Seduced by Danger (6 page)

The temple was open to the top of the building with beautiful white marble walls that could only have been imported from Italy. Three columns on each side of a center aisle led to the wooden altar decorated with gold leaf.

Wooden benches lined the sides of the temple, leaving the floor mosaic bare for everyone to see. The mosaic showed a Tuscan forest populated by the various members of the
Fata
and
Enu
.

A half-hided
salbinelli
chased after a winged
folletta
. A mass of tiny human-shaped
candelas,
glowing like fireflies, danced around a tree stump as a
linchetti
couple, their pointed ears prominently displayed, lay entwined on a moonlit patch of grass.

Several
lucani
versipelli
howled at the bright moon, the wolves a sleek gray, while a
strega
bent over a moon bowl and her male companion held an
athame
in his hands. The conical hat on his head made her frown and she stepped forward to examine it more closely.

“The male represents a
netsvis
, kind of like a priest, though it’s been a long time since one’s been born. At least, that’s what I was told.”

Cara gasped and spun around to confront whoever had snuck up on her. The voice had been female but Cara knew women could be just as prone to violence as men.

The beautiful teenager standing behind her had a sunny smile and huge brown eyes and immediately put Cara at ease.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you,” the girl said. “I didn’t think anyone would be here now. I’m
Dilby
.”

She stuck out her hand and Cara took it immediately. “Cara. And I don’t want to interrupt you. I can leave—”

“Oh no, please don’t go. I just stopped for a few minutes, a little quiet time before work.”

Cara’s brows lifted. The girl didn’t look old enough to vote much less hold down a job. “Where do you work?”

The words were out before Cara could stop them and she wanted to kick herself. She’d been so careful since she’d escaped not to ask too many questions of others because people invariably wanted to ask you one in return. And Cara had way too many secrets to keep.

“I sing with the band at
DownBelow
,” the girl said. “I usually come here for a few minutes before heading over there. You should come.”

Cara had heard of the famous Etruscan-only night club from Johanna and she smiled, wondering if she’d ever be able to have a night out like a normal person. “I’d love to but I don’t think I’ll be able to tonight.” Or anytime soon, for that matter.

“Well, we’re there almost every night so hopefully you’ll catch us.” The girl’s dark eyes almost disappeared as she smiled. “I’ve got to get going and I know you want the place to yourself for a while.” Her smile disappeared as fast as it had appeared. “The Lady is a good listener. I like to think she can hear us. Even though…well, you know.”

Then
Dilby
headed out the door at the back, waving before closing the door behind her.

Yes, Cara understood what the girl was saying. The founding gods of the Etruscans, the
Involuti
, had vanished almost two millennia ago when the Romans had assimilated the Etruscans. They’d been out of contact with their people since then, leaving behind the remaining pantheon.

Most Etruscans, including Cara’s parents, believed something catastrophic had happened to them. Something that kept them from returning to their people.

Cara stared at the life-size statue behind the altar. The Great Mother Goddess
Uni
peered out into the expanse, her gaze taking in everything.

A few inches taller than Cara, the statue’s features were strong, purely Etruscan, her hair falling in waves to her waist. In her hands, she held a thunderbolt.

Cara walked up to the statue, now unsure why she’d come.

What did she honestly hope to learn? Did she expect answers to all her problems to just pop into her head?

With a sigh, she sank onto a bench along the wall and lifted her gaze to the vaulted ceiling.

* * * * *

Michael opened his eyes, reached for the other side of the bed and realized Cara wasn’t beside him.

In the next second, he realized she wasn’t in the house.

How the hell he knew that, he couldn’t be sure. It was almost like he’d put a homing beacon on her, one connected to his
arus
.

He flew out of bed, grabbed his jeans off the floor and a t-shirt from the chair then ran down the stairs. He heard voices and arrowed straight for them.

He saw his son first, sitting on the floor of in front of the TV, reciting the alphabet.
Aron
looked up at him and smiled. “Daddy, come watch with me.”

