my brain have a little more time to process things before it starts signing checks that my ass can’t cash.
* * *
I’m not sure who was more excited at the prospect of breaking this curse…spell…whatever it was that was stifling my abilities. The witches seemed absolutely giddy to be undoing the workings of a god. The way they said “god” was unnerving. A “gawd.”
Texas women.
Laura and I pulled ourselves away from the crowd and tried to have a heart to heart. Every time I opened my mouth to express a concern, it was if my brain disengaged and I was left with just my dick in my hand. I had no idea what to say.
Laura, on the other hand, had plenty to say. She rattled on about how we wouldn’t be restricted in our work and how I could reach my full potential and how fortuitous it was that we happened to know some witches that could help and once they undid what Loki did then I could probably just snap my fingers and my soul would be back and blah blah blah. My mind shut off somewhere along the way.
It took all I had just to study her face as she spoke. The excitement that she felt was contagious but at the same time, I was so taken with every little aspect of her. The lines around her mouth when she talked too fast. The way her tongue would click on certain words. How quickly she blinked and how the breeze caught those few stray hairs on the side of her face and blew them into her mouth, the quick movements she made to pull them out. Every little tiny detail was forever etched in my memory as I studied her.
She was still talking a mile a minute when I grabbed the sides of her face again and pulled her into a kiss. This one wasn’t as forced and rushed as the last one had started out as. This began as a slow and deliberate kiss. I wanted to taste her and I wanted to take my time doing it.
I could feel her body relax against me and my hands slid down her neck and to her waist. I gripped her firmly held her up while our tongues danced. As I probed her mouth I felt her sharp incisors and traced them gently with my tongue.
I felt her chest rise and fall with each breath and I matched her, breath for breath. My hand slid down to the small of her back and I pressed gently, lifting her closer to my mouth.
She finally pulled back and tried to catch her breath. Her eyes remained closed as she swayed in my arms.
“What was that for?”
I shook my head. “I needed to.”
I watched as the smile crossed her face and she melted against my chest. We stood in the shade of Helen’s side entrance, the breeze blowing against our heated skin when the door pulled open. “I think we’re ready, y’all. If you’ll follow me into the parlor.” She had a little more sway to her hips than I remembered but when she pulled the sliding doors open I was stunned. They had transformed the room into a candle lit cathedral. There was a full blown stone altar at the end of the room and I felt like a lamb being led to slaughter. I truly wanted to turn tail and run. Me. A Viking warrior who stood head and shoulders above the best of them in their tallest spiked heels and this gaggle of females had me ready to head for the hills. I only hoped they knew I wasn’t a virgin.
Go ahead. Call me a pussy. I am what I eat.
Helen patted the stone altar. “Up here, sweetie.” She looked at me and saw the trepidation in my eyes. “Don’t go getting all cattywampus on us. Crawl your happy hiney on up here so we can get to releasing your inner god.” She gave me a smile that I could only describe as seductive and I had to glance to Laura who nodded.
I really wanted to excuse myself and tell these sweet little ladies that I was almost certain there was an errant vampire somewhere that really needed slaying, but instead, my body rebelled against my brain. I watched as it crawled onto the stone altar, my legs dangling off the end like an exam table.
Helen turned to a certain redhead and chided, “I told you it needed to be longer.”
I could hear the women chanting something and I
swear, I could feel the stone altar growing under my body. A moment later and I was stretched out on this cold slab of rock.
“There. Now let’s get started, shall we?” Her overly sweet tone gave me the heebie-jeebies. That’s a technical term we warriors use for…an uncomfortable feeling. I had that feeling in spades.
My hands automatically went to my groin and cupped myself. I don’t know why. Maybe it had something to do with what I did to Rog, the fact that they’d already been abused and then made to feel better…I was uncomfortably exposed just lying here surrounded by witches.
The women were all covered in dark red robes. They encircled me and I watched Helen slip between them, wearing one as well. They all took turns lighting red candles that they held out in front of them about breast high. I heard one of the women begin a chant and somewhere along the second verse, the others fell into chant as well. It sounded nice. Soothing, smooth and flowing. It increased in tempo a little and the women began swaying side to side.
