A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6) (16 page)

“
But how?” Odin sat heavily into a chair.

“
Humans didn't have magic until they started making babies with the fey,” I explained. “That's how we got magic, so if a human can do magic, she or he is part fey.”

“
I always knew Sabine had some kind of special energy in her,” Odin breathed. “She was so different from the rest of her family. I always suspected she was the child of a secret union but dragon-sidhe? I never would have guessed.”

“
Wait a minute,” I frowned, a thought flitting around the edge of my mind. “You're saying my mother, Sabine's mother, had an affair with a faerie?”

“
Most likely,” Odin was staring into the fire, his eye twitching a little. “The rest of the family had no magic.”

“
Then Sabine was half faerie,” I whispered and Odin's face turned suddenly toward mine.

“
No,” he whispered back.

“
Vat is big deal?” Kirill took another chair, one across from Odin. “Ve have her back, she's safe. Vat does it matter vat her blood may be?”

“
You're too young,” Odin looked over at Kirill and frowned. “Or maybe just from the wrong part of the world. Either way, you've never dealt with faeries if you can ask that.”

“
The fey are vicious, capricious, cunning, and powerful creatures who can be horrifyingly ugly or breathtakingly beautiful.” Trevor came up beside me and took my hand as if to offer me support, despite what he was saying about my new relatives. “Most often than not, it's the beautiful ones who are the most bloodthirsty. They have untamed magic available to them in aggressive amounts and could level cities on a whim. The most frightening thing about them though, is that those whims hit them quite often and dangerous things happen when they get bored.”

“
And Tima is one of zem?” Kirill looked me over critically and then laughed, loud and hard, shocking everyone, including myself. “You fools. She is same voman today as yesterday. It matters not to me if she has blood of faerie or blood of finch. She's mine and zat's all zat matters.”

“
You're right,” Odin huffed out a laugh. “It doesn't matter inasmuch as I love her but it does matter now that she has their attention. They may decide to come looking for her.”

“
Oh,” Kirill grimaced, “zat not so good.”

“
Arach did mention that I was the last female dragon-sidhe in existence,” I mumbled.

“
What?” Odin gaped at me. “You couldn't just be dragon-sidhe, you had to be the last female? Can you do nothing without extremes?”

“
No, Odin,” I growled. “I deliberately try to get into the most difficult and complicated messes that I can possibly find, just to irritate you. By the way, how did you manage to get me out of this particular mess? They said the way back was sealed and they were trying to find a way to re-open it for me. How did you get in and how did you even know I was there?”

“
I heard the horns,” Odin's face smoothed into sober lines. “I haven't heard the horns of the Hunt in ages. As head of the Norse Wild Hunt, we're connected in a way. I can feel their call. As far as knowing you were involved, how could I not? Kirill had just sent word that you were missing after trying to navigate the Aether alone. If you were anywhere outside of the Aether itself, it made perfect sense that you'd be there.”

“
Yeah, cuz that's where she could find the most trouble,” Trevor smirked and pulled me over to sit with Odin and Kirill. Vidar followed as well.

“
Wait,” I remembered what the High King had said about time being different. “How long was I missing before you sent word to Odin?”

“
Minutes,” Kirill shrugged. “I knew if you veren't home ven I got zere, you vere lost. I was prepared for it before you left.”

“
Minutes?” My jaw fell open, “and how long before you came after me, Odin?”

“
Minutes as well,” Odin frowned.

“
I was there for over a day,” I blinked. “A day and a half really. I had dinner with the High King, went to bed, was abducted by the King of Fire, went to sleep, got up and spent the day with him, and then he sicced the Wild Hunt on me after the sun set. That's when the horns sounded.”

“
And then I entered the Aether,” Odin blinked in surprise, “and I found your trail. I guess time flows differently in Faerie.”

“
That's what the High King said” I sat up in my seat. “Wait a minute, you can do that? You can follow my trail through the Aether?”

“
Only when the navigator is floundering, leaving scattered traces of herself behind,” Odin focused a glare on me. “I used the weakness you'd unknowingly created in the wards of the Faerie Realm, to push my way through and then kept the Wild Hunt behind me, temporarily propping the door open, as it were.”

“
You had perfect timing,” I got up and went over to him. “You saved my life. Thank you.”

“
Vervain,” he groaned and pulled me into his lap. He hugged me fiercely and I hugged him back. “If at all possible, I will always come for you. I swam the well for you. I would do anything to make you safe, pull down the stars from the sky if I had to.”

“
I know,” I pushed back so I could look at him. “King Cian told me that I would have been stuck in Hvergelmir forever if you hadn't come in after me.”

“
What?” He gaped at me.

“
He said the purpose of Hvergelmir isn't to reincarnate but to generate souls. That it wouldn't have known what to do with a soul who had lived already and most likely would have just kept me there, swimming forever.”

“
Oh fuck,” he whispered. “I hadn't thought of that.”

“
So you've been saving me all along,” I kissed him gently. “Thank you for loving me so much. I don't know what I ever did to have been blessed with so much love.”

“
You've taken a great weight from me,” he let his forehead fall to my shoulder. “I felt guilty for removing you before your time, for not trusting in you to find your way back to me, but now my actions are justified, my sacrifice valid.”

