Harvest of the Gods (23 page)

Chapter Forty-Five

Hours later when the sun was beginning to rise, we settled into each other's arms satisfied at last. We were all warm and snugly in our bower and as I drifted to sleep I wondered what Aphrodite had done with the lust magic. Seeing what she'd done with the Love, I couldn't imagine that she'd done anything good with it. Then, as if the magic was sentient, which I believe it is in a way, it showed me a glimpse of what she'd used it for.

I knew Aphrodite was an awful bitch. I knew she was a sadist and enjoyed using the darker side of Love instead of using it to help and heal. That being said, I'd had no idea she could be so depraved.

The vision was of her walking through a room, intent on something at the end of it. I'm not sure what exactly it was that she was after, the vision didn't show me that, but it did show me the greed in Aphrodite's eyes. She wanted something and she wanted it bad enough to not care how she got it. Unfortunately, the room was full of a lot of people who weren't going to allow her to have it.

They stared at her with open defiance and I wondered briefly who they were. Not soldiers, they weren't wearing armor though they were armed with swords. What they were wearing seemed uniform, the same color and style of dress. Their clothes were deep blue and cut simply. Judging by the tunics and long gowns, I'd date them somewhere in the Middle Ages. Whoever they were, Aphrodite knew them and knew they would do anything to prevent her from acquiring her desire. So as she walked among them, her magic rushed out and possessed them.

They fell on each other with desperate need. Young or old, male or female, it didn't matter, whoever was closest would do. Swords clanged to the floor and Aphrodite laughed as the entire room became one rampant orgy but not in the way you might think orgies should be. There was no laughter and soft sexy sounds. This was not about hedonism or pleasure. This was as greedy as the Goddess had been, a sexual theft, a type of warfare that would no doubt haunt the victims for the rest of their lives.

She walked through them, unmolested, kicking crazed couples out of her way so she could get to her prize, and even pausing here and there to enjoy the damage she was inflicting. She was a rapist, reveling in the power of the act, the dominance, not
the sexual pleasure.

I gasped a breath and pulled out of the horrible scene but not without first being told by the magic that Aphrodite had indeed used it in war, on the battlefield, where men would fall upon each other, often killing one another in their desperation to fulfill their lusts. These battles never made it into the history books, the men involved were all too horrified to ever speak of it again, or in some cases, ever speak at all again. I'd always thought Love was the most powerful magic but after that vision I wasn't so sure anymore.

Thankfully, Lust didn't want to be used like that, and the information I'd received had been intended to comfort me, to show me that it was happier being wielded by me than by her. I silently thanked it but honestly I could have done without that kind of reassurance. That vision was going to be hard to forget.

I shivered and snuggled deeper into Trevor's side, taking one last look around the romantic bower he'd created, to try and still my thoughts before I went to sleep. Then I closed my eyes, knowing that no matter what happened in the god war, I'd never be able to use Lust like Aphrodite had. The thought actually brought a great peace to my mind and I fell off to sleep quickly, my dreams filled with a randy werewolf instead of a dead goddess.

Chapter Forty-Six

Fenrir was at Pride Palace bright and early the next morning. He actually came striding into our bedroom to wake us up and then had the nerve to make horrified sounds over finding Kirill, Trevor, and me all snuggled together.

I screamed at him to get out and that he deserved the eyeful he got. How dare he come into my bedroom unannounced and how would he like it if I did the same to him and then remarked over how odd it was that he only had one mate. Trevor just groaned and Kirill laughed as Fenrir backpedaled, red in the face.

Fenrir was waiting in the dining room with an embarrassed expression when we came in. He immediately apologized and I immediately forgave him but it was still a little awkward. No one likes their parents finding them in an intimate situation. Especially an unusual intimate situation and as much as I've gotten used to my romantic life, I knew it was unusual. Fenrir's disapproval was an unwelcome prodding at a recently scabbed over cut.

“
We've come by so early because I need some action,” Fenrir began.

“
I may have needed some action myself,” I interrupted, smirking at him, “but that's not going to happen now, thanks to you. At least I know to lock my door in the future though.”

“
Vervain,” Fenrir leaned his head back and sighed. “Please desist, the sight of you three together was traumatizing enough to prevent me from ever walking in on you unannounced again.”

“
Well she has every right to be angry,” Emma smirked at him. “You would have drawn blood if someone entered your bedroom and caught us together.”

“
I did not catch them
together
together,” Fenrir rolled his eyes. “Just sleeping together. Not
sleeping together
, just sleeping.”

“
Was that sleeping
together
or sleeping together
together
?”
I laughed at him. “Oh, wait, you meant
sleeping
together.”

