Green Tea and Black Death (The Godhunter, Book 5) (12 page)

  
Trevor was right, I was twisted to have kissed him.

  
I closed my eyes tighter, scared as I burrowed deeper into my lion's side, not because I feared Anubis would ever chain me again but because in some ways I missed it. I missed the simplicity of being bound without choice, without option. No battles to fight, no decisions to make… and to be really honest with myself, I missed Anubis too.

  
What the hell was I going to do about the God of the Dead?

Chapter Eighteen

  
It was August eighth, my birthday.

  
My Mom had said I'd been born on a very fortunate day, the number eight being the number of perfection and magic, but bad things had a tendency of happening around my birthday and I was coming to think that maybe I'd been a harbinger of doom. I'm not just talking about bad things in my life either. Lots of natural disasters liked to happen close to my special day. This year, I decided I wasn't going to celebrate it.

  
Instead, I'd gone to lunch with my Mom, Kirill, Odin, and our sons, and we spent some time becoming more familiar with our new family situation. It had gone well, which was more than I had hoped for this inauspicious day, and I was content when I opened the door to my house.

  
The low, Moroccan table in the living room was covered with presents. My friends, god and otherwise, had been dropping them off for days. I really appreciated their thoughtfulness but I couldn't bring myself to open presents now. I was going to save them for a time when I felt like celebrating.

   “
You should go see Odin tomorrow,” Kirill suggested as we went toward the bedroom.

   “
Yeah, if for no other reason than to get more antibiotic,” I grimaced.

   “
Let me make bath for you, Tima,” he kissed my cheek and went into the bathroom.

  
I smiled as I removed my clothes. A hot bath was just what I needed and Kirill was so good at that lately, anticipating my needs. I pulled the heavy chain with the emerald pendant on it, over my head and laid it gently in the bottom drawer of my Chinese, carved jewelry box. I loved the box, had in fact purchased it to match my bed, and it went really well in the room. I glanced at the stone jewelry box that Anubis had given me. It seemed out of place, as out of place as my affection for him was. Maybe I should get rid of it.

   “
Vervain,” Kirill called from the bathroom that was attached to my master bedroom, “vater's ready.”

  
I went in, happily forgetting about Anubis for the moment, and smiled at Kirill as he helped me into the water. It was wonderful, so soothing on my aching muscles and wounded heart. I leaned back and let my hair get soaked. Kirill kissed me on the cheek and left me to have some alone time. See, just what I needed.

  
I soaked away my blues until the water got cold and finally got out, pruned but happy. I dried off, wrapped my hair up in a towel, and took my time rubbing some lotion in. By the time I was done, my hair was dry enough to take down. It still hung in damp strands down my back but it wasn't dripping anymore. I ended up piling it on my head with a claw clip.

  
I came out of the bathroom wearing just my satin bathrobe, and found Kirill sitting at the foot of the bed, in the single opening of the bed's walls. In his hands was a small cheesecake with a single candle on it. The little light burned bright, sending beams through the carved walls of the bed and casting shadows over Kirill's face.

   “
Happy Birthday, Vervain,” he smiled gently and shrugged. “Just a small celebration with you and I. Ve don't have to tell anyone.”

  
I swallowed hard, blinking back the threatening tears. In that moment, I wanted no other man in my life. I wanted to tell Trevor and Odin both to take a flying leap, that I'd found the only man who could truly make me happy. If only I could, I huffed a small overwhelmed sound from my chest and went forward to stand in front of him. He stood up and held the cake with one hand, between us.

   “
Make vish,” he brushed a stray strand off my cheek, “and make it good because I vant to see you smile.”

   “
Kirill,” I lost hold of a single tear that snaked its way down my cheek.

   “
I said smile,” he wiped it away, “not cry. Vhy you alvays have to be so stubborn?”

   “
I love you so much,” I whispered and looked down at that single candle.

  
It seemed to take on so much meaning for such a skinny little thing. A turning point rested in the tiny flame, a wish that could change my life it it were fulfilled. What would it be? Should I wish for Trevor to come home or should I be more pragmatic and wish for Xi Wangmu to be defeated? Maybe I should wish for Anubis to find a lover and leave me alone or that the lioness magic be kept happy with the three lovers I already had. In the end, I made a very simple wish. No, I can't tell you. Then it won't come true.

  
I blew out the candle and smiled. Kirill smiled back at me in the sudden dark, his eyes shining like a cat's. He put the cake down on my dresser and flipped on the overhead light. There was a blue satin pouch sitting next to my birthday cake and he picked it up and handed it to me.

   “
One present to open,” he gestured toward the bed and I sat.

  
He put the pouch in my hands and I held it a moment, just looking over the soft material and wondering what Kirill could have possibly chosen for me. I opened it and emptied the contents into my palm, then felt my face go slack. In amazement, I held up the set of hair combs to the light so I could admire the craftsmanship better.

  
I knew Kirill carved wood, I'd cleared off the desk in his room so he'd have a work station for just that purpose. I also knew he was good, I'd seen plenty of his work, but these combs were beyond what I thought he was capable of.

  
The wood shone like gold, sweeping down into wide spaced teeth that would gently hold my hair in place. At the top of one was an intricate carving of a lion's head, looking so lifelike, I expected him to shake out his mane at any second. His eyes stared at me softly, a gentle beast. The other comb was topped with the head of a lioness, as lifelike as her mate, she too stared at me in quiet satisfaction. Worked into the wood of each comb were gold wires, highlighting the scrollwork he'd carved to surround the animals. They were breathtaking.

