The Tainted Web (The Godhunter, Book 7) (25 page)

I grabbed my purse and pushed past him. He reached out a hand to stop me and I snarled at him. He inhaled sharply, his eyes flashing yellow once as the wolf in him threatened to come out and meet my challenge, but I knew the dragon in me was too much for even an alpha werewolf and sure enough, the light never returned to his eyes and Trevor released my arm.

I stormed out of my house, taking the steps two at a time, and marched over to my car. Before I made it to the garage though, a car horn stopped me in my tracks, and I looked up to find Thor parked in front of my house in a mustang convertible. I frowned as my heart leapt and my feet carried me over to him all on their own.

I eyed the car as I reached him, it was a rental, one of the models popular with the tourists. What the hell was Thor doing in front of my house in a car? The rental part wasn't all that surprising, I don't know if he even owned anything beyond his boat, but for him to be there at that particular moment seemed a little too fortuitous.

“What are you doing here, Thor?” I narrowed my eyes on him.

“
I needed to talk to you and I was told you'd be here,” he smiled but it soon faded as he saw Trevor coming out of the house. “Is this a bad time?”

“
No, it's perfect,” I jumped into the car, suddenly desperate to get away from Trevor. “Drive.”

“
Where to?” He gave me a confused look as Trevor began to run across the yard.

“
Just drive!” I shouted and Thor hit the gas.

“
Vervain!” Trevor yelled after us, coming to a stop in the middle of the road.

“
What's going on, Vervain?” Thor glanced in the rear view mirror and then over at me.

“
I just broke up with Trevor,” I sighed and sat back into the plush seat.

“
You what?” He stared at me like I'd lost my mind.

“
I know,” I rubbed at my forehead. “I think I broke up with them all actually.”

“
Vervain,” Thor shook his head.

“
Turn here,” I gestured at a street on our right.

“
Where are we going?”

“
The botanical gardens,” I pointed as we drove up to and then past a gate with a sign that read: Ho'omaluhia. “I need some peace and quiet.”

“
Alright,” he still looked confused. “Just tell me where to go.”

“
Keep driving,” I sighed and focused on the road but he hit the brake a little too hard while taking a curve and I looked over at him, shocked out of my melancholy. “When's the last time you drove a car?”

“
This is my first time,” he beamed at me.

“
Your first time?” I sat up straight. “You've never driven before? How's that even possible?”

“
I haven't had the need,” he shrugged and looked away.

“
Alright,” I held up my hands, “you don't have to be embarrassed about it or anything. Everyone has a first time.”

“
It's a lot of fun,” he was back to grinning.

“
Turn in here,” I huffed a little laugh as we pulled into an empty parking lot.

After he parked, we got out and I led him down a little path, trees closing in around us and giving me the strangest sense of foreboding, until we emerged into bright sunshine glinting off the surface of a calm lake. I led him over to a clear spot near the shore, automatically scanning the area for any threats. There were none, the only movement came from the ducks floating on the lake and waddling around the water's edge.

It was the perfect place for the mood I was in. So I sat down and dug my fingers into the grass, trying to ground myself and figure out where all this rage toward my lovers had come from.
Ex
-lovers. Something leaped inside me in denial but it was quickly burned away by the flames Thor's presence was starting to fan.

“
Do you wish to speak on it?” He eyed me out of the corner of his eye.

“
No,” I sighed. “I don't know. I've been having the strangest feelings for you lately.”

“
You have?” His eyes fastened on me intently.

“
I don't know, Thor,” I scrubbed a hand across my face. “There are reasons we're not together anymore, I just can't seem to remember them now.”

“
Because they're not important,” he touched the side of my face gently and I was a goner.

All the memories that had been haunting me lately, came crashing down on me at once, and I couldn't stop myself from leaning toward him. Then he was kissing me and I was flooded with emotion like a stopper had been pulled. I shook with the rush of it as he laid me on the grass beneath him.

He felt so right, so good pressed against me, his thick shoulders under my hands and his lips on mine. I pushed him back so I could look into his beautiful sea-blue eyes, a mix of blue and green, and I was a little disappointed to not see any lightning flashing in them. Always in the past, by this point, his eyes would be flashing. Then I looked over his face more closely, registering little nuances that weren't quite right.

“
Where's the rock?” I finally blurted out.

“
What?” He blinked down at me.

“
The rock,” I pushed him off me, more sure that this wasn't Thor, by his reaction to the question. “The one embedded in your forehead.”

To my utter disbelief, he started to laugh. He laughed and laughed, great rolling waves of it that only served to make me more certain that this was not Thor. Thor's laugh was like thunder, this man's echoed but didn't boom. He was an impostor.

“Truly?” He finally stopped laughing to look over at me. “He has a rock in his head? How could that possibly have happened?”

“
Who the hell are you?” I stood up and he sighed before getting to his feet as well.

“
I guess I can drop all pretenses,” he grinned and it definitely wasn't a smile I'd ever seen on Thor's face. For one thing, it had way too many teeth.

He lifted his hands and very slowly, very deliberately, pulled a ring off his finger... the ring I'd given Thor. He tossed it to the ground and I felt the anger that had been gripping me, fall away like a shroud, cold and silky with the essence of death in it.

I gasped as the horror of what I'd done hit me, my emotions bombarding me as my beasts came roaring back to life. It was like surfacing from underwater or coming over the mountain and having your ears pop. An awakening that made you realize how much your sense had been dulled. I'd been living in a fog, a Thor fog. Then Thor's face slipped away and I was faced with the real man beneath the glamor.

“
This isn't possible,” I whispered. “We killed you. You're very, very dead.”