“
The funny thing is; I understood that,” Emma gave me a secret approving look.

“
No,” I corrected, “the funny thing is; you just announced to the entire table that you and Fenrir are doing the nasty and Dad didn't bat an eye.”

“
Vervain,” Fenrir groaned while Emma giggled. “Nothing I do with this woman is nasty.”

“
What about when we-” Emma started to say but was cut off by Fenrir's horrified gaze. “Okay, I guess that wasn't nasty,” she shrugged at me. “I guess we're going to have to work on that.”

“
Well done, Dad,” Trevor grinned at Fenrir, who was starting to turn red again.

“
Da,” Kirill nodded, giving Fenrir an assessing look. “I didn't zink you had it in you.”

“
I have plenty of it, thank you,” Fenrir growled. “As evidenced by all of my many children.”

“
Yes, you do, baby,” Emma sat back with a satisfied smirk.

“
Thank you,” he said again, this time to Emma, and with his own secret smile.

“
Great, so things are going well,” I nodded, “glad to hear it. We had to take part in a faerie lynching yesterday, so we're a little tired but you guys just continue giving each goo goo eyes and we'll just sit here and take a nap.”

“
I go make coffee,” Kirill stood up before Fenrir could say anything.

“
I actually have a plan,” I said the magic words that got me the attention of the entire room. “We know that Demeter's in her
territory.”

“
We searched the entire place-” Fenrir started but I held up a hand.

“
Sorry, Dad, but bear with me here,” I put Demeter's braid on the table, the braid I'd cut from her and given to Kirill as a sort of memento. It silenced everyone, seeing that shining golden link to our enemy. “The fey she was working with told us that she's tricky. To me, that means that she's got some kind of a panic room, or even a panic palace if you will, hidden someplace in her territory and I can make a tracking spell.”

“
Holy shit,” Trevor breathed out and looked over at me with his duh face.

“
I know, right?” I laughed. “We've been so caught up in tracking her by scent or with magical tools that we forgot about my talent for witchcraft. It wouldn't have worked before because I need to be in a certain proximity to whatever I'm tracking, but now? If she really is in her territory, I'll find her.”

“
How long will it take you to make?” Fenrir had an excited glint to his eyes.

“
Give me half an hour,” I grinned and he grinned back. “After I've had my coffee that is.”

Chapter Forty-Seven

We were back at Demeter's Greek playground, or Demeterland as I enjoyed calling it, in under an hour. However, it took us over two hours to roam the entire surface of her territory with her braid in my outstretched hand. I'd ended up just using the entire braid to make the tracking spell instead of taking a few strands from it because I figured it would be more powerful that way. Well, powerful or not, it wasn't picking up anything on the surface of Dementor's world of boring Greekness.

So we took the gilded cage down into the underworld, well not really
the
underworld but literally an under world. We walked the path through the garden unmolested by foliage and when I still didn't pick up any pings, I started to head toward the outer walls. About a third of the way down the right wall, the braid surged in my hand. I gripped it tighter and watched as it stretched out in front of me like a tightrope.

“
Final-fucking-ly,” Trevor growled.

“
Everyone get ready,” I called back and there was an excited murmuring. Not only were the Froekn with us but the Intare had come along as well as Odin and our sons. Everyone wanted in on this action. It had been a long time coming.

I let the braid lead me forward until it practically lodged itself into the wall. Then I frowned at the seamless surface. No wonder we hadn't found her, I knew where she was and I still couldn't find her.

“Shit,” I slapped the wall, “now what?”

“
Now you step aside,” Odin grinned at me and waved everyone back. A spear appeared in his hands with a shining gold tip and silky wooden shaft. He threw it into the wall and it stuck fast at about shoulder height for me. Then the whole thing trembled,
making a sound similar to when you stroked a finger over the rim of a crystal glass. The wall exploded, raining dust and rocks over the lot of us and propelling the spear back into Odin's waiting hands. Odin just stood there, grinning ear to ear while wiping dust off his face. “I love doing that.”

“
Jeesh,” I waved the cloud of dust away from my face. “That was impressive.”

“
Thank you,” Odin leaned on his spear in a casual hero stance. “Gungnir never fails to impress.”

“
That's the spear that changes the outcome of a battle, right?” I stared at it, feeling a fist of unease suddenly grip my belly.

“
Yes but we're not in battle,” Odin shrugged. “Don't worry about it, Vervain. I know my own weapons.”

“
Okay,” I went to move forward but Fenrir had already beat me to the punch and was making his way through the opening. “Hey,” I called as I followed him, the others close on my heels.

