My Soul to Take (12 page)

“You're their home,” she corrected. “But when that home is in disorder, it can feel like a prison. Strength is needed to control them, yes, but also kindness. You're taming yourself, after all. Remember that they are pieces of you.”

We visited with Guirmean, Lorna, Nora, and Morgan for an hour or so after Nainsidh left. Morgan was starting to walk and his mother thought this was a sign of true greatness. I had smiled to myself, wondering if I was going to be as ridiculously proud of my children. Then I'd sobered, thinking that teaching Brevyn to walk was going to be so much easier than teaching him which magic to choose. And hopefully both of those lessons would be far less dangerous than teaching Rian to fly.

On the ride home, I was silent and Arach left me to my thoughts. He was good like that, sensing what I needed and when I needed it. I think it came with sharing blood. It gave us glimpses into each other's minds. So Arach stayed silent too and I was able to ponder Brevyn in peace. I thought about Ull, who he had been. Ull had been the God of Justice and Oaths but also of Archery. I remembered him telling me once that his birth father (not Thor) had been a great hunter. But Ull hadn't liked hunting. Come to think of it, he hadn't much liked judging people either.

He had owned a law firm but never visited it. I think he assumed he needed a business aligned with his magic. It did make him loads of money but it was never important to him. With a blink of epiphany, I realized that Ull had been unhappy. That was why he wanted to be reborn. He wanted a clean slate, a fresh shot at the magic roulette wheel.

So what magic would Ull truly want?

I decided it would be better to think about the true Ull; his soul. Who was he really? I thought back to our time together and came up with a clearer image of my friend. At his very foundation, Ull had been a kind man. He had loved to laugh more than anything, a trait that made me feel a kinship to him. We had speculated together once that both of us had the capacity to bring humor to any circumstance. I'd been known to make jokes while being tortured. It sounds horrid but he understood. He'd said to me “I get it, your wit is a weapon. They can take your knives from you, they can even subdue your claws, but they can't take your comedy. You'll live your life in laughter, right up to its end, and damn anyone who tries to stop you.” And he was so right. You could cut out my tongue and I'd find a way to mime my jokes, just to spite you.

But Ull wasn't just a jokester. He was a fierce fighter and there were complicated reasons for that. He had learned to fight because he believed in peace, not because he craved war. He'd loved his mother and mourned her death but I think he'd done so more out of a sense of duty than emotion. It was Thor who was his true parent. So ironic, since Thor didn't share any blood with Ull, but very telling in what kind of man Ull was. He'd chosen to be nurtured and guided by a moral man instead of being influenced by his mother's maliciousness and the pain of an absent father.

But that was Ull. He loved and gave his loyalty where his heart led him, not where he was bound to... and that's how he should choose his magic. Love would guide him, that brave heart of his. And it was the love of his brother, his separated self, that would need to be addressed first.

I had seen him immune to fire in the vision he gave me. We had believed this was a gift leftover from Rian's fey essence but what if it wasn't? What if Brevyn was already leaning towards a specific magic? Fire would be an obvious choice for a fire prince who wasn't born with the element. It would strengthen his bond to his kingdom and his family. But Brevyn would need more than that. He needed a magic like my Love, one which he could use to help others. He needed to be heroic. It was so obvious now that I don't know how I hadn't seen it before. Hadn't he saved me before he'd taken his first breath? He was literally born a hero and he needed a hero's magic.

I wouldn't make the choice for him. Just like Nainsidh said, I would guide him, not choose. I'd tell him my opinion, let him know what I thought would make him happy, and perhaps even offer him suggestions. He could choose a blend; a magic with several aspects including fire. There were so many choices. Nainsidh was right, he'd been given a great gift, and I was so happy to not only be the one to offer him the choice but to also be a part of the decision.

I began to smile. The future was starting to look brighter for me and my family. Maybe this time around, we'd get it right.

Now that I felt settled about Brevyn and now that everyone had been able to spend some time with the twins, I was at ease with leaving Faerie and time-jumping back to the God Realm. So when we arrived at Castle Aithinne, we remained in the coach and had Vali, Vidar, Thor, and Kaitlin fetched for us. We took them to the Great Tree, where they could trace back to the God Realm.

I didn't trace back with them because I needed to use my ring to return. It would take me back before them anyway. So instead of tracing with the group, I headed home with Arach and kissed my babies goodbye (including Dexter), even though they wouldn't know I was gone. The goodbye was for my benefit. Then I kissed my husband (a different kind of benefit) and asked my ring to take me back to Pride Palace, the moment I last left it.

