As the Crow Flies (Book 19 in the Godhunter Series)

by Sumida,Amy

  “Don't you ever say that word to me again,” his eyes flashed and narrowed.

  “Stop it,” I hissed. “I need you to dragon-up, Arach. You're supposed to be my husband; a partner I can rely on for support. I need that support right now.”

  He sighed, shoulders sagging as he closed his eyes. Another deep breath lifted his chest, then he opened his eyes and I knew I'd won. He handed me Rian, but the edges of his mouth trembled. I stepped forward to lean into his chest, and he wrapped his arms around us. The boys started to cry full out, knowing very well what a goodbye was.

  “It's just for a little while,” I cooed to them. “Then we'll come home to Daddy.”

  They looked from me to their father and then back to me again.

  “You can stay here, Rian,” I said as if he were a much older child. “But Brevyn has to come with me.”

  Rian's stare settled on his brother, and Brevyn stared back serenely, already knowing what Rian would choose. Rian's hand reached out and Brevyn's found it. The boys clasped their little chubby baby hands like they dared us to try and pull them apart. I sighed and looked up at Arach.

  “I think I'd be hurt if I didn't know how strongly they're bonded to each other,” Arach sighed and then kissed each boy on the forehead. “Look after your mother,” he said tightly and then settled his stare on me. “I love you, A Thaisce. You're taking my entire world with you, please be careful with it.”

  “I know,” I whispered and kissed him. “I love you too,” I said against his lips.

  Then I stepped back and leaned against the solid bark of the tree, silently asking the Aether to take us to Pride Palace. Intaho Ishema Intare, I said the chant to open the wards around my territory. My faerie husband faded away as our children and I became insubstantial. We rushed through the magical in-between realm and then reformed in the tracing room of Pride Palace. I stepped out of the room to find my other husbands waiting for us at the bottom of the grand staircase which formed the core of the castle.

  “You brought both of them!” Trevor's eyes lit up as he came forward. “Hey, little dude, remember me?” He took Rian from me, and my son stared up at my husband with a very Arach-like expression of disdain. Trevor laughed and bounced him up into the air, earning a giggle.

  “I wish I'd never taught him the word dude,” Odin rolled his eyes as he reached for Brevyn. “Hello, Brevyn. I've missed you.”

  “Did anyone call-” I cut my question short when I saw Thor standing off to the side. “You,” I smiled and waved him over. “I'm glad they thought to invite you, Thor.”

  “I'm glad as well,” he came to stand beside his father and the three generations were together again. “He got big. And look at all that hair,” Thor fingered the blonde curls on Brevyn's head.

  “It's getting darker too,” I nodded. “My hair was actually blonde when I was born, so I'm thinking Brevyn's will get as dark as mine someday.”

  Thor and Odin shared careful looks. I knew that would disappoint them, but they didn't want to hurt my feelings by saying so. They wanted Brevyn to look like Ull, even though they knew he wasn't completely Ull anymore. This was a new life and a new look. And I didn't want to hurt their feelings by telling them that I already knew for certain that Brevyn's hair would be as dark as mine. I'd seen it in a vision he'd shown me.

  Kirill and Azrael closed in around the babies, each anxious to claim a turn at holding them. I chuckled and went to make us some coffee and tea while I had a spare moment. The men followed me into the dining hall, but took seats around the fireplace instead of going into the kitchen with me. When I came back out with a tray full of drinks, Thor was holding Brevyn and Azrael had Rian while Re was anxiously awaiting his turn.

  “So, did anyone contact Freyr for me?” I asked as I handed out mugs.

  “Yeah,” Trevor shared a worried look with Odin. “You wanna explain it to her?”

  “He said 'no',” Odin said simply.

  “What do you mean 'he said no'?” I went still and my sons stopped what they were doing to stare at me.

  All mothers have deep connections to their children, but I'd been able to communicate with my boys when they were still in the womb, before they'd become two separate babies. That had forged a bond between us that I'd yet to fully explore. But what was certain was that we knew things about each other, sensed things like emotions.

  “Freyr refused to grant us entry into Alfheim,” Odin clarified. “He's obviously hiding something.”

