Marked by Death (The Godhunter, Book 4) (3 page)

“
You dog headed, son of a bitch!” I screamed, noting in the back of my mind how appropriate that insult was. “Bring it on. I’ll suck you dry alright, but it’ll be your magic I’m drinking down and I won’t be the one on my knees!”

All I got in response was more laughter that slowly faded away. Evidently Anubis wasn't as impressed with my ability to take back the power gods had taken from us humans. So far, I'd killed two goddesses with my new talent, taking their magic for my own, but that didn't seem to faze Anubis. Which made me very nervous.

I looked out the wall of widows across from me that showcased my beautiful butterfly courtyard and headed for the French doors that opened onto it. I needed a little serenity before I headed back outside to be with the others and the verdant tropical courtyard was just the thing.

I opened the doors and stepped into the thick perfume of jasmine, vanilla orchids, and honeysuckle. Immediately, brilliant hued butterflies flew around me and I felt my heartbeat start to wind down.

Butterflies were a powerful symbol for me, they were the form my love magic took. All my different magics had some kind of form I could see when I looked inward, but the butterflies resounded the most symbolically with me. A fragile looking thing but its power to transform was the strongest of all my magic. It calmed me to remember that I was not simply a human witch anymore. I would not be taken so easily.

I lifted a hand and a shimmering blue butterfly landed on it. Its wings flapped slowly, hypnotically, and I smiled as its tiny legs lifted and lowered on my fingertip. Anubis may think I'm just a tiny bug he can squash but he's going to discover that my fragile form houses some very powerful magic... and there's always room for more.

Chapter Four

“
Loki!” I shouted as I plowed into the gorgeous god. I hadn't been paying attention to my surroundings as I headed back to the party. My thoughts were still too focused on Anubis.

“
You look a bit distracted, Granddaughter.”

Yep, Loki was now technically my grandfather. He's Trevor's grandpa and as Trevor's mate, the connection extends to me. Initially, I'd used the title to taunt him, he wasn't so keen on the idea of being someone's gramps, he was more into causing mayhem and death but recently, Loki had a change of heart. He realized that life wasn't all that great without your family and he'd made a huge effort to get them back. Part of that effort had been saving my life, so I'd forgiven Loki his past mistakes and he was now welcome in my home.

“Just trying to remember where everything is in this place,” I laughed and gave him a quick hug.

It still felt so strange to be hugging him after all the things he'd done to me. Starting with stealing my Wolverine gloves and ending with severing my relationship to Thor. Thor, who hadn't gotten on the
Forgive Loki
train. Thor, who still blamed me as well as Loki, for the ending of our relationship. Thor, who I'd finally been able to let go of, in my heart and my head. I just couldn't take his drama anymore.

Besides, I had so many other relationships to deal with. I was connected to seventy-seven lions now, as close as a sister to them all. If I wanted to, I could tell you where each of them were at any given moment. That was how deep our ties were. Then there was the Froekn, my werewolf family through Trevor, who I wasn't as intimately connected to as I was to my Intare but who were family nonetheless. There was also the God Squad, the group of gods who fought beside me in the god war, they were like family to me as well, even Horus who acted like he couldn't stand me.

Then there was Trevor of course, my main squeeze and boy was he squeezable. I had nothing to complain about when it came to my lover. Maybe if I had, my life would have been easier. Because now, on top of all that, I had Odin.

Well I guess I didn't really have him anymore. I'd told Odin our relationship couldn't go anywhere in this life, even though I'd been his wife in another. Even though he'd given up his eye to bring me back from the dead, and even though we had raised two sons together, one ours and one his by blood and mine by adoption. I considered Vali as much my son as Vidar though, even if I hadn't given birth to him.

So yeah, Intare, Froekn, the God Squad, Trevor, Odin, and two sons from a previous life. I wasn't kidding when I'd told Anubis my dance card was full. I just couldn't worry over Thor anymore, I didn't have the time. Also, I didn't have the desire to.

“
May I escort you back to the party?” Loki held an arm out to me.

“
Of course,” I slid my hand over his forearm. I was determined to make an effort with Loki. I fully believed in second chances. We all mess up sometimes.

“
Your home is beautiful,” he offered as we walked back into the sunshine. “I was just having a look around. I'm in love with that library. Those bay windows give an amazing view of your land.”

“
Yeah, it rocked my world a little too,” I grinned up at him. “Hey, you wouldn't happen to know how it is that we manage to get cable up here, would you?”

“
You do?” His brows shot up. “Nyavirezi must have been stronger than I thought. You have to establish a line through the Aether which stays open constantly. There's probably a focus object its tied to. There would have to be one here and then one in the Human Realm, creating anchors for the bridge. It's very difficult to do, the only other god I've known to accomplish it is Odin.”

“
Right, Odin,” I frowned. He had some kind of device in which he could see anywhere in the world. It also caught cable. I'd teased him about it. “His Santa TV.”

“
Santa TV?”

“
Yeah, you know; he sees you when you're sleeping. He knows when you're awake,” I sang as Loki started to laugh.

“
Oh, I'm so calling Odin,
Santa
the next time I see him,” he laughed some more. “I may have to take up caroling.”

“
I've actually been thinking about buying him a Santa hat,” I giggled.

“
Oh no, please,” Loki stopped and gripped my hand earnestly. “Allow me to give him the hat. I can't express how much joy it would give me.”

“
Anything for you, Grandpa,” I laughed and he went back to escorting me to my wolf. He stopped just short of the tent though and I looked up at him in question.

