by Amy Sumida
“Wha-a-a-at?” I whined and slammed my fists down on the bed repeatedly.
“Thor’s here,” he stifled a laugh. “We need to go.”
“But I’m still tired,” I grumped and threw the covers over my head.
“They're rioting in Arizona,” Trevor persisted.
“What?” I sat up in bed and Trevor’s eyes went from concerned to appreciative when the sheet fell.
“Vervain, we need to…” Thor stopped behind Trevor in the doorway, his mouth going slack as he stared. I dove back under the covers with a yelp and Trevor growled as he pushed Thor back. “I’m sorry, I’m going, I’ll wait in the living room,” he stammered.
Trevor’s eyes were glowing with anger when he finally looked back at me. He came into the room and shut the door behind him with a thud. I dropped the covers again as he approached and the anger simmered down a little under his rising lust.
“That was an accident,” I whispered. “He didn’t exactly come back here expecting to get an eyeful.”
“Doesn’t change the fact that he did,” Trevor crawled across the bed and straddled me. There was a growl to his voice. “You’re my mate; your body should be for me alone.”
He slid his hands over the tops of my breasts and around them to cup and lift them gently. I sighed in delight as he rubbed his face against them, his early morning stubble pleasantly abrasive. Then liquid heat enveloped me as his mouth did and I almost came off the bed. His tongue swirled in lazy circles as his thick hair tickled my skin. I gushed with immediate desire and he groaned, scenting my excitement most likely, as his arms circled my back.
When he transferred his attention to my other breast, I had a clear headed moment to remember Thor. I let Trevor go at me some more anyway, it just felt too damn good. I ran my fingers through his hair and even pulled his face against me tighter but then I sighed and pushed him back.
“We can’t finish this right now,” I kissed him to take the sting out of my words. “Thor’s waiting outside.”
“Forget Thor,” Trevor’s eyes gleamed. “Fuck me.”
“Honey-eyes, I love you, you can have me anytime you want,” I stroked his face, “even now, but do you really want to be that cruel to Thor just because he caught a peek?” Of something he’s already seen before, I added. In my head.
“You’re right,” he groaned and laid his head in my lap for a second before he got up and quickly moved off the bed. “Let's get dressed.”
He slid down the bed and headed to the closet while I crawled after him. I ran into the bathroom to perform some quick morning necessities before I slid into my fighting gear. Trevor had only put on an old pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt, fighting gear for werewolves. They needed something that could either be removed quickly or could be shredded easily. I, however, needed a lot more coverage and my gear consisted of black leather pants and a high necked, long-sleeved shirt reinforced with sheets of metal that were sewn into pockets of material.
I'd sewn in the plates myself after having to defend myself against werewolves last year. I'd left them out of the pants because I thought it would make it too difficult to run and sometimes being able to escape was more important than protection.
To this I added my heavy boots that had a small metal hook poking out of the heels, my kodachi short sword on my hip, and my bladed gloves. I braided my hair around my head like a crown to complete the look. I never leave my hair hanging loose when I fight. All it does is gives my opponent a handhold.
When we stepped into the living room, we found Thor waiting anxiously by the door.
“Let's go,” he said and held a hand out to us.
Chapter Forty
The riot was two blocks away but we could hear the cacophony as if we were standing smack dab in the middle of it.
We were all there, dressed to kill… literally. Thor wore his Viking gear, as did Ull, which consisted of leather, cross-gartered pants, a long sleeved tunic, and assorted archaic weapons. Brahma had a long maroon tunic on with some kind of tooled leather armor over it. Horus looked like an Egyptian warrior, in white cloth and boiled leather. Finn wore leather armor enhanced with pieces of strategically placed metal plates.
Hades matched me, in black leather pants and a black dress shirt, minus the metal plates. I guess sizzle-butt didn’t need armor. Pan and Mr. T seemed to share his thinking and were dressed casually, but Mr. T was wearing an Indian breastplate over his white, long sleeved shirt. It didn't look like it could stop much but you never know with these gods. The knives in my gloves shouldn't be able to cleave a god's head from his body but they did. Easily.
