The Triple Goddess

by Stephanie Hudson

  “I…I…don’t know what you mean.” I said trying once again to back away from this man who was all predator. He was back to being that jungle cat, only now it looked as though someone had just teased him with a slice of raw sirloin and he was coming for the whole joint.

  “Please…don’t.” I said placing my other hand on his chest to stop him from taking another taste, which seemed to shake him from his blood lust. He let my hand go and I pulled away from him to get some distance between us.

  “If you strike me again I will do more than bite you.” He leaned down to get eye level with me and said words I dared not doubt,

  “I will bite your hand off!” His eyes flashed red at the thought and he turned to walk to the Limo that was waiting for us.

  “Get in the fucking car!” He snapped.

  Once situated in the limo I tried to get as far away from Lucius as possible but with all his other minions in there waiting for us I had only one space left for me. Lucius put a possessive hand on my thigh when I tried to create as much space as possible, even if it meant being plastered against the window but this was the third time he had stopped me now and when he tightened his hold on my leg he said,

  “Don’t!” I froze at the growl he put behind that order and decided to just give up. I hated him so much it actually seemed to leave a bitter taste in my mouth. I looked over towards Pip but when she caught me looking she just stuck her tongue out at me and I didn’t need any guesses as to why she was upset with me. Well, that was the quickest BFF relationship I had ever had.

  “Is the bird ready?” Lucius asked Adam.

  “She is being refuelled as we speak, my Lord” Pip huffed at this and Lucius raised an eyebrow.

  “I didn’t want to go to the lake house yet.” She said like a spoilt child.

  “Squeak!” Adam said in a tone full of soft reprimand.

  “Well, I thought we were at least going to get one night at the club, we don’t even have a playroom at Königssee!”

  “Behave Pip. I apologise my Lord.” Adam said, nodding at Lucius who just looked amused at Pip’s behaviour rather that or he was just used to it. Pip huffed once more before sticking her bottom lip out to sulk in silence.

  “What of the bartender?” Lucius asked Adam, which made me stiffen my spine in anger.

  “Karmun,” I whispered looking out of the window.

  “Excuse me?” Lucius snapped like I wasn’t permitted to speak.

  “His name is…was Karmun.” I found tears starting to well when thinking of the friend that had no other choice than to betray me for the man he loved and it was all Lucius’ doing. He turned to look at me and I looked away before I let the tears fall and give him the satisfaction.

  “Ah, I see he did his job perfectly in building trust. He met the end he wanted as payment then?”

  “Payment?” I said horrified, wiping away a stray tear angrily with my sleeve.

  “YES payment! He chose the outcome of his actions.” He said with his voice on a razor’s edge.

  “What a steaming pile of shit!” I said shocking everyone in the vehicle. Pip looked delighted, Adam looked cautious and the boy Lucius called Ruto looked downright murderous and snarled at my outburst. Despite everyone’s reactions I couldn’t help but carry on.

  “Oh, ok, so kidnapping his lover, forcing him to betray both his friend and his King and then giving him the option of death or umm…let me think…DEATH! Something you class as payment…Give me a br..” Lucius’ hand snaked out and grabbed me by the throat squeezing the words unfinished. He pulled me closer to him until our noses almost touched.

  “Listen up Keira girl and listen good, because the next time I explain this to you, you will find yourself on the ground begging at my feet! I do not care for the opinions of some lowly human on matters in which they have no concept! This Karmun chose his fate and yes, death was his payment for him and his lover. Befriending you was his JOB! One he executed perfectly considering your reaction to his death.” He snapped out every word and I couldn’t help but wonder if my opinions meant so little to him then why was he explaining himself like he was. When he didn’t see the fear he expected he tightened his hold painfully but still allowed for the air to fill my lungs. He was happy when my eyes at least showed discomfort before continuing.

  “Death is too good for some people, but Karmun did his job and did it well enough that I allowed his wishes to be carried out. You do not understand enough of our world to know where they went and I have no intentions of teaching a child! You will behave and show me some GODDAMN RESPECT!” He lost his icy cool and screamed the last two words at me making me close my eyes in pain. Then he pulled my face to his mouth and licked my tears away. I was frozen in the fear at what this man could actually do to me. One minute he was showing me the very meaning of the word hostility and then the next he was kissing away my tears and rubbing soothing circles around where his thumb and fingers had gripped me in a vice.

