In the Nyx of Time

by Amy Sumida

  Dark-haired woman, Alaric supplied. Nyx has dark hair and black eyes with stars in them. She's pale, full-figured, and very beautiful. Tell them that you saw her; give them the proof they need to kill Nyx.

  “A dark-haired woman watching Persephone and I when we were out shopping the day before she was killed,” I went on smoothly.

  Oh, that's good; keep going.

  “Why didn't you say something before?” Thor asked.

  “It didn't seem suspicious until now,” I said. “This woman was obviously a goddess; she had these strange eyes that looked as if they had—”

  “Stars in them,” Hades snarled as he strode out of his bedroom.

  “Yes,” I said steadily. “I'm sorry that I didn't think of it sooner, Hades.”

  “Don't apologize, Vervain.” Hades waved it away. “Memories can be elusive. I'm grateful that yours has surfaced now.”

  You and me both, buddy, Al muttered.

  “Does that mean we're beyond the talking phase?” I asked hopefully.

  “I will still confront Nyx; I want to know why she killed my beloved. But after that; I will kill her slowly,” Hades growled. Then he frowned and looked around the garden. “Where did Demeter go?”

  “She said she had something to take care of,” I repeated the lie. “I promised her that I'd go by her place later and update her on what we decide to do.”

  “Demeter and the Godhunter working together,” Hades mused. “That's something I'd never thought to see.”

  Again, I say; you and me both, buddy.

  Chapter Nine

  Hades knew exactly where to find Nyx; she lived in Tartarus with her husband Erebus. Erebus; who also happened to be Morpheus' grandfather. Morpheus was certain that Erebus was innocent, and I dearly hoped that he was right. I hated the thought of killing a friend's relative.

  Hades transformed in a matter of minutes. While we waited for him in the garden, he showered, revived himself magically, and put on his game face. The new Hades was grim and deadly. His eyes were still uncovered, but this time with intent; he wanted everyone to see the furious fires fueling him. The Lord of the Underworld was about to avenge his bride.

  But to do that, Hades needed an army. We were going up against Nyx and possibly all of her minions. Erebus and Nyx had several children, although, most didn't live in Tartarus with them. We might be able to reach Nyx without her calling in reinforcements, but if not, we'd be facing an army of death, pain, war, and retribution gods; including the Greek God of War himself, Ares, and his brutal bride, the Goddess of Strife, Eris. And what was with the similar names; Ares and Eris? Talk about a confusing family. Oh, and speaking of confusing families, let's not forget Hades and Nyx's daughter, Macaria. Yeah; that revelation shocked us all.

  Hades confessed that he had an affair with Nyx before he met Persephone. That union had resulted in Macaria's birth. For me, that cinched it. Love is the biggest motive for murder; especially unrequited love. Hades swore that Nyx didn't care for him, but people often profess the opposite of what they feel—especially when they know their feelings aren't reciprocated. Either way, there was a connection between them that was too much of a coincidence to ignore.

  So, Hades set about to gather the Greek gods who would form his army; those who were loyal to him and those who had loved Persephone—most were both. It was a long list. Not only did it include gods, but also demi-gods such as nymphs, satyrs, centaurs, and sirens. The Queen of the Underworld had been adored by her people, and they'd been stewing in their anger over her murder for years.

  We left Hades to it and headed back to Asgard; the Squad and Odin returning to Bilskinir with us. We wanted to wait together for Hades' call. As soon as everyone was settled in the library, I pulled Thor aside and told him that I was heading over to see Demeter.

  “I'll go with you,” he offered.

  “That's okay,” I tried to sound casual. Even though we'd decided to go after Nyx, I still wanted to speak to Demeter alone. “Demeter won't be expecting you, and she's a little jumpy right now. Don't worry; I'll be fine; she gave me the tracing chant.”

  “Okay, if you insist.” Thor ran his wide hand over my hair and stared into my eyes discerningly. He wasn't a man who was easy to fool. “Will you tell me what's really bothering you when you return?”

  “We'll talk when I get back,” I promised without agreeing to much.

  Thor grimaced; seeing the evasion for what it was. His expression settled into hard lines as he picked me up and began carrying me to our bedroom.

