Tendril Hearts (Immortals Book 11)

by LJ Vickery

  Marduk continued, “Nergal has also rejoined us.”

  In Dumuzi’s opinion, the king looked a little worse for wear at having to flip back and forth between realms so many times in the past few days…or it might be fatigue from dealing with his very pregnant queen.

  Jake and his group of agents strode through the open door with Matthew in their midst. “Okay, Marduk. I think we’re all here,” Jake nodded. Dumuzi knew he meant with the exception of Shamash and Lahar who were probably, at the moment, knee deep in ancient ruins.

  “Marla, would you like to take charge of the meeting?” Marduk sat down and gave the room over to the Feline Operations Agent.

  “Thank you, god.” Marla’s Slavic accent was easier to bear, now they all knew she was on their side. “Since getting communication from enemy, Ridhwan, and finding he thinks prisoner he holds is Queen of Nergal.” She inclined her head toward the king but speared Matthew with a quelling look when he gasped at that news. “Oh yes, frumos baiat, I see they have not told you. Our Bel is smart one, yes? She is taken and makes herself more valuable to Ridhwan, posing as wife to Underworld ruler.”

  Dumuzi explained briefly to Veronica. Ridhwan is a new enemy, and while trying to kidnap Sham and Quinn for the purposes of fulfilling some fucked up prophecy, he ended up taking Matthew’s mate, Beletseri.

  Muze wondered at Marla’s familiarity with Matthew. She had called him a handsome boy, if his language skills weren’t rusty, then tagged Bel with a possessive “our.” Was there more to the trio’s connection than everyone knew? Marla had been held by the pair for a short while a few weeks back. He’d be quite interested to find out what occurred within that short amount of time.

  “We confiscated laptop of Quinn and have received more…instruction…for return to us of fake queen. First, we know Ridhwan wishes to trade for me―because of hate―and cat god Shamash and goddess Quinn for prophecy.” She gave a truncated quote of said prediction. “It is written that cat-goddess will be born and will join forces with full cat god. That couple will be salvation of all.”

  Marla explained her position once again, “We cat shifters believe it true, and Ridhwan also believes. His interest, to gain control of realms by seizing Shamash and Quinn, two he thinks are named in prophecy. Bad cat shifter believe if he rules rulers, he is ultimate power. And why does he want me?” She shrugged unemotionally. “Me, he will kill.”

  “So, what are these new instructions?” Marduk asked, ignoring the prediction of her demise.

  “Here is where thing gets tricky,” Marla nodded pointedly. “King Nergal is supposed to bring us to designated swap area, trade us for would-be queen, and is done. Ridhwan has three strong cat friends. We each have personal thug-guard while Ridhwan uses special power to transport us one by one to lair. All done. End of story. He owns cat god and goddess. He rules world.”

  “You’ve come up with a plan?” Marduk asked.

  Marla shook her head. “We at first think we all go directly to Ridhwan’s secret place to make trade and use special necklace to bring invisible, undetectable god with us to defeat him. Now is not possible. We meet at neutral location, and god cannot travel as quickly as Ridhwan from meeting point to lair.”

  Dumuzi quickly told Veronica, Gods give off a distinct energy whether visible or invisible. We have a necklace which blocks that. The problem is gods have to travel, albeit quickly, from place to place. Ridhwan has a special ability to make any trip instantly. So, with a remote location involved, no god―even with the necklace―will be able to follow.

  “That doesn’t mean I can’t go,” Dorian, the resident warlock spoke up. Dumuzi felt Veronica shiver behind him. Why the dark, magic one had that effect on women, he didn’t know.

  “My invisible energy is undetectable, and I should be able to follow Ridhwan easily. Furthermore, I can transport one other being with me who can wear the necklace.” His eyes went around the room, assessing who should accompany him.

  Jeremiah the lion’s imperative roar cut through the room. All eyes turned to Quinn for translation. She complied in headspeak. He say that make three of you. Quinn was yet to be fully fluent in mind-talk, but she got more proficient all the time. He travel instant and invisible as well, and his feline scent will blend with Ridhwan’s other cats. Make him undetectable.

