Marked by Death (The Godhunter, Book 4)

by Sumida, Amy

  “Sure you can,” Trevor squeezed hard.

  “He can’t affect me anymore,” I looked over at Ma’at. “It would have to be in a public place.”

  “Of course,” she nodded and her eyes showed a twinge of hope.

  “No, Vervain,” Trevor stood up.

  “Trevor, he can’t take me again, he just can’t, and I owe her. Ma’at got me out. If she wants me to talk to Anubis, so be it. If not for her, I’d not only be talking to him but sleeping with him... as his wife. A little conversation is not so bad.”

  “Fuck!” Trevor turned and strode over to the nearest table to brace his arms against it and hang his head.

  I got up and followed him. “Honey-Eyes,” I put my hands on his shoulders and felt tremors coursing through his body. “Please support me in this. You can be there, alright? Nothing’s going to happen to me, I promise. I won’t allow that man to take me again.”

  “No, Minn Elska, I won’t allow him to take you again,” he turned and pulled me in tight against his chest.

  Over his shoulder, I watched Kirill and Odin exchange worried looks.

  Chapter Thirty-Two

  The Wild Room was Moonshine’s were-only section, so I guess it was appropriate for a meeting between Anubis and I, a jackal and a lioness.

  Trevor was pacing the length of it, navigating his way around boulders and trees with graceful ease. There wasn’t a clear path in the whole room. It was intended to look even more like the outdoors than the rest of the club and it managed its intentions well. All the plants in it were real, as opposed to the mix in the main room, with sun lamps fit into the ceiling to care for them during the day. At night when the club was open, netting spotted with twinkling “stars” was drawn over the lamps.

  So I sat next to Kirill, me on a large rock, him on the grass, and watched Trevor pace through his wondrous creation, totally oblivious to it. I tried to enjoy the smell of the vanilla and coconut orchids I insisted he include in the décor… coconut-vanilla, yum. The smell and the warmth of the fake sun were comforting but I couldn’t still the sense of growing panic in my belly and Trevor wasn’t helping.

  “Trevor, please,” I made a grab for his arm as he passed me.

  He made a perfect turn on one foot and came to a stop behind me, arms around me and head on my shoulder. His knees slid to either side of me and I felt suddenly safe. I sighed.

  “Thank you,” I snuggled in deeper.

  “How sweet,” a mocking voice I barely recognized, lifted my head. Anubis. He didn’t look so good. His magic eyes were hollowed out darkly, without a single color shimmering across them, and his cheeks seemed a little sunken.

  “Hello, Vervain,” Ma’at came in behind him and I could see Ty, Trevor’s little brother, looking over her shoulder in concern. I waved him away. “Trevor, Kirill, I hope you’re well.”

  “We’re fine, thank you, Ma’at,” I left Trevor’s warm embrace to give her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  “Don’t I get a hug too?” Anubis made a grab for my arm as soon as I stepped back from Ma’at. So of course, all hell broke loose.

  Trevor growled and launched himself at Anubis. In moments, the two were rolling on the grass. Kirill just watched with crossed arms and what looked a little like jealousy. I eyed Ma’at across their writhing bodies, wincing a little with every blow.

  “Should we try and stop them?” I inhaled sharply as Trevor drew first blood.

  “Probably,” Ma’at was completely unruffled in her elegant white pantsuit.

  “Trevor, enough,” okay so it was a halfhearted effort but I couldn’t really blame Trevor, hell I wanted to be right in there with him.

  Kirill stepped forward and pulled Anubis away from Psycho Wolf. He threw the god back one-handed and Anubis actually managed to land on his feet. I thought that was a cat thing. Oh well. I looked at Kirill with more than a little pride. I hadn’t known he was that strong. He smiled and it looked slow and sensuous to me. It made my heart pound even faster and my chest must have looked like I was hyperventilating because I think I was.

  What the hell! Not now, no time for super slut hormones now. I seriously needed to figure out what was wrong with me. Did becoming a goddess make you crazy horny? Maybe it was Aphrodite’s powers welcoming me into goddess-hood. Fuck, I just didn’t know and that was the worst part.

