by Unknown
“Hekate is fine,” Horus cleared his throat.
“Hmmm,” I considered him. “H and H. You're Double H.”
“Or H squared,” Pan joined in gleefully.
“Or H to the second power,” I shot back.
“Let's get started,” Thor interrupted, giving both Pan and me dirty looks. “Kohana has reported the nefarious activities of Tawiskaron and the twins. We need to decide on a course of action.”
“Maybe it would be best if we let those closest to the matter choose how to handle it,” Odin waved a hand towards Mrs. E and Teharon.
“I agree,” Thor nodded to his father and then looked toward the Native American gods.
“Estsanatlehi?” Teharon turned toward Mrs E gallantly. “I will bow to a mother's will. What would you have us do?”
“I'd like the chance to talk to my sons first,” Mrs E looked worried and there was a light sheen to her skin. She was a goddess of change but also of rivers and I'd only recently noticed how her skin would glisten when she was unsettled.
“I thought they haven't been speaking to you?” I asked as gently as possible.
“They haven't,” Mrs E acknowledged, “but if I try to trace into their territory, they'll know. Being deflected by their wards will be my way of letting them know how serious this is. I'm certain Tobadzistsini will come to me then, even if Nayenezgani doesn't.”
“They warded their territory against you?” Pan gasped, his hazel eyes wide in his elfin face. “Their own mother?”
“Yes,” Mrs E sighed. “That's how I know this is truly bad. They must have some very wicked plans if they want me to stay out of their home.”
“I've already tried to visit my brother,” Teharon swallowed hard and his girlfriend, Karni Mata, took his hand supportively. “His mountain retreat is deserted, locked and empty. Whatever he's up to, he's not doing it there.”
Teharon and Karni Mata were so beautiful together, it was hard not to stare sometimes. Karni was a Hindu rat goddess. She had bright white hair and eyes that were black from rim to rim. They were in direct opposition to Teharon's long black hair and turquoise eyes but their skin colors were so close to each other's that it made them look as if they'd been made to compliment each other.
“That's not too surprising, after the way the last battle ended,” Finn added in an Irish accent. I could always tell how much time he'd been spending with his siblings by how strong his accent was. “If Estsanatlehi's twins hadn't shown up, Tawiskaron might have been-”
“Defeated,” I finished before Finn could use the K word. I gave Finn a meaningful look and he shifted those bright, green, Irish eyes away from me guiltily. I didn't want to kill anymore of my friend's relatives.
“Yes, defeated,” Finn agreed. “He probably thought it best to stay away from anywhere we could find him.”
“Well wherever he is,” Brahma stroked his closely cropped beard thoughtfully, “he'll most likely be with Nayenezgani and Tobadzistsini. So if Estsanatlehi can reach them, she can reach Tawiskaron as well.”
“Would you like to join me?” Mrs E offered Teharon.
“Yes, I think I would,” Teharon nodded.
“Alright then,” Thor nodded, “please let us know after you've talked with them and we can reconvene then.”
“Is that it?” Artemis whispered to Torrent. “Aren't we going to fight someone? I was looking forward to that.” The dog sitting beside her yipped once as if in agreement.
“Not yet,” I whispered back. “There's usually a lot of talking before Torrent says something brilliant, solves it all, and then everyone gets to go home.”
Torrent blushed, turning his pale skin a lovely rose. It made him look even more human than all the little changes his body had been making lately. Like the striations in his eyes and the pores in his skin. I would have told him since Torrent wanted nothing more than to look human but I think it would have embarrassed him more and you never do that to a man in front of his girlfriend.
So instead I just smiled brighter, letting him see the delight in my eyes and hoping he understood that it was more than happiness in his reaction. It was happiness in the man he'd become, awe in the courage it had taken him to become that man, and pride in the fact that he was my friend.
From the way he smiled back at me, I think he understood.
Chapter Three
“Can I speak with you privately?” Odin had come up behind me while I was saying goodbye to the Squad.
