The Tainted Web (The Godhunter, Book 7) (17 page)

“
Ve are not exactly dating,” Kirill started to get his smile back.

“
Oh bite me,
Prince
Kirill,” I laughed. “Wicked Russian werewolves! Your dad was named after a talking pegasus!”

“
Vat?”

“
Remember the pegasus I met in the Underworld?” I chuckled. “Peter the Pegasus. He said that Peter the Great was named after him.”

“
I don't know if a talking horse is a reliable source of information,” Pan giggled.

“
Whatever,” I shrugged. “That's still amazing, Kirill. Why would you want to hide it?”

“
Because it was taken from him,” Pan said softly. “Nyavirezi stole not only his life but his crown. You can say you weren't the heir, Kirill, but I know the Russian history. The heir was Alexei and he died in prison, suspected of plotting against his father. Your father. You would have ruled, in fact you were the true ruler, not your mother or your sister, who both ruled for a time. Nyarvirezi took that from you.”

“
It doesn't change who you are,” I took his hand. “In the risk of sounding selfish, I'm glad she took you. If she hadn't, you would have died a long time ago and I never would have known you. You'd be dust in a tomb, just a story in the history books that I'd probably never read. Instead, I know your story intimately, I help write it.”

“
I'm glad too, Tima,” he smiled, “but zat is a life so long ago, one I lived for such a short vile, zat it doesn't seem real anymore. Zis is real,” he squeezed my hand tight. “And you make me feel more of a king zan vearing any crown vould have.”

“
Damn,” Pan breathed. “No wonder he was the first added to your little harem. That even turned me on.”

“
It's not a harem,” I glared at Pan, “and I don't share so keep your hands to yourself while I'm gone. By the way, I like your green eyes better than the hazel.” I looked back at Kirill while Pan gaped at me, “and
you
, come here and kiss me right now.”

He did and that Russian Prince did it so well, I was still stumbling a little when the imps and I stepped into the Inter Realm.

Chapter Twenty-Three

The Inter Realm was just as I remembered it without the goggles, with one exception, I could see the information which each thread carried, could see it instantly and with very little effort. All I had to do was focus on one of them and I knew exactly what was being transported through the thread.

I could also see the ends of the threads, where they began and where they were going, as well as all the little stops along the way. I knew immediately which threads were contaminated, a part of the tainted web, and I knew which had been used to change the ownership of Pan's company.

“
There!” I pointed to a far off thread and jumped on another heading in its direction.

I felt the imps jump on the thread behind me and started to grin. It should have been dizzying, overwhelming, something other than what I was feeling, which was exhilaration. For the first time ever, I felt like a real goddess, like I had the power to change the world.

I jumped the line and approached a building where a bunch of threads intersected. We went through the walls and into a room that housed a column of light where all the threads came together. It must have been some kind of database, the place where the record of Pan's ownership was kept. I could see it hovering inside the column, tinted a horrid pus yellow from the corruption of the spider.

“
It's right there,” I pointed it out to the imps. “Can you fix it?”

My eyes saw the path, told my brain that I could do it, I could fix it, but I knew this was arrogance talking and I had a feeling that the path it would lead me down would turn me into a narcissistic asshole. Just because you think you can do something, doesn't mean you should. I'd let the experts handle this one.

“Yes, my Queen,” Meilyr said. “We can handle this quickly if you would keep watch for the spider?”

“
Yes,” I flinched. “I'll keep an eye out.”

See, I'd already forgotten what my job there was supposed to be. Those goggles were going in a drawer when I got back and they weren't coming out except for emergencies. To think this was how Tlaloc had viewed the world all the time. No wonder he'd gone insane.

The imps jumped into the column, shrinking as they went, so that they became the size of my hand. I stared a moment, fascinated, as they set to work on the collection of numbers that represented Naughty Nymph's ownership documents. Then I shook myself out of it and focused on my surroundings. I could actually see through the wall of the building when I concentrated. Everything was fairly nebulous there, just a representation of what was in the Human Realm really. So it was easy to keep watch.

A high, thin sound drew my attention back to the column and I saw a very thin thread of putrid yellow blip away as it was cut from the code the imps worked on. When I turned back around,  the spider was there. He must have felt the line break and come to investigate. He was pretty far away but he started toward us with alarming speed. I swore and glanced over at the imps.

“He's coming,” I hoped they could hear me in there. “Are you about done?”

“
Yes,” Meilyr popped out and the rest quickly followed. “All finished. The nymphs belong to the Horned One once again.”

“
Good,” I was searching the other threads, trying to find the best option to leap on, when the patterns wove together in my mind and I saw the possibilities. We needed a distraction and I could supply it.

Several tainted threads were nearby. If cutting one upset the spider, what would violently severing several do? I grinned as I ran over to the closest and called forth my dragon claws. I guess I could have just imagined a knife and the Inter Realm would have provided it, but I liked my claws.

I cut a thread as the imps gaped at me. The thread emitted a high pitched whine and then blinked rapidly like a dying television, before simply vanishing. A horrible screeching resounded and we all turned to see the spider raised up on its back legs, pawing at the air like an enraged beast.

“
Guess he didn't like that,” I smirked.

