Blood Stained Tranquility (29 page)

“Dimi, get on,” Eve said in a low voice.

Did she move? No.

Eve was tempted to shout down that she had powers now—how the hell could an escalator scare her more than that?—but there were too many humans around to say anything of the sort.

Two women passed Dimithinia, giving her an odd look.

“Dimithinia, just step on it.
Step
.”

Spari stood behind Eve, trying to muffle a giggle. Eve pressed her lips together, trying to hold in her laugh as well.

Dimithinia rolled her eyes at them and slowly stepped on. She glowered at them when she reached the top.

“Humans have become the laziest bastards, I swear. Four steps, and they had to make them
moving
ones? This is why a good number of them are fat nowadays.”

Eve’s laugh burst out of her. Spari chuckled too, then walked in front of them and took the lead.

“Can we please know why we are here?” Eve asked.

“You need to know where your male is. You lucky bitch, by the way. I always thought Zen was one of the hottest. Not that I’ve ever met him, but I’ve seen.”

Eve had to momentarily bite the inside of her cheek. Better than anyone, she knew how hot
her
man was. Hearing Spari, or any other female, comment on it was the last thing she wanted to do. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“Your male has been tracking down Enteax, and there’s someone here who might know where Lisrn was last spotted. Those two are generally inseparable. But, first”—Spari stopped in front of the Ed Hardy cologne display—“we have to buy something. Fucker doesn’t like to tell me anything unless I spend some money in his store.”

Eve was about to ask which “he” Spari was talking about, but then decided against it. What for? She was going to find out in a few anyway. She might as well sit back and let the ridiculous-train chug on.

“Let me get the
Villain for Men
,” Spari told the sales lady behind the counter. “It’ll totally suit him.”

The lady smiled at Spari and moved to get her the cologne. “Gift for your boyfriend?”

“
Pfft.
He wishes.” Spari gave her credit card to the sales lady and paid for the cologne. She turned down the shopping bag when the lady offered it to her. “No need. Can you please call the sales supervisor, Mr. Eberhart? Tell him his Spari is here to see him and I bear a peace offering.”

The sales lady blinked in confusion.

“No need. Mr. Eberhart is aware she is here.”

Eve jumped and turned to find the source of that deep voice. And, of course, hello, tall-big-and-sexy. Oh, yeah. There seemed to be some German ancestry going on there. Boy reminded her of Chris Austad. Inches taller and much, much broader, but this hottie definitely looked like him.

Except for one thing: Eve sensed barely contained energy thrumming underneath his skin, waiting to be unleashed. Unlike Spari though, he was barely concealing his powers.

“
Vy’shi
,” Dimithinia whispered.

Vi—what?
Eve thought, staring at the man before her and trying to figure out what it was that she sensed in him.

Spari rushed forward with a little squeal. “Dago!”

Dago rose up a hand and stepped back before Spari could jump him. His motions put space between them, but his light blue eyes were alive with energy as he looked at her.

“I would be much happier to see you, little one, if you weren’t so blatantly wearing what you stole from me.”

Spari stopped and stared up at her head with wide eyes. A quick swipe had the goggles off and behind her back, her expression going sugar sweet.

“But I bought you a gift.” She held out the cologne to him.

Dago’s lips twitched. “I already have it.” When Spari gave him a crestfallen, nearly teary-eyed look, he hurried to take the cologne and held it to his chest. “Of course, since it’s
you
who got it, this will be the one I treasure most.”

Spari clapped her hands together, her smile growing larger, the goggles hanging off her wrist.

“Come, you have a loud mouth and I know you want to talk about things best left unheard.” Dago motioned for them to follow, leading them deeper into the department store.

Spari stuck her tongue out at his back.

“What is he?” Eve asked Dimithinia the moment they were moving.

“He’s a
Vy’shi
. Reality benders, I think would be an appropriate term. They say humanity was introduced to magic by their kind.”

Spari grinned, and it was the definition of
shit eating.
“In other words, he’s a witch. But my Dago-baby gets annoyed if I call him that, so the ‘appropriate term’ is warlock.”

“A warlock named Dago,” Eve commented as they came to a stop in front of a door.

Spari laughed, oblivious to the glare Dago threw over his shoulder at her. “His name is actually Dago
bert
, and it means shining sun. Isn’t that the cutest? Come here, Dagobert. Come here, baby.” She continued cooing, walking up to him and jumping up to pinch his cheek. “Isn’t that adorable?”

Dago swatted her away. Even though he tried to look annoyed, it was obvious he loved having Spari near. There was a glint of happiness in his eyes, a shit load of endearment, and enough heat to make the temperature feel ten degrees hotter.

“One more from you, brat, and I’m not telling you shit.”

Spari stepped back with a small, affronted gasp.

Dago’s gaze landed on Eve, moved away, and immediately jumped back.

“You’ve been in contact with Flux,” he said, taking a step toward her. “I can sense it on you.
Flux
.”

Reverence began to shine in his eyes. He grabbed Eve’s arm, ignoring how she twitched and tried to pull back. His wide eyes stared at the spot he held, and then he lifted his head to look up at her.

For the first time in her life, Eve wanted to back away from someone’s stare. The intensity level in his eyes confused the hell out of her. “When did I touch Ismini? I don’t remember.”

“She was in your room while you were unconscious. She was worried. Your hair might have gone yellow when she touched you.”

Eve stared at Dimithinia in horror at the visual of herself as a blond.

“Flux has been given form once more?” Dago asked in that same awestruck tone.

Dimithinia nodded. “The powers of Flux gave birth to his kind,” she said to Eve. “From the first humans on Earth, a select few were chosen to harness the power to alter reality around them. They changed, they . . .” She paused, obviously frustrated when she couldn’t remember the word.

