Goddess in the Middle (15 page)

Now that was a plan Remy could get behind. Except Amity’s horrified expression said more than words ever could. “How can you even suggest such a thing?”

“He tried to take you, sister. I would kill Charun just for thinking about it.”

“And I love that you care for me so much. But that’s not the answer.”

Kari huffed. “So what are you going to do while you wait for Charun to track you down?”

“I can’t go into hiding. Not now. I have two patients who I will not leave right now.”

Kari’s huff showed exactly how she felt about that. “You know I admire your dedication, sister, but if they ever discovered what you are… Do you think they would treat you with the same compassion you treat them?”

“That doesn’t matter because they won’t ever find out. The
eteri
believe only what they want to believe. We are an impossibility, so therefore we don’t exist.”

“And yet you continue to treat them like precious commodities, possibly at the expense of your own life.”

Amity opened her mouth to answer, but Remy beat her to the punch. “It won’t come to that. Rom and I are staying.”

He hadn’t realized he was going to speak until the words fell out of his mouth.

And he meant every one of them.

***

Amity blinked, her eyes flashing bright as she tried not to smile too widely.

She hadn’t wanted to appear clingy and ask Remy and Rom to stay for any extended period of time. But it had been lurking in the back of her mind, taunting her.

“Are you sure Rom will agree? I don’t want to—”

Remy shook his head, his expression a tiny bit rueful. “Lady, trust me, he’ll agree. If he were here, he’d have said the same thing.”

“Well, look at that. The pretty
lucani
’s brave, too. And there are two…”

Kari’s tone was light and teasing, and more than a little interested. And Amity refused to admit she felt any jealousy when Remy smiled at Kari.

“Okay, so the wolf boys are going to stay with you for protection from the demons.” Sal leaned back into the chair, his hooves hanging even farther from the floor than before. “But that doesn’t solve the underlying problem. What do we do about Charun?”

“Maybe it’s time to speak to him on our terms.”

Remy turned back to her as he worked that statement through his brain. She saw the effort it took for him to bite back the immediate response he wanted to make.

But he did bite it back before he asked, “And how do you propose do that?”

“By setting up a meeting.”

As three voices told her in various and creative ways how that wasn’t going to happen, Amity let them wear themselves down before she continued. “I understand why you’re all against this. I do. But I also think someone needs to speak to Charun, find out what he hopes to accomplish. Maybe if I can get him to talk, we can figure out how to give him what he wants without having him leave Aitás.”

Kari rolled her eyes. “Amity, seriously. Have you totally lost all common sense? If you talk to him for any length of time, he’ll be able to pinpoint your location and send more demons. Yes, your
lucani
stopped the first one but what happens if the next isn’t as easy to kill?”

“We’re stronger than we look, Lady Kari.”

The growl in Remy’s voice made Amity’s thighs quiver.

“I’m sure you are, son,” Sal broke in before Kari could open her mouth again. “But what if Charun sends two next time? Or three? What if Thufltha told another demon or Charun where to find you and they’re already on their way?”

“Then it won’t matter, will it?” Amity shook her head, frustration starting to make her angry. And it took an awful lot to make her lose her temper. “I’m not saying I’m going to be stupid about this. I’ll take each and every precaution to make sure he can’t track me. But I want to try this.”

Kari looked ready to tear her hair out. Sal shook his head. Remy… Remy looked at her with a slight smile.

“Then we’ll set it up,” he said.

Her smile felt so wide, she thought her lips might split.

At least Remy trusted her.

“Well, then.” Sal sighed. “I think I have an idea. It might take a little while, though.”

“That’s fine, Sal. I’d like to put it off for a few days, anyway. I have patients to attend on Monday. Later next week will be great.”

Sal continued to shake his head, not looking at all happy.

“You want to tell me a little more about this plan?” Remy asked. “You’re not instilling much confidence here.”

Sal gave him a look that made Remy want to crawl under the table with his tail between his legs. “How’d you like to visit dreamland?”

