Amy Sumida - Blood Bound (Book 16 in The Godhunter Series)

by Unknown

  “Help me!” Rebecca screamed to Eztli as Azrael transformed into the Angel of Death.

  Eztli glanced over for a second and then turned back for a longer look. That's right, Azrael in his death mask required more than a cursory glance. He was terrifyingly transcendent, with his wings pulled in tight around him, their rounded joints forming a hood over his head so that his face was sheltered by shadows. His skin and muscles were transparent, the bones showing clearly beneath, and his eyes had become burning stars in their night-filled sockets. Acidic tears dripped down his cheeks, over the glowing angelic script of his name, and fell to burn holes through the worn rug. His scythe was in his hand, the script written across its blade burning blue to match that on his cheek, and the hand that reached for Rebecca looked more skeletal than flesh and blood.

  “Don't concern yourself with him,” Blue kept his tone light as he pulled Eztli's attention back to himself. “Or her for that matter. She's threatened the life of Death's lover. Not the wisest choice. You however, have been left to me and your life is still hanging in the balance.”

  “Wait!” Rebecca screamed. “Kill me and she will die too,” she pointed towards me and Azrael paused.

  “Release her,” Azrael's voice sounded a little deeper and a bit hollow.

  “No,” Rebecca said defiantly. “If I release her, you'll just kill me.”

  “Da,” Kirill came up on her left side. “But if you don't release her, ve vill hurt you first.”

  “Badly,” Trevor stood beside Kirill.

  “Slowly,” Odin said from her right.

  “Please,” Rebecca started crying. “I'm sorry. I just want to live.”

  “You forfeited your life once you threatened Vervain's,” Azrael intoned. “Torture or a quick death. Those are your options; choose quickly. My patience and compassion for you have dwindled.”

  Rebecca crumpled in on herself, sobbing, until Trevor gave a rumbling growl and crouched down beside her. She screamed and jerked away. “Death! I choose a quick death.”

  “It's more mercy than you deserve,” Trevor snapped but stood up and backed away with Kirill and Odin.

  “Avare,” Rebecca whispered.

  A burst of magic was released from the blood circle around me and I gave a sigh of relief as I stepped across the line. I edged around Blue, giving Eztli a wary glance, and headed towards my men.

  “What do you expect me to do? Beg you? Plead for my life?” Eztli sneered as Rebecca gave one more pitiful scream that was abruptly cut off.

  Azrael had blocked my view of Rebecca but when I got closer, I was able to see her body crumpled on the floor. He stood over it, the entire blade of his scythe now glowing with its new cargo; Rebecca's soul. He'd harvested her before her time, something the Angel of Death was never supposed to do. Part of me felt bad for her but then I remembered all of the people she'd murdered using her sorcery to command demons. I remembered Azrael trapped in a circle, right where I'd been standing, and I remembered how Rebecca had sought her revenge on not only me but my unborn child. Yeah, I didn't feel so bad for her after that.

  “Az, are you okay?” I touched his shoulder, beneath the black of his wings, and he shuddered.

  “I am,” he whispered as he pulled me close.

  I wasn't afraid of him, not his acid tears or his death visage. I was immune to the acid, thanks to my dragon, and no face of his could ever scare me. This was someone I loved and it didn't matter what he looked like. He had touched my soul, held it in his hands, and he knew me better than anyone. He would forever be my angel, no matter what he did or how he looked. I nestled into his chest and felt him relax around me. A trickle of magic fluttered over my skin as he changed back to his normal appearance.

  “I will never cower before you again, Huitzilopochtli,” Eztli continued behind us. “You want to kill me? Go ahead. I died a long time ago, it's just taken awhile to set in.”

  “Eztli,” Blue whispered, suddenly sad. “I never meant to hurt you.”

  “Well then, it's alright if you didn't mean it,” she growled the last part. “It's okay that you turned me into a monster and stole my family from me. I couldn't stay with you and yet I had nowhere to go. You made sure of that when you turned me into this,” she held her arms out dramatically. “Then I'm told of a magical baby about to be born, a child whose blood could make me stronger than you. So I acted as you would have done. I chose myself, chose to do what was best for me, and I make no apologies for it!”