Persephone, Teharon and Mrs. E were going to stay out of the battle, so they had forgone armor as well, but Teharon and Mrs. E both had a bow slung on their backs just in case. It kind of bothered me that Sephy didn't have a weapon. Her magic was of growth, making things blossom and bringing feelings of renewal. How was she going to defend herself with that?
We were just about to move out when a roar rose above the sound of fighting. It rolled over us like distant thunder, bringing with it the promise of a storm. We all froze, looking over at each other in confusion. The street we were on was deserted, the locals either hiding or joining in the riot, so it wasn’t hard to spot the lions heading straight for us. Not that lions on a Phoenix street at mid-day would be hard to spot anyway.
They glided forward, savagely beautiful and confident in their fur. Most were shades of gold but here and there I spotted a few shining white. Thick manes swished, sculpted muscles flowed gracefully, and padded feet moved silently over the pavement, as they surged forward in a widening half circle.
“I’m sorry,” I walked forward a step, staring in morbid fascination. “Are those lions?”
“Werelions,” Trevor’s nose was doing double time. He shifted with a shimmering surge and fur flowed over his body as he grew about two feet in height. The sweatpants tore but clung to him determinedly as his voice dropped to a low growl. “That means Nyavirezi is here.”
“Very good, Wolf Prince,” a statuesque, chocolate-skinned goddess appeared behind the Pride. She had a head full of thin, long braids and a lush figure. The lions stopped and looked back at the sound of her voice, waiting for her signal.
The funny thing was, I wasn’t as shocked to see a pride of lions as I was to see Blue standing beside their goddess. At least I thought it was Blue. He was dressed in that gold armor again, with a black tunic over it and a cloak over that. I couldn't even make out his eyes thru the slits in his helm. It had to be him though. Why else would someone go to so much trouble to disguise themselves?
“Fuck,” I threw my hands down and released the blades from my gloves. “That's it. We're ending this right now. I'm going to tear that helmet off his head and be certain it's Blue, once and for all.”
I was about to go racing toward Blue when Thor grabbed me. “Remember the last time you went charging in towards the Aztec without thought?”
I was about to give him a piece of my mind when I realized he was right. I get carried away in a fight, the last time it was literally… by Blue. Wasn’t the definition of insanity doing the same thing over and over, while expecting a different result? Maybe it was best to stop giving people pieces of my mind, I evidently needed them all. So instead, I waved my hand as I bowed in an after you motion to Thor.
Thor pulled his Viking hammer, Mjollnir, from his belt and threw it. It changed mid-air into a lightning bolt, which struck the Lion Goddess smack dab in the chest. She stumbled back, screeching as her eyebrows sizzled and a significant amount of her hair burned away.
“How dare you?” She screamed as the bolt disappeared and the hammer reappeared in Thor's hand.
“That thing is amazing,” I gaped and Thor smirked. “You're going first from now on!”
The wind started getting colder and I looked up as the sky turned black. Oh, this couldn’t be good.
Blue pulled a sword from the sheath at his belt and I started to shake with fur
y. The sword had sealed it for me. It looked exactly like the sword Blue had inherited from his father. You can't expect me to believe that all Atlanteans had matching swords too.
Mr. T strode forward and started to glow; heat flowed off his body as the power of the sun shot out of him in a blurring wave and pushed the cold back. It sparked and popped, dropping sizzling rain between us and the lions. The animals retreated a few steps.
Then Blue's gauntleted fist shot out, sending a dazzling white jolt of energy toward us. The cold disappeared entirely as it went by, impacting with Mr. T's magic in a subtle but stunning display. Heat swirled with heat above our heads and the dry Arizona air grew drier and hotter.
They always said fight fire with fire but looking at the magical battle above me, as it dripped sparks down around us, I realized that was a stupid idea. Fight fire with fire and all you got was napalm.
