by LJ Vickery
The gods misted back to where Tess lay still in Huxley’s arms. They felt no joy at what they had done but, when Marduk told her it was over and she gave a nod, they felt a certain satisfaction. Gage would never be able to hurt her again.
Enlil was the first to speak as Marduk relieved Hux of Tess’s slight body, and they all came to the realization that she wasn’t going to be riding a motorcycle home. “So Tess, just how many times will we be calling 911 for you?”
She rolled her eyes, which was about the only thing that didn’t hurt, and retorted, “I’m beginning to think it’s my lucky number.”
There was a quick clean-up of the scene—truck swallowed by earth, vines sucked back into soil, and blood removed from Marduk, whose back had nearly healed , his chest wound not far behind. Nothing a shirt wouldn’t cover.
They agreed that her partial truth to the authorities would involve a kidnapping by Gage. There was already a record of his first brutal attack on file, which would support her story of being beaten and flung from his truck as he fled. All she needed to say was that Gage neglected to take her cell phone and she had called her brother and friends after being dumped, and they, in turn, had called 911.
Many hours later, she was tucked into her warm bed, having given the same story to her father. Her injuries were actually less severe than the gods had thought—bruised ribs and no stitches necessary.
Tess fell into a deep sleep with a smile on her face, comforted by the knowledge that Marduk kept a cramped vigil from a small armchair tucked under the dormer in the corner of her room.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Dagon’s trip had proven most fruitful and he was quite pleased as he materialized in front of the cabin mid-morning the following day. His sense of satisfaction took a sharp nosedive when he opened the door and saw…no Matthew. His ire rose as he noted that the door to the storeroom was slightly ajar, and he erupted in rage when he realized that his valued prisoners were gone.
Incompetent! Imbecile! He snarled and threw things about the cabin. Had Matthew been caught by surprise? If so, then where was his body? His second in command had better be dead, or Dagon would make sure he would be—and soon.
Dagon’s anger clenched hold of his guts like a living thing.
Almost immediately he tried to backpedal. He couldn’t afford this right now. Stop! he ordered, but it was too late. Black scales ripped from within his golden skin, covering his back and chest. His face elongated into a hideous fanged snout and dorsal fins rose up out of his spine. Dagon tried frantically to find a calm spot in his head, but he was helpless to interrupt the transformation. Minutes went by, and finally Dagon rose to his enormous new height. Now complete, Dagon was larger by half from what he had been before.
He tore at the walls penning him in and making him feel caged. He ripped the door off its hinges with a snarl. For hours he would be the monster, the serpent of the sea over whom he had little control. He would bellow through the forest in a furor of semi-lucid violence. He hadn’t turned in millennia, but now his anger had gotten the better of him. The human was at fault, but in the end, the defeat was his own, and it was just one more reason to hate the fucking Blue Hills gods. The part of Dagon’s brain that remained rational knew it would be several hours before he regained his former self.
****
Dagon was in the middle of nowhere when the scales dropped away and he returned to his god-like body. Calm now, he thought of all the ways he would kill Matthew when he misted back to Plymouth, in three, two, one…
“You’re alive,” Dagon hissed in Matthew’s ear as he eased the knife under his chin. “But not for much longer.”
The new pupils in the room stopped listening to Lenore’s latest lesson and watched, horrified and entranced. His female employee turned to see what had derailed the group’s attention, then snapped into heightened alertness. The irate god saw the anger in her eyes.
“Dagon! Leave Matthew alone!”
Dagon snorted. Lenore was obviously feeling powerful from her latest hand-to-hand win against one of his over-sized recruits and wasn’t sparing a thought to the fact that she was ordering an immortal about. He’d put her in her place. Coldly in control, Dagon gave his most evil smile and pushed the tip of his knife into Matthew’s neck, drawing blood.
“You’re not helping, Lenore,” Matthew said between gritted teeth.
