Harvest of the Gods
Page 1
Harvest of the Gods
Amy Sumida
Copyright © 2013 Amy Sumida
All rights reserved.
ISBN-10: 1494249499
ISBN-13: 978-1494249496
DEDICATION
This book is for Krystal Holm who sat with me in silence through the worst days of my life. Thank you for being just what I needed.
Author's Note
Harvest of the Gods is the first book in the Godhunter series split and I'd just like to take a moment to explain what that means to you. With her father's ring, Vervain now has the ability to live in the God/Human world and the Faerie world continuously. Her ring simply takes her back to the moment she left whichever realm. Due to this, I've taken the liberty of splitting her life into two. I'll be releasing two books at a time now, one chronicling her life with the gods and one with the faeries. You'll be able to read them either separately, as two individual stories, or you may read them together, jumping with Vervain every time she travels to the other realm. This way you can experience events as she does. They are two separate stories though and you can enjoy them either way, the choice is up to you. The books will continue to be numbered in the order in which they should be read, and either way you choose to enjoy them, you should start with the lowest number first. Thank you all for bearing with me and joining Vervain on her adventures.
Pronunciation Guide
Aodh: Ee
Aoife: Ee-fa
Arach: Air-roc
Bearach: BEH-ruck
Carus: Care-us
Cian: Key-an
Estsanatlehi(Mrs E): Es-tan-AHT-lu-hee
Fiachra: Fee-ah-kra
Fionnuala: Finn-noo-lah
Froekn: Fro-kin
Gruach: Groo-ah
Huitzilopochtli: Weet-seal-oh-POACHED-lee
Intare: In-tar-ay
Kirill: Key-reel
Meilyr: May-ler
Nephthys: Nep-th-es
Nyavirezi: Nee-yah-veer-ez-ee
Re: Rah
Rouva: Roo-vah
Scotaidh: SCO-tee
Shehaquim: Shah-ha-keem
Tima: Tee-mah
Tlaloc: T-la-lock
Tobadzistsini: Tobah-SEE-seenee
Tsohanoai(Mr. T): So-ha-noe-ayee
More Books by Amy Sumida
The Godhunter Series(in order)
Godhunter
Of Gods and Wolves
Oathbreaker
Marked by Death
Green Tea and Black Death
A Taste for Blood
The Tainted Web
Series Split:
These books can be read together or separately
(Harvest of the Gods) & A Fey Harvest
Into the Void & Out of the Darkness
Coming Soon
Perchance to Die
Other Books
The Magic of Fabric
Feeding the Lwas: A Vodou Cookbook
Enchantress
The Vampire-Werewolf Complex:
How Paranormal Romance Can Improve Your Relationship
Chapter One
A great roar filled my ears, my throat, my land, and it was all lion.
I specify that it was lion because I now held three beasts within me and when I roared, I never knew what was going to come out. Today though, I ran with the Pride(seventy-three beautiful lions of differing color) as a lioness. We stalked through the tall grass at the far reaches of my territory in the God Realm, near the mountain range that defined my land.
We'd already hunted and brought down 3 wild pigs for our supper, so now we were headed back, the pigs carried over the shoulders of three of my lions, who had changed back to their human forms to handle the meat. They were naked and savage looking with the carcasses thrown over their shoulders. A few years ago I would have been embarrassed to see them like that but not any more.
Now I was their Tima, their heart, Goddess of Love and Lions, as well as Rouva to the Froekn(werewolves). Trevor, my alpha mate, was a Froekn Prince but when I hunted with my Intare, he stayed home, along with my other lovers. All except Kirill, my Ganza and sole black lion, who walked beside me as we headed home to Pride Palace.
I breathed in deep, taking in the smell of the land and my lions. Rich earth, sweet grass, and the faint scent of moisture on the breeze, fought with the masculine aromas of heated male flesh and lion fur. The ground beneath my paws was soft and I dug my claws into it as I walked, loving the feel of stretching them out into my land. The taste of blood was still in my mouth and I savored it, knowing that soon the kill would be roasting over a fire and adding its delicious scent to the rest.
We reached the edge of the wide, still lake and paused, all of us instinctively looking toward the spot that had become our graveyard. A little ways off from the shore, back under the shade of some delicate trees, stood six gravestones. The lions we'd lost since I'd become Tima. The wound was still fresh in all of us and a low mewling spread through the ranks before we moved on.
Alfred, Rick, Hamish, George, Alan, and Noel. Their names were branded in me, each of them leaving a ragged tear where we'd once been connected. I don't understand how Nyavirezi could stand to kill her own men when she was their Goddess. How had she coped with the grief of it? Maybe she hadn't felt any, she had been a sadist, a rapist, and a cold-hearted bitch after all.
Yeah, the last Goddess of the Intare had killed her own with a flippancy reserved for backwoods, inbred, mutant sociopaths, sometimes even forcing the Intare to kill each other- an order that was unbearably cruel for men who thought of each other as brothers. Then they were even denied a proper burial, tossed into mass pits near the mountains behind the palace like refuse. We'd made the area into a garden, at the center of which we placed a large stone carved with all the names of the Intare buried there. I hadn't known those men but my lions had and I was happy to give them a memorial that hopefully brought the living lions some peace.
