Goated by the Gods (6 page)

Thor looked around in shock and disbelief. The mortals were going insane, that’s all there was to it. He searched the room for Loki or Freyr for an explanation but neither were to be seen. Thor pushed his way through the undulating bodies on the dance floor and came to an abrupt stop.

“Freyr, what is going on? Why does it look like an orgy is about to break out any moment?” Thor demanded of the god.

“Well, you see I am a god of fertility and um, well, I might have gotten a little carried away.” Freyr looked sheepish as he looked around at the havoc of the room. “This is why I haven’t been to the mortal realm in a while. I forget sometimes and let my powers out to play a little strongly when I see something I want. It can affect others as you see.”

Thor groaned in exasperation, “I forgot about that slight problem. The brothers are going to go nuts over this, they hate us gods as is. We really didn’t need to give them any more ammunition.”

“I don’t think they all hate the gods. At least that one doesn’t seem to hate Loki at the moment,” Freya said as he pointed to a darkened alcove where Quentin was partly shielded from view by Loki’s body.

“By the way his hands are gripping Loki’s shirt, I would say he definitely doesn’t hate him at the moment.”

“Focus for a minute. How do we stop this before clothes start being removed and I screw this up even more than we already have?”

“I’ll go, within a few minutes my effect should wear off and people will come to their senses. Sad day when a god wants to stop an orgy. What have we become?”

Thor didn’t have time to answer before Freyr was gone and the sizzle that was running rampant through the room started to level out. He hadn’t realized it was there until he felt it dissolving. The couples around him slowly melded back into causal dancing and the embracing couples glanced around in embarrassment to see who had caught them. Except for Loki and the brother, thankfully they were in a dark corner and not easily viewed. Thor walked up and cleared his throat to gain their attention.

“You two might want to cool it out in the open like this,” Thor mumbled as he leaned against the wall to make it look less obvious.

“Fuck!” a soft voice called out in disbelief before Thor saw the brother Quentin take off at a rapid pace out of the hall.

“Why did you interrupt us? I finally got him to stay in the same room with me for five minutes and you scared him off,” Loki complained.

“You might not have noticed but we have bigger problems.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I’m hard as hell and the only man I want just ran out on me. You are such a cock block, you know that?”

Thor rolled his eyes, “Zach and Gareth disappeared but from the looks on their faces when they did, it wasn’t for a happily ever after. Not to mention we had the beginnings of a rather festive public orgy in progress a few short moments ago.”

“Damn, I miss all the fun. It’s been ages since I’ve been to a decent one.”

“No, you were in the middle of it molesting the brother, if I don’t miss my guess.”

“I wasn’t molesting him. He dragged me into the corner I will have you know.” Loki smiled devilishly, “Can’t rape the willing and all that.”

“See if you can find Zach, I am going to find Gareth. Let’s see how things went. With any luck I’m mistaken and I have righted one of the wrongs I did to this family.”

Loki nodded and started to move away, mumbling just loud enough for Thor to hear, “What about the wrong you just did me, you cock blocking bastard.”

***

Zach stormed from the benefit and headed to his car. The bastard gods hated him, that’s the only conclusion he could come to.

Why would the fates give him his mate and make him a god? How cruel could they really be to one man?

“I’ve been looking all over for you. You just took off and I was worried,” Jared called out as he trotted up to Zach.

“I’m fine, just not in the mood to talk.”

“Bro, you aren’t fine. I’m not blind or stupid. Talk to me.”

“What do you want me to say?” Zach turned to face his brother. “The other half of my soul is up there right now and he is a fucking god. You know, those bastards who cursed our family, the ones that sat back and laughed as generations of our family were crucified and tortured for what they caused.” Zach hung his head and sighed in defeat, “And the worst part is the only thing I want to do is go back up there and hold him close to me. To feel the comfort of his arms wrapped around me. To hear his voice tell me about his day and to see the smile that lights up the room when he sees me.”