“Of course,” I studied his careful expression. “Would you like to come back to Pride Palace with us or shall I return to Valaskjalf with you?”
“Come home with me,” he smiled. “The beasts are growing restless without you there.”
Odin had taken Geri, Freki, Hugin, and Munin home with him after he'd regained his memory. For awhile there, the wolves and ravens had lived with me at Pride Palace. They'd been happy I think but were much happier now, with Odin in Asgard. Still, maybe they missed seeing me around so often. I admit the thought made me smile.
“Alright,” I agreed. “Let me say goodbye to Az and tell Kirill and Trevor where I'm going.”
I went to give my angel a kiss goodbye. Azrael's eyes were diamond bright as he lowered his lips to mine. His black wings closed around us and his cheek tattoo flashed, shining blue through my closed eyelids. I loved those little tells, those physical reactions he couldn't control when emotion took over. The scent of vanilla orchids surrounded me, rising up from his skin, and I pulled away from him reluctantly.
As Azrael's wings lowered, I caught Thor staring at me strangely. He'd been doing that every so often ever since his bad break-up with Brighid. By bad break-up I of course meant that he killed her when she turned traitor on us all and tried to kill me. Anyway, I gave him a hesitant smile and went to tell Trevor and Kirill that I'd meet them at home later. Then I traced to Valaskjalf with Odin.
Odin was right, as soon as I walked into the dining hall, I was attacked by wolves and ravens. It was a dual attack by air and land, the wolves surrounding my legs while the ravens circled my head. I laughed and held one hand up to the birds while simultaneously trying to pet the wolves.
“Enough!” Odin yelled and they all settled. Geri and Freki sat back on their haunches while Hugin and Munin took perches on the back of the couches we'd been headed to. The wolves had obeyed with ease but the ravens were still ruffling their feathers in annoyance. These weren't pets after all, they were more like friends, and the birds in particular didn't like to be ordered about.
“I'm happy to see you guys too but I haven't been gone that long,” I said as I made my way over to my usual seat before the fire. I spared some extra attention for the ravens and their wounded pride. It seemed to help a bit and their feathers smoothed back down as the cawed once apiece.
“I know,” Odin frowned and sat beside me. “Which worries me. I think they're sensing something.”
“Like what?” My stomach clenched. After Silenus' prophecy and the disaster that followed, I wanted nothing to do with oracles of any kind. Even animal instincts.
“I'm not sure,” Odin sighed and ran a golden-tanned hand through his short hair. “The ravens can show me images in my mind but they're confused; flashes of battle in the air and sunlight, burning sunlight.”
“Well, I don't think I'll have to worry about getting burned,” I nudged him with my shoulder.
“Right,” he gave me a self-deprecating smile. “I'm probably worried for nothing.”
“Was that what you wanted to talk to me about?”
“No, actually,” he brightened. “I've been having more memories from Griffin.”
“Oh,” my face fell. “I'm so sorry.”
Griffin's body still remembered things that had happened to it and the memories were haunting Odin, horrible memories of him being abused by Demeter. Odin's memories were bad enough as it was, to heap Griffin's on top of it seemed a steep price to pay but then, I would have paid it to be back with him again.
“No, these were
n't bad,” Odin's smile grew. “They've actually been enlightening.”
“Enlightening how?”
“Griffin was a witch.”
“Excuse me?” I gaped at him.
“Griffin was a witch,” Odin laughed. “It's not all that surprising if you think about it. Gods, as you know, are very attracted to witches. The pull of the magic and all that. So it was probably one of the reasons Demeter chose him.”
“Wait,” I blinked. “So what did you remember exactly?”
“I remember casting spells,” he shrugged. “He was very good, a strong spellcaster, and now that I know of its existence, I'm starting to feel the strength of that magic. It's making itself known to me. I think it may have something to do with my own casting abilities. This body recognizes that the spirit within is even more powerful than the one it housed before.”
“Whoa,” I breathed.
“Yes, whoa,” he laughed. “How ironic, don't you think? That you brought a god back from the dead and put him into a witch's body?”