  “Do I make myself clear, pet?” He whispered into my forehead and I nodded, too scared to be the cause of his outrage again.

  “Good girl,” he said softly, smoothing back my hair before letting my head go. I tried to retreat back to my window but he shook his head at me to indicate I stay at his side, close enough for my leg to be flush against his solid thigh.

  We drove for about fifteen minutes before I noticed signs for a place called Klinikum Bogenhausen. Once we made a few turns here and there I saw something that caused my skin to sweat. Sat there lit up with red flood lights was a sleek black helicopter. Oh no, no and hell no!

  I think everyone in the car could suddenly feel my fear thicken the air and Pip smiled before saying a comical little,

  “Uh oh, me thinks someone doesn’t like to fly.” She said and nodded to me when Lucius was looking at her. The colour must have drained from my face and I looked down to my lap to see I had twisted a bit of my jacket round and round in my fist until the corner looked like I was trying to make a fajita. Lucius looked at me and rolled his eyes before saying,

  “Humans!”

  I decided to swallow the stream of insults I had ready to go and continued with the dread I had going on. It was one thing flying in a plane that you could kid yourself into believing it was just a nice room with a view. The same went for the few times Draven had flown with me in his arms, keeping me safe and flooding my open fearful mind with wave after wave of reassurance. But this, this was a death trap with a propeller!

  The limo was pulling round and my heartbeat felt like someone was playing African drums in my chest cavity. It seemed ironically unfunny that I would end up with a boyfriend that had wings when I was terrified of heights, surely that spoke volumes on my mental health!

  I jumped at the sound of the door opening and as Lucius got out I was very close to breaking my one rule…begging. His hand came down expecting mine in return but I had sat on my hands and couldn’t move. I heard an exasperated noise and then a stern voice that held no argument.

  “You have no time left before you put your hand in mine and get your arse out here before I come in there and drag you out by all that lovely hair you have hidden. It would be a shame to rip it all out, don’t you think?” I didn’t need asking twice! I slapped my hand in his with more force than necessary, thanks to my anger. Was that a chuckle? He pulled with the same amount of force and I practically fell out of the car, or would have if Lucius hadn’t grabbed my upper body and hauled me to my feet.

  I landed into his body and when my face pressed against his chest the first contact was ice cold then turned incredibly warm. It was like someone had flicked on a heat blanket he had on under his clothes and I couldn’t understand it? I looked up slowly before he let me go and if his startled look was anything to go by, he didn’t understand it either!

  “οήλιος” (Means ‘The Sun’) He had closed his eyes while speaking a word that sounded Greek. Then, as I inhaled it must have brought him back to himself and he let me go. Did he even realise th
at his arms had wound round my torso in a protective manner? I stepped back to put some space between us and he frowned once before turning his back to me.

  “Gelmek” (Means ‘Come’ in Turkish) He used two fingers over his shoulder to indicate that I follow him. I decided not to look at the black beast of modern man that sat waiting for us to get in its metal belly and instead at my captors strong looking back. For a man of his size he really was quite graceful in the way he moved, gliding, his long legs cutting distances into nothing as his tall frame reached the helicopter. I watched as he bent his tall frame ducking his head slightly as the helicopter’s propellers whipped round at such a speed that it became a circular blur in the air above the roof. It reminded me of an engine powered panther, sleek, beautiful, fast and so deadly. It even purred as the propellers made a whirring sound that filled me with dread thick enough that I felt sticky.

  I hadn’t realised I had stopped dead while watching him walk away still feeling confused about the look he had given me, until Pip bumped hips with me chuckling in her sing song way.

  “Yep, master’s got a fine ass. Come on Toots, time’s a’wasting!” She said entwining her fingers with mine and walking to where Lucius was waiting. She swung both our arms out like you would see two young girls doing in the playground holding hands.