***

Rom scented two other signatures the second he walked in the door, but since Remy sat on the chair in front of the television flipping through channels, he didn’t go ballistic immediately.

He figured he’d let Remy explain then chew out his ass for allowing anyone in the house.

Remy looked up and nodded at him. “Don’t freak. Yes, there’re two people here. There’s an explanation.”

“It better be a goddamn good one.”

“One is Amity’s sister.”

He paused. “Wait. That means…”

“Yes, she’s a goddess. Akhuvitr, Goddess of Healing.”

Okay. He could deal with that one. “Who’s the other?”

“That would be me.”

Rom turned toward the voice, did a double take then stood a little straighter, waiting for the
salbinelli
to speak first. An old memory had popped into his head, something his mother had taught him. His mother had always had a deep and abiding respect for the elder races, the
Fata
.

“Huh. I see someone’s had some training in the old ways.” The
salbinelli
walked over to him, hand out. Rom took it immediately. “Salvatorus. Nice to meet you.”

“Romulus Cangelosi. It’s my honor. My mother was—she had a great respect for the
Fata
.”

Sal’s gaze narrowed but didn’t point out Rom’s clumsy attempt to hide something. “Nice to know, but there’s no need to stand on ceremony with me. I’m Sal. And you and Remy are cousins, yes?”

Rom stiffened. “Yes, sir.”

“Now, son, no need to be worried. I’m not about to out you and Remy. Besides, we both want the same thing… to keep Amity safe.”

“And how are we supposed to do that exactly?”

Sal’s grin made Rom feel like he should run for cover.

And when Sal had finished explaining the plan to Rom, which Remy had apparently already heard, all Rom could do was shake his head.

“So you want us to accompany Amity into her dream where she can speak to Charun so he can tell her all his troubles and hopefully not want to consume her powers anymore.”

Sal shrugged. “Basically. Yeah.”

Rom was struck speechless. But not for long. “And you actually think this is a good idea?”

Sal shook his head. “What I think doesn’t matter. You’re forgetting she’s a goddess, son. She gets to call the shots. Besides, if the prophecy’s right, aren’t you two supposed to be the most powerful
lucani
ever born?”

Rom felt everything go still around him, felt Remy’s shock reverberate through him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Anyone else might’ve flinched from the menace in Rom’s tone.

Sal held his gaze steady. “Yeah, you do. Trust me, Romulus. You don’t want to fuck with Fate. She knows where you live and she will hunt you down.”

“Is that a threat?” Rom’s skin felt like it was burning from the inside out.

“No, it’s a warning.” Sal’s gaze softened. “Look, I’m not trying to piss you off or frighten you. I’m trying to bring you up to speed in the easiest possible way. I understand why your parents ran. Knowing your sons are part of a cryptic prophecy is not usually cause for celebration. And yet, here you both are. The two wolves whose hands hold the red fire and whose hearts hold the strength of the Goddess Yet-to-Be.”

The words triggered the memory so clearly.

Rom had been sixteen to Remy’s twelve. Their dads had taken them aside, out of hearing of their mothers and their siblings. Rom had known, by the looks on their faces, it wasn’t anything good.

And after they’d heard what their fathers had had to say, they’d both wished they’d never known.

The
two
wolves
who
hold
the
red
flame
will
fight
with
the
strength
of
the
Goddess
Yet-to-Be in their hearts and bring the past forward until the balance is no longer and the
Rasenna
face the future without light.

The
Rasenna
, they knew, were the Etruscans. The Goddess Yet-to-Be… no clue.

The red flame, now that one they knew. Both he and Remy had been able to conjure the red flame as children. But with no one to teach them how to use it, they’d lost the ability as they’d gotten older. They’d never missed it.

And Rom knew their dads had secretly believed maybe that voided the prophecy. No red fire, no dire consequences, right?

Nothing would ever be that simple.

Rom’s gaze narrowed down to watch Sal’s response. “Do you know what the prophecy means?”

To Rom’s complete shock, Sal nodded. “Some of it, yeah. Some I’ve got a pretty good idea about. The rest… don’t have a clue. But I do know where you might start to find some answers.”