“Yes, the irony is astounding,” I said in a dry tone.
“This is good, Vervain,” he started to lose his exuberance when he saw my expression. “Why do you look so worried?”
“I don't know,” I sighed. “It just feels like something to be worried about. It means you have a witch's magic and your god magic inside you.”
“Yes, and as you know, I've already eaten one of the Apples of Immortality, so I'm fully restored. There's nothing to worry about. If my magic was going to clash with Griffin's, it would have done so already.”
Odin had lost his immortality after the transfer from the Void back to life and Idunn, the Norse goddess who grows the Apples of Immortality, had somehow sensed it. Shortly after Odin had regained his memory and gone home to Asgard, Idunn had showed up and simply handed him an apple. He ate it and bam, he was immortal again. Groovy, huh? And to think, I had once believed she was a traitor.
“But I'm having problems healing now,” I tried to pinpoint what exactly was bothering me. “What if you start losing your immortality?”
“You have a triple trinity,” he scoffed. “I only have the magic of one god. You handled that fine when you...,” his peacock colored eyes widened. “Do you think I could take a god's magic like you have?”
“I... uh,” I floundered. There it was. That's what was bothering me.
“Do you know what this means?” He asked excitedly. “This is a huge step forward for our side. With both of us having this ability, the other gods will be no match for us.”
“Now don't get cocky,” I teased while my stomach churned. Why did the thought of Odin taking another god's magic bother me so much?
“Vervain,” Odin grabbed my hand, his peacock eyes focused intently on me. “This could be big for us. I'll need to test it, start doing some meditation with it, like you did the first time you borrowed magic from the Squad.”
“Uh-huh,” I chewed at my lip.
“A god with the power to take another god's magic,” he whispered happily.
“You know what else it makes you?”
“What?” He grinned at me like a little boy with a new toy train, just waiting for the tracks to be laid.
“Part fey.”
“What?” His smile went slack.
“Human magic stems from the fey,” I reminded him. “That means Griffin was descended from faeries and so, your new body has fey blood in it.”
“Hot damn,” he whispered, which made me frown.
That wasn't something Odin would have said. Griffin perhaps but not Odin. Just how much was this new body affecting him? A shiver raced over my skin.
“I wonder what that will mean for you?” I asked.
“Maybe it will allow me entrance to the Faerie Realm without permission,” he started to grin again.
“Why would you want to go into the Faerie Realm without permission?” That knot was back in my belly.
“You never know,” he shrugged. “I've had to do it before, if you recall.”
I started to really think then. Not about the time Odin had saved me from Arach but what this would mean for Odin and the fey. Did it mean Odin could cross through the wards? Fey blood was the main thing you needed in order to get into Faerie but who knows how diluted Griffin's blood was? The fey had withdrawn centuries ago. Yet again, he had enough of it to manifest witch abilities. Sigh. I simply didn't know and I think that's what worried me the most.
“I don't understand how you can have his magic though,” I frowned as another thought occurred to me. “Magic is in the soul, isn't it? Griffin's soul isn't in his body anymore.”
“The physical affects the spiritual and vice-versa,” Odin grinned. “Griffin's soul imprinted some of his magic onto his body. Just like a god is able to leave his magic inside an item.”
“Oh,” I fingered the emerald at my throat, the one he'd given to me. “Okay, I see what you mean.”
“And blood is a powerful conduit of magic,” he lifted a brow at me. “You of all people should know that.”
“I do,” I nodded, blushing a little as I thought about how I shared blood with Arach, usually when we were intimate. It was a way of connecting with him on a deeper level, seeing through his mind and memories. A special gift shared between dragon-sidhe but I knew it could also be used with non-dragons. I'd kind of found out by accident when a bit of Brighid's blood had sprayed into my mouth. That wasn't so special.
“And as a God,” Odin continued, “I know it very intimately.”
“Duh, of course, that's how you all took human magic in the first place; blood sacrifice.” I could have slapped myself. I swear, I was distracted a lot lately but to forget this was really dumb. This was what started me hunting in the first place.
