The Tainted Web (The Godhunter, Book 7) (24 page)

“
Iktomi's weakness is his web,” Kohana said with a very intense gaze. “A spider walks his web confidently, weaving it into  complicated patterns as he goes, but catch him in the heart of it, where he hangs mid-air, cut off its moorings, and he is lost. He will fall.”

“
We can't destroy the Internet,” I shook my head. “We've already considered it but it will cause too much damage to the humans.”

“
Not the entire Internet, no,” he smiled wickedly, “but if we can get him in an area where we can cut him out of the web and then prevent his return to it, it will have the same effect,” he paused and looked at the others. “Get him out of his web and we'll take care of the rest. Birds eat spiders.”

“
That's graphic,” I swallowed audibly as I flashed back to the mass of spiders Iktomi had made me believe were emerging from my stomach. I could have used some birds then. “It sounds like what the imps suggested,” I waved a hand to Meilyr and his group, which the birds had been eying warily. “I'm sorry, you're probably wondering about them. I'm part sidhe and these are some of my people. They're Internet savvy and came back with me to help us vanquish Iktomi.”

“
You're a faery?” One of the women Thunderbirds blurted out in surprise but quickly schooled her expression when Kohana glared at her.

“
It's alright,” I laughed, holding up a hand toward Kohana. “It's a bit shocking, I know.”

“
She's not just any sidhe,” Meilyr stood up, his face a little red,  as he shouted. “She's the Queen of Fire! Queen Vervain,” he added in a little more subdued tone as he realized everyone was staring at him in shock. “I do apologize but it's difficult to see you neglect your title. You're such a blessing to us, our hope that the House of Fire shall flourish, and you deserve to be called Queen.”

“
My apologies, Your Majesty,” Kohana inclined his head with a glint of mischief in his eyes. Before I could correct him, Meilyr stomped his foot.

“
No, no, no,” Meilyr shook his head, “her title is Queen not Majesty. Obviously she's majestic but Queen is the form of respect one should use when addressing her.”

“
Okay Meilyr,” I couldn't decide whether to be upset with him for abusing my guests or flattered at his defense. “Thank you for your loyalty but these are my guests and the rules of hospitality apply to them. They're not familiar with the ways of Faerie and Kohana thought he was showing respect by using a human term for royalty.”

“
Hospitality,” Meilyr lost a little of the crazed gleam in his eyes and the claws I hadn't realized he'd extended drew back slowly into his furry paws. “You're right, my Queen. I apologize, Lord Kohana.”

The imp bowed and settled himself back on his perch on the top of a couch and behind Darius, who was staring at him like he was a Pomeranian who'd just turned into Godzilla. I looked around and realized the entire room had just got a wake up call. In the God Realm things were not always as they seemed, small people could house great power. So you'd think the gods would have known better than to judge the imps by their adorable appearances.

The fey had that effect though, I smiled a little to myself. Something that portrayed itself as meek or even cute, could actually turn around and rip your heart out without a second thought. It was even more true about the fire fey, a fact that had been driven home to me more thoroughly by the Host and our recent Hunt. I would never look at the pixies the same.

“
Apologies accepted, little warrior,” Kohana looked Meilyr over with more than the shock everyone else had shown. His eyes shone with admiration and when I glanced at the other Thunderbirds, I saw the same expression on their faces. It made me like them even more, that they could understand one of my fey and respect him for what he was.

“
The Faerie Realm has very recently been opened,” I brought Kohana's attention back to me. “So you might want to spread the word that they fey will be back in our neck of the woods soon. There's nothing to worry about though, the High King will be laying some ground rules for them to follow.”

“
Good to know,” Kohana nodded.

“
Anyway,” I smiled and shook my head, “now that we've established titles that I'm evidently not allowed to ignore,” I spared  a indulgent glance at Meilyr. “Let's get back to the matter at hand. The imps have suggested we lure Iktomi here. They've assured me that they can destroy pieces of his web, the foundations or moorings as you called them, and that should lure Iktomi into the Internet to investigate. Then they will lead him back here, where we have only one Internet connection, and once he's through, we will shut down the connection, hopefully trapping him here. Since this is the God Realm, there aren't wireless signals all over the place, so it should work. Torrent also agrees that this is viable and I'm sure he'll rest easier now that we have a little more godpower behind us.”

“
I think that could work,” Kohana looked around the room at the other Thunderbirds. “We will assist in any way we can.”

“
Thank you,” I sighed with a little relief. “Is there anything else you can tell us?”

“
Well, this will only take care of Iktomi,” Kohana frowned. “Mica will be left without access to power once the Spider is squashed and should be easier to handle but it may take years for his power to wane, if ever. He will still be difficult to defeat but at least we'll be able to get to him, unlike Iktomi who's hard to even pin down.”

“
This is why our plan was unfinished,” Brahma looked thoughtful. “We didn't know what to do about Mica.”

“
Yes, he'll require a different approach,” Kohana nodded. “Another weakness of these two, is their lack of loyalty. Mica will be angered that his power source has been destroyed but he will not be moved toward revenge unless it will profit him. If he can run instead of facing us, he will. An outcome I'd like to avoid.”

“
So how do we avoid it?” Trevor had been relaxing back against the couch, with his arm stretched out behind me, but he leaned forward to enter the conversation.

“
We must lay a trap for Mica at the same time,” Karni Mata added in a tone that made it clear she thought the answer was obvious. Everyone turned to stare at her in surprise. “What?” She shrugged, “I'm the Rat Goddess, I know all about traps.”