  “That’s all very well,” Marduk interjected. “But about the ones Ridhwan wants? We know Sham will go, but we’re taking it for granted Quinn will agree to be included.” The thunder god looked at Shamash’s goddess. “You don’t have to go if you don’t want to. We can find another way.”

  Hah. Try stop me, the bold little pixie postured. Where Sham go, I follow. No need to change plan.

  Marduk nodded, convinced by her conviction and was just about to bang the proverbial gavel for dismissal when Candy cleared her throat. The thunder god raised his brows.

  “I know we should be done here, so forgive me for asking,” Candy interjected, standing up and facing the crowd. “But why exactly are we all warm and fuzzy, running to rescue Bel now? If I’m not mistaken, she’s the bitch who’s been making our lives a misery, holding goddesses against their will,”―she looked at Dani-Lee―“and torturing agents.”

  Nobody needed that reminder of what had been done to Ken.

  This time Nergal answered. “That’s a fair question,” he exhaled a deep sigh, “and I’ll try to answer as honestly as possible.”

  Did the big deity look pained?

  “I’m afraid when it comes right down to it, I might have been partially responsible for making her into the woman she’s become.” This time he turned and spoke directly to Matthew who had been listening avidly to all that had gone on. “It seems I was guilty of exploiting her before she turned on us, sequestering her away from any semblance of a real life…for millennia. She was very good at her job, and because of that, I saw her as having only one use. Even when she tried to, uh, convince me otherwise, I chose to brush her off. Hence, she was vastly overworked, completely ignored,”―he gave each and every god a cold stare. He wasn’t about to take the personal rejection of Bel all on his own shoulders―“and eventually, I accused her of a crime which subsequently I find she did not commit.”

  Nergal’s baby was killed in his crib, and it was thought Bel was the murderess…which she was not. Dumuzi told Veronica.

  “Furthermore,” Nergal kept on, “it has been ascertained the goddess Beletseri is now with child, and despite the other crimes for which she will still stand trial, her young godling should not suffer.”

  Matthew listened silently to this, head down, gripping his hands into tight fists.

  “Okay,” Candy snarked. “Long-winded much? You could have saved your breath. You would have had me at ‘preggers’ if you’d thrown it out first…your wordliness.”

  The king’s lips curled up at Enlil’s wife. There was no denying it. The irreverent goddess/agent could get away with murder where the royal was concerned. The two had a stare-down.

  Dumuzi swore if the pair weren’t married to others…

  “Fine then,” Marduk spoke into the awkward silence. “It’s decided then. The only thing left to do is draw straws to see which one of us piggy-backs with Dorian.” He looked around at all the eager faces. Adventures had been hard to come by until recently, and all the immortals craved action in any form. “But just a reminder, we are on hold until Sham gets back from his fact-finding mission in Mesopotamia with Lahar. Marla, will you be able to put Ridhwan off for a while?” he questioned.

  Marla gave her signature shrug again. “He has not indicated timetable for trade. We will stall…” The FO agent’s words broke down into nothing more than a buzz in Dumuzi’s head as Archie nudged up against him. At the same time he registered the clenching of his stomach that was the precursor to a transformation. Bloody hell. The fucking demons were getting ready to push him right now? Hadn’t this full moon already caused three separate episodes?

  Otherworldly screeching filled his brain.
He attempted to take deep breaths through his nostrils while alerting his friends. “Marduk! Changing,” he growled. “Find Sienna. Protect Veronica. The demons are…making contact.”

  The last was no more than a howl, but he hadn’t lost consciousness yet. “Lock me away. Quickly.” Archie was at his side, whining. He reached down a hand and felt the dog’s soft tongue licking his wrist.

  Wait. Why was he still tacitly aware? Normally, when he reached this point, he was a goner. And voices taunted him, but Veronica stood still, unaffected.

  Gaddawah degga? Who is the monster? he heard.

  Dumuzi struggled to answer. Uggel e gun gaddawah nugta. I am a god, not a monster. Gralt geh ech dubt glah e tat. Leave her or I will kill you.

  A part of Dumuzi, still rational, communicated with the fiends from hell. How was that possible? Had his monster picked up their language from years of listening to them? It had to be the answer, but why, if he had been aware of them all this time in his alternate form, hadn’t they been able to contact him?

