The rabid humans weren’t only attacking the innocent, they also pulled apart the primitive buildings, destroying everything in their paths. Destruction in its purest form. Chaos. Original sin incarnate.
I remembered having a pistol in my hand and using my body to shield the Queen, but she had commanded me to investigate. She could take care of herself, she’d said. Reluctantly, I abided and called the Queen’s Guard to attend, but when I’d gotten close to the mess, I discovered a stench emanating off the creatures in waves, infecting the air with a sour miasma that wilted the leaves in the garden and staining the atmosphere in shades of gray. A heavy wall of smoke and haze settled over the village and the surrounding wildlife, and through it all, the carnage continued. How did this happen?
As if in answer to my question, Alkiemon, the Prince of life as far as the eye could see, made himself known. The billowing smoke parted like a living entity, to make way for him as he casually walked through the chaos. His demonic half-smile stretched wide on his handsome face the instant he made eye contact. Holding my gaze, he raised his hands and clicked his fingers. The humanoid beasts stopped, blinked, and focused on him, their new master. Black rivulets ran down his wrists to drip off his elbows and onto the ground, leaving dark mucous-like puddles.
“What have you done?” the Queen howled at her son as she joined me, unable to stay away any longer.
His wretched laugh rose over the discord. “You wanted me to learn from them, mother, and learn I did. I’ve become very familiar with them, in fact.” He clicked his fingers again, and the beasts came tittering over, dragging and sliding as though being pulled on puppet strings. “For instance, did you know when the pure extracted darkness was combined with my blood and then returned to them, I gained control over their simple minds? Blood magic. You two should be familiar with that, right? Being soulmates and all that.”
He flicked his wrists, and the beasts shuffled towards the Queen and I.
“Did you know I can command their souls to leave their bodies? I can also force them to stay.”
“NO!” she screamed. Her hands rose in a show of force, crackling, ready to send her power into her child. “I won’t let you do this. It’s not too late. Repent and let me fix them.”
“It is too late, mother. It is already done. There’s no going back.”
If there was any warmth left in the air, it fled in that moment. Too many things happened at once. The horde of beasts converged on us, I tried to protect her, but the Queen struggled. Her guards formed a shield in front of her but she tried to break through. She wanted to save her creations without harming her son. It made her weak. Tainted. Impaired. Egnatius appeared out of nowhere, and joined the fight, but it was futile. There were only a few of us against hundreds. Her son had turned her creations against her.
I knew in my heart that this planet was a lost cause. Damage control was at the forefront of my mind. I had to take precautions immediately. There was nothing left to do but evacuate and quarantine.
With only two people granted the power to activate the star-gate, if I removed myself, then the Queen was the only key. Her son knew that. This was his big play.
Well, fuck him. I knew exactly how to ruin his day.
Remove myself. Remove the Queen. Remove their freedom.
After sending her into Egnatius’s arms, I ordered him to return to the Empire so he could set up the quarantine. Unable to travel through time and space with them, I had to remain here.
A rabid creature rushed up to the Queen, and she broke away from Egnatius to go to it. “Let me fix it,” she cried. I don’t know how she thought she would do that, but it went for her throat, ripping with its new claws. She screamed and stepped back, hands flying to her wound. I pulled my pistol from my holster and shot the creature between the eyes as it lunged for her again. It dropped at her feet, twitching.
Then with horror finally dawning in her eyes, she mumbled to herself, “What have I done?”
“It’s no use, they’re beyond hope,” I said, shooting another.
She turned to me, all warmth fled from her face. “I should’ve listened to you. I’m so sorry, I should’ve listened. Unleash yourself. Wipe this place clean.”
“You can’t be serious? I won’t do that.”
“It’s an order. Wash the earth clean and then return home.”
The last thing I remembered from my dream was a searing flame coming from my insides. It was the heat engulfing me in icy hot waves as I set my power free, and it was the fading sound of the Queen’s voice as she screamed, Kill them all, repeatedly as Egnatius took her away.
And then, in a white rain of fire, I’d woken up.
I could still smell the acrid scent in my nose. I scrubbed my face and tried to shake the memory, but the darkness in my office was the perfect cinematic background for the visions to replay.
I walked over to the wall and flicked the light switch on. The room illuminated, casting an ambient glow that hit each object with a slight halo visible through my sleep deprived eyes. I groaned and lurched back to the couch where I fell with a heavy thud that echoed the dull ache in my head.
Thank fuck I hadn’t been near Roo this time. That knife in my hand would have no doubt ended in her guts, slicing her through and through.
Marc
Surprisingly, when I found myself in a ladies change room, I almost did a one-eighty and left, but the sight of a scantily clad Little Red bending over, convinced me otherwise. The vision of her taut rear covered in lacy purple knickers aimed precisely in the direction of my crotch almost entangled my atoms. Bugger me. I could reach out and touch her. But I didn’t.
She picked up an item of discarded clothing, straightened and held it in front of herself, admiring her reflection.
Just as I caught her gaze in the mirror, I said, “I’d say I’m sorry to interrupt, but I’m not really.”
