The Lycan Hunter (The Gardinian World Series) (20 page)

“We were coming to your temple, Lykil. And she’s my sister.”

“She looks – ”

“Keep your eyes and hands off of her. You have enough problems
as it is.”

Lykil grumbled something about jealous goddesses. “Come on; we
’
ll
take the easy way.”

Before she could understand what happened, she found herself
standing in a fully-kitted man cave. A computer with multiple monitor
hookups sat to the left side of a solid black entertainment system that b
oasted several game consoles. An unnecessarily large TV hung from
a wall in front of a black
leather sofa
where the God of Destruction now sat.

She frowned at the electronics. “You have electricity here?”

Lykil looked over the sofa at her. “Come sit down,” he tapped a spot
next to him, “and that
’
s a waste of the few questions you get to ask me.”

“Yet you didn’t answer.”

He snorted. “No, we don
’
t, but I’m a god. What do I need with
electricity?”

“
I don’
t know. I was guessing the same thing you need electronics for.”

He laughed and began playing a game that looked like nothing more
than explosions and gunfire. “Be careful. I have a thing for smart asses.”

The door behind them opened and slammed shut.

“Fucker. I should have known you would do that.” Torin said,
plopping ungracefully on the sofa next to Lykil. “Grab a controller, kill
him, and then we have to go. Kyran is starting to freak out.”

“What do you mean?”

“He can’t See your soul anymore,” Lykil and Torin said in unison.

SHE FROWNED AND WENT OVER
to grab the controller. She didn
’t even know that seeing someone’s soul was a possibility.

“What do you mean he can’t see my soul anymore?”

Lykil queued their first match before he answered her. “Soul Seeing
is only for Lycans. Other beings have their own way of finding their
true mates. For example, humans have ‘love at first sight’ as their
explanation for their true mate. Think of Soul Seeing as being able to
see someone
’
s aura, but for Lycans, it’s their soul. Kyran has known that
he was seeing yours since he met you. Last night, things just clicked in place.”

“What about last night made it click?”

Lykil laughed. “It doesn’t even bother you that I know you had sex last night?”

“You
’
re a god. I wouldn
’
t think that being a voyeur was your kind
of thing.”

“It
’
s not, and don
’
t worry. I didn
’
t peek. Much. And to answer your
question, it was the blue halo reference.”

Alexis nodded, not knowing what any of it really meant. She
’
d ask
Kyran when she got back. She looked at the TV and tried to figure out
which game they were playing, but none of the games she had heard of in passing at headquarters came to mind.

“What are we playing?”

Lykil named a game that she had never heard of, but the premise
was the same as any other first person shooter, so she figured she would
easily navigate her way to victory.

She lost with such an extravagant flair that she wondered if she
was as good with a gun as she thought. God or not, he shouldn
’
t be able
to beat her that bad. Unless he was cheating. Torin took the controller
from her, stating that he would show her ‘how a man does it.’ His
beating was so severe that she wondered how he managed to train her
when no one else would be bothered to train the girl they felt was
nothing more than a walking handicap.

“Mortals,” Lykil said in mock disgust.

“Technically, I’m not mortal,” Torin said.

“True. You can’t be killed, but you can still die.”

Alexis looked at Torin with a mixture of confusion and fear. She
tried to hide the renewed heartbreak that cinched her chest tight at the
thought of losing him again.

Torin looked over at her and flashed her a knowing smile. “As a
Hermod, the only way that I can die is to release my essence back into
Nunginn, which is the abyss of life energy that lies deep under the roots
of Liflasir. Unfortunately for this jerk, I don
’
t intend on heading to
Nunginn anytime soon.”

She sighed. Though most of what Torin said didn
’
t make an ounce
of sense, the idea that her brother could forfeit his existence bothered her. Despite his claim that he wasn’t planning on going to embrace a permanent death anytime soon, she still was forced to lock away her fears. She couldn’t do anything about it anyway.

Alexis looked over to Lykil. “I thought that I was supposed to be leaving. What am I still doing here?”

She didn
’
t really want to leave. It was too soon to leave her brother,
but she couldn’t deny the pull she had to return to Earth.

Lykil paused the game and let out an exaggerated sigh. “Just like a woman, always ruining a perfectly good time.”

He led the way out to his balcony. He settled against the stone wall
while she glanced around at the mountain side dwellings resembling the adobe homes of the Pueblo Indians.

If she didn
’
t know any better, she could pretend that the view from the balcony was majestic. She could get lost in the splendor of the deep
blue water and its white capped waves that were bathed in the soft
glow of some unseen light source. Unfortunately, she was well aware
of
what the water was actually made of and the idea of souls leaping from
the water in a futile attempt to free themselves from their watery prison
wouldn’t let her revel in the beauty of her view.

“What are you thinking so hard about?” Lykil asked.

“You don’t know?”

“I could, but it
’
s rude.” Lykil motioned to her brother who was
still playing the game. “
Unlike him, someone taught me basic
manners.”

“I didn
’
t know there were etiquette lessons on mind reading.
Good to know.”