  “What are you doing?” I asked him.

  “I'm not letting you go like this,” Thor declared. “Something is off, and I have a feeling it's this whole vision thing. I think I need to remind you of who you are; who you really are.”

  Interesting. Alaric mused.

  If this is heading where I think it is, you'd better make yourself scarce, buddy, I snarled.

  Vervain, I have seen it all. I am—

  Scarce!

  Very well. I felt his presence fade away.

  “I know exactly who I am,” I said to my husband. “But if you feel so strongly about it; by all means, remind me.”

  Thor smiled brilliantly and picked up his pace. We were in our bedroom in a matter of minutes; tearing our clothes off as soon as the door was shut. I ran my hands up Thor's massive chest as he lifted me to kiss me. With our lips merged, he carried me to the bed; laying me down near the edge so that my legs hung over the side. He spread my thighs and knelt between them with a wicked grin.

  “Tell me how much you love me,” Thor said as he lowered his mouth to my sex.

  A light crackling of lightning arced from his tongue to my flesh, and I screamed the words out. Thor chuckled in that satisfied way men do when they know they're making you feel good, and then he really set to the task. In ten seconds, I was writhing so much that he had to wrap his arms around my thighs and hold me down. His tongue flicked at me before thrusting inside, and I threaded my fingers through his sunset hair to pull him even closer. Then Thor closed his lips around that perfect spot and began to suck. I came with such intensity that I saw bright spots on the back of my eyelids. My legs shook; clenching around his face, and then I went still.

  “Vervain?” Thor lifted his face to peer at me. He crawled up to lean over me. “Are you all right?”

  “Far better than that, Viking,” I growled as I flipped him over. “Now, it's your turn.”

  Thor laid back with a happy growl; his bent knees spreading for me. I slid between them—down onto the floor—and nuzzled my face against the velvet of his flesh. I inhaled his scent; even his manhood smelled like a rainstorm. I licked the tip to tease him, and as he groaned, I slid my mouth down his shaft.

  I worked Thor with hands and mouth, and in a few minutes, he was climbing that cliff of desire. At the last moment, I pulled away; continuing to stroke him with my hand as I bit his thigh. In the background, I heard someone knocking, but I ignored it. I wasn't about to stop now to answer the door. Thor shouted out his release as the door opened behind me.

  “Thor, are you—” Odin froze in the doorway.

  I turned to Odin as I licked the blood from my lips; Thor's cock still in my hand. Thor looked up at his father and narrowed his eyes.

  “I'm so sorry,” Odin stammered.

  I would have been horrified, but another memory washed over me; of making love to a man while Odin watched. It rocketed me back into arousal, and I found myself turning to him more fully. Odin's stare widened and sparked; his eyes traveling down my body.

  “Odin, get the fuck out!” Thor shouted.

  Odin slammed the door as he left.

  Thor sighed and fell back on the bed. “I think that's the first time my father has ever caught me with a woman.”

  I chuckled as I stood and looked over my satisfied husband. “Is it? No teenage transgressions in Valhalla?”

  “With who; a Valkyrie?” Thor scoffed as he sat up and scooted back onto the bed. “Hardly.
I went to Earth for most of my sexual adventures.”

  “Did you now?” I asked as I climbed up the bed and straddled him.

  Thor's eyes began to glow as his manhood rose against me. His hands spread over my hips; they were large enough to cover my sides completely. He gripped me tightly and pulled me forward as I reached between us and set him into position. We both groaned as he slid inside me.

  “Do you want to hear how I seduced human women?” Thor asked as his hands moved up to my breasts. “How I'd catch them alone in the forest and lay them in the grass.”

  “You'd chase women in the forest?” I teased him.

  “They knew I was their god.” He flicked my nipples playfully. “They'd beg me to take them. They all wanted to bear a child by the mighty Thor.”

  “Arrogant much?” I ground against him, and he groaned.

  “You know that's merely the truth,” he murmured.

  “So, they seduced you,” I surmised. “I remember how you were when we first started dating; your idea of seducing a woman was telling her that you want her. Now, it all makes sense.”