“You need to give him a chance. He isn’t a full god, he isn’t like them, and he is suffering as much and probably more.”

Zach frowned as he rubbed at the building pain in his chest. His anger was slowly residing and the pain was overtaking it. “Jared, I…” Zach collapsed to the ground before he could finish his words.

“Shit!” Jared muttered as he reached out to catch his brother. He looked around desperately for help, but he didn’t see anyone. “Come on, man, I need you to help me. I can’t lift your heavy ass alone.”

“Hold on. Let me help,” a strong voice said from behind Jared as half the weight of his brother was taken.

“Thanks, man. I’m not sure where you came from but thank you. I couldn’t hold him much longer.” Jared glanced up at the man and was stunned speechless by the beauty that stood before him.

“Are you okay? You aren’t going to drop too, are you?” the stranger asked with a chuckle as he watched Jared from the corner of his eye.

“What? No, sorry. I lost track of my thoughts for a minute there.” Jared blushed. “Can you help me get him to our car over there?”

“Yeah, no problem.” The two men carried Zach the short distance. “Can you hold him one second while I unlock the door?”

The stranger nodded and reached around to grab Zach fully. His arm brushed against Jared’s body and flames erupted, sending chills down his body.

“Just hurry, please. I don’t know how long I can hold him up.” The words knocked Jared back to the present and he rushed to unlock and open the car door. The two men struggled but were finally able to get the unconscious body of Zach into the back seat.

Jared stepped back and shut the door. “I can’t thank you enough for your help. I don’t know what I would have done without you showing up like that.”

The stranger smiled, “It was no problem. I hope your boyfriend is okay.”

“Oh no, he’s my brother, not my boyfriend,” Jared quickly explained with a blush that made his face flame with embarrassment at his eagerness to set the record straight.

“Well now, that makes things a lot more interesting.” The stranger offered his hand to a still stammering Jared. “I’m Riepal and it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Jared and the pleasure is definitely mine. I’m just glad you were here to help.” Jared frowned and looked up at the taller man questioningly, “Just where did you come from though? I looked around and saw no one and then suddenly, there you were.”

Riepal smiled enigmatically, “Let’s just say I was…doing a flyby…saw you needed help and swooped in to assist.”

Jared looked behind Riepal to see his brother, Quentin, approaching with a thunderous scowl on his face. “That’s my other brother.”

“Then I fear it’s time to say farewell. With any luck I will see you around again sometime soon.” With a slight bow, Riepal turned on his heel and disappeared into the darkness.

“Dude, you ready or not?” Quentin demanded from beside Jared.

“Yeah, yeah, no problem. Zach is down again, he is in the backseat,” Jared called quietly as he searched the shadows for one last glance at the beautiful stranger.

***

The cold of the ground was seeping through the suit Gareth wore. The pain wasn’t bearable and it definitely was not easing this time. Maybe this was the end, his soul had splintered and he was out of time.

“Gareth, can you hear me?” Thor said quietly as he crouched next to the figure on the bathroom floor.

“It hurts. So much worse than before. Please, I beg you, make it stop,” Gareth cried out as tears fell freely down his pale face.

Thor placed a hand on his shoulder, “It’s not done yet. We can still fix this, but time is running out.”

“No offense, but I am not sure I can handle another one of your ‘fixes’, they tend to leave me on the ground writhing in pain.”

“Bah, tiny mistake. Won’t happen again. Let me think and we will fix this once and for all. In the meantime, hold on and I will get us back to your apartment and get you comfortable.”

Before Gareth could blink, he was in his apartment, in his bed, naked and covered by the blankets. “For fuck’s sake, you had to undress me, too?”

“To be honest, it wasn’t like you weren’t flashing me anyway. Just thought this would be more comfortable. Now lay back and let me see if I can ease the pain again.” Thor reached out and touched Gareth’s shoulder.

