Blood Love (God Wars Book 4) (27 page)

"Where," I turned to look. We were immersed in water beside a waterfall. Yes, it was a fantasy. A dream most anyone might have. Ashe made it happen for us.

"SouthStar—on the southern edge of it, before the jungles begin," he breathed against my mouth. That let me know he wasn't quite done for the day.

* * *

Breanne's Journal

"Avilepha?" 

Hank's voice, but not Hank's arms. "Huh?" I said. My vocabulary never improves until I'm fully awake. Coffee generally helps.

"Wake, Lara'Kayan."

Kalenegar
.

"She's coming back to us."

Barrigar
.

"Did you like that?"

Graegar
—with a smile in his voice and gentle fingers on my face.

"Honey," I opened my eyes and stared at the concerned faces around me, "I want to do that again. Just not right now. I don't think I'll survive that if we do it again so soon."

Kal was the one who held me, and we were in bright sunlight—the Larentii were feeding and replenishing their energy. No surprise—a lot of it had been expended in energy sex. In this case, it should probably be termed
explosive
energy sex.

"Hank?" I blinked at him—the sunlight on Avendor was blindingly bright.

"Here." He pushed a pair of dark sunglasses onto my face. "Better?" He grinned.

"Oh, yeah." I relaxed in Kal's arms. Were we naked? Yep.

"Juice?" Barrigar offered a glass with a straw. I sipped it and shuddered with pleasure—pineapple-gishi fruit juice. "You like that, don't you?" Kal said.

"It's amazing."

"I'll make sure you have it every day if you want."

"We'll save it for once a week," I reached up to pat Kal's face. He smiled and kissed me.

"It is our responsibility to make sure our mate is tended to after sex of any kind," the corners of Kal's lips curled up slightly. "Next time, I wish to be the one connected directly with you."

"Are we really talking about this?" I made a face at him.

"There is no subject that cannot be discussed," Graegar said. "Embarrassment, you will discover, has no meaning to a Larentii."

"So the rules of conversation don't apply to Larentii?" I asked, turning to Graegar.

"The rules?"

"Never discuss politics or religion," I said.

"Which aspects of each? We can argue both sides," Barrigar said. "Or make a case for a middle ground," he added.

"Forget I said anything about that," I sighed.

"We can talk anytime you wish," he said. "About anything. Send mindspeech if we are not together."

"What if you're busy?"

"I can bend time, dearest," Barrigar smiled at me.

"Bree, Bill says we need to go home," Hank interrupted.

"Honey," I grumped as his handsome face replaced Barrigar's beside me.

"I know. Someday, we won't have this mess hanging over our heads," he said.

"I need to dress," I pointed out.

"No," Kal breathed as Graegar ran a hand over my body—he was washing me with power. My clothes appeared afterward—I should have expected it. In less than half an hour, we were back on Earth in the past.

* * *

Earth—past

Fresno, California

Humanoid construction is generally designed to keep light out, not allow it in
, Ferrigar sent to Connegar as they walked through the large house together. Ferrigar formed a large skylight overhead as they wandered through the widest room in the house.

It is fortunate that this house was empty and close by
, Connegar replied, enlarging the windows in the house until they covered almost every inch of wall space.
It will make our work simpler
.

Does Lissa know you're here?
Ferrigar asked.

She does. I informed her before I left. When will Evagar and Diagar arrive?

Soon. Do you want the first watch?

I have already placed my shield around the shields Kiarra and Adam have in place. I will know if she leaves by vehicle or folds space
.

The child is nearly nine years of age, as they measure time
, Ferrigar sighed.
He attends a local school, and she transports him there by vehicle most mornings. We should guard him and his father as well
.

Already in my plans
, Connegar returned.

* * *

Earth—past

Breanne's Journal

Ashe and Kay didn't come back with us. Hank grinned when I mentioned it. "Did everybody get sex?" I asked.