  “That's not true,” Thor chided me as he rolled me over. He lifted my legs back so we both had the perfect view of him entering me. “My idea of seduction is showing a woman my fine cock and asking her what she'd like to do with it.”

  I burst out laughing—which wasn't unusual for one of our love sessions—and Thor smiled down adoringly at me before settling his body over mine.

  “Enough talk about other women,” he said softly. “Once I touched you, I knew no other woman could satisfy me.”

  “Once you touched me?” I lifted a brow as I slid my hands over his ass and pulled him closer. “Or once I touched you?”

  Thor chuckled as he sheathed himself as deep as he could go. “You know me so well, Wife.”

  “And you know me,” I whispered as I wrapped my legs around his waist. “You know exactly what I like. So, why don't you show me?”

  As Thor drove into me faster, and ecstasy loomed within our reach, I let my love for him rise up and consume me; pushing away thoughts of other men just as he had denied thoughts of other women. It was only us in that bed, and I was frightened of it being any other way.

  A memory of numerous hands on my skin flashed through my mind. It ricocheted me up into my climax even as it sent a chill of terror through my bones. I gripped my husband's shoulders tightly; as if I could keep him with me by my will alone. But even as I held Thor, I could feel the wrongness of it.

  Chapter Ten

  We didn't confront Odin about what had happened; there was no point. It had been an accident, and Thor was already over it. To him, Odin was just his father; the thought of Odin coveting me was inconceivable. And I wanted to keep it that way. In fact, I didn't speak to the God Squad at all after I left our bedroom; I just went straight to the tracing room and left Thor to deal with the teasing. We had been gone for over an hour; there would be a lot of teasing; mainly from Pan.

  “I love you, Vervain,” Thor said before I left.

  “I love you too.” I kissed him goodbye before heading to the tracing chamber.

  The chant Demeter had given me took me straight to her territory. I stepped out of the Aether and into a small building; open on all sides and bordered by Greek columns. I stared out across an expanse of grass dotted with Greek statuary. On a rise before me, there was a Greek temple—Demeter was definitely keeping with the theme—and I could hear the crashing of waves coming from all around me. I had to be on an island, but the rise of land prevented me from catching a glimpse of the water. I started walking toward the temple.

  When I crested the hill, I was able to see the edges of the island; it was all cliffs with no beach. Kind of a waste of an island, in my opinion. I wandered into the temple—the biggest building there—and found it empty. It was another open, Greek-style structure with a small enclosure in its center. That enclosure didn't look big enough to be considered housing; especially not for a goddess. As I stared thoughtfully at its door, it opened, and Demeter stepped out.

  “Come along, Godhunter,” Demeter said as she strode by me. “I've been able to acquire another ally for our endeavor.”

  “You live in there?” I asked as I hurried after her.

  “In that room?” She lifted a brow at me. “No, of course not; my home is beneath the island. But we don't have time for a tour; you can see it some other time.”

  A vision of a vast subterranean chamber rose in my mind; gardens of all types set out in rows beneath a vine-covered ceiling. A massive Greek palace stood in its center, but I knew that there were hidden rooms within the walls and hidden slaves within a prison set among the gardens. I inhaled in surprise as a woman's tear-soaked face rose in my mind.

  “Emma,” I whispered.

  “What did you say?” Demeter turned on me with wide, horrified eyes.

  “Uh; I asked 'Am I?” I lied. “As in; Am I going to have time to return?”

  “Oh.” Demeter frowned. “Probably not today. Do you really want to see my home so badly?”

  “No; it's fine. I was just talking to myself.”

  “You're a strange woman,” Demeter said as we strode back to the little building that must be her tracing chamber. “Try not to behave so oddly with Niyarvirezi.”

  “Niyarvirezi?” I asked.

  “She's an African lion goddess,” Demeter said. “And she has a whole pride of werelions at her disposal. They're rather enjoyable if you ever feel the need for some extramarital activities.”

  “Are you saying that you have sex with these lions?” I asked in surprise.

  “They do whatever she tells them to.” Demeter smirked. “One, in particular, was my favorite, but he's a bit broken now.”

