Harvest of the Gods (22 page)

“
You will?” He seemed to deflate a little.

“
Yes, you have my word,” I nodded. “Now here's what's going to happen. I'm going to hold onto you and you're going to hold on tight to me, then we're going to travel through the Aether. Don't ask, I don't have time to explain, but we're going to go to another realm and-”

“
Yes, Demeter has taken me through,” he interrupted. “I understand.”

“
Oh,” I frowned at the twittering imps who were laughing at me. “Okay then, let's go. Guys,” I said to the imps, “we're going to Fenrir's Hall. Meilyr, can you give your pile of stuff to Bearach and go to Pride Palace to let Kirill know where we've gone?”

“
Yes, my Queen,” Meilyr passed his stack of folders to Bearach and disappeared.

“
Okay, everyone,” I nodded to the imps, grabbed the Dr. tight, and traced us to Fenrir's Hall.

Chapter Forty-Two

Once we were in Fenrir's Hall I practically pulled Dr. Armstrong down the hallway to the room we had Ty in. Fenrir, Trevor, and Emma were still standing guard at his door and there were angry sounds coming from within. The other rooms were disturbingly silent.

They looked up in surprise, Fenrir's face slowly sliding into a relieved expression. He came forward to meet us partway, looking from Dr. Armstrong to the imps and then back to me.

“
Did you do it?” He whispered. “Truly? Is this the man who can cure them?”

“
This is the man who made the virus,” I held up a hand when I saw the anger start to fill his eyes. “He was a victim too and he's agreed to help us. he's brought the antidote, along with the virus so we can destroy it, and a vaccine for the rest of the wolves. In exchange I've promised to protect him from Demeter.”

“
So be it,” Fenrir nodded at the Dr., who had gone deathly pale at the sight of my huge adopted father. “Hurry, all but one of them are already in a coma and Ty is getting worse.”

“
Alan and Jack?” I asked with a frown, knowing those were the two who'd been infected the longest.

“
They didn't make it,” Fenrir shook his head, tears coming to his eyes.

“
Time is of the essence,” Dr. Armstrong interrupted, “show me the first patient.”

Fenrir turned and led us to the first door. It was already ajar and lying on the bed inside was Sean, I could finally tell who it was now that he'd shifted back to his human form. His dark hair
was plastered to his head and his skin was pallid beneath the sheen of sweat. He was indeed unresponsive. Seated around him were a few more Froekn, keeping an anxious watch.

Dr. Armstrong looked him over and then turned, looking for his cardboard box. I gestured for Scotaidh to bring it forward and he handed it to me. I opened it and Dr. Armstrong searched through the vials and then brought one out.

“Do you have needles?” He looked at our blank expressions with a little panic.

“
Yes,” Emma answered from the door and then ran off. In a few seconds she was back with a box full of hypodermics. She handed them to Dr. Armstrong. “Fill them all and I'll help you administer them.”

He nodded and filled all of the syringes carefully, finally passing a handful to Emma. Fenrir looked from the bed to Emma and then back.

“Go with Emma, Dad,” I nodded. “She might need you to help hold down the others. We'll make the rounds with Dr. Armstrong.”

“
Okay,” he agreed and hurried out of the room.

“
Go ahead,” I nodded to the bed.

Dr. Armstrong found a vein on Sean and carefully injected him with the antidote. He pulled away just as Kirill came in with Meilyr. Kirill came over to me and silently pulled me into his arms as we watched Sean for any kind of sign that the antidote was working.

“Let's get to the others,” Dr. Armstrong held up his half of the filled syringes. “It's going to take some time to work.”

I nodded and led him out, Kirill and the imps tagging
along. Each room we came to had a group of Froekn waiting anxiously at the bedside of a comatose wolf. They all looked hopefully at us when we entered and I tried to reassure them that the sick wolves would be fine but I didn't really know for sure yet so my expression was probably lacking. We gave seven more Froekn the shots and then returned to Sean to see if it was working yet.

Minutes seemed like hours as they ticked by, the sweat beading on Dr. Armstrong's forehead as if he sensed that his well-being depended on Sean's. We heard a happy cry from next door and I smiled in relief, knowing that Ty was alright. Sure enough, Fenrir bounded into the room and pulled me and Kirill both into a hug.

“Thank you, Little Frami,” he lowered his forehead to mine. “You've done the impossible again.”

“
Anything for my family,” I smiled up at him.

He nodded and pulled away so Trevor could come up and hug me too.

“Sean?” Fenrir asked as he went to stand at the foot of the bed.

“
He has yet to show signs of recovery,” Dr. Armstrong swallowed hard and stared warily at Fenrir.

“
Either way,” Fenrir stared hard at the man. “You have the thanks and protection of the Froekn, Dr.-”

“
Armstrong,” the man held out a shaky hand to Fenrir and Fenrir enveloped it with his own massive paw. “Malcolm Armstrong.”

“
Thank you, Dr. Armstrong, for my son's life.”