"Every adult inside Ashe's shield got sex," Hank said. "Unless the Larentii put up a shield or deliberately lock you out, you'll be included. They never include anyone who's under the age of consent. Usually, energy sex covers a fifty-yard radius if no shield is in place. With that much power involved, it would have involved the entire planet plus a few other celestial bodies."

"So Ashe and Kay got hooked up. They're probably in a tropical pool somewhere, with a waterfall and everything, having fun," I pointed out. "While we're here."

"You want a waterfall?" Hank's left eyebrow lifted.

"Honey, I want lots of things. Wanting hasn't gotten me very far in the past, so I ignore it."

"What if I want to make my baby happy?" Hank asked. "What would that take?"

"Can we discuss this another time? If we do it now, it'll just point out what I don't have."

"What's wrong?" Kevis, Charles and Salidar DeLuca walked in. Salidar—Sali—had the twin Falchani blades strapped to his back again. Dressed completely in black with only a few white highlights on his close-fitting shirt, he looked like a ninja.

"Hey," I said. "I didn't think anybody could see ninjas."

"Are you sure you're seeing me, then?" Sali grinned, likely because I spoke to him, first.

"I'm probably talking to myself, too," I nodded. "In addition to not seeing you."

"Now you're getting it," he laughed.

"Thanks for the, uh, you know. Earlier," Kevis said.

"According to the Larentii, there is nothing that cannot be discussed," I told him.

"Then thanks for the mind-blowing sex. Next time, make sure I'm not sitting close to my mom and dad, okay?"

"Oh, jeez, I'm sorry," I said.

"Breanne, do not apologize. He enjoyed it, the rascal," Hank blew a curl of smoke.

"I think we all had a jolly good time," Charles grinned. "Opal said she hadn't had sex in a while, and that made up for it."

"You know, I wasn't embarrassed at the time, but I am, now." I slapped a hand over my face and walked away.

* * *

"Bree—Breanne?" Charles had come to find me. I was doing what Lissa often did; sitting on the roof of a building. It wasn't even our hotel—it was the dome of the nation's capitol. I'd shielded myself. If I hadn't, I imagine I'd have been stormed by Secret Service and the military by now.

"How the hell did you get up here without getting shot?" I stared at him. Even a vampire couldn't fool the guards for long; eventually they'd realize he was there.

"Kal provided a shield for me. He wanted to come, as did Hank. I said they'd had enough of your time recently."

"So you haven't gotten enough face time?" I asked as he settled beside me and pulled me close.

"Not nearly enough. Never enough." He cupped my cheek and pulled my head into the hollow between his neck and shoulder. "Comfortable?" he asked.

"Yeah. You smell good," I added.

"You think I smell good? What do I smell like?"

"Cinnamon and sugar. Like the best cinnamon roll ever, with a dash of cayenne pepper to make things interesting."

"Do you remember when I said you got to decide the ending to the story?" he asked. "What would you like the ending to be?"

"That all this was over," I sighed. "That you and I and Hank and all the others I love and who love me could live in the most amazing house ever. It would have enough room for everybody—with places to be together or alone, depending on how we feel, and a kitchen where everybody could have breakfast together if we wanted, and an ocean outside with the best view ever."

"That's what you want, love?"

"Yeah. That's what I want." I sighed. It wasn't likely to happen.

"That's a tall order," Charles breathed against my temple.

"It's an impossible one," I replied. "I guess we ought to get back."

"No, let's sit here for a little while longer and dream," he whispered.

* * *

"Recognize this one?" Bill held up a photograph. I stared, as did Hank. Janine Webster's image was shown as she walked out of an upscale department store with shopping bags in hand.

"Where is this?" Hank demanded. We'd been called to Bill's suite for a meeting the moment Charles and I returned.

"Fresno, California," Bill said. I was standing and sending mindspeech to Lissa in half a blink.

* * *

"I'm surprised I didn't think of it," Calhoun gloated. "Why didn't I realize that all we had to do was relocate and send that worthless human out on an errand?"

"Don't forget that this is where my brother's love lives," Moxas sniffed. "This will bring your targets to you—never fear. Be ready for them when they arrive."

