by Amy Sumida
But he wasn't just the Wolf anymore. This was Trevor's soul; all of it. Or at least what remained of it. He gave me a soft smile as we pulled ourselves along the spiritual cord linking us. We glided together easily; two soul balloons on the same string.
I immediately laid my hand to his chest; seeking the emptiness inside him. I didn't have to search long. As soon as I touched him, Trevor's spiritual chest opened and revealed a cavity inside; right where his heart would have been. His real heart wasn't missing, but I understood the significance. Trevor had given me his soul's heart; the most precious part of himself. And he'd taken nothing in return.
I shivered with both love and pain for him, but he laid his hand to my cheek and smiled. Trevor had already known—of course, he had—and he had been at peace with it. I tried to speak to him, but without our physical bodies or the Void to give us forms, we had no vocal chords. Still, he knew what I wanted to say, and I felt his response. Trevor had known what he was doing; he had entered our bond with more awareness than I had. He had been happy with his heart inside me. It was only the Wolf who didn't understand that sometimes you give up pieces of yourself for love, and if the love was great enough, you never feel the lack.
But now, the Wolf understood.
I steadied myself and took a good look at the empty space in Trevor's chest. Then—holding his gaze—I pushed my hand into my chest and closed it around my heart—the nine-pointed star. This was both a spiritual thing and an actual thing; a symbol of my souls along with the very real power of the star. Magic stays with us, no matter what form we take.
Because of the intricacies of my triple-souls, I had to focus intently on which piece I took and what magic I took with it. I was so focused on picking the perfect amount that the pain took me by surprise.
I shivered and my soul burst with shards of light as a searing pain shot through me. It was soul pain, not body pain, and I hadn't realized just how much that could hurt. But all pain is, is mental stimulus, and a large part of what makes us who we are is the collection of energy within our brains. Tearing a part of my soul away was excruciating, and it was all Trevor could do to stand there and witness it. I could feel his anguish over the horror of having to watch me hurt myself to heal him; see it on his face.
But I wasn't really hurting myself; I was balancing us. And my souls—all three of them—knew it. As I pulled a piece of my soul free, the piece of Trevor's soul that had been clinging outside of my goddess soul for all of this time slid in to replace it. Peace settled over me as the nine-pointed star inside my chest shimmered with waves of magic before settling into a shining beacon that glowed through my spiritual form. I smiled at Trevor as his eyes widened. Yes; this was exactly what we needed.
Then I placed a new heart inside his chest.
Trevor's soul shivered as mine had with the severing, but he was experiencing the most sublime pleasure. I could feel ripples of it coming off him; see the bliss in his smile. He seemed to grow then; expanding and brightening with power. I heard the howl of wolves and the cry of other night creatures around us, and then Trevor's soul took on a pale glow; like a full moon in a night sky. He smiled as bright as that moon and then laid a soft kiss on my lips.
When we had been at the cabin, I thought we had reached a place of profound communication that we couldn't surpass. But floating free with him above our bodies—the eyes of our souls connected—Trevor said more to me than he could ever put into words or push into my mind. I was suddenly so very grateful to be there; no matter what steps had led us to that moment. I would do it all again just to listen to his soul.
We slowly let go of each other and floated back above our bodies. We used the cords hanging there to pull our souls down into our physical selves. I settled into my body like I would a warm bed on a cold night. As I sat up and inhaled deeply, I heard Trevor's matching gasp. We turned to each other with serene smiles.
“It worked,” Odin declared.
“It worked,” I confirmed as I stood up and went to my wolf. “How do you feel?”
“I feel amazing,” the Wolf said and then laughed. “I feel—”
The Wolf howled and the sound echoed through the stone room and beyond. The world outside stirred and creatures who should have been sleeping the day away lifted their heads and cried back. The Wolf's skin glowed with inner moonlight and his eyes glinted silver beneath the honey; like an antique mirror. He held his arms out wide and threw back his head; his dark curls snapping with energy. When his arms came forward, they wrapped me up and lifted me off my feet.
