[Venom 01.0] Venom & Vanilla

by Shannon Mayer

  Hermes zipped in through the kitchen window and saluted me. “Drakaina, you have a message you need delivered?”

  Remo’s jaw dropped open, showing his fangs, but I didn’t rub in the fact that calling for Hermes had indeed worked. “Damara, the satyr, can you find her?”

  “Of course.”

  “I need her to come here. Tell her Alena needs her services as a healer.”

  He saluted and was gone in a flash of wings.

  “Well, shit, you are just full of surprises, aren’t you?” Remo muttered. I finally looked at him.

  “I’m a woman. What did you expect, a Sunday drive?”

  “No.” He smiled. “But I didn’t expect a trek through the jungle.”

  I tried to smile back, but the edges faltered and fell. Tad had to hold on, he had to.

  I couldn’t lose him again.

  CHAPTER 16

  An hour slipped by with no word from Hermes and no appearance of Damara. My blood dripped steadily into Tad, and his blood dripped steadily from his wounds no matter how Beth packed them.

  “I’m sorry, I know I missed something but I can’t find it.”

  I closed my eyes. “Thank you for trying. It’s more than some people would do.”

  Remo grunted as if I’d slapped him. “Not subtle.”

  “Wasn’t supposed to be,” I murmured, swaying ever so slightly where I stood on the chair, a human IV bag.

  Remo went to the sink and washed his hands. “Dahlia, pour the vodka for me.”

  She hurried to his side and did as he asked, dousing his hands with the alcohol.

  He flicked his fingers once and then moved to Beth’s side. He peered into the still-open wound. He reached in and touched a spot that seemed fine, but when he turned the piece of innards over, blood pulsed out. “Stitch this. He should stabilize.”

  Beth took the last of the catgut and went to work, stitching the final piece up. “I don’t have enough to stitch him the rest of the way.”

  We all looked at each other, and I knew then that we’d lost Tad.

  “Well, it’s a good thing I do.”

  I whipped my head around to see the petite blond satyr step into the room. “You made it. Thank you for coming.”

  She didn’t look at me, her eyes locking on Tad’s wounds. “I gave you my word I’d help you if you called on me. Hermes made it clear your brother was wounded badly and needed a healer’s touch.” Damara hurried to Tad’s side and peered into his stomach. “Healing up a supernatural isn’t like a human. On one hand harder and the other hand easier. A human would have never survived this long.” She dug into her bag and laid a few things out on Tad’s chest. “And yet if he’d been human you could have taken him to the hospital.”

  Her tiny hands moved like butterflies, lighting on things from her bag, herbs and pieces of bark, and then fluttering over the wound. “Whoever stitched him up saved him. The blood was a good idea too.”

  She yanked the IV out of his arm. “But I need you all out now. I work alone.”

  Beth held her ground. “I’m a nurse. If I’m going to live in this world, I want to be able to help still.”

  “Fine.” Damara waved a hand absently at her. “Stay. But the rest, out.”

  Dahlia touched Tad on the cheek as she went by, and Sandy followed her lead. Remo held a hand up to me and helped me down. I stumbled and he caught me.

  “How long since you slept?”

  I blinked up at him, as I counted back. “I haven’t.”

  His eyes shot up. “Since you’ve been turned?”

  I shook my head. “No, I haven’t had time.”

  He hustled me out of the room, through the living area, and up the stairs to the second floor. “Shower. Clean clothes. Then sleep.” He all but shoved me into the bathroom.

  The word sleep resonated through me, and my movements became sluggish as if I were drugged. I flicked on the hot water and stepped into the heavy flow. The shower didn’t perk me up but instead seemed to drug me further, slowing my movements to a crawl. With the mud, blood, and sweat from the last few days washed off my body, I wrapped myself in a towel and stepped out of the bathroom. Immediately across from me was a bedroom, the sheets turned down on the bed. I dropped the towel and climbed under the blankets. The sheets were soft and the mattress seemed to suck me down into it in a welcoming embrace. I breathed out a sigh and closed my eyes, and sleep claimed me.

  A soft rumble in my ear woke me and I rolled into the deep bass, my nose leading me. I buried my face against the juncture of neck and chest and breathed in his smell. Roger had never smelled so good. Cinnamon and honey . . . my mouth watered with wanting to taste the combination.

  I jerked upright, the sheets falling to my waist. Remo grinned up at me. “That’s a good look for you.”

  I yanked the sheets up, or tried to. He lay on top of the blankets, effectively keeping me from covering up. I slid back down enough that I could at least cover my chest.

  “What time is it?”

  “Midnight.”

  “That’s not possible, it was after midnight when . . . I slept that long?”

  He nodded. “Almost twenty-four hours. Even supernaturals need to sleep. Especially those who are freshly turned. The fact that you stayed awake as long as you did is surprising.”

  A tremor started in my belly and spilled upward. “Tad. Did he . . . ?”

  Remo gave me a wink. “Remind me never to bet against you.”

  Alive, Tad was alive? “Really?”

  He nodded. “Really.”

  I leapt from the bed, no longer caring that I was naked as I streaked down the stairs and ran into the kitchen.

  Tad wasn’t there. I spun around. “Where is he?”

  “Sis?” Tad called, and I turned again to see him on the couch in the living room I’d just streaked through. Dahlia sat next to him, and Damara was at his feet, her bag open along with her mouth. Beth and Sandy were nowhere to be seen, but when I listened, I could hear their hearts beating in tandem upstairs. I grinned.

  “Tad, you’re okay!”

  “Can you do something for me?” He grimaced and rolled his eyes up to the ceiling.

  “Of course, anything.” I took a step toward him and he put up his hand.

  “Can you go put some clothes on?”

