Taken By Storm

by L. J. Vickery

  “Of course,” Lenore sighed but nodded in understanding. It was more important for Anshar to be with his brothers rather than a newcomer such as herself. Too bad if Lenore was itching for a fight. It would have to wait.

  “Anshar, can you lift Huxley so I can get his jacket and shirt off?”

  “Not a problem.” Anshar moved forward.

  Lenore took note of the proceedings carefully. The god was gentle but efficient and wasn’t that something else to like about him; compassionate and able to follow orders. Lenore tried not to let the word “lickable” be too far up on that list of positives.

  Dani peeled the clothing away from Huxley’s dead weight while Anshar easily supported him.

  Lenore marveled and was certain that the doctor was wondering how she could integrate a few of these heavy lifting immortals into her day job.

  “Now the pants.” The doctor was all business, and Lenore had to hand it to the physician. She’d had to notice how powerful and well-built Huxley was as the jeans came off, but Dani never even blinked. She just covered him to the waist with a sheet and got on with her job.

  Dani-Lee looked at the blood, pouring from Huxley’s wound.

  “Anshar, apply pressure here.” She pointed to where she needed him. “Lenore. You and I will scrub up, and we need to make it fast.”

  Once sterile, Dani took over from Anshar, easing him aside. Lenore barely heard him speak as he backed away.

  “I’ll check back later to see if you need anything else.” Anshar said, then the god disappeared into mist.

  ****

  Marduk was aware when Anshar arrived, invisible in the wood, into complete pandemonium. Humans were shooting in all directions, hoping to hit noncorporeal gods whom they had no chance of wounding.

  His group of immortals, on the other hand, were making short work of Dagon’s PP. Blades of all kinds that were unseen by the Posse, suddenly flipped at them out of nowhere and embedded in flesh. Their only hope of surviving was Dagon, who was frantically pointing out invisible gods, telling his minions when to move, and talking many back to the safety of their vehicles.

  Marduk’s lip curled in satisfaction. Dagon would not win today.

  Movement on the periphery of the fight caught Marduk’s eye. While they had all been busy battling, the bastard, Matthew, and six other men were struggling, trying to load something into the back of an SUV.

  Marduk gestured frantically to get Enlil’s attention, pointing to the strange sight. The god-pair, in accord, rushed the vehicle.

  What the hell is that? Enlil was unheard by the humans as the gods closed in.

  I don’t know. But you can be sure it’s something we want if they’re so intent on getting it away from us. Marduk saw an opening and, moving between the humans, laid hands on the item to acquire it. All of his powers would not budge the bulky object.

  Help me, Enlil. I can’t get it to move. The god of wind blew two of the humans aside and put his acquiring skills to work alongside Marduk’s. Still no luck.

  What the fuck? Marduk could sense Enlil’s frustration. They rarely came across something that defied their power.

  We can’t let them load it up. Marduk looked grim. If acquiring won’t work, we’re going to have to go corporeal. I’ll call Tess so that you can regain your body, then on the count of three, I’ll turn visible too, and we’ll use pure muscle. If these mortals can lift it, we shouldn’t have any problem.”

  Agreed, was Enlil’s rejoinder. Knock the humans out first, then grab the item.

  Marduk’s gaze locked on the targets. One, two, three…

  A slightly dazed Tess showed up the minute Marduk summoned her, appearing near the hood of the truck. Both gods instantly became embodied and put fast elbows to their enemies, knocking all but Matthew to the ground.

  Dagon’s first in command, slippery as always, quickly backed away, holding up both hands, indicating that the gods could have whatever they wanted. He ran into the trees.

  Fucking coward! Marduk wanted him badly, but there’d be opportunity enough for that in future battles. The thunder god had no doubt that this would just be one in a long string of imminent confrontations.

  Marduk and Enlil bent to lift their prize when two quick bursts of gun fire reported from behind a large pine. Marduk should have known better.

  Matthew hadn’t disappeared. He’d pried a weapon from a dead man’s hands and swung it into play.

  When Marduk roared in his direction, Matthew dropped the weapon and ran. The god reiterated his initial assessment—fucking coward.

