Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10)

by Amy Sumida

  I lifted a brow and stabbed my katana through the eye of the head. Everyone else in the room groaned. Well, except for Torrent, who just paid closer attention.

  “What? It's the easiest path to the brain. Haven't you heard of a lobotomy?” I shook my head at them and then noticed Az nodding. I looked back at the head and sure enough, it was still trying to bite me. “Okay, let's try something else,” I nudged the head out the door with the toe of my boot and then kicked it into the yard. I blew a stream of fire on it until it was ash and miracle of miracles, it stopped moving. “There,” I made a show of dusting my hands, “all done.”

  “Sure, now we just need to let the military know that they have to use napalm to destroy the zombies.” Fallon grimaced. “How can there be an antidote for this?”

  “There isn't,” I gave Fallon a serious look. “No one's coming back from that,” I waved a hand at the animated body in the window. “The only way an antidote would help is if they hadn't died yet.”

  “The virus kills them,” Azrael mused as he pulled the body out of the window and put it next to the pile of ash. “And the magic brings them back. Do you mind?” He waved a hand at the struggling body.

  “Oh, sure,” I blew some fire over it and incinerated it as well. “So you think that the god behind this will just pull back the magic when they get their money?”

  “Hopefully,” Azrael's eyes focused on something down the lane. “But for now, I think we should go.”

  I followed his gaze and saw a group of zombies shambling our way.

  “Good idea,” I looked toward the house. “Let's go grab my werewolf and his pet monster.”

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  “Oh!” Persephone squealed in delight. “That is the cutest dog I've ever seen!”

  “Really?” I zeroed in on her.

  We'd returned to Pride Palace and called in the rest of the God Squad to help us deal with the zombie situation. I'd insisted that Trevor keep Princess out of Nick's sight because the wrath of cats, especially male cats, can be long and often stinky. So he'd kept the dog with him, on his lap actually, where she seemed to be made to sit.

  We were in the newly renovated dining room, which was now more of a hall, on the first floor. I had to have one, all of my friends did. It was large and longer than it was wide, but it wasn't medieval looking at all. The walls were the bare white stone that made up the castle but it was polished, bringing out the veins of gold even more. We had several carved wooden tables set up next to each other, so they seemed to be one long table running the length of the hall, all covered in white cloth. The chairs were carved as well and padded in red velvet, matching the carpet and the draperies at the balcony windows. The balcony, which extended over the moat, had a view of the training field and had seating too but I decided to stay inside and enjoy the fire. So we were all sitting in a big semi-circle in front of it.

  The fireplace was across the dining table from the balcony, surrounded by several comfy chairs, couches, and ottomans. There were a few side tables set between the seats, and a framed painting of lions over the mantle. The oil painting was one of mine, a picture of the Intare at rest. I loved the contradiction of their strength lying beneath the fragile looking trees that grew on our land. Kirill was easily spotted off to the side, the only lion with a black pelt. I smiled at the man himself as he set down a cup of coffee for me on the table near my chair. He gave me a conspiratorial wink and sat in the chair on my left.

  “You're welcome to have her, if you like,” I said airily to Persephone, garnering a glare from Trevor.

  “I can?” Persephone reached for Princess and the dog jumped into her arms like she knew a sucker when she saw one. “Oh you're precious,” she cooed as Hades rolled his eyes.

  “Bunny-Nose,” he sighed. “That is not a dog, that is a mutated cat. Or a mutated lint ball, I'm not quite sure.”

  “I like her,” Sephy pouted and the dog panted happily at Hades.

  “Her name is Princess,” I offered as I discretely tried to wave away the smell of dog breath that wafted my way.

  “Princess!” Persephone cheered and took a seat across from mine. “I love that name.”

  “Of course you do,” I chuckled.

  “You're a horrible woman,” Hades sent me a nasty look as he sat on the couch beside his wife.

  “I know, but I can live with that, as long as I don't have to live with that,” I pointed at the dog. “Coffee?” I gestured to the service laid out on a table between us. “You know I think that dog is perfect for the Underworld.”

