My Soul to Take (14 page)

“Um, your food is on fire,” I pointed to his dish like he might be unaware of the flames rising from it.

“It's how I like it,” he chuckled and blew the flames out.

“It's a flaming cock!” Samedi howled, “And you just gave it a blow job! That makes you a flamer.”

“I do like me some cock,” Krim joined in the fun. “But I think I'd be a flame extinguisher, not a flamer.”

“Whatever, Fire Extinguisher,” Samedi hooted. “You're still a cock blower.”

“I don't get it,” I whispered to Brigitte.

“It's rooster, honey,” she waved at the charred carcass. “Burned cock.”

“I'm a man who could really appreciate that flame of yours, Godhunter,” Krim winked at me.

“She's already appreciated, more than enough,” Re grumbled.

“Yeah, I heard you fuck five men at once,” a man called from further down the table. “That true? Cause if you can do five, I'm sure you can fit one more in,” he waggled heavy brows at me.

“Nope, 'fraid I'm full up,” I called back and everyone chortled with glee.

“That's Brave,” Brigitte said to me.

“Not really,” I cocked my head at her. “I was just trying to be funny.”

“No, I mean that the man who just spoke to you is Brave,” she laughed. “That's his name.”

“Oh,” I giggled. “Good name.” I looked around the table and shook my head. “Why do I feel like I'm in the center of the Labyrinth with King Jareth and his goblins?”

“You know; you remind me of the babe,” Samedi mused.

“What babe?” I asked.

“The babe with the power,” he winked at me and I finally caught on.

“What power?” I said the next line of the song with a chuckle.

“The power of Voodoo,” he rubbed his hands together villainously.

“Who do?”

“You do.”

“Do what?”

“Remind me of the babe,” he finished gleefully and the whole table burst into laughter.

“Nicely played,” I nodded to him. “I think you're the first god to ever quote David Bowie to me, much less sing him. And such an appropriate song. I'd toast you if I had a drink.”

“Someone pour a drink for the Godhunter,” Samedi called down the table immediately. “This is blasphemy! We cannot have a dry-mouthed goddess. We like our women wet, don't we boys?”

Another round of laughter and cheering.

A glass was passed up to me and one to Re. I looked at him askance and he nodded. I guess if I could handle their hot pepper rum, I could handle their wine.

“To Sam,” I lifted my glass to Samedi and gave the only coarse toast I knew. “Here's to you and here's to me and may we never disagree. But if we do,” I glared at him, “fuck you and here's to me!”

That got me a few encouraging shouts along with the laughter. Even the stuffy Nibo gave me an approving grin.

“I think you may actually love
Labyrinth
as much as I do,” I said to Sam as soon as I lowered my glass.

“I like that King Jareth, he has the best lines,” Sam nodded.

“I ask for so little,” I quoted. “Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I'll be your slave.”

“Exactly,” Samedi hooted. “Sounds fair to me. Don't you think, my love?” He looked to Brigitte.

“Absolutely,” she agreed. “And as long as you continue to do all of those things, I will remain your love slave.”

“Nice,” I fist-bumped her.

“Oh, that's Babacao,” Brigitte pointed to the man who had poured the wine for me. “He's Papa's brother. Real brother, by blood.”

“And speaking of brothers,” Samedi waved to a couple of thin men.

One of them was so androgynous, I almost thought he was a woman. But it was obvious he wasn't when he spoke.

“Godhunter,” he bowed. “I am Masaka and this is my brother Oussou.”

Oussou lifted his glass to me in salute and then downed it. He wore a mauve scarf on his head and Masaka wore a white one. I looked closer at their faces and saw a strong resemblance, almost to the point of-

“We're twins,” Masaka nodded to my perusal.

“Really?” I grinned. “I just had twin boys.”

“See, I told you all she slept with more than one of them at a time,” Brave threw a roll at someone.

“She means that she gave birth to twins,” Re corrected with a huff.

“Congratulations, hot mama,” Krim smirked. “Our people believe twins have divine vision. It's a great blessing.”

The skin over my arms shivered as my face went blank.

“Did I say something wrong?” Kriminel smiled as if he hoped he had.

“No,” I whispered and then said more strongly. “No, not at all.” I wasn't about to share personal info with this group. And that's when I remembered why we were there. “Um, I actually wanted to talk to Sam about something.”

“Let me,” Re laid a hand on my arm and sat forward to address Samedi. “So here's the thing, Sam. We've come across some information regarding you. You were overheard saying something about a moon goddess.”

“Some information... saying something... moon goddess,” Samedi shook his head, looking convincingly confused. “That's kinda vague, my friend.”