Dagon sneered and addressed the bold female. “You defend a man who let my captives escape.” He sized up Lenore, who was slowly moving closer. Dagon held a cautious posture. He’d interrupted her kicking some ass with the big guys under her tutelage, and she was still pumped. He’d hate to fight with her, and possibly lose two of his top people today. “Did Matthew tell you that we had captured Marduk? We had the god along with the woman you helped…save.” He backed away, lowering his knife and wiping it absently on his now torn jeans, (complements of his previous size change) to defuse her. He was rewarded with a sharp glance from Lenore that quickly cut to Matthew. Now he would get some answers.
Dagon addressed his man in charge. “Before I kill you, I would like to hear how this happened. Enlighten me. How did the pair get away?” The entire room’s rapt attention was focused on the answer.
“I don’t know,” Matthew ground out from between clenched lips.
“What was that?” Dagon willed himself to remain unflustered.
“I said, I don’t know,” Matthew proclaimed, to a few nervous coughs from the fledglings who had seen enough of how this group worked to know that Matthew was in big trouble.
Lenore interfered again.
“It was my fault,” she postured. “I called Matthew and ordered him to come back to Plymouth. Your new group was giving me…problems.” The fresh eyes in the room began looking everywhere but at Dagon.
The serpent god listened to Lenore, but his attention never left Matthew. “You obeyed an order from Lenore, but disregarded my command to keep the prisoners under watch! You left the girl, Tess, and her god alone, believing that they wouldn’t find a way to escape?” Now the knife was back. This time pressed into Matthew’s flesh, right below his right eye. “Explain!”
“I didn’t leave them alone,” Matthew stated emphatically. Sweat was beginning to bead up on the blond man’s face; that and a tic in his cheek were the only two things revealing his fear. “Lenore had called the girl’s ex-boyfriend. He showed up and promised he would keep an eye on them until I returned. “
Dagon focused on the eye vulnerable to his blade. “Well, you were wrong,” he hissed.
Lenore’s clasped hands came down on Dagon’s wrist, startling him and knocking the knife to the floor. Matthew spun away in that instant, and Lenore pulled him across the room. The two stood together, poised to take on the vengeful deity.
Dagon slowly got control of himself. It wouldn’t do to have the serpent make an appearance now. He spread his hands innocently in the air to either side of his body. “This is what you want?” He moved his feet toward Lenore and got in position so that he could backhand her into Matthew, taking them both down, but something stopped him at the last minute.
What? Hit the bitch, he thought, trying to resurrect his focus…his need to control the situation. His thoughts scattered. Dagon looked at Lenore, standing defiant before him and thought, strike out! But couldn’t bring himself to follow through.
Disgusted, he turned away. “Sit with the men!” He was angry and confused that he had not been able to put her in her place. He was surprised when Lenore acquiesced to his order. It was the first smart thing she’d done since he showed up.
“And you…” He turned to Matthew with no such compulsion toward leniency clouding his resolve. “…prepare yourself to be today’s lesson on how a human must battle a god.” Dagon disappeared in mist, only to reappear within inches of Matthew, with his hands wrapped around the hapless man’s throat.
“Fight me,” Dagon ordered and, in the next few minutes, Matthew battled for his life.
When Matthew was no longer able to pick himself up off the floor, Dagon went to where his knife had fallen, and Lenore rose to her feet, eyeballed her boss warily, meeting him over Matthew’s inert form.
“I won’t let you kill him,” she said quietly, but with an authority in her voice that Dagon respected.
“He handled himself well.” The god would let her win this one. “I’ll spare him this time, but he’s going to spend a few days in my new jail to complete his punishment.”
“Your new what?” Lenore backed off, but was wary.
Dagon ignored her for a moment. “You two,” Dagon barked, pointing at a couple of the large recruits “Quickly! Meet me in the basement, where I will be bringing in a large cage.” He turned to Lenore who was waiting for an explanation.
“While I was away, I procured a large quantity of a metal…osmium. It’s the only substance that holds strong against the gods.” He looked fondly at the knife in his hand, lamenting that he hadn’t been able to use the blade on Marduk. Osmium didn’t have power over the gods like the links that had been brought from the Underworld, but it could contain…and cut them.