  “I do too,” Sephy grinned and Hades continued to glare at me.

  “Well at least she's going to someone who will love her,” Trevor sighed and moved from his seat at the dining table behind us, to sit in a chair on my right. I'd told him that if he was going to have the dog on his lap, he couldn't sit next to me, and the traitor had chosen the dog.

  “Oh, now you come crawling back,”I sent him a nasty look of my own.

  “Vervain, you told me once that if it came down to me or Nick, you would chose Nick,” he lifted his dark brow and swung a muscular arm up to the back of my chair. “Every time.”

  “So?” I gave him a bland look.

  “So people in glass houses,” he huffed.

  “Shouldn't sleep naked,” I nodded. “But what does that have to do with Nick?”

  “Bravo,” Pan clapped as he came in. “That's going to be my new motto. Although I fully approve of people sleeping naked, no matter the material their house happens to be made of.”

  “Because you're a disgusting pervert,” Horus walked around him and inspected one of the several display cabinets lined up against the stone walls. “Lovely headdresses, Vervain. I had no idea you collected them.”

  “I like all kinds of adornments but I especially like things you can put on your head,” I laughed. “I'm trying to get a piece from every culture.”

  “Let me know what you need,” Horus sat next to Hades. “You recall I deal in antiques?”

  “No, I totally forgot about that,” I grinned. “Thank you, Horus. I'll go over my collection and see what I'm missing.”

  “Uh hello?” Pan sat down next to Trevor. “You can't just start another conversation while we were in the middle of insulting each other.”

  “We were not in the middle of anything,” Horus lifted his head regally. “I insulted you and you were speechless because you're an idiot. Then I moved on to more intelligent conversation.”

  “You're such an asshole, Horus,” Pan growled.

  “Ah, a very eloquent comeback,” Horus smirked.

  “Okay already,” I laughed and passed Pan a coffee before he started yet another fight with Horus. “Settle down, we have important stuff to talk about.”

  “Then I hope we didn't miss anything,” Thor came in with Brighid and right behind them was the rest of the squad.

  Everyone shuffled in with the usual greetings and small talk until we got settled. Coffee was passed out and then we told them the gist of what was going on.

  “What do you mean there's a zombie apocalypse but the zombies can't be killed by brain stabbing?” Mrs. E gaped at me.

  Okay, maybe they needed more than the gist. So Azrael took over and explained in greater detail. The room got quiet, everyone's faces settling into serious lines. Then I opened my detective book, I mean notebook, and went over the information we'd collected.

  “Torrent, do you think you could trace the email?” I looked over at Torrent hopefully.

  “No problem,” he got up. “I'll just pop into the Inter Realm for a look-see.”

  “Thanks, Torr,” I smiled at him as he walked out. “Now does anyone know anything more about this group Cross Fire?”

  “I believe they're one of those insane groups that think it'll be better if we just start over again,” Brighid sighed. “The thing I don't understand is, if you kill everyone, how will we start over? Evolution again? That took forever.”

  “I believe
the common denominator among most of these radical groups is that they make no sense,” Teharon added. “They attract desperate and unstable individuals.”

  “We need to find them and we only have till tomorrow to do it,” I said grimly.

  “Not really,” Persephone said distractedly, as she played with her new lap fuzz.

  “Seph?” I caught her attention, “care to expound on that?”

  “Well, if the government pays, which I mean, what choice do they have?” She widened her eyes knowingly at me. “Then this should be settled until they get their real plan in order.”

  “What do you mean real plan?” Brahma leaned forward so he could peer around Horus and see Persephone's rare moment of brilliance for himself.

  “Well duh,” she laughed at Brahma. “One-hundred million? A radical group like that doesn't ask for that kind of money so they can escape to Mexico and live out their lives on the beach.”

  “Well damn,” Finn exclaimed, the hint of an Irish accent coming out. “She's right. They need that money for something.”

