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

by Cara Wylde

  Nergal cocked an eyebrow.

  “How do you walk around like that? With those black tar eyes? Ordinaries should be scared shitless.”

  He laughed out loud. “How do you walk around with a hobgoblin on your shoulder?”

  Magny rolled his eyes. “I have a name. Seriously, you might want to learn it at some point.”

  “They can’t see him,” Val said.

  “Exactly. I’m a god, you’re a witch. I can do some cool stuff, you can do some witchy things, but Ordinaries... Oh, Ordinaries have a special kind of power. They only see what they wish to see. Few of them are awake enough to see my real eyes when they look at me. So don’t worry about me, sweetpea. No one will try to exorcise me anytime soon.”

  “Ah! So, you remember.”

  “That you called me a demon when we first met? Yeah, I remember.”

  He hopped on his motorbike, and Valentina ran quickly after him.

  “Why did you kill that guy then? I remember I was at an airport, he was behind me, boarding a private jet, and you were a mile away, on a roof. Head shot. Why? It can’t possibly be for the money.”

  Nergal was silent for a moment. Eventually, he turned to her, a second helmet in his hand. Hesitantly, she took it from him.

  “Are you asking why I do what I do? Why don’t you come see for yourself? Hop on.”

  “Wait a minute!” Magny protested. “I’m not getting on that thing.” He poofed himself on the pavement, away from them.

  “Magny, come on! It’ll be fun. You can hold onto my cloak.”

  Nergal laughed as he revved the engine. “Your cloak, sweetpea? Getting possessive, are we?”

  “I’m going to wait for you at the bar,” the hobgoblin said. Not going with them probably meant he was going to miss something juicy, but Valentina would tell him everything later. Right? Or he could let them get there, and then poof himself at her location. After all, that was what he’d done when he’d found her in Cairo. Neat and inconspicuous. “Yeah, I’m going to get a drink and wait for you. Don’t forget to pick me up, though, okay?” There was no need for her or Nergal to know about his plan.

  “All right. Don’t drink too much.” She winked at him. “And stay away from the girls.”

  He grinned. “You’re the only girl in my life, Keeper of the Spades.”

  Valentina laughed. She laughed even louder when the bike shot down the alley and onto the main street. Death’s cloak danced in waves behind her, the rhythm imposed by the speed of the roaring bike. She pressed herself against Nergal’s back, wondering if he could feel the beat of her heart. His simple presence was like getting a shot of adrenaline, and riding with him almost make her too high to cope. She’d always considered herself a normal girl. Okay, not normal, because she was a witch. But a young, well-behaved woman who wasn’t impressed by a man’s attitude or possessions. When girls her age dreamed of their first boyfriends and what cars they would drive, Valentina dreamed of passing the Test and becoming a High Keeper of the Spades. Compared to her high goals, she found most other things trivial. Now, as she was rushing through the streets of Cairo with this gorgeous and mysterious man well-secured in her arms and his angry, sexy motorcycle vibrating between her thighs, she wondered... Maybe she’d gotten it all wrong. Maybe it was about the little, superficial things in life. A handsome boyfriend and a cool ride. That was normal, not doing witchcraft and protecting the Tarot from invisible enemies. If she’d thought like that three or five years ago, maybe things could’ve been different now. She would have been a shallow girl with shallow dreams, and then no one would have expected her to save the Mysteries of the Trionfi and the whole world from some fourth-dimensional creatures who came in clusters and possessed people. No one could have had any expectations from her, Dante wouldn’t have told her to save the Suit of Spades as he fought the smoke monster, and she would have lived a shallow life, free of complicated decisions and endless worries.

  But then again... That would have meant she’d never have met Loki, Veles, Jove, and Nergal. She would have never seen Italy, London, and Cairo. Some other girl would have been here, in her place, squeezing Death’s middle for dear life, marveling at how tout his abs felt under her curious fingers. And where would she have been? Back home, in Leavenworth, but certainly not in her own body. Her consciousness separated from who she was, some creature controlling her flesh... She shuddered.

