My Soul to Take (16 page)

“Well, we all make sacrifices for those we love and honestly, I enjoy it,” I shrugged and then went still with revelation. “Damn it, I do have to make that oath. They've done so much for me, sacrificed so much, I can't say no to this.”

“Blah, blah, blah,” Re rolled his eyes. “They've sacrificed,” he mimicked my voice. “Oh please. They did exactly as they wanted to in order to get exactly
who
they wanted; you. Yes, it's a sacrifice but only in the sense that they were trading up; an exchange of one thing for something much better.”

“What?”

“Humans have been doing it since they first beheld our power,” he sighed. “They offer us something they think would please us but then they expect us to do something for them in return. They want their crops to bear fruit or the rain to come, et cetera, et cetera.” He waved grandly. “Now, I ask you; is that a true sacrifice or is it a trade?”

“Well,” I thought it over. “I suppose all sacrifice is made in order to achieve some sort of goal. Sacrifice has purpose behind it, even if it's simply trading your life for that of another.”

“Originally, the reason humans sacrificed to us was love,” he lifted his chin. “They loved us and so they gave willingly to us. We were the ones who offered them something in return. We showed them favor for favoring us and the exchange of sacrifice and patronage was born.”

“Alright,” I huffed. “So we've worked out the definition of sacrifice. So what? It doesn't change the fact that they've all given up things for me.”

“Like what?”

“For starters, they share me. They gave up normal monogamous relationships,” I frowned. Why were we even having this conversation on our date? It was beginning to feel weird.

“A choice,” he shrugged. “They could have easily said no.”

“But they love me, so they sacrificed the chance of having a woman they didn't have to share.”

“They made their choice,” he nodded. “They wanted you more than they wanted to have a woman all to themselves. Just as my worshipers wanted my favor more than a sheep or a goat.”

“They gave you goats?” I cocked my head at him.

“Yes but that's besides the point,” he cleared his throat. “Your men are right where they want to be. No one forced them to choose you, they did so all on their own.”

“But I still get the better end of the deal,” I argued.

“Do you?” He blinked innocently at me. “Who's sitting here lamenting over whether or not she should give in to the demands of her four husbands after they teamed up against her and guilted her into feeling like she had to say yes to something she didn't want to do? Let me give you a hint,” he leaned in to whisper to me, “it's not me.”

I gaped at him as I thought it over. Didn't I owe them? Or was love supposed to be beyond feelings of debt? But shouldn't I try to make them happy? Or should I take responsibility for my own happiness and expect them to do the same? But what if they were taking responsibility for their own happiness by trying to get me to make an oath to them? Oh, it was beginning to make my head hurt.

“There are benefits and detriments to each side of this,” Re went on. “Yes, you have the love and loyalty of all of us but you also have the headache of making sure we all feel loved while you also try to be a mother to your twins as well as to your grown sons you had in another life. It sounds like way too much work for me,” he sighed and laid back to lazily reach for his champagne and take a sip. “I'd much rather be on this end of the stick, as you call it.”

“Really?” I asked in shock. “I would have thought you'd like to have multiple lovers again.”

“Multiple lovers, sure,” he smiled wickedly. “But not multiple
wives
. There's a big difference between love and a lover. When that single letter is removed, a weight of obligation replaces it. I once wore the heavy mantle of a terrible responsibility upon my shoulders and I never wish to do so again.”

“Terrible responsibility,” I mulled it over. “No, I don't find it terrible, this responsibility I have to your heart; to all of their hearts. I find it...” I inhaled deep as the emotions washed up over me, “beautiful, thrilling, humbling, and very empowering. Loving all of you makes me stronger.”

“Then what are you whining about, Lala?” He leaned forward and whispered against my lips.

“I have no idea,” I took his breath as my own and then claimed the rest of him with a kiss. Mine. I'll take him, yes thank you, and no, I don't mind the responsibility at all.

