Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) (17 page)

“
That was true?” I gaped at him, along with everyone else.

“
Why doesn't anyone ever believe that part of my book?” He threw up his hands. “Yes, I built Heaven. All seven of them. And Hell. I am very bad ass.”

“
So that's where you got it,” I grinned at Azrael before turning back to his father. “Okay, I'll agree to the bad ass comment if you can tell me that you made some kind of secret passage through the heavens,” I narrowed my gaze on him.

“
Of course I did,” he huffed. “What kind of engineer doesn't make a back door for himself?”

“
You have secret ways through the heavens?” Azrael grabbed his father's arm. “And you never told me?”

“
It never came up,” Luke shrugged. “It's not like we ever wanted to go through them. The main reason I made them was for...”

“
Mom,” Azrael laughed. “You made them so you could sneak Mom in and out of Hell.”

“
What man isn't inspired by love?” Luke shrugged.

Azrael, Trevor, and Kirill all turned to me with the sweetest soppiest looks on their faces. I felt my eyes go soft and I gave them my own soppy smile. My life could be difficult but standing there, looking at three of the most amazing men I'd ever met, and knowing that they loved me, made everything worth it. What woman wouldn't put up with a little difficulty for that?

Luke cleared his throat and ruined the moment. “Um, did you four need some privacy?”

“
Dad,” Azrael groaned again.

“
So you can sneak in and out of Heaven,” I got us back on course. “You could spy for us.”

“
Yep and what are they gonna do if they catch me?” He laughed. “I'm stronger than all of them now. Bring it!” He made a slashing motion with his hands, slapping them down on his thighs as he thrust his pelvis forward. I nearly died laughing.

“
That's the best news I've heard in days,” I gave him a quick hug after I recovered from the humor. “Thank you.”

“
Hey, I don't want the mermaids to die either,” he shrugged, looking a little embarrassed.

“
Merfolk,” the rest of us chimed in all at once.

Once we'd established that A. I would not be making out with my three boyfriends in front of one of their fathers, and B. Azrael would be going with said father on his spy missions, we were able to continue with the whole reason we were all there. My manipulating my territory.

I changed almost every room and Luke was indispensable in helping me through it. He showed me how to create items from nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. He taught me to sense the magic currents in the air and take hold of them, transforming them into something solid. So every Intare got to have not only an Xbox in their new larger suites(I made them too big to be called rooms) but had a full entertainment center to go with the couches I put in them as well.

I felt that Nyavirezi had wasted a lot of space, making hundreds of tiny cell-like rooms for her lions when she only had around eighty lions to begin with. I combined those rooms and made larger ones, and that wasn't even counting the additional floors I added.

We still had all of our original public rooms, like the armory, the theater, the weight room, common room, and so on, but they were upgraded to larger and more efficient versions of themselves. Well, everything but the ballroom, that I removed entirely and replaced with a giant dining hall, in which we could have parties if we wanted.

It took hours to go through the whole place but I enjoyed every second of it. It was like going on a shopping spree with someone else's money and having a fleet of movers install all your purchases for you. I went through each room gleefully, putting in every little detail that my heart desired or that I thought my Intare might desire, and it barely took any effort at all.

My favorite transformation had to be the library of course. No, that's a lie, it was my closet(maybe dressing room is a more appropriate term for it now) but the library was a close second.
Now on the second floor, the library still had large picture windows facing the front of the house, with a similar view to the one it had before only from a better vantage point. It was much bigger and looked more like a library you might find at Hogwarts instead of one you'd find on an estate in Africa.

There were no bookshelves on the walls anymore. Instead, there were rows of super tall free-standing shelves. They were made of mahogany polished to a nice shine and I loved to trail my hand over them as I walked by the stacks. On top of the shelves, statues of mystical creatures loomed, trying to read over the shoulders of anyone considerate enough to open a book beneath them.

The sitting room was still there, though it was now a computer room as well, and it was a bit brighter than the rest of the library. I liked the look of leather books and polished shelves in low lighting but no one wanted to have to read like that. The sun pouring through the windows would brighten up the library during the day but at night it would be a little mysterious. So there were plenty of reading areas available in the sitting room for those wanting less mystery and more illumination.

The lack of wall shelves made it possible to display several art pieces, some of them even my own. I admit I made replicas of famous paintings, it's not like I was going to sell any of them, and why shouldn't we be able to enjoy a Matisse if I could provide one for us? They each had a beautiful gilded frame and their own little light above them on the wood paneled walls.

There were heavy wood tables placed randomly about the room with their own desk lamps and there were numerous comfortable wingback chairs as well. Then, just beyond the French doors set between the large windows, there was a long balcony with comfortable chairs available to lounge in. It was perfect.

