Dagon stood, feeling bitch-slapped right down to the shoes he had just managed to rescue before Addie May locked the door. He’d known from the start that there was something different about Lenore, and he supposed he ought to be thanking her for not unleashing any witchy shit on him before he’d let loose his power-play on her. Although he might be in danger once she found out that he’d locked up her loved ones. Especially now that she was both witch and goddess. But eye on the prize here. There was no way he was going to lose this round and let Nergal drag him back to the Underworld and perhaps put him in stasis for the rest of eternity.
He made sure that the women were settled with Matthew in the car. Then Dagon misted back to Plymouth where he took out his cell phone and called Lenore.
Chapter Ten
“I heard him!” Anshar roared, listening in on Lenore’s entire call on the replacement phone she’d had to purchase. She had been summoned back to Plymouth for new orders.
“We didn’t,” Marduk wasn’t near the microwave to listen in, nor had he been able to pick up Dagon’s phone instructions from his position across the room from Lenore. “Want to fill us in?”
Instead of answering Marduk, Anshar turned his anger to Lenore. “Why would you even contemplate going back to him?”
“He said it’s only for a short meeting, and why wouldn’t I?” She looked at him like he had two heads, which was closer to the truth than she could possibly know. “I work for Dagon, in case you forgot. He pays my salary, asshole.”
There was no doubt that, amulet or not, Lenore was not going to take lightly to him bossing her around. Anshar, however, wasn’t going to put up with any shit, either. Lenore belonged to him now, not to Dagon.
“What we have between us doesn’t change your allegiance?” he asked, becoming suspiciously quiet.
“What we have between us is…really nice…but like all new relationships, we’re…it’s…” Lenore sighed deeply so that he could hear her. “Don’t you see? Once our initial attraction wears off, you could dump me or I could decide to kick your ass to the curb.”
Anshar growled. If Lenore only knew what a Chosen really was, they wouldn’t be having this ludicrous conversation.
“And then where would I be?” she continued. “Without a job? Without any way to support my folks? I can see my Craig’s List ad now: Wanted, position for all-seeing goddess. Kicks ass and…kicks ass,” she paused. “You see? I have no marketable skills other than potential assassin. Would you rather I worked for some mob boss or Dagon?”
Anshar was totally outraged. He got right up into Lenore’s face. “You do understand that your job and the goal of Dagon’s posse is to rid the planet of us!” Anshar swept his arm around the room, encompassing all his friends. “In short, you’re getting a salary to subvert me and my friends.”
Lenore looked around the room and, oddly, saw amusement on all their faces. Smug bastards. As if she couldn’t undermine this whole damned place. If Anshar and his buddies kept acting like complete douche-bags, she’d give them an idea of how capable she was. For now, she stomped her foot childishly. But dammit, this whole fucked up situation completely pissed her off!
“I know none of you have reason to trust me, but this spy thing can work both ways, and it should actually work better for you,” she snapped. “I have to phone Dagon with information or be within ten miles of him to chat in head-lingo, but with my connection to Anshar, you guys will always know what’s going on.”
By the look on Anshar’s face, he hadn’t thought of that.
“Let her go, Anshar,” Marduk advised. “Lenore is right. This should work to our advantage, and there’s no reason for Dagon to keep her in Plymouth if he wants her to find out what’s going on here.” The god turned his head to her.
“It’s okay. Go now, and we’ll discuss further strategy when you return.”
Lenore, on impulse, reached for Anshar’s hand. He pulled away, coldly.
Fine. That was the way he wanted to play it? Sending him a fuck you, that had all the gods laughing, Lenore misted away.
Plymouth was bustling, and no one paid any attention to one more body as the goddess appeared outside the red house that served as her headquarters.
Can you hear me, Anshar? Lenore mentally reached back toward the Blue Hills with mixed emotions. She wasn’t sure yet where her allegiances would lie, but she felt an odd need to stay connected to Anshar.
Loud and clear.
He sounded angry, but he’d get over it.
Probably won’t, was the sullen reply.