  “Broken?”

  My heart clenched suddenly, and the image of a pair of deep blue eyes surfaced. This wasn't the vision of the child I'd seen earlier; this was a man, and his eyes were bluer than the most precious sapphires with sooty lashes surrounding them.

  I blinked away my tears as I asked, “Why is he broken?”

  “Well, she's not exactly nice to them.” Demeter shrugged. “Regardless, they're fierce warriors, and that's just what we need. Niyarvirezi has agreed to add the Pride to our numbers in exchange for my help on another matter.”

  “What matter?”

  “Never mind that.” Demeter frowned and took my hand.

  Demeter spoke some strange words, and the Aether pulled us in. Our bodies became pure thought as we zipped through that magical place, and then we reformed in a shower of blue sparks. We stood at the end of a hallway; in front of a wall. I looked behind us dubiously.

  “She has a tracing wall?” I asked.

  “It works.” Demeter shrugged and started walking again.

  “And I'm the odd one,” I muttered. “Who the hell has a tracing wall?”

  “Demeter.” A blond man bowed to Demeter. He was very handsome, with a pair of stunning, turquoise eyes that gave Teharon's peepers a run for their money. “My Tima has sent me to fetch you.”

  “Hello, Darius,” Demeter purred. “It's good to see you again.”

  Darius nodded; looking uncomfortable.

  “This is Vervain.” Demeter waved a hand back at me. “The Godhunter.”

  “The Godhunter?” Darius' voice went up a notch and his eyes shot to me eagerly.

  “Yes.” Demeter narrowed her gaze at Darius. “Is that significant?”

  “No,” he said hurriedly. “Not at all; I've just heard stories about her.”

  “Don't believe them all,” I said with a little smile. “I swear; I'm not Satan.”

  “Of course, you're not,” Demeter huffed. “Lucifer is far more civilized than you. No offense, Vervain.”

  “It was a joke.” I rolled my eyes and then said to Darius, “Gods; they never get my jokes.”

  Darius chuckled but turned away quickly when Demeter glared at him. “This way, ladies.”

  He led us through winding
hallways made of wood and reeds. There was a safari feel to the place; not so original for an African lion goddess. I was kind of disappointed in both Demeter and this lion goddess. But I suppose gods like to honor their cultures. It really was the least they could do after sucking up all that energy from humans.

  “Here we are,” Darius said as he opened a door to an airy sitting room.

  A statuesque woman sat in the center of the room. She was dark-skinned, full-figured, and drop-dead beautiful. Behind her, gauzy curtains floated on a gentle breeze; the scent of cinnamon riding in with it. She sat on a divan, but there was a pair of chairs across a short coffee table from her; both done in rattan and linen. A woven carpet covered the ground and the wallpaper was made of woven reeds. Two large windows framed a dramatic African landscape; giving her the perfect backdrop of flat-topped trees, golden grass, and roaming wildlife.

  “Hello, Niyarvirezi,” Demeter greeted her friend as she wandered in.

  I followed Demeter, but as I passed Darius, he whispered to me.

  “Help us.”

  I glanced at Darius in shock, and he widened his eyes at me before he ran away. A shiver of pain and fury ran through my body as horrible images bombarded me. Not all of them were memories exactly, some were memories of stories that had been told to me. I suddenly knew what kind of a woman Niyarvirezi was, and I hated her with every cell in my body.

  But I smiled as I approached her and held out my hand. “I'm Vervain.”

  “A pleasure to meet you, Godhunter,” Niyarvirezi said. “I've heard some good things; at least today I have.” She turned her smile to Demeter. “My friend here says that you wish to help her avenge her daughter's death.”

  “Persephone was my best friend,” I said softly. “As much as I'd like to claim Demeter's friendship as well; I'm not doing this for her. I want vengeance for Persephone.”

  “See?” Demeter said to Niyarvirezi. “We can trust her.”

  “In this, at least.” Niyarvirezi nodded. “All right, Demeter; you have my support. What's the plan?”

  “Actually,” I interrupted. “After you left, Demeter, I was able to sway Hades into action. He's currently gathering an army to take into Tartarus.”