Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10)

by Amy Sumida

  “It makes perfect sense,” I agreed. “I just hope it doesn't cost us in the long run.”

  “I'm sure being complete has its own rewards,” Mrs E. came up beside me and gave me a serene smile.

  “Yes, I'm sure it does,” I felt a wave of peace wash over me as we all stood before the fires of flesh and bones, and watched them burn to ashes.

  Chapter Fifty-Eight

  There were four white pallets laying in the center of the stone floor. Three of them already had occupants and the fourth would soon be hosting me.

  We were in the topmost room of the Southern tower, where the element of Fire was the strongest. Griffin was laid out on the pallet next to mine and then beyond him laid Mrs. E, and then Luke. Around us, I'd drawn a circle of salt for protection but just in case that all went to hell, Trevor, Kirill, Azrael, and Teharon were standing guard right outside the boundary. Though Teharon was mainly there so he could monitor and release his hold on Griffin's body when Odin's soul returned.

  At each directional point I lit a white pillar candle, everything had to be white for the spell. We were all dressed in white and a white cloth was laid between Griffin's pallet and the one I would be using. On the cloth was a white candle for spirit, an incense burner, a bowl of cinquefoil, mugwort, and dittany of crete, and Odin's braid.

  Once the circle was cast, I took Odin's braid and wrapped Griffin's hands around it. Someone had trimmed his beard, probably Teharon, and I was glad he hadn't shaved it all. The beard would seem more familiar to Odin and hopefully help with the transition. I touched Griffin lightly, a small thank you sent to the soul that had once lived inside the shell.

  Then I went to the cloth between our pallets and lit the candle there. The charcoal in the incense burner was next and once that was glowing hot, I took a pinch of the herb mixture and sprinkled it on top. I had been surprised when I'd read the components for the spell. Most god magic didn't include herbs, it was the power of the word that created the desired result and that was one of the things that had made practicing it so desirable for me. Knowing god magic had meant that I got to bypass all of this.

  But soul magic was evidently different. Words wouldn't even be spoken until I actually reached Odin. Until then, it was all preparation. I watched the smoke drift around the circle and gather above Griffin. I put another pinch of herbs over the coal and another, watching smoke drift over both Luke and Mrs. E. Both of them were waiting for me in their meditative states. Once more I added a pinch of herbs to the coal and then I laid myself down on the empty pallet.

  As the smoke gathered above me, I went through Luke's list for astral projection and sank into a deep meditative state. I welcomed the vibrations and when I saw the golden cord, I used it to pull myself out of my body. When I was fully out, I looked over and saw Luke and Mrs. E waiting for me. I reached down and took a firm hold of Odin's braid. When I pulled my hand away, I brought a white cord with me, leaving the braid behind. I pulled back and it extended, a glowing line between Griffin and I. I drifted over to Luke, casting one last glance at the grim faces of my men standing guard around the circle, before taking the hand Luke offered me. Mrs. E took Luke's other hand and together, we drifted upward.

  Luke led us up into the sky of the God Realm and then we plummeted down into the Aether. We didn't exit the Aether into either the Human or the Faerie Realm. Instead, Luke led us to a third option. Darker than the darkness that was the backdrop of the Aether, the entrance to the Void was hard to see but once found, you wouldn't forget it. It pulsed with power, sparking darkly with magic, and we flowed right into it.

  As soon as we were beyond it's borders, Luke let both me and Mrs. E go. We'd planned on this, Luke had only come along to lead us here, he had no business in the Void and no wish to tarry within it. He'd be heading back immediately. Mrs. E and I both wished to find our husbands but we couldn't do that together, so we had to navigate the Void on our own.

  Luke was right, finding my way through the Void was a lot like manipulating my territory. I sent out a request into the darkness and it granted it. The dark lightened, brightened, until it became a full landscape, one familiar to me. There were mountains in the distance but I stood on an open field covered in wildflowers. Walking up to me across the field, smiling in greeting, was Odin.

