The Game of Gods: Series Box Set

by Lana Pecherczyk

  “Yes, that does sound inviting. Okay, fine. You know I only concede to you, don’t you, love?”

  “I don’t deserve it though. I don’t remember the person you think I am.”

  He placed a palm on my cheek. “You are who you are.”

  A few seconds later and his blue eyes still stared at me. His aura swelled.

  “Marc,” I said, awkwardly. “I think we can go now.”

  “Right. Right.” He dropped his palm. “That’s what I was thinking.”

  “You show us where this lab is, and then remove whatever you’ve done to Kitty and you can go to the Empire. I guarantee it,” I said to Eve back in the kitchen.

  She squinted at me as though she knew there was more to it, but in the end, gave a regal nod. “Very well, the lab is in South America.”

  “We knew that. Can you be a little more specific?”

  “In a jungle.”

  “Which jungle.”

  “I could tell you, but then my leverage is gone, isn’t it? I’m not stupid. I know there’s something else you aren’t telling me, but for now, it will have to do.”

  “Right. Good. We’re all in agreement then,” Marc said, clapping his hands together. “I need a little more information than somewhere in a jungle. Which one, the Amazon is a big place, then there’s the Atlantic, and—”

  “My plane leaves for Argentina in five hours. I’ve programmed my travel itinerary into this phone. I’ll meet you there in a day or so. And if you can bring your friend who speaks to animals, that would be best.”

  I frowned. “You mean Wren?”

  “Yes.”

  “Not acceptable,” I said. I wasn’t willing to put any more of my friends in danger. “I could speak well enough to the crow. I’m sure I will suffice.”

  Eve’s eyebrow lifted. “You spoke with a familiar, not an animal. We need your friend’s unique skill set, believe me.”

  “Why?”

  “We have to see a man about a donkey and then the donkey about a man.” And with that, Eve left us.

  “Okay, that wasn’t weird,” I said to Marc after I was sure she’d exited the house.

  “You’re not wrong there.”

  “Well, we know she’s telling some truth. Cash said they’d narrowed down the lab to the Amazon jungle. Hopefully she will take us the rest of the way.”

  By the time we figured out how to get the phone and ourselves to The Cauldron, it was half an hour later. In the end, Marc took me through the in-between then went back via cab to collect the phone.

  That left me with some private time to reconnect with my friends.

  Chapter 8

  When I walked into The Cauldron, my old bar and workplace, I didn’t know what to expect. The same, something different, anything at all? It had almost burned to the ground recently but as I stepped beyond the glass doors, I smiled. It was still being renovated, but essentially the same. It even smelled the same—like stale beer but now with an overlay of fresh paint. Witch-themed paraphernalia decorated the walls. Crows, broomsticks, gnarled branches and jack-o-lanterns with flickering candles inside were on the walls. Tables and booths surrounded a dance floor that lit up on a Friday night. It was almost ready for re-opening.

  My long time friend wiped the dust off the table at a newly installed booth. Kitty looked completely different from the last time I saw her. She used to have a head full of blue and green mermaid hair, but after being caught in the fire, she now had two-inch, naturally brown hair feathered around her face. Her pouty lips were still bright red, as were her polished nails. She had a subdued nature about her. No longer the wild, sexy strumpet that made all the boys in the bar go crazy with desire. I could be projecting. Maybe she was just bored.

  “I’ll have a Brew to Forget, thanks barmaid.” I smirked at Kitty as I walked in.

  She looked up, grinned, and rushed over, ditching her dirty wash rag over the bar bench as she came. She gathered me into a hug, suffocating me in her ample bosom.

  “Babe, am I glad to see you.” Then as quickly as she pulled me in, she pushed me away with a frown. “But you waited long enough! You’ve been gone for ages.” She peeked over my shoulder. “Where’s that hunky hunter of yours?”

  I blushed. “He’s working. But—” I glanced at my empty ring finger. I had left the ring at the castle because it couldn’t travel with me. Thinking of it reminded me of how I used to flick it with my thumb to swing the diamond back to the upside of my finger. The band was too big for my finger, but I didn’t like being parted from the ring for long enough to send it to the jeweler to fix. My thumb gravitated to shift the phantom ring back into the correct alignment. A nervous tick. I missed him.