  Now, not only was he linked up to them, his only semi-change persona had him certain the demons were leaving Veronica and Sienna alone this time. Veronica. She stood next to him. He felt her, and the foolish woman had a strong hold on the arm Archie wasn’t licking. She needed to run, or…maybe not. He hadn’t hurt her last night, and he felt her now, knew her now. He was all…different.

  I’m here. He heard her words and understood them.

  We’re all here, Marduk’s voice penetrated as well.

  Dumuzi looked around the room, and through a thick green haze, he made out the faces that ringed him. He could name each one. Still, his hackles were up as he tasted potential danger on his tongue.

  Voices back, he warned.

  That’s right, Muze. We’re hearing them through you. We need to find them. Keep them engaged. Dumuzi nodded his big, heavy head. His head. He blinked. Wow, he’d never been aware of it before, but his monster’s cranium was damned large and weighted.

  Degga bah glah? Dumuzi asked. Who are you?

  Ut nught dwigg ent. Do not seek us.

  Muze was dimly aware that Dagon…or was it Nergal…was now interpreting for the group.

  Uggla ga tat dubt. We will kill the goddess.

  Dumuzi howled. Glah bah dubt gol. You are the ones who will be killed, he promised. Ga beh bagga-glah, Gaddawah-Uggel tat ned-paggech. When we find you, the god-monster will make you pay.

  Apparently, that scared them. The connection was severed.

  Dumuzi’s mind, unfettered by demons went strangely quiet. He stood in the meeting room. He knew he was the monster. A terrifying grip twisted around his heart. What would his monster do now? It always took him hours to come down from his altered state. Should he be confined…or let loose in the woods to run it off? Dumuzi realized he was scared of this new awareness.

  Marduk? His voice was a plea to the god who always had the answers. He was floundering and needed guidance. But it was Veronica’s voice he heard first, requiring something different of Marduk…of his friends.

  “What do you all do when you change into your other selves? What helps get you back to normal?”

  “We usually go kick the shit out of somebody…or each other.” Anshar sounded pleased.

  The answer was something Dumuzi heard and expected. He’d helped them all through their alter-egos.

  “What…?” Verrie hesitated. “Isn’t that crazy? Don’t you get hurt?”

  Dumuzi looked toward the all-sky god and not only was the jokester grinning, ear to ear but if his green miasma wasn’t playing tricks on him, there was a definite snout emerging from the middle of the other god’s face. Well, hello and hell, yeah.

  Want to meet a serpent in the gym? Anshar growled, his fangs gleaming as they descended.

  Or maybe two? Dagon’s dorsal fins were not far behind, and the dark serpent looked downright gleeful at the thought of joining the fight. I always fancy a little mud-wrestling.

  “Really?” Veronica’s voice rose beside him. “This is your answer? To go beat the shit out of each other?”

  Dumuzi thought he should be feeling a bit ashamed in front of Veronica, but mostly a delicious blood-lust began to wash over him. He quickly forgot about propriety and rumbled pleasurably, deep in his chest in answer to the serpents calls.

  “I guess I have your opinion,” she snorted and un-twined her hand from his…vines.

  The goddesses stuck up for the way of the immortals. “Don’t knock it girl, until you’ve watched the show.” Glory came over and hooked her elbow through Verrie’s. “Hot gods, hot monsters. Oh, yes. Totally lickable. There’s nothing like a good knock-down-drag-out to take the tension off and ramp libidos up. Come on,” she urged, pulling Verrie through the door. “Quickly now. Or all the good seats will be taken.”

  Dumuzi stretched to his full eight-foot height. Oh. This was good. There had never been a time in his life where he could remember feeling so anticipatory…so in tune with himself. Meeting his monster like this, acknowledging his other half was like finding a part of himself that had always been lost. It felt damned good, and as he settled into the sensations, he seemed to gain even more control. It was a heady awareness.

  Green tendrils shot to the ceiling in lush celebration, and Dumuzi laughed…actually laughed…as the spirals came cascading back down toward Anshar and Dagon to begin poking relentlessly at the duo. In reply, they looked extremely annoyed. Hah. His coils had a sense of humor.

