The Cloaked Maiden: A Reverse Harem Romance (Rise of the Ash Gods Book 2)

by Cara Wylde

  “Fair point. For what, though?”

  “Maybe they’re more organized than you think.”

  Valentina nodded. She’d already crossed the yard, looking left and right at all times. She reached the front door of the temple, found it locked, took a step back, and used a simple unlocking sigil. The door opened wide before her.

  “Too easy. Don’t you think?”

  Ravenna sighed in response.

  Val never thought she’d say this to herself, but for the first time since she’d discovered who Ravenna was, she felt grateful to have her attached to her energy field, talking in her head. She didn’t feel alone anymore. At least, she had someone to distract her with small talk.

  “So, where have you been? Too many gods around, huh?”

  Ravenna chuckled. “Isn’t that what you wanted all along? For me to shut up? Your new friends are giving me a hard time.”

  “They’re not my friends...”

  “Your new slaves, then? Because you’re going to card them all and then they’ll all obey the Keeper. Soon, you won’t be just a Keeper of the Spades. You’ll be the High Keeper of the Trionfi.”

  “There’s no such thing as a High Keeper of the Trionfi. Never has been. There are separate covens, ranks, rules... You can’t just go ahead and call yourself whatever strikes your fancy.”

  “Not even when you’re the one who saved the entire Tarot?”

  “I haven’t saved anything. Not yet.”

  They were silent for a while. The temple seemed empty. Valentina walked carefully, mentally cursing the girl who’d thought to leave her high heeled boots as a souvenir beside Nergal’s bed, then cursing herself for having wanted to impress the four gods so much that she’d actually put them on. She should have come in her sports shoes. The damn heels were making her life very complicated right about now.

  “Aren’t you forgetting something?” Ravenna sounded exasperated.

  Valentina rolled her eyes at her own stupidity. Focusing on her breath, she tensed the muscles in her legs and abs, then gently pushed herself off the floor. Floating three inches above the ground, she started moving faster and more confidently toward the library. She didn’t make a sound. She hadn’t done it in a while. Why hadn’t she? It felt so good! She pushed the door to the library open and froze in place. Sitting around the long, rectangular table in the middle of the room, three witches were reading at the dim light of a lamp. At the creak of the heavy door, they all looked up and fixed Valentina with big, empty eyes. At first glance, they looked normal enough. A girl and two boys, all probably a bit older than Val. Smooth features, slightly furrowed brows, all three dressed in the purple robe of their coven. Their eyes, though... The more she looked into them, the more she felt like she was slipping, falling off a high cliff right into the heart of the abyss.

  “What do I do?”

  “Just keep going,” said Ravenna. “Remember what Death told you. They can’t hurt you even if they tried.”

  “You heard that?”

  “I hear everything, sister. If you can’t hear me or feel me, it doesn’t mean I’m not here. And this cloak he gave you... Ugh! It’s killing me! As much as I appreciate that it’s keeping us safe, I can’t wait for you to throw it the hell away so I can think clearly again.”

  “Is that why you sound so tired?” Valentina floated toward the closest shelves, never taking her eyes off the Keepers.

  “Yes. It smells like Death!”

  Val chuckled. “Cinnamon and cloves, you mean?”

  “No, like Death. Like... if you keep wearing it, I’m going to fade into nothingness.”

  Val was silent as she started looking for the books she needed, her slightly trembling fingers touching the gold and silver engraved book spines. As she went deeper between the shelves, she couldn’t see the three young Keepers anymore. She had to accept the situation and move on with her task. Ravenna was right. If Nergal said they couldn’t hurt her, then they couldn’t. She grabbed a book then moved on to the next row. She had no idea what she needed exactly, but she had every intention to take every book that mentioned Walk-Ins. Oh, and she definitely shouldn’t forget to grab something about how to summon the tarot cards in the flesh.

  “But that’s what you’ve always wanted, right?” Ravenna continued, sadness in her voice. “For me to go away for good.”