  “You were always welcome in my home,” Blue whispered. “I would have protected you, loved you forever.”

  “You were the one who did this to me!” She screamed. “You took everything away from me and you think I should have returned to you? Asked for your protection?” She sneered. “That's the last thing I could have done. No, I grew strong without your help. I built a new life and found my own ways to protect myself.”

  “Yes, I saw the thugs,” Blue rolled his eyes.

  “I don't need the thugs anymore,” she snapped. “The thugs were merely for base labor. I don't need them to protect me. They just happened to be an integral part of my plan to kill you.”

  “I suppose I deserve your animosity,” Blue sighed and looked over to us.

  I could see the question in his eyes. Would we balk if he didn't kill her? He loved her, always had, and killing her would damage him irreparably. I knew it because I knew what that kind of love was like. It wouldn't have mattered if Eztli had killed me and drunk the blood of my baby, Blue would have still loved her. I should have been hurt by that or at least angry but I wasn't. I loved all of my men the same way and I could hardly fault Blue for it.

  Then I remembered. Blue needed to love her. If he stopped, she would kill him. But how did I tell him not to give up on her while she stood in front of him? And how would he react if I told him she would succeed in killing him if he did? Would it destroy his love for her? Bring his death even faster? I had to be careful, gentle, and bide my time so I could encourage him when he needed it most.

  “We're going home now, Blue,” I finally said. “I don't want anymore vengeance. My baby is fine. I'm fine. You do what you need to do... or not do.”

  “I understand,” he smiled sweetly at me. “Thank you, little witch.”

  “Be the man I know you can be, Blue,” I whispered. “But don't be a fool.”

  “I'm never that,” he said grimly as he focused his gaze back on his ex-lover. “Sometimes I think if I had been more of a fool for you, I wouldn't have lost you.”

  “You didn't lose me,” Eztli's voice had lowered to melancholic sobriety. “You threw me away.”

  “I love you still,” Blue said suddenly, surprising all of us, especially Eztli, if the look on her face was any indication.

  I'd been edging past them with my men, heading towards the stairs so Blue and Eztli could have a few moments to themselves. But those words had stopped me short and I glanced back at her. I had to know whether she really loved him back. Our eyes met and in hers I saw such misery that I instantly sympathized with her. I knew that agony, I'd felt it myself a few times. She did love Blue, probably as much as he loved her, but she knew that any relationship between them had been made impossible by his actions. Yet despite that impossibility, I also saw a glimmer of hope in her eyes.

  “Blood can bind us in so many ways but it can also free us,” I whispered to her before I turned and headed up the stairs with my lovers.

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  I was writing in my new journal, detailing not only everything that I'd seen in the future but everything that had happened in my current time... including my little space odyssey, when I heard the buzz of the intercom. I gave it an annoyed glance before finishing the sentence I was writing. I'd decided to keep a journal just in case something like this happened again. Then whoever needed to, could look through it to find where it all went wrong. I sighed deeply, put down the pen, and headed over to the intercom in my bedroom wall. I pressed the little button on the me
tal box.

  “Yes?”

  “Tima,” it was Fallon and his voice still made my heart hurt just a little. I hadn't told him yet about what he'd done but I had every intention of doing so. Not to make him feel bad but to prevent it from ever happening. To make him aware of the control his daughter could have over him. Knowing is half the battle... Go Joe!

  “Yes, Fallon?” I frowned at the intercom. What was with his hesitation?

  “You have a visitor,” Fallon said stiffly. “Should I show him into the dining hall?”

  A visitor? I frowned deeper. Anyone who could make it past my wards had to be a good friend of mine, so I wasn't sure why Fallon seemed uneasy.

  “Who is it, Fallon?” I growled, annoyed by his evasiveness.

  “It's Re, the Egyptian,” Fallon's voice crackled through the box and I gaped at it. My vision shifted a little and an image of Re's face flashed across it. “Tima?” Fallon asked after a few seconds of silence. “He asked to go up to your rooms and I told him that would happen over my dead body. I don't like the way he smells. Something is wrong. Maybe I should just send him away?”