Rom sighed, knowing where they were headed. “The den. You want us to talk to the king.”

“Yeah, you need to talk to the king. No way to get around that one. But I think you might want to send Remy to deal with the king alone the first time.”

Rom’s shock must have been written all over his face. “Remy? Alone?”

His cousin turned to him, eyebrows lifted. “What? Don’t think I can handle it?”

Rom stifled a sigh. “No, that’s not what I’m saying. I—”

“If you go together,” Sal broke in, “it might appear to be a show of strength and, while Cole is by no means insecure, there are… other considerations.”

“
Vaffanculo
, could you just spill already?” Remy’s tone held a whole lot of pissed off, perfectly echoing Rom’s thoughts. “I’m so fucking sick of everyone talking like we’re in a fucking episode of
Lost
.”

Sal grinned then started to laugh. “Get used to it, son. Like it or not, your life just veered into another lane. Better get up to speed as fast as you can.”

***

Perrin Winston knew she was dreaming.

For one thing, the pain she lived with constantly was a faint, dull throb.

And while that was nice, it was also somewhat scary. That pain helped her get through the day, no matter how twisted that seemed.

Still, here… wherever this dream had taken her, it was nice.

The twilight in this stand of trees didn’t hurt her now-sensitive eyes. The cool, misty air felt wonderful against her ravaged skin.

Even the man watching her from the shadows beside a thick tree trunk made her only somewhat uncomfortable. Not fearful. Just… hyperaware.

“Who are you?”

Her voice sounded husky, like she had a bad cold and a five-pack-a-day habit. Another gift from Ralph’s attempted murder.

“No one you need to worry about.”

Wow, the guy had a rasp much deeper than hers but he probably hadn’t gone through hell to get it. In fact, his made her shiver. And not in fear.

“Considering you’re in my dream and I have no idea how you got here, I think I’m allowed to worry, don’t you?”

The man didn’t answer right away, and her eyes strained to see into the shadows. She wanted to see what he looked like. She
needed
to see. It was almost a compulsion.

But the shadows clung to him, as if they were an extension of him.

“I understand your concern, but that doesn’t change the facts. I’m not going to hurt you.”

She snorted, moved to cross her arms over her chest in a motion she’d taken for granted before but stilled before she finished. Her body would hurt, her skin would burn, and her muscles ache if she completed the action.

Amity told her she needed to keep using those muscles and eventually the pain would lessen.

“Forgive me if I’ve learned the hard way that some men lie and then try to kill you.”

A slight shift of the shadows and a face came into view for a few tantalizing seconds before being obscured again. What she’d seen made her take another step closer before her feet simply wouldn’t go any farther.

But why should she stop? This was a dream. Nothing here could hurt her. And this dream was a hell of a lot better than the nightmares she’d been having.

Nightmares that consisted only of pain and fire and the scent of burning flesh.

So she took another step forward, and another, careful not to trip over the tree roots that had erupted from the ground. Tree roots that hadn’t been there a second ago. As if he’d conjured them to stop her.

She didn’t recognize this place. She’d been born and raised in the city of Reading, spent many summers studying in New York City. She’d been to nearby Nolde Forest on class trips in elementary school, but those trips were faded memories now. She preferred living in the city, in her nineteenth-century townhome in Centre Park, where there were always people to talk to, always something to do, something to see.

She stopped when she stood only inches from the man, though even now, she still couldn’t see his face clearly. It almost seemed as if he
was
a shadow. “Who are you?”

“No one you know.”

“Then what are you doing in my dream?”

“I’m not really sure.”

Okay, how weird was this? A strange man had invaded her dream and even he didn’t know what he was doing there. Of course, this was all in her subconscious, so obviously she had some reason for him being here. “What’s your name?”

He paused again. “Karn.”

“Karn. Really.” Resting her hands on her hips, she bit back a gasp at the pain that sliced at her as her skin stretched. Still, she didn’t put her arms back down. She refused to let Ralph win.