Fate Forgotten (39 page)

But of course it wouldn’t last. It never did. And Adam’s third life brought them much too close to one another.

“I admit it does not surprise me that he would rise up against Rome, one way or another,” Ra told him, as they watched the columns of men passing below. Night was falling quickly, and it was clear the Protestant army would not reach the Catholic forces in Lutzen. Thor would not have cared either way, but for the fact that Eve was the queen of Germany and the archduchess consort of Austria, married to the Holy Roman Emperor, Ferdinand II. “But to go from a leader of an Islamic empire in one life, to the king of a Christian nation in the next must be disconcerting.”

Adam led the army of course, as King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. Also known as King Gustavus the Great, naturally. Thor did not think Adam would ever tire of placing honorifics after his name.

“As he believes in none of it, I doubt he’s bothered in the least,” Thor said. “But you’re right about Rome. I imagine the memory of being thrown off St. Peter’s chair by the Archangels haunts him excessively. If he’s found it, anyway.”

“But more importantly, I wonder, does he march now for Eve?”

Thor’s jaw tightened, and he only shook his head. He could not be certain if Adam knew how to find her, truly, but he had done his best to cloak her presence from him with his own. In Adam’s last life, it did not seem as though he had understood how to use his power, but for what came to him on instinct. Charm, more than anything, and persuasiveness in argument, but nothing of the manipulation that he was capable of. It was too much to hope he would never re-learn its use, but if he reached out with his thoughts, searching, the bright spot of Eve’s Grace should look more to him like the hum of lightning.

“This modern warfare, these pistols and muskets. Sixteen hundred years they’ve praised Christ and his Peace, and what do they bring upon one another but one war after another, without even any honor in the fighting of it.” Ra snorted. “How Achilles would sneer if these men followed him to Hades.”

“As they are Christians, all, it seems unlikely he’ll ever be forced to endure their company,” Thor said, watching Adam ride down the line of his men. “Did you hear him earlier? ‘The Lord God is my armor’ indeed.”

“Mm.” Ra’s eyes narrowed. “It will require a careful balance, Thor. Enough to goad him on, but not so much that he will think he acts in our interests. He must have heard of the Archduchess’s beauty, if nothing else. Perhaps if someone mentioned the color of her eyes?”

He grunted. It was a dangerous game they played, now. But Michael had to be convinced of the threat and for that, they required Adam. “I’m certain I can think of something appropriate.”

“Then I will leave it in your hands, my friend.” Ra offered him a brittle smile, his expression strained. “But do be cautious. We will only have one opportunity to set him upon the path he must walk.”

“You need not worry, Ra. I know my duty.”

The old god touched his shoulder, part-sympathy and part-encouragement. “I have never doubted it.”

And then Thor stood alone.

Adam and his army had lost the advantage of surprise, and the Catholic army had deployed itself in the night. Thor did his part by raising a mist over the battlefield and building storm-dark clouds to block the sun. Thunder rumbled ominously in warning, and he was rewarded by Adam’s growing unease. Even through the mist and the sound of soldiers, Thor could hear the sharpening tone of his commands, the thinning of his patience for any delay. This would be the first contact he would have with the gods since they had returned his memory, and Thor was determined that he would not forget it.

Thor waited until the battle had begun, waited for Adam to become separated from his army by smoke and mist and the chaos inherent in such a clash. And when the moment was right, Adam stranded and struck by gunshot, Thor let the lightning take him, standing suspended in its liquid heat as the hilltop dissolved. Another blinding white bolt set Thor directly in his path.

Adam’s horse reared, and with only one arm capable of any strength, he could not steady his beast or arrest his fall, but the moment he struck the ground, he was already scrambling back, naked fear in his gray eyes. His left arm hung useless, the bone mangled and visibly shattered, pale ivory cutting through flesh. Blood was spreading thick and dark through the fabric of his coat, spattered and staining his leather waistcoat as well. Thor only regretted it would not kill him.

“You!”

Thor allowed himself a smile. “How reassuring, to be recognized.”

Adam sneered. “You have no business here, no right to interfere.”

“Don’t I?” Thor asked, keeping his voice mild.

“The church, these Christians, they belong to the archangels, not you or any of yours!”

“I’m not here for them.” He caught Adam by his gilt lace collar, and bared his teeth. “You dare come for Eve? Do you think we can’t take back what we’ve given? That we will stand by and let you forswear yourself, stealing this world out from under us with the power of her womb?”

Adam opened his mouth, his one good hand wrapped around Thor’s wrist. Then he shut it again, his eyes narrowing. “You’re afraid.”

Thor curled his lip and dropped him back into the dirt. “You know nothing. Just an ant wishing he had even the strength of a man. Why should I fear you?”

He rose to his feet stiffly, favoring his left side, and brushed himself off. “Because Eve and I, we can destroy you. We can turn you out into the void, unmake you into ashes.”

“She’d never let a snake like you near enough to touch her, even if you could reach the castle walls.”

