Blood Love (God Wars Book 4) (16 page)

"I really liked it when he told her he was there, after the knock scared her awake."

"You liked that?"

"Yes. And he was so careful with her. Did you see that, too?"

"I did." I didn't know where this was leading, but my hopes were beginning to rise.

"Do other men do that?" she asked innocently.

"Other men do that," I said softly. "May I show you what it's like?"

"I think it would only be like that with someone who loved me," Kay began.

"Sweetheart, I have loved you for a very long time," I responded. "Come here. Let me show you how much you mean to me."

"But," she rose uncertainly, blinking at me with bright-blue eyes that held a tiny amount of trepidation.

I walked to her, instead, and wrapped my arms about her. "Ashe is here, sweetheart," I mumbled against her hair. "You're safe. I'll always keep you safe."

"Really?" She blinked up at me.

"Really." I leaned in and kissed her gently.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

I slept in Hank's arms; he was seemingly afraid I might disappear. I didn't, and slept like a rock once I fell asleep.

"Baby mine, are you gonna wake up, now?" Hank brushed his lips over mine. I woke to find his face hovering over mine and a sliver of morning light peeking between hotel curtains.

"I guess." I stretched beneath Hank and moaned a yawn. "What time is it?"

"Nearly nine. Bill let us sleep late. He was up earlier, talking with the Prez and a bunch of other folks on a conference call."

"Hank, he has to be exhausted," I forced my eyes to open wider.

"I know, but he's not as bad off as you. Come on, I've gotten mindspeech from half a dozen people already, asking if you're ready to go to breakfast."

"You could go without me," I pointed out.

"Nope. You're coming now, in your pajamas if you don't get dressed in the next five minutes. You can shower after we eat. Bill has a couple of leads to follow—one in Arkansas and the other in Colorado."

"All right." Hank took my arm and pulled me to a sitting position. It took a few seconds to work up enough courage to slide off the bed—I just wanted to huddle beneath the blanket and sleep again.

Ten minutes later (I insisted on brushing my teeth) we walked into the hotel café downstairs and found the others waiting for us. Ashe, still in disguise, and Kay were there as well.

"I hear we have help," Bill cut his eyes toward Ashe and Kay.

"Big help," Hank nodded. "They're perfect to chip in."

I struggled not to stare—Ashe stood behind Kay, his arms wrapped around her. She seemed perfectly happy to allow the contact. Deliberately, I refused to read her.

"I'm Ashe—Ashe DeLeon," he held out his hand and shook with Bill and the others. "This is Kay, who is extremely shy and looking for new friends."

"Ashe can do most of the things I can do—without the fangs," I said. "Kay is very talented; you just wouldn't know it by looking at her."

That is the most beautiful woman I've ever seen
, Jayson breathed in my mind.
But you're the one I want
.

Jayson, you need to tread carefully where Kay is concerned. No kink around her. She was sold as a sex slave at age nine, and she's fucked up because of that and the fact that parts of her are covered in scars where one asshole sadist carved her up while she was chained to a wall
.

Are you fucking kidding?
he sent back.

Nope. She doesn't need to know what you or Hank are into
, I added.

Got it. Haven't been much in the mood lately, anyway. Not since I was outed on the Internet.

Understood
.

* * *

"Bree, how tired are you?" Bill asked while we ate.

"Tired but the coffee is helping," I lifted my cup and saluted him. "How about you?"

"I'm tired, too, but I got info from the FBI this morning. There are a couple of sites to check where construction is happening without permits. I need you and Hank to provide transport, if you don't mind."

"No problem," I shrugged. "Where do you want to go first?"

"Arkansas, then Colorado," he said. "I have addresses."

"We'll get you there," Hank said.

* * *

Frithia—present

Lissa's Journal

Norian had Kooper, Stellan, Trevor, three reptanoid brothers and me with him when we walked into the cavernous, empty building. Norian had gotten a tip that our target, Genley Reith, had purchased the building under an alias. The plan was to move his growing congregation to the new location, but they'd turned up dead before that could happen. Obviously, something had changed or orders had come from above, aborting the move.

"We found out about this because he defaulted on the loan," Norian took in the high, vaulted ceilings overhead, the half-built stone altar at the front and construction materials littering the floor.

"It looks as if he were planning to recruit more followers, but got spooked," Trevor observed dryly.

"I was thinking the same thing," I agreed. "Who knows what that was? Norian, do we have any information to go on? Was anything left behind?"

"Nothing has been touched; we're the first ones here," Norian blew out a sigh. "Let's split into teams and investigate. Kooper, take Chazi, Bekzi and Perzi with you to the basement. Trevor, Stellan, see what you can find here in the sanctuary and Lissa and I will check the rooms at the back."

I wasn't sure I wanted to be paired with Norian, but there was no help for it. I followed him through a narrow doorway behind the altar, and into a labyrinth of office spaces and classrooms.

The walls were new—the space had clearly been used for something else before. "Nori, what was this building before it was sold to Reith?" I asked.

"Warehouse. Actually, Tory owned it for a short while—it belonged to Schuul Enterprises, before Reah exposed them. The building has changed hands three times since then, last time bought as an investment and a few improvements made before Reith took it."

"My son owned this?" I shook my head. Truth really was stranger than fiction.