  “Marduk?” Enlil’s voice brought Marduk back to their now vulnerable position. “I’m hit!”

  Marduk watched in horror as Enlil’s body twisted and morphed in anger and pain. Long teeth erupted from his upper gums and great, black horns twisted from his skull. His roar caused all sound around him to cease. Before he was fully turned, Marduk took command.

  “Tess! Go tell Dani she has another casualty coming in.” Marduk’s mate nodded her understanding and quickly complied.

  Enlil, Marduk gave his order before his friend was too out of his head to understand. Get into the house! Now! Absu. Enten. Marduk sent out a mind connection. Accompany Enlil inside and see that he’s subdued and brought to the doctor.

  Once Enlil was led away, Marduk looked disgustedly toward his feet. He hoped whatever this thing was, that it was worth it.

  All PP, including Matthew, had now disappeared. Marduk couldn’t feel Dagon’s energy anymore, so the god had flown the coop as well. There was no one left to stop him from taking the unknown item, but he couldn’t lift the mass without assistance.

  Tess showed up at his side again. “Need some help?”

  Anshar too arrived, finished with his bit of business.

  Between the three of them, they lifted their puzzling booty and dragged it back inside the compounds’ enforced perimeter, where they safely deposited it on their doorstep. Sending one last glance in its direction, Marduk, Tess, and all the remaining gods headed into the house to see how Huxley and Enlil fared.

  ****

  Dani-Lee kept up a constant chatter to Lenore while she worked. And during that diatribe, Lenore found out that Doc hated acting as both anesthesiologist and surgeon. She complimented Lenore, who surprised herself by taking good direction and easing Huxley into a sedated state with quiet competence.

  Once under, the doctor told Lenore that Huxley’s vitals were strong. They got him hooked up to some blood, and finally Dani had a chance to take a good look at the wound.

  The doctor opened him up and smiled. Lenore breathed a sigh of relief as Dani gave an encouraging nod. Huxley had been very lucky.

  According to Dani, the bullet had entered his body slightly to the right side of center, under his ribcage. It hadn’t hit the lung but had nicked his liver, which accounted for all the blood. No additional care besides removing the bullet was necessary. That was a good thing, since a gunshot wound coming into the ER would have needed a lot of explanation. After a quick closure, Hux would heal nicely with some quiet, down-time.

  Lenore was aware of Tess quietly misting in but couldn’t take her eyes off of the doctor. She watched in fascination as Dani carefully extract the bullet, a simple .22mm, she said, and gave whispered thanks that it was such a small caliber. A number of stitches later, with the operation nearly finished, they heard the most ungodly roar from outside the room.

  “What the hell was that?” Lenore, startled, looked toward the door. Tess was about to answer, but the doctor cut her off.

  “Let’s close Huxley up before we worry about anything else.” Dani appeared calm, but Lenore saw her risk a glance over her shoulder. “I’m sure the guys can take care of whatever it is.”

  Ten minutes later, with growling still emanating from the hallway, Dani-Lee snapped off her gloves, and finally looked up at Tess. “Hux is going to be just fine.” She gave a smiling thumbs up.

  The women allowed themselves a moment to relax…b
ut only a moment. The noise in the hallway rose to a roar and could no longer be ignored.

  Lenore gave a tip of the head, and the three arose to have a look. Lenore opened the door cautiously, and they peered out.

  “You have got to be kidding me.” Lenore had seen this before at Bloody Pond. She’d just hoped never to see it again. It was obvious that Tess wasn’t shocked by the sight of all the gods, visible and invisible, struggling to hold the anomaly down, but the doctor was having a tougher time. Dani squinted, then blinked.

  “Is that Enlil?” Dani, who was almost never at a loss for words, quite clearly couldn’t come up with anything else.

  Marduk nodded. “He’s been hit somewhere in his back, but we’ve yet to find the exact location. As you can see,” Marduk struggled to keep hold of the god, “he’s a little agitated.”

  This was agitation? Lenore watched Dani shake herself back to life and begin to give orders.

  “Bring him in. We’ve got Huxley stabilized, and we have another gurney with straps.”

  “Sweetheart,” Anshar spoke up, correcting the doctor and rendering her silent again. “Straps aren’t going to help.”

