by Sumida, Amy
“Trevor, I’m so sorry,” I held a hand out to him but he flinched away from me. A part of my heart screamed. “Trevor, please, I was trying to explain things to him.”
“And this is how you explain?” He finally turned to me and I cringed away from the hurt I saw.
“Honey-Eyes…” I stepped closer.
“No!” He closed the distance and grabbed me by my upper arms. “Don’t say your pretty words to me! Don’t say anything. I’ve sacrificed for you, over and over. I’ve given you a part of my soul, my fidelity, my body, and my love… all of my love. I’ve accepted that to love you means to share you, so I’ve allowed another man into our bed. All of this I did for you and the only thing I asked was, not him.” He removed a hand to point accusingly at Odin. “I can deal with other lovers as long as I know I’m first in your heart, as long as I know you love me best. I’m your Alpha! I demand it! I will not play second string to him!”
He shoved me away and I landed hard on the couch. Odin made a move toward me but Trevor crouched low and snarled. The air started to crackle with Odin’s magic as they faced off. Trevor smiled grimly as claws extended from his fingers.
“No!” I screamed and flung myself between them.
I knelt there and the sound that came out of me was pure torment. I just screamed and screamed in anguish, covering my face as I wept. I hated crying, especially in front of witnesses, but it was just too much. The two men I loved more than anything else were about to tear each other apart and it was because of me… because I had no idea how to love them without them hating each other. As my tears slowed, I realized that it had gone silent around me.
My face was pressed to the floor, so I lifted it slowly, surprised to find both of them so near they could touch me. They weren’t touching me though, they were caught in a tremulous truce and neither one seemed inclined to break it by reaching for me first. So I reached for them, at the same time.
“I don’t know what to do,” I looked back and forth between them before settling my gaze on Trevor. “I chose you and I would have been faithful to you for as long as we stayed together but this new magic has made me into a monster. I can’t fight what I feel for him anymore. I don’t even want to. No matter what I do, I hurt someone I love. I feel like I’m being ripped apart and half of me wishes I were back in Duat where the choices were made for me.”
“Don’t say that, Vervain,” Odin squeezed my hand. “I’ll back off. I said I’d do anything for you and I meant it. I’ll leave you alone.”
“I don’t want you to leave me alone,” I sighed, “that’s the problem. I love you and I want to be a part of your life.” I leaned in to Trevor, “but I love you too. You are my alpha and you’re right, you’ve sacrificed more for me than I deserve. You deserve to set a few rules at the very least and I should have never responded to Odin like I did. I deserve your anger, not your love but please don’t fight with Odin, you’d do the same if you were in his position.”
“Now you want me to sympathize with him,” Trevor shook his head, his anger starting to return. “He’s had you for a lifetime.”
“And mourned her for several more,” Odin met Trevor’s gaze steadily. “You know what it’s like to love Vervain and lose her. Now think of going through that for centuries, knowing, without a doubt, that nothing and no one could bring her back.”
“But she is back,” Trevor said quietly.
“Exactly,” Odin’s expression softened. “Imagine having a chance of touching her, being with her, after suffering for so long. What would you do to make that happen?”
Trevor closed his eyes as his shoulders hunched forward. “You’ll take her away from me.”
“That’s not even possible,” Odin waved a hand towards me. “Look at her. She would have chained herself to Death forever, just to save your life. Then she became a goddess to escape him and live forever with you.” Odin stopped, swallowing convulsively a second before he could continue. “On her deathbed, I begged Sabine to change her mind and become immortal. She refused, even faced with death, she refused me but for you, she accepts eternity.”
“Odin, it wasn’t for lack of loving you.” A memory came back suddenly, of me lying in bed and Odin kneeling beside me with tear-stained cheeks.
“Yes, it was,” Odin swallowed hard and looked away. “If you had loved me enough, you wouldn’t have left me.”
“Don’t you dare,” now I was getting mad. “I had my reasons for not choosing immortality and none of them was to make you suffer. I truly thought you’d love again, how could you not?”