Their voices slowly increased in volume until they were practically yelling whatever the hell they were saying. It wasn’t nearly so relaxing. Suddenly they began shrugging the robes off and it took me a moment to realize, they were all nude!
I suddenly felt very uncomfortable and was searching past the numerous jiggling boobs to find Laura’s face. I was certain she was not happy about this recent turn of events. Even if it wasn’t my fault, it was still my fault. If I hadn’t been here, there wouldn’t be a couple dozen naked women dancing around me, dangling their naughty bits in my face.
I tried to close my eyes. Really I did. But…I just couldn’t! I mean, who could? There were close to fifty boobs swaying right in front of my face, not to mention other…things.
I am just a guy. I couldn’t help it.
However, I wasn’t prepared for what happened next. They chanted their way to a fever pitch then they each one turned and tossed the hot candle wax onto the woman standing next to her. I watched as melted red wax splattered those naked chests and dripped down their bodies, hardening as it made its way toward their navels.
I’ll admit it, I was intrigued and just a bit worried that they might have burned some sensitive areas.
I had no idea the worst was yet to come.
From somewhere behind me, a pair of hands gripped the sides of my head and held my face in place as those naked, wax covered women marched around me, each one taking a turn kissing me square on the mouth.
I tried not to kiss back. Honestly. But after about the eighth one, my lips rebelled against my brain. At about the twelfth one, I felt a cough trying to form in the back of my throat. The women continued to march past me, their dangly bits almost right in my eyes, brushing my cheeks and forehead as they leaned over and sucked on my lips.
Then I felt it. Something solid. Or, rather, something that felt solid rising up from the back of my throat. Hell, the way some of them were sucking on my mouth, it very well could have been my spleen.
I felt it invading my throat, and suddenly I needed to breathe. I couldn’t because of the blockage and I struggled to turn my head. I couldn’t move my body and had no idea why. I tried to raise my hand to my mouth. Again, I don’t know why. Maybe in that panicked part of my brain I thought maybe I could use my fingers and pluck whatever it was that was blocking my airways.
And yet they continued, each of them plastering their mouths to mine, each one sucking the “thing” farther out of me.
Right about the time I was ready to pass out, it broke loose. I was able to work it to my lips with my tongue and spat it out. Whatever it was, bounced across my chest and rolled off my abdomen onto the stone altar.
I gasped for air and suddenly was able to move again. I rolled my head back and stared at whoever was holding my face. You could have knocked me over with a baseball bat when I saw Laura behind me, her strong Werecat hands holding my head still.
The best part? She wasn’t mad that I just made out with a couple dozen naked witches.
Hoo-yah!
* * *
It took me a while to get my energy back to the point I could sit up. Laura was right there, her hand rubbing my back as I let the room spin.
“I feel like I was hit by a tank.”
“You look like it too.” She’s so supportive.
I leaned forward and fought the urge to spew. “What the hell was that?”
Laura leaned close and rested her head on my side. “Helen said that the spell would most likely be manifested into a physical thing that they could expel from you.”
I gave her a suspicious look. “You knew how they were going to, err…expel that thing?”
She gave me a sheepish grin. “They do practice blood and sex magic. I figured it would involve something like this.” She rubbed my hand. “I’m just glad they didn’t all mount you like a bitch in heat.”
I shook my head. “The way a few of them kissed me, I think they wanted to.”
“I have no doubt.” Laura actually laughed. I wasn’t joking. Studying her, I think she wasn’t either. The laughter was more a nervous giggle than anything.
I felt slightly better and tried to slide off the altar. My legs held. I squared my shoulders, took a deep breath and pushed away from the giant rock that they’d made magically appear in their den. Excuse me…parlor.
I glanced about and all of the women were standing together, talking quietly and peeling red wax from each other’s chests. I glanced to Laura who didn’t seem to mind at all. I sometimes forget that being nude is comfortable for her. It’s one of my favorite things about her.
Still, being in the same room with a bunch of naked women wouldn’t normally bother me except that the woman I loved was there too. I truly had no idea where to look.