So why
was
I whining about the oaths? It seemed a little like childish pouting now. So what if they had access to my mind? I could block them out if I wanted to. This was the life I chose, just as they had chosen me, and if they needed this to be happy, I would make it happen. Not out of guilt but out of love.

How funny that it wasn't Trevor who truly convinced me in the end. It was Re, the only one of them who wouldn't be getting an oath. Yet.

The boat docked and Re led me to land, where a line of rugged terrain vehicles were parked. Don't ask me what kind of vehicle they were exactly, I have no idea. All I know is that they were big and black. The interior of the one he helped me into was surprisingly comfortable, with plush leather seats and crisp a/c. As soon as our door shut, we were zooming across the desert and Re was reaching for another bottle of champagne.

I had imagined the deserts of Egypt to be flat wastelands speckled with small patches of oasis-green but it turns out that it's not flat at all. We rumbled over hills and through huge rock formations the color of latte froth. Several formations had foundations that had been worn away and tops which fanned out in bubbled oddity, making them appear to be colossal mushrooms... the shitake variety. It was an exotic, almost ethereal world and in the middle of it we came to a billowing tent, whiter than the sparse clouds which stretched thin above us.

“What's this?” I peered out of the window as we stopped before the tent.

“Lunch,” he shrugged.

“Oooh more food,” I laughed. “That's always a good thing. Unless of course the food is along the
Temple of Doom
variety.”

“Pardon?” He lifted a dark brow. “The Temple of Doom is a category of cuisine?”

“It's an Indiana Jones movie,” I sighed. “They get fed monkey brains and eyeball soup.”

“Come along, Lala,” he helped me out of the car, right onto a carpet which extended from the tent in welcome. “I promise there won't be any doom dining.”

Beneath the extravagant draped fabric, a wonderland of lush carpets, low couches, and lounging pillows was laid out invitingly. There was a squat brass table set before the couches, already laden with vibrantly colored plates full of exotic food. And not a single monkey in sight. Waiters stood off to the side, holding pitchers of water and wine, ready to serve us.

“Whoa,” I blinked in surprise as he led me to one of the couches.

“Do you like it?” He smiled like a child waiting to be rewarded for a fabulous report card.

“I love it,” I leaned back into pillows once more and sighed. “These Egyptians sure do like to lounge.”

“Who doesn't?” Re leaned back with me as a man came forward and started filling brightly colored plates with an assortment of food for us. “Thank you,” Re nodded to the waiter and he stepped back to stand with the others. “Are you hungry?” He handed me my plate.

I took it and slid closer to him, so we could lean against each other as we ate.

“I'm always hungry,” I took a bite of some sweetly savory dish and sighed. “Damn this is the heart of hedonism.”

“That would be
my
heart,” Re kissed my forehead. “Which you hold, so technically it's your heart.”

“I wonder what your followers would think to discover that their sun god is such a romantic,” I mused.

“They'd think I must be the most accomplished romancer there has ever been,” he said smugly. “How could I be anything but?”

“And there's my guy,” I giggled and gave him a quick kiss. “I have no idea when this narcissistic attitude of yours became charming.”

“It sneaks up on you,” he winked at me. “Speaking of which...”

“You're sneaking up on me?”

“No,” he chuckled. “Well, maybe later. But seriously, I went to see Dionysus.”

“Why?” I frowned, instantly wary. “What happened?”

“Because of Pasithea,” he reminded me. “How you need her to stop producing Net.”

“Oh,” I said with relief.

I had completely forgotten that we needed to deal with the fact that Hades had handed Pasithea over to her father for safe keeping and Dionysus had been allowing Pasithea to continue selling Net... which was exactly the opposite of what he was supposed to do. But that's what you get for handing a prisoner over to her father.

“What did Di say?” I sat up for this conversation.

“He said he thought he was just supposed to watch her and keep her in his territory,” Re shrugged. “He didn't understand that he was supposed to stop her business activities but he promised to do so now that he knows it's what Hades wants.”

