by Amy Sumida
I was only important because of those who were in my orbit, and I had some amazing people surrounding me. I was a lucky star indeed.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
As soon as I stepped foot in my bedroom at Pride Palace, Lesya squealed, “Mommy!”
I thought Odin's hall had been a comfort to me, but nothing compared to that welcome. I went over to where she was sitting—on a blanket before the TV, with her toys spread around her—and scooped her up. Kirill and Trevor had been sitting on the couch nearby, but they both stood as I had walked over, and they hugged me together with Lesya.
“Did Odin find solution?” Kirill asked.
“Not yet,” I said with a grimace. “We got a little distracted.”
I told them what had happened, and what our theories were. The men went silent, and Lesya stared up at us with a confused frown. She started squirming until I got the hint and let her down. She went back to her toys with blissful ignorance, and I returned my attention to my husbands.
“So, we don't know anything for sure,” Trevor concluded. “It's all what-ifs at this point.”
“As usual,” Kirill grumbled.
“We have a few hours before the stake-out begins,” I said. “Let's forget about Iya and Eros for awhile, and just enjoy being a family.”
“Sounds good, Minn Elska,” Trevor agreed with a grin.
Kirill was already reclaiming his seat on the couch. He looked up at me and patted the cushion beside him. I sat down, leaning into Kirill's side as his arm came around me. Trevor took the open seat beside me, and I was soon sandwiched in their love. Trevor laid his hand on my thigh, and we settled back against the couch together. As Lesya played, we watched TV, just like normal people do.
It was moments like this one that made dealing with all my other traumas bearable. Odin knew what he was doing when he sent me home. This small reprieve would give me the strength to step back into the fight.
Chapter Forty
Later that evening, the stake-out started. It ended up being unnecessary for all of us to go. Thor had to be there in the beginning because we were using his ships as a base of operations, but once it was anchored at sea, he was able to leave whenever he wished.
We decided to keep a team of six on board each vessel. Each god would take a four-hour shift, and after they ended their watch, they would trace home for a rest. A new guard would show up to wait his turn, while the next one up on rotation would take watch. This constant flow of fresh eyes and ears worked out well. No one was overly tired, and there was always a group available to catch Iya if they were given a chance. But, even if the teams went after Iya immediately, one of them would send a text out to the rest of us, notifying us to trace to one of Thor's ships at once and assist them.
It was only two days before Iya made an appearance. I was at Pride Palace with Trevor, Kirill, Odin, and Lesya. Azrael had gone to Shehaquim to meet with Michael, while Re had gone home to check on things in Aaru and then look in on his daughter, Sekhmet. We had already cleared things with Samantha, and she would be babysitting Lesya while we handled Iya. So, as soon as the text came in, Kirill ran Lesya down to Fallon and Sam's suite, and then met us at the tracing chamber.
We traced to one of Thor's ships and ran up to the deck to find the ship moving rapidly through the sea. Water sprayed the deck as we cut through rolling waves. Above us, a storm was brewing, and within it, I could see the bodies of Lakota gods. The gods who couldn't fly or shift into something with wings, stood on the upper deck with us, adding their magic to the mayhem while Thor steered us after the storm.
I stared into the distance; the shores of California were a smudge on the horizon, but the storm wasn't heading in that direction. It was going the opposite way... straight for Hawaii. Hawaii took hits from the weather all the time, but a storm like Iya's could cripple it. Hurricane insurance was high there for a reason; Kauai had nearly been wiped out once—and that had been a natural storm. If we allowed Iya to reach the Hawaiian islands, there could be countless fatalities, not to mention the utter devastation that could wreck the lives of the survivors.
And Thor's ship couldn't keep up with the storm.
It would take days to reach Hawaii by boat, but only hours for that storm. It was already hundreds of feet ahead of us and gaining speed every second. I looked at Odin and he nodded. We shed our clothes in silence. Odin shifted into the griffin form again, but I chose to go fully dragon this time. I had to transform mid-leap, so I wouldn't capsize the ship, but I'd been practicing such maneuvers, and I did so with ease.
“Be careful!” Trevor called after us.