  “No,” I croaked and looked around me in a panic.

  What should I do? Why was he there? It would be more appropriate to see him in the dining room but if... no, he couldn't remember. Nothing had happened between us. But what if he somehow knew? I saw the galaxies stretching out before me again, the multiple realms layered upon each other, the numerous sources of magic, and knew that anything was possible.

  If Re did know about the future we once shared, he'd want to speak about it and I wouldn't want that conversation overheard. I felt my breath start to quicken and nearly slapped myself. No matter what he knew or didn't know, I was not afraid of Re. Re was my friend and I cared about him deeply.

  I glanced around the empty bedroom and bit my lip. Trevor was at Moonshine, Kirill was in his basement workshop, Odin had gone to Asgard to spend time with Vidar and Vali, and Azrael was in Shehaquim to check on how Michael was handling things. I was alone and the thought made me shiver in a way I shouldn't have when thinking about a man who wasn't one of my lovers. Oh, this wasn't good.

  “Tima?” Fallon's voice startled me. “Should I put him in the dining hall then?”

  “No,” my hand shook as I pressed the button and even though every part of me was screaming that this was a bad idea, I said the words anyway. “Send him up.”

  “Tima?” Fallon's voice was shocked.

  “Send him up, Fallon,” I growled and let go of the button with an angry slide of my finger.

  “Yes, Tima,” came his clipped reply. Soon after, I heard the whir of the elevator rising.

  My hands flew to my hair, combing it out and smoothing it down nervously, and then I looked over my simple cotton dress. Should I change? I glanced at my dressing room and then rolled my eyes at my own idiocy. This was not a romantic rendezvous. I had fixed things with Odin, which meant I'd hopefully never need another lover to replace him. Which also meant I'd never be with Re.

  So why had he come?

  “Vervain?” The deep purr of Re's voice flowed over me like melted butter, making my fists clench and my mouth water. I looked up to see him standing in the doorway.

  His long hair was pulled back in a ponytail, bringing his regal face into stark relief. His cheekbones looked higher, his jaw wider, and his golden eyes shone like freshly struck doubloons. They were filled with confusion and he hesitated, his lips parting on an exhale.

  “Re,” I swallowed hard and tried to act nonchalant. “It's good to see you. How are you?”

  “I don't dream very often but I did last night, Vervain,” he whispered. “Vivid dreams, so real that I can recall every color, every scent and touch. And they were all about you.”

  “Oh,” I cleared my throat. “Well, um, that's very flattering.”

  “Vervain,” he came forward slowly, studying my face. “We were together and it was so beautiful. I've never felt anything like it before.”

  “It was just a dream, Re,” I smiled gently but it felt brittle and bitter, like rancid toffee. “Dreams are meant to be beautiful.”

  “Was it?” His golden eyes flashed as they narrowed on me. “Because I still have the taste of you on my tongue.”

  I gaped at him, my breath completely stolen, until my body jolted me into a sudden inhale. It was shaky and so was I. I stumbled over to the kitchen table and sat down in one of the chairs heavily. My eyes were wide, shifting around the room for assistance, looking everywhere but at Re.

  “I'm not one to be distracted by dreams,” Re came around the table and knelt before my chair, forcing me to look at him. “I know what's real and what isn't but I also know magic. I'm a god, Vervain, I know when magic is afoot.”

  “Afoot,” I gave a little laugh. “That's a funny word.”

  “Please, Vervain,” Re groaned.

  “What do you think has happened exactly?” I asked him in a reasonable tone.

  “I don't know but I think you do,” he stared up at me, his eyes begging me to tell him what it all meant. But I couldn't. It would only hurt him and I refused to do that. Bad enough that I must carry the memory of us, I would not burden him with it as well.

  “I don't,” I looked away. “I'm sorry.”

  “I think you do, Lala,” he whispered and my eyes jerked back to his in shock. “There,” he grabbed my chin so I wouldn't look away. “I saw that, Vervain. You recognize that name. So tell me; how is it that you know the pet name I gave you in my dreams?”

