Goddess in the Middle (17 page)

***

“Remy Leone. This is
Rex
Colerus Luporeale,
legatus
of the
lucani
legions.”

Remy was rarely intimidated, much less in awe of anyone.

So when Sal introduced him to the man who claimed the title King of the Etruscan werewolves and commander of the sole remaining legion of the ancient Roman army, Remy’s first instinct was to shake his head and laugh like hell.

Luckily, he curbed the impulse. Rom might be right to call him an idiot occasionally, but he wasn’t stupid.

So, instead of insulting the man who looked like a well-dressed businessman who spent his days tied to a desk, Remy merely bowed and waited for the king to say something, hopefully before Remy opened his mouth and stuck his size eleven in it.

Remy was a little surprised when the king stuck his hand out but took it and appreciated the firm grip.

“Nice to meet you, Remy. Please accept my condolences on the murder of your family. I share your sorrow at the loss.”

Taken aback by the man’s bluntness, Remy could only nod and say, “Thank you.”

“Now,” Cole pointed to the door to his left, “please come in and we can get down to business. Sal’s told us some of your story. I’m hoping you’ll fill in the rest of the details so we can help you help Amity.”

Bracing himself, Remy walked through the door into a room decorated with warm earth tones and comfortable furniture.

From the outside, no
eteri
would ever think a king ran an army of werewolves from this place. The building looked like any other midcentury bilevel constructed of tan brick and brown siding. It was so nondescript, it seemed to fade into the surrounding forest.

Which, of course, was exactly what it’d been designed to do.

Inside though, it was obvious the place was all business.

First, you had to get through the front door, which required either a biometric eye scan or a key. Most Etruscan children were given a skeleton key at birth from their parents. Remy kept his on his body at all times. It was a charm, imbued with special properties geared for that person only. It could be used in various ways, one of which was to open most locked doors.

He doubted his would open this door, though. The lock had probably been set to accept only certain magical signatures.

He figured several of them were in this room. He’d scented three women and six men before he’d opened the door, including Sal.

Four large, dangerous-looking men took his measure the second he walked in. They watched him like most predators did, with a healthy sense of suspicion. He understood so he didn’t take offense.

The two women sitting at the table… shit, he recognized them. Remy stopped just inside the door, straightened, then bowed low.

“Ladies.”

More goddesses. Okay. Life had just gotten a little more interesting.

The blonde smiled and, before she’d uttered her first word, Remy knew exactly who she was. Thesan, Goddess of the Dawn.

Damn, the woman was gorgeous. He felt his eyes widen, and he prepared to smile back when he noticed the glare from the dark-haired, leather-clad man standing behind her. Okay, next goddess. Another stunner with long, dark hair and moonlight-gray eyes. Lusna, former Goddess of the Moon. She didn’t smile, just stared straight at him. The man sitting next to her rested his hand on her shoulder like he had every right to. Lusna’s man looked like a bruiser and had a shiner on his left eye to back up the supposition.

The goddesses’ men looked proprietary enough to take off his head if he looked at either of them the wrong way.

The third female sat on the window seat at the far end of the room, mostly hidden behind the man standing in front of her. He looked to be only a few years older than her and Remy would’ve sworn she couldn’t be much older than twenty. The guy looked like the front man for a metal band. Dark, spiky hair, tats covering muscled arms left bare by a sleeveless black band shirt with guns and skulls.

This guy would kill him if he so much as looked at the girl cross-eyed. In profile, she looked deep in thought, sun glinting off her bright copper hair as she stared out the window. As if she hadn’t noticed anyone had come into the room.

Remy had no idea who she was. She didn’t look like any of the goddesses he’d studied as a kid. Still, her power filled the air around them, so thick he swore he felt it rub against his
arus
, his magic, calling to it.

Frowning, he forced it back down, surprised it took so much effort.

The last two guys… Well, at least they didn’t look like they wanted to take Remy’s head off. The one was tall and lean, with a kind face, bright eyes, and a shaggy appearance that reminded Remy of a surfer. And holy hell, he had a smile.

The other older, dark-haired man sat quiet and expressionless at the far end of the table. That one could kill you with his hands tied behind his back, and you’d never see it coming.

