Gods & Monsters: The Gods & Monsters Trilogy Book 1

by Janie Marie

  “Slowly,” he muttered. “You know her healing abilities will not return until her body has enough blood. She’s practically human.”

  Bedivere sighed as he checked the monitors. “She’s as stable as I am going to get her. The morphine seems to be keeping her comfortable. We will all be downstairs. And Arthur is right, if you want to help her, you need to rest. I will be drawing more blood in two hours for her. You should keep donating until she’s conscious and able to feed from you.”

  “I understand I need to rest, but I am not leaving this room. I’ll rest in the chair.”

  “Fine,” Arthur said. “After I debrief with the others and clean up, I will come sit with her so you can shower. And before you argue that you cannot shower until she does, think of how ridiculous that sounds. There’s no reason for you to remain in this state.” He gestured to his bloody and torn clothes. “I’ll be back.” Arthur followed Bedivere out and closed the door.

  David brought her cold hand to his cheek. “I’m so sorry. I should have abandoned my fight with Lance.” He kissed her hand. “Please keep fighting, baby. I’ll be right here, but you have to fight.”

  He heard the others talking about Jane and the wolves downstairs, as well as the blast she’d emitted. He had no idea what to make of that yet. It had come from her, though.

  “The Zev virus,” Bedivere was telling the others. “It was named after the first victim of the virus: Zev Knight. I just remembered Zev is a variant for Zeev, the Hebrew name for Wolf.”

  David’s eyes widened as he listened to Arthur voice the conclusion he was coming to.

  “Wolf Knight,” Arthur muttered.

  “Lancelot was sending us a message with the first victim of the plague,” Bedivere said. “Somehow he made a weapon, and he wanted us to know it was him.”

  David was shaking. He took his Jane to a fight with monsters he’d never faced before, monsters he should have seen coming if he paid attention to the news reports. It made sense Lancelot would look for a way to even the odds, but he never would have thought him capable of orchestrating a worldwide epidemic.

  As they continued to discuss theories, David forced himself to tune them out and let the hissing sound of the oxygen mask lull him into a relaxed state. He was exhausted from the fight and the blood they’d taken. He didn’t want to sleep, but he didn’t want to think about his mistakes right then.

  The unseen presence stood against the wall, watching David and Jane. He had been there during the entire procedure, but none had noticed the powerful being. The man—being—knew Jane all too well, and a smile formed on his lips as a plan formed in his clever mind.

  He moved closer to Jane’s vacant side. David would not see him—nor would any other unless he wished them to. He observed the curves of her pale face and her matted, bloody hair without showing any expression on his face. His emerald colored eyes drifted over her body, halting briefly at the wound that lay hidden there before returning to her face.

  Staring at her for a short time, he returned his attention to David. He knew who the knight was. Although they had never properly met, he knew David would recognize him and smiled when the famed knight’s posture tensed.

  The concealed individual watched David look around the room, amused at the unease his presence produced.

  “Sleep,” he said in a voice so smooth, any who heard it would know either peace or doom awaited them.

  David’s head dropped to the bed next to Jane’s hand.

  A smirk teased the man’s full lips as his aura shimmered green then black. Now visible, should anyone look in his direction, he extended a tanned hand and caressed Jane’s forehead before sliding his fingertips down her jaw.

  She did not move, but her heart rate increased and her skin erupted with goosebumps. He eyed her prickled skin, then returned his gaze to her face and smiled.

  With a sudden flick of his wrist, the machines monitoring Jane’s vitals were silenced. He then slid the oxygen mask off her face. The numbers and lights on the monitors flashed rapidly, yet he showed no concern. Instead of aiding her like most would in this situation, he lowered his face.

  Hovering his perfectly shaped lips only an inch over hers, he slowly began to close the small space between them.

  Two flashes of brilliant-white light filled the room, making him halt.

  The green-eyed man smiled, almost allowing his lips to touch hers as he spoke. “I wondered when you two would show up.” He straightened himself and turned, smirking at the two arrivals, however, his attention was drawn to the corner of the room. His eyes suddenly flashed with emerald fire. “But I didn’t expect you.”

