by Sumida, Amy
“Yes.”
“It turns out that Sabine was fey,” I pushed down the dragon-sidhe part of me that wanted to rise up and roar happily at the announcement. “Sabine's mother hid her nature to protect her from the dragon hunters of that time but Aednat died before she could remove the enchantment and Sabine remained human.”
“Dragon hunters? What would dragon hunters have to do with anything?” Then his eyes widened further. “Dragon-sidhe. You're a fey dragon?”
“You got it,” I smiled.
“And she's got new husband too,” Kirill was just having the time of his life. “He's dragon as vell.”
“I beg your pardon?” It's funny how much the Egyptian god could sound like an Englishman on occasion.
“Another long story,” I sighed. “I'm the last female dragon-sidhe and Arach's the last male. We ended up getting married. I don't want to go into it, it's a fey thing and as far as I'm concerned, it's only applicable when I'm in Faerie.”
“So you're married to a fey?”
“Fey King,” Kirill chuckled.
“Will you knock it off, Prince Kirill?” I shot back at him.
I'd only recently found out that Kirill was the son of the Russian Tzar, Peter the Great. He would have ruled if Nyavirezi hadn't abducted him but Kirill didn't really like people to know that though and he growled at me as a reminder.
“Prince?” Anubis looked over Kirill like he might have missed something before.
“Lion Prince,” Kirill sniffed and looked away.
“So you have two Princes now?” Anubis rose a brow.
“And a Faerie King,” Kirill happily averted the attention off of himself.
“You married a Faerie King?” Anubis sat back against the hill/seat, hard. “Anything else I should know?”
“Uh,” I thought back over recent events. “We killed Iktomi and Mica, that was difficult.”
“Tima almost die,” Kirill announced succinctly but still melodramatically.
“You what?” Anubis' brows rose.
“Iktomi turned into a giant spider,” I grimaced. “I ended up killing him like I killed Eris.”
“With the emerald?” Anubis' eyes went to the large stone around my neck, a gift from Odin. “Speaking of jewelry,” he reached into an inside pocket of his suit jacket and pulled out a velvet pouch. “You seem to have lost not only your lions but your diamonds as well.”
He handed me the bag and I opened and then upended it in my palm. Millions of dollars worth of diamonds came spilling out, catching the ambient light in the club and flashing it back at me gleefully. I knew they were worth millions because I'd sold them not so long ago to help with the care and feeding of my seventy-three cats. Well, seventy-four if you count my actual cat, Nicholas.
The jewelry had been a gift from Anubis on the day we were supposed to get married(he blackmailed me with Trevor's life) and I'd kept them, as well as the other expensive jewelry he'd given me, until I realized that they'd fetch a nice price, even at resale, and although we had the club, I didn't want to take money from it for my Intare. The lions helped as much as they could but I knew it was my job to take care of them and that meant I needed money, lots of money. So I sold the diamonds(I kept the diamond shoes, they were too fabulous and kind of made me feel like Cinderella) but now they were back in my hands.
“You just shoved them into a pouch,” I slid them carefully back into the velvet. “Jeesh, Anubis, didn't they give you the boxes?”
“They were too bulky to carry in my jacket,” he rolled his eyes, “and it wouldn't have been as dramatic.”
“Now I have to go find some boxes for them,” I grumbled.
“Will you cease? I'll give you the damn boxes,” Anubis huffed. “Miw-sher, if you needed money, you could have asked.”
“Like I would have asked you for money,” I scoffed. “I figured I might as well get something out of being tortured by you.”
“Vervain,” oh he used my real name, “you said you forgave me all of that.”
“I have,” I shrugged, “but I'm not stupid. I haven't forgotten.”
“Fine,” Anubis exhaled in a loud huff. “I've accomplished what I wanted to today, you know about your lions and you have your jewels once more. I guess I'll leave you in peace but if you need anything, Miw-sher, I'm eager to prove myself to you. Don't hesitate to call.”
“Anubis,” Trevor had arrived.
“Wolf Prince,” Anubis nodded.