  Kitty caught me eying off my finger.

  “There’s something you’re not telling me,” she stated simply and lifted an arched eyebrow.

  “Cash and I are engaged.”

  Kitty squealed. So loud.

  I clapped my hands over my ears, but joined her jumping on the spot like a teenager who’d won tickets on the radio.

  The swinging scullery door burst open and Alvin jogged out. “Where’s the fire?” he called, extinguisher in his hand, ready to release.

  When I first met Alvin, he was a larrikin of epic proportions. His dark skin came from his mixed Phillipino-Australian heritage. He used to be chubby—too much beer—but after Petra had hexed him with aggressive cancer, I’d responded with my own healing hex and told his body to fix himself. I won. He’d woken up fit as a fiddle with a buff body to boot. I was pleased to see he continued to look after himself, or the directives still held.

  “Oh, it’s you.” Alvin’s brown eyes met mine and he lowered the extinguisher.

  “Alvin!” Kitty admonished. “A little more enthusiasm, please.”

  When Alvin glanced at Kitty, it was clear he was head over heals in love. He’d do anything she asked, even pretending to forgive me. His dig earlier at not calling him held a hint of pain.

  “I’m sorry, Alvin,” I said. “I owe you both an explanation for why I’ve been so vague about my travels.”

  He folded his arms. “You’re in America one minute, Sydney the next. Now you’re in Europe. You haven’t shared much. You’ve spoken to Kitty about the wedding, but not one phone call for you’re old pal, Alvin. That cuts Roo. It cuts.” He tapped his heart. “We get it you’re under the guardianship of a super-secret hunter dude but we worry about you, you know?”

  Kitty lifted her brows and nodded. “Babe, I love that you love talking about wedding stuff, but I know you’re distracting me. There's something going on with you and we wish you’d talk to us about it. Is Cash treating you okay? What’s happening with your father?”

  I slumped. “Come on. Let’s sit and I’ll talk.”

  We gravitated toward an empty booth and I spent the next twenty minutes telling them everything about my last few months over a beer. And I meant everything. If there was any benefit to me being who I was, it was to break the rules for my loved ones. They wouldn’t go and blab to the press. They’d kept my secret when they thought I was a witch, they’d do it now. By the time I finished, they looked like they were going to vomit.

  “Get out,” Kitty said, face pale. The tone of her voice sounded like she was kidding, but she had no emotion on her face. For a moment, I considered maybe she really wanted me out, but then she shook her head, eyes wide. “My best friend is a god. Are you freaking kidding us? Are you joking?”

  “No.” I bit my lip, kind of shrinking down into the leather bench seat.

  “You mean to tell me, my best friend is a god.” She repeated and turned to Alvin. “That’s what she said, right? A god. A freaking god.”

  Alvin still stared blankly at me. “You fixed me,” he eventually said. “You were stronger than the strongest witch but you’re not a witch. Holy fuck.”

  “Babe.” Understanding dawned in Kitty’s eyes. “You’re not a witch, so you must be something else, but… I never once in my life imagined… wow.
Just wow. You’re a god.”

  Knots pulled my stomach tight.

  “Kitty, she’s not a god. She’s the God. Didn’t you hear her? She’s the one responsible for the creation of our race.” Alvin’s hands clenched around his glass of beer. “I—” He shook his head, dazed. “I don’t know…”

  “I always knew God was a girl.”

  “Please don’t call me that.” I shook my head. “I’m not the person people pray to. That’s someone else. I’m still Roo, and I don’t have the same kind of skills that she did. I mean, I did. I don’t know because I don’t remember my original life, and I’m still kind of at half-capacity until I purge the human genes from my body in favor of Seraphim, but that’s another story for another day.”

  “But, I, you—” Alvin vaguely pointed at my face and then the rest of my body. Then he shook his head again. “Nah, you’re taking the piss, right? You’re joking.”

  “Oh, you want some proof?” I asked. When Cash first told me about our origins, I scoffed at him, so their reaction was well warranted. “Marc will be here soon, and then we’ll teleport back home. And if Cash were here, he’s got this light-saber sword thingy and he moves like really fast, like a blur.” I frowned. “I can do a few things, but you already know most of my abilities.”

