The Tainted Web (The Godhunter, Book 7) (26 page)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I traced home, hoping Trevor would still be there and would be in a forgiving mood. I had no idea what I was going to say to him.
Hey, sorry I gave my hair to an ex-boyfriend who in turn was stupid enough to wear it into Faerie and let it get stolen by a killer kelpie,
didn't seem to cut it. I groaned as I remembered the horrible things I'd said to him. This was going to suck. It was going to suck big werewolf balls, which was something I frankly, would happily do if it got Trevor to forgive me,

I opened the door cautiously and peered into the tented living room. No one was there. I stepped in and closed the door behind me with a solid thunk. Might as well announce my arrival.

As I walked further in, dripping muddy water as I went, I heard a muffled thud and then approaching footsteps. Trevor appeared in the hallway, wide-eyed and wild-haired, with a cell phone in his hand.

“
Nevermind,” he said into the phone, “she's back. I'll call you later.”

He hung up and came to stand before me, staring into my face as if he could see who I really was with just his eyes. Then he looked me up and down, taking in the sopping wet clothes, my dirty skin, and my most likely irritated expression.

“What the fuck?” He finally blurted.

“
Magic,” I snarled, surprising myself with my own viciousness. “Thor had his ring stolen while he was in Faerie. You know, the one I gave to him back when we were a couple. The one with strands of my
hair
in it.”

“
Son of a bitch,” he breathed.

“
Yep,” I took a deep, calming breath. “I'm so sorry about what I said to you. I didn't mean any of it, I swear.”

“
I know, Minn Elska,” he pulled me against him and I sank into that embrace with a huge sense of relief. “It's okay, I know you'd never say those things to me, something had to be wrong. I've been trying to find you. Honestly, I thought Thor was the culprit but that was him on the phone. He's with the Thunderbirds in New Mexico, helping them put together a room to hold Mica in. I was just about to get truly terrified when you walked through the door.”

“
Thor,” I griped. “You know the only thing that brought me out of that insanity was that Kael had neglected to add a rock into his glamor.”

“
A rock?”

“
The rock in Thor's head,” I gestured to my forehead as I pulled out of Trevor's embrace. “Kael didn't have one.”

“
Wait...
Kael
?” Trevor focused an intense stare on me. “As in the one imprisoned in Faerie?”

“
No, Kael, as in the one I thought the Wild Hunt and I killed in Faerie.” I gave him an apologetic grin. “Sorry, I haven't had time to tell you everything that went on when I went back for the imps. Turns out, we killed Kael's sister, who was also using a glamor, and looked like Kael at the time.”

“
Why would you kill her?”

“
She was murdering pixies,” I waved a hand between us. “It's not important now. What is important is that Kael's super pissed about the death of his sister and is now free in the Human Realm. I should probably warn Arach, in case Kael decides to go back to Faerie and get his revenge upon the fire fey. Ugh,” I rubbed my forehead and pushed past Trevor so I could head toward the bathroom. “At least he thinks I'm dead for the moment.”

“
He thinks you're dead?” Trevor followed me down to my main bathroom.

“
Oh yeah,” I laughed bitterly. “The whole point of it all was to kill me. He drowned me in a lake.”

“
He what?” He growled as his eyes flashed gold.

“
That's why I'm soaking wet and muddy,” I gestured to my clothes.

“
I'm going to kill him slowly.”

“
Baby wolf, you're gonna have to get in line,” I held up the strands of hair for his inspection and he started to grin.

Chapter Thirty-Nine

After I showered and changed, we drove back to the lake Kael had drowned me in. I clenched my teeth against the shaking that threatened to start when I looked at the calm, reflective surface of the water in which I'd died and been resurrected. Looking away, I focused instead on the hair I held in my hands, passing the strands to Trevor when I'd caught the scent. Trevor took a big whiff but it wasn't necessary, I had a much better sense of smell than he did now.

“This way,” I led him back to the car, getting in the passenger side so he could drive while I continued to sniff out Kael.

I directed him to the highway and then towards the town of Kailua, leaning my head out the window the whole way like an angry chihuahua. Once we hit Kailua and the scent of the ocean began to mingle with Kael's, I knew exactly where he was going.

“He's headed for the beach,” I pointed forward and then gestured to a parking lot. Trevor pulled in and parked. Luckily, it was late in the day and it was mostly empty.

I got out and Trevor followed me silently, lost already to the hunter inside him. We were on the trail of a fey who'd tried to kill his mate and the wolf would not be distracted until Kael was dead.

I too was focused, the scent of Kael was getting stronger, pulling me through the trees and toward the water. I gave my leather boots a quick frown as we passed the edge of thick grass that rimmed the white sand of Kailua Beach, I'd be cleaning sand out of them for a week when this was over.

I slid down a slope, the heat hitting me almost at the same moment that a breeze wafted up from the sea, bringing with it the strong scent of Kael along with the saltwater tang. I strode through the soft sand till I reached the point where it started to crust over from the saltwater blown in on the breeze, and then I stood there, peering down the stretch of beach to either side of me with hopeless frustration as I ignored the stares of the few remaining sun worshipers.

Kael, of course, was nowhere to be seen.

“
He's in the water already,” I eyed the pounding surf and it seemed to mock me with its soothing sounds –
Come on in, Godhunter, the water's fine.

