by Sumida, Amy
“I’ve been having nightmares,” I pulled on some underwear, then a comfy black sheath dress before I headed down the hall and into the kitchen to make myself a cup of coffee.
“Yeah, I know,” Trevor sat across from me at the table, Kirill taking the seat on his right. “I’m the one who sleeps with you, the one who holds you when you wake up terrified, remember?”
“Can I finish?” I placed my hands flat on the table, willing them to stop shaking.
“I wish you would,” Trevor had changed back to human and I just realized he hadn’t bothered redressing. He must have been really worried.
“I could be bounded in nutshell and count myself king of infinite space, vere it not zat I have bad dreams,” Kirill looked so calm but I knew instinctively he was spooked.
I raised an eyebrow “You quote Shakespeare?”
“I have great memories of you reading it to me,” his smile was soft. “Now please to tell us vat your dreams have been about, Tima.”
“They’ve been about Anubis,” I rubbed at the cold spot on my shoulder and Trevor reached across the table and pulled my hand away to inspect it.
“The wound’s healed alright,” he frowned and poked at it, then hissed at the cold. “What the fuck?” He shot out of his seat and pulled me out of mine.
Without a thought to Kirill’s presence, which said a lot, he lifted the sheath over my head and splayed his hand over the growing cold. It had spread over my arm and down my side. I met his scared gaze with one of my own.
“Remember how Teharon couldn't heal the knife wound completely?” I gently reclaimed my dress and pulled it back over my head, “He said it had something to do with Anubis’ magic, death magic.”
“Yeah,” Trevor ran a shaky hand through his hair. “He said you’d have to let it heal the rest of the way on its own but it did. So why does your skin feel like ice?”
“I don’t know,” I sat back down but he remained standing. “All I know is that Anubis has been making an appearance in my dreams more and more lately. I finally decided to take sleeping pills last night and it worked, my mind was too drugged for him to invade. Then I went to take a shower this morning and he appeared. I don’t know if it was a hallucination, since you walked right through him, but he sure felt real.”
“Why didn’t you tell me about this sooner?”
“I was hoping it would go away,” I shook my head at my own stupidity. “I thought maybe it was post traumatic stress or something.”
“Tima,” Kirill’s steady voice drew our attention. “Vat did Death God say to you?”
“He said,” I swallowed hard. “He said I was his and that he was going to make sure I was punished for attacking him. Kinky, huh?” I tried to laugh it off but that didn’t work out so well.
Trevor turned and headed back into the bedroom. I gave Kirill a questioning look but he just shrugged. Soon the sound of drawers being flung open floated out to us. I got up and headed back, Kirill close on my heels. Sure enough, Trevor was packing… my clothes.
“What are you doing?” I held my coffee with both hands as I watched him chuck handfuls of clothes and necessities into my suitcase.
“We’re going to the Pride,” he zipped up the case and started on his own. “I have a better chance of defending you there. Then I’m going to get Teharon, Father, and all the others, and we’re going to fix this.”
“Okay,” I said quietly.
He stopped and looked up at me. “Okay? You’re not going to argue with me?”
“No,” I was suddenly happy that I had others to rely on, to help me when I needed it. For once I didn’t care that he was being presumptive. I’d kept him out of the loop and he was reacting with concern and intelligence. I appreciated that. “It sounds like the best thing for us to do. Kirill,” I turned and looked at my Ganza.
“I go pack as vell, Tima.”
“Thank you,” I smiled gently at him. “I’ll go pack up Nick.” My gray tabby would need some things too.
I turned to leave but Trevor pulled me back around. He took the mug out of my hands, placing it on the dresser before pulling me in tight. I didn’t even realize I was shaking again until he held me against his steady strength.
“It’s going to be alright,” he whispered into my hair and I wasn’t certain who he was trying to reassure, me or himself.
