Paranormal Magic (Shades of Prey Book 1)

by Margo Bond Collins

  Pavlo's face turned molten. "You're the one who drove her into Pan's arms. Syrinx was a sweet girl. She would never hurt a fly. But you wanted to whore her out to Dionysus before marrying her."

  Silenus removed the blade from Kat's neck and pushed her to the ground. Stunned, she raised a hand to her throat and felt the sticky wetness from where the axe had scraped the skin. She looked up in time to witness Silenus swinging the weapon into Pavlo's gut. After it connected, Silenus yanked it to the side, ripping his stomach open. Kat screamed.

  Blood dripped from the sharp edge of the axe blade. The entire weapon was steel, the handle included. It had some sort of writing on it, but Kat couldn't tell what kind from that distance. The blade itself was small at the base and widened into a half circle. Pieces in the middle were cut out in an elaborate pattern resembling what looked like the horned head of a goat or a ram.

  Silenus' eyes were wild. The salt-and-pepper colored hair upon his head and legs was matted, as though he'd ceased grooming long ago. His manhood waved about as he turned back to face her. Would it kill a satyr to wear some pants? Pavlo had the decency to do it at least. The smile across Silenus' face was cold and cruel when he took in her horrified expression. Kat glanced at Pavlo. He was still alive, but barely. Even in the moonlight, she could see his insides were extracted from the hole in his torso. Kat felt sick looking at it.

  Silenus took a step toward her, his sinister smirk promising malicious deeds. Then a terrible crashing sounded through the treetops. With a roar, Pan—no, the Jersey Devil in all of his fearsome glory—landed between Kat and the other satyr. Silenus gaped. Evidently he hadn't expected to face such a fearsome beast, and it worked in intimidating the satyr enough that he took several steps backward.

  Silenus quickly recovered from his shock, once he gathered that the monster was Pan, and swung his axe. Pan leaped to the side, barely escaping the slash of cold steel aimed at his heart. He roared, loudly, and the ground around them quaked with the reverberation. Birds took flight from the surrounding trees with frightened squawks, going in every direction to escape. When silence fell once more, Silenus, like the coward he was, retreated through the trees.

  Pan turned to her and noticed the small cut left from the sharp blade. The sound he made could only be likened to an attacking wolf about to defend his territory. Within the blink of an eye, he was on Silenus' trail, and soon they were both out of sight.

  Kat stumbled to Pavlo. He cracked his eyes open and gazed up at her. She wanted to cry because he'd gotten hurt because of her. If Pavlo hadn't tried to rescue her, he would be fine. She'd never watched someone die before. "Is there anything I can do?"

  Pavlo shook his head and winced. His breathing grew sporadic.

  "N-no. It's just a scratch." He grasped for her hand. "Tell Pan. T-tell him Syrinx's mother was not the same as m-mine. D-Dionys-sus didn't even know. He t-thought I took after m-my father." He groaned and coughed. He spat blood to the ground beside him. He explained as best he could how Syrinx's mother was a water nymph, and Pan had triggered the gene, though even Dionysus hadn't been able to figure out exactly how.

  Why does it matter? Kat merely nodded, she'd tell him, but she didn't understand why Pavlo thought it was important after so long.

  "P-pan has more p-power than he knows. Dion-nyyysus believes the nymphs no longer realize they're nymphs. Or the gene has gone dormant. No one has f-found one in over a thousand years. Pan is the on-only one w-who..." Pavlo's eyes closed and his breathing stopped.

  "Pavlo?" She shook him gently. "You're immortal, right? You shouldn't be able to die from a little flesh wound." The wound was not little, but she attempted to downplay it for him as best she could.

  "Technically, he cannot die from a flesh wound," a new voice said. "But Silenus wields a weapon forged of Hephaestusian steel. It was designed to eradicate a god, Pan specifically, and therefore can kill anyone or anything of equal or lesser power."

  Kat glanced up. Melancton stood by a tall pine tree. His hair was wet and matted on the right side, and he had blood on his face. She didn't know how long he'd been standing there.