  “Yeah, the fact that he's killing the land I entrusted to him,” I growled. “I need to get in there, Odin.”

  “I know,” he sighed. “That's why I've contacted Freya.”

  “Freya?” I sat back in surprise. “Freyr's sister?”

  “The one and only,” a woman said as she sashayed into the room.

  She was curvy and tall. Statuesque would be a better word for it, I suppose. And when I say curvy, I mean curvy like a cartoon character. She was the Norse goddess version of Jessica Rabbit. Her hips swung side to side as she came towards us, not because she was swinging them to be sexy but simply because they were so full, they did that naturally. Her hair swung behind her just as hypnotically as her hips; thick golden curls hanging to just above the top of her perfect ass. Her skin was peaches and cream, her lips full and berry pink, and her eyes were the clear blue of a mountain lake.

  Every man in the room stared at her and salivated.

  “Freya, I presume,” I said as I stood and reached a hand towards her.

  I was used to goddesses making me feel inferior but this was a new low. I'd never seen my husbands respond to a woman so obviously and intensely before. However, they weren't dead and only a dead man would be able to look at this woman without having a reaction. Hell, even the dead might rise for her, if you know what I mean.

  Then I took a second glance at my men and made a mental correction; only a dead man or Re. Re had given Freya a cursory glance, then used the moment to steal Brevyn from a very distracted Thor. Re was currently contentedly nuzzling my son's nose while my husbands and Thor tried hard not to drool all over themselves. But then Re had been with more beautiful women and perfect goddesses than I could count. Than he could count probably. Re had slept with the most stunning women that both the Human and God Realm had to offer. It evidently took a lot to lift his brows now.

  Which made me feel a lot better.

  “And you're Vervain?” Freya lifted her own brow; it was winged and perfect like the rest of her.

  “Yep, that's me,” I sighed, knowing I wasn't measuring up to any image she'd previously formed of the Godhunter.

  “It's lovely to meet you,” she said warmly and enveloped my hand with her soft one.

  “Oh,” I blinked and shook hers just as warmly. “You're not like your brother... like, at all.”

  She laughed, “That's for damn sure,” then she looked towards the men and gave a delighted squeal.

  For a second, I thought I was going to get into a cat fight. Which is kind of ironic since it was my cat she was after, not my husbands or even my children (which would have been my second guess).

  “Helloooo, sweetness,” Freya bent down and Nicholas, my tough, and evidently traitorous, tom cat, went racing over to her. “Oh how handsome your stripes are,” she purred and picked him up. Picked him up! Nick loved to be pet, but he wasn't a cat you could pick up upon first meeting. He needed some time to learn to trust you. But for Freya, he simply went limp and basked in her affection. “Oh he's special,” she turned to me. “What have you been feeding him?”

  “Manna,” Azrael answered for me, and then cleared his throat when Freya set her eyes on him. “Vervain loves him so much, I wanted her to have him forever.”

  “How romantic,” she sighed and looked back to me. “What a lucky woman you are.”

  “I am, aren't I?” I smiled at Az and his grin widened, his lust-filled eyes changing to love-filled. And that made all the difference to me. He could stare at any woman he wanted to, w
ith as much desire as he wanted, as long as he looked at me like that... and didn't touch them. “Wait...” I had an epiphany. “You're a cat goddess, that's why Nick's so taken with you,” it almost sounded like an accusation.

  She laughed again; a melodious sound. “Yes, of course,” she put Nick down. “Honestly, I don't know who I love more; cats or men.”

  Several male throats cleared nervously and I rolled my eyes.

  “Would you like some coffee or tea?” I offered her instead of doing a circling, continuous, snap-out-of-it slap across all of my husbands' faces at once. Though the image lingered in my mind to tempt me.

  “I'd love some coffee with lots of cream please,” she pulled out a seat from the nearby dining table since all the chairs near the fireplace were taken. I made her a cup of coffee, lots of cream, and left my chair to sit with her at the table.

  “Okay, now that we're all settled,” I sat back and gave Nick a stroke as he rubbed against my legs. “Could someone tell me why Freya's here?”

  “To sneak you into Alfheim of course,” she laughed.