  “So we have time,” Sephy shrugged. “We'll figure it out, we always do.”

  “Can someone please tell me at what point it was that we were all sucked into a Disney movie?” Horus grimaced.

  “Hey,” Sephy glared at him.

  “I'm afraid he's right,” Trevor shrugged. “This is more along the lines of Resident Evil than The Rescuers.”

  “Oh I love that movie,” I grinned.

  “Which one?” Horus asked, though he looked like he did so against his better judgment.

  “Both of them actually,” I laughed. “One has a kick-ass heroine with great boots and one has a kick ass heroine with horrible boots but a really big diamond in her teddy bear.”

  “Yes, quality entertainment,” Horus laid the sarcasm on thick.

  “Don't knock Ms. Jovovich,” I wagged a finger at him.

  “Or Disney movies,” Persephone added.

  “Or diamonds,” I kept it going and Sephy didn't fail me.

  “Or teddy bears.”

  “I think that dog may have regressed you a bit,” I looked her over with concern.

  “It's a doggie,” she shrugged, “that's what they do.”

  “Really?” I looked over the panting puffball. “I thought they tore up your shoes and pooped on the rug?”

  “That too,” Hades sighed dramatically. “I really loved my rugs.”

  “Could ve talk about zombies?” Kirill looked over to Az, who was sitting with his head in his hands, evidently waiting for the ridiculousness to end.

  “No,” Azrael looked up and everyone looked over to him in surprise. “I don't think there's much else for us to do. We'll have to wait and see if Torrent finds anything and if not, we hope the government pays up and then we follow the money.”

  “Show. Me. The money,” Sephy lifted Princess and jostled her with each word. Princess yipped excitedly.

  “Ah, so this is what true hell is like,” Hades observed.

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  Everyone stayed for a bit longer but Azrael was right, there was nothing left for us to do. So they eventually headed home, Princess went with her new parents, but one god stayed behind.

  “Vervain,” Teharon came up to me. “I need to talk to you.”

  “Okay,” I peered around his shoulders. “Karni went home already?”

  “Yeah, I asked her to wait for me at my place,” he started to walk down the hallway, leading me somewhere. “I needed some time alone with you, to talk to you about Griffin.”

  “Oh,” I sighed. So that's where we were going.

  Griffin was a victim of Demeter's cruelty. She'd taken him, along with a bunch of other men and Emma, and done horrible things to them. She'd gotten the idea from Nyavirezi, the Intare's old goddess, they'd been good friends. They especially liked to rape and torture people together. Good times. Now they were dead and I counted myself lucky to have been the one to kill both of them.

  The other men and Emma had all recovered well and had headed home or(in Emma's case) to a new home. Griffin hadn't fared so well. He had spiraled downward into a depressed state of paranoia and even attempted suicide. You could barely speak to him without scaring the hell out of him and Teharon had ended up putting him into a recuperative coma for his own good. They'd wanted me to kill him, put him out of his misery as it were, but I couldn't. It's just not in my nature to kill victims or to give up. I firmly believe that where there's life, there's hope. So I'd asked them to give him more time. From the look on Teharon's face, time was up.

  “Is he dead?” I stopped Teharon with a hand on his shoulder.

  “His body still functions but yes, as far as I'm concerned he's no better than those zombies you saw today,” he ushered me along until we came to the room we'd put Griffin in. “His soul is gone but I've kept him in the healing coma so you could say goodbye. I know you had hopes that he'd recover and I'm so sorry, Vervain.”

  Griffin was laying peacefully on his bed, covers up on his chest and arms spread over them. His blonde hair was longish, trailing over the pillow in slight waves, and the lines of his face were stark against the brightness. He was a truly beautiful man and although it didn't make a difference as far as saving a life was concerned, it did strike my heart a wounding blow to know that such beauty would be taken from the world.

  Who was he? What had his dreams been, his goals for his life? I'd never know Griffin because Demeter had taken him and destroyed him, then left others to clean up after her. I sighed and trailed a hand down his cheek, my eyes closing against the pain of loss and failure. His skin was soft up until the edge of his new beard, no one had thought to shave him. The feel of the beard against my fingers sent a sensory memory through me and for a second, it felt as if I were touching Odin again.