  "What happened to you?"

  "I attempted to keep Silenus reined in, but the psychotic fuck sucker-punched me with the hilt of his weapon." He bared his teeth and tenderly touched the side of his head, wincing. His hand came away stained.

  "He's going to try to kill Pan." Kat's stomach knotted.

  "Yes." Melancton's hooves clip-clopped as he strode closer to her. Hey, he remembered pants and a shirt. "Let's get you back to Pan's home and away from Silenus, if he succeeds." He held out a hand to her.

  "If it's all the same to you, I'm not going anywhere with anyone but Pan. I don't trust you. And if you cared about my safety, you would go help him."

  He expelled a breath and dropped his gaze. "Unfortunately, I cannot do that."

  "Then you are working against him. Dionysus didn't want peace, did he? He wanted to use me to bait Pan so Silenus could kill him and steal the syrinx."

  Melancton hesitated. "I do not know if that is entirely true. I was charged to keep Silenus from Pan while he was in town. Though I tried to keep him from coming after either of you, I cannot break my vow now that events are in motion."

  He hadn't denied Dionysus gave him those orders. Or that she was bait. And obviously the taxi that had transported them from the hotel hadn't made it to the airport. For all she knew, Dionysus was still here, munching on popcorn as the chaos unfolded. "Why can't you break them? Dionysus said you were present the night of the curse because you disobeyed orders. Is he here too, watching us?"

  The reminder of what Dionysus said seemed to anger him, but he quickly disguised it. "Dionysus left weeks ago. Pavlo and I stayed only to keep Silenus restrained. Not very well, apparently. As for my past, I was to go to battle, yes, but after a bout of wine and thinking too much about things I couldn't have, I abandoned my people. That night I was cursed into a beastly form. Then my spear was used to murder a woman right before my eyes, and other...events kept me from atoning. Tell me I'm not being punished for my actions."

  "Awful things happen, Melancton. It doesn't mean you have to suffer for them the rest of your life, especially not for eternity. Make amends. Save Pan."

  "I'm sorry, Katerina, but I cannot."

  * * *

  Pan was going to kill him. He would rip Silenus' head from his disgusting body and stomp on it like a pumpkin.

  His target ran ahead like a frightened rabbit, knowing he stood no chance. However, Silenus still clutched his weapon in his hands, which kept Pan on guard. The satyr would play dirty. Perhaps Silenus played him, hoping Pan would strike so he could turn and bury the blade into his neck.

  Pan's first goal was to disarm him. He unfurled his wings and took to the air, but he couldn't maneuver as swiftly as he'd like because of the branches. Flight saved him from having to watch his footing and dodging all the obstacles of the forest floor. Also, he'd have a better trajectory for striking once he got a clean break through the trees. As Silenus leaped over the small plants and upraised roots, Pan tired of the chase. At the first opportunity, he dove for the axe.

  Just as he anticipated, Silenus twisted as he hopped over a fallen tree and swung the axe toward him. Pan spun out of the way, knocking into a tree with a thud. Wrongly assuming the hit would take Pan out of the fight, Silenus closed in. Gripping the axe handle with both hands, he brought the weapon up again. Pan growled and crouched down, set to attack. He flexed his fingers, letting the ends morph into claws, ready for Silenus to make his move.

  Silenus pounced, swinging the axe downward while leaping, intending to cleave Pan's chest open. Throwing himself to the side, the axe planted into the tree where he'd been. Pan smiled, knowing animalistic features in that form made the motion unsettling. "You always did blow your load too fast. At least, that's what the nymphs told me." He slashed at Silenus with razor-tipped claws, cutting him down the side of his face and across his chest.

&n
bsp; Silenus abandoned the axe and resorted to brute strength. Pan used his tail as a whip, slapping the man's face and knocking him over. The hit broke the skin down the satyr's cheek. While Silenus was down, Pan pulled the weapon from the tree and tossed it into the woods where it couldn't be used against him. He wasn't ready to end the fight yet. No, he wanted Silenus to suffer. Pan tackled him, intending to rip the elder man's heart out with his bare hands.