   “
Kirill,” I pulled him down into a hug. “Thank you. They are so beautiful.”

   “
You're velcome, Vervain,” he kissed me while I held his gifts against my heart. “Now ve eat cake, da?”

   “
Da,” I smiled and laughed, scooting myself back into the bed as he grabbed the cake and the two forks he had ready.

  
I put the combs up on one of the shelves built into the walls of my bed and waited for my lion to bring me cheesecake. Maybe my birthday wasn't so bad afterall.

Chapter Nineteen

   “Thanks,” I tucked the fresh syringes of antibiotic away in my purse and when I turned back, I found Odin eying Kirill and Vidar.

   “
Vali said he'd meet us by the lake,” Vidar said with a knowing smile.

   “
I vould like to best him at fishing too,” Kirill grinned back and followed my son from the room without a single word to me.

  
Odin directed his piercing peacock eye at me and I shivered. We hadn't been alone together since before Trevor had left and the separation suddenly hit me. I started toward him but barely made it a step before he was picking me up and carrying me to the stairs leading to our room.

  
He was kissing me as he shut the door, his hands holding me tight as his magic formed other hands to roam my body. He set me on my feet near the mammoth bed, only to remove my clothes before throwing me down on the furs. There were invisible mouths sucking and licking at me before Odin even lowered his body to mine and I sighed, wondering how I could live without this god's magical love making.

   “
Sweet Raven,” I whispered before he covered my lips with his. I was wet and ready for him, the feel of a tongue bringing me pleasure below even as his real tongue tangled with mine. Ghost hands stroked my hot skin, lifting me for his thrust, spreading my legs wider and carrying their weight for me.

  
Sex with Odin was like having sex with a harem of men, all wanting only to pleasure you while they took nothing for themselves. It was amazing.

  
But when I opened my eyes, it was only Odin's massive body above me, only Odin inside me. It was his beautiful peacock colored eye that I lost myself in, so enthralling with its vivid changes from green to blue to purple, that I barely even noticed the leather patch covering the spot where his other eye should have been. The eye he'd given up for the knowledge to bring me back. His love for me was humbling.

   “
Vervain,” he whispered and then, as if he'd heard my thoughts, “I love you.”

  
I held him to me as he filled me with that love till it overflowed in a shout of completion. As the last tremors shook my body, he rolled to the side and pulled me against him, tucking his face into my neck. His neatly trimmed beard tickled me and I shifted with a smile. He kissed the soft spot below my ear as his hands began to wander and I moaned.

   “
Already?” I felt him hard against my back.

   “
It's been over a month since I've had you,” his hand slid between my legs. “That was just the appetizer.”

   “
Definitely too long,” I smiled back at him, then groaned as his finger sank into me.

  “
Oathbreaker!” The shout reverberated through the room, successfully cooling my ardor. I knew that voice and the sound of it raised in anger was chilling.

   “
That's...” I sat up.

   “
Fenrir,” Odin finished as he climbed out of bed.

   “
Get your ass down here!”

   “
Oh shit,” I groaned as I hurried into my clothes and chased after Odin, who had raced out the door after barely getting his pants on.

  
I took the stairs two at a time but my lover still made it to the hall before me. I flew into the room to find him faced off with a towering column of rage in the form of a wolf god.

  
Fenrir was snarling and Odin was lowering himself into a fighting stance. I slid between them, pushing Odin back as I launched myself at Fenrir. He instinctively caught me and I took his face in my hands, pouring my love magic into him. I hoped Aphrodite's old power had enough juice to soothe the savage beast.

   “
Little Frami?” Fenrir's eyes cleared as he focused on me.

   “
Hey,” I whispered as I frowned in concern. “What's this all about?” I smoothed his wild hair back from his face and stroked the thick scars running down his cheek.

   “
He's gone,” a tear escaped the restraint of his eye.

   “
Who?” I asked even though I knew with stomach clenching surety who it was, who it had to be.

   “
VéulfR,” Trevor's given name left Fenrir's lips on a ragged breath while he leaned his forehead to my shoulder. “He's left us. He's left the living.”

   “
What?!” I jerked his face back up. “No, he can't be dead. I'd feel it if he was dead. I'd know.”

   “
He's not dead,” Fenrir carried me to a chair near the fireplace and sat heavily while Odin followed hesitantly. “He's gone to live
with
the dead.”

   “
Dad,” I shook his shoulders. “You're gonna have to spell this out for me. Where exactly did Trevor go?”

   “
To Niflheim, to be with my sister,” another tear made a mad dash down his face.

   “
No,” Odin gasped from my right.

   “
What does that mean?” I looked to Odin for answers.

   “
Niflheim is the Viking underworld,” Odin spoke quietly. “Hel's realm.”

   “
Trevor's Aunty Hel?” I frowned. “Yeah, he's told me about her. So he's visiting his Aunt, what's the big deal? I've been to Duat and I came home just fine.”

   “
Duat is Anubis' realm and even though it is technically the Egyptian Underworld,” Odin frowned, “it's more of a gateway to the afterlife... more like Purgatory. Niflheim is where the Viking souls go when they die outside of battle. I get to claim the warriors but I agreed to let Hel claim the rest.”

   “
Hel won't hurt Trevor,” Fenrir's arms tightened around me, “she loves him.”

   “
Who are you trying to convince?” I pulled away from his dangerous embrace. “You're upset for a reason so just tell me what it is.”