“You want a drink?” Trevor motioned to one of the werewolf waitresses as I gaped at him.
“A drink?” Anubis looked startled as well. I think the only one who wasn't surprised was Kirill but then there were times when he knew Trevor better than I did.
“Sure,” Trevor walked over and sat down beside him. “I think it's the least I can do after what you did for us.”
“What I did?” Anubis wasn't sure if he could trust this new Trevor and I didn't blame him. Trevor had previously barely tolerated him, which had been a step up from wanting to kill him, but he hadn't ever been friendly.
“Coming to our aid,” Trevor frowned at him, then gave his attention to Natalie, the waitress. “Can you bring us a bottle of champagne? Four glasses, thank you.”
“You want to drink with me?” Anubis looked back and forth between Trevor and me.
“Well, I'm not saying I want to be best friends or anything,” Trevor shrugged and smiled at me, “but I've learned to appreciate those who want to keep Vervain alive. You do want her alive, don't you?”
This was a dangerous and loaded question. Anubis had previously insinuated that he was waiting for my death because then I'd be all his. With Kirill's new information though, I now knew I could go with Azrael or Odin, and Anubis knew that I knew it. I was curious to see what he would say.
“Of course I want her alive,” he didn't miss a beat and I released the breath I didn't realize I'd been holding. “I want her free to live and be happy, not restrained in any way.”
“Then I think we should drink to that,” Trevor nodded with a glint in his eye.
I shouldn't have been surprised by Trevor's deft maneuvering of the situation, he was a Prince after all, and a werewolf, two things which contributed to tactical and political capabilities. I was surprised though, happily, and extremely proud. If I hadn't been a goddess and known the truth about gods, I would have wanted to say a prayer of thanks for Trevor being in my life. As it was, I just counted myself lucky. I glanced at Kirill, very lucky
Chapter Three
When the Angel of Death came for me, I wasn't ready to go.
“Can you give me a few more minutes,” I asked before I gave Azrael a quick kiss. “I need to grab a couple things.”
“No problem, I can be patient.” He grinned broadly and took a seat on the wide bed.
Since we were at Pride Palace, the bed was on a stepped platform and had four posters. Azrael looked fabulous on it but then he pretty much looked fabulous wherever he was. His short black hair was styled casually, his diamond eyes were sparkling, and his sleekly muscled physique was shown to its best advantage in the worn jeans and T-shirt he had on. The wings helped too, they were out on full display, a black frame for his gorgeousness.
Death was finally getting a vacation. Michael, yeah the archangel Michael, said he'd keep an eye on things while we were gone. Az had given him the scythe and everything. I didn't know he could do that but Azrael assured me it would be fine on a temporary basis. Mike could use the scythe to harvest souls and take them to their appropriate afterlives, he just couldn't give comfort to the bereaved. They'd have to deal with their grief all on their own.
Maybe I should feel bad that the Angel of Death wouldn't be there to comfort people in their times of need, but I didn't. Azrael worked hard, taking his position very seriously, and he was a compassionate man. He deserved some time off, and as far as I was concerned, I'd saved humanity repeatedly. They've given me enough grief that they could deal with some on their own for a littl
e while, and give me some alone time with my angel. I'd dealt with enough trauma on my own in the past month, didn't I deserve a little comfort too?
So we had a week all to ourselves. No godhunting, no werewolves, no faeries, and no werelions. No problem. I was looking forward to some quiet time with my angel. I glanced over at Azrael's biceps and grinned. Maybe some not so quiet time too.
“Vervain,” Trevor came into the room with a serious expression on his face.
“Oh no, no, no,” I held a hand up to stop whatever he was about to say. “Not another word. I'm going with Azrael to Barcelona and I'm going to finally see the Sagrada Familia Cathedral before they finish it, goddammit! I don't care what major catastrophe has happened. The Godhunter is off duty!”
“We got a scout back,” Trevor's expression didn't change. “They found Demeter.”
“What?” I dropped the leather jacket I was about to pack.
“We sent out four Froekn,” Trevor's jaw clenched. “Only one made it back. She killed the other three.”