Nyavirezi growled low and it was all the lions needed. They leaped forward and I crouched in anticipation. There must have been thirty of them filling the street already but even more were stalking out of alleys behind the goddess. Just lions and more lions, not a single lioness. Where were all the females? I thought it was the girls that did all the hunting.
Nyavirezi started to shimmer, her body going hazy, and then reformed into a lioness in seconds. So at least they had one female. She was beautiful... and huge. She roared, a long rumbling warning, and I had a momentary flash of fear that we were fucked. Then my Nahual answered Nyavirezi's challenge with a snarling growl that echoed off the buildings until it faded away eerily.
The lioness lifted her head and scented the air warily. It made me smile and when I looked around at my friends, I smiled wider. I used to have to fight the gods alone, now I had gods backing me. That had to be an improvement, right?
Trevor launched himself forward and I followed my mate, my wolf rising up to join my jaguar in excitement. Along with it came my war magic and I felt Victory fill me as well. My body felt amazing, able to fight forever, power running through my veins like a drug. I pulled my kodachi and struck at the first lion to attack me. The sword was light in my hands but as I struck, War and Victory surged and I nearly cleaved the poor lion in two.
Part of me shrank back from the carnage, I hated hurting animals, but another part of me gloried in the kill and knew this was no ordinary beast but a enemy who'd come to bring death to me and my friends. I swept past the carcass to attack another predator.
Over and over I swung, my arm never tiring. The war magic preferred sword to claws and it was delighted that I'd finally chosen the kodachi. I could feel it zipping through me, dancing in my veins happily.
Behind me, I heard Thor’s thunder and his lightning lit the sky to add to the drama between Blue and Mr. T. Most of the other gods were in hand-to-hand combat around me, flashes of their magic lit my peripheral vision, but Pan stood on the side with Teharon. I caught a quick movement from Pan and then the lions around me were going wild, leaping at each other and backing away. I smiled and gave chase.
Panic was a useful tool in battle.
Then I had an epiphany. Thor had told me how human magic empowered gods and how difficult it was for one god to kill another. It was almost as if the magic canceled each other out. He'd said it was the reason they feared me. As a human witch, the magic craved me. When around me, it wanted to return to me. It was one of the reasons some gods found me attractive but more importantly, it was the reason I could kill them. And I was the only human witch there. No wonder Thor wanted me back in the gang. I tipped the scales.
Unfortunately, the lions recovered fast, scales tipped or not. They rallied behind Nyavirezi, who had joined the battle. She ran straight for me and I suddenly found myself in the middle of them. Claws tore into my side, glancing off metal plates, and I swung my blade automatically. Nyavirezi crept forward as the rest of her honor guard backed off into a loose circle. I set myself down into a battle stance, waiting for her leap.
Then I heard Trevor cry out from my left.
“Vervain,” his wolfman body leaped over the lions in his haste to get to me and I couldn't help my gasp of dismay.
The lioness jerked her head at my reaction, then turned and ran in Trevor's direction.
“Trevor,” I started to follow but the lions Nyavirezi left behind formed a solid wall between us. “Trevor!”
I saw him rise over the bodies again, almost to me, but then the lioness caught him from the side, her massive jaws closing on his stomach in slow motion as I screamed. My heart caught in a brutal fist of terror, paralyzing me, and the distraction was enough for one of the lions to pounce and grab me by the neck.
I swung my blade but another one bit down into my arm, crushing my upper arm between the metal plates hidden there, and I felt the sword slide from my grasp. Warm fur pressed down against me, the pleasurable sensation in direct contrast to the pain of teeth sinking into the back of my neck.
Mauled by lions… not exactly one of my top ten ways to die.
“No!” I heard Thor's voice and saw a flash of light but it was too late. The lion had gentled his bite but still had me firmly by the neck and was dragging me backward like a mother cat with her kitten. I was actually kind of relieved for the mauling respite.
“Damn, Thor,” I heard Nyavirezi shout, once again in her human form. Where was Trevor? Was he alive? “He’s thrown the hammer and leveled my lions. Retreat,” then she growled low and the lions swarmed around us.
