by Sumida, Amy
Light was pouring out of my skin like I was a firefly's butt. Slightly blue and very bright, it felt clean, like it was sacred. It lit the entire pod of black that we stood in and I saw myself reflected in the eyes of my lions. I looked unearthly, an alien being come down to make contact, even the strands of my hair were glowing. I stared at my arms, still held up in defense, and realized what was defeating the Darkness.
“Nephthys,” I whispered, knowing it was her blessing coming to my aid. “Move back with me,” I said down to the cowering lions and they nodded, getting to their feet. “We're going to have one shot at this so when I say run, you run and trace away as soon as possible. Got it?” I looked down and saw them all nod, eyes wide and focused on me intently. I took one more step back, enough that we broke through the dome containing us, and I shouted, “Run!”
They ran and I held the Darkness back so they had enough time to trace away. When they were gone, I breathed a sigh of relief but the panic quickly returned when Trevor, Kirill, Odin, Finn, and the rest of his irritating Irish family, showed up in their place.
“Fuck,” I snarled, turning back to Andrasta, knowing Nephthys' blessing wouldn't hold off the Darkness forever.
I heard my lovers and friends behind me, screaming for me, and knew I had to act fast. The Darkness would move on soon and focus its attention on them. They may not be fey, may not have the magic it truly craved, but neither had my lions and the dark had no problem going after them.
Then I remembered a comment Nephthys had made about the Darkness, that only love could cure loneliness. Would it work? Could my love magic actually win against this?
I called desperately to Love and felt the butterflies rise immediately to my call. A tingling, rushing happiness flowed through the lioness magic that already filled me, and it gave me more confidence. Love was the greatest magic of all and it knew no fear. The butterflies poured from me and as they did, I saw the glowing aura around me brighten and expand. It pushed at the Darkness and then suddenly it exploded into the black mist, illuminating the depths of it with brilliant, sparkling butterflies of light.
I backed away, right out of the fog, and saw Andrasta gaping at me, her hand half raised as if she didn't know what to do. In front of her was a rolling mass of black but it was pulling back, cringing really, from the onslaught of Love. The butterflies formed a solid wall in front of it and as they advanced, the Darkness screeched and drew itself up like a tidal wave preparing to pound into the shore.
I knew then that it wouldn't hold. Love may be stronger than loneliness but this loneliness was different. This was something darker than human fears, older than man's despair, and it wouldn't be pushed around by Love for long. So I used the progress it had made to run forward to Ethan's body.
“Trace!” I shouted to the others as I grabbed Ethan's hand. “Back to the Palace, now!”
The butterflies zipped back into me as we all traced away, the Darkness snapping at our heels.
Chapter Thirty-Five
As soon as we got back, Kirill took Ethan's body gently from my arms so I could go find my Darkness-tainted lions. They were huddled in a corner of the common room, the other Intare gathered around them in a half circle, looking completely lost as to what to do.
I walked forward and as I did I felt their magic flow back into them, returning now that it knew I was safe. The Intare gave me their attention immediately, forming an aisle for me to walk through that led to the three wounded men. When I came within touching distance, they all reached forward, gentle fingers stroked along my skin and heads bowed in deference. I trailed my hands out to the sides, quickly touching them as well, letting my lioness reassure herself that the rest of her lions were okay. I finally came to the three, clinging to each other still, and I knelt down before them.
“Christopher. Timothy. David,” I said each of their names slowly, demanding their attention. “I'm your Tima and I can help you. Can you trust me enough to come with me?”
They stared at me with wide eyes for a moment before finally nodding with jerky movements. I smiled gently and stood, then reached my hands out to them. They reached back for me, hands shooting forward with desperation. I pulled them to their feet and hugged them all close, ending up a little smothered in the middle of the three big men.
I sent calming energy down the cords that connected us and I felt them shudder around me and take some heaving breaths. They were alive and it was a freaking miracle that I was still alive as well. No, not a miracle, a blessing. I was going to give Nephthys a big hug when I saw her. Which may be pretty damn soon because our next stop was going to be Duat.
