Immortally Yours, An Urban Fantasy Romance (Monster MASH, Book 1)

by fox, angie

  "That's ridiculous," he shouted. "We were ordered not to bring weapons."

  "Which is why I was shocked when you tried to detonate a bomb," I snapped. "No wonder you assumed I was dead." It was like he'd been trying to get us killed. "If you want to go on a suicide mission, that's fine and dandy with me. But next time, leave me out of it."

  Thaïs towered over me, injuries forgotten, every overgrown immortal inch of him quivering. "You don't want to die in glory. Sniveling cowards like you can die on the ground. I saw you with your face in the dirt pleading with the enemy for your miserable, insignificant little life!"

  "You want to be on the ground?" I demanded, shoving him backward. I could at least kick him in the balls before he tore me in half.

  "Stop." Kosta ordered. His voice hit me like cold water.

  My heart raced and my brain boiled over. How dare Thaïs accuse me of being the coward? "How brave is it to fuck up a chance to save four soldiers?" Two of them might be alive right now if it hadn't been for him.

  "Enough!" Kosta slammed his fist into the wall. The office shook with the impact.

  Damn Thaïs.

  "What is this about a bomb?" the colonel demanded.

  I trained my eyes on Thaïs as I answered. "The guards shot Thaïs." With good reason. "I tried to smooth things over with Spiros, but one of the soldiers shouted about a bomb." My pulse hammered as I relived the moment. "I turned and Thaïs was reaching for something. All hell broke loose. I didn't see what happened after that. But I know they somehow got it away from him and detonated it."

  Thaïs stared me down as he answered. "There was no bomb." He bit off every word. "She's lying about all of it." He sneered. "Ask Marius if he saw a bomb."

  Oh yeah, right. "It was a crater in the desert by the time Marius got there."

  But then it hit me. What would I do without proof? I had nothing that said Thaïs was anything but the immortal Boy Scout he was making himself out to be.

  "I've heard plenty," Kosta said in a low, even voice that shut us up. He chewed at his cigar, staring past us both.

  I needed Kosta to take me at my word, but when push came to shove the colonel was one of Thaïs's people, not mine.

  Mortals couldn't even testify in demi-god courts, much less bear witness in a crime against an immortal. And here I was, asking him to condemn Thaïs with no evidence, no witnesses. Nobody on our side, at least.

  A hollow feeling took root inside me. Kosta was more open than most. But Thaïs had served under him for three centuries. The colonel had boots older than me.

  Kosta eyed us, his lip curled in disgust. "Thaïs, you're under arrest."

  His eyes widened. "But I'm a demi-god."

  "So am I," the colonel ground out. "MPs!"

  A burly cyclops banged into the office.

  The eye in the center of his forehead trained on me before moving to Thaïs. The officer was followed by two more military police. The lumbering, one-eyed giants set up behind Thaïs.

  He believed me. Thank God he believed me.

  The colonel appeared sad, but resolute. "I'll need you to testify before the tribunal," he said to me.

  "I can do that?" I had no idea.

  "You believe her?" Thaïs protested at the same time. The MPs secured him on either side. "You're going to take the word of a mortal?"

  I hated to agree with him on that one.

  "It's unusual," Kosta conceded. "But a tribunal is not a court. And I do believe her."

  "Unheard of," my colleague sputtered.

  Yes, it was. Just when I was starting to hate everything about this war, Kosta had to go and do something like that.

  "You blew it, Thaïs." Kosta walked around the desk to stand in front of him. "You turned a peaceful mission into an act of war for your own asinine pride. You put soldiers at risk. One of the kids we almost lost is the son of Dellingr."

  "Who?" I asked, before I could hit the edit button.

  Kosta scowled at me. "He's an old Norse god. You probably know him as Svipdagr."

  Oh, sure.

  "Fertility god and a real asshole," Thaïs said, by way of defense.

  Kosta wasn't amused. "His son Dagr, god of hope and light and fertility and all that bullshit, almost died to night because you had to play solider."

  Holy hell. "He was one of our patients?" The pure gods almost never put themselves in harm's way. If the god of hope and light had gone down under our watch, they would have held me and Thaïs personally responsible. Mostly me.