“Exactly,” he laughed when Geri jumped up onto the couch next to me and nudged his head under my hand.
“Hey, you,” I scratched his soft head as I tried to dispel the unease in my gut.
“There's nothing to worry about, Vervain,” Odin said as if he could read my mind.
“I hope not,” I tried to smile at him but my inner animals seemed to be just as worried as the wolves and ravens. No matter how much I didn't want to listen to them, instincts are hard to ignore.
Chapter Four
Two days later, I found myself dressed to the nines and stuffed into the back of a limo with all of my men(except Arach of course, disrupting our flow and losing time with him wasn't worth inviting him to one party).
We were headed to a charity event Trevor was hosting at Moonshine, our night club. He'd been wanting to do something for charity for awhile and we just hadn't found the time. After the Fall of Zeus, he was finally able to take some time to plan a party. It was to benefit the protection of wolves in America.
I was in a Calvin Klein formal. Not too fancy, just a long, slim, satin dress in dark blue. The men were all in casual formal as well, suits but no ties. We wanted to have a nice event without the stuffiness of a sit down dinner. So it was cocktails and appetizers tonight, with entertainment provided by both Roar and the Dark Horses. I was told it was sold out.
We pulled up to the curb in front of Moonshine and I was surprised to see the throng of people waiting outside. There were even some reporters and I scanned the crowd anxiously, looking for Hermes. The messenger god was a little bitter over the whole Aphrodite incident and he tended to be unfair with any press involving me. I swear, it felt like I'd never stop paying for killing that goddess.
Hermes wasn't there though and I remembered that Anubis had vowed to handle the Hermes situation for me. I guess he'd meant for good. There was only a small collection of local news reporters on site and Trevor gave them all info on the event quickly while we posed for pictures. Kirill, Azrael, and Odin backed away for most of the shots so there wouldn't be any questions about our relationship. That wasn't exactly a story I wanted plastered all over Hawaii. I think my grandmother would have a heart attack.
We walked through
the entryway and its separate line of gods waiting to be oathed before admittance, and then into the club itself, to find that Moonshine had been jazzed up for the event. The forest of combined faux and real plant life was as beautiful as ever with the light of a Moon security system shining down on it but in addition to the moonlight was candlelight. Hanging from the trees were mini chandeliers, the old fashioned kind with candles in them. It made Moonshine brighter than I'd ever seen it and I kind of enjoyed the light. The waterfall looked magnificent in the twinkle of all those little flames and so did all the wolves roaming through the trees. Wait, what?
I did a double take. Trevor had Froekn roaming freely among the guests in their wolf form. I panicked a little at first because most of the guests were regular humans but then I saw how entranced the humans were. They obviously thought the wolves to be trained animals Trevor had hired for the event and the Froekn were playing it up. Humans were having the time of their lives petting the placid wolves, never knowing that they were touching something much more exotic than a wild animal.
“What an inspired decision,” I turned to Trevor and gave him an impressed look.
“Thank you,” he beamed as he led our party up the stairs to the VIP level.
The second floor was our normal hang out when we were at Moonshine. It had a great view of the entire club and was never crowded. Being the owner had its perks, we could pick and choose who got admitted up to the second floor, so it was pretty much our own private party level. There was also a tracing room behind a door up there and emergency rooms for any vampire who needed to stay the night. We made a killing on those rooms, if you'll excuse the pun.
The vampires were just one of the god-descended groups that had started to frequent Moonshine. Our club was even safer than the vampire clubs for them because of the whole oathing thing. It actually surprised me that no one had thought of it before and no one had copied the idea since. The copying part may have something to do with not wanting to piss off the Froekns.
The God Squad was already up on the VIP level and that included Vidar and Vali, my sons from my past life as Sabine. Morpheus was also a part of the squad now and it looked like Artemis and Hekate might also be considering joining because they were there too. We went over to greet them, where they were seated on a collection of faux hills that served as couches.