“Then I guess you don’t have anything to worry about, do you? No reason to come here, threatening me, disrupting my war.”

“She’s married. And so are you.”

“For now.” Adam grinned slowly. “But that won’t last forever. Everyone dies, you know. And my wife, as anyone will tell you, is quite ill. As for Eve’s husband, I’m certain he can be disposed of just as easily.”

Thor growled, thunder echoing overhead, but Adam didn’t so much as twitch, too caught up in his dream of Eve as his wife. Lightning flashed, and then something else—smaller, from the corner of his eye, with a muffled bang. Adam’s smile froze, then crumpled along with his body.

The bullet had struck him in the back of his head, and when Thor crouched down beside him to check, it was clear his skull had been cracked, but the bullet had cut a groove along the bone instead of passing straight through. Any other man would have been dead already, but Adam blinked up at him, merely dazed. Blood had already begun to pour from the wound, running into his ear and down his neck, dripping into his collar.

He grasped Thor’s arm when he made to rise. “Everyone dies, Thunder God. But you can be sure I’ll outlive you. Eve and I, both.”

“King Gustavus was declared dead?” Athena repeated, arching an eyebrow. Thor had gone to the olive grove to meet with Ra, and found her waiting at the older god’s side. Not that it should have surprised him; they were never apart for long, anymore. “How in the name of Hades did he accomplish that?”

“Stripped another corpse, dressed it in his clothes, disfigured the poor man’s face, and waited until one of his men stumbled across him. Then he just implanted the suggestion, even helped his soldier carry the body back, convincing everyone else along the way, though how he managed that much with a shattered arm, a ruined shoulder, and a cracked skull, I don’t want to consider. He’s gone in search of Eve, now.”

“I suppose that answers your question about whether he’s rediscovered his talents,” Ra said, staring up through the olive trees to the sky. “He’ll be all the more dangerous now.”

Thor shrugged. “He was already dangerous. Even without his memory. And you saw what he did to his own son, when he lived as Suleiman. At least this way he’s spared his wife. He was planning her murder before the second bullet struck him.”

“And did you tell him where Eve was?” Athena asked.

“Near enough,” Thor grumbled. It went against everything in him to give Adam even as much as he had, but he’d stopped short of admitting exactly who Eve was. Bad enough he was on his way to Austria. “I mean to go to Vienna. Perhaps Ferdinand will take me on as a bodyguard of some kind.”

“And if Michael knows you’re there, guarding her, he’ll have no reason to bestir himself at all. No,” Athena said. “I know it isn’t what you’d prefer, but you can’t hover over her shoulder. Not now. The threat must be real.”

Thor snarled, lightning cracking in sympathy. “If you think I’ll stand by and let her fall into his hands—”

“I’ll go,” Ra interrupted, rising from the marble bench. It was gray and pitted, but still standing strong. He smiled, and patted Athena’s arm. “You needn’t worry, my dear. Michael will never know me. I’m capable of cloaking myself quite well, after all these years, and it is no hardship to me to restrain myself from using my power. I expect it will be quite invigorating to live as if I were a mortal.”

He nodded to Thor. “Go home, Thor. Before your father wonders what’s become of you. The last thing we need now is another Council called to disrupt our plans. I’ll keep her safe for the rest of this life, you have my word.”

It was not the first time Ra had made him such a promise, nor, Thor suspected, would it be the last.

Chapter Thirty-eight: Present

Eve had made a habit of getting up with the sun. More often before it. She spent only long enough in bed to pretend to rest, dreading when exhaustion overtook her and jerking herself awake, time and again, just before she began to dream. She needed something to keep herself busy while the rest of the house slept. Something to keep her from the past, which had haunted her since Lars left, and the confusion of feelings which had come with his kiss.

“You haven’t been sleeping,” Garrit said, watching her.

She set the platter of fresh baked croissants in front of him on the table and smiled. “I don’t need as much sleep as you do, remember? Besides, are you complaining about home baked goods on your breakfast table?”

“Not at all. They’re the best croissants and pastries I’ve ever had in my life. If you went into business selling them, you’d be famous. Award winning. French chefs would be blown away.”

“And horrified to lose their reputation to an Englishwoman.” She laughed and put one of the croissants on his plate. “After several millennia of baking, I should hope that I’ve figured out the trick to a light and flaky crust.”

“What else do you do better than anyone else in the world?” He pulled her into his lap and the newspaper crinkled into a wrinkled mess. “You keep so many secrets, Abby.”

“There’s too much to tell in one lifetime, Garrit. Even if it were all worth sharing.” She kissed his cheek and pulled away, standing up again. “Eat your breakfast and don’t worry about me. I know what I’m doing.”

“Depriving yourself of sleep, it seems. Didn’t you get enough of that before Alex began sleeping through the night?”

She shrugged. It was easier not to sleep. Not to dream. Easier to wake up before the cook and bake for her family. For her husband. Easier to stay in the present when she had to remember what Garrit preferred to eat. When she had to think of Garrit.