“I promised you I’d love only you for the rest of my life.”
“And they call you the Oathbreaker,” I smiled sadly. “Why would the one promise you decide to keep, have to be that one?”
“Because it was the only one I didn’t have a choice in,” he gently smoothed my hair away from my face.
“Alright,” Trevor’s voice was almost too soft to hear.
“What?” Odin and I both spoke the word and turned to look at him together.
“I don’t want to see you together though,” his jaw clenched. “Visit with him here and spend time with your sons but I never want to hear about it and I never want to see it. If I’m in the room, you two are just friends, got it?”
“Got it,” I whispered but all Odin could do was nod.
“Now I want to go home with my mate,” Trevor stood and held out a hand for me.
By the time I gained my feet, I was crying. He brushed the tears away and kissed me gently.
“Thank you, Honey-Eyes,” I hugged him, wondering what I’d done in a past life to deserve such good men.
“Odin’s right,” he met Odin’s stare. “You’ve made sacrifices as well but I’ve chosen to ignore them. I may not like this situation but it is what it is and keeping you two apart despite the way things have changed would be cruel. I refuse to be cruel to you, Minn Elska.”
“Thank you,” Odin was finally on his feet. “I give you my word that I’ll never try to take more than you’ve just given me. I’ll respect your status as her alpha and I’ll keep my hands to myself when you're around.”
“So be it,” Trevor gave Odin a quick nod, then guided me out of the room.
I met Odin’s gaze over my shoulder and he smiled.
Chapter Thirty-Six
“Sephy, you can say no,” I was sitting across from Persephone in my back yard while Trevor and Kirill were vying for prime cooking positions at the grill.
“No she can’t,” Hades smirked from his seat beside my friend. “That bitch needs a lesson and it’s about time someone threw the book at her.”
“You kind of squished two sayings together there, hot head,” I laughed away some of the tension the conversation was giving me.
“I can squish whatever I like,” he pulled Persephone closer for a demonstration. “She still needs to do this for you.”
“Yes,” Persephone answered around giggles.
“Yes?” I wanted to be absolutely clear about everything.
“Yes, I’ll trick Mom into meeting with you so you can kick her ass,” she grinned. “I’ll just ask her to meet me for lunch or something. She’s been dying to get back into my good graces. This’ll be great. It’ll serve two purposes, you can get a little revenge and I can show her that I’m not about to forgive her.”
“Okay. Let’s do it.”
“Vill you leave my steaks alone?” Kirill's voice carried over from the grill.
“You're going to burn them,” Trevor was angling his body in front of Kirill to try to push him away.
“Fine,” Kirill tossed his tongs down, grabbed his beer, and sauntered over to me. “I'll just entertain myself elsevere.”
He lowered himself to the ground in front of me, wedging himself between my legs and resting an arm across my lap. I laughed and stroked his hair back as I looked over at Trevor. My wolf made a face at me and shook his head, returning to his cooking as if he was the only one capable of any resp
onsibility.
“I'm so jealous,” Sephy winked at me, “a werewolf and a werelion, you're so lucky.”
“We really need to work on this kink of yours, bunny-nose,” Hades pulled her closer. “I mean what's next? You gonna ask me if Cerebus can join us?”
“Ewww,” Sephy slapped his thigh. “There is a difference between Weres and actual animals. Besides, that whole three headed thing is kinda off-putting.”
“So can I just put on a fur coat?” Hades eyes were shining so brightly, I could see the glow even behind his ever present shades.
“Stop it,” Sephy kissed his cheek. “You know I don't want anything but exactly what you are.”
“I'm so relieved,” his dry delivery was perfect.
“Me too,” I added, “for Cerebus.”
Everyone laughed and I joined in while I absentmindedly rubbed the pendant at my throat. The emerald Odin had given me grew warmer beneath my fingers and it lulled me into a relaxed state. I stared at the glowing coals in the grill, my eyelids becoming heavy, until a pair of eyes seemed to separate from the fire and rush into me.