“I can feel them all!” the Wolf declared. “In their burrows and dens. In the God Realm and the Human. I feel their hearts beating and their souls stirring. I can touch them and call to them. This is magnificent!”
I laughed and hugged him tighter.
“Vhat did you give him?” Kirill asked.
“My Dark Dominion,” I said. “A piece of my Moon magic. It just felt right.”
The Wolf smiled at me as he caressed my face. “Thank you, Minn Elska. This is the most wondrous gift.” His hand slid to my belly. “Almost as precious as this one.”
Minn Elska. I stopped and stared into his eyes. I saw the Wolf there—I would always be able to recognize the glint of him now—but it was Trevor who stared back at me. I smiled radiantly at him and stroked a hand over his cheek—thanking the Wolf—before I spoke to the man.
“I wish you had told me,” I whispered. “Just smacked me over the head and showed me what a fool I was being. We would have done this sooner.”
Trevor was kind enough not to tell me what I already knew; that he had been trying to tell me. That it had been obvious all along.
“It doesn't matter anymore,” he said instead. “Things worked out the way they were supposed to. Our son, our souls, and this magic inside me; everything is as it should be.”
“That magic was meant to be yours,” I said. “I'm glad that I was the one to give it to you. And now, my wolf is bonded to my goddess soul. She has a home, where before, she was left on the outskirts. I feel stronger. In fact, I think I want to go for a run.”
“I as well,” Trevor agreed.
Trevor shifted into his full wolf form; a silky black wolf with honey-silver eyes. And just like that, the Wolf was back. But he looked different now. Instead of seeing the Wolf inside the man, I was seeing the man inside the wolf, and both of them had changed. I smiled brightly at him—trailing my fingers through his thick pelt—and then shifted too; into a white wolf.
The Wolf brushed up against me, and I felt true destiny roll over us. Trevor was right; this was what was meant to be. Not Katila ruling Hell, but his pushing us into becoming whole. The Hindu god had played his part and compelled us into doing something that should have been done years ago. And he'd given me pieces of my husband that I hadn't been aware I'd been missing.
We should thank him... right before we killed him.
I howled, and the Wolf joined me. Then Odin brushed open an edge of the salt circle and motioned us out with a grand wave of his arm. The Wolf raced ahead, and I chased happily after my mate. It may not have been night yet, but that was the beauty of being gods; we weren't restricted by moonlight. Especially not when we held the moon inside us.
The Wolf and I ran down the spiraling stone stairs and out into the bright sunlight.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
We'd taken care of the Trevor-possession problem but we were back to square one with catching Katila. The run cleared my head and gave me a chance to process things simply; with an animal's perspective. What does a hunter do when she can't hunt? Elatha's suggestion kept rolling through my mind; make him come to you. It was another type of hunting—a lazy one, in my opinion—trapping. To set a trap, you need bait. I had to dangle something in front of Katila that he wanted and make him come for it in his physical form.
So, what did Katila want that I had? The answer was simple; me. Katila's insanity had found a new focus. He desired two things now; revenge—by
killing the Demons and claiming Hell—and me as his queen. Our conversation that morning had given me an idea for the perfect trap. The key to getting an animal to take your bait is making them feel safe. They have to know that they can grab that tasty morsel without any repercussions. And I had told Katila exactly where and when he could reach my tasty morselness and find me alone. His devious attempt to learn my secrets had baited his own trap.
Giving Trevor a piece of my moon magic had reminded me of its other aspects; mainly its Lunacy. I could indeed work with insanity. In fact, I could magnify Katila's madness and drive him completely over the edge. Whether or not that would be an improvement was up for debate.
A lot of debate.