  “You'd do that?” I lifted a brow.

  “Freyr's my twin but he's a bit of an ass,” she made a pouty face. “Cute babies, by the way,” she waved her fingers at my boys. “I'm not much of a fan of the wee ones, but those two are unusual. I love the scales. Hold on,” her head swung back. “Is that who I think it is?” she pointed to Brevyn, who was still being cooed at by Re.

  “He's the one with Ull's soul,” Thor nodded. “Remember, I told you about him?”

  “Yes, I do recall,” she whispered in awe and then looked back to me. “Well done, Godhunter. I loved Ull, he was a good man.”

  “We loved him too,” I nodded. “Still do.”

  “Yes, I see that,” she smiled brilliantly. “So, you'll be taking him into Alfheim with us?”

  “Both of them actually,” I gave her an apologetic look. “They refuse to be separated.”

  “Fascinating,” she blinked. “Well, that shouldn't be too much of an issue.”

  “How will we get in?” I asked her.

  “Over the mountains from Vanaheim,” she shrugged. “That's my territory. Well, mine and my father's, so we'll have to skirt the palace. He hates it when I go against Freyr's wishes.”

  “Oh, okay,” I glanced at Odin but he just smiled and shook his head. “Is it a rough hike?”

  “Not too bad, we're gods after all,” she chuckled. “We'll get you a baby sling and a papoose or whatever they call those things that strap a kid to your back. No problem.”

  “Sure, no problem,” I laughed with her. It looked like I'd be carrying both of the boys myself.

  “And I'll be with you to help,” Odin added and I gave him a grateful look.

  “We're all going,” Trevor declared.

  “Uh, I don't think so, wolfie,” Freya shook a finger at Trevor. “I'm not risking sneaking in more gods than I have to, and I'm definitely not taking anyone who isn't Norse.”

  “I am Norse,” Trevor growled.

  “Oh,” Freya blinked. “Right. You're one of Fenrir's boys. Still, I won't take a wolf around my cats. Sorry.”

  Trevor seethed.

  “What about me?” Thor offered.

  “Yeah, I guess you can come if you want,” she sighed. “But we're not having sex under a pine tree again, Thor. My ass got pricked in all the wrong ways.”

  We all went silent as our eyes collectively shifted to Thor, just in time to see his cheeks flush.

  “I... I didn't intend on attempting any such thing, Freya,” Thor rumbled. “This is about Alfheim and Vervain, not our private pleasures.”

  “Yeah, yeah, you said something like that last time,” she blew a curl out of her eye. “Then the next thing I knew, my knees were bent up around my ears. You know what I mean,” she slapped me on the upper arm in commiseration. “That guy just looks at you a certain way, and then you're like; where did my panties go?”

  “Sure,” I tried to keep my composure but a little laugh trickled out. “I hate it when my panties disappear around Thor.”

  “Me too,” Kirill added with all seriousness. “So many of my panties have been lost to Zor's panty slaughtering stare.”

  “Death to all panties!” Trevor got Kirill's back, as usual.

  “Hail, to the panty stare of doom!” Re joined in.

  Odin rolled his eyes eyes, Thor reddened even more, and the rest of us laughed uproariously.

  “I like you guys,” Freya declared. “You're all beautiful, funny, and you have a cat.”

  “A cat?” I lifted my brow. “Didn't anyone tell you I'm a-” Odin caught my eye and started waving his hands violently in a negative way. I frowned and froze.

  “Yes?” Freya asked. “You're a what?”

  “I'm a huge cat lover,” I floundered. “I stole a whole race of faeries from the Earth kingdom because they were cats.”

  “Really?” she brightened. “You mean the cat-sidhe? Love them! Sexiest faeries ever.”

  “Some of them are fire cat-sidhe now,” I relaxed into my cover-up.

  “That's brilliant,” she sighed and put her coffee cup down. “Okay, that's enough chit chat, let's get a move on,” she looked my faerie dress up and down. “You might want to change,” she waved a hand towards her tight jeans, “into something more comfortable.”

  “Okay, sure. Because painted-on jeans are way more comfortable than a loose dress. I'll just go do that,” I stood and waved Odin along with me. “We'll be right back.”