I glanced down and saw Trevor and Kirill leaning against the railing, staring after us bleakly. It's hard to stand aside while people you love head into danger, and I hated putting them in that position. I roared my confidence back to my husbands, hoping to impart some of it to them and alleviate their fears. They smiled and waved to me supportively. Odin, his massive eagle wings pounding the air beside me, shrieked a chilling cry that echoed through the clouds as we entered the misty outskirts of the monsoon.
We went straight to the center, where the eerie calm reigned. Except this time, the open space was full of gods, and all of them were battling Iya. Ksa was riding on the back of a giant bird-like creature that reminded me a little of the Thunderbirds. The bird's talons struck out at Iya's nebulous form, and one of the numerous faces in the shadows screeched in pain. Hanwi and Wi levitated nearby, both glowing with the light of their magics. Wi waved a hand forward, and a surge of fire lit up the darkness of Iya's form. His bulbous body bulged and boiled where the fire hit him, and then he shot into his tipi for sanctuary.
“Shine, my Wican!” Skan cried out to a bunch of sparkling gods around him.
No; these weren't those kinds of wicans. These were the Sky God's attendants; the Star People. Their name, in its plural form, was Wican (not Wiccans), and it meant “sunlets” in Lakota. I know; I got a chuckle from that as well. But I wasn't laughing when they all began to shine, and their sparkling light hit Iya like a whirlwind of fire. Sunlets indeed. Iya's black body burst into droplets of rain, exploding apart before he condensed back into the form of a man. He stood within the entrance of the tipi and glared at the gods.
“My own family; turned against me!” He snarled.
In his human form, he was muscular and nearly as tall as Inyan. His sin-black hair was pulled back into a tight braid, and his striking features were filled with hatred. He pointed at Ksa as if it were all his brother's fault.
“You are no longer my brother,” Iya declared. “I break ties with you, and curse your name!”
The Lakota drew back, looking at each other in concern. Curses were a big deal. But I wasn't about to be deterred by a bunch of smack talk. I'd done this far too many times to let the bad guy stall me with a speech. I flew straight at Iya and clamped my talons around him. Before he could shapeshift out of my grasp, I traced us to the Sky Road.
I didn't release Iya, not even after I exited the Aether. Instead, I dug my talons into his flesh and carried him—shrieking and cursing—along the sparkling road. My dragon stride was a little hindered by holding my prisoner, but I didn't care how silly I looked as I hopped along. I had Iya, and I wasn't letting go; the fate of the Earth depended on it. So, I drug that nebulous bastard straight to the glowing gate to the Spirit World. Hihankara's eyes went wide as she looked over my dragon body and the bleeding Iya.
“Who are you?” The crone called out. “Announce yourself!”
“I am Vervain Lavine, the Godhunter,” I growled. “And I've caught another god today. Do you want him or not? I could always use a snack if you're not interested.”
Iya renewed his efforts to free himself. It seemed that having my claws in him hindered his shapeshifting abilities. Good to know.
“Vervain?” Hihankara peered at me and then smiled brightly. “Ah, yes; I see you now. Enter, Godhunter. The Wakan Tanka will no doubt be attending you shortly.”
; Within the Lakota Spirit World, Iya became even more solid; his shape condensing to a natural weight. I drug him down the path as he snarled and spat at me, his cuts bleeding even more profusely. But he had worn himself out fighting the Lakota gods before I'd even arrived, and both his strength and his magic were waning. By the time we reached the clearing, Iya was whimpering. The other Lakota gods were already there, standing in a grim-faced group. They were probably able to bypass the Sky Road entirely and trace directly into the Spirit World. It was their territory, after all.
I tossed Iya down before them, and he struggled to his feet defiantly, even though he listed to the side a bit. The Wakan Tanka closed in around Iya, blocking his escape. I eased back, shifting my bulk closer to the treeline, to watch the proceedings without participating in them. I had agreed to allow the council to judge Iya, and I was a woman of my word. As I settled onto my haunches, my husbands and the God Squad walked into the clearing. Odin was still in his griffin form, but Trevor and Kirill had brought our clothes for us. Odin blocked me with his body as I shifted back to human and got dressed. Then I formed a wall with Trevor and Kirill to give Odin some privacy too. We missed a little of the trial in exchange for our modesty, so it took me a second to catch up.