“In its alloyed state with nickel and copper, I’ve had it forged into this lovely knife, and also into an enclosure, eight feet by ten.” He dissolved to partial invisibility. “Our burly humans will secure it to the floor.”
He pointed toward a comatose Matthew. “Bring him…” were his final words before dissipating.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“I’m asking her tonight.” Having returned to Quincy, Marduk stood on the large stone patio at the back of their house, leaning on the wall and looking into the lush spring beauty of the Blue Hill’s woods. Anshar didn’t look at all shocked.
“Has, uh…either of you mentioned the ‘L’ word?”
Marduk looked amused but a little on edge. “Neither,” he confirmed. “But I know that I love her.” The thunder god looked down at his hands. “When I thought that I’d lost her,” a small rumble moved through the late afternoon’s wispy clouds, “it hit me that I wouldn’t be able to live without her. If she had died…” Marduk couldn’t finish the thought.
“Not to change the subject, but your ceremony…” Anshar looked sheepish. “I hope you don’t expect me to be your best man.” He glanced at Marduk as if to see if that made him upset.
“Well, I had thought to ask you.”
“I wouldn’t be able to handle it,” Anshar admitted. “Besides, I’d be so nervous that I’d crack very inappropriate jokes…well, you get the picture.”
Marduk let Anshar off the hook. “I guess I could ask Enlil,” he mused. “He is blood related to Tess, after all, and now that I’m thinking about it, he’d probably enjoy his duties.”
The mood between the two men suddenly turned pensive.
“Do you trust him?” Anshar could mention the bad blood that, in the past, had defined much of the two gods’ relationship.
“I do,” Marduk assured Anshar, although in a somewhat subdued manner. “Besides, if anything goes wrong with the ceremony, Tess would disown him and I think it would break his newly beating heart.”
“Yeah. You’re probably right.” Anshar brightened again. “He’s like a mother bear with a cub whenever she’s around.” Marduk nodded, but remained silent. There was one stumbling block to their plans.
“Anything else I can do for you?” Anshar knew him too well. He’d figured that Marduk had another request.
“You know there is.” Marduk turned to face his best friend. “Would you be the one to procure the osmium?”
“Consider it done.” Anshar saluted insolently, tongue in cheek.
If Tess agreed to the ceremony, things could move quickly.
“Thanks, brother.” If Emesh had been present, he would have insisted on hugs all around, but Marduk and Anshar settled on a heartfelt hand clasp.
****
Tess was busy pacing the floor of her bedroom. Yes, her bedroom! What the hell was going on? Since returning to the Blue Hills over a week ago, Marduk had installed her in this luxurious space and treated her with the utmost respect…which was beginning to tick her off!
Where was the he-man/god of few words who had spent their previous time together working her body into a frenzy? He certainly hadn’t been present this week. The supreme ass, now in residence, had been handling her with kid gloves, and didn’t resemble her Marduk in the least.
Monday night, they’d taken a walk in the woods, and he’d kept his distance even when she pretended to trip. He had caught her and then abruptly let go as if she were fire against his skin. Tuesday night, they’d gone to the movies, a romantic comedy with some sexy bits that she’d hoped would put him in the mood. During the most titillating part, he’d excused himself and went for popcorn.
Last night, Tess had had enough and challenged the group of gods to strip poker while Marduk was out, just to see if she could provoke a reaction from him when he returned. Enlil had stood, arms crossed stoically over his broad chest, watching with a distinct frown, ready to stop the game if it got out of hand.
He’d scowled as she’d worked five of the deified hunks down to their loin cloths. She expected he’d be furious when he found that she’d been holding four of a kind, which pretty much assured her of a really good peek at some immortal ass within minutes.
Unfortunately, Absu’d had five of a kind, after picking up two wild cards on the last draw, and Tess had been unbuttoning her shirt when Marduk walked in.