I'd finally let go of my guilt over the recent deaths, knowing now that my men were happy at last and that they'd all fought gladly beside me to protect that happiness, knowing that death was a distinct possibility. Darius, one of my lion lieutenants, said the men who died since I'd taken over, died free and that each and every one of them would rather die like that than under the cruel thumb of their previous Tima. Having met and killed the woman, I could see the truth in it.
When we finally made it back to the Palace itself, it was to find Trevor waiting on the wide veranda in front of it, his dark wavy hair hung to his shoulders now and combined with the scruff on his face he kind of looked like a pirate. He smiled when he saw us and Kirill and I broke free of the pride and ran the rest of the way to him like puppies. The scrape of thick claws on wood reminded me that I hadn't withdrawn them, so I flexed my paws and padded the rest of the way silently. Trevor's hand stroked down the back of my head as I rubbed by him and through the door he held open for me.
“How was the hunt?” His bright, honey-colored eyes gleamed.
“Good,” Kirill answered and I glanced behind me to see that my black lion had returned to his glorious human body, which was now only clad in his hair. Since his shiny black hair hung to about mid-thigh on him, this was actually more of a cover-up than you'd imagine. He had a definite Lady Godiva thing going on but in an oddly masculine way. I could never figure out how he did that, exude such masculinity with such ridiculously beautiful hair. He grinned at me, noting my perusal and swinging back all that hair to give me a better look. “Ve have pork for dinner.”
It's the other white meat, I thought as I looked over his own delicious appeal.
“Pigs huh?” Trevor followed me, barely even noticing my second lover's display, as I headed for the master bedroom we all shared.
“Three little piggies,” I teased, “and you didn't even have to huff or puff, my big bad wolf.”
“Damn,” he laughed and caught me up in a hug, “can't we still do a little huffing?”
“That is about the least romantic thing you could possibly say to me,” I griped, trying to struggle out of his grip of steel.
“Now come on,” he set me down on the bed. “I'm sure I could think of something worse.”
“Ridiculous,” Kirill shook his head and headed past us. “I'm going to shower, you two have fun.”
“Oh please,” Trevor rolled his eyes, “you get just as cheesy as I do and you know you're gonna come back out here in a few minutes to join in, so don't give me that shit.”
“Don't get Tima too tired,” Kirill shot back with a smirk, “you know I last longer zan you.” He disappeared through the bathroom door before Trevor could respond or throw something at him.
“Hmph,” Trevor looked at me with a smirk. “We'll see about that.”
Chapter Two
After the barbecue, we headed over to Moonshine, the club Trevor and I owned, to have a few drinks and relax. Some of the God Squad and hopefully a couple of my other lovers(don't judge, it's a lion thing), were going to make an appearance. I sat on the upper level of the club, back on a faux hill that served as a couch. There was a stream near me, it flowed across the second floor and over the side, where it became a waterfall, tumbling into a small rock-encased pool. The sound of rushing water was joined by the soft music pumped in through hidden speakers and I smiled at the combination.
Moonshine really was magical for me and that said a lot, seeing as I'd been to not only several god territories but to the Faerie Realm as well. Moonshine held its own special place in my heart though. There was just something wonderful about transforming the ordinary into something beautiful and Moonshine had all those other places beat in that department. It's one thing to just create an amazing place with magic but it's another entirely to take a warehouse and transform it into a forest using no magic at all. The only magic came into play after the club was finished, that of the “Moon” security system which could sense changes in emotions and prevent altercations, and the oathing magic we used to ensure that gods didn't use magic inside the club.
When I thought about how Trevor had come up with the concept and had the club built, all on his own(as in without magical help), it boggled my mind. My artist soul was just so impressed by the attention he paid to detail. From the melding of real plants and trees with fake, to the Wild Room for shifters which led to the running track inside the walls. It was an amazing accomplishment and I felt like I was taking credit for it every time I told people that the club belonged to us both.
Trevor would actually give me credit if asked about it, saying that I was the inspiration for its creation if not the actual conceptualist but I was uncomfortable with that. Moonshine was all his doing and I wanted it known. He deserved the credit, not just for making such a wonderful place but for creating legitimate, and by that I mean non-killing, job opportunities for the Froekn. He knew how much it bothered me that the wolves had been assassins for hire in God society and so he'd given them all a choice. I was thrilled when they all went for it, though Trevor's father, Fenrir, got restless sometimes.
I reached down and stroked the petals of a real flower growing next to my fake hill/seat and smiled. It was nice to have a place I could invite all of my friends to without worrying about people disturbing us. It had been awhile since I'd seen some of my friends and I was looking forward to it, unfortunately, the first person to arrive wasn't one I'd been hoping to see.
“Hello, Miw-sher,” Anubis said from the top of the stairs, that came up beside the waterfall.
“Anubis,” I whispered in shock as Kirill growled.