  “I’m not angry at you anymore, so back to being best buds ok?” I was shocked at her statement after seeing her giving me evils in the limo but then thinking back I had seen Adam whispering to her and her nodding at what he was telling her. After that she had smiled and resumed back to playing with his hands in what looked like trying to make shadow puppets with them. I could have sworn I’d seen a duck, bird, dog and…a wolf eating a man? I didn’t think I was going to remember that one for my new little niece or nephew.

  Oh God, that was when it hit me! What on earth was my family going to think? I was supposed to be there now introducing them to Draven and getting last minute Christmas shopping with my mum and Libby. What had they been told, were they worrying about me not being there or would Draven have come up with a believable excuse for me missing the holidays?

  My mind reeled in thoughts that were miles away with my family, when I didn’t even realise I was being lifted into the helicopter by Adam until I was being positioned in the seat opposite Lucius. This caused my breaking heart to freeze over with an icy glaze of fear. The door slammed shut and my panic started to rise.

  “I can’t do this!” I said in a voice I didn’t recognise as being my own. I was frantically looking around for my escape route. Pip was sat next to me and Adam opposite her. I gathered Ruto bravely sat up front with the death trap’s pilot.

  “It’s ok Toots, this baby is an Agusta A109 and only goes 165 miles an hour and is powered by two Allison Model 250-C20R-1 turboshaft engines. She could out manoeuvre a humming bird and their wings beat at 80 times per second. Besides, master would be mighty pissed if this thing crashed, that would be 6 million plus down the shitter. Oh but it won’t, that is if the fuel line doesn’t…”

  “Pipper!” Adam warned but it was too late as my last shred of bravery drove away sat in the limo.

  “Did I say too much again?” She asked innocently and took one look at my green face and said,

  “Ooops…maybe I should call Sheila when we land?”

  “I already made the appointment,” Adam said trying to do her seatbelts for her but with her bouncing up and down he was having a hard time doing so. I saw Lucius shake his head at the sight of both of them. Meanwhile, I was just plain shaking. I grabbed the belts but couldn’t seem to grip them enough to put them in the right bits. I think I even heard Lucius roll his eyes and I jumped when I felt hands take the belts from me.

  “Relax,” he said so softly it was as if it had come from someone else. He gripped my wrists and placed them down on my lap but he didn’t release them until he felt my pulse beating an erratic tune beneath my skin. He frowned and let them go as I screamed out when the sound of the engine changed. I felt like meat would feel before being put in the blender, or juicer as I looked more like the sad lemon sat here with a sour look of trepidation on my face. As we started to lift my hand flew out and grabbed onto the first thing I could find which turned out to be Lucius. I grabbed onto his shirt like it was a life preserver. It fisted in my hands causing the material near his biceps to tighten. Wow, someone worked out, his arms were friggin’ huge! Ok, focus Keira, death trap remember!

  “I think she’s gonna puke, Luc!” Pip said to Lucius using a nickname that sounded strange given that she had been calling him Master and my Lord.

  “Oh, for the love of death, come here little one!” He said, clearly exasperated. He took me by the waist and hoisted me up and as I screamed he sat back down in his own seat with me now on his lap. I squirmed and wriggled trying to get away but every time I got closer to the window I would nearly end up on Adam’s knee. Lucius cursed and tightened his hold before lifting me as though I weighed nothing more than a paper bag full of feathers. He turned me to face the other way so that I seemed further away from the window.

  Adam took my space next to Pip to allow more space for my kicking legs.

  “Ssshh, be still, calm yourself. NOW!” He growled the command in his demon voice and the helicopter actually shook making me freeze and I gripped onto the arm that he had anchored around my waist. It was my best death grip.

  “P..please, d..don’t do t..that again,” I stuttered. His arms tightened and his other hand smoothed back the shorter bits of my hair that had tried to cover my eyes.

  “Then don’t make me!” His harsh voice didn’t mix with the caring way he handled my shaking body.

  “B..but, I’m scared, I..I can’t help it,” I said feeling so weak and pathetic that it brought tears to my eyes. He shook his head and his hair rested forward, so before he made a comment he pushed it all back with one hand.