  The attack came from the left. Neither of them had time to react when it occurred. Pan was struck and he toppled. When he glanced up, Silenus stood there stunned. He vanished a moment later. Pan looked left and right, shifting back to his satyr form.

  There. Silenus lay about twenty feet away. Headless, with a huge hole in the center of his chest.

  "What the fuck?"

  "Language, son."

  No. This is not happening.

  There was a slight blur in his peripheral, and then Hermes was there. He held Silenus' axe in one hand with the severed head dangling beside by its hair. In the other hand, Hermes carried the satyr's dripping heart.

  His father was dressed in swim trunks with white, Hawaiian flowers on them. The trunks themselves might have been blue or green, but in the evening's fading light it was difficult to discern. Hermes wore black flip-flops, and his black hair was tangled, slightly damp, cut to his shoulders. The pairs of tiny white wings on each ankle folded around his legs. They dissolved into what looked like wing tattoos. Cool trick. He must have picked it up to blend in with the humans. Hard to be inconspicuous when it looked like doves had flown through his heels and gotten stuck there.

  "Were you at the beach?" Pan was appalled. Hermes was supposed to be in Olympus. Asleep!

  Hermes raised a brow. "Will you dress yourself like someone civilized, or did you go Neanderthal when you were cursed? No one wants to see all that. Seriously. Why do the lot of you run around with your dicks swinging?"

  Pan rolled his eyes, but reverted to his human glamour. He completed the illusion by dressing himself in jeans and a black T-shirt. "Tell me how you really feel, Dad."

  "I will!" Hermes tossed Silenus' non-beating heart over his shoulder like it was a simple apple core. It hit a stump with a sickeningly wet slap. He then dropped the severed head and kicked it away from him, making a noise of disgust when the blood remained on his flip-flop.

  Hermes waved the axe around to draw Pan's attention. "You see this?" He pointed at the goat headed emblem in the center. "Hephaestusian steel. The inscription denotes it is specifically designed to kill 'the first of the satyrs.' This asshole is running around carrying one of the only things in existence that can kill you, and you're going to dive-bomb him? You're not a mockingbird chasing a housecat, you're a god. Act like it. Next time, conjure something sharp and stab him in the face. At least blast him with a laser beam or something cool."

  Hermes knew full well none of the gods had laser beams. Zeus had lightning, but that was different. Though Pan supposed he could've had the tree roots rise up and capture Silenus. Ugh! It pissed him off when he had good ideas after all was said and done.

  "I had this," Pan said. "Silenus was as good as dead until you showed up and got in my way. Why the fuck are you even here?" He snatched the axe from his father, not trusting the prick not to use it. "I thought you were hibernating."

  "Does it look like I want to be here right now? I was in Malibu, chillaxing in my beachside hot tub when suddenly my phone rang. It was Zeus letting me know my son was possibly about to be beheaded by an idiot, and if I had any sense, I'd drop what I was doing because he was anticipating meeting his new granddaughter-in-law and great-grandson."

  Pan's mouth dropped open. "Wait. Run that past me again."

  "Mazel tov. It's a boy." Hermes couldn't sound less excited.

  "That's not possible." He thought he was sterile. Other gods knocked up women left and right where he never had, and furthermore, no satyrs had ever sired young. It was part of the curse he supposed. "I have never impregnated anyone, so why now?"

  "That's exactly what I said when I knocked up your mother. Oh, she was maaaaad..." His eyes glazed over. After staring at nothing for a few moments, he shook himself. "Anyway, if we don't get your woman immortalized soon, your son will be mortal. Zeus doesn't like watching his family die unless he smites them himself." Hermes glanced around. "Where is the ole lady anyhow?"

  "You didn't answer my question. Why aren't you, and Zeus for that matter, sleeping like everyone locked outside of Olympus was told?"