  Odin.

  My eyes shot open and I looked down at the shell of a man. The thoughts running through my head were despicable but then love can make us do horrible things. No, I couldn't, I wouldn't do that to one of Demeter's victims. It could have easily been Kirill lying there and my heart clenched at the thought.

  “His soul slipped away peacefully,” Teharon interrupted my thoughts. “I believe that dying was a relief to him.”

  “Dying,” I whispered. Griffin had no family, no one to bury and mourn him. His corpse would just rot in the earth without a soul to fill it. Would he really begrudge me his body? Would he deny me the chance at having my lover returned to me? I couldn't see how anyone would. It was kind of like being an organ donor, just on a greater scale, right? I know, the way I was rationalizing it was just sad but when it came down to it, I'd do almost anything to get Odin back and I guess that included grave robbing.

  “He's not in the grave yet,” I whispered to myself.

  “Vervain?”

  “Teharon,” I looked up at him with new determination. “How long do you think you can keep his body like this?”

  “Vervain!” Teharon's face dropped into a shocked expression. “No, it's done. You can't keep holding on. This is practically a corpse. There's no one in there anymore.”

  “I know,” I put a hand to Teharon's shoulder. “This is going to sound crazy but I think I've known all along that I'd need Griffin. I think this is the reason I didn't want to let him go.”

  “What is the reason?” Teharon's turquoise eyes were still wide.

  “Odin,” I whispered. “I'm trying to bring Odin back from the Void. I've been learning how to get there and I have the spells to bring back his soul. The only thing I didn't have was-”

  “A body to put him in,” Teharon's wide eyes settled on Griffin. “It's never been done before.”

  “But it is possible?”

  “Perhaps,” Teharon frowned. “I have no idea what it would do to Odin.”

  “I went through it.”

  “You were born,” he shook his head. “Your memories were suppressed. You had years to grow and adjust to your new body. To bring a soul straight
from the Void and put it into a different body, may break that soul. You may wind up with the same thing you have now,” he waved his hand at Griffin. “You may bring Odin back only to lose him to insanity.”

  “No, Odin's stronger than that,” I said with absolute certainty. I knew my husband, knew what he'd been through and what he could handle. A new body wouldn't break him. He knew how to bend in the strong winds. Odin was a survivor. “Just tell me how long you can keep him like this.”

  “Well,” Teharon sighed and looked at me sympathetically. “Indefinitely. With my magic, the body won't even suffer muscle loss.”

  “Thank you,” I whispered and hugged him. “This is it, the piece I've been missing. I can proceed now without worrying about the end.”

  “The end?” Teharon pulled back. “This may be the beginning of a whole new batch of problems.”

  “I don't care,” I tempted fate by vowing. “I'll take the problems, as long as I have Odin too.”

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  Torrent didn't return from the Inter Realm till after I'd already gone to bed. So I didn't see him till the next morning at the breakfast table. He walked in as I was frowning at my tea.

  “What's wrong?” He put his plate of food down in front of the seat next to mine and began to eat.

  “My life is one big hairy mess,” I continued to frown at the teacup.

  “Maybe at the moment,” he stopped eating for a second to pat me on the shoulder. This expressed great sincerity, since Torrent had assumed the dining habits of the Intare and never stopped shoveling food into his face, except in cases of great emergency. “But don't worry, we'll figure this out.”

  “What?” I looked up at him and blinked. “Oh! No, I meant literally.” I held my cup up for his inspection. There, on the rim, was a fine hair. “Between me, my men, and all the animals around here, everything gets covered in hair. I can't take a sip without spitting and these fur hairs are the worst. They're so thin you can barely see them until they're in your mouth, or even worse, your eye. Oh fur in the eye is awful, you look and look in the mirror but those fur hairs are impossible to see. It's a disaster.”