  “Are you okay back there?” Nergal shouted over his shoulder.

  “Mind the road!” She thought for a second, then shot back. “Yes. I’ve never been more okay in my life.”

  Cairo was unlike any other city in the world. Not that Val had seen many, but she could take a good guess. It was crowded beyond belief, hot as the deepest pits of hell, it stank of sweat and other bodily fluids, and it was so filthy that a germaphobe wouldn’t have survived it. It was awe-inspiring, too. It was beautiful, so mysterious, so exotic, and so ancient that all these supposed faults suddenly became part of the experience. When tourists returned here, they returned for all of it. Not just for the pyramids, for sand surfing, or scuba diving. They returned for the whole package.

  However, when Valentina saw where they were headed, she felt like there was a good chance she’d change her mind pretty soon. If the rich parts of the city were a delightful mess, the poor parts, the outskirts, were a painful sight to behold. Piles of garbage, ragged people selling fruit one should probably think twice before buying, toddlers running around, houses barely standing... And the smell was unbearable.

  Nergal stopped on a side alley.

  “We’re here. I mean, we’re close. But this is a good spot to leave Megaera.”

  Valentina blinked in confusion. “What? I have to get off? And who’s Megaera?”

  He laughed. “Yes, get off. I’m not leaving you behind. This side of the city is dangerous. And Megaera is the bike. What? Of course she has a name. She’s the third Fury.”

  Val removed her helmet and straightened the black hood over her head, tucking the long, wild strands that had escaped her braid in.

  “Fury? As in...” Her eyes went wide. “Oh! As in the three Erinyes, the goddesses of revenge! Wait. But they’re from the Greek mythology.”

  “Megaera was a gift. What’s with the racism, anyway? I’m not allowed to call my bike something Greek because I’m a Sumerian god?”

  Val blushed to the tips of her ears. “Oh my Goddess, it isn’t racism! I didn’t mean it like that! I was just... It’s just... It’s confusing.” As she followed him down the alley, she looked at the motorcycle with new-found interest. “A gift from a Greek god?”

  “Yeah.”

  “Which one?”

  “Wouldn’t you like to know...”

  “A Greek goddess?”

  He threw her a playful smirk and shrugged. No, he wasn’t going to satisfy her curiosity. She was too curious for her own good, anyway.

  “Where are we going?”

  “I think it’s time to lower our voices.”

  He led her down another alley, then another. Slowly and carefully, they approached a building that seemed to be abandoned. Nergal checked left and right, and once he made sure no one saw them, he took Valentina’s hand and pulled her up a set of stone stairs that led to the rooftop. Once there, they crouched behind the parapet, and Nergal pulled out his binoculars.

  “Are we... stalking someone?” Val whispered.

  “Yeah.” He passed her the binoculars and showed her where to look. “There. See that guy? Long, shaggy black hair, messy beard, thick eyebrows... You can barely see his face from all that dirty hair.”

  “Yes.”

  “He’s the reason I’m here. He’s my next target.”

  Her eyes snapped to his black, endless pools. No matter what he said, he looked like a legit demon. End of story.

  “You were hired to kill him?”

  “Yes.”

  She bit the inside of her lip. Something was off. Nergal ha
d been in Cairo for a while, right? She’d seen him in action before, so why was it taking him so long to eliminate his target? There he was, the black-haired man with his messy beard and bushy brows, in the house across from them, and Nergal didn’t even have a gun on him. Or did he?

  “Why haven’t you done it already? Are you having second thoughts?”

  “Aren’t you a sharp one, sweetpea?” He turned his back to the target and leaned against the low parapet. “Yes, I’m having second thoughts. More than second thoughts, in fact. I don’t want to do it.”

  Valentina let out a long, heavy breath of relief. She’d been right! So what if he was a hitman? For sure, he only killed bad people. Not that it necessarily redeemed him in any way, but still. He was Death. Death didn’t need redeeming. She sat down next to him. Gently, she touched his arm. Oh, how bloody gorgeous he was, sitting like that, legs spread apart, his strong, ripped body covered in shiny leather, his blond hair tricking her into believing he was an angel! But only from this angle, when his black eyes were glued to the concrete, and his head was turned just enough so she couldn’t see them.