Chapter Seven
Pride Palace, as I had named the vast estate I’d inherited from Nyavirezi, was huge. Among the numerous bedrooms(a hundred-twenty total), which were needed for all of my lions(seventy-seven total), there was a kitchen complete with a fireplace big enough to roast an entire cow, a common room filled with pool tables and video games, a central courtyard with tropical flowers and butterflies right off of my master suite, a dining hall, a theater, a music room, an armory, a fitness room, a wine cellar, a larder, a ballroom, and my favorite, the library.
The library in Pride Palace was almost as wonderful as Thor’s but it didn’t have that old world charm. My library was open and airy like the rest of the palace. The furniture was heavier in there, mahogany instead of bamboo, but the cushions were still done in a gold and cream pattern like the couches in the common room, and the walls were linen wallpaper… what wasn’t covered by bookshelves, that is.
Like Thor’s library, this one had very few patches of wall left that weren't taken up by books. All four walls had shelves, broken only by the door and the two bay windows that had stunning views of the grasslands. There were even free standing shelves placed throughout the open room, back to back. Priceless objects of art were scattered about, representing pretty much every country in the world. Statues, inlaid boxes, wood and stone carvings, and paintings on gilt stands. They'd been gathered by the Intare, who were just as diverse in race. A treasure trove that any museum would be proud to display and which I adored, but it was the books that I considered to be the true treasure.
Nyavirezi had a penchant for magic and most of the tomes were old and filled with spells I’d never seen before. That meant only one thing, either they were ancient or they were filled with god magic. Both possibilities thrilled the hell out of me. I'd been practicing god magic, which was distinctly different from human magic, since I'd come into possession of Ku's spell book. So far I'd only been able to manage a few beginner spells but I was improving fast and I had hopes of being able to hold my own against the other gods someday.
I hadn’t had the chance to sit and start reading any of Nyavirezi's books yet, so I found myself staring at them wistfully as the gods, the Froekn, and the Intare argued over my head. Teharon and Kirill were the only two who remained silent besides myself. They sat to either side of me, Kirill guarding me as always and Teharon inspecting my shoulder.
“What are you going to do, go running around the God Realm shouting Come out, come out wherever you are?” Odin was in Trevor’s face. “This is Anubis we’re talking about. No one even knows how to get to his territory… not even Horus, and they're cousins.”
“And I wouldn't go, even if I did,” Horus muttered with a shiver.
“Well it’s a hell of a lot better than sitting on my ass doing nothing.” Trevor looked like he was about to shift, so I sighed and got to my feet, inserting myself between them.
“I love you both but this isn’t helping,” I placed my hands up between them.
“I love you too, Minn Elska,” Trevor gave me a sweet smile before sending another angry glare at Odin. “It’s Odin I don't like. He says he loves you, claims you’re his dead wife reincarnated, the mother of his son, but he doesn’t seem to give a shit that Death is coming for you.”
“You go too far, wolf pup,” Odin’s one eye started to flash, the peacock iridescence becoming a swirl of blues, greens, and purples. “You’ve no idea how much I love her. How much I've sacrificed just to ensure she have this second chance at life. You’re bound to her on oath, the magic strengthens your love for her. I however, have loved her for centuries, all of my own volition, forsaking all oth
ers for her even after she died and left me to face eternity alone. You’ll never love her even a fraction as much as I do.”
I gasped, my body starting to shake in response to Odin’s heated words. I knew he spoke the absolute truth, even though his nickname was Oathbreaker. With me, and especially about us, he never lied. I knew it because I'd lived it. There was no question whether I was Sabine, Odin’s dead wife and the mother of Vidar. I had raised Odin's son Vali too and counted him as my own. I had Sabine's memories, her tarot cards recognized me, and my soul cried out for not only Odin but for my sons as well. I missed being a family.
For Trevor to question our connection had to mean he was scared shitless but what Odin revealed in his impassioned speech hadn’t been about nerves, it had been an opportunity to tell me and everyone else what he really felt. Not exactly a complication I needed at the moment. It was bad enough that Thor still wasn’t speaking to me after I forgave Loki for breaking us up.
“You one-eyed, two-faced, son of a bitch,” Trevor growled. “You better start running.”