“Shit,” I whispered.
“I know you want to go with Azrael but we need you to come down and see if you can track her, your dragon senses are stronger than our Froekn now. We need you, Minn Elska.”
“Az,” I sighed and looked over at the angel, “a small detour?”
“Let's go get that bitch,” Azrael smiled. “Then we'll really have something to celebrate.”
“I love you,” I sighed and both of them said it back.
Chapter Four
Three dead Froekn were sprawled across the wet ground. Three more names to add to the list of horrible things Demeter had done. Ben, Ethan, and Jake. I stood staring at them, at the bluish tint to their skin, and the way they were all as wet as the ground. I watched a drop of water roll off the dark leather of Ethan's boot and plop into a puddle. Even the air smelled wet, like a storm was brewing.
“Why are they wet?” I looked over to Fenrir, who stood beside me with arms crossed and forehead lowered over his eyes.
“She froze them, the ground too. Everything was melting by the time we got here,” his teeth were grinding together. “I've had enough of this, Godhunter. I need her dead. Her or I, it has to be one of us to give me any peace.”
Godhunter. I knew it was bad when Fenrir used that title in particular. It was partial hope and partial admonition. He expected me to do something about this and he expected it to be done months ago. Bad enough that the greatest trackers on the planet couldn't find Demeter, but the Godhunter... she should have brought Demeter down by now. All of that, he got across to me with one word.
“I know,” I squeezed his arm. “Me too.” I bent over Jake. “Always with the ice or heat. Isn't there more to Demeter's magic than that?”
“She's a fertility goddess,” Trevor answered. “Her magic is that of the Land, the Seasons, and Growth. She could create life if she chose to but her anger has corrupted the magic and now all she does is destroy.”
“Like Aphrodite,” I sighed. “Yeah, I remember when Persephone told Demeter that the power of Creation will always conquer Destruction but I don't think Demeter bought it.”
“She should have listened to her daughter,” Samantha, my Froekn best friend, who was also married to Fallon, one of my lion lieutenants, had come with us since she'd been at Pride Palace when we got the news.
“Not listening to Persephone is kind of what started all of this,” I grimaced. “She's really taken it too far though. All because Persephone wanted to move in with Hades.”
“It's like Munchausen by proxy,” Samantha huffed, “hurting her child under the guise of helping her.”
“Okay,” I held my hand out to Fenrir, “I need the hair.”
He handed me a long lock of golden hair, bound at both ends with little pieces of duck tape. I frowned down at the silver tape. Men. Then I shook my head and held it up to my nose, taking in Demeter's scent. It was a complicated smell, part heat and part cold, like frozen ashes, the scent of a fire burning in an igloo. Underneath that was something bitter, acrid, like wine turning to vinegar.
I frowned, scent was a very personal thing and often with magical people, it was very telling. Demeter's scent was no different, a bitter woman who blew hot and cold. That was her alright. When I'd first cut the hair from Demeter's head, I could have killed her but I chose to leave the job up to the Froekn. The hair I took practically guaranteed they'd find her and if I was entirely honest with myself, I really didn't want to kill another friend's mother. Yes, I've done it before.
“I should have killed her when I had the chance,” I grumbled. The hair hadn't helped the Froekn, Demeter had disappeared, and now I was left the task of finding her again.
I found the trail easily, the sharp layer of her hatred making it so clear that I could almost see it like a red mist in the air. I followed it to a spot where she'd traced out. Normally this wouldn't be a problem, Froekn could actually follow a scent through the Aether, and it turned out that I had a similar capability. I could see the trail in my head, a path through the Aether and into the God Realm. Problem was, it was blocked. Wherever she'd gone in the God Realm, she'd sealed the place beyond the usual wards. I couldn't even tell where she'd exited.
“Fuck,” I swore. “She's blocked her path into the God Realm somehow.”
“Yeah, that's the problem we've been having,” Trevor sighed. “It's okay, Minn Elska, you tried.”
“No,” something tightened inside me. “This isn't right. I should be able to find her. I'm part fey and the fey created the Aether. I should at least be able to tell where she went in the God Realm.”