“
My Queen,” Bearach didn't take his eyes off the spider, “let's go, that's enough damage for now.”

“
Just a few more,” I leaped over to the next poisoned thread and severed it. Then one more to the left, and another to the left of that. Each cut was accompanied by a screech and a slight vibration in the atmosphere. “Okay, let's go.”

I located the thread I'd already decided upon, one that took me to the Kaneohe Public Library in Hawaii, and leapt on it. The imps followed closely and we were swept away quickly by the flow of information. Behind us, the spider raged, thumping the pliable ground with enough force that we could feel the ripples in the thread we rode.

“We're here,” I shouted back as we approached the library and then a column similar to the one the imps had infiltrated, though not as large.

I held on all the way into the column and found myself staring at lists of books. I turned around until I saw the shimmering paths which led down to the monitors, and followed one out. I cloaked myself in invisibility right before I touched the back of the screen and then popped into the Human Realm.

The imps must have followed me out but I was too busy staring around me to notice. The entire room was overlaid with the brightness of the Inter Realm, threads of energy everywhere, glowing and pulsing. From computers to ipads to cell phones, they  connected to practically every person in the room. The exception being one old man, huddled in a chair as if he could feel the energy pushing in on him. Everyone else was a part of it, holding the end of a cord that could easily make them a victim... a sacrifice. My stomach turned and I lurched out of the library.

Outside, even the bright, Hawaiian sunlight couldn't compete with the glare of the Inter Realm. There were no tubes to separate the realm, like in Pride Palace, only places where the brightness dimmed a bit and if I'd thought the library was full of threads, outside was much worse. Threads covered the sky, filled the air, would have blocked out the sun if they hadn't been transparent.

I gaped at a tangle of pus yellow cords so thick, it looked as if you'd be horribly ensnared the moment you took one step forward. Yet there were people, walking blissfully unaware through the tainted web, threads passing through them harmlessly. Cars drove through the conglomeration, birds flew through it, and all the while it pulsed and buzzed, shooting energy everywhere, connecting everything without anyone realizing it. I don't think I appreciated the magnitude of the problem until that moment.

“
Meilyr?” I whispered. “Are all of you here?”

“
Yes, my Queen,” he whispered back. “Shall we trace to your Lion Palace now?”

“
Yes,” I swallowed hard. “I want to go home.”

Chapter Twenty-Four

When I got home, I found an angel in my bed.

“
Azrael,” I said with a fair amount of relief. “You couldn't have better timing but then you seem to have a knack for that.”

“
I've felt unsettled lately,” he swung his legs over the side of the massive platform bed and leaned against one of its thick posters. “I had a need to see you, make sure you were okay.”

“
I'm so much better now,” I slid into his arms with a sigh.

Azrael had been the one man in my life whom I'd accepted easily, without argument or even much consideration. From the moment I'd met him, I'd felt comfortable with him, maybe because my soul remembered being held by him when Azrael transferred me into the Viking well. We had a mutual love of art and he had a lot of modern interests, gathered from all the time he'd spent watching over humans. I considered our relationship the most normal out of all my men. Since Azrael was the Angel of Death, I also found my assessment amusing.

Also amusing was the fact that if you were to ask me who the most
down to earth
of my men was, I'd say Azrael, even though he was literally the opposite. I could talk to Azrael for hours and never have a lull. He was honest, loyal, sensitive, funny, gorgeous, and seriously bad ass. I never had to worry about protecting Azrael, the very notion was ridiculous. And he was just who I needed to see right after seeing the web.

“
What's happened?” He pulled back to look me over. Did I mention he was perceptive too?

“
I've had a bad day,” I grimaced and told him what I'd discovered.

“
Vat happened?” Kirill was standing in the open doorway behind me. “Veb is everyvere?”

“
Yeah,” I slid over and sat beside Azrael on the bed. “It was a little disturbing to see.”

If I considered Azrael the most down to earth of my men, than I'd consider Kirill the most stable. That used to be Trevor's position but we'd had a rough go of it for awhile and I'd changed his status in my head to the wild card. Kirill was now the man I knew would never leave me, no matter what. There was security in that, a great relief to the stress that normally accompanied relationships for me. The stress of knowing it probably wouldn't last.

I know, I know, if I was going to start handing out labels, I should start with myself: the cynic.

My men were helping me with that cynicism though. I had a special bond with each of them but with Kirill our bond was formed out of salvation. We'd saved each other from insanity, first I'd saved him and then he returned the favor. When someone pulls you back from the darkest places in your mind, the abyss we try not to look into, something forms between you. Something you can see when you look into the other person's eyes. A deep sense of safety, a knowing that should you ever falter again, they'll be there to catch you or bring you back. They know the way.

“I think I need to take a little breather,” I smiled at my angel and then my lion.

“
Why don't I take you both to Heaven?” Azrael smiled sensuously and I raised my brows.

“
Figuratively or literally?” I grinned at him.

“
Both or either,” he shrugged and we looked over at Kirill.

I'd been with Kirill and Trevor together several times but never anyone else. The thought was a little exciting and a little worrisome. I didn't want to disturb the fragile peace that existed between my men. So I wasn't sure what the fluttering in my belly was about but I wanted to find out.