“Alright,” I pulled away and started leading them out of the room. “We need to go see Anubis, he'll help you.”
“Vervain,” Trevor stepped in front of me. “Can you just stop for just a second?”
“No, I need to get them to the fountain,” I tried to walk around him but he grabbed my arm.
The Intare started to growl and Trevor bared his teeth, snarling at them. The viciousness in his face startled me a bit. I knew my lions were on edge and very in tune with me at the moment but I couldn't understand what had set Trevor off. Regardless, he was my alpha and he had every right to assert himself. So I held up my hands, not wanting to add my roar to the mix and scare my already fragile lions.
“Enough! I love you all but you should know better than to come between Trevor and me. Stand down.”
“Vervain,” Trevor started again, a little calmed by my show of loyalty. “I just need a moment to be sure you're okay.”
“I'm fine, I promise.”
“But I saw the Darkness swallow you.”
“Nephthys gave me a blessing when we were in Duat,” I explained in a rush. “It protected me, and then I used my love magic to fortify it. I drove the dark back but I think it would have eventually won. That's why I told you to trace.”
“Okay,” he whispered and blinked a couple of times. “Now what are we doing?”
“We're taking the guys to Anubis so he can cleanse them like he did for Torr and me.”
“Oh okay.”
“Okay?” I widened my eyes at him. “We're cool? No more werewolf attitude?” He just laughed a little and shook his head. “So you wanna get out of our way then?”
“No. I'm going with you,” he declared and led the way back to the tracing wall. “I'll be damned if I let you out of my sight again tonight.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
“Anubis!” I called as I walked out of Duat's shiny, obsidian, tracing chamber. “Anubis!” I didn't want to startle the guy by walking into Duat unannounced.
However, shouting someone's name can be a bit startling as well it turns out and Anubis came running down the hallway, dressed only in a black silk robe. I stopped in my tracks, gaping at the expanse of golden flesh revealed by the open neck of the robe. He, in turn, gaped at me and my terrified lions.
“Anubis,” Trevor finally broke the silence. “We need your assistance again.”
“What happened?” Anubis smoothed his slick black hair back, the metal beads that adorned it clicking softly.
“The Darkness has touched my lions,” I gestured to them.
“That would explain why Ethan is here,” he sighed and nodded.
“Ethan's here?” I nearly cried, I was so relieved.
“Of course,” Anubis smiled gently. “You know I accepted them all. Your lion is fine. Well he's dead but his soul is fine.”
“That's right,” I sighed, “the Darkness only consumes fey souls.”
“Let's get these men to the fountain,” Anubis tightened his robe and made a gesture that we should follow him. “We can discuss everything else after we're sure that they're safe as well.”
“Yes, thank you.” I gestured my lions forward.
We raced them down to the peacock fountain and shoved them in, pretty much as abruptly as it sounds. We weren't bothered by niceties, we just wanted them in the water. They came out renewed and much ca
lmer, and I hugged Anubis afterward, thanking him for helping me yet again.
“Tell your mother that she saved my life,” I added when I pulled away. “Her blessing protected me from the Darkness and her suggestion of using my love magic to battle it was brilliant. It worked, I was able to hold it back long enough for us to trace away. Thank her for me until I get the chance to send her a muffin basket.”
“A muffin basket? Never mind, I will relay your gratitude,” Anubis stroked a hand down my hair. “I'm glad you're okay, Vervain.”
“Me too,” I gave him a little grin.
My lions thanked him as well with handshakes and even a hug from Chris, and then we all headed back inside to visit with Ethan a little before we left. He was with the other dead Intare, looking relaxed and fairly content for a dead guy.
“Tima,” Ethan gave me a hug. “You saved them. I'm so glad my death brought you to my brothers. At least it wasn't for nothing.”
“I'm sorry I couldn't save you too.”