Odin, Trevor, and Kirill were waiting for me in front of the tracing chamber, right where I'd left them. They all smiled and gave me welcome back hugs, even though for them, I had only been gone a moment. They knew I needed the hugs because it had been much longer for me.

“Did Kaitlin like Faerie?” Trevor asked.

“I think so,” I chuckled as we piled into the elevator and headed upstairs once more. “She was shocked by a lot of things but she was also fascinated.”

“And Brevyn?” Odin asked.

“He seemed to connect with her,” I nodded. “And she looked satisfied with it. Our boys got to meet their brothers too and that seemed to go well.”

“That's about all we can ask for, I guess,” Odin nodded.

“And Dexter returned,” I smiled brilliantly as I gave the best piece of news.

“I told you he would,” Trevor hugged me. “But I'm relieved to hear it.”

“Da,” Kirill stroked my hair gently. “I'm happy he's home.”

“Animals must heed the call of the wild,” Odin nodded, “but when they love you like Dexter does you, they always come back.”

“I'll bet Arach's ecstatic,” Trevor observed.

“He cried,” I admitted and they all gaped at me. “He tried to hide it from me and don't you ever tell him I told you.”

“I didn't realize they were so close,” Odin mused.

“Remember,” Trevor gave Odin a look. “Vervain told us how Dexter didn't leave Arach's side after she died in that wrong future?”

“Yeah but that future never happened,” Odin shrugged.

“I told Arach about it,” I said. “And Arach has looked at Dex differently ever since.”

“It's nice to know dragon has soft spot,” Kirill observed.

“Yeah, it's right under his throat,” Trevor chuckled. “Try to aim there if you ever have... to...” he grimaced when he saw my face. “It's just a joke, Minn Elska. No one's going to hunt your lizard king.”

“I um,” I cleared my throat. “I had some trouble with my animals.”

“Vhat kind of trouble?” Kirill asked as he opened the elevator gate.

“The dangerous kind,” I admitted as we filed into the bedroom. I went straight to the bed and plopped back on the springy mattress. “But Brevyn helped me.”

“Brevyn?” Odin's face angled into my view. “How?”

“He showed me my nahual,” I sighed and sat up. “And it calmed them.”

“Your nahual calmed zem?” Kirill frowned.

“We need to do something about this before it-” Trevor started.

“I saw a psychic in Faerie,” I cut him off.

“A psychic faerie?” Trevor asked.

“A bean-nighe,” I nodded. “She told me now is not the time to worry about my beasts. I need to just learn how to deal with them for now.”

“Just learn how to deal with them?” Odin scoffed.

“Well, she didn't put it like that,” I fell back onto the bed again. “But yes. And she also told me that Brevyn is going to be able to choose his own magic.”

“What?!” All three of them asked at once.

“Yep,” I chuckled. “Turns out that little ability I have to take a god's magic, is unique. Only I have it because when
somebody
,” I looked pointedly at Odin, “put my soul in a human body, his love and magic gave me an in. It made you gods vulnerable to me.”

“It was because of me?” Odin asked in shock.

“Yep,” I edged up onto my elbows. “The strength of your love. So, well done, you. And I love you too.”

“But what does that have to do with Brevyn?” Trevor asked.

“Because, in a way, I can choose my magic,” I shrugged. “So can he.”

“Is good,” Kirill nodded.

“Da,” I smiled at him, “is good.”

Azrael woke me from my nap. I groaned and rubbed the sleep from my eyes to focus on the face of my angel. He smiled and I had a glimpse of heaven. Yes, he was just that damn fine.

“Now, that's how I like to wake up,” I pulled his face down for a kiss.

“I heard you had a little adventure,” he chuckled and climbed into bed with me. His wings were magically put away so I only had to shift a little for his arm to slide beneath me.

“Minor,” I snuggled into his chest. He was wearing a T-shirt and jeans, all soft and warm against my cheek.

“You had trouble with your beasts,” he accused me.

“It's all good,” I slid my hand under his shirt and laid my palm against his heartbeat. Ah, home. I breathed his scent in deep; slightly sweet but earthy. He smelled the way a Jordan almond tasted, if that makes any sense.

“Carus,” his voice went low and I felt his heartbeat quicken. “Now's not the time to get Death excited.”

“I was just cuddling,” I said innocently as my hand started to slide lower. “I don't know what you're getting all worked up about.”

“Everyone is waiting for us downstairs.”

“Everyone?”

“Well, Thor isn't back from Faerie yet,” he amended. “But everyone else.”

“Why?”