She squealed, turned around and shoved me into the wall with burning hot fingers. It tingled. The entire makeshift room swayed and steam heated the air.
“You okay in there, miss?” A disembodied voice came from the other side.
Roo’s eyes opened to big white ovals, and she shook her fists at me before covering herself with a jacket. “Yes, I’m fine, sorry I just slipped over.” Then she lowered her voice and gave me daggers. “Ever heard of knocking?”
“Now, where’s the fun in that?”
“I have rights, you know. It’s polite to knock.”
“If it’s any consolation, I’m quite open to you seeing me naked. Evens the playing field if you know what I mean.”
“What are you doing here, Marc?” she hissed. “Besides being a pervert.”
“I’m offended. I was only having fun, you know I’d never really try anything. Sometimes I can’t help where I end up.”
“Well, you should try to have some manners, or at least pretend to have a little humility.”
“Maybe.” I shrugged and rubbed my tickling ribs—an after effect of her electrifying touch. I wondered how that sensation would feel elsewhere on my body. And then if she said my name.
No. Naughty Marc. Don’t think of her like that. She’s off limits.
I did feel bad for making her feel bad.
“I apologize, love. I really do. I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable. But, you see, I’m in a bit of a pickle. Thought I might cash in on that favor you owe me.”
“What, now?”
“I’m happy to wait. Take as long as you need.” I perched myself on the change room bench. “I love a good show just as much as the next guy, and I always have time for one. What have you got there, a new dress?” I picked up a dark green slinky item. “Ooh, I like this one. Bit of a school-girl-gone-sexy-secretary vibe. But with your red hair, you might look like a Christmas tree. And this one, this is—”
Roo snatched the items from my hands. “It’s none of your business, that’s what it is. Oh, for the love of—” She turned her back on me, mumbled obscenities and redr
essed into her jeans and black boring shirt. The jeans had small holes in the hips and I couldn’t help poking my finger through as she took a seat next to me. She swatted me and gave me the teacher look. “Marc. I think we’ve had this talk already. When I said I owed you a favor for rescuing me from that pit of hell last week, I didn’t mean a favor of the explicit nature.”
I lifted my hands in mock surrender. “Oh, I’m here on business, I swear!”
She gave me a sideways glare then hastily dumped a pile of clothing in my lap. “You know I find your nudity uncomfortable. Especially when it’s like”—she waved at my crotch—“you know.”
I wiggled my eyebrows. “Well endowed, you mean? Virile, perhaps?”
“Yes, Marc. Yes. That’s exactly what I meant.” Sarcasm dripped from her tongue.
“For the last time, love, I can’t help it. You’re extremely beautiful and invigorating, as to the rest, it’s a side effect—no inorganic matter through the dimensions, yeah?”
She laughed through her nose. “Yeah-yeah. What can I help you with?”
I shuffled a smidgen toward her. I couldn’t vocalize why, but I wanted—needed—to be closer to her. Like a magnet. She smelled amazing. Fruity and wild. Like a balmy summer night. One of those tropical gardens came to mind. Her aura electrified me and I wanted to run my hands all over her body, followed in short succession with my lips. Mmm. Balmy hot, summer nights. Cocktails.
“Marc.” She snapped her fingers.
“Right.” I blinked. I could’ve sworn I heard coconuts and steel drums playing. “I’ve been needing to talk to someone about some issues I’ve been having. So of course, immediately I thought, ooh, I know someone who’s got the perfect skills to evaluate and study my thought process. Someone to council me on a beneficial outcome.”
She frowned. “You went to speak to a therapist?”
“Don’t be daft. You’re a bartender. You’re perfect.”
“Oh.”
“But we can’t talk like this. Come with me.”
I enveloped her in my embrace and stepped through the in-between. When we landed at our destination, she punched me in the gut. Hard.
That really hurt this time. I coughed.
“What was that for?” I moaned, still clutching my midsection, frowning.
“You bastard.”
She dashed behind the bar of the shady, empty nightclub so fast that all I managed to see was a flash of pink naked skin. Pity.
“You can’t just kidnap me.” Her voice traveled over the bar and echoed loudly in the vast room.
“Of course I can. I just did.”
“You know what I mean.”
“Well, love, you see it’s like this.” I made sure somber tones played across my face. “You’re the only one I can do this with.”
“Kidnap through the dimensions?”
“No. Well yes, but we’ve discussed that. I meant, have a heart-to-heart with.”
Roo was silent for a while, then she said, “Oh.”
“You can see my aura, you can tell what I feel is true. And I can see yours. We can’t lie to each other.”
“Oh,” she said with more gumption this time.
A few more seconds went by and then she lifted her head over the horizon of the bar. “I’m naked.”
“And? I’m naked too. Nothing to be ashamed of. We’re both specimens of perfection.” I snorted and checked myself in the mirror on the wall behind the bar. Yes. Perfect. Absolutely and without a doubt. I had a few different forms I could arrange my atoms into, but this older suave version was the best. What wasn’t to like? I smoothed my blonde hair to the side. “No need to be a prude.”
She sighed heavily. “I’m not a prude. It’s just that Cash doesn’t like you running about naked when I’m around. I doubt it he’ll want me running around you naked.”