“Who are you calling a son of a bitch, mutt?”
“Enough,” I roared, the lioness clawing her way out of my throat. I'd be damned if my men were gonna go at it in my own house.
Both men looked startled, then sheepish as they backed away from each other.
“If you guys both love me so damn much,” I eyed them. “Why don’t you try working together to save my big white ass!”
“Yes, Rouva,” Trevor sat on the couch near my chair.
“You’re right, of course, Vervain,” Odin sighed. “I apologize, Trevor. I know we’re both worried about her and I fear it’s shortened our tempers a bit.”
“Yeah,” Trevor ground out. I gave him a hard look until he added, “I’m sorry as well.”
“Thank you,” I sat back down and looked around the room at all the worried faces. It was so strange to not have Thor there. “I’m lucky to have such good friends that care so much about me but I honestly don’t think there’s anything to be done.” People started to speak but I held my hands up. “I’ll stay here until the threat is over but Odin’s right, there’s no way to find Anubis and we have no idea what to do about him, even if we could.”
“Horus,” Tsohanoai, who I called Mr. T, was seated beside his wife Estsanatlehi (Mrs. E). “Is there perhaps an Egyptian spell to help relieve the cold for Vervain?”
“No,” Horus looked even grimmer than usual. “Nothing. He claimed her with a blade made of pure magic. Atlantean soul magic.” A low gasp circled the room. “Yes, exactly.”
“What?” I looked around at all the even more worried faces. “What exactly?”
“Soul magic,” Horus grimaced. “It's like your Froekn's Binding but against the will of the victim. The cold you feel, that numbness, is your soul leaving your body.”
“So I'm going to die,” I said hollowly.
“No,” Horus looked at me like he was about to offer his condolences. “You'll live by his whim. He will have your soul and even if he chooses to give it back to you, he will have strings in you, like a puppet master. Once that cold is complete, you will no longer own your life. It will be his.”
The silence was thick, weighty, but for me, full of screaming. In my head, this constant scream of denial was ringing out, blocking out all thought, blocking out almost everything. I almost didn't hear Persephone when she spoke.
“Demeter might know how to reach him,” Persephone’s sweet face had lost some of the innocence she’d had when I'd first met her but it had been replaced with something strong and beautiful.
I was proud of how far she’d come. Standing up to Demeter and moving in with Hades, her husband, was a huge step for her but I was worried that this latest battle, in which she’d finally seen the depth of her mother's cruelty, had done a number on her. She’d surprised us all by attacking Demeter, surprised us even further by winning the fight, but I think a part of Persephone died that day. The little girl was gone forever.
I mourned the loss of her innocence but I was relieved that she finally knew the truth about Demeter. Persephone's mother had raped and tortured Kirill, caused numerous difficulties in my life, including the loss of my friendship with Blue, had almost succeeded in killing Trevor, did succeed in killing one of my lions, and then she went after Hades. Everything else, Persephone could have forgiven but trying to kill your daughter's husband can be detrimental to the mother-daughter bond. Persephone had named Demeter her enemy.
Was it wrong of me that I was relieved?
“Do you think she’d tell you if she did?” I knew how much Demeter hated me, blaming me completely for her daughter’s defection, and somehow I didn’t think she’d be inclined to help us.
“I don’t know,” Persephone shrugged. “She’s been trying to talk to me and I keep ignoring her, so she may give me the info just to try to get on my good side.”
“I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask,” I nodded. “Thanks, Sephy.”
“No problem,” she smiled and for a second the old Sephy was back.
“There’s nothing else we can do about my issue,” I looked back at Teharon, the Mohawk God who always patched me up when things went wrong. “Right, Teharon?”
“I can’t heal you any further,” He shook his head, making his mass of stick-straight black hair shimmer over his shoulders. “You’re not wounded, you ensorcelled and it’s deeper than any possession I’ve ever seen. He’s attached to your very cells, pulling on you slowly but effectively. I can’t push him out like I did with Huitzilopochtli but something must be done. That cold is spreading and I’m not sure what will happen when it takes over completely. I’ll do some research but I think the best course of action right now is for everyone to keep alert. Keep taking those sleeping pills at night, Vervain, and try not to be alone when you’re awake.”