“
I'm glad,” I stood up, removing myself from his lap before one of my other lovers got jealous. Oh, the hardship of multiple relationships. Insert laugh clip here. “I had no idea you felt that way or I would have tried to reassure you earlier.”

“
Yes,” Odin made a twisted version of a smile, “but earlier, it would have been a lie.”

“
There is that,” I laughed. “Hey, did any of you tell Azrael?”

“
Yes, they did,” Azrael walked in with perfect timing, like he did everything else. He came over and hugged me. “I was working but I came as soon as possible.”

“
Thank you,” I smiled as I pulled back and eyed my angel. He looked great in worn out jeans and a faded T-shirt featuring the TV series
The Walking Dead
.

“
Yeah,” Vidar smirked, “now we just have to tell him his woman's part dragon.”

“
Pardon me?”

Chapter Twenty-One

“You went where?” Krystal shoved her glasses up onto her head. Oh now we were getting serious.

“
The Faerie Realm,” I whispered over my coffee as I shot a glance around the crowded mall.

We were sitting at a little table on one of the upper levels of Ala Moana, enjoying coffee and girl talk. Well, I was enjoying coffee, Krystal didn't like the coffee, gasp, so she was drinking a soda, and our girl talk included werewolf weddings, wild hunts, faerie royalty, and dragons. If anyone overheard, they'd probably think we were discussing some new movie but you never know. Better to practice discretion.

“Faeries?” She smirked. “Seriously? Come on.”

“
Yes, seriously,” I laughed. “Oh and if you find that hard to believe, wait till you see Rain. He's cut his damn hair.”

“
What?” She sat up straight. “For me?”

“
No, for the Dalai Lama, he's become a Buddhist,” I rolled my eyes. “Of course for you. You've got him all unsteady, he's off his game cause some woman didn't want him. Oh the horror!”

“
That's fantastic,” she laughed. “Good for him, the player.”

“
He's not a player, he's just a man who a lot of women throw themselves at,” I shrugged and giggled. “So of course he wants the one who doesn't.”

“
You've distracted me,” she pointed a finger at me accusingly.

“
Yeah, you caught me,” I grinned. “What do you want to know?”

“
Only everything,” she quirked a brow up. “What is Faerieland like? Tell me it all, starting with the dragon hottie.”

“
You mean the psycho, blood-licking, super villain?” I scoffed. “He's so
not
a hottie.”

“
You described his face to me, like four times,” her other eyebrow went down, her signature look. “And that's not including the color of his hair, the color of his scales, his eyes, and his wings. His fucking leathery wings for Christ's sake. Oh, and the blow by blow of all your conversations.”

“
Aww, fuck me,” I whispered.

“
Yes, exactly what you'd like him to do, I suspect,” she pursed her lips and nodded.

“
Shut up, Krystal,” I glared at her. “I just realized I have a thing for a psycho dragon-sidhe who wants to skin me and dance around in his new Vervain suit.”

“
Or eat you with some fava beans and a nice chianti,” she made a slurping sound.

“
I totally almost called him Hannibal,” I laughed and then sobered. “Eating me is not funny either.”

“
Oh please,” she rolled her eyes. “He doesn't want to skin you, just cut you up a little, and any eating done would most likely be enjoyable. It's like faerie S&M, right? You can't fault a guy for his DNA or his fetishes.”

“
You need help, you know that?” I frowned at her.

“
Yes, yes,” she huffed, “says the woman who has four guys already and now wants a psycho dragon top.”

“
Top?”

“
As in the dominant one in a BDSM situation,” she said loud and clear, like a teacher in Sex Ed. Oh, and perfect, there were even children at the next table over, to pose questions if necessary.

“
Krystal,” I groaned.

“
What?” She looked over her shoulder and made a moue of distaste. “Must they bring those things out in public?”

“
What? The children or the parents?” I laughed, I couldn't help it.

“
Both,” she grinned wickedly. “I'm trying to have some girl talk here. I don't need to have to worry about some kid overhearing me.”

“
Don't you have children?”

“
Two of them,” she grimaced, “but when they're yours, you can beat them.”

“
Not anymore.”

“
As long as you don't leave marks, you're fine,” she waggled her brows at me. “Also, I never forced other people to have to deal with my kid's issues,” she waved a hand toward the now crying child.

“
Well, why don't you just light a cigarette? That might make them move.”

“
Shut up, Vervain,” she snarled. “You know I'm trying to quit.”

“
Is it harder than turning down hot dragon faeries?”

“
No,” she got that wicked look again, “I'm sure your situation is harder, very hard and thick most likely, which is precisely your problem.”

“
Hardy har har.”

“
Seriously though,” she shot a glance back over her shoulder. “Have you noticed that there's a lot of missing children lately?”

“
What?”

“
Children,” she nodded her head back towards the mother and her son behind us. “Small people who make annoying sounds and ask too many questions while simultaneously ruining my girl time. They're usually seen wearing stained clothing and snot trails down their cheeks. Most often accompanied by stressed out looking people who haven't had a mani-pedi in way too long and know the theme music to most cartoons better than they know the sound of their own orgasm.”

“
Yes, I know what children are, Krystal.”

“
Just checking,” she shrugged. “You have so much sex, it's like you don't know what the consequences are.”

“
Oh fuck.”

“
Yes, that's what I mean by sex,” she rolled her eyes.