  The beings in the room who had yet to file out thought this was hilarious, and bets were placed to see if money could be made on who would come out on top. Marduk one-upped the pot, telling the gods only the ones who bet on the winner would be entered into the “go-see-Ridhwan” lottery. It added to the general, overall reckless enthusiasm.

  What a billing, thought Muze who was still amazed his mind remained his. Serpents vs. Mud-monster. GWF. Gods Wrestling Federation and this was the Saturday Morning Slam.

  Within minutes, everyone amassed in the huge gym which encompassed the entire middle of the compound. Weight equipment was quickly moved and mats rearranged. Dumuzi noticed―he actually noticed―Nergal had called his wife Ereshkigal up from hell for the festivities. It had become an actual event.

  He turned his green, murky eyes around the room and found Veronica. She wasn’t looking exactly happy, but she wasn’t scowling either. He postured and pulsated in her direction like an egotistical boggy-body-builder and won a small twist of her lips. Shit. He was ready to win this thing. It sure beat his normal being out-of-control rampaging. If he could continue to keep himself from running amok, he was going to seriously kick some serpent ass.

  Enlil set himself up as referee, going over rules that had no meaning to Dumuzi, probably not to the snarling serpents either. The wind god had barely moved his tender flesh out of the way when fang met fang, and claw met claw. The battle was on.

  The twin cousins tried tag-teaming him for a while—one sitting out while the other took him on—but they quickly gave up on that as Dumuzi dominated, using all the peripheral growth on one arm to encircle his victim while the other pummeled the helpless sea-creature. His opponents swiftly came to the conclusion two on one was a much better strategy.

  In the end, they still didn’t stand a chance. Dumuzi just had too many moving parts, and serpents were…well, serpents, and better suited to water than land. Since both Anshar and Dagon were stubborn ‘til the end, neither would call uncle, and Enlil finally had to step in to end the match.

  Well. Almost.

  Dagon attempted to land one last slashing blow to Dumuzi’s mid-section, amidst the hisses from the disgruntled audience, but his arc was deflected by Anshar―who, oddly enough had put money on Muze to win―and the errant claw dug a nasty furrow down the arm of the hapless referee.

  So much for the match ending.

  Enlil, enraged, turned bull and went after Dagon. Not to be left out, one by one, all the other gods morphed into their various bodi
es, plowing into the fray, and a fully joyous free-for-all was born.

  Dumuzi, remembering his earlier cock-blocking vendetta against Marduk, ardently took on the thunder god, and managed a few good roundhouses before being clocked in the head by a giant polar bear.

  As he went down, he caught Nergal pouting imploringly to his wife, who gave him a mock-mournful nod of her head. With a whoop, the king dove in with relish to join the fun.

  An hour later, all bashed and bruised when their bodies came back to normal, the group chuckled and wheezed. For Dumuzi―relaxed but not out-of-it for the very first time with his brothers―life had never been so sweet.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Well, that was amusing.” Veronica stood over Dumuzi whose body draped across a portion of the long kitchen table, twitching while she dabbed at a particularly deep cut on his back. Similar large physiques were strewn in other positions throughout the room, being cared for by their goddesses, but despite the blood and gashes, the combatants all looked extremely satisfied.

  Cretins. Veronica bit her lip to keep from smiling.

  “That was so cool.” Sienna bounced around the room on her toes. “Did you see them all, Mom?”

  Yes, she’d seen them, and it had been an unbelievable sight, but she didn’t want to add to Sienna’s excitement.

  “And Dumuzi…wasn’t he the coolest of all?” she gushed.

  Far from grossing her daughter out, it seemed the swamp-monster intrigued the hell out of Si. That got a semi-upside-down high five from her patient, along with a “Hell, yeah.”

  And Riley was on board as well.

  “Totes, Si. He was awesome, but did you check out the king? Oh my God…or I guess you say oh my gods around here, don’t you? But really. Sienna, have you ever seen anyone so huge…or cut? Those luscious abs…and his ass. I wanted to bite those muscles when his loincloth slipped up, and I got a good look.”

  “Enough, Riley.” Aunt Frank’s voice put an end to the musing about Nergal’s rear quarters which was probably for the best as all the immortals in the kitchen were getting a huge kick out of the girl’s vivid descriptions.