“To hear my report on Baron Samedi,” he reminded me. “Even Yemanja is with the Squad, waiting for me to fetch you.”

“Oh,” I huffed and sat up. “Right. Vodou espionage. What did you learn?”

“Nope,” he pushed his shirt into place as he sat up too. “You're going to have to hear it with the others.”

“But I'm your wife,” I whined. “Doesn't that give me certain privileges?”

“Yeah,” he smirked. “But I already told you we don't have time for that.”

“Scoundrel,” I teased and pulled on the dress I'd discarded at the foot of the bed.

“There is something I'd like to talk to you about,” Azrael chewed at his perfect lips. “Me and the others that is. Something personal.”

“Go on.”

“After the meeting,” he smiled and took my hand. “Let's go see to this first.”

“What the hell, Death Angel?” I growled. “Are you deliberately creating secrets to torment me with?”

“I said we'd talk afterward,” he laughed.

“After the meeting,” I huffed. “You know it's going to be bugging me the whole time and I won't be able to concentrate.”

“Well if I tell you, the others will get mad at me,” Azrael frowned.

“Then you shouldn't have mentioned it at all.”

“It just came out,” he sighed. “I tell you everything, it's automatic.”

“Not everything,” I punched the elevator button. “You didn't tell me you were a horseman of the Apocalypse.”

“How long exactly are you going to hold that against me?”

“Oh, probably another fifty years or so,” I shrugged.

“Good to know,” he grimaced.

“I may take some time off for good behavior,” I bumped my hip into his. “You could win major points by telling me what you guys want to talk about.”

“Ugh,” he rolled his eyes. “You must promise to act surprised when they tell you.”

“Promise,” I drew a cross over my heart with a finger.

“Blood to Heart,” he said simply.

“That's a little extreme don't you think?” I huffed. “And I don't believe it's even appropriate for this type of promise.”

“No, that's what we want to talk to you about,” Az chuckled.

“What?” I blinked in surprise.

“There,” he pointed at my face. “That is precisely how you must look when they tell you.”

“Yeah, yeah,” I shook my head. “Now explain it.”

“We're married but we haven't forged the Blood to Heart bond with you.”

“And you want to?” I asked as the elevator dinged at us.

“Of course,” Az swung the gate open. “We'll talk later. Come on,” he took my hand and pulled me along with him into the dining hall.

But now I was really distracted. Blood to Heart was an oath of love given between spouses usually, so this wasn't a totally surprising request. I don't know why I hadn't expected it. In fact, it would probably be a good thing for us. Thor had given me a Blood to Mouth oath which had bound him to me as my protector... forever. I had blocked out his link in my mind but if I really needed to, I could connect with him still. The thing was, I didn't really know what Blood to
Heart
entailed. I knew you could look into each others minds because Thor had done so with Sif, his ex-wife, but I didn't know just how invasive it was.

Was it wrong that I wanted to keep a piece of myself private? I felt like I had so little privacy these days, what with five husbands and two babies, the thought of giving up even more made me wince.

“Vervain?”

I flinched and realized that I was standing beside a chair that Az had pulled out for me, just staring off into the distance.

“Sorry,” I muttered and took my seat.

“Are you alright?” Kirill whispered from my right.

“Yeah, I'm still waking up.”

“Oh,” he chuckled and shared a knowing look with Trevor. I was notoriously hard to get out of bed.

“So this is what we've learned,” Azrael claimed our attention. He was standing at the end of the table with a fedora topped Torrent. Evidently Torr was unable to find a ninja costume.

“It's definitely Samedi,” Torrent cut Az off.

The room erupted with questions and Azrael shot Torr an annoyed look.

“Hold on,” Azrael held up his hands and everyone quieted.

“What did you see, Archangel?” Yemanja asked Az.

“We saw Baron Samedi walking through the bokor compound,” Azrael announced. “We then approached and overheard him giving instructions to the bokors.”

“So it's true,” Yemanja whispered dismally. “Oh Sam, why did you betray us?”

“Yep,” Torrent flung open his beige trench coat and stuck his hands in his pants pockets. “Things are never so bad, they can't be made worse.”

“Thank you, Humphrey Bogart,” I groaned. “But what did Samedi actually say to the bokors?”

“He said to bring him more pots,” Torrent shrugged.

“He did mutter something under his breath,” Azrael frowned. “It was strange, didn't really make sense.”

“What?” Yemanja pressed.

“The Moon will see the truth,” Az reported.

“The moon will see the truth?” Yemanja frowned. “He must be planning something at night.”