  I laughed. “Tad, you think this is bad, you should see me covered in scales and blood.”

  He peeked at me with one eye. “Do I even want to know?”

  Still laughing, I shook my head. “Maybe. But I think I’ll wait till Yaya gets inside before we talk about that.”

  “Yaya’s here?”

  I nodded and headed for the stairs, Yaya’s heartbeat calling to me from the other side of the door, as familiar to me as Tad’s. I paused and held it open. “Hey, Yaya.”

  She smiled up at me. “My beautiful girl. Go put some clothes on, you make my skin twitch and shiver just looking at you.”

  Smiling, I went upstairs. The closet of clothes offered up a variety of things, and I took my time picking through. Now that we’d stopped Achilles and saved Tad, and Yaya was out of the hospital, the weight of responsibility dusted off my shoulders. I took my time looking through the variety of materials and choices. I steered clear of the longer skirts and thick winter sweaters. The cold didn’t bother me, no need to pretend I was something I wasn’t. Finally I settled on the everyday, and yet even that wasn’t quite right.

  I slid on a pair of jeans and a long-sleeved lace top. The lace played peekaboo with the skin across my middle, the pattern on it mimicking the scales that lay hidden another layer below. I liked the look. For the first time since I was a little girl, I felt like . . . me. Like this was the Alena I was always meant to be.

  I brushed through my hair and stared at the mirror. Attached to it was a note from Remo.

  You know where I am.

  “Cocky,” I whispered, my mouth stumbling over the almost-naughty word. Yet I still smiled.

  I was halfway down t
he stairs when trouble flew in through the door. Ernie grimaced up at me and my smile slid.

  “I don’t think you should be here, cherub.” My smile slipped further until I was frowning. “I don’t know whose side you’re on.”

  He let out a long sigh. “It’s complicated. I’m on your side, but the people I deal with, they aren’t exactly stable. You saw Hera. Achilles. Even Zeus. You think keeping my head attached to my body has been an easy thing all these years? You have to look like you support them all, while making sure they all think you only support the one you’re dealing with.”

  His explanation didn’t make me feel any better. But for the moment, it would have to do.

  “Fine. But don’t tell me we have more problems. I’ve had my share for the year.”

  “Oh, we don’t have problems. But you do. You most certainly do.”

  I slid to my bum on the stairs. “Tell me.”

  Ernie flitted to my side and sat beside me. “Achilles is dealt with; that was a slick move cutting his tendons. But Hera is far from done. She’s raising another hero to take you and the bird girls out. Someone even stronger than Achilles.”

  “Who?” I whispered.

  “The slayer of the Minotaur. He’s smarter than Achilles and is a demigod to boot.” Ernie paused, and I let out a breath.

  “You mean that Achilles was just the warm-up act?”

  “Exactly. Hera is pulling out the big guns now. Theseus will not go down as easy as Achilles. Not by a long shot.” Ernie placed a hand on my knee. “And Zeus is nowhere to be found.”

  “You mean he’s been godnapped?” Tad barked out from the living room.

  Ernie shook his head. “No, I mean he’s gone into hiding. He won’t be any help against Hera and Theseus.”

  The smile and laughter that had been so light on my shoulders faded. “Then I will face Theseus without Zeus. Not that he was much help this time around.”

  “Not without me,” Dahlia said. I smiled at her, the weight on me easing a little.

  “Or me,” Sandy and Beth said together.

  Yaya winked at me and made a shooting motion with one hand. “Or me. We will stand together in this, little snake. Just like a family should.”

  I stood up. “Well, until Theseus shows up at the door, there’s no point in worrying.”

  “What are you going to do?” Damara stood and faced me.

  “I’m going to bake something. Maybe add a little venom to it and have it delivered to Hera. What do you say, Ernie? Think she would like some venom in her vanilla cupcakes?”

  Ernie laughed and flipped over backward. “Oh, I think she would love them.”

  Though my smile was not as big, the weight on my shoulders wasn’t either. I wasn’t facing this alone. And maybe, just maybe, I could find a way to make it in this life as a monster.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I’d like to thank all those who helped bring this piece to publication. First thanks go to Adrienne Lombardo, who saw the potential in Alena to be a character readers would root for and has gone to bat for Alena more than once in this process. I would also be remiss if I didn’t mention Tegan Tigani, my developmental editor. She drew depth and story layers out of this book that I don’t think would have otherwise happened. ☺ As always I need to thank my wonderful husband (who still hasn’t read a thing I’ve written, and I doubt he ever will unless I can knock out a western). He still cheers me on even though I know his eyes glaze over when I launch into telling him about a new story idea. My little man (Little T) is too young to know his mama’s a writer, but even so he inspires me every day. I thank those who have encouraged me, most especially those who were there at the beginning: my friends Lux, Katie, Carmen, Eilish, and Dmytry (San Francisco and Pillow Gate shall be a memory I cherish always, ha-ha!). And thanks to Denise for reading a rather rough draft—that is a real friend who can read something that needs editing and still see it for what it could be. Last but not least, thank you, Lysa, for your support, long phone calls, and sometimes longer texts. Your friendship and shoulder have made the last few years more than bearable as well as more than a little crazy.

  They’ve helped make them outstanding.

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Photo © 2013 BR Photography

  Shannon Mayer lives in the southwestern tip of Canada with her husband, dog, cats, horse, and cows. When not writing she spends her time staring at immense amounts of rain, herding old people (similar to herding cats), and attempting to stay out of trouble. Especially that last is difficult for her.

  She is the USA Today bestselling author of the Rylee Adamson Novels, the Elemental Series, the Nevermore Trilogy, A Celtic Legacy series, and several contemporary romances.

  To learn more about Shannon and her books, go to www.shannonmayer.com.