Blood Love (God Wars Book 4) (14 page)

"Well," I said after a while when nobody said anything, "Kooper, Trajan, do you want mindspeech?"

"Yeah," Trajan drawled. "I was feeling left out. Of lots of things."

"Oh, boy." I covered my face with a hand. "You think I don't feel bad about that?" I dropped my hand and turned to him. Trajan's eyes look like black velvet when he's happy and obsidian when he's pissed. They were somewhere in between at the moment.

"You know what I'd like more than anything?" I said when Trajan didn't speak. "I'd like to be somewhere far away from here with all of you and the others who care for me. I'd prefer not to worry about anything more pressing than what we'll have for breakfast when we get up in the morning. I want to sit with all of you and let you tell me what you like and what you don't. Where you want to go or be, and what you'd like to do. Since I can't read you, I don't know those things like I would with everybody else. Right now, the universe is hanging over my head, and that weight could drop any minute. Do I want to wake up with you in the morning?" I blinked at Trajan. "Yeah. I do. I want to crawl all over that fine body of yours and ask you what you want. The truth is, I wake up most days too tired and worried to consider it. I'm sorry about that. I hope it changes, someday."

"Baby doll, I didn't mean it to come out like that," Trajan lifted me onto his lap.

"I know." I settled my head against his shoulder with a sigh before gathering the necessary power to give him mindspeech. I gave it to Kooper and the reptanoids too, while I was at it.

We can talk in private, now
, I informed him.

Wow
, Trajan's smile came through in his silent reply.
Have I told you how much I love you, or how often I have to jerk off in the shower?
He added.

Okay, the first part was nice. The last was a little over the top
, I replied.

You're coming to bed with a werewolf tonight
, Trajan informed me and stood with me in his arms. I squeaked when he nodded at the others and nearly vaulted out of the hot tub. Werewolves are definitely not modest. Trajan hauled me down the hall toward his bedroom, both of us naked and dripping, and one of us displaying an erection at least the size of a northeastern U.S. state.

Did it matter that we got the sheets damp? Not to Trajan. Werewolves are all about touch, scent and taste. He was all over me, nipping, licking, tasting, kissing, and then fucking. Lots of fucking. Did he wake up the entire house, howling afterward? Yeah. I'm surprised somebody didn't come in and shoot him for disturbing their sleep.

* * *

Baby?
Trajan's mindspeech permeated my sleep.

"Hmm?" It was all I could do to get a sleepy mumble out. My eyes were glued shut and refused to open. All I wanted to do was curl into a ball against Trajan's warmth and go back to sleep. For a week.

"I'm sorry I wore you out," Trajan breathed against my neck before kissing a tender spot. "We have to get up. I just heard from Hank. People are disappearing from Kansas and Oklahoma."

* * *

"Your pet, Vernon Clark, died last night," Acrimus informed V'ili. V'ili sat inside the office cleared out for him, naked and in his natural form.

"I feel it whenever an obsession I create drops away." One of V'ili's claws slid down Janine's face, leaving a thin trail of blood behind. She whimpered from her position at his feet and leaned closer against his leg. "This was news I already had. Do we know who might be responsible?"

"Vernon had a meeting with Ross Gideon set up, through the Reynolds brothers. Ross went hunting for Vernon, thinking the Reynolds brothers would take care of him. He had no idea they were werewolf. It appears, however, that Ross had other allies. He has disappeared and the stink of High Demon is all over the building in New Mexico, with the ash from burned werewolves and half-breeds scattered across the floor."

"Likely the same High Demon who appeared in Tahoe to destroy my chimera," V'ili growled, his voice garbled by anger and sharpened teeth. "I had no idea a High Demon would consent to serve any of these," he indicated Janine with a contemptuous glance.

"I had no idea any High Demon would condescend to helping these," Acrimus agreed. "It was so convenient—and simple—to wean them away from their duties."

"Convenient that our god slept and neglected his obligations," V'ili offered Acrimus a toothy grin.

"Decidedly convenient, but he was never strong enough to hold the Dark Realm anyway. It has been easy, chipping away at the foundations built in the beginning. All are teetering now, and will readily accept the General's offer to rebuild and rule when the others are destroyed."

"He has already destroyed one," V'ili purred. "Only two remain."

"True."

"Have you seen how well our slaves are performing? My pool is filled and our dungeon is nearly finished," V'ili added. "We will celebrate its construction with sacrifices."

"We won't need all those slaves afterward, anyway," Acrimus agreed.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

Breanne?
Lissa's mindspeech sounded tentative, as if she were worried that I wouldn't reply.

Is everything all right?
I sent back.

Yes and no
, she replied.
We have a situation on Frithia and Norian, asshole snake that he is, needs Kooper back. He could use Stellan, too, in addition to—in his words, anyway—as many reptanoids and other talented helpers as he can get. He's already commandeered Trevor to help, plus anybody else he can convince to come.

Yeah, I
Looked
. I couldn't get to the actual event—all I could get to was the furor in the media about the mass suicide.
This is connected
, I said immediately,
to what we're working on, here. Sirenali are involved, or I'd get a better picture of all this
, I explained.

I was hoping you'd be able to tell me something
, Lissa said.
And I detected scents from bodies—live bodies—that were taken away.

Who?

Little girls.

Fuck,
I said
. Any leads?

This one,
Lissa sent a mental image of one I'd seen already—Genley Reith, the Sirenali Norian had asked about.

This is awful,
I said
. Has anybody explained to you about Kay—Kalia?

Ashe told me what he knew, but that was a while back,
Lissa said
.