“
I'm sorry for the children you've already lost.”

“
Demeter has a way of collecting victims,” Fenrir sighed.
“Your apology is accepted.”

“
Valdyr?” Sean's raspy voice came from the bed just as shouts of joy started echoing in from the other rooms.

“
Sean!” Fenrir shot over to the bed. “How are you feeling?”

“
A little tired,” he grinned, “but better I think. Was I sick? I've never been sick before.”

“
Yeah, Son,” Fenrir gave an unsteady laugh. “You could say that.”

Chapter Forty-Three

The virus was destroyed along with all of the notes on its creation and the antidote was safely stored away. Then the vaccine was administered to the rest of the Froekn, after I'd made Dr. Armstrong give it to himself first. It's best to be careful, you never know.

He didn't seem to mind, said he'd been planing on taking it anyway. So by the end of the day, we were all exhausted but alive and I was immensely grateful for that. We still had some Froekn to mourn but at least we'd managed to save fifteen of them. I hate to play favorites but I'm part human so I'll admit I was glad it wasn't Ty who'd died. He was my favorite of Trevor's brothers and from what I saw in Fenrir's reaction, he was one of Fenrir's favorites too.

When I told Fenrir about Andrasta's attack on my lions, he pulled me into a hug and just held me for awhile. Then he shook his head and cursed himself for being foolish and not thinking of asking Odin to bind the Froekn to him and provide an afterlife for them. He said he was going to take them all over to Valhalla as soon as possible and then at least if any more wolves died, they wouldn't be completely lost.

Fenrir gave Dr. Armstrong a room to stay in while we worked out the Demeter issue, as he put it. The Dr. seemed visibly relieved to discover we were all true to our word and he appeared more than happy to enter the divine equivalent of witness protection. I guess it was better than the alternative.

I sent the imps back to Faerie, promising to bring them each their own laptops as thanks for helping me yet again. They vowed that they didn't require any thanks but I could also see the excited gleam in their eyes. So I assured them they'd get their rewards regardless and they traced back home with wide grins on their little furry faces.

Trevor, Kirill, and I traced home with similar expressions, relieved down to our cores that the Froekn had come through this latest debacle mostly intact. I hoped there wouldn't be any more action for awhile but Demeter was still at large and Andrasta seemed to be hunting my lions now too. I knew any peace I found would be brief.

Chapter Forty-Four

“
In the jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight,” Trevor sang as he came sauntering into the bathroom, where I was washing up, getting ready for bed. “In the jungle, the quiet jungle, the lion sleeps tonight.”

“
Are you implying that Kirill is out cold?” I eyed him through the mirror over the sink, after I finished washing the soap from my face.

“
Eeeeee-eee-ee-eeee-e um um a weh,” he sang and grabbed me around the waist.

“
You're a damn lunatic,” I laughed.

“
Ah, hello?” He looked up from nibbling my neck. “
Werewolf
. I'm one of the very first lunatics. The word was practically made for us.”

“
Very funny,” I pushed him away. “I don't want to have sex right next to a sleeping Kirill. That seems kind of rude.”

“
We won't,” he grinned and pulled me out of the bathroom. “I've got something special for you.”

“
You've got...” my eyes lit up with understanding. “Oh, is it that time of the month?”

With my sip from the Grayel I'd become immortal, healing wounds super fast. This included the werewolf love bites that Trevor used to take great pride in giving me. So now whenever he felt the pull of the Binding, usually around the full moon, he'd carry me off somewhere and scent mark me to his heart's content.

It was working pretty well for us and that was a relief, since I didn't know how long it would take for the sip to wear off enough for his bites to stick around a little while. With my fey heritage and
the recent dip into Anubis' fountain, I may never get to that point. It was good to have another way to sate the wolf, plus I loved being scent-marked by Trevor.

“
It's that time, yes,” he grinned and led me into the butterfly courtyard.

We walked down the path that meandered through the inner courtyard, holding hands like lovers taking a stroll through a park. He kept casting me lascivious looks and I started giggling like an idiot. I couldn't help it, his eyes were warming from within, casting a gentle glow on his cheeks, and with the huge arrangements of sleeping butterflies looking like monstrous dripping flowers behind him, he looked more fey than wolf.

Then he veered off to the side and there, set back away from the path and nestled in the overhang of some lush trees, was a little werewolf love bower.

Trevor had constructed a basic metal frame on which he'd hung sheer white silk panels and wound some flowering vines that grew off of the nearby trees. There were little lights strung up in the surrounding trees and over the frame, while underneath it all, was a big, comfy mattress, covered in white linens and fluffy pillows.

“Trevor,” I whispered and went forward to take a better look. “This is amazing.”

“
You like it?”

“
Like it?” I fell back onto the bed and stared up at the gauzy fabric and fragrant flowers. “Can we just leave this here forever?”

“
Sure,” he crawled onto the mattress beside me. “Why not? No one else really comes back here. It's not like we'll have to explain our love den.”