  "Nobody told me that," Thaïs protested, looking to the MPs for support. They merely blinked at him. "You can't blame me."

  "It's not my job to explain why I send you on a special mission. It's your job to take orders and make sure nobody gets killed!" Kosta thundered. "Get him out of here."

  The MPs led Thaïs out while I stood there, hands on my hips, contemplating the bullet I'd just dodged.

  Mortals didn't get the justice or the respect that the gods seemed to have for one another. I might have spent the rest of my life in prison. And eternal lockup didn't have luxuries like Fruit Stripe gum, beds, and three meals a day. In fact, sometimes the gods forgot that mortals needed to eat and entire prison populations would starve.

  Shake it off. It didn't happen.

  "We'll assemble a solid tribunal, but he may not even make it through the first interrogation," Kosta said, matter-of-fact. "Watch yourself."

  I nodded, reading between the lines. Thaïs had friends. And I'd just stepped way above my station. At least that's how a lot of immortals would see it.

  Kosta consulted the paperwork on his desk. "I need you to file a report and pick up his shift."

  "Of course."

  "I'll have Shirley put out a new schedule."

  One that would be worse than before. That wasn't what worried me, though.

  I cleared my throat. "Did the old army know what they had?" I asked Kosta.

  Kosta took a seat behind his desk. "Not in the higher ranks. They would have tortured him, tried to dig out information. The kid didn't know anything." He opened a drawer and pulled out a fresh cigar. "Spiros sent me word. We worked out a plan to get that boy the hell out of there."

  "I'm sorry," I said, pulling up a chair.

  Kosta nodded, turning his cigar over in his fingers. "What happened to him?" he asked quietly.

  I tried to think of a nice way to say it, and finally just settled on the truth. "It was an accident. One of his own men stabbed him. I did everything I could to save him, but the knife came apart on us."

  The colonel sighed, accepting it like the enduring soldier he was.

  "Did he...?" He ticked his chin toward the heavens, and I could see the fear behind the question.

  "He died quickly and well," I said, glad I could offer my commander some comfort.

  The colonel dug a fist against his desk and stared at it for a long moment.

  He cleared his throat. "Thanks, Petra."

  He expelled a long breath. "You know he had a wife and kids topside."

  "On Earth?" I hadn't realized. It wasn't overly common. Most of these warriors had been down here too long.

  He shook his head, a wry smile tickling his lips. "Met her on leave. Could hardly do without her."

  I wasn't sure what to say, so I waited. He deserved to be able to talk about his friend.

  Kosta's gaze wandered. "Damn shame" was all he said.

  He lit his cigar and blew out a few puffs. "Before you go, I've got to give you the heads-up." He planted his elbows on the desk. "The armies are unmatched. Nobody can deny it. Not anymore." He let out a low whistle. "Something big is going down. We've come close to losing the last several battles. Now the armies are massing to the north."

  "I'll be sure to rest up." We'd have a tougher time of it now that we were down a doctor.

  "I don't think that will be enough," he said, regret coloring his words. "I just got word they're going to be pulling our soldiers out of recovery."

  That didn't make
any sense. "They can't take wounded men." It was completely absurd, not to mention counterproductive. "Without proper medical care, some of those soldiers could die."

  The lines on Kosta's face had deepened, and he looked older than his immortal forever-mid-forties physique. "The new army needs every warrior it can get. Even if they take all the wounded from every MASH unit, I hear we're still outnumbered."

  Which meant disaster on Earth.

  "Galen said there was something in motion." He'd said it was a military secret.

  "Commander Delphi," Kosta corrected, almost as a re-flex.

  Yes, yes. Whatever. "His information might be outdated now," I feared. He'd been away from his troops for too long.

  "He couldn't tell us anyway," Kosta said. "Intelligence issues. But don't be surprised if they take him, too."

  "They can't." I couldn't afford to lose him. Not now.

  "You're not his doctor."

  Kosta was right. And even if I had been Galen's physician, that didn't seem to matter anymore—not if they were pulling the injured out of recovery.

  The prophecy was supposed to bring peace. It was supposed to stop this.