He wasn’t sure what was supposed to happen, but he didn’t feel anything. “Not helping yet,” Gareth said between clenched jaws as a wave of intense pain shot through his chest.

“There. Sorry, the worse it gets, the harder it is to give you some relief.”

Gareth sighed and relaxed back, exhausted from all that had transpired.

“I can’t do another bout of being left behind like that. This one took me close, don’t lie. I felt it rupture this time. One more time and it will be the end of me, and I assume him as well.”

Thor nodded gravely, “Yes, you’re right, it will. He won’t let me get near him, but I will try to find out his condition and see if I can help alleviate some of the pain for him as well. His stubborn pride is killing you both.”

Thor flashed from Gareth’s side to Zach’s house he shared with his brothers. He stayed hidden from view as he observed the brothers carrying the unconscious man into the house and to his bed.

“This is getting worse, I can feel it,” Jared muttered.

Quentin nodded, lost in his own thoughts.

“Pay attention for two damn minutes, would you?” Jared demanded of his brother.

“What? I heard you. He is getting worse.” Quentin paused and took a deep breath. “Call you-know-who but please let me leave the room first. I can’t face him right now.”

Thor frowned in puzzlement. Why would Quentin need to leave the room? What was going on with him? Things were not making any sense.

Jared nodded and waited for Quentin to escape before he sighed and threw his head back so he was staring at the ceiling. “Loki, you useless bastard. Get down here and answer some questions.” He paused for a few heartbeats before trying again. “Quentin even says your name and you are here in a flash. Well guess what, you asshat, he’s hiding from you. If you care about him like I think you might, get down here and help us.”

Thor was stunned, when had this happened? How did the mere mortal see what he had failed to?

“Don’t get lippy with me, boy. I was coming. What is it you need? Why is your brother hiding from me? And what makes you think I care for him anyway?” Loki grated out in a bored expression as he materialized next to Jared.

“Oh I don’t know, maybe the fact that you practically stalk him and make innuendos at him until he runs blushing from the room. Or maybe because if he even whispers or thinks your name, you appear in the room. You may be blind to it, but I’m not.” Jared scoffed at the ancient god. “Now, since you are here, help me with my brother. This brother,” Jared said as he pointed to Zach laying in the bed.

“You need Thor for this, not me, goat boy,” Loki snarled out in anger over Jared’s accusations

“Fine, Thor, I need your help. Please, I know he hates you, but I don’t know what else to do. Please come help us.”

“What the fuck?! He gets please and I get called names and cursed at?” Loki said indignantly.

Thor couldn’t help the chuckle that spilled from between his lips as he made his presence known in the room. “I’m here. I was coming to check on him, if I am honest.”

Jared jumped at the god’s words from behind him. “Why? How did you know?”

“Simple, Gareth is in much the same condition. Though he stays conscious.” Thor stepped closer to the bed and laid a hand on Zach’s shoulder. “Things are worse than I had realized. Zach is close to death. In fact, he is closer than Gareth.”

“Close?” Jared’s kneed buckled and he collapsed on the end of the bed, “How close is close?”

Thor contemplated how to answer before finally just shrugging, “It’s hard to say. I can’t see his soul, I can only feel it. He needs to stop pushing Gareth away, every time he does his soul cracks a bit farther.”

“He is too stubborn to listen to reason. I tried talking to him about Gareth, but he ignores me or walks away. He has it in his head that Gareth is a god that uses people and interferes and destroys.”

Loki gaped in shock, “Is that what you all think of us? No wonder your brother runs from me.” He glanced around the room trying to process the latest revelation. “Please, tell him I’m sorry. I’ll leave him alone, I never meant any harm.”

Thor sighed, what a mess this night had become. He watched as Loki disappeared from the room and he turned back to Jared. “Give him a few days, I did what I could to make him comfortable. It won’t work as well on him as he isn’t a demi-god like Gareth. He will be up and moving soon, but I warn you if he walks away again, it will kill him and soon after, his soulmate as well.