“That's good,” I watched him carefully. “Why don't you seem more happy about it?”

“Because he had some news,” Re cleared his throat. “Phantasus was killed.”

“Morph's brother?” I gaped at him.

“Yes.”

“Oh no,” I sighed. “How did it happen?”

“There was a fight,” Re said grimly. “Huitzilopochtli and Eztli against Phantasus and several other gods.”

“Blue fought Phantasus?” I frowned.

“If you recall, Eztli was romantically involved with Phantasus.”

“Oh right,” I worked it through. “So Phantasus must not have taken kindly to Eztli breaking things off.”

I didn't think for one second that Blue had instigated the violence. He could be aggressive of course but Blue was not a poor winner.

“It appears so.”

I wasn't a fan of Phantasus. He'd tried to kill me once, so I think my opinion of him was valid. Still, I loved Morpheus and I knew that Morpheus loved his brother, no matter what Phantasus had done. He had just lost his father, Hypnos, and that had been rough on him but this would be so much worse.

“Morpheus lived with his brothers for a long time. They weren't exactly isolated, they could roam the Realm of Dreams, but they only truly socialized with each other,” I said. “He's going to be devastated.”

“I know,” Re grimaced. “Which is why I'm telling you instead of him. I think the news should come from someone he cares about and who cares about him.”

“Damn,” I shook my head. “Okay, I'll tell him.”

“Thank you.”

“Thank you for handling the Pasithea problem,” I cocked my head at him. “Looks like you really do listen to me.”

“What was that?”

“Ha ha,” I slapped his chest and then leaned back into his side. “Now can we forget about everyone else and just enjoy the rest of our date?”

“
That
I heard,” he grinned and then looked up at our waiters. “We're fine here, thank you.”

They filed off behind the tent and Re turned to me with a mischievous look.

“What; I don't even get to finish my lunch first?”

“I don't know about you,” he purred, “but I'm a marvelous multi-tasker.”

When I got home to Pride Palace the next evening, it was to find Blue waiting for me.

He was on the drawbridge veranda with Kirill, watching the sunset and enjoying a beer. Trevor had gone to check on Moonshine, our night club in Hawaii, and Azrael had been called in to work- which basically means souls were backing up, waiting for him to collect them. I had gone up to an empty bedroom and searched the towers till I finally found Odin in his personal bedroom (each of them had a tower room for some private space), catching up on some reading with Geri and Freki laying across his feet. Odin had brought his wolves and ravens over from Asgard awhile back and although Nick, my gray tabby cat, didn't exactly get along with the wolves and often tried to catch the ravens, they lived pretty harmoniously together. Mainly because both wolves and ravens preferred to be outdoors.

But the wolves were inside with their best friend now and their bestie was loathe to move them- sort of like cat paralysis except with wolves. So Odin had remained upstairs while Kirill had gone down to greet our guest and keep him company until I arrived. Because evidently, it was me Blue wanted to see. So I kissed Odin on the cheek and gave each wolf a few scratches before rushing back downstairs. Yes, I rushed. In case you haven't caught on yet, I'd been concerned about Blue.

“Hey, you,” I smiled in relief to see Blue in perfect health.  I walked across the veranda to where he was seated with Kirill, my heels thumping hollowly on the wooden boards even though they were covered with an area rug. “Long time no see, stranger.”

“Vervain,” he stood to hug me. “It's wonderful to see you. It
has
been a long time.”

“So what happened?” I motioned for him to take his seat again as I sat beside Kirill.

“I found her,” he smiled as he sat. “We've worked things out.”

“Yes, I heard something about you kicking a lamia out of Eztli's night club,” I teased him as I nestled into Kirill's side. He casually slung an arm over my shoulder.

“Really?” Blue blinked in surprise. “How...?”

“They hang with Hekate, remember?” I reminded him. “And Hekate is with Horus.”

“Oh, of course,” he laughed. “Well, I...”