"But the dance before death is always a sweet one, is it not?" V'ili observed. "If I or one of my people cannot obsess the enemy, you will kill them." He nodded to Calhoun.

"Acrimus or I will do it," Calhoun insisted. "And we will capture the woman for your brother, Moxas, as that is your expressed desire."

"Perhaps we will share her," Moxas examined his fingernails. "If my brother permits."

"I will permit—but only with you," Saxom said.

* * *

Le-Ath Veronis—present

Lissa's Journal

"Some of the enemy is in Fresno in the past, where Kiarra and Adam live," I said. "I've already sent a message to Adam, but he says the Larentii are guarding the area. Breanne says that she and the others are going there, to attempt to track the enemy. Ferrigar says he and the other three Larentii are staying, in case extra shields are required."

"Do you think we ought to warn Kiarra and Adam in the past?" Gavin asked. "And I have memories now, of Bill requesting that Breanne and Hank relocate our group from Silver Spring to Fresno."

"Are they still being written as things progress?" I asked, rising from the chair behind my desk. "Your memories, I mean?"

"Yes, just as before. The memories are forming as things move along. The past is being rewritten, cara."

Chapter 17
 

Earth—past

Breanne's Journal

Fresno, even in mid-September, can be hotter than Hades. In fact, the folks who came up with the idea of Hades were probably referring to Fresno. Or Phoenix, maybe. Bill asked Hank and me to transfer our group from Silver Spring to Los Angeles—he wanted to bring in a few extras to help run down leads and to borrow a fleet of SUVs.

That fleet was presently driving through Fresno, with an outside temperature of one hundred six degrees. Even Hank didn't like the heat and he was High Demon on the outside.

"I'm surprised our tires aren't melted to the pavement," Jayson grumbled as we stopped at a traffic light on our way to a borrowed building.

Ashe, who'd finally shown up with a smiling Kay in tow, promised that he could renovate anything large enough to hold our group with the power he held. Well, I suppose I could, too. Ashe was the better architect, though, because he'd built the monstrous house at SouthStar, with very little help or input. I knew that from reading Aedan Evans—he'd been one of the few who'd provided input for the house, along with Casimir and Nathan Anderson.

"What kind of building is it?" Opal asked. She and Charles rode in the third row of seats in our van. Hank, Jayson and I took up the middle row. Bill rode up front while Trajan drove us through afternoon traffic in the California Valley.

Kalenegar had folded ahead to visit the Larentii already stationed in Fresno, while Dan Kelsey, Ashe, Kay, Sali and Gavin followed us in a second van. Kevis hadn't come to Fresno with us—he'd gone back to be with his parents at NorthStar.

Driving before and behind us were two SUVs, filled with the agents Bill and Dan requested. I'd verified that none of them were obsessed. They were armed to their hairlines and carried an extra arsenal in the backs of their vehicles. Bill made sure we all had our Ranos weapons, too—he'd learned to respect them greatly after two pistols brought down two helicopters.

Our mission was to track the enemy as discreetly as possible, but with four shiny black vehicles traveling through Fresno together, we may as well have announced ourselves with the sounding of trumpets.

"At least the AC works," Opal sighed behind me. She liked the cooler environments, just as I did. That's one of the reasons I'd chosen to settle in San Francisco a few years earlier. I had no idea when I did that things would come to this.

"I feel like we're heading to the O.K. Corral," Jayson muttered beside me.

"Tombstone," Hank muttered. "Not Fresno."

"Please tell me you didn't fight in that battle, too," Jayson grumped.

"I didn’t. I'd have won it for our side," Hank teased.

"Are you suggesting you'd throw a third party into the mix?" Opal tapped Hank on the shoulder.

"Maybe."

"Stop teasing," I wrinkled my nose at him.

"Stop wrinkling your nose. You know how that makes me feel."

"Irritated?"

Horny as hell
, he replied in mindspeech.