“Your callous behavior has resulted in tragedy again,” Inyan was saying to his son. “I cannot continue to ignore your actions, Iya.”
“Again?” I asked Odin in a hushed tone.
Odin only shrugged.
“He tried to wipe out the Mayans once,” Toby whispered as he and his brother eased up beside us. “He nearly started a war between the Lakota and Mayan Pantheons.”
“It pains me to make this suggestion,” Inyan continued. “But I call upon the Wakan Tanka to vote on the assimilation of my son.”
“Assimilation?” I asked with rounded eyes. “What is this; Star Trek? Are the Wakan Tanka actually the Borg?”
“It doesn't sound good, whatever it is,” Odin noted.
“It's not,” Naye confirmed. “It's a type of death, but one where your soul is contained and used as a battery.”
“I know all about that,” I muttered, thinking back to a situation we'd had with the Voodoo gods.
“Not souls pots.” Toby shook his head. “And we're not talking about taking a god's magic either. Iya will be driven into the soil of the Spirit World and crushed by Maka. His soul and magic will seep into the territory, fueling it as it imprisons him. He will be aware, but unable to escape.”
“An eternal prison,” I whispered.
“In a way.” Naye nodded.
“Stop!” A rumbling, female voice shouted.
We all turned toward the forest path, where a tall woman in a wetsuit stood with dripping hair and swirling eyes. The Wakan Tanka went still as the woman strode into their midst, splitting the circle momentarily. As soon as she passed through, the gods closed in around her. I angled my head around the bodies of the Lakota gods, trying to see who she was and what kind of juicy drama was unfolding. And I wasn't the only one; Naye, Toby, my men, and the God Squad all watched avidly. So avidly, that we didn't hear the footsteps coming up behind us.
“You have no right to sentence my son without me!” The woman—who I assumed was Unk—cried out. “I am a member of this council, and I should be allowed to cast my vote.”
“You will have your vote,” Inyan said in a tight voice. “But—”
The rest of what Inyan said was cut off by a vicious hiss, right in my ear. “Miss me, my love?”
Hands gripped my waist tightly, and I was whisked through the Aether. I came out gasping; tracing was rough when you weren't prepared for it. The hold on me shifted, and I was tossed over a bony shoulder. Th ground swept by beneath me as I was swiftly carried through a network of tunnels and then promptly tossed on my ass. I rolled onto my knees, palms flat on the wet stone, and gulped in deep breaths as I glared at my abductor.
Eros.
“How the fuck did you get into the Lakota Spirit World?” I growled as soon as I was able to speak.
“With Unk,” Toby answered. “They traced in together.”
I turned to Toby in shock, and saw him jerk away from a stunningly beautiful man. The man was dressed in a suit and tie, but not one a lawyer might wear. His clothing was more playboy than professional. There was something about him; I couldn't put my finger on it. When you looked at his features individually, they were nothing special. His hair was black and cut in a short style, his skin like polished mahogany, his body was trim and fit, his lips were full, and his nose lean. His eyes were a lovely shade of sapphire, but again, nothing special. Yet, when you took him in as a whole, he was breathtaking. His appeal was practically palpable; I felt like I could reach out and touch his aura. He caught me staring and smirked knowingly.
Well, that ruined it for me; I couldn't stand smug arrogance. It was hard enough to deal with Re. Suddenly, the guy looked like what he was; an asshole. I grimaced and rolled my eyes. The hot guy lost his smirk and scowled at me. That made me feel a little better.
We were standing inside a cave; the smell of salt and seaweed heavy in the air. Water dripped continuously and echoed through the space. It was achingly cold, so much so that I turned up my internal temperature subconsciously before I looked around further. The rock floor shifted into sand in one corner—the shore of a shallow pool—and near it, a blanket was spread as if someone were planning a picnic. The ceiling above us was coated in algae that glowed bright enough to illuminate the cave clearly, though it did so with a greenish tint. But none of it helped me figure out where we were.