"It has changed hands three times in the last ten turns, so he didn't own it long. Come on; show me that famous nose and itchy goose bumps. Tell me what we're looking for," Norian coaxed.

"What if there's nothing here?" I countered. "It would be really stupid to leave anything lying around."

"Unless your boss told you to kill everybody and then get the hell out of—Dodge, wasn't it?" Norian wiggled an eyebrow at me, attempting to make me smile.

"Nori, you have a convenient memory, you know that?" I shook my head at him and followed him to the next room. We walked through nine rooms before we came to it, and if I hadn't been with Norian, he'd have walked right into it.

A gate, as incongruous as its existence was, lay inside the ninth room and only one of the Elemaiya or the powerful might see it. None of the Elemaiya were left who might travel through a gate unless—I grabbed Norian's arms and pinched him with barely-formed claws.

"Norian, you almost walked into a trap," I warned him. "You and anybody else who came to investigate this place."

"What are you talking about?" Norian grimaced. I realized then that I'd drawn blood.

"Sorry," I mumbled, taking my hand away. I'd closed all the gates to the Elemaiya, yet here one stood, ready and waiting to transport anyone through it. How could I tell? It was different. Warped. Any creature could disappear through this gate and appear who knows where on the other end. I figured there was a specific destination wired to this unusual gate, and that someone would be waiting on the other end—to welcome allies or to kill enemies.

"Nori, we have to seal off this room, and then we have to call a meeting and discuss this," I said, attempting to keep the quaver out of my voice. This was terrifying on so many levels, and I couldn't even begin to calculate what harm multiple gates such as this might do.

The horrifying part of all this was that there were precious few who might recognize a gate. Too many might disappear before anyone thought to stay away from something they couldn't see or comprehend.

It all made sense, though. I was a Nameless One. So many others were more powerful, and some of them still worked the wrong side of the fence.

* * *

Le-Ath Veronis—present

Lissa's Journal

"You closed the gates," Merrill said.

"Only to the Elemaiya, but this isn't a normal gate. This one has either been manufactured recently, or changed to suit the enemy's purpose. We already know there are more powerful beings than I on the other side who might do that," I said. "This gate is wrong—anybody can go through it. That means it has been set as a trap for the unwary or as a gateway to get an enemy from one place to another if they don't have the ability to fold space."

Norian and I had taken our crew away from Frithia after I sealed off the room with power. At least nobody from the outside could get in. I just worried about what might get out after transporting into that building.

"Do you think there are more of these gates?" Merrill asked.

"It makes sense," I sighed. "And who knows how many are out there? Norian, have there been reports of disappearances from the areas surrounding that building?" I turned to him.

"Many," Norian consulted his comp-vid.

"Besides the powerful, who might recognize these gates?" Rigo asked.

"Only the Elemaiya and a few others could do it in the past," I said. "And I've prevented the Elemaiya from gating," I added.

"Along with taking away their immortality," Drake observed.

"Even though they can no longer gate, can they still recognize one if they see it?" Drew chimed in.

"Good question," I blinked at him. "Very good question. How do we find out? All the Elemaiya are at SouthStar, now. At least all the ones I know about."

"Will they be allowed to leave?" Kiarra asked. She, Adam and Merrill had come together when I sent a call to Merrill to help sort out this mess.

"They'll start aging again if they do," I pointed out. "SouthStar is a haven to those who live there."

"I'll send mindspeech to Ashe," Merrill began.

Be prepared to send it across time
, I sent mindspeech.
He isn't there, right now
.

Can you contact him, then? Hidden gates are nothing but a minefield, and if the enemy built one, then there are likely many others, just as you say. Norian needs to get with the CSD and start gathering information on similar disappearances across both Alliances. Somebody needs to coordinate this, too.

Any suggestions?

What is Torevik doing? I can pair him with Lynx or someone else. He's bored anyway. Lynx, that is.

Saa Thalarr can see gates?

Yes. Your ah, father taught us.

Fuck. I forgot about Griffin. He could be so much help right now, and he's hiding and licking his wounds. Bree should have left him dead.

My darling, do not say that. She knew best—Griffin had to be saved in that time period, no matter how you might think otherwise. You do not know all things connected to him.

I'll defer to your judgment for now, because you know him better than I do
, I replied.
You didn't see the mangled mess left of my sister after the General was finished with her, though.

No, I didn't,
a mental sigh accompanied Merrill's sending.
I'm merely glad the Larentii came
.

That makes two of us
, I declared.
I'm still surprised she came back to her body
.
Do you think the Elemaiya will consent to be our gate hunters? They probably won't do it for me, anyway, since I'm the one who stripped them of their power and immortality.

I'll ask, or get someone else to do it
, Merrill said.
Franklin has done plenty for Kay, so he may be the one to ask Ashe
.

I don't care who asks, just as long as we get some help,
I said.
And the sooner the better. We need somebody with every investigative team Norian sends out, and the same goes for those Tybus sends out.

Agreed. Let's work on contacting Ashe and see where that gets us
.

Yeah. Thanks, honey
.

* * *

Earth—past

Ashe's Journal

Merrill?
I was surprised to hear from him, especially where and when I was.

We have a problem
, he began.

What problem?

The enemy has constructed gates that anyone can travel through. Lissa found one on Frithia, and it's connected to the Sirenali who's behind that mass suicide there. She figures it was a trap, set to capture anyone who inadvertently wandered through it
.