Lenore walked in the door. “I’m here, Dagon,” she called jauntily. “Back from the big bad Blue Hills.”
“In the office, Lenore.” Dagon’s voice beckoned her. “Come. Join us.”
Anshar, far away from his mate, and sitting at the conference table under scrutiny from his brothers, was keeping close track of his woman and hoping to relay everything that occurred. It was easier to work through him than to have all of them squeeze into the tiny office that held the microwave.
Lenore’s heels clicked on a wooden floor and Anshar became calmer as he heard her hum a little tune under her breath. If she was relaxed enough to sing, who was he to be so overwrought? Maybe this would be fine.
“I thought Matth…” Anshar’s head was thumped with an exquisitely sharp pain…and then…dead air. Lenore’s voice had abruptly left his brain. He looked around at his brothers, who had been receiving her voice through him, and they all looked just as bewildered as he felt.
“Fuck! What just happened?” Anshar rubbed his cranium. His frantic and accusing gaze went to Marduk, who had assured him Lenore would be fine.
“Stay cool, Anshar,” Marduk didn’t panic easily. “It’s probably just sun spots blocking her signal. You know that only something other-worldly can sever a connection between mates. You’ll pick her up again in a minute.” They all stood, waiting.
Seconds went by, then minutes. If the bump on Anshar’s head was any indication, Lenore had to have been injured. Anshar continued to call for her, without success, and finally he’d had enough.
“I’m going to Plymouth…”
He was cut off by Lenore’s irate voice.
“You asswipe!” He heard her slur. She sounded groggy. “Really? Matthew bashes my head in, and you put me in the collar? Have I done anything to warrant this?”
Anshar leaped to his feet. They’d hurt his woman! He would kill them all. He felt his eyes elongate and watched his skin stretch. Dagon’s duplicitousness with Lenore was sending him over the edge. Unable to control himself, he spun around and pounded his fist into the nearest wall. He turned accusing eyes to Marduk. “You said she would be fine!” he roared.
He could sense Enlil, Marduk, and Absu approaching him cautiously. He could smell that they were afraid. Damn right! Everyone should be afraid. He growled ominously.
Anshar? He knew Lenore was picking up on his agitation. The frantic god tried to reach for a sane place.
Must calm down. Don’t scare Lenore! He was barely coherent.
What’s going on? Anshar? Are you okay? Lenore was beseeching him, but her voice was lost, when Dagon splashed across her transmission, using her as his broadband.
Hello, Anshar and immortals in Quincy. Dagon seemed cheerful. Lenore and I are going to have a little chat. Matthew is showing her to a chair. There was a pause. Nothing to worry about, naughty boys, eavesdropping. But listen to this. Are you ready? A few simple words, and the game changes. Another pause, and Dagon’s voice filled the void with a theatrical flourish. Lenore, my dear, Anshar will no longer be able to read your thoughts.
The lack of Lenore’s presence was palpable to Anshar, and he hissed in fury. The Blue Hills gods had been cut off.
“What the fuck! Let me go!” Strong arms pinned the now dangerous god. “I mussst go to her. Dagon isss a dead god!” Anshar’s sought-after calm was history.
****
In Plymouth, Lenore eyed Dagon with malice. He w
as rid of the gods’ eavesdropping and was giving her orders, orders that she knew she had to follow because of the collar now securely in place around her throat.
“You, my dear, will continue to read Anshar’s thoughts, even though he is blocked from yours, and everything you and he say will be immediately sent to my head, without exception.” They both knew that the ten-mile limit would apply to that order because Dagon was not her mate, but still, as long as he was within range of the Blue Hills, it was highly invasive.
Lenore! She heard Anshar bellow in rage, and it made her want, so badly, to slap the freakin’ smile right off Dagon’s face.
“I’m a genius, am I not?” He was quite clearly going to use the collar to its maximum benefit, thanks to that private word from Nergal. The collar had originated in hell, and the ruler was much more in tune with all of its nuances. Dagon was grateful for the tip.