  “N-no. Okay, maybe there was a time when I did want that. But I didn’t know you back then. I didn’t know who you were.”

  “Did you hear that?”

  Valentina froze again, her feet still not touching the ground. She turned around slowly. One of the boys was watching her from afar, leaning against the bookshelves at the end of the row. His face was stern, his eyes fixed on her, his jaw tight. He didn’t look like he was going to do anything but watch her, so she dragged in a breath and went back to studying the book spines. She’d chosen three books already, all on Walk-Ins, and it was time to find something that covered her other topic of interest. Loki would never forgive her if she walked – or floated – out of there without a solution to his predicament. And she agreed with him wholeheartedly, albeit for different reasons. He wanted to be able to touch her, kiss her, and Goddess knew what else... She wanted him and Veles to be able to help her for real in case anything happened. Or was she just fooling herself? Was there any chance that, deep down, she wanted the same things as Loki?

  “Another one,” Ravenna warned.

  The girl had left the reading table, too, and was now standing at the other end of the row. Valentina gulped. She felt trapped but she couldn’t let them see it. Slowly, she floated toward her, eyes searching the shelves. When she was a few inches away from her, Val looked right into her lost eyes.

  “Something wrong?”

  “Yes,” the Keeper hissed like a snake.

  Valentina cocked an eyebrow. “What are you going to do about it?”

  The girl’s nose twitched. She stepped away from Val in disgust, clearing her path.

  “That thing you’re wearing. It smells like death.”

  Val smirked. “Good. That’s exactly what it’s supposed to smell like.” She floated past her, heart beating wildly.

  Another few rows of books, and Valentina found what she was looking for. She floated out of the library, seven old, heavy books secured in her arms. She could barely hold them, but she didn’t want to stop for a spell that would make them feel lighter. She couldn’t afford to be distracted from her watchers, not even for a second. The three Keepers followed her silently, like three sentinels escorting her out. With a sigh, she let her feet touch the floor and walked the rest of the way. Floating took too much focus and she’d started to get tired. The click-clack of her heels echoed through the stone chambers of the temple, rose up to the tall ceiling, and tumbled in waves to the ground. Oh, she was loud! But she hadn’t managed to go unnoticed anyway, so why bother? She bet that by now all the creatures inhabiting the Keepers’ bodies knew she was there. The Walk-Ins certainly had a way of communicating with each other.

  She wasn’t wrong. Just as she was getting closer to the front door, two figures stepped out of the shadows. Two men dressed in purple, one in his fifties and the other one much older, probably in his sixties. Valentina stopped in her tracks.

  “We can’t let you go,” one of them said in a low, tense voice.

  “Too bad, because you will. I’m taking the books with me.”

  “This isn’t about the books.”

  “Oh?”

  The older man stepped forward. “We know who you are. You killed three of us.”

  “Three?”

  Ravenna counted for her. “The manticore and the mermaid in Italy, and the nāga here.”

  “I didn’t kill the nāga. Magny did.”

  “I don’t think they care much about details.”

  Valentina dragged in a deep breath and released it slowly.

  “I’m walking out of here and you cannot stop me.�
� Confidently, head held high and books clutched to her chest, she strolled right toward them. “Move!”

  The old man drew a complex sigil in the air, murmured something under his breath, and pushed the sigil into her body.

  Valentina stopped dead in her tracks, expecting to feel the sigil and the spell like a cold shower. But nothing happened. It was as if the Keeper’s magic hadn’t even reached her. She smirked and started walking again. This time, the other man let red energy pool into his palms until he was holding two red spheres at his sides. With a grunt, he threw them at Valentina. She didn’t stop and she didn’t falter. She didn’t try to dodge them. The red energy dissipated the moment it was a few inches away from her black cloak. Unimpressed and more confident than ever, she pushed past the Keepers and pushed the door wide open.

  “I could hurt you,” she threw over her shoulder, “But I won’t. I will make you leave the hosts first, and then I will send you back to where you belong.”

  “He won’t let you.”

  Valentina turned on her heels.

  “Who won’t let me?”