“How are you feeling?” Helen slid in next to me and bumped me with her shoulder.
I nodded, trying to keep my eyes on a particularly interesting part of the floor. “Much better, thank you.” I quickly looked up and directly into her eyes. “So now what?”
She smiled and I could tell it was genuine. “Now, you figure out what powers you have as a god.”
I think my mouth fell open for a moment. Helen was kind enough to reach out and gently close it for me. I didn’t know what to say. I didn’t feel any different than before they started, even though there was a chunk of something missing from my innards.
“Uh, what about my soul?”
She nodded and pushed off of the stone altar. “If you can’t figure that one out on your own, come see us again.”
“You don’t want to go ahead and pull the little fella in here now and shove it back into–”
She raised her hand up and pressed a finger to my lips gently. “The girls and I are drained.” She hefted this lumpy chunk of greenish-colored flesh. At least, I think it was flesh. “We just broke a god’s spell. We’re kinda drained right now.”
She dropped the chunk into a glass jar.
“What are you going to do with that?” I swallowed hard and could suddenly taste cherries. I think one of the ladies wore cherry flavored lipstick. I licked at my lips and tried to point at the lump in the jar.
“This? We’ll hold onto it. Maybe see if there’s any part of it we can use.”
I cleared my throat. “What about me? Is there any part of that I might still…you know. Need?”
She laughed again I felt her breast brush my arm as she leaned in and kissed me lightly on the cheek. “Trust me darlin’, you don’t want any part of this back inside you. It was never part of you to begin with.” She laid the jar aside and pulled me close. “You’re gonna be just fine now.” She reached up and pulled my face down to hers. She planted a very long, slow and passionate kiss on me.
I pulled away when she was finished and gave her a confused look. “What was that for?”
She grinned again and gave me a wink. “Payment of course. I’ve never kissed a god before.”
Chapter 8
So. I’m a god now.
Yippee.
And I’m guessing that Laura and Helen had a much more trusting relationship than I would have ever imagined. She watched as Helen gave me the goodbye tonsillectomy and said nothing. Never even mentioned it. Not even later when we were home and alone.
Thank Odin! I really wasn’t sure how to respond to her if she yelled at me. I mean, the lady had just broken a curse put on me by a god of all people. And I’d just had my face sucked on by no less than two dozen naked women. Trust me. If your girl witnesses something like that and doesn’t bust your nuts, she’s a keeper.
Still, I knew there was something bothering her. She kept giving me furtive glances and when I’d try to ask what was wrong, she’d blurt out “nothing” in that way where it’s obvious there’s something and then find something to do that was away from me. I was starting to feel like a leper. I knew I had showered this morning. I even put on that smelly stuff that she bought for me. I felt like a painted whore when I wore it, but Laura liked it so…
I finally heard her in the kitchen and knew that there was no escape. I snuck in behind her and grabbed her by the middle. I swear she yelped and nearly jumped out of her skin.
“What’s gotten into you?”
Again she repeated “nothing!” and tried to slip past me. I stepped into her path and blocked her exit.
“Talk to me.” I tried to use a calm and caring voice. Instead she lowered her eyes and avoided me.
“There’s nothing to talk about.”
“I call horse shit on that one.” I crossed my arms and looked down at her. I swear I saw her eyeing the kitchen window and I could almost see her trying to calculate her escape. I sighed heavily and stepped aside. “When you’re ready to talk, I’ll be in my office.” She shot out of the kitchen like her tail was on fire and all I could think of was that she was suddenly not alright with the near orgy that I was involved in.
I watched as she disappeared through the great room and I trudged back to my office. This paperwork wasn’t going to do itself.
* * *
I’d gotten so immersed into my work that I almost didn’t hear her pull the door open and peek inside. I raised my head and saw her eyes widen. I waited for her to slam the door shut but instead she pulled it open slightly more. “I’m sorry to bother you. We have a fax.” She stuck her arm into the office and for a moment I feared she would just drop the paper and run away.
Hunter 3 : Lost Souls Page 7