So many conflicting emotions hit Michael at that moment that he almost didn’t notice the two women sitting on the couch, watching his son.

Love for
Aron
combined with fear for Cara and the fierce need to protect them both made him glare at the women with distrust and put his body between them and his son.

“Who the hell are you and where’s Cara?”

The blonde—tiny, curved and beautiful—lifted one eyebrow at him as she set a sheet of newspaper aside. “Ooh, you’re right, Tilly. This one’s cute.”

The dark-haired, exotic-looking woman sitting next to her wore a hint of a smile on her full lips. “Yes, he is. And look how he’s protecting
Aron
. I told you there’s something different about this one. Did you sleep well, Michael?”

Sleep well? What the—

Oh
shit
.

He forced his body into a low bow.

“Ladies, greetings. And my apologies for my rudeness. I…”

Well, fuck. What the hell else was he supposed to say? He knew there were other words, better words he should use when talking to goddesses but this was the first time he’d ever met one, much less two.

Nortia
, Goddess of Fate, giggled. “I do so love when they do that, get all flummoxed and tongue-tied. It’s such an ego stroke.”

“And we all know how you love your ego—as well as other things—stroked,”
Hinthial
, Goddess of the Spirit, drawled. “Hello, Michael. You look much better. How are you feeling?”

“Much improved, Lady.”

“I’m so glad to hear that. And please do rise. All the blood will rush to your head and you’ll pass out. Wouldn’t want to scare your son. He’s kept us entertained all morning. He’s delightful.”

“Yes, Lady,” Michael said as he rose. “He’s…the best thing that’s ever happened to me. He and Cara.”

Hinthial’s
slow smile made the tightness in his chest ease just a little. “I’m very glad to hear you say that.” She tossed
Nortia
a smile. “You owe me five.”

Nortia
grinned back. “And I’ll gladly pay up. Cara’s fine, Michael. She asked to go to the temple so Sal sent her. She’ll be safe there.”

Temple. They must mean
Uni’s
Temple. He’d never been there. The
Mal
weren’t welcome there.

Nortia
tsked
, breaking through his thoughts. “You know, Michael, we get really sick and tired of the
Mal
using that old chestnut to excuse their manners.”

“Oh, cut the boy some slack, Tilly. He doesn’t know any better.”

If his head hadn’t been swimming already, Michael figured it’d be spinning around like a top now.

Focus. You’ve got to focus.

He needed to get to Cara, had to see her to know for himself that she was okay. The need felt almost like a virus in his blood, a compulsion.

“Daddy.”
Aron
tugged on his hand and Michael automatically bent to pick him up. “Come watch with me.”

“I can’t right now,
luri
. I have to talk to
Salvatorus
. But when I come back with Mommy, I’ll watch whatever you want, okay?”

Aron
gave a bright smile and smacked a kiss on his mouth. “Okay, Daddy.”

Michael set
Aron
back on the floor and turned back to the goddesses, both of whom smiled at him, stunning him into silence.

He’d been raised in a
Mal
household. His father had been
Mal
, his mother’s father had been
Mal
. He knew no other way of life.

His parents and grandparents had ingrained in him from childhood that most of the Etruscan deities had forsaken the
Mal
, that they’d shunned them centuries ago. That action had caused the
Mal
to put their considerable forces into becoming the powerful entity they were today.

With the exception of
Veive
, God of Revenge, the
Mal
now worshipped money and power above all else.

Michael had been the same. Until he’d seen Cara.

And what had started as him coveting a beautiful woman had brought him here. To a woman he loved and a son he adored. To the home of a male who should hate him yet had saved his life. In the presence of two goddesses who should want to zap him into
Aitás
.

Who were smiling at him as if he were a decent man.

But he wasn’t.

His breath caught in his throat and he bowed then got the hell out of there before the goddesses changed their mind and decided he was a liability they could no longer stand.

In a daze, Michael left the room and headed for the kitchen.

Where Sal sat with the rest of the local paper spread out on the table.