  A white light shone briefly, and a fourth man, wearing a white suit, stepped forward. He lifted a hand, fixing his neatly combed, pale-blond hair as his gray eyes slid from one man to the next until his gaze settled on the green-eyed man. “Hello, Death.”

  DEATH CALMLY EYED THE THREE INDIVIDUALS. He was outnumbered, but that mattered little to him. He always had the upper hand in a fight.

  He ran his hand through his jet-black hair, smirking as the two men in black suits eyed his attire and scoffed. He chuckled, amused by their dislike for his preference of this time period’s designer jeans and white T-shirt look.

  Death looked at the fourth man, the man in white, and smirked as he watched him tug the cuff of his white sleeve. “Still ashamed to be in their presence, Luc?” He nodded to the two men wearing all black. “We all know what you try to hide.”

  Lucifer lowered his hands to his sides. “I have places to be, little brother. Shall we get to business?”

  “You have no business here, Lucifer,” said the male with dirty blond hair.

  Death chuckled and addressed the seething angel. “Nor do you, Michael.” He glanced at the brown-haired male next to Michael. “Nor you, Gabriel. The girl is my concern.”

  Gabriel sighed. “You know she is no mere girl.”

  Death glanced at Jane and shrugged. “That may be, but she still is no concern to any of you.”

  Michael scoffed. “She is David’s mate; she is my concern.”

  “Ah, yes. The golden boy.” Death glanced at David’s unconscious form and laughed. “Some mate he turned out to be. I hear he is admired by all females in his presence, but I am certain this girl would find herself incapable of taking her lovely hazel eyes off me.”

  Lucifer scoffed. “Father made you most beautiful for his precious humans, not because he preferred you.”

  “Still gets under your pale skin, doesn’t it, Luc?” Death chuckled.

  “Do not address me so casually,” said Luc. “We are not friends.”

  “Your pride and jealousy know no bounds,” Death said, smirking. “I wonder what makes you more jealous… Is it the fact Father made me his most beautiful creation, or that he made me this way for the human race?”

  “Enough of this,” said Gabriel, turning to look at Death. “The girl is important. Father wishes she stay on Earth to aid the knights.”

  “Does Father?” Death pulled off his leather jacket and tossed it on the bed, over Jane’s legs. “If that is Father’s wish, why does he simply not make it so?”

  Gabriel sighed. “He gave you that power. He will not take it from you.”

  “Yet he asks specific souls be spared.” He nodded toward Jane. “This girl, for example—”

  Michael interrupted him. “She has been destined to fight beside the knights.”

  “You think that matters to me?” Death asked. “None of you matter.”

  “Then why are we discussing whether the girl lives or dies?” A hellish smile formed on Lucifer’s face. “We are all here because you want her for yourself.”

  “Always the clever one, Luc,” Death said. “Though I am no fool; do not pretend you have no interest in her. You want her as well.”

  “Neither of you will have her!” Michael yelled. Gabriel placed a hand on Michael’s shoulder.

  Death didn’t acknowledge the archangel, keeping his ey
es locked on Lucifer, waiting for his reply.

  “She is powerful,” Lucifer finally said. “She will make a fine queen with the power she has surging through her. She happens to come in a nice little package—what a pleasant bonus.” He looked back at Death. “What do you want with her?”

  “My existence is lonely.” Death looked back at Jane. “She intrigues me—and as you pointed out, she is lovely. Care to make a deal?”

  Michael stepped forward. “There will be no deals!”

  “Calm, brother,” Gabriel told him, pulling him back.

  Death turned to the two archangels. “The way I see it, your hands are tied. If I take her life now, she will go directly to Father. That does not help any of us though, does it? She would enter Paradise, and I would still be alone. If she dies, your knights fail. You lose, I lose, and not that any of us care, but Luc loses too.” He chuckled. “Though as powerful as I am, I cannot keep her for myself in her current state. Her soul shines too brightly.” He smiled slyly at Lucifer. “I require a neutral soul.”