“You're happy,” I whispered joyously. “Look at you, you're
so
happy... and I'm happy for you,” I leaned forward and squeezed his hand. “Congratulations, Blue.”

“Thank you,” he grinned. “Actually, I came to deliver this,” he handed me a large envelope.

I opened it and showed the card to Kirill; a wedding invitation. We both congratulated him again.

“Of course we'll attend,” I said to Blue. “I'm looking forward to it.”

“You should have been at ours,” Kirill chided him.

“I know,” Blue cleared his throat. “And I'm deeply sorry to have missed it. There were issues-”

“Don't worry about it,” I cut him off and gave Kirill a quelling look. “It would have been nice to have you there but I'm much happier knowing that you were missing because you were working towards your own matrimony. It's so wonderful, Blue. You've loved each other for a very long time and you've been separated for most of it. That you could move past all the pain and anger to decide to spend forever with each other... well, it's a fairy tale ending.”

“Ve are happy for you,” Kirill amended, leaning forward to shake Blue's hand.

“Thank you both,” Blue nodded. “I hope you won't hold what Eztli did against her.”

“What; you mean that whole kidnapping me and trying to take the blood of my baby thing?” I scoffed. “Nah, it's all good. There's no bad blood between us... mainly because she didn't get any blood.”

“Vervain,” Blue laughed and shook his head.

“Vervain, eh?” I asked softly. “What happened to
little witch
?”

“I guess I'm trying to move beyond our past too,” he shrugged.

“Don't do that,” I said seriously. “Our past was rocky but it was also victorious. I think about that every time you call me by that nickname.”

“Then I promise to continue to do so,” he vowed.

“Um, there's something I'd like to ask you about, now that I have you here,” I glanced at Kirill. “And this will be the first Kirill hears of it too.”

“What's that?” Blue cocked his head at me.

“Tima?” Kirill frowned.

“I've just been told that Phantasus is dead,” I announced. Kirill inhaled sharply but Blue just sighed and looked away. “Re said you and Eztli fought him.”

“We did but I wasn't the one who killed him,” Blue shook his head. “It was Morvran. He had taken a liking to Eztli and was watching over her. She and I were both hit with Net during the final stages of the battle and Phantasus would have killed me but Morvran interceded.”

“Morvran?” I asked. “I'm not familiar with that god.”

“He's a Celtic god of war,” Blue explained. “He tried to save Eztli but Phantasus traced away with her. So he moved me into a safer spot and then chased after them.”

“Chased after them?” I frowned. “Through the Aether?”

“He had some kind of a tracking spell on Eztli,” Blue shrugged. “I would be upset about it but he saved both of our lives, so it would seem petty now.”

“So Morvran killed Phantasus?” I clarified.

“Beheaded him from behind, I'm told,” Blue nodded. “Though I would have killed him if I'd been able to. Morvran rescued Eztli from Phantasus and as much as I'm thankful to him, it bothers me that he was successful where I was not.”

“He made sure you vere safe before he left?” Kirill asked and Blue nodded. “And you say he has love for Eztli?”

“He does,” Blue grimaced, “and I don't know how to feel about that.”

“Vell, he could have killed you vhile you vere under Net and Eztli vould not have known it vas him who did so. But he didn't, he saved you despite vanting your voman,” Kirill observed. “He sounds like good man. Or at very least, he has honor.”

“Well, like all of us, he has his motivations,” Blue noted. “But so far, they align with mine. So I'm grateful for them.”

“Me too,” I smiled at Blue. “I'm glad you're alive.”

“So am I,” Blue stood and I stood as well, to give him a hug before Kirill and I walked him to the tracing chamber. “Thank you for encouraging me to follow my heart, little witch,” he kissed my cheek and then traced back to his fiance.

“So he's marrying ze Vampire Queen,” Kirill mused.

“Looks like it,” I nodded.

“I wonder if
she'll
give
him
a blood oath.”

“I'm going to kick your ass, Ganza!” I slapped his arm as he chuckled.