I gasped and sat up, shocked out of my meditative state. Kirill looked up at me in concern but I laughed and shook my head at him, implying that it was nothing. He frowned but went back to relaxing against me. My hand drifted down into his hair, automatically seeking the comfort it gave me as I tried to remember what those eyes looked like.
I couldn't picture them. All I got was a sense of heat, of fire from within. I wasn't scared though. I didn't think it was a warning, it had felt more like a calling. As soon as I thought that, my Nahual perked up inside me and gave a rumbling sound of assent. This wasn't something to fear. I sighed and relaxed a bit more. That was a relief, I didn't need anything more right now.
I frowned. So if not a warning, what was it? I took the emerald in hand again and it pulsed happily, vibrating a little against my skin. Had the emerald showed me the vision? It pulsed again. Okay, that was a little creepy.
If only it could come out and tell me what it wanted me to know. It must be something to do with my magic since my Nahual approved, my innate human magic. But what kind of human magic was heralded by fiery eyes. Eyes that didn't feel in the least bit human.
I looked over at Trevor and he smiled at me, looking so domestically content. Should I tell him? Maybe he could tell me what kind of eyes they were. But when I thought about them, I realized that even though I knew they weren't human, I still couldn't see them clear enough to describe them. All I had were strange feelings. Maybe it was best to keep it to myself for now. I didn't want to rain on Trevor's peaceful parade.
I smiled back at my mate, and for just a second, I had the strangest feeling that my smile was bigger than my face. And full of very sharp teeth.
Chapter Thirty-Seven
“Tima,” Kirill stood in the doorway of my bedroom.
“Come on in, honey,” I put down the book I was reading and patted the bed.
He climbed in with a smile and settled down next to me. Trevor was at the club, so it was just me and Kirill… in bed. I started to blush and he smiled wider.
“Vervain,” his voice had gone husky. “I need to talk to you before you distract me vith your body.”
I blushed more.
“Vhy are you going after Demeter?” He stroked the hair back from my face.
“You know why,” I took his hand from my hair and kissed it.
“I don’t vant revenge,” his eyes were so blue, so steady.
“You deserve it,” I shook my head and sat up. “How could you not want it?”
“I’m happy, Tima,” he scooted behind me and pulled me back against his chest so he could rest his face on my shoulder. “She is not. Is zis not revenge enough?”
“No,” I twisted so I could look at him. “When I think about what she did to you…” I felt my teeth clench. “What she did to Trevor and Al. At the very least, I must avenge my lion's death. The Intare needs it. I want to kill her for what she did but I don't think I can do it. No matter what’s happened between Persephone and Demeter, she’s still Sephy's mother and I refuse to kill another friend’s mother. Demeter's death blow will have to come from another source but I can at least hurt her a bit.”
“Another?” He shifted me around so I was draped across his lap. “Who's mother have you killed already?”
“That’s right, I forgot that was before you came along,” I smiled a little, thinking how odd it seemed that there was ever a time before Kirill. “I killed Ull’s mother.”
“Oh, da,” he looked thoughtful. “Zat’s vhy you left Zor… and vhy he still hates Loki.”
“Yeah, Loki kinda forced the situation.”
“And yet, you’ve forgiven him.”
“He’s trying to get his family back,” I frowned. “I haven’t exactly forgiven him but I’m not going to stand in the way of Fenrir reuniting with his father or Trevor with his grandfather.”
“Tima, let it go,” he kissed my cheek gently. “Demeter vill reap her harvest of bitterness and zat shall be your revenge. Don’t chase her, not for me.”
“Why not?” My ire was rising. She hurt two of the men I loved, killed one of my lions, and she kicked me when I was down. I couldn’t just sit back and do nothing.
“It’s not vorth risk.”
“The risk of what?”
“Of losing you,” he finally lost some of his cool and a small growl crept out of him.