  Alvin started laughing. A real, raucous, belly shaking laugh. “You got me, Roo. Where’s the cameras?”

  My heart sank. Had I made a mistake telling them? In a small voice, I replied, “No. I told you already, no. Don’t you trust me?”

  “Alvin.” Kitty swatted him repetitively until he calmed down. She turned to me and patted her hair. “Can you still do your magic hair dye thing? I really miss my blue and green.”

  All the tension left my body in a burst, causing me to giggle awkwardly. Classic Kitty. I lifted my eyebrows. “I can do one better, I can make it grow back, too!”

  Kitty reached across the table to take my hands. “Babe, I’m so glad you’re back. And not because of the hair thing, I really missed you. How long are you staying? For good? We have urgent wedding plans. It’s in a few weeks—oooh, a double wedding?—and also because we can’t find a decent enough replacement for you at the bar, and also I don’t know if you noticed but your old home is falling apart, someone needs to fix it up. It would be a shame for that heritage home to go to waste.” She almost went blue from speaking so much in one breath.

  “And the wine,” Alvin added, finally settled.

  “Guys, I want that too, like, really want it. You have no idea.”

  I spent much of my teenage years picking grapes, tirelessly working those fields to make production schedules. The Merlot would stain my fingers for days, but it was good, honest, simple work. I thought about the big empty house and the land, the vines outside… their cry for attention. My smile faded and the backs of my lids burned with the desire to pack up everything and start now. I wanted to create the life my mother had wanted before my father cruelly took it away by getting her pregnant with me. Maybe that feeling deep in my gut was guilt, because surely I was as much to blame as Bruce. Those photos of her ancestors in the hallway were a reminder of that. They went as far back as a hundred and fifty years, depicting candid family shots taken in the estate, then stopped shortly after I was born. I contemplated my beer. It was almost empty. Marc would be here soon, and that meant my time was up.

  “So, Roo?” Kitty broke through my thoughts. “Are you staying long?”

  “Kitty,” Alvin said quietly and placed a hand on her shoulder. “She’s not going to come back. She’s a god. She’ll probably be gallivanting around the universe or something. There’s an Empire to rule. Worlds to save. Life to create.”

  “Oh no,” I said. “I’m not messing with anything like that ever again.”

  “Is that true?” Kitty’s green eyes watered. “Will you go?”

  I took a deep breath. “Once we’ve stopped Urser from doing anymore destruction, I plan to come back here. Honestly, I do. I want a simple life with my friends.”

  “Hey, I take offense to that. We’re not simple.” Alvin poked his tongue at me.

  “Of course not!” I laughed. “You’re the best things in my life. Apart from Cash.”

  “And me, love. Don’t forget me.” Marc arrived and walked up to our table. Actually, it was more of a strut. Marc never simply walked. His stride held a confident swagger and complete awareness of his perfect specimen of a masculine body. He’d forgone the recent illusion construct of a polo shirt and pants for tailored khaki shorts and a tight linen shirt, open at the top, showing a taste of tanned and sculptured pecs. He dropped the phone onto the bench and gave my companions a curiousness yet nonchalant once over. He winked at Kitty, then his eyes snagged on the beer. “Having a little drink-poo without me, love? Tsk, tsk. Shame on you.”

  Alvin hooked a thumb toward Marc. “This is your god friend?”

  “God friend!” Marc turned to me. “What kind of nonsense have you been spouting?”

  “It’s okay, Marc. They won’t tell anyone.”

  “Love, a word. Sidebar. Again.” He took my forearm and lifted me out of the booth to guide me to the bar. “You know you’re forbidden to reveal our secret to the Simons. I’ll have to send them a dream to wipe their memories. Or kill them.”

  “No.” I held up my hand. “They’re fine. Honestly.”

  “What if news of you being here gets out? We’ll have every Player and his poodle trying to assassinate you.” He folded his arms. I’d never seen him so serious. “The bloody hunter will have my hide if he knew I let you blab.”

  “No one’s going to kill me. Didn’t I make the rules of the Game, anyway?” I asked hesitantly. “I say my friends are trustworthy and they can know.”