After I'd finished all the new transformations, down to the bigger and better theater in the basement, we went back upstairs and I took a look around the foyer of our new palace. It was perfect, exactly as I'd envisioned it, but then of course it would be since it was my vision that had created it.

“In the words of Harry Potter,” I said with a big smile, “I love magic.”

“
It does make things easier sometimes,” Luke nodded. “Ready to show it off to everyone else?”

“
Yes, let's,” I walked back out to the waiting crowd that had become a bit of a party in our absence.

“
Can we have your attention?” Trevor shouted and they all quieted down and turned toward us. “Go ahead, Minn Elska.”

“
Well? Come on then. Who wants to see our new home?” I held my arms wide.

The Intare whooped and ran up the steps into the new Pride Palace which was finally a real palace. Soon the sound of delighted lions filtered out to us. The rest of my friends came over at a more sedate place but with smiles as wide as the Intare's had been. They congratulated me as they passed, several of them stopping to tell me stories of when they'd first created their own territories. Fenrir especially, seemed proud, pounding me on the back while telling me how impressed he was over the ease with which I'd accomplished the changes. That had meant a lot to me and I felt my face heating in response.

“That was one of the most wondrous things I've ever been a part of,” Luke said quietly after everyone had gone past us. “Thank you for allowing me to experience it with you.”

“
Are you kidding?” I gave him a big hug. “You taught me how to do this. This happened because of you. So thank you, Luke for helping me make my home more my home.”

“
You're very welcome, Vervain,” he extended his arm and escorted me inside.

There were still a lot of changes to be made and the Intare took great joy in pulling me around to their new suites and making special requests for furniture and the like. I was happy to do it, if for no other reason than it made them more comfortable in their new home. I knew then what a burden it had been for them to continue to live in the place they'd been tortured for years. This new palace was all ours and would be filled with only the memories that we wanted to fill it with.

The end of the day found me standing out on my own personal balcony, Nick swirling contentedly around my legs, as I surveyed my land from a new vantage point. I was so high up now that I could make out the misty magical borders that separated my territory from those of other gods. I wondered who our neighbors were.

“
This is more amazing than I ever expected,” Trevor said as he came up to lean against the stone railing beside me. “I'm frankly in awe of you right now.”

“
I'm pretty pleased with myself as well,” I joked. “It was a group effort, I couldn't have come up with all of this without the lions.”

“
Butterflies are fine,” Kirill announced as he walked out of our massive bedroom and onto the balcony with us.

I'd done a cursory inspection of the new inner courtyard, which was now big enough to have a grassy picnic area in the center of it, but Kirill had to go through the entire garden and make sure there were no dead butterflies lying forgotten on the ground. It made me do the impossible and love him even more.

“Thanks, baby,” I nudged him as he came up on my other side.

“
I told you those butterflies are immortal,” Trevor said to Kirill.

“
Immortal butterflies?” I lifted a brow at Trevor.

“
They're made from magic, Minn Elska,” he chucked me on the chin. “They won't die unless you wish them to.”

“
Damn,” I huffed a laugh. “I wish you had told me about that sooner. I was kind of worried about them.”

“
I had to make sure,” Kirill shrugged.

“
Is our spot still there?” Trevor whispered to me.

“
Of course,” I grinned. I'd never get rid of the little love bower Trevor had made for us.

Azrael and his father had gone home. I invited them both to stay but Luke didn't want to leave his territory unattended for long and Azrael wanted to get some work done before bed. Souls were waiting.

So it was just me and my two shifters.

I turned around so I was leaning against the railing, looking into the room, and surveyed our new accommodations. The bed was the same massive bed but the mahogany pedestal it sat on was a little higher, an extra stair to climb up at night. It definitely made the bed the focal point of the room, though the new seating areas were very nice as well. We had an entertainment center in our room now too, so we could snuggle up together here and watch a movie without being interrupted. It was to the left of the bed from my current perspective, the back of the entertainment center facing us but covered by a folding screen.

On the other side of the screen, nearest us, was a little dining table and chairs in a deep ebony wood. It had a vase of fire orchids in the center of it that I'd arranged myself, without the use of magic. I was still contemplating how they'd managed to appear on the trellises by themselves but I decided not to drive myself crazy thinking about it. They'd probably just been in the back of my mind.

I'd kept the bathtub in the attached bathroom the same, though I'd added a smaller tub and shower combination for those days when I didn't want to swim around in that mammoth tub. The décor was now Art Nouveau, with frilly metal floral forms decorating everything, a separate room for the toilet, and an open backed fireplace that was shared with the bedroom.