The door shut behind Remy with a barely audible swish and Cole waved him into a chair at the nearest end of the table, across from all the oh-so-friendly people
.

Oh, yeah. This is gonna be fun.

“So.” Lusna’s voice had a rich, smoky quality that felt like velvet rubbing against his skin. “The prophecy’s true. I guess that explains a few things, doesn’t it?”

Well, shit.

Remy stiffened and his breath stuck in his throat. His gaze shot to Lusna, whose expression had softened into a smile. He must have put on his mean face without realizing because all of the bruisers bristled.

Only Sal, Cole, and the surfer dude seemed unaffected.

“You’re making the natives restless, Lucy.” Thesan reached over her shoulder to lace her fingers with those of the man standing behind her then gave Remy a bright smile. “I’m sorry. Everyone’s just a little on edge. There have been a few… changes in our corner of the world recently.”

That didn’t sound good, no matter that it came with a smile.

“Lady Thesan—”

“Oh, please call me Tessa.” Another smile, which he felt compelled to return.

“Of course, Lady Tessa.” He bowed his head briefly.

“Uni’s Ass,” Tessa’s guy rolled his eyes and sighed. “If he keeps bowing every time one of you talks, we’ll never get anything done.”

“Hell, Cal.” The surfer dude rolled his eyes at the guy he’d called Cal. “Give the guy a break, will you? We all know patience isn’t your strong suit, but you’re gonna need to find a little right now. Remy, right? I’m X. Please forgive my idiot brother for his manners.”

As Cal gave the finger to the guy named X, Lucy’s man started to laugh. “Yeah, Conan’s not exactly housebroken.”

“You wanna talk housebroken?” Cal turned to give the other guy a double salute. “I’m not the one who has to file down his claws before his games.”

Remy didn’t have a clue what the men were talking about, but it was obvious they knew each other well enough to get a few shots in.

The banter should have put him at ease, at least a little. It should’ve reminded him of Rom.

Instead, all he could think about was the power rubbing against his skin.

At first, he thought it was from the presence of the two goddesses in the room. But when he started to try and sort out his feelings, he realized they weren’t the source.

It was coming from the girl.

He glanced at Cole, whose attention had never shifted away from him.

“You feel it, don’t you, son?”

Sal’s question had been pitched low, but Remy had no trouble hearing him. As the three guys on the other side of the table finally quieted, Remy nodded. “Yeah. I feel it. Maybe someone wants to fill me in. Or maybe we can discuss why the girl has more power than two goddesses.”

Remy had the feeling he wasn’t going to like the answer. He realized he was going to like it even less when the girl in the window seat finally turned away from whatever had been so fascinating outside and settled her blue, blue gaze on him.

He felt the change hit him low in the gut. He sucked in a deep breath, tried to stave it off. His wolf hadn’t been called involuntarily since he’d been a teenager.

“Remy. What the—shit.” Sal’s voice, a growl barely registered in his ear. “I didn’t think—”

“Cat, honey. Rein it in. You can do it.” Lucy’s voice, calm, controlled. “You have the strength. No, Ty. Stop. You can’t keep stepping in for her. She can do it herself.”

“I don’t think I can, Lucy.”

Remy fought the compulsion to turn for the simple reason that he hadn’t initiated it. But he was losing the fight and, if he didn’t give in soon, his wolf would be ripped out of him. And that would hurt like hell.

“Yes, you can,” Lucy said. “Release the power. Don’t try to control it.”

“But what if it gets away from me? What if I can’t call it back?”

“You will, Cat. Let it go.”

Remy heard the girl gasp, and then a rush of sensation nearly made him double over. Not in pain. It didn’t hurt. It brought his wolf so close to the surface, his skin itched with imminent eruption, which never happened.

Just as suddenly, it was gone.

After a few seconds, though he wasn’t really sure of the time span, Remy felt he had a handle on his wolf. Pain continued to radiate through his body until he realized his fingers had clamped onto the edge of the table. His lungs strained to drag in air and all he heard was the sound of his own labored breathing.

Shit, shit, and double shit.

