by Amy Sumida
Kirill took a deep breath and nodded. I could see the path of his resolve as it settled through his body; spreading downward from his straightening shoulders like a cleansing rain. He got to his feet and stumbled a bit. A crumpled pile of denim clutched at his ankles. With a tortured grimace, Kirill yanked up his jeans and fastened them. I met his gaze, and his eyes widened again as starlight illuminated his beautiful face.
“I love you, Lion. Nothing can ever change that.” I took his hand.
Kirill smiled softly at me. “Let's find our family, Tima.”
I took Odin's hand and let my links lead me on.
I found three more of my husbands and Toby; all of my lovers except for Arach. They had been trapped in illusions just like Kirill. None of them were having sex with other women—I suppose that was Lempo's specialty—but they were all held captive in various, horrible ways that featured me. Trevor had been in his wolf form, panting through the pain of my death. Even after I freed him, and he'd shifted back into man form, the Wolf had stayed in charge.
I found Toby battling his twin brother, Naye, who was trying to rape me as he declared over and over that I was his wife. Azrael was trapped within a circle of his own blood; forced to watch as I brutally slaughtered humans. And Re had been fighting his way through a vicious crowd to reach me so he could save me from them. It was a complete recreation of the fall of Atlantis when Re had stood on a boat and watched his wife die at the hands of an angry mob; unable to help her because he had to protect his children. Except for this time, Re hadn't stayed on the boat; he braved the throng and left his children behind to save me. I'd doubtless ponder that further in the future; at atime when I wasn't filled with starlight. For now, I killed the gods who were tormenting my men and then gathered my lovers to hurry onward.
Finally, I found Arach.
“Fuck!” The Wolf growled gutturally as we all spotted my faerie husband.
Arach was pinned to a castle wall; several spears stuck through his body and wings as if he were a massive macabre pincushion. Blood pooled on the stone beneath him and reflected the garish sight. Arach was half shifted into his dragon form; the full one, not his weredragon body. One enormous wing laid limp and broken over a spear shaft. Gargantuan claws grew from forearms that looked thin by comparison, too fragile to hold such weight, yet they gripped more spears stubbornly. Crimson scales covered most of his body and his face was twisted into sharp angles with an elongated jaw that steadily dripped blood.
Those diabolical gods hadn't just detained my men, they'd searched their minds for the best way to torture them; stabbing at old wounds and deep fears to make them bleed long after the torture was done. This display, in particular, was a version of one I'd seen before in Arach's mind. It was how his parents had died. Human hunters had killed them, spearing his half-shifted parents to their castle wall, and young Arach had found them just like this.
As I approached, the god who had been torturing Arach spotted me. He snarled and threw a wooden spear defiantly. I launched my light at him; decapitating him as I ran forward. The illusion faded around me as I went; the castle shifting into cold cement. But the spears remained. All of them had wooden shafts with metal tips. All except for the last spear thrown; that one was completely wood.
And it had gone straight into Arach's heart.
Faeries are immortal, but they can be killed. The easiest way to kill them is to pierce their hearts with a weapon made of an element other than their own. Wood is of Earth and as such, it's deadly to Fire Fey.
I screamed a denial; my cool, starlight calm briefly vanishing. But my star acted even as the spear had been thrown. It beamed starlight down the cord that connected me to my husband; healing Arach's heart over and over as the invading element tried to kill him. With immediate death averted, I incinerated the spears with a wave of my hand—I didn't want to risk doing more damage by pulling them out—and rushed forward to catch Arach as he fell.
Everyone else had been mentally tortured, but the Finnish Gods knew they had to kill my dragon. Even trapped in a vision, Arach would be deadly. If he had completed his shift into a dragon, he could have brought down the entire club. So, they pinned him to the cement wall like a butterfly on display and tormented him as he bled out; saving the death blow for the very last moment.
Arach's half-transformed body was unwieldy, but I was able to lay him down gently. I eased his misshapen head onto my lap. He took a wheezing breath, drawing it across his deadly teeth, and opened his eyes.
“A Thaisce,” Arach grated out. “Are you real?”
“I am,” I assured him. “You're safe now; I've got you. Shift into your man form.”
Arach groaned as he shifted, and I gasped. The wounds were worse than I'd thought. His shift hadn't healed them, and they started bleeding again. I didn't know if faerie shifters were different from god shifters and didn't heal when they transformed or if the wounds had been magically enhanced to remain. I'd never shifted to heal when I was in dragon form; I always used my fire. But Arach had been forced into an incomplete form that wouldn't allow him to breathe fire over his wounds and now, he was so far gone that he needed help.
“I love you, A Thaisce,” Arach whispered as he leaned his bloody cheek into my palm; he didn't even have the strength to touch me. “Take care of our sons. I know you'll raise Rian to be a good king. Tell them”—his voice broke as tears ran down his face; diluting the blood—“tell my sons how much I love them.”
“Shh; you'll tell them yourself,” I hushed him as I laid a hand over the most vicious of his wounds; the one in his heart.