  “You didn't give it to me, I...” I trailed off in horror, my jaw dropping and my eyes going rounder as I realized what I'd just divulged.

  “No, I didn't give it to you. You asked me to call you Lala,” he finished smugly, sliding his hand down the column of my throat to rest it on my shoulder. “What's happened between us? Did you visit me last night? I've heard that you can control the Realm of Dreams.”

  I inhaled sharply, my mouth snapping shut. That explanation had never even occurred to me. I jumped on it with the desperation of one with limited options.

  “Yes, that's it,” I gave an embarrassed laugh. “I wandered into your dream by mistake and things got... well, I did things with you that I shouldn't have. I apologize, it was an unforgivable betrayal. I don't know what came over me.”

  Re frowned as his hand slid away. He sat back on his heels and studied me. The gleam of gold glinted through the slits of his eyelids and the shimmering skin over his cheek fluttered as his jaw clenched. Slowly, he lifted both of his hands to my knees and gripped me there firmly. His thumbs made lazy circles as my heart sped up and all of my awareness went to the skin directly beneath his touch. My eyes jerked back and forth between those elegant fingers and his devastating face, waiting for him to strike. I knew he would, the predator in me sensed the predator in him.

  Suddenly, he shoved my knees apart, sliding his hands up to my waist as he pushed himself between my thighs. My dress rose up, crumpling between us, but I was too intent on his eyes to notice. His blazing eyes. He jerked me off my seat and onto his lap, so that I was straddling him on the floor. I could feel him through his jeans, hard and pressed intimately against me. I inhaled sharply and tried to push away but he only pulled me in tighter.

  “You're lying to me,” he dipped his head to purr into my ear. “I can feel your heat pressed against me. There is something more than dreams between us and I'm going to discover what it is, Lala. You can't hide from the Sun forever; my light will find you.”

  Then he lifted me back up onto my seat and stood in one graceful movement. I determinedly looked away from the bulge in his jeans as I smoothed down my dress and took a calming breath. I folded my arms over my pregnant belly, trying for prim and demure.

  “There's nothing between us, Re,” I said but my voice was breathless and even I didn't believe it.

  “Then there will be,” he vowed and turned away just as Kirill came striding into the room.

  “Re?”
Kirill looked the sun god over as he took a deep sniff. “Vhy do you smell like arousal and look like frustration? And all so very close to my voman.”

  “Just daydreaming,” Re smirked, shot a determined look my way, and then sauntered out.

  Chapter Thirty-Seven

  After that dramatic display, I had to tell Kirill about Re. He listened in silence, those blue velvet eyes never leaving my face. Only the clenching of his jaw betrayed his anxiety. When I was finished, he sighed and closed his eyes as if in prayer, though I knew he couldn't be praying. That was a comfort you had to give up when you found out the truth about the gods.

  “At least it vasn't Anubis,” Kirill finally said and I let out a bark of surprised laughter.

  “Seriously? That's your response; at least it wasn't Anubis?” I huffed. “You don't have anything to say about the way I shared some of his memories when I was there? Or how he dreamed about us after I returned?”

  “It doesn't seem possible,” Kirill frowned. “If you prevented zis future, he shouldn't know about it, not even in dreams.”

  “So how did it happen?” I mused.

  “Love is complicated,” he sighed, “and so is time. Altering zem can have dramatic effects zat go far deeper zan expected.”

  “Anything is possible. I just wish I knew how it happened,” I shook my head.

  “You said you shared memories vith him in future,” Kirill's eyes narrowed in thought. “Zen you brought zese memories back into past.”

  “And shared them with him,” I whispered. “Do you think that's what happened?”

  “I don't know, Tima but I zink zat Re vill not give zis up,” Kirill inhaled deeply and I recognized the manner as one he had when he was trying hard to calm himself. “I know I vould not.”

  “Should I tell the others?” I asked quietly.

  “Da,” Kirill said immediately. “You cannot keep zis from zem, it vould be a betrayal. Zey deserve to know vhat ve might be facing.”

  “Re's a friend,” I frowned. “He's not an enemy to be faced.”

  “He is vhen he vants you,” Kirill growled and I jerked back a little in my seat.