“It's my own fault,” he shrugged like he was talking about losing money, not his life. “We should have known better than to go out when the Darkness was still lurking about.”
“We thought it was only after the Froekn,” Chris frowned. “It never occurred to us that Andrasta might come after the Intare.”
“What were you guys doing anyway?” Trevor asked in an exhausted tone. I glanced over at him and saw the strain in his face, little lines around his eyes. No wonder he'd snapped, he was being pushed to his limits.
“We went to see a hockey game at Barclays Center,” David stepped forward, brushing his blonde hair from his face. “We were on our way home, had just stepped into a garden to find some privacy to trace, when Andrasta appeared. I don't even understand how she found us.”
“Barclays Center?” I frowned. I wasn't a sports fan.
“Brooklyn,” Timothy offered.
“Brooklyn?” I was even more confused. “I didn't think Brooklyn had any trees.”
“You didn't what?” Trevor started to laugh.
“Well it's Brooklyn,” I huffed. “That's like the rough part of New York, right? I didn't envision it as a tree friendly place.”
“There's actually quite a lot of little grassy areas and there's trees on a lot of streets there,” Chris shrugged.
“Yes, fantastic,” Anubis rolled his eyes. “We've established that there's trees in Brooklyn and that your lions are idiots. What have I gotten myself into?”
“And he's back,” I laughed. “There's the snarky Anubis I remember. You know, you should try hanging out with Horus. I bet you guys would get along famously.”
“Yeah, or they'd kill each other,” Trevor rolled his eyes.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
By the time we made it home I was ready for bed. Two fights in one day, even if I hadn't fought them both personally, was enough for me. I was glad to take my lions home completely healed and they were welcomed by the rest of the waiting Intare, who were overjoyed to hear that Ethan had made it safely to Duat. Anubis' contract had held and now they had the assurance that they were safe should anything happen to them. It's one thing to have the promise of a god, it's another to see that promise fulfilled. So there was a lot of relief making the rounds in Pride Palace that night.
Ethan's body had been laid in his bed. We'd bury him in the morning, with his brothers out in front of the palace. It was strange, knowing we'd be having a funeral but having very little sadness about it. Ethan was dead but he wasn't lost to us, so I had a feeling the burial would be respectful but brief. There was a feeling of loss for me, even though he was alive in a way, his connection to me had been broken and I mourned that. He was no longer mine. I mourned his life and his ability to live it but it was a surface pain, one that would fade quickly.
After everything was settled, I walked Odin back to the tracing wall and kissed him goodbye.
“You scared me tonight,” he whispered and pulled me into a hug.
“I know,” I buried my face into the muscles of his wide chest and breathed in his clean scent. As much as Trevor's scent meant home to me, Odin's was a different home, a different life, which I couldn't help but miss every time I inhaled that invigorating smell. “I'm sorry, I just reacted again. I know I do that a lot but I have these animal instincts that drive me occasionally.”
“I know but I can't go through your death again, Vervain,” he stepped back and looked over my face as if he were memorizing it. “I don't know if it's even possible to bring you back again.”
“You'd have to claim my soul this time,” I grinned, “unless you want Anubis to end up with me.”
“That's never going to happen,” he rolled his eyes. “I'd sooner let Azrael have you.”
“Then it's not so bad,” I kissed him again for good measure. “You'd have me more than you do now.”
“Dead is dead,” Odin frowned. “All your ties would be severed. Trevor would die, the Intare would go crazy, and Arach would lose the chance of continuing the dragon-sidhe race. Not to mention he'd never have you again because you can be damn sure that I'm not letting that faerie into Asgard. And you would never see the Faerie Realm again either. Would you be happy with that?”
“No,” I sighed. “I need Faerie about as much as I need all of you. It's like I have two different lives now but they're both equally important to me.”
“And I could never live with you being unhappy,” he said quietly.