  “So don’t do it. You’re a goddessdamn god! You don’t need the money. You don’t need anything from your clients, whoever they are. Just say no.”

  He chuckled darkly. “If it were that easy...”

  “What do you mean? It is that easy. You refuse the job, and that’s that. This is a good man. Look at him. He’s poor, he probably hasn’t eaten in days, and hasn’t seen soap and water in months! Why would anyone want him dead, anyway? He’s so...” She looked through the binoculars. “He’s so innocent and inconsequential. He’s not bothering anyone.”

  Nergal laughed out loud. It was a full, hearty laugh, and when he noticed he’d startled Valentina, he did his best to contain it. Impossible. He just hoped the man in the building across the street hadn’t heard him.

  “What’s so funny?”

  “What you just said.”

  “What did I...”

  “Valentina, this guy is not innocent. Nor is he inconsequential. He’s a goddamn murderer! He hasn’t seen soap and water in months because he’s too busy kidnapping young men and torturing them. And, trust me, the last time he ate was this morning. He probably had some leftovers left from yesterday’s feast.”

  Feast. That word didn’t sit well with Val.

  “Do you mean...”

  “Yes. He especially appreciates a healthy liver and a young, nimble heart.”

  “Oh my Goddess!” She leaped to her feet, then remembered they were supposed to be hiding, got back down, and scurried toward the other side of the roof. “Oh my Goddess! What the hell? Are you serious? Is this a game? Why are you messing with me?”

  She wanted to believe what he’d said was not true. He was still laughing, so it had to be a joke.

  “I know you like to live in your world of magic and rainbows, but no, this isn’t a game. Why would I joke about murder and torture? Who do you think I am?”

  “Death? And a paid assassin?”

  “Fair enough. Look, I might be the God of the Underworld, and I might kill people for money once in a while, but I’m not a cruel god.”

  “I don’t...” She took a deep breath. Nothing made sense anymore. “Okay, okay. So, if he’s a bad person, if he... if he murders people and... and... eats them, then what are you waiting for? I still don’t believe it’s ethical. God or no god, you shouldn’t decide who lives and who dies, but in this case, you’d do the world a favor. You’d save so many lives! Hell! When did you even get to Cairo? You’ve been hesitating for... how long? How many boys has he kidnapped since then?”

  He ran his hand through his blond hair, pulled at the elastic band keeping it tied up high, let his hair fall around his face in rich curls, then redid the messy bun. Valentina watched him in awe but didn’t know how to feel about him anymore.

  “You’d think that,” he said softly. “Of course you would. You’re a good person. A good witch and protector of the Tarot. Savior of the wounded.”

  “I don’t like where this is going.”

  He looked up at her. “No, it’s the truth. You’d think that by killing this man the world would be a better place. Lives would be spared. He’s horrible, disgusting... He’s scum.”

  She gulped. “Whoever hired you... They care about the victims. They want this to stop. And you can put a stop to it. You’re a professional. Why don’t you?”

  He smirked. “Because it’s exactly the other way around.”

  He pulled out a gun Valentina hadn’t even realized he had on him and pointed it at her. She gasped and made herself small against the wall. Her heart was beating fast, like the wings of a trapped butterfly, and her stomach had suddenly decided it didn’t like the breakfast she’d had that morning. She was trembling.