  “Alright, enough shenanigans,” I let Trevor pull me into his side because I knew he needed to establish his rights with me. I slid an arm around him and surreptitiously searched him for any injuries. He was clean. My wolf was bad ass!

  “I’m not going to talk to you with him here,” Anubis pointed regally at Trevor.

  “Well I ain’t leaving,” Trevor gave a little grin. He was hoping for another fight and as much as the thought of Anubis bleeding appealed to me, making him madder was not what this was about.

  “Baby,” I sighed and turned to look at him. “I’m perfectly safe in this room. The club is warded, he can’t work any mojo on me and he can’t trace me out of here.”

  “He could attack you,” I felt a tremor course through him.

  “You’ll be right outside,” I waved to the door. “You could sense any distress I felt and be in here in under two seconds. Besides, I can take care of myself.”

  He frowned. “I still don’t like it.”

  “I know, I don’t like it either but I need to talk to him.” I glanced at Kirill for help.

  “If he tries anyzing ve’ll be in our rights to kill him, even zough he’s under our protection vizin zese valls,” Kirill’s accent somehow made those words sound like a threat instead of a casual observance.

  “You’ve already attacked me,” Anubis didn’t have a scratch on him since he healed so fast, so the words sounded ridiculous, “Some kind of protection.”

  “You’re lucky I didn’t kill you on sight,” Trevor started forward but I pulled him back, “you rutting dog!”

  “Well isn’t that the mutt calling the purebred a bitch,” Anubis smiled maliciously. “How did you come to be with Miw-sher? Didn’t you bind yourself to her without her knowledge or permission?”

  I gasped. Had I told him that? Did he read it in my mind? Trevor looked at me with hurt eyes and I shook my head. His gaze softened a bit, the hurt melting. He knew the tricks of battle. He knew what Anubis was doing.

  “Trevor bound himself to me thinking he’d never be with another woman, even though he couldn't really have me at the time,” I answered as I held my wolf’s stare. “He bound his life to mine because I spared his and refused his offers of protection. I unknowingly began the bonding. It was as an accident.”

  “A happy accident,” Trevor smiled gently and kissed my forehead.

  “He bound himself to you, knowing that one day he’d get his chance and once he had you, the Binding would make sure he kept you.”

  “I’m not bound to him,” I glared at Anubis. “I could leave him anytime I wanted.”

  “Maybe but he’ll die without you,” Anubis’ dark eyes glittered but their swirl of magic never appeared. “You must touch him once a month, that guarantees a way back into your life even were you to decide to leave. You love fiercely, Miw-sher and he’s banking on that. He knows you’ll never leave him because you could never see someone you love suffer. Leaving him would destroy you almost as much as it would destroy him.”

  “So what?” I held onto Trevor tightly, so he wouldn’t launch himself at the other man again.

  “So what?” Anubis lost his cruel look for a second. “So that’s my point. He trapped you just as I tried to.”

  “No, not just as you tried to,” I stared at him hard, “and you know it. Trevor barely knew me when our bond was made. He did it out of honor and responsibility. He didn’t steal my free will and use it to rape me.” Trevor’s body tightened beside me and I instantly regretted the words. I wanted to hurt Anubis, not Trevor.

  “That was punishment for your attack on me, a god,” Anubis lifted his head and his face filled
with disdain.

  “Oh, are we back to that? Did you forget that you admitted your fascination for me? We both know it wasn’t just punishment you had in mind.”

  “Fine,” Anubis’ voice was getting gravely, sinking into a growl. “I wanted you and I wanted to hurt you but that changed. You changed everything.”

  “She has a way of doing that,” Trevor’s mood shift startled me enough to bring my face back to his. “You do, Minn Elska. You have a way of disrupting well laid plans… in a good way. Good but usually life changing.” He turned back to Anubis with a sigh. “You’ve got fifteen minutes, after that, I come back in.” He kissed me and headed out the door.

  Kirill shrugged and offered his arm to Ma’at, “My lady?”

  “Thank you,” she took his arm and I felt a twinge of something in my gut as he led her out. Jealousy? No… no.

  Anubis watched me closely as the door shut us in together… alone. I had a moment of complete terror before I stamped it down and went back to my seat. I waved a hand at a boulder on my right. He came forward slowly as if afraid… of me or of what he was about to do? I felt my face creasing into a frown as he approached.