  I ran forward and launched myself into his arms. This time, unlike my dreams, he caught me and the smell of crisp mountain air enveloped me, the scent of Odin. I pulled back after long moments and looked into his eyes, his beautiful peacock colored eyes. The deep blue shifted to purple as I watched and then the light caught them and green sparkled through the purple. There was a reason I called them peacock eyes, they glowed and changed like a peacock feather, and there was a reason Mimir thought no one should have two eyes so beautiful, they were heart-stoppingly stunning.

  “Vervain,” he smiled and shook his head. “I told you I was content here. Look,” he waved a hand out. “The Void is anything I wish it to be. I can even relive memories of our lives together.”

  To our left a scene came to life, Sabine playing with Vidar and Vali.

  “I thought you were alone in the dark,” I gaped at us, the memory of Sabine and our children, that is.

  “It only looks that way to the living,” Odin brushed a hand down my hair. “I couldn't show you this in your dreams but I admit, I've missed you. It's good to see you, to see that you're well.”

  “I'm not well, you dork. I don't have you,” I huffed. “I've come to bring you back. I've got the spell in motion and a body for you to inhabit. You're coming home, baby.”

  “Vervain, I told you to let me go,” he looked so peaceful that I wanted to smack his face right off his face. “You have others to think about, other loves to help you get over me. I know that you were right now, when you said that all things must travel the circle. I'll return to life again but for now, I'm content. Go home and stop wasting your time worrying about me.”

  “Are you out of your damn mind?” I pushed him hard in the chest. “What, have you been drinking the Kool-Aid or something? Yes, I have other men that I love but I love each of you completely and that means I can't live without any of you, not a single one.”

  “Vervain-,”

  “No,” I waved him into silence. “If you cut a piece of a heart away, will it still beat? Of course not because no matter how much of that heart is left, the whole cannot function without the missing piece. You are a part of my heart, Odin, and it will not beat without you.”

  “You selfish, wonderful, stubborn woman,” his face changed and I saw that the peace he'd been showing me was a façade. “I've missed you every second of every day that I've been away.”

  “You stupid, ignorant man,” I shook my head. Even beyond death he was trying to martyr himself for me.

  “Wait,” he frowned. “You didn't say anything nice there to mitigate the insult.”

  “I know,” I smirked at him.

  “Sabine, is that you?” A voice cut into our conversation.

  I turned slowly, my face falling slack as it recognized the voice. No, it couldn't be, she couldn't be there. Not in the Void, this wasn't where she would have gone. But as I turned fully, I saw that it was her, my hazy memories of her sharpened and came into focus upon seeing her. My dragon-sidhe mother, Aednat.

  “Mother?” I was suddenly a child once more, in the alps of France. The air held the bite of the higher altitude, harder to breathe but worth the effort. I'd never known the difference as a child though. It had just been home.

  “It is you,” she wrapped her strong arms around me and I inhaled her scent, dark and floral like embers and roses. That was all it took for the memories to come rushing back.

  I saw her walking beside me, holding my hand and smiling to me. Heard her whisper to me in the dark, telling me that I was special, more special than I could ever imagine, and that someday she would show me the magical world where I truly belonged. Her face was so beautiful, pale skin surrounded by fiery red hair,
but what made her truly wonderful to me was the love that filled her eyes every time she looked at me.. I hadn't realized how much I'd missed her until I had her standing right in front of me.

  “Vervain!” Odin's voice came from behind me. “Fight it! She isn't really there. Your mother was absorbed back into Faerie, she's not here, she can't be. The Void is showing you what you want to see. It's goal is to keep those within it happy. You must send her away, let her go, Vervain. Control the Void.”

  “Let her go?” I looked up into my mother's face and knew I couldn't. I'd been cheated out of our time together. We should have had forever but instead, she was murdered, speared by some idiot human. I had been cheated out of her love but now she stood before me. A second chance.

  “Vervain!” Odin's hand was on my arm. “Your name is Vervain, not Sabine. Do you love me enough to let go of this false happiness?”

  I turned, finally sensing the truth in his words.