When Trevor and I got back from our run, we shifted into human and took a power nap. Soul work and shifting can take a lot out of you; especially when you followed it with strenuous exercise. When we woke up, we had a bit more exercise in bed. Trevor had learned a few things from watching his wolf with me, and the sex was a surprising mix of aching tenderness and wicked wildness. Honestly, I didn't want to leave our bed, but we'd languished in each other's arms for far too long already.
Trevor groaned as I reached for my cell phone. “Already? Can't we have just one more round of searing sex before we have to deal with everyone?”
I laughed as I texted. “It will take them awhile to get here.” I pushed Send on the group text and set the phone down on the bedside table. “I think we might be able to squeeze in one more round.”
“Oh, there will be a lot of squeezing,” Trevor growled as he dove beneath the covers.
Half an hour later, the sounds of arriving gods drifted up the stairs to us. But Trevor and I were already dressed and heading down. I didn't want my other men to have to come up and get us. I was still a little embarrassed about that whole scene at the cabin. I have no idea how I'll ever look Fenrir in the eyes again. Speaking of eyes.
“I'm glad your eyes have gone back to normal,” I said to Trevor as we headed into the dining hall.
“My eyes?” Trevor asked. “What do you mean?”
“The Moon was shining through them when you first received the magic,” I said. “It lightened them to a silvery gold; very beautiful, but it wasn't you. I would have missed your honey-colored eyes.”
“I would have missed them too; mainly because you love them,” he said after nuzzling my face affectionately. “But they would have been a small price to pay.”
“For what?” Pan asked.
“Obviously for the magic she gave him, you dolt,” Horus drawled. “I swear; those Vodou women have made you dumber.”
“A small price to pay,” Pan repeated Trevor's words with a Pan-grin.
Odin had already explained what had happened with Katila—and what it had prompted us to do—to the Squad before we arrived. They were shocked but also impressed. Soul magic was faerie territory; it was difficult for gods to perform. Only Odin had managed it so far. I've done the soul magic too, but I'm not just a goddess; I'm also a faerie and that makes it much easier for me. Anyway, since everyone was caught up, I told them my plan.
“When Katila was pretending to be Trevor, he asked me to confide a secret in him.” I grimaced. “I told him that I like to go to my house in Hawaii in the middle of the night and stare at the stars.”
“Fascinating,” Horus said dryly. “I'm so honored that you shared that with us.”
“I'm getting tired of smacking you,” Kate said to her husband.
“I'll never tire of receiving your smacks,” Horus said with a smirk.
“What d'ya know?” Finn snorted. “Horus is a masochist.”
“Oh, I spotted that a mile away,” Re said.
“Katila thinks that it's his destiny to rule Hell,” I went on; completely ignoring them. “He believes the Pasha was handed down to him for just that reason. But now, he also believes that I'm meant to rule beside him. He offered me a place at his side, and he's crazy enough to think that I'll accept.”
“You vant to sit in your backyard on chance zat he shows up?” Kirill asked dubiously.
“He will show up,” I said confidently. “Katila's too confident in his own success. I gave him the perfect place to find me alone. In his mind, I said it to him for a reason—even though I thought he was Trevor at the time. He'll be thinking that it was a subconscious invitation; that I've given him a rendezvous location, and I'll show up when I've decided to accept his offer.”
“You can't go immediately,” Hades murmured thoughtfully. “It would be too suspicious.”
“I was thinking I'd give it two days,” I said.
“And then what?” Finn asked in his light Irish lilt. “We surround you and jump him when he appears?”
I shrugged and nodded. “I thought I might hit him with a little more crazy too.”
“What does that mean?” Mrs. E asked warily.
“Her lunacy magic,” Trevor said. “It's an aspect of the Moon.”
“You want to make a crazy man even more insane?” Thor asked with horror. “What do you think you'll accomplish? Besides making him more volatile?”
“He's a functioning lunatic right now,” I pointed out. “But if I tip the scales a bit, he may become a drooling, gibbering mess. Easy pickings.”
“Gross,” Artemis muttered.