“No, he said it like the moon was a person,” Torrent corrected. “The Moon, with a capital M.”

“As in a moon goddess, like Vervain?” Odin asked with a deadly calm voice.

“But I don't know this guy,” I shook my head. “He can't possibly want to show me anything.”

“You're the Godhunter,” Horus rolled his eyes. “The entire God Realm wants to show you the end of their blades.”

“Hey now,” I huffed. “Not the entire God Realm; I have a lot of god friends.”

“And even more enemies,” Re announced as he walked into the room. “I definitely need to be included in these meetings. I don't think I like finding out second hand that my lady's life is in danger.”

“Haven't you learned yet? It's
always
in danger,” I grumbled but waved him over and gave him a quick kiss when he reached me. “Is it time for our date?”

“Yes but I think I'd like to hear about this first,” Re took a seat on Kirill's right. “Now, who exactly is after Vervain?”

“Possibly Baron Samedi,” Hades, who had the seat directly across from Re, answered. “But it's a bit of a leap. The man said something about a moon and the logical deduction would be that it's a moon goddess he's referring to but it doesn't necessarily mean it's Vervain. There are several moon goddesses.”

“Yes, and moon gods,” I sat up happily. “It could be anyone.”

“Except usually, vith you, it's not,” Kirill huffed.

“You do have a knack for attracting trouble,” Odin sighed.

“And we still haven't encountered the trouble that Alaric warned us of,” Trevor added.

“What about that whole future thing?” I whined. “That was trouble.”

“But he didn't know about that,” Odin shook his head. “Remember? Both those Consciousnesses... ness...nesses...nie. Ugh,” Odin rolled his eyes. Alaric and Faerie both said they didn't foresee that future. So that can't be the trouble Al warned us of.”

“You know, if he had a physical form, I'd kick his ass,” I growled. “That warning has caused more worry than it's worth.”

“I agree,” Re sniffed. “Telling someone to expect trouble without telling them specifically what the trouble is, is basically a self-fulfilling prophecy. It makes them worry until something happens and then they can say;
Aha! There's that trouble!
”

“What he said,” I jerked my thumb at Re.

“So you vant to just forget vhat Al told us?” Kirill lifted his brows at me.

“All we can do is be careful,” I grimaced, “and I like to think we're always careful. So yes, let's forget about it for now.”

“Then let's get back to Samedi,” Re declared. “Why don't we just go ask him?”

“Ask him what?” Persephone cocked her head at Re.

“If he wants to hurt Vervain,” Re shrugged. “And if so, why.”

“Just walk up and ask him,” Brahma chuckled. “I like your balls, my friend.”

“They're golden,” Re winked at Brahma.

“Oooh, can I see?” Sarasvati, Brahma's wife, asked.

“Of course,” Re started to stand but Kirill pulled him back into his seat with one hand. “Perhaps later.”

“Perhaps
never
,” Brahma and I growled simultaneously.

“Touchy touchy,” Re laughed.

“I wish,” Sara smirked.

“Sarasvati would you please refrain from flirting with other gods?” Brahma asked stiffly.

“As if you have room to talk,” she huffed.

The rest of us looked pointedly away.

“Anyway,” I cleared my throat. “I don't think Yemanja is up to introducing me to Samedi.”

“I guess I could,” she frowned. “Though I admit, it worries me. I'd rather not accuse a member of my pantheon of being a traitor without hard evidence.”

“Don't concern yourself,” Re waved his hand regally. “I can make the introduction.”

“Excuse me?” I looked over to him.

“Who
don't
you know?” Trevor asked.

“Sam and I share certain,” Re cleared his throat and gave me a wicked look, “proclivities. People like us tend to gravitate toward each other.”

“You met him at an S&M party, didn't you?” I accused Re.

Re just shrugged.

“Grandfather!” Horus gaped at Re.

“Oh please,” Re rolled his eyes and slid back in his seat. “As if you all didn't know I was a... what was it you called me, Vervain?”

“A big gold perv,” I mumbled.

“A big gold perv,” Re declared with pride.

“Do I even want to know?” Trevor leaned in to ask me.

“No,” I said firmly. “You absolutely do not.”

“So when would you like to visit Sam?” Re called down the table to me.

“Um,” I looked toward Azrael and he widened his eyes at me. “My husbands wanted to talk to me about something important. We can go after that.”

“Important, eh?” Re looked over at my men, who all stared back at him as if daring him to say something.

“Can I go with you to meet Samedi?” Torrent asked, easing the tension.

“No,” Artemis and I said at the same time.