Blue gave an angry snarl as he lowered his sword and turned to stare her down.
“Retreat to fight again,” Nyavirezi snarled back.
I struggled to claw at the lion who held me but he was moving too fast, jarring me too much, for me to do much damage. So instead, I put most of my energy into protecting my body from the asphalt he was dragging me over. I kicked my legs and pushed down on my forearms to try to save my torso but the injury to my right arm prevented me from using it and I had to give up.
The leather of my pants was getting scraped all to hell and my shirt caught on stones until it finally tore open to reveal the metal plates beneath. They screeched something awful but I was thankful to have them. Better the metal be damaged than my flesh.
Finally the lion stopped and released me but by the time I struggled to my feet, he’d shifted to human form. I had about a second to gape at the expanse of muscled, naked, golden male before he punched me hard and I went down.
Chapter Forty-One
I moaned and rolled over, surprised to find myself unchained for once. I was in an empty room. Wow, unchained and no one around to torture me, things were looking up. I took a more relaxed look around.
Wood paneled walls and hardwood floors… even the ceiling was made of wooden beams. I stood up and tried the door. Why not? You never know.
It was locked so I slammed my weight against it. It didn’t budge. I gave a big harumph and folded my arms while I tried to think. My gloves were gone, along with all the other knives I’d hidden on me and my sword had been lost on the battlefield. I could only hope that someone had picked it up. I was most likely Nyavirezi's prisoner since it was her lion who punched me and I didn't recognize the room as one of Blue's.
“Hey,” I kicked the door. “Lion lady! Blue Balls! Open up, you chicken shits!”
I heard some movement beyond the door and then rapid footsteps. After awhile I heard approaching footsteps and then the door was flung in, leaving me faced with the lion goddess and Blue. He was still wearing that stupid get-up. Like it even mattered at this point.
“Well, it’s about frickin’ time,” I crossed my arms. “Where’s my gloves?”
“She is arrogant,” Nyavirezi looked at Blue like she was shocked to find that some vicious rumor was actually true.
“Blah, blah, blah,” I sighed, making a talking motion with my hand. “Can we get this over with? My neck and arm both hurt like a bitch.”
“You want to get this over with?” Nyavirezi sneered. “Fine, it’s your death.”
Nyavirezi started forward but Blue stopped her with a hand on her arm. The lion goddess looked back at him in shock and he shook his head. Hmph, guess he wanted to kill me himself. Or maybe there was some little piece of the good Blue left. I'd seen inside his heart when I healed him. I knew he had the capacity for good.
“Blue, don't do this,” I tried to get through to him. “I know you don't want me dead.” They both looked over at me, paused, and then went back to glaring at each other. “How can you even think about doing this to me?”
“She's mine,” Nyavirezi growled at Blue, who hadn't even acknowledged that I spoke again. “She killed my lions.”
My gut clenched. I just couldn't believe Blue could be so cruel to me after all we'd been through. Was my ability to judge a man's character so broken that I could be so wrong about Blue? I had actually believed him when he denied being a part of this. Yet there he was, arguing with a lion goddess over me.
As they fought over who got to kill me, I was so touched by that, I weighed my options. I knew I didn’t stand a chance against both of them. I could drain Nyavirezi but Thor had warned me that draining another goddess may be too much power for me to hold and I was pretty sure Blue was just plain too powerful. It didn’t look like I had a choice though, the love magic would be useless against these two. Even though it had previously liked Blue, now I felt it curl up and hide inside me, another damning mark against him, and the idea of using sex magic against them was just plain gross.
I was about to center myself and reach out for Nyavirezi's magic, when their fighting ended. She grabbed me and yanked me out the door. I elbowed her in the face and she went down hard. Blue reached for me and I knocked his hand away before I booked it down the hallway.
“Darius,” Nyavirezi screamed, “grab her!”
I hazarded a glance over my shoulder but the two of them were alone. Where was this Darius person? When I turned my head back to the front, I had my answer.