“
Indeed,” I smiled at her. “That's exactly what must be done and with all of you plus my Intare,” I swept the room with a hand, “we should be able to do it. So what do we do to draw him out?”

“
What attracts coyotes?” Horus asked, tapping an elegant finger against the side of his nose.

“
Chickens?” Pan grinned at Horus, the repartee never stopped between those two.

“
Try bigger birds,” I eyed the Thunderbirds. “You said they are your sworn enemies, right?”

“
Yes,” Kohana cocked his head to the side.

“
Is there anything you can think of, that you or a member of your family can do that would challenge him in a way he couldn't resist?”

“
The casino,” one of the other birds said to Kohana.

“
Yes, of course,” he looked over at the man like he was surprised he hadn't thought of it for himself, then looked back at me. “We own a casino in New Mexico, it's how most of the Native American gods know to find us.”

“
And this helps because?” I prompted.

“
Mica loves games,” Torrent was smiling at Kohana.

Kohana smiled back and his attractiveness went up about ten notches. “The surest way to catch his attention is to offer him a gamble. If we held an exclusive tournament, say a high stakes poker game, available to only the god community, and let it be known that not only would we be hosting the game but participating in it, Mica is sure to show up. He would not pass up the chance to best us on our own turf.”

“So you guys get your tournament together, hold it in a special room which you can fill with all of your own people, and lock it after he enters,” I grinned back at the Thunderbird. “He'll be trapped.”

“
We will start the process at once,” Kohana nodded and waved a hand at one of the younger looking birds, who then rushed off towards the hallway, pulling out a cell phone as he went. “I'll let you know when we have everything in place and send back some of my people to help you with Iktomi.”

“
I can't tell you how much I appreciate your help,” I stood as he did and extended my hand to him.

“
The pleasure will surely be ours,
Queen
Vervain,” he smiled as he shook my hand and sent Meilyr a quick wink.

As I walked the Thunderbirds out to the tracing point, I glanced over and caught Thor's eye. Something jolted inside me, my stomach clenched and my heart began to race. Memories of our time together filled my mind and I was breathless for a second under the assault.

He frowned a little, probably wondering what the hell my problem was, and then started over to me but I turned away, back towards Kohana. I led the Thunderbirds down the hall, making small talk as we went, but even with my back to him, I could still feel a pull towards Thor.

I bid the birds adieu and headed back toward the common room with Trevor and Kirill but when we neared the door, I saw Thor waiting beside it and I began to shake.
No, no, no,
I screamed internally. This was not happening! I needed some time to get my head together.

“
I think I need a little break,” I said to my men. “Could you guys handle our guests while I go lie down for a little while?”

“
Of course,” Trevor touched my upper arm in concern. “Are you going to be okay? Do you need anything?”

“
No, I'll be fine,” I smiled reassuringly and Trevor nodded but Kirill kept his piercing gaze on me like he knew I was full of it. He just nodded though and watched me as I walked away, a lot like Thor did.

Chapter Thirty-Six

The waiting was getting to me, so I went home to my little house in Kaneohe, Hawaii to get some painting done. I didn't have a lot of money worries ever since I'd sold off some of the jewelry Anubis had given me for our wedding(long story) but I hadn't started painting for the money. I loved to paint, that I made money at it was just a bonus.

So I sat in front of my easel and tried to picture something other than Thor's face. It wasn't happening. All I could seem to think about was him, his eyes, his thick arms, that stupid rock in his forehead. I had this feeling in the pit of my stomach like I had made some fatal mistake. Why hadn't I made up with Thor?

Because of his father, for one. I tried to focus on Odin but I couldn't hold the picture of him for very long. Then I tried Trevor, nope, no reaction there. It was strange but it felt like all of my love for my men had dried up. The only love I could dig up from inside me was for Thor.

“What the fuck?” I asked the canvas in front of me, which had somehow been painted with an image of my ex-boyfriend's face. “This is ridiculous,” I told it but Thor just smiled back at me like he knew something I didn't. “I don't love you anymore,” I tried to tell him but the painting had no answers for me, so I gave up and went to grab a soda from the fridge.

On the way back to my art room, Trevor traced in. I stared at him, trying to connect with him, reaching for the wolf inside of me that was a part of Trevor's soul, and feeling nothing but irritation toward him.

“What? I can't have one blessed minute to myself?” I snapped at him.

“
Minn Elska?” He stared at me in shock.

“
Agh,” I walked away from him, “always with the pet names. Why can't anyone ever call me Vervain? I mean is it really that hard to pronounce? Ver-vain, you all should be pretty familiar with the second half, there's not a modest one of you in the entire bunch.”

“
Kirill's pretty modest,” Trevor had followed me back into the art room, mouth open and eyes wide, like I was performing a circus act.

“
Kirill?” I scoffed as I slammed my coke down, getting sticky soda all over the table. “Are you kidding me? He knows he's gorgeous, flinging all that hair around while giving everyone his serious face. Look at me, I'm Kirill, I'm so beautiful my last Tima chose me first and my next Tima took me as a lover even though she was already bound in a bogus werewolf Binding that she had no choice in!” I ended my rant in a near scream, sending Trevor reeling back into the hallway.

“
Vervain,” he held out a hand. “This is getting worse. I'm going to get Teharon.”

“
Oh, there's something wrong with me alright,” I sneered at him. “I've put up with your manipulations, Kirill's whining, Odin's obsession, and Azrael's blasé behavior for long enough. I'm done with all of you. I want you out of my house by the time I get back, you and that long-haired lion!”