I knew I was about to implode or become crippled or some other horrible punishment. Instead, the bloody gore fell off my body and dripped to the floor.
Her eyes roamed over my body. “Why do you think I want to kill you?”
Trick question. My eyes flickered. I shielded my thoughts.
Athena smiled and fluttered her eyelids.
She wanted an answer. “Is this a game? You killed Esmeralda.”
“Yes. She hurt you and tried to hurt Alexis. So yes, I killed her.”
My eyes moved from her to a spot over her shoulder. I needed time to absorb what she had said. I was so confused I didn’t know what to think or say. “You’re not going to kill me?”
Athena smiled slightly. “No, that’s not my intention.” She looked around. “Forgive me. Your friends are searching for you, but I have blocked them from your location. This is necessary so we can talk.”
“Okay, I guess I’m confused. Why do you want to talk to me?” I closed my eyes and sighed. The creature was fading away since I wasn’t angry or in danger. It took only a few moments, and when I opened my eyes again, Athena had moved closer to me.
“I’ve never seen anything quite like you Kim Russell,” she said. “No wonder my Alexis is enamored with you. Our Alexis.”
She made that clear. “What am I doing here? Everyone thought that you were angry with me.”
Athena nodded. “They were correct. When I learned that Alexis had bound himself to another, I was extremely angry.”
I crossed my arms across my chest uneasily. “And you’re not angry now?”
“Not at you. But I am angry with your Elder Council. Very angry.” Athena’s eyes flashed red, and for an instant her stony beauty was marred by something else, something frightening.
“My Elder Council?”
“Yes. Your Elder Council, the one that decreed your punishment, the one that exiled my Alexis. Forgive me—our Alexis.”
“Athena, forgive my ignorance, but I thought you wanted to kill me because you found out I’d been with Alexis.”
Athena laughed. “Alexis had never bound himself to another Neratomay. He vowed that he would never wed another if he couldn’t have me. And he couldn’t have me—not like that. But when he found another, I felt no one would be worthy enough for Alexis. I chose him because he was special. I would not want to see him bound to someone less. So you see, I was angry with your Council.”
My eyes focused on my feet as I considered her words. What the hell was she saying?
“Your Council knew that you were special,” Athena said. “It is their will that you not be bound to Alexis.”
I felt my eyes burn, and a spike of anger slammed into me. It hadn’t been because Alexis and I had broken the rules. It was only their will.
Athena nodded. “If you bond with Alexis, then you two would be a force to reckoned with. In the Neratomay nation, there is no room for a force like you.”
“But why would you want us to be a force?”
“My dear, Alexis is my liege … and now so are you. If you are his, then you are mine.”
I wasn’t quite as comfortable as I had been a moment before. She owned me … too? “Why is that important to you?”
“Because you are special,” she said. “You have abilities that I have never seen. I know you walk in light. Did you know that you cannot gain a seat on the Elder Board without that ability? Many thousands have tried to attain a seat only to die pointlessly … because they didn’t know that one small secret. Can you imagine how devastating it would be if the secret were known? Do you know what kind of civil war it would cause within our ranks?”
My head began to pound. “Is that what you want?”
Athena clasped her hands in front of her. “What I want … is you.”
I frowned. “You said that through Alexis’ bond that I am already yours.”
She rolled her eyes. An actual goddess rolled her eyes! “No, I want to bond with you, Kim. I want you.”
I sucked in a breath. “What do you mean?”
Athena took a step toward me, leaned forward, and placed her lips on mine.
Oh. She wanted me like that. I stared at her wide-eyed.
“Um.” Athena was a dangerous woman. I didn’t want to hurt her feelings in fear of being backhanded into eternity. “Um.”
She tilted her head. “Don’t you find me attractive? Most do.”
“Uh, yeah … but Athena, I’m not gay.”
Athena shrugged. “I have had male lovers just as I have had female lovers. But I’m not gay either. I’m just, as you would call it, a Vampire. A physical release for me has no boundaries. My body or shell has little to do with that release.” She grinned like a child with a toy. “I’ll show you.”
She took a step back and transformed into a tall, well-built man. He still looked like her with long black hair and green eyes. “Is this better?”
My eyes grew wider. I didn’t know that we could do that …
“Or what about this?” Her voice became masculine. She transformed again, and I had to turn my head away.
She looked exactly like Alexis.
“My love,” she said in his voice. Then she placed her hand on my cheek.
I jerked away as if her touch was fire. “No!” I grimaced. “No, please not that.”
She backed away. “How insensitive of me.” She transformed back to Athena. “I’m sorry.”
I glanced at her. How can you tell if a goddess is truly sorry? She kind of looked sorry.
“Shall I prove my love?” Athena asked. “Would that make you happy?”
“Love?” I asked. How creepy. Where did love come from? “Athena. I’m not in love with you. I don’t want to be in love with you.”
Athena took another step backwards. “You’re young. You don’t understand what you’re saying. I will give you time.”
I shook my head. “I don’t need time. I’m not bonding with anyone else.”
Athena’s eyes flashed. “I see. So you reject me? I am Athena. Nations have fallen to dust and risen from the ashes because of me. I have been worshipped as a goddess.”
