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

by Sumida,Amy

  “Fine, Brother,” Trevor slid an arm out to UnnúlfR. “If you must, come and join us.”

  “Ha ha,” UnnúlfR grimaced, but I saw his eyes twinkle just a little.

  “Mother,” Vidar came forward when our happy huddle broke up. “Congratulations.”

  “Thank you, honey,” I hugged him too, and then hugged Vali, who took off his cloak and wrapped it around me.

  Then it was Fenrir, Emma, the Squad, and the rescued froekn. The congratulations kept coming, smiles and hugs crowning our successful mission and our happy news.

  “I think I will leave you to your joy,” Cernunnos said as he started to leave. “I am confident you can find your way home.”

  “Cernunnos,” I extricated myself from my ecstatic family and friends. He turned back and smiled at me gently. “Thank you again. It was an honor to meet you.”

  “The honor is mine, Fire Queen,” he bowed. “Please visit my forest again.”

  “I will,” I promised, “and perhaps you could visit Faerie. I would love to show you our forests.”

  He jerked to a stop and swung around eagerly. “I have seen the forests of Faerie once, and they have haunted me ever since. There isn't much I wouldn't give to see them again.”

  “I'd be happy to take you past the wards.”

  “Truly?” his face lit up. “I am ready, Queen Vervain.”

  “Now?” I blinked. “You want to go right now?”

  “Is there ever a better time than now?” he beamed at me. “It is the only time in which you can take action.”

  “I suppose so,” I chuckled. “Alright. You can return to Pride Palace with us, and then we'll figure out how to get you to Faerie.”

  “Figure out?” Cernunnos frowned.

  “It's complicated,” I waved away his concern. “But it will be fine.”

  “I can take him,” Kirill offered, “and you can meet us at tree, like you did vith Lugh.”

  “Lugh is in Faerie?” Cernunnos lifted his brows. “Then the High King knows of his son?”

  “Yeah, I kind of spilled the beans,” I shrugged.

  “Good,” Cernunnos nodded. “He has needed his father, his true father, to help him with his fey magic. I am happy they are together, and he is not a part of this battle with his mother. It would be a tragedy to see Lugh kill another family member.”

  “Oh, right,” I made a face. “His grandpa. Poor guy.”

  “Yes, Lugh's life has been hard,” Cernunnos agreed. “But that is often the way of great men... and women. Life cannot go easy for those with greatness inside them.”

  “Hold on,” I looked to Kirill. “I don't want you in Faerie. You were almost murdered by a mermaid, and we still haven't caught her.”

  “That's right,” Trevor growled. “You're staying home, Brother. I will go to Faerie, and I'm going to find that fishy bitch and make her into sushi.”

  “Sashimi, baby,” I corrected him with a smile. “Sashimi is raw fish, sushi is rice with all sorts of toppings and fillings.”

  “Minn Elska,” Trevor sighed, “could you please not ruin my death threats with your corrections?”

  “Oh, of course,” I tried to look contrite and failed miserably. “Sorry about that, carry on making your dinner plans.”

  “Oh, this trip shall be so much fun!” Cernunnos declared. “Let me just tell the green men where I'm off to. They're going to be so jealous.”

  “Oh hell,” I said in a moment of generosity, “bring them along if you like.”

  “The green men?” Cernunnos lifted his brows again and I nodded. “You will steal their loyalty from me,” he chuckled. “Thank you, Queen Vervain,” and he rushed away before I could change my mind.

  “Green men?” Trevor gave me a questioning look. “Are those the leafy guys?”

  “Yep, leafy guys who helped to save my life,” I nodded. “I don't think King Cian will mind me bringing them.”

  “In that case,” Trevor gave me his lopsided smile, “I don't mind either. Cernunnos can bring a whole damn forest of leafy men.”

  “Don't leaf them behind,” Kirill said in his deadpan voice.

  “But you should leaf them alone,” Trevor joined in immediately.

  “No,” I shook my head, and pointed imperiously at them.

  Come on,” Odin snapped, and started heading back to the cave, “we're leafing. Cernunnos and his green leaves are already at the cave.”

  “You've infected Odin!” I accused Trevor and Kirill, but they were too busy laughing.