“Ri-ight. Got it. We don’t want to piss off the hunter now do we?” My eyes surveyed the empty nightclub briefly then caught on something. I waltzed over and retrieved the apron then threw it over the bar. “Not to worry. There you go, love. Your dignity remains intact.”
Roo slipped the apron over her head so it sat around her neck and then stood as she tied the strings around her waist. The hem came to just above her knees.
“Now, someday, when we have time, I must find out how it is you can join me on my travels. It is rather odd and I do love a good mystery.” My thoughts traveled back to when Jacine had urged me to bump the nasties so we could have a baby, and a shiver ran through me. If she found out about Little Red, there’s no telling what lengths she’ll go to capture her. Roo could be in danger.
“Okay, so I’m flattered that you want to spill your guts to me, but I’m on a schedule. So out with it.”
“Wait, wait, wait. Something’s not right.”
“Your attitude?”
“You’re funny, Little Red, but no. That’s not it.” I waved at the bottles lining the wall behind her and then perched on a stool. “You’re a bartender. Pour me a drink.”
Her brows winged over her perfect brown eyes. But she acquiesced and turned on an angle to view the selection behind her, nearly exposing the naked curve of her rear end. I tilted slightly to the right to try to get a better view.
“What do you want to drink?” she asked tapping her chin.
“Tequila.”
“Which one? There’s so many?”
“That one up the top. Yep. Top shelf. No, actually, bottom. The one on the very nice bottom,” I said absently.
“This one?” A bottle flew off the shelf as though an invisible hand moved it and landed on the bench in front of me, rolling gently on the wooden surface.
When I looked up, she glared at me with a triumphant smirk.
“You need to get some new material, Marc. That’s one of the oldest tricks in the book.” She snorted. “As if I’m going to bend down.”
“Yes, well, not everyone is telekinetic like you.” I simpered for a second while she poured a shot of Tequila.
“Come on, out with it. I haven’t seen this level of sexual harassment since we first met. You can normally hold it in. Something must be on your mind.”
“Spoil sport,” I added before I slammed the liquid down my throat. “Ahh, that’s better. Liquid courage. Aren’t you going to have one?”
“What’s the point? Alcohol burns through us too quickly.”
“You still get a teensy-tiny buzz, especially if we drink the entire bottle. Go on. Admit it. You know you want some.”
She smiled tightly and then poured herself a shot, slammed it down and then licked her lips. “Okay, now really, out with it. If we don’t get back soon, Jed’s going to go postal.”
“Don’t worry, he thinks you’re in the change-room and we all know how long women take in those things.”
“Marc,” she warned.
“All right.” I sighed dramatically. “I ate this hot-pocket earlier and I think it’s repeating.”
She raised an eyebrow.
“Fine. I visited the Librarian to get information about our mate the hunter, and she treated me like a second rate nobody. I mean, me, can you believe it?” I was stalling, avoiding my real purpose for being here, but what I said was true. Ever since the Librarian, I’d felt a bit useless. “I haven’t cared about what anyone thought for a long time, but she unnerved me.”
“And what did you do there, check out books?”
“Don’t be daft. The Librarian checks your memories out.”
“Oh, wow. Okay. How does that work?”
I explained the process.
“So, maybe you discovered something that bothered you, maybe it wasn’t the Librarian, but what she found?”
I thought back to my newly emerged memories. I didn’t think they were anything special. There were no secrets revealed, no great eureka moment. All in all, it had been a rather disappointing experience. So why did I feel so down about it?
“Do you want to talk about it?” Falling into old bartending hab
its, Roo wiped the bench down.
“No.”
But then it hit me. I’d promised Sephie to protect her creations—the Simons. I’d spent the last few millennia doing so while she’d kept herself sequestered and unmoving back at the Empire. This was now my planet. My responsibility. And something dark was coming. Something dark was already here. I could feel it.
It was more than that. I missed her. My friend.
“I miss her,” I confessed.
“Who?”
“Sephie—the Queen.”
“That must be tough.”
“You have no idea. We grew up together. We overcame our oppressed parents together. We discovered cheese together. I chased her through fields to catch her pig-tails. Where she went, I went. And then… nothing. It’s like our friendship wasn’t enough to bring her back. All she cared about was the bloody hunter, and then when it finally seems as though she’d forgotten him, this happens.”
“He turns up.”
“And I’m afraid what it means when I go back to tell her.”
She was silent, her aura flickered with sadness. I knew it wasn’t for me. She, too had feelings for the bloody hunter.
“You’re afraid that despite all the work you’ve been doing for her, you will go unnoticed,” she said.
“Maybe.”
“Marc, you’re amazing. You don’t need anyone’s validation for that. The least of all, some queen who doesn’t even know your true worth. Behind that womanizing exterior, there’s a heart of gold.” Roo reached over and squeezed my hand. Her simple touch was all I needed to shake out of my stupor. But then she said, “I see you,” and I think I fell in love.
We stared at each other, eye to eye, for what seemed like an eternity.
The Game of Gods: Series Box Set Page 39