Swallowing was difficult through the clenched muscles of his throat, but he forced himself to do it. Then he started to make sure everything still worked correctly. That he didn’t have claws or paws or a tail.

Questions raged through his mind, most of them starting with
What
the
fuck?

He bit his tongue so he didn’t let that slip. Around him, he heard the low murmur of voices, as if they were afraid to speak too loudly. He recognized only Sal’s voice and Lady Lusna’s. The others were a jumbled mess.

Kind of like the emotions tangled in his gut. Some of which weren’t his, he realized. His eyes shot to the girl, staring at him from across the table. She had tears in her too-wide eyes and she looked devastated. He had the almost burning compulsion to go to her and tell her it was okay. That everything would be all right. That he’d take care of her.

Then he realized the delinquent next to her looked ready to kill him and figured he’d probably be safer if he kept the table between them.

“Remy. Hey kid, how you feeling?”

Sal’s voice pulled his attention away from the girl and Remy swore he heard everyone release a sigh of relief.

“I’m fine. I’m… just processing.”

Sal harrumphed. “Sure. You take all the time you need to process.”

Feeling the weight of everyone’s stare didn’t exactly help with that. Still, after a few minutes, he managed to wrestle his feelings into some kind of submission. And the feelings that weren’t his… well, they began to fade. Actually, it felt more like they were being blocked.

Fucking
weird. All so fucking weird.

A deep breath. Then another. Instinctively, he looked at Lusna, the patron goddess of the
lucani
. She’d first given the gift of the ability to shift into wolves to his ancestors in Etruria so many centuries ago. Whatever had just happened, she had to have an explanation.

So why did she look so lost?

“Remy. Let me introduce you to Catene.” Lucy held her hand out to the girl who now looked sick to her stomach. “The new Goddess of the Moon.”

***

“Hello, Perrin. How are you feeling today?”

Rom forced himself not to show any emotion as he caught sight of the woman on the exam table. He’d seen worse. He’d seen the dead bodies of his family.

This woman was still alive, though she looked… well, she looked exactly like someone had tried to kill her by blowing her up.

Vaffanculo
, how had she survived?

Perrin didn’t smile as she turned toward Amity. Rom wasn’t sure if she couldn’t because of the scarring or if she just didn’t smile anymore.

“Good morning, Amity. I’m actually… I’m actually feeling okay this morning.”

Amity moved to the side of the table, a bright smile on her face. “Well, that’s great news. Have you been sleeping well since I saw you last? Are you happy to be home in your own bed?”

As Amity reached for Perrin’s hand, Rom noticed how the other woman took it immediately. No hesitation.

“Yes, but I had a strange dream last night. Not a nightmare this time. Just a weird… I don’t know what to call it, really. It wasn’t a nightmare but it didn’t feel like a dream either.”

Amity never lost her smile, even as she checked out Perrin from head to toe, and Perrin let her gaze connect with his.

He carefully held her stare, not letting his instinctive rage about her situation show. Her head went back, and he wanted to nod and commend her for not hiding in shame. She had nothing to be ashamed of. She’d survived. He wanted to give her roses.

He could tell from the undamaged half of her face that she’d been a beautiful woman before the explosion and fire. Now… He understood Amity’s drive to help her.

“Forgive me for not introducing you sooner. Perrin, this is Rom Cangelosi. He works for the company that makes the wrappings we’ve been using on your burns. He’s here to see how well they’ve been working. If you don’t mind showing him.”

Stepping forward, he held out his hand to Perrin. “Nice to meet you, Perrin.”

After a second, she took his hand and he made sure not to squeeze.

He released her after only a second and caught Amity’s expression. Tears lurked at the corners of those soft brown eyes and he had to restrain the urge to kiss them away.

“So, Perrin.” Amity transferred her attention back to the other woman. “Why don’t we take a look at your back to start? Last time, we talked about trying some different treatments to lessen the discoloration and pain. Mr. Cangelosi has been kind enough to provide a few samples of new products that I thought we could try.”

Retreating to the other side of the room, Rom watched Amity open the huge white toolbox she’d brought with her. Now he saw that it was filled with tubes and tins and makeup, swabs, cotton balls and applicators. And a whole bunch of stuff Rom couldn’t identify.