“Alright,” I took a deep breath, “now how about something to get our minds off this?” I explained what was happening with the drugs in Hawaii, who was behind it, and who had come to ask for help. “Does anyone know if this is true? She seemed honest enough but I don’t want to attack anyone without being certain.”
“Too bad Blue’s gone bad again, he’s Aztec but he might have had some insight into a Mayan god.” Brahma, the slick Hindu god who looked more like a Bollywood star, bit his lip in thought.
“I’ve heard rumors about a god in Mexico running drugs but I always thought it was just that… rumors,” Pan’s charming curls were falling into his face, exposing the little horns they otherwise hid. He had a shirt on that advertised his porn company, Naughty Nymphs. Beneath the words, a naked nymph with strategically placed leaves smiled suggestively.
“It’s true,” we all turned to stare at Finn when he spoke. He shrugged, his bright green eyes meeting ours. “I used to travel a lot in my swan form and one of the places I flew over was Mexico.”
Finn was actually Fiachra, one of the children of Lir who were turned into a swan by their Aunt. I won’t go into the whys of it but thankfully he and his siblings found a way to conquer the magic and shift back to human. Now they had a choice of forms. Unfortunately, he didn't have any other cool god powers, just the bird thing. Oh and immortality, that was pretty cool, I guess.
“And you saw Acan?” I pressed.
“Yeah, I’ve seen him,” he brushed a stray lock of black hair out of his eye. “He has a place way back in the jungle. I only noticed because he had a plane load of cocaine heading out when I was passing over one time and his magic was surrounding it, protecting it.”
“So you know where he is,” hell, this might be easier than I thought. The old thrill was starting to race through my veins, pushing out my worries.
“Yep, as long as he hasn’t moved in the past ten years,” Finn smiled. “I doubt he’d give up that place though. It was something special.”
“So what do you guys think?” I looked around the room. “Wanna go hunt a drug lord with me?”
Chapter Eight
/> Finn was right; Acan’s home was something special. It was a palatial expanse of pure white stone, shining out of the thick foliage like a pearl on green velvet. It had two stories and a tower going up three. Long terraces ran along the upper floor, many with bright colored curtains flowing out of open glass doors. Behind the house was a manicured lawn, an Olympic sized pool, and rows of roses. Men scurried about everywhere, the sounds of their voices mixing with the call of exotic birds and monkeys.
I crouched on a hill beside Pele, wearing a set of camis instead of my normal fighting gear. I still had all my usual weapons though, including my gloves with the retractable blades that functioned like claws… once belonging to Ku. I wasn’t much of a fan of guns, it being hard to decapitate a person with a firearm and decapitation being the only way to kill a god, but I was starting to appreciate that there might be a use for them. Mainly, in situations involving humans.
Then Mr. T attacked.
Estsanatlehi and her husband Tsohanoai, were Navajo gods. Mr. T was a sun god and the Mrs. could bring the rain. I thought that was splendidly harmonious. They were the best with weather magic, which Mr. T wielded on the men unlucky enough to be outside. He basically roasted them on super speed, till they passed out from the heat. Quick, effective, and quiet. I loved it.
“Alright,” I looked over at the others, “let’s go.”
Invading Acan’s compound was mind bogglingly easy. He obviously hadn't planned on a god attack, concerned only with competing humans We rushed over the remaining guards, dispatching them with fists, blades, and magic, before spreading out and rousting Acan like a bull in a pen. We ushered him into a living room, surrounding him on all sides in case he tried to run.
“What do you want?” His eyes darted over all of us.
“I want my people back,” Pele hissed and lunged for him.
Acan lurched away but she was too quick for him. In a second, he was dangling off the floor in the grip of a woman who towered over him. Pele’s eyes were filling with fire, as Acan’s were with fear, and the little Mayan whimpered like a dog.