“Now we will know what they are up to, and they’ll have no idea what we plan.” He smiled knowingly at Lenore. “I’m assuming we only have a few minutes before your boyfriend is roaring at my door. Unable to get in, of course, but still a nuisance calling attention to our place of business. Therefore, I’ll get right down to the rest of our business.”
I’ll kill the bassstard! The voice came into her head again, and it sounded like Anshar’s but, then again, it didn’t. Lenore tried to ignore it and keep her mind on what Dagon was saying.
“I’ve been warned that you are feeling an attraction to my dear cousin, and I can’t risk a change in your allegiance. For this reason, I have detained your mother and grandmother, making them my guests for the time being.”
“You what?” Lenore was horrified. How had her folks not seen this coming? They prided themselves on foretelling the future.
“Yes. I brought them here for a little visit.” Was it her imagination, or had Dagon lost some of his bluster? “Them and their cat,” he said, disdainfully. “They are ensconced in a comfortable suite upstairs, and will come to no harm as long as you don’t…get physical with Anshar…if you catch my meaning.”
I’m coming to rip hisss throat out! Anshar sounded enraged, and he hadn’t even been able to hear Dagon cock-blocking him. Was he…battling something?
Lenore tried not to be distracted. If Dagon had let her mother bring the cat, that meant the witches were more in charge than Dagon knew. It alleviated Lenore’s greatest fears for them, so she concentrated instead on Dagon’s new rules.
“Spell it out for me, Dagon. Tell me exactly what I can and can’t do with Anshar?” she waited, daring him to elaborate.
Dagon looked uncomfortable that she was asking for exact parameters, and switched to head-speak, so Matthew couldn’t hear. You may not kiss him…or hug him. He studied something nonexistent over her right shoulder. Nor will there be any…sexual intercourse.
So the big-bad-boss man couldn’t say “fuck” or bring himself to look directly at her. Hmm. Dagon had been on the shelf and off the market for so long, he didn’t like discussing sex. That could be used to her advantage.
What about licking and sucking, Dagon? Lenore taunted. Can I wrap my lips around his big—
Nothing to do with mouths! Dagon interrupted. His or yours. A few beads of sweat stood out on the god’s brow.
And fingers? Lenore continued. Say he wanted to place one or perhaps two of his beautifully skilled fingers deep inside my—
He cut her off again, obviously trying not to get a graphic image of what she said, but losing. His flushed color was a dead giveaway.
No hand play! From either one of you. He was trying to rule everything out before her erotic pictures could get any more graphic.
Lenore was suddenly worked up thinking of Anshar’s skilled fingers, and hey, where had her boyfling’s voice gone, anyway? Why wasn’t Anshar still talking at her? The only voice she was hearing was—blah, blah, blah—Dagon’s.
No physical contact of any kind or your mother and grandmother are in danger, and that’s that! Do not try to deceive me. I will know. From now on, your ears will be my ears. Whatever you say or hear, you will transmit to me. Unfortunately the ten-mile limit still applies, so I will pop into the Blue Hills vicinity at random to listen, and if you are doing anything with him…anything! I will hear it!
Dagon was getting very worked up. Do I make myself clear?
Loud and clear. Lenore, distracted, was pretty sure she could find a way around Dagon’s orders. No way she was going cold turkey with Anshar when things had just started getting interesting. And where the hell was her man? Just because she’d been shut out of his head, didn’t mean he shouldn’t still be up inside hers.
Lenore tried to bring her analytical mind back to what her boss was saying. Something in Dagon’s commands didn’t make sense. It suddenly clicked. Okay, riddle me this, Lenore responded. Why is it the collar can order me around, but you’re using hostages to control my libido so I won’t get all up…or go down…on Anshar’s hunky physique? Does the collar not control sexual impulses? Lenore knew that was a lie. The first thing she’d used it for was to play naughty with Anshar.
Hah. Dagon looked flustered. Her choice of words must have been just too dammed vivid for a god who’d been centuries without sex, or—Lenore was no fool—Dagon was thinking up a lie to mask some kind of truth she wasn’t supposed to get wind of. He spewed out some bullshit, and it stunk to high heaven.