  “I blame you for this,” Horus hissed at me as he passed by.

  “Why not?” I huffed and followed. “I get blamed for everything else.”

  But I didn't feel any true annoyance. I was too relieved to have Kirill safe at last. No one could ruin that happiness, not even Horus.

  Chapter Thirty

  I was exhausted and needed another nap. Once again things worked out so that I could return to Faerie and get one. I would go back to when I last left, and Trevor would take Cernunnos and his green men into Faerie now. Re made some disgruntled noises about wanting to go too, but he couldn't take Trevor's place because I'd never taken Re to Faerie before. Once I brought someone through the wards (someone non-fey, faeries could pass through on their own), the wards would recognize them, and let them through again. Unless they were reset to not do so.

  Trevor was already carting a handful of green guys and their horned god through the wards, so he wasn't inclined to add another man to the list. Especially if that man was Re. Re was settling in for a good pout, when I pointed out that Arach was already going to be upset with me bringing yet another of my husbands into Faerie. I really didn't want to add the new, beautiful, sun god boyfriend to the mix. He accepted that (I think it was the beautiful remark that did it), sighing dramatically before he kissed me goodbye. Then he traced away with Horus and Hekate, to have dinner and drinks at their place. They were inviting Re's daughters, Sekhmet and Bastet. So I was relieved to be going to Faerie instead. Bast was fine, but Sekhmet and I were not on good terms. As in; every time we saw each other, one of us ended up storming out of the room.

  I said goodbye to my grown sons, my husbands, the Intare and Froekn who'd been waiting on our return, and the Squad. But before I left, Kirill pulled me into a room down the hall from the foyer. He dropped to his knees, and laid his head against my belly. My hands went automatically to his head, stroking back his silky hair as he closed his eyes and just held me. Held us.

  “I have never been more happy to be alive,” he whispered and looked up at me. “I'm so excited to hold our daughter.”

  “Me too,” I leaned down and kissed him.

  He stood, and cupped my face in his palms, “I vanted to tell you one more zing,” he smiled brilliantly. “Death vas good for me. Vhen my soul left my body, all of my pain vas stripped away. All the trauma of my past is gone. I returned lighter, Vervain. Lighter and happier. Ze baby elevates zis happiness to point vhere I can barely stop smiling. I never knew I could feel like zis.”

  “So something good came from this,” I whispered.

  As ecstatic as I was for him, I was also confused. Odin hadn't come back free of past trauma, so why had Kirill? Did humans get a clean slate and not gods? Or did it have something to do with magic? Kirill didn't have any of his own, so there was nothing keeping his memories safe. When he died, the process of wiping away his last life must have begun. Then I'd called him back, and his memories had returned, but they returned clean. Just memories, no pain to go with them. Which meant I'd been right, I wouldn't have been able to bring back Kirill from the Void. Terror flashed through me briefly. I'd come so close to losing him forever.

  His thumbs brushed my cheeks, and I realized I was crying. He only smiled brighter.

  “More zan one good zing came of zis,” he transferred one palm to my belly. “I didn't zink it vas possible for me to love you more. How very wrong I vas,” he laid his lips to mine gently, and as I kissed him, I felt his tears mingle wi
th mine. But they were happy tears and we both knew it. We pulled away smiling through the sniffles, laughter bubbling up our throats.

  “I'm going to be a daddy,” he laughed exuberantly. “Zank you, Tima.”

  “Don't thank me. This is our gift to each other, and just seeing you smile like that makes me happy too. I love you, Alpha Lion,” I quickly kissed him once more.

  “I love you too, Lion Goddess,” he smiled and stepped back. “Say hi to dragon for me. I vill see you soon.”

  “In just a second,” I agreed.

  Then I asked my ring to take me back to the last time I left Faerie... and the last place. That returned me to my bedroom in Aithinne, where Arach was conveniently waiting for me in bed.

  “You are a sight for sore eyes, Dragon King,” I groaned as I removed my clothes. “I need a bath, and then I'll crawl into that beautiful bed with you, as promised. I'm exhausted.”

  “Why are you exhausted?” Arach sat up, his eyes narrowing on me. “You smell different, Vervain.”