“You look like you could use some coffee.” Sal hopped off his chair and headed for the coffeepot on the counter. “Have a seat, son, before you trip over your feet.”

He sat. What else could he do? “Why did you send her alone, Sal?”

Sal poured a cup of coffee and set it down in front of him before answering. “Because she asked and she’s not a prisoner or a child. She’s an adult who went through one of the worst experiences a person could imagine and came through with her sanity intact and her heart pure. She’s a mother who’s raised a son on her own for the past year and she’s done a damn good job of it.”

Okay, that pretty much put him in his place.

For several seconds, Michael stared at his coffee, steaming untouched in front of him. Then he asked the question that was really bothering him. “So how did I know she was out of the house before I even got out of bed?”

From Sal’s sigh, Michael knew he was going to like the answer to this question even less than the answer to his first.

“You died, son. You were on your way to
Aitás
. There was a struggle for your soul and yes, we won, but it came with a price. Your
arus
is now tied to Cara’s.”

Michael slowly lifted his gaze to meet Sal’s steady dark eyes. “How bad is it for her?”

Sal’s gaze softened, so slightly Michael might have missed it if he wasn’t sitting right across the table from him.

“Not as bad as it is for you.”

He might be able to live with that. “What does that mean, exactly?”

“It means she feels your absence too. Just not with the same level of…discomfort.”

Discomfort? “What the hell does that mean? Come on, Sal. I’m not a child. Just spit it out.”

Sal sighed. “We don’t know for sure, but we think the farther she gets from you physically, the more it’ll feel like someone’s ripping your heart out of your chest.”

Well, shit. That sounded painful. “But she won’t feel that?”

“No.”

“Why?”

“Because your soul tied itself to hers when she called you back.”

Damn. Michael’s heart started to pound out an uneven rhythm and his lungs couldn’t get enough air.

“How far?”

Sal’s gaze narrowed. “You mean how far can you get before the pain is so excruciating you can’t function?”

Shit.
This was so fucking bad. “
Tinia’s
teat, Sal—”

“Now don’t explode on me, Michael. It’s not as bad as it seems.”

Michael couldn’t sit anymore. He jumped to his feet and started to pace like a caged lion. “Yes, it is. Christ, Sal, how can I go after Bennett? I can’t take her with me. I can’t let her get anywhere near the bastard. I won’t let him fuck with her life again.”

“I’m not saying take her with you. And we’re not sure how far the bond stretches. Tell me how you feel right now.”

Furious.
“Like I fucked up again and she’s going to pay.”

Sal frowned at him. “What the hell are you talking about?”

Michael met the other man’s gaze as he continued to pace. “
Vaffanculo
, Sal. I screwed up so many times, we should’ve been dead ten times over. I promised her, Sal. Damn it, I
promised
her we’d stop running sometime. I promised her I’d take care of Bennett so she could live.”

Impotent rage burned in his chest. So damn close. He’d almost made good on his promise to make it safe for them all.

But because he’d been so damn selfish, he’d fucked it all up.

“How do we break it?” Sal or the goddesses had to have a solution. They had to—

Sal shook his head. “There’s no breaking it, Michael. You break it, you die.”

“What about Cara? If I die, will she be okay?”

Sal’s eyes narrowed as he leaned back in his chair. “Damn, son, I don’t like where you’re going with this.”

Michael didn’t care. “I don’t want her to be stuck with me, Sal. She deserves better.”

“Better than you, you mean?”

That’s exactly what he meant. He didn’t deserve her. And yet…he wanted her to love him and never leave him.

She’d never said the words. He suspected it was because he’d been so damn careful not to say it to her. And because she thought he didn’t want to hear it.

Which was both true and so very not true.

He was so fucking pathetic he should put himself out of his misery.

“Well,” Sal shook his head, “I can’t do much about your low self-esteem. But I can tell you Cara would have your head if she heard you talk like this so I suggest you don’t ever say that in her presence. Get your head out of your ass, boy. You’re damn lucky to have this woman. Don’t screw it up.”