“I can take her.”
A larger growl of frustration poured out. “You underestimate her!”
“Kirill,” my voice went down to a coaxing purr, “I’ve seen her fight. I know her strengths and I know mine. Hand to hand is not her strong point.”
“She’s still a goddess.”
“And now, so am I,” I couldn’t help the smugness. I’m a freakin’ goddess! I still couldn’t believe it.
“Da,” he sighed and rested his forehead against mine for a moment. “And I am your Ganza. It’s my job to protect you.”
“And I am your Tima,” I smiled and snuggled in closer. “I am responsible for all of you. As you protect me, so do I protect you… and punish those who hurt you.”
“It happened before you became Tima,” his voice had gone soft and unsure.
“She killed Al after I became Tima,” I could see it angered him too, he just didn't want to gamble with my life. “I'm just gonna teach her a lesson, and grab something for the wolves to use to track her. Then they can kill that bitch.”
“Let someone else do zis.”
“Did I tell you about seeing her my first day in Duat?”
“No,” he looked even more unsure.
“Anubis had me chained to his belt,” I swallowed hard. I’d skimmed over the details of my stay in the Underworld. Most of it was just too humiliating to tell anyone but more than that, I didn’t want to hurt my men.
“He shackled you?” Uh-oh, that sound was the beginning of rage.
“No,” I stroked his back soothingly. “He had this gold collar that he attached a chain to.” I decided to leave out the fact that there were indeed shackles involved, he just used them at more intimate moments.
“So he could lead you around like animal?” Kirill’s body started to shake.
“Kirill, please,” I looked away from his penetrating gaze. I wasn’t sure I could finish the tale with him looking at me like that.
“I’m sorry, Tima,” his arms closed tighter around me, “continue. I von’t interrupt again.”
I looked back up at him and his eyes were a banked fire, his anger carefully covered for the time being. “My first meal in Duat was shared with not only Anubis, Thoth, and Ma’at but also Ares and Demeter. She said some snotty things and she slapped me.”
“She struck you?” He asked and I gave him a pleading look. “I’m sorry.”
“Anubis stopped her from hitting me twice but I made her a promise then. I told her when I got free, I’d hunt her down and she’d pay… not f
or what she did to me but what she did to Trevor, Al, and to you.” I kissed him softly on the lips. “I always keep my promises and besides, she likes to hurt people when they’re down. Why shouldn’t I do the same to her?”
“Because you’re better zan zat, Tima,” Kirill snuggled into my neck and started to purr. I nestled closer, closing my eyes before I whispered.
“No, I’m not.”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Malaekahana Beach was known as a place of refuge to the ancient Hawaiians. They believed it to be magical. Well it was going to be magical all right, just full of magic, as soon as the fighting began.
It was where Persephone had asked her mother to meet her.
Normally, I’d have requested another location. I hate sand and I’ve got a fear of the ocean that only Thor had been able to get me over… temporarily. I know, I know, I live on an island but I can’t help where I was born and I love my home… just not the beach.
The beach can also be a difficult place to battle. Sand is, at best, unsure footing. Crashing waves can also be a hindrance. Then there's the public to worry about. I really didn’t want any witnesses to my little meeting with Demeter…or as I like to call her, Dementor.
In the end, it was the public thing that actually decided it. Malaekahana was near the North Shore but not in a prime surfing location, so usually you could find a big patch of the beach deserted. There weren’t too many other choices that wouldn’t raise a red flag for Demeter and I wanted to at least have the element of surprise.
So I found myself walking down the beach, dressed not in a bikini but my fighting leather. It was a little uncomfortable but I wasn’t about to show up for a gunfight with a knife… or in a sarong.
The sand, although not even close to being my favorite thing, made great ground for sneaking up on Demeter. My claws were already extended from their glove-sheaths, curving over my fingers eagerly, so I didn’t have to alert her with the click that accompanied their release. I was quiet as a cockroach when I stepped up behind her.