“Odin,” I laughed. “I'm not going to die, okay? Stop talking about it already. I don't want to think about this now. It's enough to know that my soul will live on, that it has a home with you. Unhappy or not, it's better than nothing.”
“No it's not,” he said gravely, “but I'll let it go for now. I love you, Vervain. You know you are life for me.”
“I love you too, my Sweet Raven.” I touched his face, studying him as he had me. “I never want to live without you either.”
I watched Odin trace away and then trudged back to the bedroom I shared with Kirill and Trevor. They were waiting for me, one on each side of the bed, and I smiled when I saw them. I stripped tiredly, throwing my clothes in the hamper before walking to the middle of the bed. You had to be careful when you had more than one man. I couldn't pick a side or it might hurt someone's feelings.
So I just climbed in bed between them and they laughed, knowing exactly what I was doing. Then they slid in beside me and we snuggled under the covers together in a warm pile. Thick arms around my waist, strong hands on my hips, and the smell of wolf and lion surrounding me. It was more Heaven than any woman deserved and if I hadn't been so damn tired, I would have shown them in no uncertain terms how much I loved them both.
But I was exhausted and my mind was a lot more peaceful than it had been for awhile, knowing that I could at least hold the Darkness at bay long enough to flee from it. So I slipped into sleep easily, not realizing till the very last moment of consciousness that Fenrir had never showed.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
When we got to Fenrir's Hall the next morning, it was to find full blown chaos.
“What the hell is going on?” Trevor surveyed the mayhem with a shocked expression.
There were broken bits of things scattered everywhere, furniture overturned, and dents in the walls. Carpeting was scrunched up against the walls and curtains were torn to shreds. There was a sharp scent in the air, something that registered in my lizard brain as anger but in a very unnatural way. The sounds of fighting wolves echoed down the hallway to us and we began to run in its direction.
When we got to the main dining hall we stopped short. Fenrir was in half-form, towering over everyone as the most gigantic werewolf I'd ever seen. He must have been nine feet tall, thickly muscled, with wild gray hair standing out from his body to make him look even bigger. He had a Froekn pressed up against his chest, holding him tight despite his struggles.
The Froekn he was holding was also in werewolf form but he looked even more wild than
Fenrir. He was growling and snapping, trying to bite Fenrir and anyone else who came close enough. His eyes had the look of insanity to them and he was frothing at the mouth, spittle flying in all directions as his legs flailed wildly.
As we watched, another werewolf broke free from where he was being held by yet more shifted Froekn, and started running right toward us. He was howling and then baring his teeth as he leaped over broken tables and sailed through the air on a direct course for Trevor. Trevor punched the wolf in the face and he went down in a heap at our feet.
“No!” Emma came into the room behind us, holding a large leather bag. “Don't hit them in the head, they've already got encephalitis, you may send them straight into a coma!”
“What the fuck is going on?” Trevor shouted back at her.
“They've gone mad!” Fenrir answered instead. “Help us restrain them. There's rope near the door.”
Sure enough, there was a pile of thick rope thrown haphazardly near the door. Trevor grabbed lengths of it and handed it to me and Kirill, then ran off to help his father. I looked at Kirill and he shrugged, then gestured to a struggling group on our right. I made an after you gesture, and then hogtied the comatose wolf at our feet before I headed for another pile of wolves toward my left.
“Rouva,” one of the Froekn from the pile called. “Can you tie his hands?” He motioned with his head toward where they'd wrangled a werewolf's paws behind him.
I nodded and wrapped the rope around the wolf's wrists several times before tying it off. The ones holding him down shifted position so they were on top of him, one practically sitting on his shoulders while three others held down his legs.
“Now his ankles,” another wolf said. “Better tie them up to his knees.”
I raised a brow but did as he suggested and wrapped the wolf all the way to his knees. As I was finishing, I heard a scream and then Fenrir's deafening howl. I looked over to see Emma beneath a wild wolf, several Froekn barely holding the crazed one back while Fenrir leaped his way over to them.