My star had staved off death but it couldn't heal his heart completely with the spear still in it. Now that the spear was gone, it could. Starlight blinded me for a second as it flared out of my hands, but I could still feel the magic moving through Arach. First, it repaired his heart; filling in the whole with fresh tissue. His body jerked against me as he cried out roughly. Bones smoothed into place with little clicks, blood filled his emaciated veins, flesh knitted together, and muscles melded back to their full strength. I felt his heartbeat strengthen against my palm. Then the light faded, and Arach was whole again; lying naked in my arms as he smiled up at me.
“You have always been my treasure, A Thaisce, but today, you are my miracle.” Arach sat up and pulled me into a passionate kiss. “I never should have doubted you.”
“You didn't doubt me,” I protested. “You just didn't know what my magic was capable of, and neither did I. Now, get up, Dragon, we have to find the God Squad and get back to Pride Palace.”
I didn't tell him about Thrud. I knew Arach would abandon the others in a heartbeat to go after Brevyn. I loved my son, but I knew that Thrud wouldn't hurt him. Brevyn himself had assured me that he would be okay; he was with family. So, I had to save the rest of our family before I saved him.
Arach nodded, stood, and helped me to my feet. Blood-red scales spread over his body, wings burst from his back, his hands and feet shifted into claws, horns sprouted down his skull, and a barbed tail lashed around his feet. His sulfuric eyes began to burn with fury and anticipation as he wrapped my hand gallantly around his thick arm.
Then the Dragon began to smile.
Chapter Forty-Four
We found everyone except for Thor.
Sampo was in a shambles; the human followers had fled and every god on the premises was dead. My star had done its job and then faded back into my chest; handing me back control and the full extent of my emotions. Fear for my son hit me first, but I breathed through it and got it under control so I could concentrate on finding Brevyn and getting him away from his psychotic sister.
The God Squad, my lovers, and I stood on Sampo's empty dance floor as I confirmed what I suspected; Thor wasn't trapped in an illusion somewhere, he was gone. As in; left the realm entirely.
I had a link to my ex-boyfriend. Thor had made a Blood to Mouth vow to me years ago that connected us permanently. I had boxed away that link, but it was still t
here, in my mind, waiting for me to flip back the lid and let it shine. I did just that and used the magical cord to track Thor through the Aether to Pride Palace. There, his link aligned with Brevyn's, and I tracked them both through the Aether, where they vanished behind a ward. Thrud thought she was safe in her territory. She didn't know that I had a friend who could demolish any ward created; no matter how powerful it was.
I looked over the gathering of Gods and one Faerie king. The Wolf and Arach were both in their were-forms and were ready for battle. The rest of our group looked nearly as dangerous; magic and malice glinting in their eyes. I had taken all the action, leaving no revenge for them. Now, they were salivating for it.
“Arach, I have to tell you something that will make you furious, but you need to save your anger toward me for later.” I took Arach's taloned claw. “I needed to find everyone before we went after her.”
“What are you talking about, Vervain?” Arach narrowed his eyes at me.
“Thrud took Thor,” I told everyone. “It's been her all along; she's the War Goddess we've been chasing.”
I let them shout and protest and, finally, process.
“I believe that Thrud compelled Thor to take her to Pride Palace, where she then kidnapped Brevyn,” I went on.
“What?!” Arach roared loud enough to shake the building. His eyes started to burn and smoke drifted out of his flared nostrils. “Where is she, Vervain? Where did she take our son?”
“Brevyn told us he'll be fine,” I reminded him. “Thrud is his sister, Arach; she's not going to hurt him. I need you to calm down.”
“The fuck I will!” Arach shouted. “Can you find them? Do you know where they are?”
“I do,” I assured him. “I have a link to Thor as well as one to Brevyn. I know where they are, honey. Please; have some faith in our son and me.”
Arach's body trembled as he closed his eyes and breathed deeply. Dragon smoke filled the room, its scent thick and sharp. Finally, Arach nodded and opened his eyes; they had stopped burning out of control but still held a furious glow. A deadly glow.
“I can feel Thor too,” Odin said. “He's alive, but we need to get to him fast. Thrud has less love for her father than she does for her brother.”
“Torrent, I need you to take us through the Aether and unmake a ward,” I said immediately.
“No problem.” Torrent smiled and it was menacing.
I blinked at that; it was the first time I'd seen Torr look anything but calm and sweet. The illusion I'd found him in flashed through my mind; Torrent's body melded with a giant computer. Acid green lines of code had flowed from the machine into Torrent like poison into his veins. His eyes had gleamed with the same color; blind to all but what was happening to him. Just as with everyone else; the illusion had been personal. The one thing Torrent feared above all others was becoming a thing again; something more machine than person. It looked as if that pain had pushed him into needing to inflict some of his own.
