A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6) (23 page)

I was grateful for the breeze. It helped to wash away some of the smell of death that lingered in the room like a vengeful spirit. Without it, I'd be throwing up all over the evidence. Even with it, I wasn't sure I'd be holding onto the contents of my stomach for very long.

The priests had left in a hurry. There were empty food containers strewn all over the kitchen, bloody bootprints everywhere, and last but not least, there were the corpses. Little, skinless corpses, like something out of a slasher movie. They didn't look real, couldn't
be
real. They had to be props, special effects, not children, never children.

My breath started coming in shaky gasps as I stared down at them, four bodies laid out carefully in a row, hands clasped and eyes staring. Lidless, hazy marbles with darkened centers. Their chests had gaping holes in them, black cavities stretched open like screaming mouths. Blood covered sinews and muscles flecked with yellow bits of fat. Beautiful babies turned into nightmares.

Then, in a pile in a corner, was something my mind couldn't even accept at first. I knew what it had to be, Azrael had already told me what had been done and I'd seen the bodies. I knew it was a pile of skin but my mind didn't want to know that. It tried to make the pile into something else, something less horrifying. My eyes shied away from the flat expanses that should have been smiling faces, the scattered freckles that had once been cute and were now a grotesque mockery of innocence. I ran to the door and vomited over the railing.

I was still dry heaving when Trevor came out, rubbing a warm hand over my back as tears started to burn my eyes. Why children? Why would the most terrifying thing I'd ever seen, the most horrible evil, be done to kids? It was like a glimpse into hell, not any of the ones I'd seen, but maybe one of the levels of Dante's creation. An imagined hell so much more disturbing than the reality. A hell for children.

I spat to clear my mouth and wiped my lips on the napkin Trevor handed me. Then his arms were around me and I gave into the weakness of leaning on his strength. This was one time I wouldn't try to tough it out. Instead, I burrowed close and breathed in the scent that meant home and love to me, Trevor's spicy wolf musk. After a few breaths, I was calm enough to go back in.

No one looked at me funny for my mad dash, there was only sympathy and shared disgust. I was grateful for that and nodded at them before going into the kitchen to rinse my mouth out. Then I went back to searching the house. There had to be something there we could use. If they left even the smallest piece of themselves anywhere in the place, I could use it to form a tracking spell and we could find them. A hair, a toothbrush, anything, please.

I walked down the hall and headed to the back bedrooms. The first two were already being investigated, so I took the master bedroom at the end of the hall. The door was shut but I wasn't worried, the house was obviously empty. I wasn't really expecting to find anything but I had every intention of going over the room on hands and knees if I had to. I wasn't leaving that house without something to track.

I opened the door and stopped short. There was an envelope laying in the middle of the floor, bright white against the dark floorboards. I walked over to it and knelt down to look it over. Just an ordinary, letter-sized, envelope with a name scrawled on the front of it in a bold black hand. Huitzilopochtli.

“Blue!” I shouted as I picked it up and opened the seal. Yeah, I know, but I didn't think Blue would mind me opening his mail just this once. Blue appeared in the doorway, backed by everyone else, and stared at the paper in my hand. “You've got mail,” I waved the envelope at him as I began to read. “My dearest cousin, I had wanted to be much further along before I wrote to you about my plans but I've had an unexpected visitor this morning, one who I know has connections to you, and so I took the opportunity to make contact. The whole reason I brought my priests here, to this land in particular, was to garner your attention. So I could hardly pass up the opportunity to acquire it.”

“
May I?” Blue motioned to the letter and I handed it over. Instead of reading it aloud, he skimmed it and let out a loud curse before paraphrasing it for us. “He's upset with me for choosing to side with the Godhunter. He says I'm a traitor and that if I don't return to the honorable side of the war, he'll take the rain from Hawaii and destroy the Godhunter's home.”

“
As if taking the children weren't bad enough,” I huffed.

“
That was merely to get my attention,” Blue sighed. “He took the children from Hawaii because he knew Vervain would notice and then she would involve me.”

“
This was all an elaborate set up to get me to pass you a note?” I was fuming.

“
No,” Blue waved a calming hand at me. “He was going to take the children anyway, he just took them all from here because he knows this is where you live. This is not your fault, Vervain.”

“
Then why do I feel so horrible?”

“
Because there's no way to
not
feel horrible,” Blue crushed the letter in his fist. “He's my family but he's obviously lost his mind. I have to take care of this. Will you help me find a way to stop him?”

“
Yeah,” I smirked, “because I'll be damned if I let you go back to the dark side, Vader.”

“
What do we do about the bodies?” Pan's normally perky face looked so strange set into sober lines.

“
We'll have to make an anonymous call to the police,” I frowned. “Clear away any trace evidence we might have left, like footprints and... other stuff. We don't need to confuse the humans.”

“
Wouldn't it be better if we just burn this place down?” Finn looked like he might be following my lead and running out to the front porch soon.

“
No,” I bit my lip. “The parents of those children deserve closure. They need to be able to bury their babies. That's the least we can do for them.”

“
Closure like that could drive someone insane,” Mrs. E. whispered. “I don't know what would be worse, learning that my child had been killed in such a manner or never knowing what happened at all.”

“
Never knowing. Imagination is so much worse than reality, even this reality,” I patted her shoulder, “and it never stops.”

Chapter Thirty-One

We lucked out and found a jacket in one of the rooms. Heaped in a dark corner of a closet, it must have fallen to the floor and been forgotten in the haste of their departure. It was the one bright light in that entire day of darkness. We hadn't caught them but at least we'd be able to track them. Maybe we could catch them unawares and end this whole thing before it went any further.