  "Oh, that." Hermes waved a hand dismissively. "We only told people that so they'd leave us alone. Got tired of answering all their cries for help. Pushed them off on newer deities. The gods who didn't want change and wanted to be all-powerful all the time were booted out, the rest we forgot to tell. Sorry, son. Your memo was lost in the mail. Well, it was all a bit need-to-know, anyway, and we didn't have cell phones back then. To be fair, you were a bit busy crying over dead nymphs and didn't need anything else to worry about. You weren't exactly speaking to me anyway."

  Pan gritted his teeth so hard his jaw began to tic. He lunged at his father, wanting to throttle him, but Hermes was too quick and hovered in midair a few feet away, wings at his ankles fluttering at a rapid pace. Pan wondered how he kept his flip-flops on when he skyrocketed about like a hummingbird. The random shit I think about.

  "Now, now. Patricide does not become you. And here I was helping you so you didn't become a murderer like some of the rest of us. I know how much it means to you to not be like us." His tone softened and Pan could almost believe Hermes' was sad.

  "I didn't need your help!"

  Hermes crossed his arms as he landed on a branch out of Pan's reach...for the moment. "Of course you did. You've never killed anyone in all your years on this world. Zeus and I agreed we didn't want you to start now. It was the obvious choice that I save you from such dark deeds, and I haven't gotten to do Zeus' smiting for so long." He appeared positively euphoric at that thought.

  "Whatever. You helped. Go back to your hot tub." Pan turned his back and walked off.

  "Not so fast." Hermes appeared in front of him.

  "Oh, you're still here?" Pan brushed past him as he headed in the direction he'd left Katerina. She had a small cut he needed to attend to. It didn't look serious, but that bastard had marred her skin. He wanted to kill Silenus all over again. And fucking Hermes had denied him the vengeance that had been his by right.

  "I know about the ambrosia Dionysus gave you, and you need to know he cannot be trusted. You cannot accept any handouts he gives you."

  "No shit, Sherlock."

  "Dionysus is seeking the syrinx. Apollo has a spy on the inside of the whole Boeotian satyr clan or herd or flock or whatever the hell they are called? Gaggle maybe? A gaggle of satyrs? No? Anyway, you don't want to do anything that will tie your chick up with that yahoo."

  Pan wondered who the spy was, but he'd have plenty of time to consider it once he made Hermes leave. "That's very interesting; color me intrigued. Why are you here again?"

  "To make your woman immortal so you can stop being a dick and get an attitude adjustment."

  Yeah, okay. Pan was the dick. Of course he was. As much as he wanted to tell his father to fuck off for abandoning him when he'd been cursed, Pan wanted to keep Katerina too much to continue the argument. And even if Hermes made Pan's life miserable, he was a god who could be trusted in the long run. He was just annoying. "Fine. But when it's done, you're leaving."

  "Pfft. Like I'd stay in the dump you call a home anyway. I might get attacked by a killer dust bunny or something equally disgusting." He looked back down at the severed head. "Hey, ever seen a three-headed dog play fetch with a decapitated head?"

  Chapter 18

  The sound of crunched pinecones and footsteps over dried leaves pulled Kat from her thoughts. She rose to her feet as Pan came into her line of sight, but she halted as she was about to run toward him. A dark-haired man in shorts appeared behind Pan—hovering above
the ground. And he looked very similar to Pan. So similar, in fact, that he could have been his brother.

  Okay…

  But if Pan was the Jersey Devil and a satyr and a god, then it wasn't even remotely strange that half-naked men could float. Her life really had taken the most unlikely turn.

  The floating man seemed to appear directly in front of her without having moved. He kissed her hand even though Kat hadn't even offered it to him.

  "So you must be Katerina. My son told me all about you." He winked at her, and he smiled, displaying a set of dimples.

  "Son?" She couldn't help it. She immediately dropped her gaze to his ankles as he floated down to the ground and the little white wings stopped fluttering. "Hermes."

  He bowed dramatically, and then rewarded her with a wide grin. "In the flesh."