“
And even if we did,” I shrugged and sat up, “who cares? This is fabulous and I'm going to curl your little werewolf toes to show my appreciation.”

“
That was the intended result,” he grinned and pulled me forward.

Then there was a mad dash to remove each other's clothing with a lot of kissing and biting involved. Trevor took my hands and lifted them to a metal crossbar above my head, squeezing them so I knew to keep them there. It left me in a lifted position on my knees. A position he took great advantage of and I wondered just how much thought he'd put into the making of this little love den, as he called it.

I felt his face against the back of my neck, a warm huff on my skin as he rubbed his scent into me. I inhaled, smelling the shift of my scent as it melded with his, wolf musk sweetening into something a little more delicate. His front was placed firmly to my back and his desire was achingly evident but he wasn't about to satisfy any of my hungers yet. His need to mark his mate was too strong, I'd have to wait but sometimes waiting could be fun.

He kissed his way down my back, covering every inch of skin in tingling delight before coming back up and covering my arms with werewolf musk. He nipped and growled as he went, sending little shivers through me that had my inner wolf sitting up for attention. I let out a small whimper as he switched his attention to my front, starting with my breasts, which were already sensitized and waiting.

His hands were everywhere; my face, my hair, my back, everywhere but where I really wanted them to be and I groaned with frustration. He chuckled throatily, rubbing his face down my belly and kissing that little bulge I hated. I almost let go when he did that but he gave me a look that said clearly, he knew what I was thinking and I'd do better to just hold on.

So I did and was rewarded by him placing a pillow between my legs, which he then placed his head upon and proceeded to lick me senseless. I nearly screamed when the first wave of passion hit me and then suddenly the lust magic rose up, starting to fill me from feet to crown, and I remembered that I had a little surprise for my wolf as well.

When he finally withdrew both his attentions and the pillow, I was shaking and about ready to let go of that bar despite any incentive he may offer. He knelt in front of me and
gently brought my hands to his shoulders, saving me from doing it myself. I leaned forward and put my lips to his. The magic rushed through my fragile skin and into his mouth, a pulsing heartbeat of desire which pulled a grunting sound of surprise from him. I smiled against his lips and kept kissing him, pulling his thickly muscled chest against mine.

“
What the hell is that?” He gasped when I finally leaned back.

“
Lust,” I grinned. “Do you like it?”

“
Give me more,” he growled and tossed me down onto the mattress.

I laughed as he lifted my legs, still intent on marking every inch of my skin even with the lust distraction. That's how strong the werewolf instincts were. So I let him run his face over my thighs, nibble my calves, and even place his cheek to my insoles gently. Everywhere he touched Lust rose up to meet him, glowing red beneath my skin and turning his own skin a rosy color. He was startled at first but then he got into it, trailing his hands over me to watch the pattern it made on my body. Oh, and let's not forget the lovely tingles it left in its wake.

This was only my second try at the lust magic, so I wanted to experiment a little. When he was done, and I was completely covered in eau de Trevor, I sent a stream of Lust into him, so strong that he fell over me, catching himself at the last second. I actually saw the red haze of it enter him and swirl through his body before coming back into me.

“
Minn Elska,” he growled. “be careful with that.”

“
I have no intention of being careful with you tonight, Werewolf Prince,” I grinned and pulled him down so he was fully against me. “You think you can handle it?”

“
I'm not sure,” he grinned, “but I'm gonna try my damnedest.”

Then he was inside me, the Binding rising up between us to rival the Lust, and the magics swirled together like they were also lovers, two pieces that fit perfectly. I cried out with the ecstasy of it, the incomplete Binding feeling more real with the addition of my lust magic.

Trevor went a little wild with it, slamming into me and biting into my shoulder. I felt the Lust seep through my skin and into him through his bite, then down to where we joined, creating a circuit like it had with Azrael. I could see it this time, even when I closed my eyes, a red pulse gaining speed as it ran along a circle connecting Trevor and me.

Then he was cresting with me, riding the wave of werewolf Binding and Lust into a whirlpool of howling, screaming, scratching delight. I barely just remembered to rein in the lust magic so it wouldn't spread out to the rest of the palace. I really didn't need a whole pride of randy lions running for the tracing point in the middle of the night.

Even reined in though, the lust magic shattered with us, exploding through my skin to hover above us in a sparkling cloud before raining down on us. The glittering pieces of passion fell, hitting our skin with millions of tiny ecstasy points until Trevor tensed and we both reached our pleasure again.

Trevor fell over me and rolled to the side, his face slack and satisfied. His arm snaked beneath my head and pulled me into his chest while his other hand came up to stroke my tangled hair. I sighed and nestled into him, breathing deep of werewolf musk and sex, but he took a deep breath and then lifted me up, positioning me in front of him on all fours.

“Oh no, Lady Lust,” he laughed. “We haven't even begun.”

The Lust magic practically purred its agreement.