There are new developments,
I returned
. It's likely the ones involved in selling her as a child sex slave are involved in this, too, right with the Sirenali. That doesn't sit well with me. If the ASD needs help tracking some of those assholes, I'll send Kooper, Stellan and a few others. Can you come here, or do I need to come to you?
I asked.

Can you get away? I don't want to mess anything up by showing up back there again. I hear memories had to be altered the last time.

Yeah. Look, I just have to tell people I'll be gone for a few, and I'll bring Norian's helpers with me. I hope Norian won't be there with you, because frankly, I want to hit him really, really hard.

I can bring him in if you want. I wouldn't mind watching you punch him.

No time for that now. Give me a minute and I'll be there.

Thanks.

"Bree, where were you just then?" Bill studied me as I sat at the table, a forkful of cheese omelet halfway to my mouth.

"Having a conversation. Look, I need to be gone for a little bit. I can't explain exactly where, but I need to take Stellan, Kooper, Chazi, Bekzi and Perzi with me."

"I'm going," Hank announced. I watched as a thin stream of smoke punctuated his statement.

"Fine, but that's it. I can't take any others," I pointed out. "This is a sensitive situation, okay?"

"As long as Hank is with you," Charles sighed. "Are there any biscuits left?"

* * *

"Lissa's palace?" Stellan and Kooper both knew where we were when we arrived outside my sister's private study. So did the reptanoids—they'd all been here before.

Hank remained silent while I knocked softly on Lissa's half-open door.

"Come in," she said.

* * *

Lissa's Journal

I hid my surprise when Li'Neruh Rath arrived with Breanne. Belen had knelt to him and asked him to make a command when I'd seen him before. He knew I remembered.
Keep your silence
, he ordered.
I will give information to her when the time is right.

Could I have ignored that command? No way in hell. I recalled Merrill's compulsion when I'd first met him centuries ago, when I'd been susceptible to compulsion for my first year as a vampire. Back then, Merrill's instruction had felt like thunder and lightning. This was more like the silky feel of polished titanium, holding back the heart of a million nuclear explosions.
As you command
, I lowered my eyes respectfully.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

"So we have a battle on more than one front," Kooper said. He didn't like it that Norian wanted him back. He liked it less that he'd have to leave me. Stellan felt the same and had already voiced his opinion, but Norian had gone to Tybus, and Tybus had given permission for Stellan to be approached for this assignment.

Chazi, Perzi and Bekzi were torn between staying with me and going with Kooper, who'd won their loyalty early on.

"Go with Kooper," I sighed. "I'll miss you, but you may be needed more where he's going. You may have to help track down Hordace Cayetes, and he has Rezil Foculis plus Q'And and Q'Ind Ribalo with him. They all need to be dead and I figure you might be able to get to him when somebody else won't."

"What about those women—the ones who likely have six little girls, now?" Lissa turned back to me.

"I really want to make them dead myself, but I think Reah needs to help on that. Can Aurelius and a few of hers tackle that?"

"Farzi and Nenzi go," Chazi nodded. "They help."

"I imagine she can put a few people together," Lissa pointed out dryly.

"There's something I want from Norian," I said. "Because he owes me. For this," I indicated my bunch, "and for what he did before."

"Agreed. I don't care what it is," Lissa nodded.

"Good. I want Ranos pistols and rifles for the folks I left behind. And for Hank," I nodded at him. "The kind that accepts their DNA and won't fire for anybody else. The kind that'll self-destruct if anybody messes with them to see how they work."

"I can arrange that," Lissa agreed grimly. "If Norian won't do it, I'll go to Ildevar myself."

* * *

"Don't let anyone else open these and pull them out of their protective sleeve," Kooper warned. "They've only been handled by robots up to this point."

I stared at the boxes and crates of weapons to be transported to Earth's past. We even had two rocket launchers, and I considered that Hank and Trajan might be the ones to handle those. The cost of the weapons was outrageous, but we needed them. I wasn't going to quibble over it.

"Thanks," I told Kooper.

"Just stay safe," he leaned down to kiss me. "You can send mindspeech, too, when you're not busy. Or drop in. I won't mind." He grinned.

"I'll consider it," I offered him a smile. "Gotta go. Thanks, Lissa." I gave her a hug before Hank and I folded away from Le-Ath Veronis, leaving part of my heart behind with Stellan, Kooper and three reptanoids.

* * *

Earth—past

Hank's Journal

I had no idea she'd ask for Ranos technology. I wasn't going to argue, however. The weapons would prove useful and the technology was safe. Keef certainly owed her, and I looked forward to teaching the others how to use the weapons.

Bill waited, too, for us to transport him to Kansas City. Something was going on in the area—it wasn't only the homeless missing this time. I couldn't get to the reason, and Breanne likely wouldn't either, which spelled Sirenali involvement. I'd gotten a brief message from Kifirin, too, after I'd sent him on a sensitive mission.

Years ago, Lissa, with assistance and a bit of a power loan from the Mighty Hand, sealed a void against time. The void in question housed the Khos'Mirai when he still lived. That seal remained unbroken, which meant the original Khos'Mirai was still dead. It didn't preclude the possibility that one of his clones might have been pulled away from death without Lissa's knowledge.

Many of our enemies outranked Lissa. Greatly. It would only take one Khos'Mirai clone to escape her notice in the past and our troubles would increase tenfold. Breanne might have read those things in Lissa, but since she may have read an inaccurate account of that debacle in her sister, she could possess faulty information.

"His name was Moxas," I said, the moment we landed in the huge compound kitchen in New Mexico. Moxas was Saxom's identical twin in every way except one; there could only be one naturally-born Khos'Mirai.