  Lucifer chuckled “You want me to introduce her to my darkness?”

  “You wouldn’t dare,” Michael roared. “Do not even think of entering this deal, Lucifer.”

  A menacing glare contorted Lucifer’s features. “As Death has so cleverly pointed out, our hands are tied. Do not threaten me, Michael. If it were not for me, your precious knights would never have been created, and this woman’s life would mean nothing to you.”

  “It is your fault she is dying now,” Michael said. “You should never have given Lancelot immortality.”

  “And Father should never have let you create David,” Lucifer snapped.

  “That is what this has always been about.” Michael scoffed. “Your jealousy blinds you. What do you want with her anyway? Immortal or not, we all know you despise humanity.”

  “She’s a tortured soul, a perfect vessel to corrupt. I can already envision the wicked smile she will wear as she destroys those who oppose me.”

  Michael seethed, ready to attack.

  “Enough,” Gabriel said. “Death has given us no choice, brother. We shall simply have to pray and hope her pure heart holds against our fallen brother’s darkness.”

  Michael glared at Death and yanked himself free of Gabriel’s grasp.

  Death looked at Lucifer. “Give her your blood. If David keeps her pure, nothing changes, and Father gets his wish. However, if her soul is rendered neutral, I claim her for all eternity.”

  Lucifer smiled. “And if she loses to darkness?”

  Death smirked. “I am confident her heart and soul will withstand darkness. I am more concerned with the knight’s influence on her.”

  A silver glint sparked in Lucifer’s eyes. “You doubt my abilities to lure a soul to the dark?”

  “No,” Death said. “In fact, I am counting on your talent in the matter.”

  Lucifer glanced at Jane, then to a fuming Michael and indifferent Gabriel. “You two will not interfere with our deal.”

  Gabriel pulled Michael back and glanced at Death.

  “If Heaven interferes, she dies,” Death told him calmly. “You already have Heaven’s greatest hero to fight for her.” He inclined his head in David’s direction.

  “You would kill her yourself?” Lucifer asked.

  “I am the only one who can,” he said, glancing at Jane briefly. “She lives on borrowed time anyway. Do we have a deal?”

  “Almost.” Lucifer glanced at Gabriel. “She has no guardian.”

  “There is no record of her ever having one,” said Gabriel without any indication of his feelings on the matter.

  “And I thought I was cruel.” Lucifer chuckled, then looked back at Death. “I take it you will step in if her life is in danger?”

  “If she is in danger, I will keep her safe.”

  “Do you take me for a fool, Death?” Lucifer asked.

  Death’s eyes flashed. “Always clever. Only if her life is in threat of ending, will I come for her. I will remain until the threat is clear, but I will not interfere with your methods of persuasion.”

  “Deadline?” Lucifer asked.

  Death looked at Jane, his gaze drifting over her battered body. “One month. If she has not fallen to darkness by then, you will leave her be, and I will cease my attempts to neutralize and claim her as mine.” He eyed Michael. “If we do not, Michael shall deliver Father’s wrath.”

  Lucifer approached Jane’s side and looked back toward the other two, a smirk teasing his lips. “We have a deal.”

  Gabriel put a restraining hand on Michael’s shoulder again. Death knew they had not planned on this happening.

  Lucifer reached out with his hand and gently caressed the side of her pale face with his fingertips. She shivered and, for a brief moment, the Prince of Darkness’s hellish features softened.

  Michael and Gabriel exchanged a look, and Death realized his plan would not go as easily as he had anticipated.

  Lucifer bit down on his wrist, letting his blood free as he lowered his wrist to Jane’s mouth.

  Surprisingly, she sighed and closed her lips around Lucifer’s wound, sucking down the offering eagerly.

  “Feeling confident still?” Lucifer asked him, not looking away from Jane sucking his blood so greedily. After a few more sips, the fallen angel removed his wrist and rubbed his thumb over her blood-stained lips. He studied her face again, then leaned down to place a kiss on the corner of her mouth and whispered, “Be great, Jane.”

