A Taste for Blood (The Godhunter, Book 6) (33 page)

I was musing on this as I walked the corridor towards the dining room, so distracted that I took a wrong turn. I ended up in a hole of a room, dark but warm. I made to turn around and tripped over something, falling to my hands and knees. There was something soft below me, making strange mewls, so I rolled away but not before a low growling started.

Before I could do anything, I was bit. Something large was clamped to my wrist and worrying at me painfully. I looked down but all I could see in the darkness was a pair of burning red eyes. I screamed and pulled away, more from pain than fear, but the thing at my wrist had a strong grip and I ended up sitting on my butt, staring up into those eyes.

I kicked out, meeting a soft furry body, but the thing held tight and I felt blood start to drip down my wrist. Then suddenly there was light. A lot of it.

I blinked around me in confusion, taking in my attacker, a large black dog. She backed away whining, staring at the light source with a narrowed gaze, as a litter of pups cried behind her. I understood then why she had been so aggressive. I'd threatened her children. Unfortunately, Arach didn't spare the time to assess things as I had. He just came swooping in like an avenging angel, fiery torch held aloft.

“No!” I screamed and threw myself in between him and the dog.

Both dog and man stopped to stare at me. So I was able to jump to my feet and push Arach from the room. He went reluctantly, his torch drooping to the side until he finally put it back in its wall bracket.

“Vervain,” he took my bleeding wrist and held it up for inspection. “I'm going to murder that bitch.”

“
Leave her be,” I turned his face up to mine, ignoring the flaming ache in my wrist. “I stumbled in there by accident and fell on her pups. It was a mistake. She was only protecting her young, like any mother would. You need to look closer before you take action, especially when there are those involved who can't speak for themselves. This is a perfect situation for you to practice another Kingly attribute, fair judgment. Sometimes you need to look beyond the obvious to see what the truth is.”

“
Who taught you all of this?” He gaped at me, eyes wide.

“
I don't know,” I frowned, “but I feel like I've done this before, led people and judged them. I feel like it was as much of a struggle for me as it is for you but I learned. I'm not saying I know everything about how to be a just and good leader but I think that the key is being open to new knowledge. Having good advisers helps too.”

“
Hmmm,” he seemed to consider it. “There may be a few fey I could trust in an advisory capacity.”

“
Good,” I smiled and then frowned down at my hand. “That would help keep you aware of what kind of issues your people are having too.” I was thinking about that dark cave again, the flood of monsters who were no longer so monstrous to me.

“
I do hold court to air grievances and discuss matters of the kingdom but a council of advisers may be helpful. Someone to point things out that I may have missed.”

“
My King,” a shaggy haired man came running up to us, panting, and dropped to his knees when he saw my injury. “I heard the screaming but I had no idea your lady was involved. Please take your anger out on me, my Neala knows not what she did.”

“
See,” I told Arach. “It was an accident.”

“
Very well,” Arach waved at the man. “Get up, there's no need for that if it truly was a misunderstanding.”

“
Thank you,” the man stammered. “I'm so sorry, m'lady.”

“
No, it's fine,” I waved him over to his dog. “Go and see to the puppies. I hope I didn't hurt any of them.”

“
I'm sure they're okay,” he grinned and scurried into the room. “My children are born fighters.”

“
Okay,” I smiled and then lost it as my face went blank. “Did he just say those are his children?”

“
They're phookas,” Arach nodded and led me back toward our bedroom. “Let's get this healed up.”

“
Phookas?”

“
They're a type of fey shifter,” he nodded and bent his head over my wrist.

“
Hey,” I pulled my hand back when I felt him take a lick.

“
What?” He gave me big innocent eyes. “I'm cleaning the wound.”

“
I hardly think that's hygienic.”

“
I can heal you with my fire, Vervain,” he laughed. “You don't need to worry about infection.”

“
You can heal a wound with fire?” I scoffed.

“
We're dragon-sidhe,” he shook his head. “Our flames can heal each other. Give me back your hand. I was going to wait till we were in our bedroom but since you're so disbelieving, I'll do it here.”

I held out my wrist to him but the wound was already healing on its own. I gaped at it and then looked up into his shocked face.

“You didn't have anything to do with this?” I asked, already knowing the answer.

“
I believe that's your other magic coming into play,” he frowned. “I had no idea gods could heal so quickly.”

“
Me either,” I gave a shocked laugh, “but I'd still like to see this fire healing of yours.”

“
Of course,” he immediately sent a small stream of fire over what remained of the wound. It heated and started to itch before closing the rest of the way. When he stopped, my skin was left perfect and whole.

“
That's freakin' amazing,” I looked my wrist over.

“
That's nothing,” he laughed. “I haven't even begun to show you what we can do.”

“
You're supposed to say,
Baby, you ain't seen nuthin yet.”
I laughed.

“
I am?” He smiled oddly at me. “According to who?”

“
Well,” I frowned and tried to remember but it made my head hurt too much, so I gave up. “I have no idea.”

“
Well, either way,” he grinned. “I don't seem to be the only one full of surprises. As immortal fey, we heal quicker than a human but not nearly as fast as that. We still have the need of healing charms but you, you really didn't need me at all.”