We didn't have long to walk before the tunnel we were in opened into a control room. The walls were covered in monitors, showing us clear colored images of the gardens we'd just come through, as well as shots of the land above. There was a desk in front of the screens with a computer on it and a chair in front of the desk, whose seat was still warm.”

“She's here,” I said as the braid lurched in my hands again.

I ran off with it like a little girl walking a rottweiler. It was really walking me. It pulled me through several rooms which were very decadently appointed with furniture covered in rich upholstery and numerous pieces of artwork. There were thick carpets on the ground and antique chandeliers on the ceiling, filled with candles. I passed through a large dining room, a kitchen, and then ended up in an open room with bottles of wine stored against two
walls. The third wall was packed dirt and the braid pulled me right to it.

“
Damn it,” I cursed and put the braid away. “It's probably another secret exit. Looks like we're going to need you again, Odin.” He started toward me with a chuckle and I laughed back at him. “Kind of anti-climatic huh?”

Then Odin was leaping for me, his face drawn in shocked lines, and I frowned, wondering what I'd said wrong. A quick glance around showed that everyone else had similar expressions, all focused on a spot behind my back as they began to move forward as well. I turned, as if through deep water, which I was definitely in because there behind me was Demeter, pieces of earth falling away from her as she pulled a Rambo and came right out of the dirt wall.

She was dressed in her Atlantean golden armor, sword and all, and that sword was already descending in a beautiful arc toward my unprotected neck. It was too fast, I saw it all in the blink of an eye, and even as I lifted my hand to protect myself, I knew I wasn't going to be able to react in time. She was going to win after all.

I could hear shouting around me, in a sort of fear-muffled way, and out of the corner of my eye I saw Fenrir running, his hand reaching for me, but I knew he wouldn't make it either. So it was with great surprise that I felt myself shoved aside, my head still miraculously attached to my body. I fell hard, my impact rattling the rack of wine near me, and my vision became disjointed.

I saw things in bits and pieces, my brain focusing on strange particulars. Odin was standing where I'd been just moments before, his spear thrust out. Light glinted off it as it seemed to wrench in another direction. I saw his face turn with it, determination in his eyes and then he focused on me and smiled. I blinked and the smile seemed different, frozen.

Then my head finished falling into the floor and I closed my eyes against the pain of it. People were yelling but my vision
was hazy and it took me a couple of seconds to shake it off. I was confused by what I'd seen and when I was finally able to open my eyes, the world made even less sense.

Demeter stood above a body, her face expressing horrified shock and her sword lowered to her side. The body at her feet was Odin's but his head was on the floor near me, his sightless eye staring at me peacefully. At my back someone was bleeding on me and I glanced over my shoulder, still not comprehending what had happened. Maybe whatever was behind me would explain this insanity.

It was Fenrir and in his shoulder was Gungnir, Odin's spear. Fenrir yanked it out and threw it at Demeter with one swift maneuver, piercing both her armor and the wall behind her, pining her like a bug. She screamed and the sound seemed to bring me back to reality, back to the fact that Odin was dead. Instead of me.

“
Odin,” I whispered, tears suddenly blurring my vision. “Odin no, this isn't happening,” I crawled forward and ran my fingertips over his cheek. His one eye was so beautiful and I kept expecting it to blink, wink at me like it was all a joke. But it wasn't, Demeter's screams attested to that. “Why did he spear you?” I looked back at Fenrir, maybe if I focused on something else, Odin's death would go away.

“
He didn't mean to,” Fenrir was crouched behind me, his hand on my arm to steady me, and I saw Trevor and Kirill behind him, staring at me like they had no idea what to do. “When his body fell, I was too close and he struck me by mistake.”

“
Oh,” I was strangely calm on the outside but inside I was screaming and this rage was building, a consuming fire that I knew was visible in my eyes. I could feel it there, turning my irises to embers. It felt like all of my magics were churning together inside of me, trying to find the best way to exact vengeance until they unanimously decided upon my dragon.

I stood up slowly and walked over to where Demeter was struggling with the spear. She stilled, staring at my face with terror as her hands trailed uselessly through the river of blood coursing down her belly. I inhaled deep, enjoying the coppery scent of it and especially the undertone of her fear. I could feel my face shifting, the dragon taking over and the heat rising. The tears sizzled on my cheeks, evaporating with my fury, and although I was outwardly hot, my anger was cold, freezing the heart inside my chest.

“Vervain,” Demeter whispered. “I intended to kill you, not Odin, never the Allfather. It was an accident, I'm so sorry.”

“
I don't care if you're sorry,” I said gently and her eyes widened further. “I don't care about anything you have to say. This time you're not going to escape justice.”

