Seducing Destiny (Brothers of Fate Book 2) (7 page)

Morrigan never turned her attention completely from Luci, as she wandered the room. “How long do you think it will take Helblindi to get here?” The goddess’s voice was sing-songy, set to a rhythm Luci couldn’t hear.

“Blake’s not coming for me.” Even as she said it, Luci realized exactly how true it was. Why did she walk away from what little security she had?

Because this wasn’t supposed to happen if she left.

“Oh, Lovely… That’s what he calls you, right? Lovely Luci? He’s coming.” Morrigan picked the remote from the nightstand, turned it over in her hands, then whirled and threw it.

It flew at high-velocity toward Luci’s head, and Luci ducked just in time to hear it whistle past her ear. This was worse than being killed instantly. Or maybe it wasn’t. This was different from every time in the past—she remembered that. Morrigan had never talked before. Was this how she kept Luci from ever coming back? Maybe Morrigan intended to talk her to death this time.

“He’ll always come for you, Lovely.” Morrigan picked through the far end of the room, ruffling her fingers over the curtains and glancing out the window. “That’s why I need to figure out how to stop you from coming back. You’re his obsession. As long as you keep showing up, he’ll keep pursuing you. Even the first time, he mourned you for over a century.”

The idea warmed Luci more than she wanted it to. “Why do you care?”

“Hmm...” Morrigan tapped her chin. “Because I don’t like him. That’s strictly personal.”

“So you keep killing me?” Luci’s fingers brushed something smooth and cold. The phone. Would clocking this madwoman in the head buy Luci even a few seconds? She was willing to find out. She inched her fingers over the device, a few millimeters more every time Morrigan turned away.

“Oh, that. No. I keep killing you
in front of him
because I don’t like him. That’s why you’re still alive right now. But you’re in more than one fate, Lovely. You’re destined to be my downfall, and the idea anyone is capable of replacing me is a load of horseshit. I’m not going anywhere, but you are until you stay dead.”

“It must suck to be you.” Luci meant the bold words to be a distracting taunt, but something about them rang deeper. What would it be like to spend an eternity always looking over her shoulder, wondering when her life would end? Maybe she didn’t want immortality after all.

“It doesn’t.” Morrigan wiggled her fingers in the air, and the phone was wrenched from Luci’s hand. It slammed into the far wall with a sickening clang and left a dent in the plaster. Pieces of plastic clattered to the ground.

Luci stretched her fingers, panic surging back again. Morrigan had to be wrong. Blake didn’t know where she was and wasn’t coming for her. That meant she was safe until Morrigan got bored and offed her anyway. Instinct told her that was a very imminent possibility. Luci gripped the back of the chair next to her. Could she use that as a club?

Morrigan’s mouth stretched into an exaggerated yawn. “The problem with waiting for someone who can’t move quickly is not knowing if he’s on his way and just slow or if we’re going to be here all afternoon.”

“You can leave. I won’t mind.” Luci tried to keep her tone light, but terror gripped more of her thoughts every minute. She remembered what it was like to be torn apart by Morrigan’s magic and wanted very much for it to not happen again. Her heart hammered in her chest, and her stomach turned in on itself.

“Nah.” Morrigan perched on the edge of the bed and crossed her legs at the knee. “We’ll give him thirty more minutes, and then I’ll just obliterate every last inch of you. Or maybe only ten. I have other things to accomplish this year.”

Luci tightened her grip on the chair, forced all her strength into her arms, and swung. The furniture shattered before it reached Morrigan. Splinters bigger than Luci’s forearm flew at Luci, some slicing her skin, and others slamming into her bones and bruising.

“Or we’ll do it now.” Morrigan stood, brushed invisible dust from her clothing, and stalked toward Luci.

Shit. Panic, fear, and the distinct desire to live at least a few more years spilled through Luci. She threw a wild punch, and Morrigan knocked her hand aside. Luci stepped back, but the desk was in the way. What was she supposed to do now?

“I never figured out what he likes about you.” Morrigan’s sing-song voice returned. She drew a line in the air, following the curve of Luci’s neck. Though Morrigan never made contact, Luci felt the skin slice and warm blood trickle down. “You’ve always been odd.” Morrigan continued a downward path, and a tear split Luci’s shirt above her right breast. This time she saw the ugly red gash appear. “You’re fat. You’re boring. You’re whiny.” She dragged her nail past the waistband of Luci’s jeans and over her hip.