  Out of the blue, the men seemed almost cheerful. They were behaving as if they knew something she didn’t know. And that gave them an advantage.

  Val took a step toward them. “Who won’t let me?”

  The three Keepers in the library had joined the men, and the girl stepped forward and hissed in Val’s face.

  “The one who brought us here. The one who is not one, but many. You killed three of us, and for that, he will squash you like a bug, Valentina De Rossi. He will rip your consciousness out of your body, and then he will take over. He will become you, and you will become him.”

  A chill ran up her spine. Even with Nergal’s cloak on, she didn’t feel safe anymore.

  “And does this One have a name?” It was a miracle she could still speak! “Many... What do you mean he is many?”

  The snake girl laughed. “Il Ammasso.”

  Valentina backed away and almost stumbled down the stairs. She regained her balance quickly and turned to floating before she broke an ankle. She ran out of there as fast as she could. She looked behind when she reached the gates, but they weren’t following her. She knew for a fact that Nergal’s cloak had saved her life. And gotten her the books she needed.

  She crossed the street in a hurry, the sound of her heels on the pavement loud enough to raise the dead. Jupiter met her halfway and caught her in his arms. She let him hold her and sobbed silently in his chest. After a minute, she sniffed and looked up into his eyes. Nergal touched her arm, and she finally calmed down. He took the books from her.

  “What happened?”

  “They have a leader. They call him Il Ammasso. That’s Italian for... the Cluster.”

  “Cluster?” Nergal rubbed his chin. “Like... more of those creatures linked together? More than one?”

  Valentina nodded. She wiped a tear from the corner of her eye and pushed herself away from Jupiter’s oh-so-strong chest. This was not a good time to get her knees turned to putty.

  “They said he is not one, but many. And he wants me.”

  Nergal cupped her face, cradling her flushed cheek in his warm hand. The adrenaline had made the blood rush to her cheeks and lips, and her blue eyes shine brighter.

  “Whoever he is, he won’t have you. You’re safe with me.”

  “With us.” Jove wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him possessively.

  Nergal cocked an eyebrow, gave him a mysterious smirk, then walked away. It didn’t matter. Soon, he’d have her lithe arms around him and her round, firm breasts pressed against his back, holding on to him for dear life as he gave her a ride to the hotel. All in all, it hadn’t been such a bad day. If anything, Valentina had managed to distract him from the real reason why he was in Cairo.

  CHAPTER TEN

  “This is impossible! I can’t... I can’t do this!”

  Valentina threw the book in frustration. It landed on the bed, next to Magny, so violently that it made him bounce off his round bum. He looked up at her, exasperated.

  “Keep trying. You don’t expect to learn a complicated summoning spell in a day, do you?”

  She paced the floor. “It’s this stupid cloak. It keeps me safe, but it also diminishes my powers! I can’t even hear Ravenna anymore.”

  “Now you miss Ravenna?” He shook his head and tsked.

  “She helped me last night at the temple. Having her with me felt... comforting. Maybe she’s not that bad, you know?”

  “You have very poor memory, Keeper. Have you forgotten all the times she pushed you to make questionable choices? And how she took over the Test? You almost failed because of her.”

  “But I didn’t. Maybe it was fate you know? Maybe it was supposed to happen, and even though I didn’t like it then, she was only doing what was, in fact, right. I met all the gods I need now to restore the Trionfi Chiari.”

  “You’re giving her too much credit... She tortured you for years!”

  Valentina sighed. “You’re right.” She pinched the bridge of her nose. “I’m being silly. I can’t get this right. I can feel Death’s cloak suppressing so much of my power... Too much! If I want to do this, I have to take it off.”

  She reached for the clasp holding it in place on her shoulders. Magny poofed himself on her arm, hanging with his tiny hands wrapped around her wrist, just in time to stop her.

  “I don’t want to hold your hair again! I refuse to hold your hair as you puke! No more of that nonsense! You’re not taking it off!”