  “See this gun? Nothing special about it. But the bullets...” He laughed. “One bullet to the head. That’s all it takes. Right here,” he pressed his finger between his eyes. “Right in the Third Eye. The target drops dead, and you know what else happens? His karma is cleared. Forever. The bad karma, that is. Those poor decisions he made, all the cruel things he did? Not just in this life, but also in all his past lives. All the questionable things he inflicted on others since he first incarnated on Earth, in the third dimension? Gone. Did he beat his wife in the Middle Ages? Gone. Was he an inquisitor who burned innocent women at the stake? Absolved! Maybe he was one of the peasants who threw rocks and rotten tomatoes when women were hauled to the main square.” He turned around, pointing the gun at the man. The target was sitting at the table, writing something in a beaten-up notebook. Nergal had a clear shot. “Did he murder young men and ate their liver? Gone. Absolved. Gone. Forgiven.” He didn’t take it. He set the gun down, next to him, and turned back to Valentina. “That’s what my bullets do, sweetpea. They’re some goddamn special bullets, I tell you. They kill you in this life, and then you can be born in the next as clean and as innocent as a newborn kitten. And the world is yours. If you’re lucky... If you’re really goddamn lucky, then your karma is so damn pure that you don’t even reincarnate as a human any longer. You become a god aspect. How does that sound?” He picked up the gun again, pointed it at her, then laughed out loud. “Do you want to be a goddess, Valentina De Rossi? I can make you a goddess.”

  “Please don’t,” she choked out.

  He huffed. “Of course I won’t. I was trying to make a point.”

  “You made your point.”

  “So, what say you now? Should I kill the guy? Should I absolve this piece of shit bastard of his sins and jump-start his new life as a god? He’d do a great job, don’t you think? Give a rotten soul the powers of an immortal and see what happens. Shall we see what happens, sweetpea?”

  “N-no.” She dragged in a breath. Her thoughts were all over the place. She needed time to wrap her head around what Nergal had just revealed to her, but he wasn’t going to give her a single minute. “Who hired you, then? And why can’t you say no?”

  He furrowed his brows and tightened his jaw. He was silent for a minute, unsure whether it was a good idea to tell her more than he already had.

  “Nergal. Who hired you?”

  He shook his head. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you all this.” He grabbed his gun, pushed himself to his feet, and started down the stairs. “I shouldn’t have brought you here.”

  Valentina followed him quickly. “You’ve been following this guy around all this time?”

  “Yeah. I can’t decide what to do.”

  They reached the dusty alley and went to find his bike.

  “Then you told me because you needed to unburden yourself.”

  “I’m Death,” he scowled. “No burden is too heavy for me.”

  “You say that... But I think you’re a good man. I think you’re one of Nergal’s better aspects. Don’t do it. Don’t absolve this kidnapper and murderer of his crimes, and tell your client to go find s
omeone else. Or, I don’t know... Maybe we should report him. Maybe we should let the police deal with him.”

  He turned on his heels so suddenly that she almost bumped into him. He flashed her an indulgent smile.

  “Are you an Ordinary? Because you’ve just spoken like one.”

  “But he will keep...”

  “It doesn’t matter. Focus, sweetpea!” He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked into her blue eyes. She didn’t flinch and didn’t seem to be scared of him anymore, which made him feel a little better. “If I wipe his karma clean, then what happens? Will he reincarnate as a cruel god? Highly probable. Will he cause even more heartache? You bet! But if I don’t kill him now, if I refuse the job... then what could be consequences be? And can I withstand them?”

  “I... I want to help. I do, but you’re not giving me the whole story. Who hired you?”

  Nergal let out a heavy sigh. “Her name is Kali.”

  Valentina’s eyes widened. “As in the Hindu goddess?”

  “Yes. The worst aspect of Kali. The aspect of death and destruction. This is the Kali who still asks for human sacrifices from her worshipers in remote villages in India.”

  Val covered her mouth with both hands. She’d genuinely thought that kind of madness was over, that in this day and age human sacrifice was just an unpleasant memory of humanity’s darkest times.

  “And that is why I can’t say no,” he concluded sadly. “She loves him.”

  “What?! She loves this guy?”

  “Yes. She wants to be with him, so she needs me to kill him. Once I clear his karma, she can turn him into a god and take him to live by her side.”

  Valentina shook her head frantically. “Nergal, you can’t do that. I don’t care who she is. I mean, you don’t care who she is. She can’t hurt you.”

  He released her and raised his eyes to the sky. “That’s what I keep telling myself.”

  “So, your decision is made.”

  “I guess it is.”