  “Sit down, Anubis you’re making me nervous,” I tried to lighten the mood a bit.

  “Did you mean any of it?” He was finally standing before me, far enough away that I could look comfortably up at him.

  “Any of what?”

  “What you said to me, what I saw in you… in your eyes?” He dropped to his knees suddenly and covered his face with his hands. “I know I have no right to ask. I know I’ve treated you cruelly and you have every reason to hate me, none to love me, but I can’t help it,” he looked up and his face looked broken, he looked broken.

  “You know there was truth in me,” I clenched my teeth against the attraction I evidently still felt and the weakness of my heart. “You were in my head, I couldn’t hide from you. I couldn’t lie to you.”

  “I wasn’t in your head constantly or I’d have been able to stop you from running out on our wedding.” He sat back and shook his head. “No, I’m sorry. It’s hard for a god to deny himself. For centuries, I’ve been given whatever I wanted or just taken it. Then I took you but I never really had you. I tried to break you and you broke me instead. You broke the heart I didn’t know I had.”

  “Anubis,” I gave a sound of frustration. “Fuck, what do you want from me?”

  “You,” he crawled forward and it made my chest ache to see him debase himself. Why? He’d done it to me. I should be eating it up. “I want you, the real you, all of you, as an equal to rule beside me. I want you to love me like I love you.”

  “I can’t be what you want,” I gave up the fight and took his hand. His eyes glistened with unshed tears. Please don’t let him cry. Please don’t let him cry. “No matter what I feel for you, we just won’t work.”

  “You do love me,” his face transformed and he was suddenly wrapped around me.

  “No… I don’t know,” I pushed against him till he fell back. “I’m not sure what I feel for you, it’s all twisted up with what you did to me. I know I don’t like to think of you sad and alone but I'm so angry at you. I truly want you to find happiness and love. I just don’t want to be that love. I don’t see how I can.”

  “Forgive me, Miw-sher,” his eyes held me as tightly as his hands. “Give me that at least and truly mean it. Free me from this guilt.”

  “Will you promise to never try to hurt me or anyone I love, ever again?” Part of me felt silly for saying it but I wanted all the reassurances I could get in that moment because I was about to do the unthinkable. I was about to forgive him.

  “I never want to hurt you again,” he smiled humorlessly, “but as far as your wolf, if he attacks me first, I’ll not sit there and let him kill me.”

  “Just promise not to start anything,” I shook my head.

  “Alright, Miw-sher,” he kissed my hand, “I won’t provoke any of your people. Will you give me your forgiveness now?”

  “Or attack any of them.”

  “Or attack any of them,” he agreed.

  “Or help anyone else attack them or provoke them.”

  “Or help anyone else attack them or provoke them,” he started to smile.

  “Fine then, I guess I forgive you.” There, I said it. Whoa, I said it. Why had I said it?

  “Thank you,” he bent his head over our joined hands and then stood. “Now you can release your anger for me and when you do, you’ll truly know what you feel for me.”

  Oh shit. I hadn’t thought about it like that.

  “Anubis,” I started to tell him it didn’t matter what I felt, I was in love with Trevor, but he waved his hand.

  “No, don’t protest now, just process,” he smiled brightly, a smile filled with too much hope for our hopeless relationship. “When you’re ready to speak with me, send Horus, I’ve given him instructions on how to enter Duat. He’ll find me and I’ll come to you.” He turned and walked out the door, leaving me stunned and speechless.

  “Minn Elska?” Trevor was there in a second. “Are you okay? He didn’t try anything, did he? He’s not out of the club yet, I can go get him.”

  “No,” I took his hand, “let him go. It’s over. He wanted my forgiveness and I gave it.”

  “That’s it?” He looked suspicious and I didn’t blame him.

  “That’s it,” I nodded and met Kirill’s gaze over his shoulder. My black lion raised one eyebrow at me. “He wants to talk to me after I’ve worked through my anger with him but I don’t have to. I don’t have to see him ever again.”

  “Why would he…” Trevor looked back at Kirill and they exchanged a meaningful look before he turned back to face me. “He thinks you’ll want him, if you don’t have your anger to hide behind, doesn’t he?”