  Dani finally found her voice. “Bring him in anyway, and keep him restrained.”

  The group dragged and fought until they finally had Enlil face down on the table. They could all see the bloodstains on the seat of his pants.

  “I’ll be damned.” Lenore saw Marduk try to quell his grin. “He’s been shot in the ass.”

  “Give me some room to work.” Dani’s lip also suspiciously twitched, but she was quickly all business again, giving Marduk an annoyed look. “It’s nothing to laugh about.” She took her scissors and cut away Enlil’s trousers. Two large bloody holes were torn in the exquisite muscle of his right ass cheek.

  “And this, unfortunately, wasn’t done with a .22.” The doctor sucked in a breath and Lenore, taking a look, knew exactly why that was apparent. The wounds were large, and a nasty mess. They would take some intricate repair work.

  Dani snapped at Lenore. “Go get the mask so we can put him under.”

  “That won’t work,” Marduk spoke before Lenore had a chance to move. “General anesthesia has no effect on gods once we’re fully in altered states. The tranquilizer that we used on Anshar was only effective because he hadn’t turned 100 percent.” He indicated Enlil’s horns. “Our friend, here, is too far gone.”

  Dani looked annoyed but thoughtful. “I can give him some deep locals but it will only take the edge off.” She scowled. “It won’t make him numb to the majority of the pain.”

  “Do what you have to do.” Marduk put his hand a little too close to Enlil’s mouth and almost lost a finger. “Just make it quick.”

  Lenore moved in to help.

  “Baby! Stay back,” Anshar barked. But Lenore wasn’t about to be put off. And besides that, something had just occurred to her.

  Marduk had mentioned an “altered state.” He’d also said “we” while talking about transformations. She narrowed her eyes, thinking hard. That had to be the answer to Anshar’s big secret. Her lover must have one of these other things inside him, ready to come out. She remembered feeling the ridges up and down his spine after Tess had told her that Anshar had to be subdued….hmm.

  Moving between two of the gods, she gently touched Enlil’s back. Nope. No ridges. Inconclusive. She slowly moved her hand over his torso, avoiding his bared ass, which was hard to do because, damn, it was fine, even torn apart. As she touched, she began to croon her little song, the one that always soothed.

  She let a small, satisfied smile cross her lips as Enlil’s body lost some of its rigidity. Grand-gram’s song certainly was amazing. Lenore increased her strokes, and it was noticeable that the Enlil-beast had stopped struggling.

  “What are you doing, Lenore?” Anshar asked. She noticed he was looking pretty relaxed too.

  Funny, Marduk also seemed super calm, and Enten—the cold-ass god of winter—much to her surprise, actually yawned.

  “I’m singing that song of my great grandmother’s, like I did for you the other night.”

  She continued to sing, and Enlil barely flinched when the shots went into his flesh. As long as her hands continued their mesmerizing trail, and she kept singing her little song… What was happening? Lenore was clueless but kept it up. Was this some goddess power she’d gained? She was amazed looking around. Everyone in the room clearly felt terrific by the time the second bullet had been removed. Dumuzi had fallen asleep in the corner, Emesh was grinning from ear to ear, and even Dr. Dani looked like she could operate on another dozen guys. Amazing.

  It wasn’t long before Enlil was losing his bullish characteristics and changing back to his god persona. Lenore was fascinated by the transformation, and so was everybody else in the room, if the open mouths were any indication. Those who had never seen Enlil transform before were enthralled to watch his horns retract back into his head, and the hair thin out on his body to show a smooth, taut behind. It was all just a wee bit naughty.

  “Are you people through getting a good look at my ass?” Enlil chided when Dani brought the bullets up on a stainless tray for him to peruse. “Cause I wouldn’t mind a little cover up if you’ve all had a chance to take it in.”

  “It’s quite a magnificent set of muscles,” Dr. Dani sought to reassure him. “I don’t know when I’ve ever operated on any finer.” Enlil puffed up in response but, from across the room, where Huxley had been struggling to awaken, there came a low growl.

  Now wasn’t that interesting? Thought Lenore. According to Huxley, Dani-Lee liking Enlil’s ass was a no-no.