  Lucifer stood and stepped back, and Death took his place.

  Death leaned down and murmured his words over her soft lips. “Live, Sweet Jane.” He then kissed her lips, sealing both Heaven and Hell inside her, and initiating his wager with Lucifer.

  Moving his face back, Death smirked at the flush on her cheeks. “I think she likes me.” He straightened and placed her mask back over her nose and mouth, then held his palm over her chest. A green glow cast from his hand, and he looked at Lucifer. “I healed her spleen and lacerated lung. She still has bone fractures and needs blood to heal. She’ll stay asleep for a couple more days, but our game begins now.”

  Death lifted his jacket off her legs, chuckling when Jane noticeably inhaled his scent. “And she likes leather. Good girl.”

  “You will suffer for this, Death,” Michael said.

  Death glanced at David. “Do you have such little faith in your charge?”

  Michael shook his head. “You do not know love, Death. I assure you David’s love for her is greater than you can fathom, and it will roar louder than any temptation Lucifer offers.”

  “Hm,” was Death’s only reply.

  Gabriel and Michael looked at Jane and David once more before two brilliant beams of white light took their place and shot upward.

  Lucifer and Death set their gazes back on Jane; her color was already returning.

  “You just cost this sweet girl her soul, Death.” Lucifer’s steely gaze focused on him. Death didn’t reply, and Lucifer chuckled, vanishing in a flash of white light.

  Death watched as a beam of sunlight slid across Jane’s face. “Good morning, Sweet Jane,” he said, sliding his fingers over her forehead.

  Then he was gone.

  “She will be all right,” Gareth said as he stepped over an open suitcase on the sidewalk.

  Gawain sighed and glanced at his younger brother. “You know there’s a chance she won’t make it. You did not see her wound—she lost too much blood. That mutation put a fucking hole in her chest.”

  Gareth let out a strained breath and pushed open the door to the house neighboring Jane’s home. “Don’t think like this. They started her transfusion quickly. David will give as much blood as his body can withstand. He is the strongest and her Other—that has to make a difference.”

  Gawain turned to shut the door, barely glancing at the bullet holes littering the doorframe. “I do not want to see her family. I will not be able to see her daughter or son and pretend all is well. You know
she misses them; I see through her brave front. She’s trying not to think of them. It is unfair that we see them when she cannot.”

  “Knock it off,” Gareth said. Gawain glared at his brother, and Gareth returned the severe look. “I know you are upset, but she would not want us to stop caring for them. She did what she had to do to keep them safe—we will do the same. Stop behaving like a child.”

  Gareth pushed open the bedroom door, and both knights immediately caught sight of the guard they’d set out to meet.

  “How is Jane?” Dagonet asked, not looking away from the view outside the balcony window.

  “She is stable, according to Bedivere,” Gareth told him. “But her injuries are severe. She’s suffered significant blood loss after an infected wolf, wearing a silver contraption of some sort, impaled her chest. She couldn’t heal because of the fragments embedded in her wound. Though, from what I’ve heard, even with our abilities, she should be dead.”

  “How is David?” Dagonet asked.

  “I did not see him.” Gareth answered. “He refuses to leave her side. I told Arthur her family needs supplies—and he agreed to let you and Gawain approach them. We will keep our identity secret. If they do ask about Jane, we are to inform them that we came across her, and she asked us to aid them. Nothing else.”

  “Are you sure he wants me to go?” Dagonet asked.

  Gareth chuckled. “I am sure. Do not look so shocked, Dagonet. We all know you care for this family, and you have been more than honorable in your duty toward them. Despite the fact Jane has yet to meet you herself, I am confident she’d be grateful for your aid to her family.”

  “Thank you,” Dagonet said, taking the bags of supplies Gareth carried.

  “Of course,” Gareth said. “Why don’t you go collect yourself for a few minutes? I want to speak to Gawain about the developments around the perimeter.” Dagonet nodded. “Get a drink before you meet them.”