  Doubt flickered in his eyes.

  “Look, Marc. I’m going to convert when I get back, and then I’ll be back to being me—Sephie, or you know. Whoever. The point is, it’s okay. My friends are okay. They kept my witch-like abilities secret for years. They can keep it quiet now.”

  He squinted at me, his long lashes darkening his eyes. “You’re not going to do this all the time, are you? Blab to your friends?”

  “No, no! Just these two. That’s it. I promise. I don’t have any other human friends, anyway.”

  “Well, I suppose you are the queen…”

  There was no need to tell him I didn’t intend to stay that way, and I hadn’t figured it out yet, but I wasn’t going back to the Empire, no matter who ordered me home. I wanted here. With my friends. With Cash. Maybe adding a photo or two of my own to the ancestor wall at the Manor. I waited expectantly, a fact he reveled in. My attention locked solely onto his pondering face.

  “… and I am hungry,” he continued. “I don’t really have time to clean up a mess if we’re to be fed before Argentina.”

  “Did someone say Argentina?” Kitty called from the booth. I swear that girl had hearing like a wolf.

  “Someone called me Simon, too. I’m Alvin. Not Simon.”

  Marc’s lips parted and I knew he was going to explain the simple thing, so I shoved my hand over his mouth. “Don’t you dare speak.”

  He mumbled and I narrowed my eyes, daring him to defy me then finally conceded. He breathed a sigh and nodded. I took my hand away.

  “These are my friends, Marc,” I warned. “As you are.”

  “Fine. Friends need shots.” Marc rubbed his hands together and ran his gaze over the bottles of spirits behind the bar. “Let’s see, Gin? No. Don’t want to end up with a sad face, now do we? What about Vodka? Ooh. Tequila. Perfect aperitif before hitting up the Amazon.”

  “I don’t think we have time for shots, Marc.” I’d promised Cash I would only be a few days.

  “Bollocks. The witch hasn’t even hopped on her plane, yet. We’ve got plenty of time.” He pointed at Kitty. “I’ll take five rounds of Tequila Slammers, please, love. With salt. And one of those slices of petite lemons. Five should give me a tickle-buzz, right, love?”
/>   My blank stare just spurred him on.

  “Ten. Maybe we need ten with our metabolisms.”

  I turned to Kitty and held up a finger. “One.”

  Kitty gave Alvin a humorous glance then they both exited the booth, bringing our empty glasses with them. Kitty took her place behind the bar and Alvin stopped by my shoulder.

  “You want something to eat, Miss High and Mighty?” he asked. “The kitchen has just been stocked for the reopening on the weekend.” He paused. “You still eat, right?”

  “Of course! And, yes, I’d love something. Marc, too. Thank you, Alvin.”

  I left them all to get acquainted and stepped outside to update Wren and Cash.

  I used Kitty’s phone to call Wren first, because Eve had said we needed her animal speaking abilities. A Donkey. I shook my head at the thought. Seriously, a talking donkey. I hadn’t seen Wren work her animal magic, yet, but I knew she could communicate with them. And what the hell? I had a sudden thought. What if Eve was lying? And this was all some wild goose chase, because, apart from Winnie the Pooh, whoever heard of a talking donkey?

  Regardless, I contacted Wren and discovered she had just arrived with Lincoln in South Africa, about to embark on their rescuing of elephants from hunters on safari. Lincoln resented Bruce for keeping him hidden in the underground Ludus for most of his childhood meaning he rarely saw the sky. After hearing Marc’s decree at the Tribunal meeting about the Game almost being over, he was living it up with his girl, visiting the best nature had to offer. It made me smile to think that at least some of his time on this planet was happy, but now I was about to interrupt it. Damn.

  When I asked Wren to meet me, she and Lincoln jumped at the chance. Apparently Argentina had one of the best waterfalls in the world. She’d said they could meet us in Buenos Aires in ten hours. That was a few hours sooner than Eve was expected. After I finished making plans with Wren, I called Cash.

  He didn’t pick up.

  Chapter 9

  “We have to go back for Cash,” I said to Marc, who sat at the bar eating salad pieces with a toothpick. “He’s not picking up his phone.”