“Something that sounded possibly threatening,” Re went on.

“Nope,” Samedi laughed. “I've
mooned
a few goddesses but I don't know any moon goddesses to threaten. And if I did, the threat would be to their mons not their moon.”

The table burst into laughter.

“So you don't have anything against Vervain?” Re persisted.

“Vervain?” Samedi looked at me in surprise. “Are you a moon goddess? I thought you were a love goddess?” He wagged his brows at me. They really liked wagging their brows, those Gede.

“She's both,” Brigitte slapped his arm. “And a lion goddess.”

“Meow,” Krim angled his fingers into claws and drug them through the air.

I exchanged an unsure look with Re, ignoring Krim entirely. If Samedi was lying, he was a damn good actor. But it's not like I haven't been fooled before.

“Is there a moon lwa?” I asked and the table went silent. “What I say?”

“There is a lwa of the moon, though we wouldn't phrase it as such,” Samedi said, strangely serious. “She rules the moon and the tides. Her name is La Sirene and I would never threaten that sweet lady.”

“La Sirene?” I frowned, something tickling the back of my mind.

“The Siren,” someone behind me whispered reverently.

“She has been a friend to me,” Samedi said as he took his wife's hand. “To all of us, at a time when we had very few allies.”

“We have to go,” Re stood up abruptly and went to kiss Brigitte's cheek.

“What?” Brigitte protested. “But you've just arrived.

“I forgot that I left someone tied up,” Re teased. “She'll be seriously pissed when I get back.”

“You'll be lucky if she hasn't seriously pissed all over your floor,” Samedi laughed and shook Re's hand. “Never leave the ladies hanging, Re. It only gives them time to plot.”

“And we don't want that,” Re winked at Sam.

“It was nice to meet all of you,” I stood and joined Re, a little confused but trusting that Re knew what he was doing.

“The pleasure was most definitely ours,” Samedi got up and kissed my cheek. “But it could be yours if you visited us again.”

“Only if Re wanted to give us a show,” Brigitte elbowed her husband away from me. “Which, I'd be more than happy to watch,” she hugged me. “Adye, Godhunter. It's been fun.”

“It really has,” I said in surprise. “Thank you for your hospitality.”

“Come again!” Krim called after us. “Hell, come all you want... and may I suggest my face for your coming pleasure?”

“Wow... just... wow,” I whispered to Re as we left.

“Keep walking,” he muttered to me, making me quicken my pace.

“Are we in danger?” I whispered.

“I'm not sure but I think we should hurry home,” he urged me down the hallway and into the tracing room.

“Why?” I asked as I took his hand. “What spooked you?

“La Sirene,” he said to me as if I should already know. “Vervain, La Sirene is the name for the ocean lwa,” I just stared at him blankly until he went on. “She's a cross-over deity. In Santeria, she's known as-”

“Yemanja,” I whispered.

“Get out of the water, we need to talk,” I said to Yemanja.

She was in the swimming pool with a few of my Intare and I was momentarily distracted by her mermaid tail, shimmering through colors from lilac to lemongrass. It was stunning against her cognac skin and the cerulean tiles lining the pool. My lions seemed just as fascinated, focused on the frothy ends of her tail like house cats on a dangling toy.

“What happened?” She swam to the stairs and as she swam, her tail shifted into legs. She grabbed a towel by the edge of the pool and wrapped it around herself as she came out of the water.

“Inside,” I angled my head toward Pride Palace. “Re's gone to get my husbands.”

“Vervain,” she frowned at me. “Are you upset with me? Have I done something to offend you?”

“Just come inside, Yemanja,” I sighed.

Once we were all settled on chairs in front of the dining hall's fireplace, I turned to Yemanja, “Why didn't you mention that you're a moon goddess?”

“I...” she blinked in surprise. “I don't really think of myself as one. I do hold sway over the tides, which is why my followers associate me with the moon, but I have no true moon abilities.”

“Well you're the only moon goddess Samedi knows,” Re said gently.

“Me?” She frowned. “But no one ever refers to me as the moon, not the way Samedi said it when you overheard him,” she nodded to Azrael.

“He said he didn't know any moon goddesses,” I asserted. “And he sure as hell didn't recognize me.”

“But then she asked him if he knew any moon
lwas
and his face changed,” Re was grim. “The whole room went silent.”

“Though it was with respect and he swore he would never do anything to offend you,” I mused. “He said you've been a good friend to them.”