“Mutated,” Eve supplied for her, staring into Dago’s eyes. This close she could see whispers of his crimes, could see how many sins he’d committed in his life. And yet, she didn’t want to punish him. The urge, the instinct to do so, just wasn’t there.

“Yes. And they became a new species, the
Vy’shi
.”

“You know the new Goddess of Flux?” Dago asked, not breaking their stare.

Eve nodded again. “She’s my best friend.”

The smile that Dago gave her was breathtaking. He straightened, beaming at her, and then at Spari.

“You do know what this means for all of us, yes?”

He rushed to open the door, still smiling, although Spari was glaring at him.

“Don’t tell me I could’ve saved myself the money on the cologne had I merely told you this upfront.”

Dago threw Spari an offended look. “See? That’s why your gifts mean nothing to me. You only give them because you want something in return.” His tone was playful, but there was a layer of honesty to his words. And a whole lotta hurt. “Now come inside. There are those that might honestly kill me over what I’m about to tell you.”

They all followed him inside. It was a tiny office. The kind you wouldn’t expect to find an immortal chilling in. Dago locked the door behind them and touched two fingers to the wall. Everything went from barely comfortable to ultraswag instantly. The floor was replaced with black marble, the walls became red velvet, and the desk became the medieval version of a throne.

“Dago, stop trying to seduce me. We have company.”

Laughing, Dago gave Spari the finger. “Shut it.” He moved to sit on his chair, and motioned for them to take the three other seats in front of him. “Now. Here’s what my spies have been able to tell me. The Aviraji are definitely moving. We’re talking infiltrations spanning from this galaxy, to
Eren
, to the Underworlds and
C’ian
.”

Eve shook her head and raised her eyebrows. “
C’ian
?”

“The elf dimension, if you will.

Oh, of course.
Why the fuck wasn’t she surprised that there was an elf dimension?

“Anyway, we have Aviraji minions busy trying to stir up trouble and gather info, along with my personal favorite, trying to convince other beings to join their cause. By force if necessary.”

Spari leaned forward, all playfulness gone. In its place was pure, hard determination. “Lisrn. Did your spies get info on him?”

“That’s the most fucked-up part.” Dago ran his thumb across his bottom lip, lost in thought. “He’s involved in something that involves the humans.”

“What?”

“
Amgen
, Spari. He’s been seen exiting their facility late at night. If what my spies gathered is true, he has a connection there.”

“Pharmaceuticals?” Spari asked, looking confused.

“Genetic research, Spari. They’re fucking with something big. The
Vy’shi
refused to help them. We won’t mutate molecules for them.”

“So they’re looking for alternatives.”

“I’m guessing that when you say ‘Amgen’, you mean the big company in California. Am I right?” Eve knew she was right, but considering the fucked-up scenarios threatening to go off in her head, she figured it would be best to confirm.

“The one and only,” Dago said with a nod.

Eve sat back in her seat, staring blankly at the wall. “Shit.”

She could just imagine all the different scenarios that could come of this. None of them ended even marginally well. Her brain went off into its own sick version of
A Thousand Ways to Die
.

“I am confused, but I am going to go with this being a bad thing,” Dimithinia said.

“You have no idea,” Eve mumbled. “We need to nab Lisrn on his next visit to the facility.”

“We can’t.”

“Why not?”

“Because whatever they were working on, it’s finished. He was going there regularly for three months. Then, two weeks ago, he stopped.”

She stared at Dago, trying to figure out how to word her next statement without insulting him or his species. “And no one thought, at any time before that, of grabbing the fucker?”

He glared at her, looking insulted anyway.

“We’re reality benders, not
gods
. We don’t have the type of power to take down one such as him. We might have that power now that Flux is back, but we’ve been weakened as a species for millennia now.”

“So Lisrn is a god?”

Spari leaned forward so she could look at Eve. “Enteax, too.”

“Gods of what?” she asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

“Lisrn is the God of Panic. His powers, like Enteax’s, are muted due to their currently forced servitude. Point is: Even with their powers muted, my spies didn’t have the strength to take any of them on.”

Eve held a hand up, stopping him. “Wait. You’re saying they’re part of the Aviraji by
force
?”

Dago moved his head back and forth, shrugging. “Might have not started that way, but it sure as hell is that way now. Vermylea, Goddess of Bondage, now owns them. Has for millennia, ever since they agreed to join the Aviraji.”

“And Enteax? He’s the God of
what
?”

“Strength. He’s the God of Strength.”

Dimithinia gasped.

Eve turned and saw her cupping her forehead.

“I remember them now. From before. They did not look so . . .
wrong
back then. They were different. They used to spend time at my kingdom.”

“Your kingdo—” Dago trailed off, eyes widening. He looked at Dimithinia, his pupils dilating and shrinking. “Wait . . . you . . . ah, holy shit. Your majesty, I’m sorry, I didn’t recognize you!”

Dimithinia shot out of her seat, stopping Dago before he could fall off his chair and onto his knees. “Please. Do not . . . I am queen no longer.”

Damn. Ritrio had apparently been a really big fucking deal back in its day.

“Dago!” Spari cried, slamming a foot on the floor. “You fall to your knees that easily for another female?”

Dago was still staring at Dimithinia in awe. “Holy crap. It’s true. Nylicia really is bringing a bunch of you back from the dead.”

Dimithinia blinked those big-blues. “A bunch of us?”

Evesse wasn’t even going to ask. Enough knowledge had been funneled into her cranium; she did
not
need to dive deeper into Nylicia’s machinations.

“What do we do now, then?” she asked instead.