The bedroom was massive, with a soaring ceiling that had made it possible to add four posters to the lifted bed, with a dramatic blue silk canopy draped over them. Though the bed dominated the space, there were several separate sections to the room, kind of like a loft. On top of the TV and dining areas to the left of the bed, to the right there was also an area for me to paint, it was near the balcony so it had lots of light. This was something I took great joy in creating and if you're an artist, you'll understand the light-hearted glee with which I brought my own paints, easels, and tools into existence.

Near the art area there was a little kitchenette with a fridge, a small stove, and some cabinets, for when I wanted to have a private meal with my men. Trevor had also mentioned that he'd wanted a fridge in the room so he wouldn't have to go down to the kitchen in the middle of the night for a drink. It was very male of him but I had to admit it was also practical.

There were three doors near the kitchenette. The one closest to the kitchen led into my closet. Next to that was the bedroom door which opened to a hallway that led to the stairs and elevator. Then beside those were French doors that led into the butterfly garden. The whole wall from the left of those doors on until the fireplace, was glass so we could see into the garden. The bed was set up against the glass, right between the fireplace and the French doors.

My walk-in closet was, as I warned Trevor, more of a room than a closet, and was now where my dressing table sat along with the armoire the Intare had made for me so long ago, back when I'd complained about Nyavirezi's tiny rack for her clothing. That was just ridiculous. How could a goddess have just one metal clothing rack? This was so much better.

Remember the closet from the
Sex and the City
movie? And then the one from
The Princess Diaries 2
? We're talking rows of metal bars with lights above them for displaying shoes, and drawers that opened to reveal trays of jewelry. Neither of those closets had anything on mine. I could live in my closet and be happy for the rest of my life.

The carpeting was the same dark purple as the bedroom, contrasting nicely with the stark white walls. It had a distinctly Parisian feel with pink and cream silk upholstery and drapes hanging with oversized tassels holding them back. Oh, there weren't any windows, just decorative drapes pulled back to display racks of clothing.

There were display cases of glass and gilded metal going down the center of the room, interspersed with chaise lounges and puffy ottomans. The only jewelry pieces currently in them were the hair combs Kirill had carved for me, the emerald necklace from Odin, the wolf bracelet Trevor had given me, and the diamonds from Anubis but I'd be putting the rest of my collection in them soon.

At the very end of the room was a full length mirror standing in a golden frame and right above it was a crystal chandelier. Behind the mirror were racks filled with my shoes. Then to either side of the room there were bars set at different levels, already holding my clothing but oh the space. There was so much space left for me to fill.

Beneath the racks were built in dressers for both my clothes and the guy's. They both had space on the racks as well but most of Trevor's and Kirill's clothing were best off folded. Kirill had won another five dollars when I'd showed them their areas in the closet. Evidently Trevor thought I'd take it all and leave them a dresser out in the bedroom or something. I was really going to have to bust his balls for the thinking so badly of me. I may have gone hog wild with the closet but I'd never forget the needs of my men.

Now enough of them, back to the closet. Display cubicles with lights set into each one showed off my purse collection and there were even alcoves to hang special pieces for display. The mink coat Luke had made me hung in one of those. Sigh. I'm sorry but I love clothes and that closet almost turned me on more than that bed. I said almost.

“I think we need to start making some new memories,” I said to the beautiful men flanking me. “And I know the perfect place to begin.”

“
I swear,” Trevor growled, “if you say the closet, I'm leaving.”

“
I'll have sex vith you in ze closet,” Kirill grinned and shot Trevor a look. “Vat? It's a nice closet. Zere's chaise lounges and you forget, it's our closet too.”

“
How do you even know what those things are called?” Trevor huffed.

“
I'm Russian,” Kirill shrugged. “Ve like furniture.”

“
That's not a Russian thing, is it?” Trevor looked at me. “Is it?”

“
Trevor,” I laughed and took his hand. “I meant the bed.”

“
Oh,” he gave me a goofy grin and then lifted me up, tossing me into the air and making me squeal. “Well in that case, one new memory coming up.”

Kirill chased after us and we all fell into the bed together, immensely happy and carefree. I sank beneath the weight of my werewolf and werelion, skin to skin with them in moments, and called my lust magic to me. If we were going to make a new memory, I was going to go all out. Even more so than with the closet. Yes, I had to go there.

As the red glow lifted beneath my skin and their strong hands stroked over it, stoking the magic higher, I gave in to the release of loving them and the knowledge that we'd have this moment forever, binding us together in our new memories as we bound ourselves together with love.