“A lot of lwas don't get along with the Baron and his boys,” she shrugged. “I know they serve a purpose; to show how death can take you beyond the weight of living, beyond cares of appearances or propriety. They represent freedom and the exuberance of shucking off the chains of the physical body. When other lwas ostracized them for their behavior, I fought to have them included. It was only fair.”

“My point is that if the Baron is guilty, I believe he's doing this out of admiration for you,” I tried to work it out. “Somehow, he thinks you'll approve.”

“Impossible,” she scoffed. “How could I approve of him hurting my people?”

“I don't know but it's the only way this makes sense,” I shrugged and turned to Azrael. “When he said those words;
the Moon will see the truth
, what did he sound like? I mean, did he sound like he was seeking revenge or did he sound like he was hopeful?”

“He didn't sound angry exactly,” Azrael thought it over. “More determined, I guess.”

“Determined to do what?” Yemanja muttered.

“Well, one thing's for certain,” I grimaced. “He has a plan and a goal.”

“If Sam really is behind this,” Re mused. “The plan will be masterful and no one will know what he's truly after until he achieves it.”

“You know him rather well,” Yemanja lifted her dark brows at Re.

“Oh yeah,” I chuckled, “they love Re over there in Goblin Central.”

“Not as much as they loved you,” Re muttered.

“What does that mean?” Trevor growled and leaned forward.

“It's fine,” I waved Trevor back. “It's just how they are.”

“What: wife-stealers?” Trevor transferred his angry expression to me and I realized this wasn't about the Gede, this was about what had happened before I left.

I stared back at Trevor, contemplating him and what I should say. Everyone else watched us, utterly silent. It got uncomfortable, people shifting their feet and making little awkward sounds, but I kept staring at Trevor until he grabbed my hand and yanked me to my feet.

“Hey now,” Re stood and Trevor angled his head towards him and growled.

Trevor remained in human form but it was like he was suddenly bigger, ten times more intimidating. Shifters could do that, it was weird. They stared at you and even though their bodies remained human, you could see the animal in their eyes and you knew that one false step would bring the beast forth. It was a warning and Re was smart enough to heed it. He nodded regally and Trevor swung around to yank me down the length of the room and out into the hall. He didn't stop there either but pulled me into a room and slammed the door behind us.

It was one of the little sitting rooms we had equipped with couches and a TV. Sometimes the guys wanted to watch something really loud that might disturb others in the common room, so they'd go watch it in one of these rooms... these soundproof rooms.

“You just fucking leave like that?!” He shouted at me. “Really, Vervain? What the hell is wrong with you? You don't have a fight that awful and just leave. You don't do that to me, not to any of us. We're your husbands now, you owe us more than that.”

“Yeah, evidently I owe you everything,” I shouted back, “including my blood!”

“The problem isn't the blood and you know it,” he snarled in my face. “You share blood with Arach all the time.”

“That's a dragon thing and I mentioned that already.”

“And this is a god thing,” he snapped.

“I married you,” I huffed. “I gave you vows of forever. Why do you need this too?”

“Because I'm Froekn,” he growled. “I need more than forever. I need your vows beneath the moon, I need your mind open to mine,” he grabbed me by the hips and pulled me against him. “I need your blood over my heart, my scent across your skin, and your body beneath mine. That's what I need and you promised you'd be everything I needed.”

His mouth on mine was like a shot of whiskey; it wiped out all of my resistance with searing, gasping intensity. I clawed my way up him until we were perfectly fit to one another and then I wrapped my legs around his waist. The wolf inside me howled and I flung my head back, baring my neck to his teeth. The bite came immediately, a gnawing, claiming, growling, erotic joining almost as intimate as sex itself.

Then his face was rubbing against me and his hands were lifting my dress. I had one hand in his hair and one digging into his shoulder but I released him briefly so he could yank my dress off. There were couches that would have been quite comfortable but we ended up on the floor, skin pressed to skin as he slid down my body and scent-marked me like it was our first time together. He covered every inch of skin, licking, rubbing, and biting his way over my body till I was shaking.

When I thought I'd scream from frustration, he finally brought us together and I screamed from pleasure instead. Pressed together fully, he just angled his hips away for the push, keeping as much contact with me as possible. I could feel his heart beating against my chest and his mouth was locked with mine. Then suddenly, he flung himself back and pulled me up to turn me over onto my knees.

Both hands went to my hips and his pace increased until I knew he was reaching his boiling point. His hands were digging into me, deep into my muscles, and our flesh slapped together viciously. He yanked me up, my back to his chest, and his hand went to my face, angling me to look at him.

“
This
is what it means to love a wolf, Minn Elska,” he purred. “I can't have any less than all of you.”

And with that, he brought us both over into howling completion.