Luckily, Trevor had gone down to his office to handle payroll, or there might have been an altercation. As it was, Kirill might jump him. No one really liked the Egyptian God of the Dead, ever since he abducted and did nefarious things to me that I can't talk about without blushing.
“Lose a few lions, did you?” Jewel tones swirled across Anubis' eyes.
“Hold on, Kirill,” I said before my Ganza could launch himself at Anubis. “Remember, he helped us with Eris. Now what are you trying to say, Anubis?”
“Just that I found a few stray cats and decided to give them a home.”
“Do you mean my lions? My dead lions?”My heart leapt. “What did you do to them?”
“I claimed their souls,” he shrugged.
“And did what with them?”
“Kept them, Miw-sher,” he frowned. “I wouldn't send your men to Aaru and they couldn't go even if they wanted to, they don't have the faith. They're living with us in Duat.”
“Why?” I narrowed my eyes on him even as my chest filled with hope.
I'd wondered what had become of my lions after they died. Without a strong religious belief, they wouldn't be accepted into any of the afterlives the gods provided. I didn't think the other gods could claim them and I wasn't a god of death, so I couldn't. I did see Balder in Niflheim though, so I knew that even gods could have an afterlife, I just didn't know how it worked. Or where the ones that didn't get claimed went.
“I thought you'd want them provided for,” Anubis spread his hands out in innocence.
“And?”
“And I thought that were you to die, you might choose to live in Duat, with your lions.”
“Choose?” I frowned deeper. “We can choose?”
“If you have more than one option, more than one death deity coming to claim you, there would be a choice,” he nodded.
“You have Odin and Azrael,” Kirill growled. “You could go vith either of zem.”
“I can?” My head swirled with the possibilities. “And all of you can choose your afterlives too?”
“Da,” Kirill nodded, his Russian accent getting even thicker with his agitation. “I believe ve can but ve'd probably need to have agreement vith one of ze death deities first, so zat zey could claim us ven ve died. Ve are not followers, so it's different.”
“It does make things easier to have a contract, yes,” Anubis agreed. “Your five lions didn't have an agreement with anyone but I was able to catch their souls at the moment of death and offer them a choice.”
“Catch their... you stalked my men?”
“I was on the battlefield when they died, Miw-sher,” Anubis shook his head. “There was no need of stalking. Every death deity felt them die. I simply took the time to find them and provide for them. I would think you'd appreciate my claiming them when none of your lovers did.”
“So Odin and Azrael?” I looked back at Kirill.
“Zey vere both overrun by Eris' army of dead,” Kirill said gently. “Zere vas nozing zey could do.”
“And you weren't?” I looked back at Anubis.
“My jackals protected me,” another shrug.
Anubis' jackals were shifters but not like other shifters. Their first form was jackal, not man, so they have a more animal mentality. They could rise from the dead, over and over, and if they killed someone, that person would rise as a zombie intent on fighting for Anubis. It was a fearsome magic that had been difficult to fight, back when we were on opposites sides of the god war. I hadn't even considered the benefits of having Anubis on my side.
“Wait,” I just realized what he'd said. “Five? You only have five of them?”
“Al didn't fall at battle vith Eris,” Kirill's hand was on my shoulder, stroking it gently. It was such a cat comfort, that I smiled a little at him
before I realized what had been said.
“Oh, right,” I ground my teeth. “That was Demeter.”
Anger burned within me once more for the Harvest Goddess. She'd abused Kirill, kept Persephone in perpetual childhood, tried to murder Trevor, Hades, and my son Vali, and then finally killed my lion, Alfred. We'd been hunting her forever, it seemed, both the Intare and the Froekn combined, but she knew how to hide and no one had found any trace of her. It was truly an amazing feat since some of the greatest trackers in all the realms were on her trail.
“I'm sorry I could not take your other lion,” Anubis actually did look concerned. “I would spare you any and all pain if I could, Miw-sher.”
“Anubis,” I turned and sat back down on the hill, indicating that he should sit on the little hill across from me. “Please stop calling me kitten.”
“Everyone else has some personal name for you but I cannot?”
“Agh,” I ran my hand through my hair. “Okay, fine, whatever.”
“Thank you,” he nodded regally. “Now, you may come and visit your men anytime you wish.”
“I can?” I cocked my head at him. “And you'll let me leave when I want to?”
“Yes, of course,” it was his turn to sigh. “I don't wish to enslave you anymore, Miw-sher. I promise you'll be safe with me. Ma'at would like to see you as well.”
“Yeah,” I grinned at him mischievously. “What about Re?”
“You are most cruel,” he made a face. “I'm surprised he hasn't approached you on his own, he talks about you nonstop.”
“Huh,” I chuckled. “Nope, haven't seen him but I've been a little busy. You've heard about my recent discovery?”
“Discovery?”
“Tima is faerie.” Kirill smirked at Anubis.
“Faerie?” Anubis frowned and then his eyes went wide. “You're one of the fey? That's not possible, the fey withdrew centuries ago.”
“Yeah, it's a long story but you know how my soul is really Sabine, Odin's wife?”