Luci couldn’t hold back her scream, as the cut sliced through denim and her birthmark. Her legs threatened to give out from the pain.

“And you’re not suited to wear my mark,” Morrigan said, “let alone take my place.”

*

Blake heard Luci scream halfway down the hall, and his sprint turned into a flat run. He slammed through the hotel door in time to see her drop to her knees, red splattered around her.

Morrigan spun with a smirk. “You took yo—” Her taunt ended in a gurgle when Blake pinned her to wall by the throat. He summoned his power from within and forced it out. His gift was unique among gods. No one else but Marley had the ability to stop another immortal from accessing their power, and unlike in the past, he had enough warning and experience to keep Morrigan incapacitated. As long as he held her in place, she couldn’t do anything.

The problem was, neither could he. She wasn’t mortal like this, just powerless.

“You’re here.” Morrigan’s voice held too much glee.

Blake wanted to check on Luci. To see if she was all right and to figure out how to stop the bleeding. But if he let his attention shift for even a moment, he and Luci were both fucked.

“Stalemate,” Morrigan said, her tone taunting. “What are you going to do now?”

Blake lifted Morrigan off the ground by the throat, hoping to find enough leverage to cut off her air and stop her babbling. She didn’t need oxygen to survive, but she did need it to talk. He couldn’t squeeze her windpipe tighter, though. Her energy pushed against his. Mentally, he shoved back. He was vaguely aware of Luci climbing to her feet, but he didn’t dare give her more than the barest recognition.

He summoned more from within, pushing harder against Morrigan. This wouldn’t happen again. He wouldn’t let it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Luci stumble toward the bed.

A surge slammed into him and threw him back from Morrigan. The goddess dropped softly to her toes, grin sliding back onto her face. The expression vanished when Luci brought a framed print down on her head. Glass shattered, dropping in shards around Morrigan. She snarled, whirled toward Luci, and flung her into a far wall. Luci landed with a loud slap. A crack rent the air, and she screamed as her arm snapped to an unnatural angle. The cuts on Morrigan’s scalp were already healing.

Blake reached inside and grabbed everything he had. He pushed it all toward Morrigan in a single burst, building a bubble of helplessness around her. He dragged up the last bits of what he had and then scraped further for more. He poured every bit of power he’d ever known into keeping Morrigan from accessing her own.

Her smugness vanished, and she dropped to her knees. The cuts in her head re-opened, and blood flowed freely. Still he pushed harder. He wouldn’t let Luci die. He refused to. Pain seared his veins, burning through his muscles, ravaging his joints, and he forced out more energy.

The edges of his vision blurred and then grew black. Spots danced in front of his eyes. He was vaguely aware of someone screaming. His name maybe. He wasn’t sure. Morrigan collapsed on the floor, and the persistent glow of her aura vanished.

Blake’s world went dark.

*

Luci cradled her arm to her side and bit the inside of her cheek to keep from screaming. Blake and Morrigan both lay on the floor, unmoving. The cuts on Morrigan’s scalp had reopened, and blood matted her hair. They needed to leave before the goddess woke up, but Luci had trouble standing. There was no way she could drag Blake out of there. She pulled herself onto the bed, doing her best to avoid broken glass and wood, grabbed her phone, and dialed Marley’s number.

“Hello?” a tentative voice answered.

“We need help.” At least talking didn’t hurt. She gave a brief rundown of what had happened.

“Shit. We’ll be right there,” Marley said.

Luci slumped back against the wall, exhaustion flowing through her. Every movement hurt, and she didn’t dare take her eyes off the bodies on the floor. It felt like an eternity before her doorknob rattled, but was only a few minutes according to her phone. Seconds later, a jolt bounced off her eardrums and the door swung open. When Marley and Eli rushed into the room, Luci let out a breath she didn’t know she held, and let the pain muddy the edges of her vision.

The scene around her passed in a blur. Eli was on the phone, barking orders for cleanup and containment. Marley knelt next to Blake and then was by Luci’s side. Someone else appeared in the middle of the room and vanished just as quickly, taking Morrigan with them.