I leaned toward her like I was going to kiss her and she reared back into the dirt wall. I gripped her face with hands that were suddenly tipped in talons and I shoved those talons between her lips, pulling her mouth open. She made a mewling scream before I pressed my mouth over hers and breathed into her my fire.

The scream turned into a horrible whimpering noise as I roasted her internally and then she ceased to make any sound at all, probably because I'd melted her vocal chords. She began shaking like an epileptic but I held tight, transferring my grip from her mouth to her shoulders. Then I pulled back and reached into her bleeding mouth, the sides of which were cut to ribbons from my claws, and calmly pulled her cooked tongue from her, tossing it to the waiting wolves. Tongue is a delicacy, you know.

I heard a growling behind me, encouragement for my cruelty, and I let it buoy me up, let the rage consume me and turn my vision red. I don't remember what I did to her after that. I just know that it took a really long time, longer than even the wolves could endure, and finally it was Kirill who came forward and stilled my hands, then wrapped his arms around me and just rocked me a little.

The dragon inside me seemed to sigh, giving one last breath to our vengeance before settling back into me. I shuddered, suddenly cold from the heat's departure, and I sank into Kirill's warmth. His heartbeat was strong against my cheek, a sign that he at least was very much alive. I started to cry then and when I wiped away the tears it was like wiping away sleep. I was able to finally comprehend the extent of the damage I'd wrought.

Demeter looked like Kael had when the Wild Hunt had finished with him, bloody bones and strips of meat, and a small part of me wondered if my dragon had blocked me from experiencing what we'd done to Demeter. Or had I simply let her take over and do the dirty work while I mentally checked out? It didn't matter, what was left of Demeter wasn't easy to look upon and I knew the time had come to end it.

Instead of beheading her though, I reached for her magic. I heard the echoes of warnings inside my head, that I already had more magic than one human body should be able to hold. But something told me this was important, that every step along the way had been leading me to this moment and that I needed to take Demeter's magic into myself for good. It almost felt like someone else was lifting my hand, someone else was stealing Demeter's power while I just observed.

Her bloody body jerked as I found the root of her magic and pulled on it but she was beyond making any sounds. I took her magic in silence, only my heartbeat in my head and Kirill's against my back to fill the emptiness. I felt the magic rush into me, the taint in it overwhelming my senses. It was putrid green and moldy black, and it burned my flesh as the smell of decay filled my nose, reaching down my throat to choke me. It was cloying, becoming almost a taste, and I gagged but the emerald on my neck, a present from my newly deceased husband, grew warm and drew the taint out of the magic. I was able to take a deep breath of clean air before I pulled on it again, while the emerald filtered and pushed the evil infection into the earth.

When the rot was gone completely, I was suddenly filled with cold and my dragon didn't like it. She growled at the snowflakes filling me but I calmed her with the promise that this was only a piece of Demeter's magic.
Be patient, there's more to come.
So she settled back, only batting at a few flakes lazily, and waited for the weather to change. My other beasts came forward as well, and they too stared at the new magic with suspicion. I guess none of us liked the cold.

I felt the frost upon my breath and the freezing ache of loneliness in my chest but I also saw the beauty of winter, the happiness of sliding down a snow-covered hill and catching a snowflake on my tongue. There was a feeling of rest and recuperation which I understood and I accepted the magic for what it was. The snowflakes sank into me.

Then it started to warm up and I felt the chill ease away to herald the birth of a new season, the birth of anything I wished to conceive. The power of Spring. Hope came, and it was an bitter drink, what with Odin's body lying nearby, but I took it and welcomed it. I felt the roots stretching beneath the earth, new shoots rising to the surface as the flowers of Spring appeared. They eased into me with the promise that everything passes, that everything is a cycle, a circle, as I'd once told Odin. We would meet again.

My body was shaking, wracked with violent sobbing, by the time Spring sent its roots deep into me and Summer rolled forward. Heat filled me in full force and it was such a comfort that my tears faded. Kirill was still holding me and I felt Trevor pressed around us as well, the strength and love of my two men helping me as nothing else could. I swallowed hard and opened myself up to Summer as the magic opened to me. It was a ripening power, the power to urge life onward, to create and destroy, the balance that was being worked toward by the previous two seasons.

The scent of poppies and narcissus overwhelmed me and I heard the cry of a crane. It flew into me with the magic and I
wondered what it meant. The magic laughed at me, letting me know that all would be revealed to me for I was now the keeper of the Mysteries.

The crane had been Demeter's symbol, sacred to her, as were the poppy and narcissus. It was no coincidence that cranes carry babies to their parents in children's stories for Demeter also held fertility magic. It was far stronger than I'd imagined, a magic that could alter and heal, a magic that could breathe new life into things.