“Your face!” Eros chortled as he pointed at me. “You have no idea what's happening, do you, bitch?”
“Call her bitch one more time,” Toby dared him.
“Bitch,” Eros said calmly.
Toby launched himself at Eros, but before he made it two steps, the man in the suit caught him and flung Toby back into a rock wall. The wall shook, debris fell, and so did Toby. I stared at the man and then at Toby in shock. Even Toby seemed shocked by the ease with which the man had flung him; he got to his feet, stretching his shoulders as if they ached, and then eased toward me as he warily watched his attacker.
“Surprised, Tobadzistsini?” The man asked with a sneer as he watched Toby make his way to me. “My father has shared the spoils with us. I am not the god you used to know.”
“Gnas?” I asked as I figured it out.
“So, she's not as dumb as you said,” Gnas said to Eros.
“She has her moments,” Eros shrugged.
“What did you do to me?” I growled at Eros as Toby took my hand.
“And there it goes.” Eros chuckled. “I don't have the time to explain it all in small words so that you'll understand, Godhunter. Just know that the plot was much more complicated than you could have ever imagined. I wasn't certain that the Death Mist would take you, and I always like to be certain of such things.”
“Enough,” Gnas snapped. “Just do it.”
“Anxious to feel my sex magic again?” Eros smiled at Gnas.
“Do it, Eros,” Gnas growled.
“Fine.” Eros lost his grin as his hand shot out at me, faster than I could blink.
I was yanked away from Toby, and Toby cried out in protest as Eros laid his mouth over mine. His hot tongue shoved its way past my tightened lips, and I clenched my teeth against it. But my magic was already rising, and Eros' Sex whipped it into a frenzy. I opened to him with a moan of failure—the sounds of a scuffle and Toby's shouting echoing in my ears—and kissed Eros back. My mind went blank, covered in crimson, as I pressed myself tightly to Eros' awakening body. But as soon as I was aroused to a mind-numbing state, Eros flung me away.
Right into Toby's arms.
My Lust magic flared out and took Toby prisoner. One brief look of horror crossed his face before it altered into desire, and his lips covered mine. We were tearing at each other's clothing within seconds, our bodies clinging to each other even as we tried to fre
e ourselves of anything that stood between us. I was starving for Toby, for his touch and the feel of his skin. I couldn't think straight, couldn't focus on anything but him. The hard planes of his smooth chest, the curve of his biceps, the feel of his hair sliding over my skin. I took his sex in hand and began to work him eagerly. Toby cried out, flinging his head back in a striking display of wild hair as he clutched my shoulders. I lowered myself to my knees and took him into my mouth, sucking him in and moaning around his erection. Nothing had ever tasted so sublime.
Toby enjoyed my attentions for awhile, and then pushed me away from him with an aggressive growl. He turned me onto my hands and knees and slammed into me from behind. I cried out in pleasure, pushing back onto his manhood as he drove himself forward. The sound of our flesh slapping together spurred my lust even higher. In my mind, I could see the magic swirling inside me, pulsing with need and flashing with sparks that Eros had ignited. But I didn't care where the passion had come from; I simply needed more of it. My body was trembling with desperation, my muscles clenched with a voracious hunger. This was ten times worse than the first time Eros had touched my magic.
Toby reached around my waist with one hand and flicked his fingers over that sweet spot right above my entrance. I screamed and bucked, looking back at him over my shoulder. His skin was gloriously slick—gleaming in the soft light, his face was set in sensuous lines, and his muscles were bulging with the strain of driving into me so violently. I rolled my head forward and as I did, my gaze caught movement out of the corner of my eye. I looked over to see a couple of men standing just a few feet away from us. I knew them, didn't I? Who were they?
I blinked as the images began to make sense. Eros knelt before Gnas, who gripped the Greek god's head ferociously, pulling the other man toward him rapidly. Gnas caught my gaze and smiled as he thrust himself deeper into Eros' mouth. Eros choked, but Gnas just held him tightly, glorying in the sound of his domination. In his other hand, Gnas held a cell phone pointed at Toby and me.