“
So this is what it feels like,” he said quietly as he watched Fenrir talking to Trevor.

“
What's that?”

“
Caring,” he swallowed hard. “It's a little frightening.”

“
Yeah, but its worth it.”

“
I'm starting to see that,” Loki smiled and I was caught off guard by it. Not because he was smiling, Loki's Cheshire cat grins were infamous, it was because he was smiling like a first-time father, with his heart in his eyes.

Chapter Five

Moonshine was a nightclub for supernaturals, whether they were gods, witches, vamps, or shifters. It was in an old warehouse on the outskirts of Honolulu that had been redone to look like a forest. After making your way through a rather normal entrance room, you’d find yourself in wonderland. Unless you were a VIP, aka supernatural, then you'd have to go through the VIP room where you’d be required to make a binding oath preventing you from using magic on the premises.

Trust me, it was necessary.

The warehouse bones were concealed under forest murals and a combination of fake and living foliage. On the ground floor, trees grew up to the ceiling, stretching their graceful limbs across the soft green dance floor, where they grew further apart to accommodate the dancers. Back toward the walls though, they were closer together, creating intimate spots of semi-seclusion. If you looked closely, you'd find sculptures in the branches; fairies, dragons, and griffons along with more mundane animals. The paper lanterns that were hung randomly about, helped light the hidden treasures and kept the dark from being to thick.

There were tables shaped like boulders and seats meant to look like little grass hills. The bar was on one end, a large piece of weather-roughened slate with bar stools carved from tree trunks. It was manned, as everything was, by Froekn but soon there would be some Intare on the payroll. A few of my lions had asked Trevor about employment and he had agreed. The bar was actually half mine but Trevor had paid for it, had in fact, created it to give his family something to do besides kill people for a living. So I let him make the hiring decisions.

Behind the bar was Trevor's office and the DJ booth. Off to the left and in front of it, nestled in the trees, was a brand new wood stage, its' edges hidden by a plethora of plants. There were subtle lights focused on the platform, suggesting that
Dark Horses
would probably be making an appearance later.

The horse shifter band was pretty much the only live entertainment we brought in. Which is why we didn't even have a stage until recently. Trevor had thought it would be more intimate to have bands play in the trees instead of having them raised on a platform. But that was before he hired
Dark Horses
and discovered how aggressive the group's fans could become during a set. So he finally relented and had a proper stage built. The compromise was to camouflage it so it would fade into the club's décor.

Across from the bar was a waterfall fed pool, originating from a stream on the second floor. The waterfall created a fine mist, lending an air of fantasy as it did its best to keep the live plants moist and happy. There were lots of plants nestled in crevices along the rock basin, flowers blooming and adding fragrance to the ambiance.

To the left of the pool was the Wild Room, a room purely for weres. It was even more of a forest than the rest of the club, the plants left to overgrow the confines that man liked to put on them. It was where the weres went to relax, or run, since it also held the entrance to a running track that ran the perimeter of the club inside the walls, rising up to the second floor, to skim over the entrance so it could remain unbroken.

The second floor of Moonshine looked similar to the first, with smaller trees but the same couches disguised as grass-covered hills and flat-topped boulders for tables. Except along two sides of the balcony where normal tables had been set up for people who wanted to have a meal.

The stream that fed the waterfall ran along the wall which concealed the upper level of the running track. It flowed over the edge, right alongside the stairs that led up from the ground floor. Directly across from the stairs was a concealed entrance to a tracing room(we called it the family room, since only Froekn and Intare were allowed to use it) and access to the basement, where there were secure rooms for any vampires who needed to stay the day… for an extra price of course.

Moonshine had an Atlantean security system, housed in the large moon that dangled from the ceiling. It could sense emotional changes and so could predict when a fight was about to break out… or when someone was about to get lucky. It was the only club in Hawaii that could offer a completely safe environment. Trevor had worked a miracle in creating it.

The music always played at a level low enough to be enjoyed and talked over(it did get louder when
Dark Horses
played) so I was having a conversation with Kirill when Trevor came up from the lower floor. We were sitting in our favorite spot near the stream, which Trevor had roped off for our exclusive use. It added another layer of protection for the family room, whose door was directly behind a tree, directly behind us. It also assured us a table in the popular nightspot where even the VIP level was packed. It was good to be the boss.

“
Rouva,” Trevor caught my attention with that. He usually saved the Froekn title for when important business was afoot. “There’s someone here who’d like to speak with you.”

He turned and indicated a woman coming up beside him. She was a stunning Hawaiian with thick, wavy red hair that fell to the middle of her back. It was an amazing color, the Hawaiians called it ehu, a sparkling, sandy red that caught the soft lights and lit up like fireworks. She was tall, over six feet, and stood with a confident sex appeal that wasn’t in the least overbearing. Her lush lips spread in a smile that pulled a return one from me immediately.

She was hot… quite literally.

I stood to greet her, feeling waves of heat caress me as I approached, and knew instantly who I was dealing with. My heart started to beat faster, killing one of her pantheon was what had started me on my god-hunting quest. I was sincerely hoping that smile of hers meant she wasn’t one to hold a grudge because this was one lady I didn’t want to have to fight, especially since I lived in Hawaii… her territory, though myth said she she resided on the Big Island instead of Oahu.

“Madame Pele,” I held out my hand to her and she took it without hesitation. “Welcome to Moonshine. Can I offer you something to drink?”