  “Kind of,” I shrugged as he growled and stood, anger shouting from his every movement. “It doesn’t mean it’s true.”

  “Well of course it isn’t true,” he whirled back around, “is it?”

  “No!”

  “Well okay then.”

  “Okay!”

  “Fine.”

  “Fine,” I started to smile. “Can we go home now?”

  “Sure,” he helped me to my feet but instead of leading me out, he pulled me into a fierce hug. “I love you so much.”

  “I love you too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Three

  “Tima,” Kirill’s hesitant voice pulled me out of sleep.

  “Kirill,” I smiled and shifted over in the bed so he could climb in.

  He looked over at Trevor’s heavily sleeping form, then over to the spot I patted. His nostrils flared and my cheeks flamed as I realized he was scenting the sex I’d shared with Trevor before bed.

  “I’m sorry,” I started to scoot out of bed, grabbing a blanket to cover me. “We’ve become so close and I’ve missed you, it just seemed natural to invite you in.”

  “I’m flattered, Tima,” Kirill touched my arm and his eyes widened.

  “What is it?”

  He was leaning in toward me and suddenly his scent surrounded me, wild and rich, clean cat and warm man. I reeled, my lioness rising up inside me and purring. Kirill caught me, the sheet falling, and as I pressed my breasts against his bare chest, I realized it was the first time my lioness had shown pleasure since I’d been taken by Anubis. She’d grown in strength, or maybe I’d just forgotten how strong she was, but the liquid heat of her desire poured through me and left me breathless.

  I stared up at Kirill’s deep blue eyes and there was nothing else for me. There was only Kirill, my black lion, my Ganza, the hand that holds the dagger to protect me, the hands that were holding me. His hair was hanging in loose waves around me and I was falling back, letting it surround me as he covered me.

  “Tima,” he groaned as he lost the battle and lowered his mouth to mine.

  I kissed him like I’d never be able to kiss another man again, like the last human touch I’d ever recei
ve would be from his lips. I was starving for him, beyond caring that my wolf lay beside us, sleeping after making love to me. Some small part of my mind was screaming but it was lost in the lioness’ roar.

  He felt so perfect in my hands, all silk and steel, the wet strength of his tongue on mine. The taste of vodka and mint in my mouth. His pants were gone and he was pressed intimately against my own naked flesh. How had that happened? It made me as hot and wet as his tongue, eager for something that a part of me knew would destroy my whole world.

  There was movement beside us, and then Trevor’s hand was on my face. I broke the kiss to rub my cheek into his palm and a rumbling growl filled the night. My pulse sped up at the sound, a display of desire not anger. What was going on?

  Kirill backed up, so Trevor could lean in to kiss me and my excitement skyrocketed. Kirill’s mouth was at my breast, his hands coasting down my sides. Their scents mingled, calling to both my wolf and my lioness. They were rubbing together inside me, sending shivers through my skin. Trevor was sliding me against him, over his chest, till I was resting against his hard body as he leaned around to kiss me. His hands replaced Kirill’s mouth as Kirill slipped lower, licking my skin as he went.

  Trevor broke the kiss and I had a moment of clarity, a second to utter a shocked sound, before Trevor started biting my neck and sending zings of sensation down to my toes. I moaned and relaxed into his embrace, the hard evidence of his excitement pressed against my back. He kneaded my breasts as he found the spot beneath my ear that I loved him to kiss.

  Kirill’s lips covered me in another sweet spot at the same time and the combined sensations sent me bucking off the bed. Kirill’s arms wrapped around my legs and he settled his mouth firmly over my core, licking at me ferociously as the silk of his hair caressed my inner thighs. Trevor scooted down and rubbed himself between the cheeks of my ass and the friction at both front and back was almost too much to bear. I whimpered and Kirill increased the speed of his kiss.

  I screamed, my legs shaking as my men sent me over the edge. I barely felt it when they turned me over but the pressure of Kirill pushing against my slick center was too sweet to ignore. I opened my eyes and found myself snuggled close to Trevor’s stomach. My hands smoothed over his tight abs and around his waist. He was hard against my chest and my attentions made him pulse deliciously.