  “Hey, we don't have time for that,” Freya shook a finger at us and then grinned wickedly. “Oh what the hell, there's always time for that. Go on, Allfather, get you some.”

  Odin and I left the room in horrified commiseration as the other men chuckled. I couldn't even form a witty response to that. We ended up walking all the way to the elevator in silence. But as soon as we reached the elevator, I gave Odin a spill it look.

  “If Freya knew you had close to a hundred lion-men, AKA cat-men, in this house, she'd never leave,” Odin grimaced. “She's a bit of a...”

  “Amorous woman?” I lifted my brow. I had stopped calling women sluts when I started dating several men at once. Pot and kettle and all that.

  “Yes, precisely,” Odin sighed. “We can't let her meet the Intare. They'd be her idea of perfect men. She'd probably want to try them all.”

  “Then you probably shouldn't have invited her to Pride Palace,” I smirked at him. He gave me an irritated expression. “Oh come on, the guys would be panting after her. I don't care if she wants to hang around and spread the love.”

  “Spread her legs, you mean.”

  “Odin!” I snapped. “You're one of my five husbands, remember?”

  “Vervain, do you really think your Intare would amiably pass her around like a bottle of rum? There would be brawls the likes of which this palace has never seen.”

  “Point taken,” I grimaced as I thought about the clean up.

  “And also, we may have an unusual marriage but we're not promiscuous,” Odin noted.

  So ironic but really, we weren't. Still, I wasn't about to call Freya a nasty name for having a good time. I kinda liked the cat goddess.

  “Yes but you don't get to call a woman a slut after openly ogling her,” I chided him. “It reeks of sour grapes.”

  “There are no sour grapes here,” he chuckled and slid his arm around my waist. “Just the sweet wine of love. I'm a happily married man.”

  “That was a little lame,” I kissed his nose, “but sweet. And I wasn't being jealous. I've done enough ogling to allow you your fair share. But I've also been called a slut enough times to feel instant sympathy for another woman who gets similarly insulted.”

  “I know, I get it,” he said as we got out of the elevator. “But you must also know there's a difference. You wouldn't be with multiple men if your magic didn't require it. This lifestyle isn't your choice.”

  “That's true for all of us,” I sighed as we headed
toward our bedroom. “But honestly, I stopped feeling like a victim a long time ago. Now I'm grateful to the magic that brought us all together. I don't think I could live without any of you.”

  “If I have anything to do with it,” he said, suddenly grim, “you won't have to.”

  Chapter Eleven

  It's really handy to have transmutation magic in my territory. Basically, the symbiosis I shared with the land allowed me control over it. The it included every landscape detail within my territory; rocks, trees, even animals. So I could change a rock into a bird if I wanted to. Or a twig into combat fatigues.

  Yep, I went with the whole camouflage look. We were sneaking into another god's territory and I thought it appropriate. For my sons, I made baby backpacks out of the same material; to carry them in, not for them to wear. One for me and one for Thor. I didn't want the babies strapped to our chests where they might get in the way.

  We fastened them in and traced over to Freya's hall in Vanaheim; home of the Vanir. The Vanir are a sub-class of the the Aesir, which are basically the main gods in the Norse religion. Odin and Thor are Aesir for example. Freya and her family are Vanir. They actually had a big war once. Guess who won.

  Anyway, we traced over to Freya's and walked out of a simple wood tracing room into a feline wonderland. I stood and gaped as every kind of cat imaginable came into view. Even those fur-less ones that looked like science experiments gone bad. The hall had soaring ceilings with wood beams not only as rafters but as roadways for kitties. The bars crisscrossed over our heads, down the two-story high walls, and through holes cut into the walls, which I assume went into other rooms where the same ceiling situation would be repeated. There were large lounging areas up on those beams and several balconies jutting out from the walls, where cats congregated, slept, and scratched things.

  Cat toys of all shapes and sizes littered the floor and hung from the beams. Every supporting pole was a scratching post (several wound with sisal rope), every piece of furniture a potential cat bed, and nearly everywhere I looked there were fabulous furry babies! I nearly died of happiness.