“I can help you,” everyone turned to look at Torrent. I hadn't even realized he'd come along, until he spoke. “I can go into the Aether through the Inter Realm and take a longer and closer look at her trail.”
“How would you even know what to look for?” I asked as my heart sped up.
“If you would just step into the Inter Realm with me, you can follow her trail through the Aether, and I can decode the block she has on her location.” He said matter-of-factly.
“Step into... decode?” I shook my head. “We don't even have a router here, there's no Inter Realm connection, and how can you decode magic?”
“I am made of codes, Internet energy,” he shrugged, “but I'm also made of magic. Iktomi had to imbue me with some of his own magic in order to give me life. Because of this combination, I've been able to connect with most magic like it's source code, a readable set of instructions that I can take apart. If you can point me in the right direction, I can unblock the path for you.”
“Holy hand grenades!” I grabbed him and hugged him. “Torrent, if you can do that, you might just save my life again.”
“I'd be happy to help,” he smiled wide, the perfectly smooth skin on his face rippling like water instead of wrinkling. His clear green eyes, glass-like in their clarity, shimmered over a second, like a light had been passed behind them.
“Bring me our vengeance, boy,” Fenrir rumbled as he stepped forward and grabbed Torrent's shoulder, “and you will be considered family by the Froekn.”
“He's already family,” I smiled at the man who'd saved me from Iktomi, betraying his own creator to save a stranger and win his freedom. “But I'm sure he'd appreciate the gratitude of the Froekn.”
“It would be my honor to help Vervain's people,” Torrent nodded.
“That's a good lad,” Fenrir nodded. “This goddess has plagued us for far too long. I refuse to lose any more of my children to her.”
“Where are we anyway?” I suddenly realized I had no idea of where Trevor had brought us.
“Yosemite,” Fenrir glanced around.
We were in a clearing, just on the outskirts of a forest. Most of the trees were tall and kind of conical, pine maybe. I don't know, I've never been good at recognizing plants. Far off behind me was a river, peacefully flowing along, and in front of me, back behind the trees, a mountain rose up into the blue sky. It w
asn't like the mountains in Hawaii that I was used to, it was more gray rock than green and its sharp cliffs were straight edges, like something had just sheered part of the rock away. It was beautiful though, if only it hadn't been sullied by death.
“Yosemite National Park?” I asked.
“No, Yosemite Sam's house,” Trevor smirked at me.
“Very funny,” I gave him a look. “The question is, what was Demeter doing here?”
“Hiding out?” Trevor shrugged, “going for a stroll? Who knows and who cares? Let's just find her.”
“Okay already,” I huffed. “Torrent, you still haven't answered my question. How do we get into the Inter Realm without a router?”
“I am a router,” he laughed. “Well, kind of. I can connect to the Inter Realm whenever I wish. I'm a walking hot spot.”
“There are so many jokes,” I shook my head, “and this is so not the time for them.”
“Maybe another time then,” Torrent held his hand out to me. “I think your family wants us to get started.”
“Right,” I took his hand and suddenly the Human Realm was overlaid by the Inter Realm. Everything was sharper, the colors brighter, and multi-colored streams of energy ran in all directions, transporting information all over the world. Now that Iktomi and Mica were dead, there was no taint to the web, no toxic threads running by. It was good to see, like a once polluted stream cleared and running pure.
“Can you still see Demeter's trail?” Torrent asked.
“Yes, it's red, very easy to spot in here.”
“Good, I can't see it, so remember what it looks like. Come on, this way,” he grabbed one of the threads and I jumped on behind him, the information pulling us along at a dizzying rate.
We finally jumped the thread at a spot that seemed to have a glowing tunnel going through it. I walked up to the golden haze hesitantly, suddenly remembering the little jaunt I'd taken through the Aether via the Inter Realm, during which I'd paused to take a look-see. I never did it again. The Aether was hard to behold, a collection of memories, desires, and magic that swam about without rhyme or reason. Now I was not only going to have to take another look, I was going to have to look longer.