“
Hmmm,” Kael cocked his head to the side. “Did you? Or did you kill my sister Mordag perhaps? She who helped me escape the cell in the roots of the Castle of Eight and vowed to get vengeance upon the House of Fire for me. Did you kill her, Fire Queen? Because if you did, I'll have one more reason to kill you.”

“
Your sister?” I gaped. “No it was you, I saw your face myself.”

“
You saw a glamor,” he spat, “just like the one I used on you today. She did it to protect me and I won't squander her sacrifice.”

“
A glamor,” I glanced at the ring, “and a love spell. You used my hair in that ring to bespell me!”

“
Again,” he laughed grimly, “my sister's idea. She stole that ring from your ex-lover when she danced with him at the Faerie-God Ball. She felt its tie to you and thought we might use it to lure you away and kill you, but then you so thoughtfully placed yourself right into my hands and we didn't have a need for the ring. Until later.”

“
So you made me break up with my boyfriends just to lure me out of the house,” I huffed. “Was that really necessary?”

“
No,” he laughed and did a sort of slide and grab maneuver that left me straddling his back, his hand on my forearm holding me to him. “That was just for fun and your death shall be even more enjoyable.”

He shifted beneath me, changing from man to horse in seconds. His hand dropped away as it shifted into a hoof but I found myself adhered firmly to his back, despite the lack of restraint. I pushed at his wide shoulders but it did no good, I was well and truly stuck.

“What the fuck?” I began to pummel him, then pull at the thick kelp-like mane, but he just gave a neighing snort and trotted toward the water. “Oh hell no,” I whispered.

I was afraid of the water, had been since I was very young, and I'd always attributed it to some shenanigans which had resulted in me treading water in the middle of the ocean at the age of five, but now I was beginning to wonder if it wasn't that at all. Maybe it was just the dragon-sidhe in me, making it very clear that water was not our friend.

As the cold lake closed around us, I truly started to panic. This was my biggest fear, the one way I didn't want to die. Lungs burning till I eventually gave up and breathed in water. Water heavy in my chest, cool on my face. No, it couldn't end like this. My mind screamed as I took a huge breath and we sank below the surface.

The hollow sound of submersion blanketed me. It was so peaceful, so beautiful under the water. Everything moved like it was dancing, flowing sinuously in ways things never could on land. It made it all so much more horrible, that this tranquility would be my death. The kelpie's mane caressed my face, blocking my vision as I continued to battle for life, continued to pull at the mane of seaweed, even managing to tear free a few strands before the burning in my lungs began.

My body was stiff with fear, heart pumping wildly and eyes blinking in denial. I couldn't hold out any longer, black spots were flashing before my eyes and my head was hurting from the lack of air. My body finally took over and inhaled without my permission, choking even as it tried to pull more water in. My throat jerked like it didn't know what to do. It felt so heavy, cold where I shouldn't be cold, and it burned in a different way than the lack of air had. It burned black, cold and dark, and soon that was all I saw.

Chapter Thirty-Seven

I came to, choking on water, expelling it while I was still underwater. I kicked frantically, pushing myself out of the muck that thickly coated the lake floor and up to the surface. I broke through with a gasping rush and rubbed my eyes free of dirty water, so I could try to make out the direction of the closest shore.

I immediately saw the bank Kael and I had been on and I made for it. I was hoping that ring was still there. The last thing I needed was someone else trying to use it on me now that I was alive again.

Alive again.

I huffed and choked out more water as I pulled myself onto the muddy bank and crawled over to where I spotted the gleam of gold amidst the grass. It shined at me, taunting me for the fool I was. At that moment, I had to agree. I'd completely forgotten that I couldn't be killed by any means other than beheading, no matter the status of my sidhe blood. And evidently Kael hadn't realized it either. He must have seen me drown and thought he'd succeeded this time. He'd have no way of knowing my body would repair itself and bring me back to consciousness in just a few minutes.

Of course living through that didn't make the experience any less painful or traumatic. My fear of the water had made drowning a perfect torture for me, even if its effects weren't as lasting as Kael had thought. My issues with the water were even worse now, I'd probably never be able to swim again. I glared at the lake over my shoulder and shuddered.

But even my revulsion couldn't outdo my exhaustion and I ended up just rolling to my back, clutching the ring to me as I stared up at the darkening sky. Looked like it was going to rain. Go figure. It was Kaneohe after all, rain was practically a daily occurrence. It was also the perfect ending to the most perfectly miserable day.

“
Can't I have just one week where no one tries to kill or torture me?” I whined before getting more firm with myself.
“Get up, Godhunter, that killer kelpie might decide to return to the scene of the crime.” I gave a grim laugh. Murdering mermaids and killer kelpies, it was like a dark version of Dr. Seus.
The Murdering Mermaid was sent away, but her Killer Kelpie was here to stay.

I pushed to my feet, wondering if kelpies ate green eggs and ham, while my body continued to heal and I began to feel better. Then I looked at the ring and was suddenly very angry with it and myself. It was my fault for giving it to Thor in the first place. It was a stupid gesture of trust that had just about got me killed.

I threw it down to the grass and took a quick look around me to make sure I was alone, before I sent a stream of fire out of my mouth and over the damned ring. It melted in seconds, filling the air with the tang of metal and the acrid stench of burnt hair. It satisfied me a little but not as much as killing Kael would.

Then it struck me. I was clenching something in my left hand, had been since I'd come to at the bottom of the lake. I hadn't released it, even through my crawl across the grass. I looked down at my fist and saw strands of what appeared to be seaweed dangling from my fingers. I began to smile.