  “I what?” I squeaked, my thoughts instantly going to the baby.

  I was pregnant! The reality of my pregnancy was sinking in, the not so good aspects. My sons weren't even a year old, and there I was, knocked up all over again. I wasn't ready for this. It was hard enough with babies in Faerie, how was I going to handle motherhood in two realms? And the breastfeeding. Oh gods breastfeeding was a pain in the, well, breasts actually. People say it's beautiful, but nipples get chafed after taking that much abuse. Chafed nipples are not fun. At least I had exceptional healing so they didn't stay chafed for long. But still, with my assorted men, I never knew what extra little issues I'd have. I knew what pregnancy with a dragon-sidhe baby was like, but what would it be like with an Intare baby? I was certain that whatever it was, it wasn't going to be a joy ride. The joy ride was what led to the pregnancy, I suppose. Oh damn it, why did Kirill have to have such a sexy accent?

  I swayed on my feet, and Arach rushed over to steady me.

  “Vervain!” he snapped. “Tell me what's happened, this instant.”

  “I saved Kirill,” I began. It's always good to start with the happy news where Arach was concerned.

  “When? How?” his eyes narrowed further until they were two glowing slits. Happy news wasn't going to fool him this time.

  “First, he was attacked by a mermaid,” I stammered. “He drowned and I resuscitated him.”

  “A mermaid in the God Realm?” his arms fell away from me in shock. “How did she get past your wards?”

  “No, the Human Realm,” I sighed. “Kirill and I were on a date. He wanted to be alone with me, just in case...”

  “He died,” Arach nodded. “Just in case he died. Yes, understandable. Did you get a good look at the mermaid?”

  “Only her tail,” I huffed. “It was pink.”

  “That doesn't help much,” he grumbled, “except for validating our previous evidence and determining her sex. It's definitely a mermaid and not a merman.”

  “Why? Men can't have pink tails?” I teased him.

  “No,” he said simply. “Now tell me the rest.”

  “We thought he was in the clear, but we were wrong,” I fumbled, trying to find a way to tell him about the events without telling him it was a battle. “It was the Morrigan who killed Kirill. Just as we'd initially thought it would be.”

  “How did she get to him?” Damn but he knew just what to ask.

  “She kidnapped some froekn, and tried to use them as leverage to secure my assistance in the coming war with the Formorians,” I admitted. “Azrael knew how to get into her territory, so we went to rescue them instead of giving in to her demands.”

  “Why didn't you mirror me?” his voice went low and dangerous.

  “Fenrir didn't want to wait for you to join us,” I held up my hand when he started to speak. “It would have taken you some time to get to the Great Tree, and we didn't have any to waste. I agreed that it would be better to leave immediately.”

  “Vervain,” he snapped. “I could have flown to the Great Tree!”

  “Oh,” my jaw dropped, and my eyes went wide. Blink. Blink. “Yeah, I didn't think of that.”

  “Well you shall remember it in the future,” he declared.

  “I will,” I vowed instantly. “I swear.”

  “Alright,” he sighed. “Continue.”

  “Morrigan killed Kirill, and I cut away all of my ties to save him.”

  “What?!” his shout frightened Dexter into jumping off the bed. “What do you mean you cut away your ties? To me? The boys? Is that what you mean, Vervain?!”

  “My star kept them safe for me while I used all of my energy to pull Kirill's soul back into his body,” I reassured him. “But you'll feel it when it happens. From what I saw with the others, it won't be pleasant. So we need to be prepared.”

  “I don't know whether to throttle you or be proud of you,” he huffed.

  “There's one more thing,” I said in a small voice.

  “What?” he went still.

  Dexter whined and I shushed him.

  “When I was with Kirill, he asked me to drop my sterility spell,” I watched Arach's eyes go wide. “He wanted a chance to give Lesya life in case he died. Because if he died first-”

  “Then she'd never live,” Arach whispered, and drug a hand down his face. “Wife of mine, are you trying to tell me you're carrying another man's child?”

  “Yes,” I whispered.

  Arach turned towards our little dining table, and with one smooth move, grabbed the little vase of flowers set there, and threw it into the wall. It shattered into tiny pieces. Dexter dove beneath the bed.