She went back to staring at the water and shivered at a fate she
hoped she never experienced.

“What about the water is scary?”

She snorted. So much for his manners. “It’s like watching a live- action nightmare.”

“Nice, isn’t it?”

“Um, no. I can guarantee that this trip has cured me of any need to swim in the ocean any time soon.”

Lykil bunched his features in a playful frown. “But that
’
s a river.”

Alexis laughed. “Smart ass.”

He leaned into her and kissed her softly on the cheek. “You’ll be a good choice for Kyran.” He stepped back and gave her a quick but leering assessment. “But I wish you’d be bad for me.”

“Wow, you
’
re bad at this. Are you sure that you
’
re the God of
Destruction?”

The smile that spread across his face was that of a man kept on a
short leash. A mass murderer would have the same kind of unrepentant
smile after he killed hundreds of people.

“
Careful, Hunter. I haven
’
t allowed myself to play without restraint
for a long time.”

Torin came and stood next to Alexis, draping his arm protectively
across her shoulders. When she cast a glimpse up at him, his eyes didn
’
t
hold the barely-disguised fear likely present in her own gaze. Instead
,
he looked irritated and at the end of his patience, something that brought
back not so fond memories of their training days together.

“You really should get laid Lykil, and my sister still isn
’
t an option.
Besides, fear shouldn’t be a turn on. Not even to you.”

“I’’m the
God of Destruction
. Who would I be if people
didn
’
t fear
me?”

“Irrelevant. Now tell her what she needs to know.”

Lykil sighed. “Why did they send you to me?”

“Because you need a babysitter. Now tell her.”

“Calling you a wet blanket would insult all of the other hard working
wet blankets
in the world.” Lykil smiled down at Alexis. “Congratulations
.
You just won me as your personal slave.”

Torin let out an irritated grunt. “The truth dammit. We don
’
t have
all day.” He ran his hands through his hair. “I swear, you
’
d think that
you were four instead of nearly – ”

“Thirty. I’m almost thirty.”

Torin rolled his eyes and snorted. “Yeah. And the Earth was a series
of dirt mounds and the human population was made up of knuckle- draggers only thirty years ago.”

“Why are you such a hater?”

“Did you really just call me – ”

Alexis let out her own disgusted sigh. “Children, geez, just tell me
what I need to know.”

Lykil looked at her and pouted. He stayed pouting while she glared
him into compliance.

“Fine.” He schooled his face into something somewhat serious.
“‘
When the Lycan and the Hunter come to an accord, the fallen goddess
will be restored.’”

Alexis frowned. “What the hell does that mean?”

“You’ll understand when you need to know.”

“You just told me what sounds like a prophecy, and hope that I
will eventually stumble on its meaning? Awesome.” She walked back
into his living room. “Anything else potentially useless that I should know before you send me back?”

Lykil gave her that murderous smile again. “When you find yourself
in strife, call me, and I
might
save your life. Oh, and one last thing.” He
gave her a mocking smile and placed his heavy hands on her shoulders.
“This will hurt.”

A force, akin to getting run over by a convoy of eighteen wheelers,
slammed into her. Alexis flew through a series of walls, passing through
them as if she were made of nothing. With each new room she entere
d,
she passed what she presumed to be more gods, but none of them
acknowledged or stopped her rapid ascension towards Trobis. The
branch that led to Earth came into view and passed just as quickly
before she began the descent to what she knew wouldn
’
t be a soft
l
anding. She was beginning to wonder when rock bottom would greet
her when she slammed into something solid that knocked her from
consciousness.

***

Kyran studied his phone and the message he’d received from his mother while he’d been trying to save Alexis’ life. For the time being,
they
’
d beat the LC back. Mikko Samuel – the rugged leader of the LC –
had managed to escape with a handful of his pack.

Shaking his head, he glared down at the reason for having to
abandon his mother in the midst of battle. Leaving had been regrettable
,
but he didn
’
t have much of a choice. Allowing Alexis and Theo to remain
out in the world unchecked put his pack in immediate danger.

He
’
d gone to the cabin prepared to kill them both – no matter ho
w tight his chest became at the thought of what killing her would do to
him. When he found her injured – the woman seemed to always end up
injured – he had sighed with morbid satisfaction, because he wasn
’
t
forced to kill her for the benefit of his pack.

Kyran jumped up and placed a hand on Alexis
’
shoulder as she
began flailing against her restraints. “Hold on, Alexis.”

He released the restraints on her arms. They’d been necessary to
keep her from being propelled to the floor from the force of reentering
her body. Saed, a form of meditation that allowed someone to propel their soul from their body, required a set of learned skills that Alexis
didn
’
t possess. Returning to her body gracefully was one of those skill
sets that she lacked.

She flinched when she turned her attention to him, probably due
to the fact that he was glaring at her. Having to struggle to silence the
screaming heart monitor after her soul disappeared hadn
’
t put him in a
good mood. Eventually, he
’
d just unplugged the machine and maintained
her sluggish heartbeat without it.

He
guided her through the
process of removing her intubation tube.