You’ve shared his amulet, so you’re physically part of each other. As an extension of him, touching is not something the collar can control.
Fine. She’d let him think she’d bought into it, but it certainly was not the truth. Lenore was having trouble concentrating fully on Dagon and his little dictator tirade anyway, because dammit! Something had happened to Anshar, and she needed to know what it was. She stood up, with her back to Dagon, and looked out of the window. Her boss was still talking, but she didn’t answer.
****
Back in the compound, all hell had broken loose. Anshar had gone ballistic when he’d heard what Dagon was up to and had lost control of himself for real. Marduk, Enlil, and Huxley had succeeded in pinning him down, while Dani-Lee ran for a tranquilizer. Marduk said it wouldn’t do any good once Anshar had completely turned, so she needed to be quick while he still had some human-like attributes. That little tidbit had her feet flying.
The gods eventually managed to sedate the freaked out immortal without too much damage. Semi-god, he’d torn through a tendon on Marduk’s hand and sunk a fang into Enlil’s leg, but nothing that wouldn’t heal quickly. Now he was spending some “down-time” in his room, surrounded by several armed gods who had orders not to leave the room until Anshar’s normal visage had completely returned.
In the meantime, Marduk had the rest of the group misting down to the new GTS, or gods transceiver station, as the group had dubbed the microwave, to see if they could pick up the rest of Dagon’s conversation with Lenore. Their enemy had shut off Lenore’s communication, but if Dagon spoke to her in his head, he might still be on broadband. Until Dagon found out about the new device, they could still be hooked into the Pilgrim Posse. They reached the control room just in time to hear some very important shit.
Am I here for anything else, or can I go? They heard Lenore say. She was talking to Dagon in his head. The gods could hear the transmission through their enemy.
Dagon answered instantly. There is one more thing. I want you to lure the physical gods—Marduk, Enlil, Anshar, and of course the lovely Tess—out of the compound tomorrow afternoon at two o’clock sharp. Make sure they are corporeal, or there will be consequences. Dagon didn’t extrapolate on what the repercussions might be. You will not speak a word of my intentions to anyone. I don’t care what you have to do to get them out, just do it. East side of the house, and don’t be late.
Marduk looked at his companions and nodded. He knew what needed to be done.
****
Lenore hadn’t budged from the window during Dagon’s diatribe, but she moved at his nex
t command, which was verbal for the human asshole in the room.
“Remove the collar, Matthew,” Dagon directed aloud. Lenore turned her attention to Matthew, weasel extraordinaire.
“Yes, be a good little puppy, Matthew, and maybe Master Dagon will give you a treat.” Lenore smirked while her one-time subordinate roughly unlocked her collar from behind. Lenore felt it come off and instantly reached over her shoulders to grip Matthew’s neck in both hands. Using her new god-like strength, she lifted him up and over her right side to slam his back, hard onto Dagon’s desk.
“Oopsy!” She smiled viciously. “I must have slipped.”
Matthew’s boot connected with Dagon’s shoulder on the way down to the desk, and the unsuspecting god toppled back in his chair.
Hah! Collateral damage! Couldn’t be helped. Lenore misted away with the exquisite sound of curses echoing in her ears. It took her mere minutes to be back in the Blue Hills.
Where was Anshar? Lenore appeared in the war room, where the gods should have been, and found that it was empty. Kitchen? Gym?
“Anshar!” she yelled. Now that her communication abilities had been put on hold, she missed being able to talk to the big galoot in her head. Not only that, but Lenore had not yet perfected the use of her new god-dar. She hadn’t learned to fine tune the skills to locate her amulet sharer. Anshar was in the house. She could sense him but couldn’t pinpoint his location. Dammit. She was going to have to find him the old-fashioned way.
Lenore walked out into the hall and came face to face with Ishkur, Kulla…and Tess.
“You don’t want to disturb Anshar right now,” Tess assured Lenore. “He’s a little upset that Dagon blocked you from him.”
“Why isn’t he talking to me?” Lenore demanded.
“We, umm, had to give him something to calm him down, or he would have followed you to Plymouth and made a scene.”
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