  “Sabine,” another voice now, a man's voice.

  “Father?” I saw my fey father standing beside Aednat. He looked amazing beside her, so regal and handsome.

  “Stay with us,” Finnian said. “We never had the chance to raise you, to see you grow, but now we can all be together.”

  “It's not real, Vervain,” Odin's grip was growing tighter. “Remember our life together. Focus on our children, Vidar and Vali. They still live and they need their mother. Focus, Vervain. These aren't your parents, it's just the matter of the Void, it can be changed, shaped with your will.”

  “My will,” I blinked and suddenly came out of the daze. “This is why Luke told me I needed to manipulate matter, not just to find you but to find my way out.”

  I focused on the images of my parents and though it hurt my heart to do so, I made them disappear. The landscape changed back to what it had been for Odin and I turned to him with a sad smile.

  “I came here to save you and instead, you saved me.”

  “We'll save each other,” he whispered, his strong hands sliding around my face as he kissed me.

  “Come on, let's go home.” I held up the end of the white cord.

  Chapter Fifty-Nine

  “Fill ar ais chun na beatha,” I said as I handed Odin the glowing cord.

  As soon as Odin took the cord, he went zipping back to his new body like the coyote on an episode of Bugs Bunny. I was surprised there wasn't a smoke outline of him left behind.

  I grinned and sped off after him, flying through the Aether and then into the God Realm at top speed. I came back to the circle and hovered above it all, seeing that Luke was already sitting up on his pallet, waiting for us, but Mrs. E was still gone. I wasn't worried, I hoped she found Mr. T and had the peace of knowing where he was.

  I went to the golden cord above my body and used it to pull myself down. Then I was coming up through the vibrations and opening my eyes to the real world once again. I rolled from the pallet and crawled over the few inches that separated Griffin from me. Odin, I mean.

  He was there, I could already feel the difference, and when I glanced up at Teharon, he gave me a soft smile and a nod. Things had gone smoothly. I laid my hands on Odin's chest and then trailed one up to his cheek. His eyelids fluttered and then opened to reveal a pair of peacock-blue eyes. I inhaled sharply, my eyes filling with tears to see the evidence that my magic had worked. He was back.

  “Odin?” I asked as those eyes focused on me.

  A little frown appeared between those beautiful eyes. He cocked his head a little and then finally spoke.

  “Who are you?”

  Keep reading for a sneak peek at the next book in the Godhunter Series:

  Out of the Darkness

  Chapter One

  Sometimes having multiple lovers was like living in an erotic novel but most of the time it was a juggling act that had no sexual connotations at all. It could get a bit annoying actually.

  “You smell like feathers,” Arach said as I reappeared in our bedroom at Castle Aithinne. “Dark feathers.”

  “Now that's just ridiculous,” I shook my head at him. “You can't smell colors.”

  “Sure I can,” he lifted his elegant nose into the air, “dark feathers are more musky.”

  “Musky?” I narrowed my eyes on him. “Musk is a scent limited to furred animals, it doesn't lend itself to feathers. You're full of it.”

  “Were you with the angel or not?” He huffed and leaned back against the wall with crossed arms.

  “Yes, I was just with Azrael,” I poked him in the chest. “Stop that, you've got the best end of this deal, remember?”

  “Yes, I remember,” his hand shot out and he pulled me up against his chest. “So how's our feathered friend doing?”

  “Well, I just found out his father is Lucifer,” I shrugged. “I got to meet him, he looks just like Az.”

  “Lucifer? The one whose book you told me about?”

  “That's him,” I bit Arach's bottom lip because it was still sticking out in a pout. “He's going to help me get into the Void.”

  “Are you sure it's safe?”

  “I'll need to do some training,” I nodded. “I have to learn how to manipulate energy and then astral project but then it should be perfectly safe.”

  “Which means not at all,” he sighed. “What does he want in return?”

  “In return for what?”

  “For teaching you how to reach the Void,” Arach frowned at me. “He must want something for the knowledge.”