  She laughed and shook him off. “Okay, okay.” She quickly changed the subject. “You know, I saw something... When we were in Nergal’s room and Gideon was trying to convince him to help me, I opened my eyes for a second, and I saw them a day or so before, at the kitchen counter, talking about a job Gideon wanted to hire him for.”

  “What sort of job?”

  “Well, you know what he does. He’s a hired assassin.”

  “Right.” Magny shuddered. “I honestly don’t get women. Human women, at least. You know the guy is dangerous, but you still swoon over him.”

  Valentina blushed and looked away. She made herself busy with the book.

  “I’m not swooning over anyone. He’s not that bad. I mean... he helped me. And he treats me well.”

  “Does he, though? Does he? Maybe I should call you sweetpea from now on, and you’ll like me better.”

  She rolled her eyes. “Okay, maybe I’m biased. Maybe I want to see the good in everyone.”

  “You can’t see the good in a man who is Death. He doesn’t call himself Death, Keeper. He is Death. And those black eyes...” A chill ran up his spine. “I don’t get it. I don’t.”

  How had this conversation taken such an unexpected and uncomfortable turn? She steered it back in the right direction.

  “Anyway, Gideon was trying to convince him to kill someone for him. And Nergal kept refusing. I’m just saying, Magny. Maybe he only kills bad people.”

  “Yes, sure. You keep doing that thing you’re doing. You’re very good at it.”

  “What thing?”

  “Lying to yourself!”

  “We don’t know the whole story. Gideon was talking about someone who kept dying, but... not really dying? It sounded awful. Like he was asking Nergal to do this person a favor because the pain and suffering was too much.”

  “How about we focus on our own problems, and let them deal with theirs?” He tipped his chin toward the book in her hand. “Try again?”

  Val shook her head. “But their problems do concern us. A lot. I have to convince them to get inside their cards, remember? I have two gods right here, under my nose. And it was all by chance. I wasn’t looking for them. I can’t miss this opportunity, Magny.”

  She set the book on the coffee table and grabbed her deck. She’d been practicing on the Suit of Swords, which was scattered all over the bed. She placed them back in th
e deck and headed to the door.

  Magny poofed himself on her shoulder. “Where are we going?”

  “To see Nergal.”

  He slapped his forehead. “You’re not listening. You never listen.”

  “Shush.”

  She stopped in the middle of the corridor, closed her eyes, and whispered a quick spell to locate Jove. The God of the Sky had lifted the spell he’d put on her and now she could easily locate him and follow him, if she wished. But that was not her current intention. Since last night, he’d taken it upon himself to keep an eye on her and make sure she was safe at all times. He’d watched her sleep most of the night and had left her alone only after she’d had breakfast in the morning. Now, she wanted to know where he was so she could skillfully avoid him.

  “We’re good. He’s not in the hotel.”

  “Are you sure?”

  “Yes. I don’t know where he is, but he’s not here, and that’s what matters.”

  She took a cab and was at the Sphinx nightclub half an hour later, heart beating wildly in her chest as she got off and walked to the front entrance. Nergal’s bike was in the parking lot, which meant he was home. It was strange that he preferred to live in a back room instead of getting a hotel room, but it seemed to be one of his quirks. If she’d read him well, he was the kind of guy who went for the familiar instead of the new and exciting, which was very strange for someone in his position. A god who’d rather not step out of his comfort zone? Who would’ve thought! She was probably the most exciting thing that had happened to him in a while.

  Just as she was reaching for the door, it flew open, almost hitting her in the face. Nergal burst out in a hurry, and it was a second before he realized she was there, yelling at him to watch where he was going.

  “What are you doing here? Where’s Gideon? He was supposed to...”

  “I have a bodyguard now? Come on!”

  He let out a deep, annoyed sigh. “You’re in danger, sweetpea. Didn’t that snake creature from last night tell you the One who is Many wants your body?”

  She crossed her arms over her chest. “If the Cluster were in Cairo, I wouldn’t be standing here now. I wouldn’t have met you at all. He would’ve swallowed me up and spat me out the second I stepped foot at the temple.”