  I'd done everything they wanted. I'd gone to the edge of hell and back.

  And for what?

  "What are you thinking, Doc?"

  "That this is wrong. It's not supposed to turn out this way. The prophecy—"

  "Prophecies are pigeon crap," Kosta thundered. "We need a savior in the next two days, three tops, or the world is going to hell."

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Dismissed, I left Kosta's office more miserable than when I'd gone in. Shirley sat in the outer office with her phone to her ear.

  "Wait," she said, placing a hand over the mouthpiece. "Did you hear? There's a new prophecy coming up."

  Hope surged. "You mean now?" I could use a break.

  "Not yet, I don't think." She spoke into the phone. "What are they doing now?"

  After listening, Shirley glanced up at me. "They're wailing and tearing at their hair."

  Naturally. "Who are you talking to?"

  "Elise from the 8071st. She's stuck at her desk, too."

  "Right." Despite the sleep I'd had at Galen's, I was exhausted. Shirley had to be feeling ten times worse. "When are you getting out of here?"

  She gave me a look that said, Come on, and I wondered why I even brought it up. We all knew the drill.

  "Everyone's watching PNN down at the mess hall," she told me. "I'll meet you there after I get off."

  "If you get off," I corrected, "and no thanks." I stretched my arms and realized I'd forgotten to put on a bra. "I'm going to bed."

  "Those pants say you already did," she called after me as I banged out into the courtyard.

  Everybody was a comedian.

  Oh well. Let her laugh. At least now it was true.

  She'd be at her desk or in front of a television while I'd be getting mine—barring prophecies, medical emergencies, or the end of the world.

  Camp was quiet, save for the party going on down at the other end. Smoke billowed from the kitchen behind the mess tent. The chatter of the crowd echoed across the terrain.

  I'd take a hot demi-god warrior over twenty-four-hour PNN coverage any day. My hot demi-god warrior. Oh my. My body warmed just thinking of it. Smiling, I headed to Galen's haven across the road. I knew exactly where I was going.

  Of course I hadn't taken five steps when I heard Rodger. "Well, look who's not going home." The cheer in his voice was forced. He sounded tired.

  "I'm a walking billboard," I said, turning around, displaying my oversized special ops duds. "No out-of-uniform jokes, okay?"

  But there was no danger of that. Rodger just stood there outside recovery, looking pale and worn to pieces. His hair stood out at odd angles from under the sagging surgical cap he'd forgotten to take off.

  "Hey, thanks for jumping in back there," I said, strolling over to him. I didn't like the expression on his face, like he'd seen a ghost. I was the only one who was supposed to see ghosts. I glanced at the ward behind him. "How are my patients doing?"

  "Recovering well," he said, his voice curt. "What, were you just going to go back to Galen's and not even talk to me?"

  Come on. "So now you're jealous about Galen?"

  I really didn't need werewolf drama. I just wanted to reunite with my studly warrior and find a safe place to sleep for about a week.

  Rodger rubbed a hand over his face. He looked like hell and needed a shave. "That's not it. I don't care what you do with your boyfriend. I've got a family to worry about."

  That got my attention. "What? Is there something wrong with Mary Ann or the kids?" In the last month, Gabriel had gotten stuck in the dryer, Stephen decided to play Superman and jumped off the roof with a cape tied around his neck, and Kate shoved an entire rainbow of Skittles up her nose— again.

  Frankly, it seemed more distressing to Mary Ann than the kids. And there was nothing we could do from down here.

  "No," he said miserably. "Mary Ann and the kids are just fine and dandy. Perfect."

  "Right." Something was definitely going on with Rodger. "You want to talk about it?"

  Rodger stood stone-faced and glum.

  "Okay." When my buddy wasn't ready to talk, no amount of prodding could get him to have it out. I'd have to wait to figure out what was up with him.

  I hitched up the waist of Galen's pants. "I'll see you tomorrow, okay?" Maybe he'd be ready to talk after a good night's sleep. "In the meantime..." I glanced over to Galen's tent, positively swamped with anticipation.

  "Gods"—Rodger rolled his eyes—"bring back my jaded friend."