* * *

The building was an empty shell in Clovis, a city almost surrounded by Fresno. The large structure had once been home to a construction company, but the business had moved to a new location and the old building was now for sale. Plenty of space was available for the vehicles, as long as Ashe could make the rest of it livable for us.

He did. All of us watched in wonder as he formed interior walls and covered them with sheetrock and paint. Flooring, bathrooms and bedrooms followed. A kitchen came last, but it was almost a work of art. Kal showed up to help with that and to add air-conditioning, water heaters, linens and pipes throughout for clean water.

I felt almost worthless next to the skills required to build all that. Maybe someday, I'd try it for myself. When I was feeling stronger and more confident.

"Baby, he can't
Change What Was
, no matter how hard he tries," Hank whispered next to my ear. "Only you can do that."

"He called Lissa back from death," I said softly.

"He only pulled her mist back together before it scattered too far," Hank informed me. "We talked about that—he and I. It was her choice to return to her body, once it was reformed. He called to her spirit, it's true, but the choice was hers. He couldn't do what you do, baby, and
Change What Was
for her. That's why she was somewhat in between for many years and had to go to energy to replenish herself. Did you know that's no longer true after you
Changed What Was
and brought her back after Cheedas stabbed her?"

"How do you know that?" I stared at Hank in shock.

"I know Kifirin—perhaps better than he likes. He knows it, because he loves her. He used to catch up with her while she was energy, just so he could watch her. That no longer happens. I believe she is grateful for it, too."

"She doesn't hate him," I said, lowering my head to stare at my shoes. They were black canvas with white rubber soles and went well with the black jeans I wore. I might have to consider dressing much lighter in the Fresno heat. "She loves him. But he messed up a few times too many. She doesn't really know how to reconcile her love with his mistakes."

"He made promises he couldn't keep himself," Hank blew a thin stream of smoke. "So he placed the burden on other shoulders. That burden weighed too much and almost broke the life-giver."

"Would he have taken that burden away from her if he could?" I turned my face up to Hank's. "Or was he just taking the easy way out?"

"Avilepha, I don't have an answer for that," Hank shrugged.

"I think a lot might depend on that answer," I said. "If he could have taken the burden away and didn't, then punishment might be deserved, don't you think? If he couldn't take it away, then he should have supported her any way he could. Did he do that? It's my understanding that he made her suffering worse by alienating her mates."

"That's why I was sent to become his overseer," Hank replied. "I was approached by the Ear and instructed to take over the ruling of the Dark Realm, because Kifirin had obviously lost control of it. I must govern it until such a time as Kifirin is deemed capable of handling it again. I have already placed others there to help—as should have been done in the beginning. They cannot deny me if I outrank them, and only the Three outrank me." He smiled as he leaned in to kiss me after that statement.

"Does that mean you outrank Acrimus?"

"He and I are equal," Hank blew more smoke. I could see that irritated him greatly. "Had I been there when you found him, he and I," Hank didn't finish.

"That might have been a fight for the ages," I sighed. "I should have destroyed him. I had time. Instead, I dithered and gave the General time to show up."

"We all have hindsight, do we not?" Hank pulled me close. The new air-conditioning system hummed around us, and I found we were inside a bedroom.

"I should have jumped your bones the minute I saw you," I huffed. "Instead of buying you coffee." Hank's bellow of laughter could likely be heard throughout the building.

* * *

"So we don't know where she went after walking out of that store." Opal shook her head.

"These are the only camera images we have, and they don't extend past the parking lot in front of the business," Bill said. He and Dan Kelsey had gotten more images from other cameras in the same shopping center, as well as footage from inside the store, but all Janine purchased was a swimsuit and six large bath towels.

"That tells me we still have a Sirenali," I said.

"How?" Jayson asked.

"Sirenali are amphibious," I said. "Janine can't swim. I read her, remember? She doesn't do swimsuits generally, because it might show—well, you know." I hunched my shoulders.

"Tattoos?" Bill asked.

"Uh, no. Janine is into flogging and whipping," Hank said. "She usually has bruised flesh. Enjoys the ache of it."