Oh my God! What should I do? I raised my hands in apology. “No offense.”
Her face grew dark.
Uh oh.
I felt something inside of me growing large. My head lowered and my hands clasped behind my back.
I swear I wasn’t making it happen!
My mouth opened without my control.
“Hello, Athena,” I said in a masculine voice.
Athena’s eyes grew wide and seemed to dance. “Alexis!”
CHAPTER 19
I was a little person in a larger room, and the larger room was my body.
Alexis stood at a distance from me yet he was inside me and controlling my body. It was hard to focus on both of him, especially with his physical presence right there in front of me. We walked toward each other.
Alexis looked so good. He was wearing black pants and black shirt. His dark curly hair haloed his head. He held his hands behind his back.
I ran the last few steps and leaped into his arms, and he caught me. I sighed contentedly as he held me against his body.
He lowered me to the ground.
“What’s going on out there?” I asked.
“Look and see,” he said.
I turned and looked out of my own eyes and saw Athena circling Alexis. “What are you doing here?” she asked. “Are you protecting ‘your love’?”
“I could ask you the same question,” Alexis said.
“If you have rushed to her aid then you already know why I brought her here,” Athena said.
“What game are you playing, Athena?” Alexis asked.
Athena’s eyes turned red briefly before returning to their usual green. “You would have never dared to question me like this in the past. Is your newfound bravado based on the power of your ‘love’?”
What did she mean by that?
“Have you looked into ‘your love’s’
head yet?” Athena asked.
Alexis turned his head to the side. A moment later he brought his clasped hands to the front of him and fingered the ring on my finger.
Oh shit. I turned inward and watched Alexis. He was still holding me although there was a strange wind blowing between us.
“So you’ve chosen another over me,” Alexis said.
“Paul was the first to form a bond with me,” I explained. “I didn’t know that at the time, but I think that’s why when he turned into a Werewolf … I was able to turn into that creature.”
Alexis’ alabaster skin began to form small lines and cracks that spread rapidly over his face.
Then he disappeared.
One moment he was holding me, and the next I was stumbling as I reentered my body.
Out-of-body experiences have to be fantastic because inside-your-body-then-back-in-your-outer-body experiences are brutal.
I smiled at Athena. “I’m, um, back.”
Athena shuddered and lowered her head, staring at me with two impossibly black eyes, eyes like bottomless pits. Her hands moved behind her. She hovered toward me.
Alexis was inside Athena.
And I was afraid. But I had no reason to feel guilty or afraid. He had given me ninety-nine years. I’m sure he never thought I’d take him up on his offer to love someone else so quickly, but …
Athena/Alexis gently took my hand and examined the ring. His/her eyes turned red, and Athena’s face disappeared to be replaced by Alexis’ face.
And then his body.
Now my man was not only in the goddess, he was the goddess.
“Do you remember what I told you?” they said in Alexis’ voice.
I nodded. “You told me that I had ninety-nine years.” I raised my head defiantly, even though I was scared shitless.
“Then it would be in your best interest not to prolong his life,” Alexis said. “Your best interest as well as his. Do. Not. Turn. Him.”
“He doesn’t want to be turned,” I said.
“A Werewolf’s life is not extended, I hope,” Alexis said.
I hope? “I don’t know,” I whispered feeling torn.
“And what will you do if sharing your blood does extend his life?” His/her eyes regarded me without wavering. “Initially you thought one hundred years was too long for us to be apart. Now it’s not enough time?”
I shook my head. “It’s not that.” I searched his eyes for something I recognized, some small indication of the Alexis I had fallen in love with. “You gave me the impression that I had choices. And now it sounds as if you are taking those choices away from me. “
“Then you would be correct.” The cracks in his face crept across the skin that had once belonged to Athena. “I told you that you were mine. There is no choice in that.”
“So you want to take away my will?” I asked. “You intend to change our relationship completely?”
“Nothing has changed.”
I rolled my eyes. “Everything has changed. I can’t be the same person if you take away my choices. I can’t be me if you lord your power over me. I won’t be the same person you fell in love with if you take away my will! You don’t want a willing lover—you want a possession.”
“That is not true.”
I shook my head. “Look. I chose to love you, not because you gave me permission to do so but because I wanted to do it. I didn’t want to wait ninety-nine years before I could be with you, and I begged you to let me return to you.” I stepped closer to him. “But it was you who sent me out into the world to live and to love, remember?”
“Now you act as if I have betrayed you?”
I closed my eyes, contemplating the grief I’d feel if I lost my love for Alexis. I didn’t want to have this breakdown right now! “Will you please return me to my battle? I have some unfinished business I need to take care of.”
Alexis turned his back, lowered himself to the floor, and walked away from me. “I apologize, Kim. It’s been a long time since I’ve felt jealousy.”
He was jealous? How human of him to be jealous. I sighed and began to relax.
He turned to face me, his eyes black orbs again, the scary cracks gone from his face. “You’ve been hurt. Your ribs are healing incorrectly. They need to be fixed. Your back is also broken.” He hovered back to me. “May I heal you?”
“Yes,” I said.