  I froze, gaping at Arach while he shook with fury.

  “Get into the bathroom, Vervain,” he growled. “Go! Now!”

  I flinched, and then ran for the safety of the bathroom, calling for Dexter as I went. He darted out from beneath the bed, and streaked into the bathroom with me. I slammed the door shut behind us and bolted it. As the bolt slid home, I heard the crash of breaking glass.

  I backed away from the door, shocked to my core, with Dexter whimpering beside me. We crouched in a corner of the room, huddled together, our eyes set on the door warily. I hugged Dexter tight, and was horrified to find tears rolling down my cheeks.

  I was the Godhunter, a triple souled being with a weapon of unknown, but most likely astronomical, abilities within my chest. I didn't cower in corners. Yet I found myself unable to move. I'd already taken one beating that day, and I didn't think I had it in me to face another fight. Especially not against my husband. It would hurt both of us in so many ways.

  “He was trying to protect me,” I whispered to Dexter, but I knew I was reassuring myself as well. “He told me to get in here to protect me. It's the dragon inside him who's upset, not Arach.”

  My own dragoness rose in agreement, soothing me awkwardly. She wasn't one for giving comfort, but she had knowledge of the ways of dragons, and knew this was the fury of a mate who felt betrayed. Arach would realize it was wrong to feel so. In his mind, he knew this pregnancy had been carved in stone, and he'd accepted it. But his dragon didn't agree.

  Dragons were a possessive lot.

  We stared at the door for awhile, but no other sounds came from the bedroom. So I got up and cautiously unlatched the bolt. I cracked open the door, and peered into the room. It was empty. With a push, the door creaked open, and Dexter eased past me. He strode around the room, making sure it was safe before I entered.

  But I knew it was safe. The window had been smashed outward, and a crisp breeze was blowing into the room. I headed over to it, wary of glass, but all of the shards were outside. With my husband. I stared out the window, and saw him in the distance, heading toward the Great Tree. His fiery breaths lit the night, but I still only caught glimpses of his crimson color. A roar echoed back to me, and I shivered. Then he angled down.

  “Son of a centaur,” I whispered as Dex came up to sit beside me. “He's leaving Fa
erie. He doesn't trust himself to be in the same realm as me.”

  Dexter whined.

  “Well, at least I can shower now,” I looked over the remains of the window, and decided to get something else started first. I went to the door and called for Isleen. My fey were fast workers, they should be able to fix the window before my shower was finished. I cleaned up the broken vase myself, grateful that it hadn't been Blossom's home he'd hurled.

  Chapter Thirty-One

  “A Thaisce,” the soft, sweet voice of my faerie husband woke me. His arms slipped around me, and I snuggled into his solid chest. “Forgive me,” he kissed my cheek, and my eyes fluttered open.

  “Arach!” I sat up as I remembered everything. “Are you okay?”

  “Of course,” he frowned. “Why wouldn't I be?”

  “I saw you flying to the Great Tree,” I narrowed my eyes on him. “Where did you go?”

  “Siberia, in the Human Realm,” he sighed. “Someplace which helped to cool my rage while providing me a safe environment to release it in.”

  “That was some rational thinking for the state you were in.” I grimaced, “I hope you didn't melt Siberia.”

  “Siberia is fine. Or it will be, I'm sure. It was the best I could manage,” he slid his hand to my cheek. “I didn't want you to see me like that.”

  “You're always beautiful to me,” I smirked. “Even, and sometimes especially, when you're scary.”

  “Fear can heat the blood,” he slid into the bed beside me. “But I don't think I like the thought of you being afraid of me.”

  “It wasn't true fear,” I shrugged. “If it was, I think I would have attacked you. Fight or flight, you know?”

  “You got the window fixed,” he noted instead of getting into that dangerous conversation.

  “I'm sorry, Arach,” I laid a hand on his arm, and his eyes shot to mine in surprise.

  “You're apologizing to me?” he blinked. “A Thaisce, I'm in the wrong. I behaved like a monster. Like a-”

  “Dragon,” I finished for him. “The pregnancy happened so fast, I wasn't able to prepare you for it, and I wish I could have. I should have at least eased you into the news. This is as much my fault as yours.”