I rubbed my forehead as Hank explained Janine's fetishes and habits. I knew from my reading that she didn't want her associates arrested for abuse, so she didn't dress in skimpy outfits unless she was walking into a club.

It's the differences in people, sweetheart
, Ashe sent.
Don't let it upset you. What one person loves might terrify another. You know that, don't you?

A part of me knows that. A part of me cringes and wants to curl into a ball whenever this stuff is mentioned.

I'll make sushi out of anybody who tries that shit with you,
a new voice joined the conversation. It was Sali.

I can see the arguments between you and Jayson now
, I sent to both of them.

Already been there
, they both chorused.
Jayson was angry that we'd even suggest he wasn't trustworthy enough to be with you. He knows where to draw the line,
Ashe added.

I wasn't sure whether to be pleased or upset that they'd done this without my knowledge. After a few moments, I realized I appreciated the thought behind it. With multiple mates came a system of checks and balances. I hoped that continued to weigh in my favor.

Here's my question,
I sent to both of them.
Why would you argue with Jayson on my behalf?

Well,
Sali began.

Sal has the hots for you,
Ashe said.
I sort of do, too. Kay wants you as part of the family, and frankly, so do I. Hank, Jayson, Bill, Trajan, Sali and I discussed this while you were sitting on top of the capitol building
.

Seriously?

Don't be upset,
Sali said.
That's not what we want. We just needed to make sure everybody was cool with us making our bid to be included in the herd
.

Were they?

If you are.

I wouldn't mind seeing where this might go
, I replied.

Great. Want to go to a movie?

Yeah, but I want to share a large popcorn. I love popcorn
.

I don't know whether we can afford a large popcorn
, Sali teased.

"Breanne?" Bill said.

"Huh?" I was brought back from my private conversation with a bang. Going by the frown on Bill's face, I felt as if I'd been caught passing notes in class.

"We're splitting up tomorrow to scout the areas around the Griffin household. You'll be with me, Opal and Jayson. Hank will be with Gavin, Director Kelsey and Trajan. Ashe will be with Salidar, Charles and Kalenegar. Two human agents will join each of our groups, leaving two agents behind to guard our headquarters. Any questions? Dan and I will be sorting through information and possible leads tonight, and assignments will be handed out in the morning."

"Those agents aren't gonna be wearing red shirts, are they?" I turned to Sali. His eyes widened before he covered a loud snicker.

* * *

"This is better than going out." Sali dipped his hand in the popcorn bowl, pulling out a cluster of popped kernels. We watched a cable movie on a wide-screen television in our new family room. I sat on a sofa between Bill and Sali, while Trajan lounged at my feet. We'd popped so much popcorn, there were huge bowls of it scattered throughout the room.

"I love this movie," I sighed. We watched
Young Frankenstein
—it was the choice everybody settled on. Kay had never seen it, poor thing.

* * *

Ashe's Journal

I had my arm around Kay, who seemed perfectly comfortable with that.
Sali,
I sent,
I think I dreamed about this when I was sixteen.

Me, too,
he said. I didn't want to point out that when we were, his parents were still alive. They'd survived another hundred years or so after he arrived on Avendor with me, but I'd informed him and Marco when they passed. We'd gone to separate funerals, three years apart. It was the way things were, more often than not.

I watched as he pulled Breanne's hand into his and kissed it. Sali was serious when he wanted or needed to be, in addition to being a deadly warrior. He fooled people often enough with his casual ways and goofy sense of humor, but he wasn't anyone to cross lightly. At least we were working to repair a friendship that had suffered through the years, and I was glad.

* * *

Hank's Journal

I'm taking Bree to bed tonight
, Bill informed me.

Gonna fight DeLuca for her?
I teased.

I don't think she's ready for that, yet,
Bill said.
I won't keep her awake all night, either.

The Saa Thalarr set up calendars,
I said.
Depending on how many mates they have, they get nights, weekends or weeks, sometimes.

How do they decide the order?

Draw names from a hat or cut cards,
I offered a mental laugh.
You cheat, you get sent to the back of the line.