“I don’t want to heal you against your will,” he said.
I smiled. “Please heal me, Alexis.”
“Close your eyes,” he whispered.
He didn’t touch me, but I felt as if a heavy ball was rolling down my body starting at the base of my skull. It wasn’t a painful process to anything but my ears. It felt good to have bones back where they belonged, but the popping sounds made me wince. When the heavy ball stopped rolling, I opened my eyes.
Alexis’ eyes were golden. “You are certainly high maintenance, my love.” Alexis’ slight, familiar grin returned although now it seemed a bit sadder. “Don’t worry. I gave you one hundred years … ninety-nine and counting. I will also give you my word that I will not interfere in your loves during that time.” His smile faded. “And by the way, in case I made you forget, I love you, too.”
Alexis became Athena again. Her long black hair flowed down her back, and her eyes cleared into a deep green. “What fun we could have,” she said pleasantly. “All three of us.”
I sighed, feeling empty. Closing my eyes, I thought as hard as I could: “I love you, Alexis, now and in one hundred years … ninety-nine and counting.”
“How sweet,” Athena said. “Will you say that to me one day, too?”
I opened my eyes. “Athena, now is not a good time to explore the idea of an alternative love life. I’m pretty preoccupied with destroying werewolves and saving my family.”
Athena’s pretty face broke into a smile. “Fine. I would offer to kill those werewolves who have injured you and yours, but the battle has already ended. It was fairly one-sided. The werewolves were an old powerful clan, but they weren’t healthy enough to face the wrath of the Neratomay. Our ability to transport alone made it a one-sided battle.”
“Send me back,” I said. “Please.”
“As you wish.”
Athena returned me to the room where Jason had been chained and twenty werewolves had imploded. I had to crouch to the floor and cover my ears because of the sound of sixty odd Vampires calling out for me.
Tony was the first to arrive, and others began to dot the room, appearing out of nowhere.
Tony gripped me by my arms and lifted me to a standing position. “Kim! We’ve been searching for you. No one could feel you! We thought you were dead. Ran is beating himself up because he took Monica and left you!”
“Athena,” I said. “She came for me.”
Tony’s eyes widened. “She came for you? Here?”
I nodded.
Ran appeared next to Tony. His frantic eyes searched my face.
“Athena had her,” Tony said. “We should have considered this-”
“I’m okay,” I said. “She didn’t hurt me.”
“You better go to Paul,” Ran said. “He’s really torn up.”
“But what did Athena want with you?” Tony asked, squeezing my arms.
Ran put his hand on Tony’s arm. “Let her go to Paul. He shouldn’t have to worry a second more than he has to.”
I pulled away from Tony. “I’ll explain later.” I sent out feelers for Paul. I felt him look up in shock and flashed to him immediately.
Paul sat on the ground, nude, his elbows resting on his knees. He leaped to his feet when he saw me. He had never completely healed from the injuries he’d sustained the night before, but now he looked worse. I could see teeth marks in my lovers flesh!
I ran to him, and he gripped me in a bear hug and swung me round and round. “I thought you were dead, Kim. I couldn’t trace you!” He buried his head in my neck and inhaled deeply as he squeezed me. “Thank you, thank you, tha
nk you.”
I pulled back and touched his face and shoulders and examined his wounds. “Baby, you’re hurt.”
“I’ll heal fast when I can rest. Where were you?”
“Athena came.”
Paul’s body shook.
“But don’t worry,” I said. “We only talked. I’ll tell you about it later, but Paul, please. Tell me. How’s my family?”
“Oh, honey, they’re really bad off.”
“Take me to them!”
Paul led me outside where homes dotted the land and surrounded a low stone building. We entered the building and found three makeshift beds in the front room.
While Paul stayed in the doorway, I approached Monica, biting back a scream. I touched her neck with my finger. How could she be alive?
Monica’s face was almost completely missing. It looked as if rats had eaten on her. Her right hand was missing, and chunks of flesh had been taken out of her legs and torso. Also, I could tell that she had been raped.
“No,” I wailed. “No, no, no!”
I knelt and put my lips carefully against her ear. “Monica. Baby. Listen to me. I need you to hear me…”
“No pain Monie, honey. Heal and relax and feel no pain. Honey, I need you to tell me that you can hear me. Let me know, sweetie.” I gently squeezed her hand. “Give me a sign.”
Monica squeezed my hand.
I closed my eyes in relief. “Are you in pain? Squeeze once for no, twice for yes.”
She squeezed my hand once.
“Do you know what happened to you?”
She shakily squeezed my hand twice.
“I’m so sorry that happened to you, sweetie. But we got them, all of them. The Vampires have been feasting on Werewolf blood. They’re gone, sweetie. They’re gone.”
Monica squeezed my hand twice.
“Yes, Monie, Yes.” I took a deep breath. “Do you want me to turn you?”
No response.
I felt tears drip down my cheeks. “You’re not going to make it, Monica. If you weren’t a donor, you would have never survived as long as you have.” I kissed her neck lightly. “It’s your choice, though. Your choice, sweetie.”
There was still no response.
I heard a low rumbling noise vibrating against my lips. Monica was trying to talk past her ruined face.