“Hey.” Marley nudged her leg. “Look at me.”

Luci forced herself to focus on the other woman’s face. “Is he...?” Dead wasn’t the right word. Gods didn’t die. Except he’d said they could. That was part of the legends.

“Mortal.” The syllables rolled off Marley’s tongue, but they didn’t make sense.

Blake groaned, and Eli helped him sit.

“I... What?” Luci stared at Marley, looking for some indication this was a joke.

“Let me see your arm.” Eli rested his palm on her shoulder.

A frantic dance of sparks raced through the limb, until she thought her head might burst in a tower of sparks. The pain amplified and then vanished. She gasped at the contrasting sensations.

Blake rubbed his face and wobbled to his feet.

“Better?” Eli asked.

Luci nodded. She wanted to ask what he’d done, but she needed to know something else first. She looked at Marley. “Go back to what you said.”

Blake joined them on the bed, despite how crowded it had grown, and flopped onto his back next to Luci. “She said mortal.”

“Take it from someone who knows,” Marley said. “Never think you can guess what the legends actually mean, until they play out.”

Luci wasn’t sure if she wanted to laugh or cry.

“Hey.” Blake reached up and laced his fingers through hers. A smile played on his face, instead of the negativity Luci expected. His voice was calm, and soothing, despite the fact he sounded exhausted. “It’s all okay. I’m all right, and so are you.”

****

Hot water sluiced over Luci’s head and down her back. She leaned forward in the shower and pressed her forehead to the cool tile. She couldn’t help but smile. She’d only been here at Blake’s for a week, and especially if she ignored the insanity that had been their first twenty-four hours together, it had been an incredible week. She was still adjusting to the memories of three other lifetimes, but she knew now they were all hers. Not overlapping time lines or conflicting ideas, but experiences she’d lived in another time and place.

The shower door slid open, and the cool air chased steam around her before vanishing again. Blake rested his hands on her hips, pressed his chest into her bare back, and traced his lips up her neck. “Good morning,
Elskede.
”

The word filled her. He’d told her it meant beloved. Despite the jumble of past lives, it was hers and hers alone. She leaned against him. “I’m pretty sure you already showered.”

His hard length pressed into her ass. He traced along the scar on her hip. Eli had been able to heal the slash through her birthmark, but not hide the wound. She didn’t mind. It felt right that the symbol was scarred over now. “But I’m feeling dirty again,” Blake said.

“I know a solution for that.” She plucked the shower gel from the shelf in front of her and handed it over her shoulder. After the incident with Morrigan, they’d determined Blake had exhausted his power and completely neutralized the goddess’s, leaving them both mortal. They’d stuck Morrigan with local police, amid protests that she was a goddess and threats that she’d make everyone pay.

Luci heard a squirt, and seconds later, something cold hit her stomach. She squealed at the sudden jolt.

“Sorry.” Blake sounded anything but. His touch warmed quickly, as he soaped his palms up her torso. Her giggles faded into a moan when he brushed the underside of her breasts. His tight grip, combined with the slick surface, sent shudders of pleasure through her.

She squirmed under his touch. “Do you really want to do this in here?”

“Here. The bedroom. Anywhere I can have you.” He dipped a hand between her legs. His touch was light at first, caressing her outer lips and teasing the wetness from her.

She ground against his erection. “Anywhere?”

“Pressed against the glass, moaning in pleasure. Bent over the dining room table.” He parted her folds and sought out her clit. “Anywhere.”

Water cascaded over them. The soap rinsed and pooled at their feet before vanishing down the drain.

He rubbed her aching button. “I have a lot of catching up to do.”

Anticipation built inside as he stroked. Her senses soared. Her gasps became short pants for breath. He dug his teeth into her shoulder, and she sucked in sharply through her teeth. He eased off and then pressed harder. Her head threatened to float away, as blood rushed downward, toward her swollen bud. The sharp scents of citrus soap and Blake filled her nostrils. Luci swam through all of it—the heat of the water, his skilled touch, the sound of his grunts. It all crashed over her when she came, carrying her on a wave and drawing her through ecstasy.

She pushed against his hand, until she couldn’t take anymore and shuddered away.

“See?” His deep voice drilled into her thoughts, and he nipped at her earlobe. “Now, we take this into the other room.”