“I don't know, Vervain,” Odin said. “I agree with Thor; you could make Katila even more dangerous.”
“It probably won't be necessary anyway,” Blue pointed out. “With all of us there, he won't stand a chance.”
I glanced at Blue and then back for a longer look. He lifted a brow at me. I looked over his handsome face and deliberately brought up the memory of one of our most intimate moments in that wrong timeline. I saw it play out again, but my heart didn't race. Blood didn't rush to my face. I didn't get the least bit aroused. I smiled at Blue, and he gave me a soft smile back.
Hurriedly, I transferred my stare to Thor. The same thing happened; I could remember us together, but I felt no guilt or lust. It was just a harmless memory. Thor was a friend; nothing more. I loved him, but it wasn't the same love I'd once had. Things had changed. The Wolf had changed them.
I finally let my gaze settle on Trevor, and he gave me a secret smile. He knew. My pain was gone, my heart focused, and my love for my men was stronger than ever. All because Trevor had reclaimed his place in my life. A memory flared in my mind as I stared at my husband; one I had no shame or doubt over. I let the shivers take hold of me and simply enjoyed the ride.
I saw the glint of the Wolf in Trevor's eyes and knew that he was remembering too. My body tightened and my gaze went soft as I reached for him. Trevor took my hand and the memory became sharper. Shared between us; it spread out to blanket the room. It was only Trevor and I. No; the Wolf and I. We were back in that cabin. He was moving inside me; his face buried in my hair. Thrusting. Biting. Squeezing. He was doing that thing with his hips; grinding his pelvis into me. My legs were shaking—
“Save the insanity for a last resort,” Azrael said; jolting Trevor and I out of the memory. “If it looks as if he might escape, drop it on him.”
“All right,” I whispered and then took a deep breath.
Trevor smirked at me, and I winked at him.
I tore my gaze away from Trevor to announce, “There's one more thing that I forgot to mention; I asked Katila how he's able to take a god's magic.”
Every eye in the room focused on me.
“He told me that he's special,” I said with a grimace. “Is it possible that he was born with the ability?”
“Doubtful.” Odin frowned. “I've heard rumors of spells so terrible that they could alter the balance of magic. As a demon killer, it's possible that Dhumorna has come across such spells. But the price for them is too high to make them worthwhile.”
“A mother will do anything for her son,” I said as my hand strayed to my stomach.
“What's that?” Pan pointed at my hand. “Why are you holding your belly and
talking about children?”
“You didn't tell them?” I asked Odin.
“It's not my news to share,” Odin said softly.
I looked at Trevor. “Go ahead, Honey-Eyes.”
Trevor beamed at the God Squad and declared, “We're going to have a baby!”
Congratulations were given; everyone standing up to either hug Trevor or shake his hand. I was surrounded by excited goddesses who were already touching my belly as if Vero was big enough to be felt. That's the one thing I never got used to with being pregnant; my belly becoming public territory. Even strangers feel like it's okay to walk up and give me a stroke. So bizarre.
After the well-wishing was done, I got us back onto the subject of trapping Katila. We couldn't figure out how he was taking demon magic, but we were certain that he was. That was all we needed to know for now. We could figure out the rest after we killed him.
“Who wants to come along?” I asked.
The entire Squad looked at each other, then at me, and nodded. It was going to be a full house.
Chapter Forty
We waited two days to set our trap, and on the second morning, demons started dropping all over Hell.
Luke called—an actual call and not a text—frantic because six of his demons had collapsed from being pulled into possession. It was much sooner than Luke had expected it to happen, but when magic was involved, you couldn't depend on it to stick to a schedule. Because of Luke's decree, none of the demons were alone when they were yanked away, and their companions brought them straight to Luke's mansion. Luke had used his link with them to call the demons back to their bodies, but he hadn't been able to save them all. A pair of demon lovers had been together when both of them were taken. They hadn't been found till hours later; after Luke had taken a head count and realized they were missing. Both of them were dead.