“What the…” Thunder and lightning actually appeared in the room and, without so much as a see-you-later, all the gods had decamped and left her with the maniacal male who had escorted her up to her room—did she mention HER room—without speaking a word. Then left! Arrogant and annoying!
Tess was done waiting. She knew where his bed was, and she was just going to go plunk herself down on it and demand…well…yes…dammit! She was just bloody well going to seduce him.
Emesh, she called to the god who most likely had the best taste in women’s undergarments. He was thrilled to be involved in lingerie selection, and came up with a few tantalizing suggestions. Tess gave him free rein.
Newbury Street here I come, he cried and was off in a flash.
A short while later, with red bits of silk in hand, Tess felt pretty confident. Let’s see if Marduk can resist this! Her jeans hit the floor.
Once finished, she turned to get a good look at herself in the mirror. Oh my! The lace-up corset pushed her breasts high and made the little she had look plump as flesh spilled over the top of the scant garment. The thong revealed all of her sleek posterior—or fanny, she giggled—and wouldn’t Marduk be surprised that she had spent time shaving in the shower, shaping just the perfect “landing strip” to entice him.
Nervous goose bumps rose on her arms as she donned a terry robe and sped down the empty hallway to his room. She had seen him walking outside and knew he would be up soon to shower, as was his custom before dinner. She entered his room, dropped the robe, and positioned herself on the bed in what she hoped was a sexy pose. Damn him for reducing her to this! She wondered how long he’d take.
Marduk wandered the grounds for a good long time, trying to work up his courage. He knew his mind, he just wasn’t sure about Tess’s. She seemed to enjoy his company, seeking him out and rubbing her fresh spring rain scent as close to him as possible. She even enjoyed poking into his head at odd times, teasing him and sharing little tidbits of humor. Surely that was not the behavior of a woman who was disinterested.
Oh hell. He looked at the rising moon. He’d definitely missed supper and she’d be wondering why. Not a good way to cajole her into the right frame of mind for what they needed to talk about. Marduk headed into the house.
The lights were off in his room as he walked in, but his whole body froze as he closed the door behind him. He sniffed the air. She had been here…or she still was. Reaching for the dimmer, he turned the lights up ever so slowly and swallowed reflexively at the
sight on the bed.
Tess was stretched out on her side, sound asleep, her face cradled on one hand, the other clenched into a small fist on his pillow. He allowed his gaze to travel down her body, taking in the rise and fall of her chest where her creamy mounds overflowed the confines of a corset. His prick came to instant attention, but when he silently walked around the bed, the need between his legs became a pounding issue. Marduk moaned. The thong had him undone.
Tess stirred at the small sound and turned onto her back, eyelids flickering in the subdued light.
“Marduk?” she questioned sleepily, then awareness slowly came creeping back. Shit! She was lying on his bed, dressed like a courtesan, and had fallen asleep! She was supposed to feel sexy, but all she could do was worry if she had bed-head and nap-breath.
“Tess.” She looked up as he crooned her name.
Was he really unbuttoning his shirt? She scrambled to sit upright.
“Bathroom,” she squeaked and swung her legs over the side of the bed, scurrying for cover. When she was safely within, she leaned against the closed door, trying to wrap the courage back around herself that she’d had earlier. Well, at least she could brush her teeth. This time, Tess made use of Marduk’s toothbrush.
When she finally gathered the fortitude to emerge, she peeked out and saw that Marduk had moved to the bed and was stretched full length on his back. He had removed his shirt, but still wore his jeans. The top button had been popped and, as she moved toward him, her eyes followed the trail of dark hair down his flat abdomen until it disappeared into his briefs. His cock, happy at the perusal, swelled as she looked.
“I’m not sure you should be in here like this.” His voice was gruff. He was still playing it cool, but his body was telling a different story. Tess got bolder. She was not going to be put out like a bothersome cat, and sent that idea right into his brain before he could get any ideas about ejecting her.
I’m here for a reason. She poked him in the chest, and thrilled at the rumble of thunder that ensued.