Torrent savagely opened a vein of Internet and our large group joined hands to become a chain. I directed Torrent along the line of my connection to Thor; leading him through the Aether in our bulging vein of Internet. At last, we came to Thrud's ward—a pulsing, powerful thing—and Torrent worked his magic. It took longer than usual, but he finally unmade the ward with a victorious but sinister smile. Our god chain flowed into Thrud's territory unimpeded, and we stepped out of the Aether to move through a tracing room and into a long corridor.
“Thrud's hall,” Odin said sadly.
Odin must have been holding out a small hope that his granddaughter wasn't the villain we'd been told she was.
We stormed through the hall, rapidly scanning every room we passed until we came to a spacious sitting room. Thrud must have heard us coming, but she wasn't panicking. In fact, she sat serenely in a wide, wooden chair with Brevyn on her lap. She grimaced in annoyance when we all entered the room and spread out before her, but she didn't bother to get up. Thor stood directly in front of his daughter; his face a blank mask. Thrud had made Thor into a robot; a thorbot.
And she had flowers in her hair.
“I'm not even going to bother asking how you got past my wards,” Thrud grumbled. “It's a shame, though. I had hoped Ilmarinen was strong enough to hold you, Vervain. I suppose they're all dead?”
“Release my son immediately!” Arach snarled before I could answer.
I grabbed Arach's arm as he started forward.
“I'm okay, Daddy,” Brevyn said bravely but tears trickled down his face.
“Don't be scared, honey,” I repeated Brevyn's own words to him calmly. “Everything will be okay.”
“I know, Mommy.” Brevyn lifted his little chin. “I'm not scared; I'm sad.” He looked at Thrud. “I just found you. I don't want to lose you, Sister. But you've been very bad, and I know you won't get better.”
“You're not losing me,” Thrud said confidently. “I'm going to take care of you now. That woman is not your mother. Your mother is dead; Vervain killed her.”
“No,” Brevyn said softly. “I know who I am, and I know who my family is. My soul may be the same, but this is a new me, and my mommy is right there.” He pointed at me. “And she's going to kick your butt.”
I chuckled and nodded at him in approval. “That's right, baby.”
“We'll talk about this later,” Thrud muttered to Brevyn and then looked at her father. “Thor!” Magic vibrated through the air. “Kill Vervain!”
Thor's eyes widened in horror as he moved forward. But his movements were jerky and his hands wouldn't lift from his sides. The Blood to Mouth vow is an ancient magic; a sacred one. Nothing could break it. Thor had made a vow to protect me forever. He couldn't hurt me even if he wanted to.
Thor stumbled to a stop and grinned at me triumphantly. He even gave me a wink; that sassy Viking.
“Thor!” Thrud screeched. “Kill her!”
Thor crossed his massive arms, took up an immovable sailor stance, and smiled wider.
We surged past him as Thrud scrambled to recover. She lurched to her feet and pulled a dagger from her belt. We all staggered to a stop as she placed the dagger against my son's throat. My blood went icy and I shivered as light glinted off Thrud's blade. Brevyn held my gaze steadily and didn't cry; he looked somber but not scared. I don't know who he was so confident in; his sister or me.
“I will sooner see him dead, to be born again, than give my brother back to you, you evil bitch!” Thrud hissed.
“Please don't do this, Thrud,” Odin begged. “He's just a child.”
Behind us, Thor trembled, but he couldn't break free of Thrud's compulsion magic. Arach roared in fury and impotence; his claws clenched so tightly that blood dripped from his fists. Trevor and Kirill growled menacingly, Re glowed with burning rage, Azrael went into his Death Angel mode, and a cloud of darkness started to roll and boil around Toby. And that was only my men. The Squad also prepared their significant magical attacks, but none of us could move with that knife poised at Brevyn's throat.
Brevyn laid his small hand on Thrud's cheek and stared at her sadly. “Goodbye, Sister. I love you.”
Then my son shifted into a little red dragon and clawed the hell out of Thrud's face; using it as leverage to launch himself upward. She shrieked, dropping the dagger as Brevyn shot into the air. Thrud's hands went to her ravaged face, hovering over the hanging flaps of skin as blood gushed down her chest.
Then, nearly everyone there blasted Thrud. Only Thor remained restrained. Thrud flew backward into a wall; splintering furniture along the way. Her body broke and twisted, her hair vaporized, and her skin turned black in a second. But still, Thrud lived, and as soon as we let up, her body started to repair itself. We closed in for another round.
“How many gods did you kill?” I growled as I stepped up to her.
“Enough to make me strong enough to face you.” Thrud stumbled to her feet; her charred skin starting to lighten even as it oozed assorted fluids.
“Not nearly strong enough!” Arach—in full dragon form—snarled at Thrud's corpse.
A mournful cry came from behind us, and Brevyn descended out of his aerial circling. But my son wasn't going to his sister's body, nor had he made the sad sound. Brevyn headed to his uncle, who had once been his stepfather. With Thrud's death, Thor had been freed and had instantly fallen to his knees to weep. He didn't even glance at his daughter's body. He had heard it all; it wasn't necessary for him to see it. My son landed beside Thor and shifted back into a little boy.