  "She's on vacation."

  "I can tell."

  Yes, well, Rodger needed to snap out of it. "You should be glad to see me alive."

  "I'm glad you're alive," he said, like a kid asked to recite math problems.

  "Good," I said, tugging off his surgical cap and shoving it against his chest. "I'll see you tomorrow."

  ***

  Galen rose as soon as I entered the tent. He wore fatigues and nothing else. "What happened?"

  I sighed, burying my head against his chest, snuggling in as his arms wrapped around me. "Thaïs is in lockup."

  "Good." His chest rumbled under my cheek.

  "Mmm..." I wanted to forget Thaïs and Kosta and Rodger and everybody.

  I let him hold me, indulging in the comfort, and—I'll admit it—taking a little rest.

  It was like coming home after a long day. Only this time, I was sharing a tent with a devastatingly attractive demi-god who liked to feed me blueberries.

  "Now where were we?" I asked, trailing my fingers down his side.

  Galen chuckled, shaking me out of the catnap I'd begun to take. "You can't keep your eyes open," he said, as if that was the most amusing thing in the world.

  "Can too," I said, trying to find his pant buttons with my eyes closed.

  "Come on," he said, leading me to the bedroom.

  "Well, if you insist." I wasn't going to argue locations with the man. And from what I recalled, his bed had been heavenly.

  He pushed back the tent flaps to the back room.

  Twinkling lights were strung across the ceiling, mimicking the night sky.

  Those were new. "What'd you do?" I asked sinking down onto the softest mattress in the world.

  "I took the time to turn them on."

  "Ahh..." We had been in a bit of a rush.

  As I picked out the Big Dipper in the starscape above, an uncomfortable thought tugged at me. "Kosta said the army is calling up soldiers out of recovery."

  I wanted to hear him say it wouldn't be him.

  The bed dipped as Galen eased down next to me. "That's always been their plan in case of emergency."

  Wrong answer. "It's that bad," I said, unease settling over me.

  "It's been getting worse for about a year now." He ran his fingers through my hair, sending little shivers down my spine. "We've mostl
y been able to even the score by going in and taking out vital positions before the big battles."

  I rolled to my side and propped up on one elbow. "That's what you've been up to." I'd wondered what he did with the special forces.

  "Yes. Me and my men," Galen lay opposite me, parallel yet not touching. Not yet. "The situation is dicey. You've heard of the earthquakes and eruptions on Earth."

  I had. It was getting worse. "What do you know?" I understood all about the army and the fact that I didn't have clearance. He didn't have to tell me and probably shouldn't. Still. "If we're going to try and stop this, I need to know."

  He hesitated. "I am allowed discretion," he said slowly.

  Ah, now this was getting interesting. "So you can tell me if you want."

  He tensed. "For security purposes only," he said, as if testing out the thought.

  I shifted my hips on the mattress. "And not because I can give you mind-numbing orgasms?"

  He snorted. "Definitely not."

  Galen touched the soft spot at the crook of my hip where his borrowed pants stopped and a slice of bare skin began. "The enemy has been steadily working its units north, toward the Mountain of Flames."

  "I've heard of that," I said, inching closer to him. I'd never been north, but those who had said it was this massive hell vent with a mountain smack dab in the middle.

  "Our side captured it shortly after the last peace."

  "In 1593?"

  His brow knit. "I'm not sure of the mortal year, but yes, I'd say that is accurate for our conversation." He brought his hand to rest on my hip. "As you know, hell vents can let loose demons and imps. They're also immense sources of energy for an army that has the knowledge and the resources to exploit the power. The Mountain of Flames is the only remaining entrance to the underworld. At least the only one that lets you leave after you've finished your business."

  "So why haven't we done it?" I wasn't for unbalancing the armies, but if we needed a leg up, then maybe our gods needed to get on the horn to the gods of the underworld. There were at least a dozen: Osiris, Hades, Pluto, Erlik, Mantus, Yama—and that wasn't even counting the Mayan death gods. Wait. We had to be talking at least thirty.

  The whole lot had refused to take sides in the war, but that didn't mean the denizens of the underworld weren't above simple bribery.