  “He didn't ask for anything,” I thought about it. “All he asked was to be allowed to see me manipulate my territory when I got good enough to do so and if that's payment, then so be it.”

  “Hmm, well be wary of him too,” Arach brushed back the strands of my hair that had wandered between us. “He may be Azrael's father but he's still the Devil.”

  “I promise I'll be careful around Satan, okay?”

  “Okay,” he laughed and let me go.

  “Now, what would you say to having a dragon visit us?”

  “A what?” His dragon eyes went wide.

  “A dragon, not a dragon-sidhe, just a regular old dragon,” I shrugged. “His name is Salem and he guards the gate to Hell. Luke said he could take a vacation and I suggested he come to Faerie and go flying with us. What do you think? You think the High King will mind?”

  “I... who's Luke?”

  “Oh, Luke as in short for Lucifer.”

  “Ah,” he shook his head. “A dragon, really? I would love to meet him and I don't think King Cian would have a problem with it. I thought they'd died out, back when we almost did.”

  “The gods offered sanctuary to the survivors,” I went to the table near our bedroom window and sat down. The view of Faerie never got old for me. A living forest of massive trees the size of skyscrapers, surrounded by four elemental kingdoms. It was breathtaking. “I've met two already. One was in Niflheim, he was guarding Hvergelmir, the Well of Souls. I met him before I met you. Then I met Salem today. He's a very pretty green.”

  “The other kingdoms will quake in fear to see three dragons in the sky above them,” Arach looked positively gleeful. “When shall we expect him?”

  “I have no idea,” I laughed. “You know that time thing. He's just left the God Realm, so sometime in the future, but I thought I'd better come back and get approval before he actually arrives.”

  “Well, if he's just left, we should probably see him in about ten years or so.”

  “Excuse me?” I gaped at him.

  “I've been trying to keep track of your visits and if my calculations are correct, we are at the equivalent of your July twenty-seventh, and now I'm assuming you stayed your usual two months this last time?”

  “Three,” I whispered.

  “Okay, three,” he shook his head. “Then if you keep to your schedule of staying a couple of months here as well as there, you gain only two days in the God Realm with the two months you stay here and so... yes in about ten years fey time we shall expect
his arrival.”

  “I guess I needn't have rushed,” I huffed a laugh. “I had no idea the time had gotten so skewed with my using the ring.”

  “Magic has a way of extracting payment,” Arach shrugged. “It makes no difference. Ten years is a blink of the eye.”

  “I guess.”

  “However, you still should have asked permission of the High King before telling Salem he could come.”

  “I am asking permission first,” I grinned. “Technically.”

  “Let's just mirror the High King,” he sighed and turned toward the dressing table along the wall.

  Author's Note

  Nelson Mandela passed away while I was writing this book. I debated with myself, over and over on whether to include his funeral in my story. I didn't want to be yet another person profiting from a good man's name. A man with such courage and resilience that I could only aspire to it within my fiction. No matter how good my imagination is, it's no match for such profound reality.

  In the end, I found it impossible to exclude a tribute to him from my novel, as one of my favorite characters, Fallon, would have obviously been affected by Mandela's death. I felt the loss keenly through him and I hope that you did as well, that you took it for the respectful nod it was intended to be and not an unfeeling dramatic ploy. May Mandela find the peace that he so richly deserves.

  About the Author

  Amy Sumida lives on an island in the Pacific Ocean where gods can still be found. She sleeps in a fairy bed, high in the air, with two gravity-defying felines and upon waking, enjoys stabbing people with little needles, over and over, under the guise of making pretty pictures on their skin. She, like Vervain, has no filter but has been fortunate enough to find friends who appreciate this... or at least tell her they do. She aspires to someday become a crazy cat lady, sitting on her rocker on her front porch and guarding her precious kitties with a shotgun loaded with rock salt. She bellydances and paints pictures on her walls but is happiest with her nose stuck in a book, her mind in a different world than this one, filled with fantastical men who unfortunately don't exist in our mundane reality. Thank the gods for fantasy.