“
He'll have the advantage there,” Trevor looked ready to jump in, despite the rather large challenge of a lack of air.

“
I can't,” I whispered, eyes fixated on the terrifying but beautiful waves.

“
It's okay,” he slid a hand over my shoulder. “We'll figure something out.”

“
Figure something out?” A man was coming out of the water, directly in front of us. No, not a man, a god. I started to sink into a battle-stance but he held out his hands in the universal
whoa, easy now
gesture. “I'm only here to help,” he smiled, his white teeth dazzling against the darkness of his skin.

“
Who are you?” I looked him over.

Obviously Hawaiian, he had short, dark hair and golden brown skin, but his eyes were a deep blue, like the cold depths of the Pacific. He was thickly muscled and way over six feet tall, maybe even seven, his arms and part of his chest covered in tribal tattoos featuring squid and octopus predominately. He was dressed in a pair of board shorts made by a local surf shop.

“I'm Kanaloa,” he grinned and nodded to Trevor, who was staring at him suspiciously.

“
Oh
fuck
,” I backed up a little.

I'd begun my godhunting career by killing this god's brother, well brother in his pantheon, Ku. I'd only come into contact with two other Hawaiian deities since then, Pele and Kane. Pele had been cool with me(insert laugh here over the Fire Goddess being cool) but Kane had been rather upset and Kane was known to be very close with Kanaloa.

“Relax,” Kanaloa chuckled, “I've talked with Pele and she likes you. If that hot-headed bitch likes you, you must be a hell of a woman.”

“
But Kane-”

“
Can be a dick,” Kanaloa flung his wet bangs away from his face with a swift movement of his head, “and so could Ku but I'm not here to talk about them. I'm here to make a bargain with you.”

“
We're a little busy,” Trevor growled.

“
You know, it's cute that you brought your dog to the beach,” Kanaloa looked Trevor over with a mischievous glint in his eyes, “but you shouldn't let him shit in the sand.”

“
Fuck you, fishman,” Trevor began to stalk forward and I grabbed his arm and pulled him back.

“
Trevor, can we not get into a fight with someone who could help us?”

“
Well at least
you
figured it out,” Kanaloa nodded. “Yes, I know where your prey is. I felt the disturbance as soon as he entered my waters.”

“
So you'll help us remove him?” I'd placed myself between Trevor and Kanaloa just to be safe.

“
I'll do you one better,” he did a little lift with his head that locals do a lot, kind of a quick jerk up with his nose. “I'll bring him out to you.”

“
What's the price?” I narrowed my eyes on him.

“
You smart, eh?” He laughed. “I've heard about the faeries and now I see it's true. The Faerie Realm has been opened.”

“
It's been opened for the fey to come out,” I began to see where he was going with this, “but you have to be invited to go in.”

“
Exactly,” he grinned broadly. “I'd really like to see the ocean of Faerie. To swim with the fey creatures.”

I swallowed hard and shuddered as I remembered the creatures who resided in the Kingdom of Water. This god didn't know what he was asking. The question was, did I agree to get him in and let him find out the hard way so he'd help us, or tell him up front and see if he still wanted to risk it. Sigh.

“You don't know what you're getting into,” I couldn't let him go into Faerie unaware, even if it meant getting Kael. “There are creatures in the Water Kingdom that could eat you in one bite, things with just as much magic as you, maybe even more. It's not a safe place to visit.”

“
I'm okay with that,” his smile gentled, “but thank you for your honesty. If you could get me into the Water Kingdom, as you call it, I will bring you this fey creature who has dared to invade
my
kingdom.”

“
I'll have to speak with the High King,” I thought about it, “but I'm sure he'll agree under these circumstances. Will you swear to bring no harm to the fey or Faerie itself while you're there?”

“
Yes, of course,” his face turned serious. “I'm merely curious. You know, I live in the God Realm, in my own underwater kingdom. I have very interesting creatures there as well. I think I'll be able to handle myself in Faerie, and a water god always has respect for the water, be it his or a fey's.”

“
Then you have a deal,” I walked forward and held out my hand.

“
Thank you,” he smiled and shook my hand. “Just give me a few minutes.”

He walked back into the water, leaving me and Trevor to stare at each other uncertainly.

Chapter Forty

Kanaloa came out of the water cloaked in invisibility, so we didn't know he was there until we saw two pairs of footsteps in the sand and he announced himself.

“Where to, Godhunter?”

“
We better drive him back to my place before we trace to Faerie,” I smiled in relief. I hadn't realized how stressed I was over Kael's continued existence, until that very moment. “Would you like to accompany us now or would you prefer to go to Faerie later?”

“
There's no time like the present,” I could hear his grin.

“
Alright then,” I said to the empty air in front of me, “follow us.”

I put a towel down in the backseat and then we got our invisible passengers loaded up and drove home without incident. Kael was silent the whole way but Kanaloa made chit-chat like we were out for a Sunday drive, entertaining us the entire way home while Kael sulked in silence beside him.

“I'll need to make a couple of calls to Faerie before we can go,” I said as I unlocked my front door. I paused a second when I realized I'd have to invite Kael in past my wards but I could always re-ward the place later and frankly, he'd probably be dead real soon. “Enter Kanaloa and Kael, and be welcome,” I grimaced, “well, at least one of you is welcome, the other is tolerated.”