I was cautiously hopeful and entirely traumatized when we finally got back to Pride Palace.

“
Come home with me tonight,” Azrael whispered as he took my hand. “I haven't had a moment alone with you in almost two weeks.”

“
Okay,” I nodded, it was a valid complaint. Things had been crazy but that didn't mean it was okay to neglect one of my men. “Let me just talk to Trevor and Kirill.” I brushed my hand over the angelic script tattooed on his left cheek and it glowed for a second.

“
I'll wait here.” He leaned against the wall beside the tracing point.

I found Trevor and Kirill in the master bedroom, Kirill standing in front of Trevor as my wolf braided my lion's hair. It was kind of endearing, seeing them together like that, and kind of sad. Don't get me wrong, I was thrilled that they'd become so close but sometimes it felt like they'd become a team that held my two other men at bay. I wished they could all be so close. Then I had an image of Trevor braiding Odin's hair and I giggled. Maybe things were better as they were.

They both turned at the sound of my mirth and smiled at me with questions in their eyes. I shook my head and nudged my way in between them, hugging Trevor as Kirill nestled in against my back. It was my favorite way to hold them. Well, I guess they were really holding me but either way, I loved it. Surrounded by delicious smelling men who loved me. What could be better than that? Oh, right, I had an angel waiting.

“
Would you guys mind terribly if I spent the night with Azrael?” I pulled back and looked up at them both. Kirill lifted his chin towards Trevor, letting him answer.

“
I guess we can make do without you for a night,” he stroked my face. “Will you be back in the morning?”

“
Right away,” I kissed him in thanks and then Kirill. “I have to try that tracking spell.” I grabbed a change of clothes and headed out.

“
Goodnight, Tima,” Kirill called as I left the room.

“
Goodnight, Minn Elska,” Trevor added.

“
Goodnight, my magic men.”

I speed walked back to Az, took his hand and let him guide us through the Aether to Shehaquim. We exited right into his home, the gallery hall to be exact, and we just kept walking toward the bedroom. I'd been so exhausted but as soon as we arrived, I felt  excited to be with Azrael again and I revived just a little. Funny how lust can do that to you.

“Would you like to take a bath?” His eyes sparkled, literally, the light blue turning to diamond clear and sending rainbows over his cheeks.

“
I'd love one,” I laughed as he picked me up and carried me into his opulent bathroom.

Black stone was everywhere, from the tub and sinks, to the floor, and even the walls. Gold sconces held candles but they were unnecessary, the room was lit by some unknown god means that I'd yet been able to figure out. Fixtures were gold and elaborate, handles shaped into wings and spigots into swan heads. There were thick, fluffy, white rugs in front of the sink and tub, shining bright against all that black. He put me down on the one in front of the bathtub.

The tub wasn't as huge as the behemoth at Pride Palace but it wasn't by any means small. You could probably fit three angels in it easily. I smiled to myself over the thought. It sounded like the beginning of a nursery rhyme. Three angels in a tub, rub-a-dub-dub. Or the start of a really good porno. I raised a brow in consideration. I should mention the idea to Pan.

“
What's that look about?” Azrael narrowed his gaze on me as he reached over to start the bath. He added some bath salt and swirled his palm through the water to help it dissolve.

“
Just imagining you in that tub,” it was mostly the truth.

“
Really?” He stood up and stripped with quick, efficient movements.

“
Really,” I followed suit and soon we were standing there naked, grinning at each other like a couple of kids about to lose their virginity.

He broke first, climbing into the tub and holding out a hand to help me in. I let him help me over the wide rim and then waited for him to settle himself down in the tub before I found a spot in front of him, between his legs. He pulled me back against his chest and I closed my eyes, sighing as he began to rub his hands lazily over my skin. The scent of orange blossoms permeated the air.

“I forget how wonderful it feels to be with you,” he mused. “Maybe it's a coping mechanism or maybe just habit but when you're gone, the memory of our time together fades. I think I remember what your skin feels like, the smell of your hair, and how it is to be inside you, but when I have you back, I realize how flawed a memory can be because it never holds up to the reality.”

“
I miss you too,” I whispered, “but you're right, reality is always better.”

“
For that, I'm grateful. If my memories were more accurate, I wouldn't be able to do my job. I'd abandon it to be with you.”

“
As much as I'd love to have you with me, you abandoning your job would not be good,” I grimaced. “Azrael, those children.”

“
I know,” his arms tightened around me. “That little girl's soul was so traumatized by her death, I had to use my magic to erase the memory of it. I,” his face nestled into my neck a second before he lifted his head and continued. “Sometimes I hate my job. The things I've seen, you wouldn't look at humans the same if you saw them. There's so much evil in your world.”

“
And in yours,” I turned around to face him. “Half the problems of my world are generated by gods.”

“
Yes, I know that now,” he kissed me lightly on the forehead. “I know why you fight so hard and I wish I had more time to help you.”

“
Your work is just as important,” I straddled him, gripping his shoulders to steady myself. “I don't begrudge you the time you spend helping people cross over into their afterlives. I admire you for persevering, especially after today, after seeing what you have to see. Plus, if it wasn't for you and your job, I wouldn't be here.”

“
Not just me,” he grinned, “Odin helped a little.”

“
Maybe a little,” I laughed, “but I don't want to talk about Odin right now. This is our time, let's forget our responsibilities and all the horrible things that go with them and just focus on each other for a little while.”