  Chapter Fourteen

  “Jacketed hollow point,” Dani explained to Marduk as she gave him one of the spent bullets. “The expanded tip is what ripped Enlil apart, but I don’t know why they used this odd jacketing. It looks like copper.”

  “I’ll bet if we get Lahar on an analysis, we’ll find that the copper has been alloyed with osmium.” Marduk’s face was grave. “Not typical at all.”

  The thunder god knew that Dani was familiar with the osmium forged blade that had been used by the gods for the amulet ceremony in which she’d assisted. She also knew it was a metal that could hold gods captive and do maximum damage to their bodies. Damn Dagon to hell. It wasn’t good if the bastard was forging bullets imbued with the material. Dani handed Marduk the .22mm slug she’d extracted from Huxley. It was coated in the same copper sheen. He shook his head.

  “I have a hunch that, when Lahar tells me about our front yard find, we’ll discover that osmium has a part in its construction as well.” Marduk thoughtfully tossed the bullet up in the air, caught it with one hand, and tucked it into his pocket. What could they do to combat this? He’d have to think on it long and hard.

  Near dusk, Marduk had a look in on Huxley and Enlil, both sleeping peacefully, and knew that his group had been lucky this time. Dagon was getting more dangerous and would have to be stopped at all cost. Marduk misted onto the front lawn where a group of gods and the two goddesses poked at the article now spread out on the ground. “Any consensus?” he asked, taking a good long look.

  The pile of camo-green and brown had been stretched out and resembled nothing so much as a pile of wire and rope. Marduk kicked it with his toe.

  “It’s obviously a net,” Lahar answered. “But heavier than anything this size that I’ve ever seen.” The mesh was closely woven and the whole of it stretched ten feet across and twelve feet wide.

  “It was a vast undertaking to spread it thus,” Absu spoke in his old English. He was not one to say something was difficult…unless it was.

  “That’s because it resists. Am I correct, Lahar?” Marduk looked speculatively at the resident genius.

  “You’ve figured it out, huh?” Lahar smiled. Marduk nodded and indicated that Lahar should explain. The genius turned to the group. “The metal wires are not quite as benign as they seem. The strands have been made from a platinum and osmium alloy, and t
hey’re woven throughout. If I could have a visible volunteer please?”

  Anshar chose that moment to mist in. Marduk had sent him to monitor the return of the PP to their Plymouth headquarters. “What did I miss?”

  Without answering, Lahar motioned to Marduk, Tess, and Lenore. “If you would be so kind as to lift one edge of the net? Here.” He indicated the spot he wanted held up. “Now Anshar, duck under and have a seat on the ground.”

  The all sky god looked puzzled but did as he was told, then Lahar had the edge of the net dropped back down.

  “Try to get out.” Lahar folded his hands across his chest.

  Anshar laughed and pushed at the mesh covering him. It didn’t budge. He put more energy into it and, when he remained trapped, the smile left his face.

  “What the hell?” Not only was he stuck in place, but it was clear to Marduk that the net suddenly felt too heavy, and the more the god fought it, the worse things got.

  Anshar was eventually forced to lie flat on the ground, unable to keep his head upright any longer. He looked pissed.

  “Okay, get it off!” His eyes had begun to turn black.

  “Shit!” Marduk didn’t want any more transformations today. He, Tess, and Lenore scrambled to release him.

  “Yup. Osmium,” Lahar confirmed. “Too powerful to move, and it saps your energy if you try. Dagon’s a piece of work, but he sure is ahead of us on this one.”

  “Bullets, too.” Marduk pulled the remnants of the shell from his pocket. “Osmium jacketed.”

  “I have an even worse feeling,” Ishkur said with a worried expression. Marduk groaned. Ishkur’s bad feelings had a tendency to come true.

  “Enten,” Ishkur eyed the invisible god of winter. “When they lift it up, will you get underneath?”

  All eyes went wide with denial…and fear. It couldn’t be.

  Enten misted beneath the elevated edge, which was then lowered down. Marduk watched and waited. The incorporeal god quickly went to his knees. Then his knees gave out, and he struggled in push-up form. Marduk could see him fighting it but with no luck. He finally ended up on his stomach.