  “Incredible. Humans are such irrational creatures. So here you sit, a small space filled with demons that could tear you limb from limb as easy as pulling wings off a butterfly and you’re scared of the helicopter crashing, which has a less than 2 percent chance…tell me Keira girl, what do you think the percentage is of a vampire sucking a human dry?” I gulped and bit my lip which sent a sharp sting to the area. I licked my lips before the blood dripped down from the split. Lucius didn’t miss the action.

  “Want to find out?” He said cocking his head to catch my eyes that were trying to dodge his. He laughed when I silently shook my head in quick succession.

  “Then I suggest you get that habit under control before I take it up myself, your lips look too good with that colour upon them.” His thumb had brushed across them while saying this and taken the excess blood away. He looked like he was going to suck my blood off his thumb but thought better of it. He wiped it on my jeans instead and I just hoped it wasn’t going to become a habit as it was the second time he had stained my clothes with blood, well at least this time it was my own, I thought darkly.

  The helicopter shuddered and something beeped twice.

  “Oh God!” I shouted before covering my head with my hands. Lucius growled far too close to my ear. He so was not helping in trying to get my fear under control by doing that. I felt myself being lifted and every muscle tensed.

  “What are you doing?”

  “Straddle me!” He ordered as he shifted my weight to face him.

  “No!” I said trying to get away but he gripped the back of my neck forcefully and dragged me to his face so that our noses met.

  “Yes!” He positioned my legs and I had no other option than to go where he put me. He was like Draven, just too damn strong! How was I ever going to fight when forces like these faced me?

  “Just try and relax.” Was he joking?

  “I remember the last time we were in a similar position and you asked me to do the same thing…look where that got me!” I snapped remembering back to the nightmare that resulted in me coming far too close to death. The ba
stard actually chuckled!

  “Well if I do recall, you were trying to kill me.”

  “And if I recall you were there to try and take control of my mind, so excuse me if I tried to warm you up a little.” At this comment he laughed out loud and my body shook under him. When he smiled it lit up his entire face reaching every part. His eyes actually glowed and the lines around them softened his usual scowling face. Pip and Adam exchanged a look I couldn’t determine but I was pretty sure it started out as shock.

  “A little warm, Keira, you set me on fire.”

  “Yeah and I was the one who got burned…go figure!” I said with enough sarcasm that my mother would have been ashamed. Wait a minute, these people had kidnapped me, forget about being ashamed, hell, she would have taken up cheerleading if she could see my feistiness now.

  “Well next time, I suggest you don’t play with fire and do as you’re told.” He warned but let’s face it, he might be the big and tough Vampire King but he didn’t know the first thing about me and my inability to follow orders! Then the helicopter made another of its many noises and my irrational fear took over making me grab back onto Lucius like a baby monkey! I couldn’t believe that I was using a man I utterly loathed as a base for staying safe. What the hell was I doing? My brain answered that question and mentally bitch slapped me for acting like some little Stockholm Syndrome victim. And forget what I was doing, what was he doing? I was his prisoner and he had me sat on his lap while we played ‘who had the wittiest comeback’!

  “I told you to relax but if you insist.” I pulled back from hiding myself in his chest to glare at him. I would have slapped him again if his last warning hadn’t flashed up and I was rather fond of the idea of keeping both of my hands intact.

  “I’m not sat here for your entertainment!” I snapped out.

  “No, for that you would be naked and bound. However, I’m not into innocents, I like my meat with a little more bite!” He snapped back, only he used his teeth at my face making me fall backwards. His arm snaked out too quickly to let me fall and he pulled me back. I couldn’t help but try and get away from his handsome face that was doing strange things to my mind. I made my hundredth mistake for the week and turned my head towards the window. At least it was night time but still, seeing the city’s lights so far below had my heart pumping at full speed. My chest felt like I imagined it would if Leivic had given me a bear hug! I couldn’t seem to drag enough air into my lungs and I grabbed my throat with both hands as if that would help. I couldn’t tear my eyes away from the window and my imagination kept playing tricks on me…I was sure the ground was getting closer…it was, wasn’t it!