“
I wouldn't say that.”

Chapter Forty-Nine

Splish

Splish

Splat

I frowned and walked toward the sound. What was it? A leak? No, it was coming from the bedroom but who's bedroom? I didn't recognize this spacious place with its white walls and high ceilings. So much white, I felt a little blinded by it all. I squinted and moved forward.

Splish

Splish

What was making that dripping sound? I reached the door to the bedroom and walked in, noting how the color scheme remained the same, white on white. Except for the large pool of vibrant red that was slowly growing beneath the bed. A finger trailed down to barely touch the surface like God reaching out in
The Creation of Adam.

I stepped closer and froze. I don't think Michelangelo had ever envisioned god as headless. I don't even know why I was so sure it was God and not Adam who was lying in that white bed like he hung suspended in the Heavens, but I
was
sure. The headless corpse had once been a god.

Then the room changed, becoming another bedroom with another dead god, and another, and another. An endless stream of images assaulted me, until I was left crouching over the last body, or was it the first? What a strange thing to wonder. I stared down at the dark-skinned god, whose head was still attached but barely, and his eyes stared back at me in accusation.

I looked down at my bloodstained hands, my bloodstained body, and the knife I still held. It fell in slow motion, clattering onto the marble floor with an echoing that increased steadily till I raised my hands and covered my ears, uncaring that I smeared blood all over myself.

Then I started to scream.

“Vervain!” Strong hands on my arms, a strong voice cutting through my nightmare. “Wake up, sweetling, it's but a dream.”

I gasped awake and stared up into the dragon eyes that seemed to fill my whole world lately. They should have comforted me but they didn't. There was something about the dream that hadn't felt dream-like, more like a memory.

“I think I've killed people,” I whispered. “No, not people, gods. Does that make any sense?”

“
Hush, my love, my treasure,” he rolled back down and pulled me into his side. “It was just a nightmare, no truth to it.”

“
But it didn't feel like a nightmare,” I snuggled in deeper, a crease forming on my brow. “Arach, I think they were memories.”

“
Tell me,” he said simply.

And I did. I told him about the blood, the corpses, and the sense that although I had murdered, I'd done it out of love and justice. I'd done it for someone or for myself, I wasn't sure, but I knew the horror of it all was the price I paid, a price I was determined to pay so that I would never become as monstrous as the gods I killed.

“Why would I kill gods?” I looked at him. “I wasn't aware that they even existed.”

“
They don't, A Thaisce,” he whispered and kissed my forehead. “Go back to sleep and I will watch over you. No more bad dreams will reach you.”

“
I'll try,” I let my head role back onto my pillow and curled into my side but he curled around me, his heart beating against my back and his arms encircling me like a shield.

Just before I drifted off, I felt his hand smoothing back my hair and heard him whisper. “What horrors have you seen, my love, that they can break through faerie magic to haunt you?”

Chapter Fifty

“
I saw you today,” Arach was lying across the bed we shared, staring at me pensively.

“
Saw me where?” I glanced at him over my shoulder. I was sitting at my dressing table, the one he'd had made for me to sit at and brush my hair.

“
With the Hidden Ones.”

“
The Hidden...” I frowned and then realized whom he was referring to. I'd gone to see the creatures who lived below the castle. I'd wanted to be sure they were happy now, that all their needs were being met. “Ah, yes. I went to make sure they were alright.”

“
Yes,” he cocked his head to regard me, “I heard you talking to them.”

“
Why are you surprised?” I put the hairbrush down and turned in my seat to look at him. “Or is it confusion I see in your face?”

“
Both, I guess,” he made a huffing sound of mirth. “I hadn't expected you to go down there again after what you'd seen.”

“
What I'd seen?” I frowned. “You were there with me, what exactly do you think I saw that would hinder my return?”

“
The monsters, of course.”

“
Don't call them that,” I had stood up abruptly and didn't realized it until the sound of my chair hitting the floor startled me.

“
What shall I call them?” He had a small smile hovering around his lips.

“
Call them fey,” I looked away, embarrassed at my outburst, and bent down to right the chair. “Call them family.”

“
I do,” he said softly and I looked up to see that his expression matched his voice. “I'm just surprised that you care about what I label them.”

“
You know I care about them,” I sat back down. “You saw me give them my blessing.”

“
Your what?” He sat upright.

“
My blessing,” I frowned at him. Hadn't he walked in when I was blessing them? Maybe it had been afterward but shouldn't he have sensed the magic, felt it connecting us all? “My magic helped me see beyond their appearance and it showed me that they were worthy of love. It's a little blessing but one that has connected us nonetheless.”

“
I had no idea,” his face was slack with shock. “I didn't even know such a thing was possible, that a goddess could bless a fey.”

“
I'm a goddess?” I frowned, where had I heard that before?

“
A human turned goddess,” he nodded. “Some of your magic is god magic, the Love included.”

“
And I shouldn't have been able to share it with a fey?”

“
Not shouldn't,” he shook his head, “there's not exactly a guide to all of this. It's just never been done before. I mean why would a goddess bless one of us? We're rather opposed to each other.”