South of Surrender (Hearts of the Anemoi) (9 page)

Shaking a bit harder now, she nodded.

“Do you want to sit down?”

“No, just do…whatever you’re doing,” she said, her teeth almost chattering from the adrenaline pumping through her system. It was so potent, he could smell it.

He rose and covered her stomach from her waist to just under the blue satin of her bra with his hand. She sucked in a breath, and he plunged onward, placing his other hand between her breasts, fingers reaching upward. The heat poured into him, life-giving and strengthening, but he took no pleasure in it. Not when it flowed from that which pained her.

“Does it hurt anywhere else?” He held his palms against her, making sure he’d absorbed all her pain away.

“No.” She bit down hard on her trembling lower lip. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me, not when I caused it.”

“If you’re going to be popping in like this, maybe we should get you a bell.” She attempted a smile.

Chrys dropped his hands, and hers immediately flew to cover her chest. “Can you grab me a shirt from the chest of drawers over by the bathroom?”

He tugged his shirt over his head and held it out to her. “Here.”

She frowned and, after a moment, seemed to see his offering. “I have plenty of my own.”

He pressed it into her hand anyway, suddenly wanting to see her in it. Finally, she slipped it on. It was miles too big on her and so freaking sexy.

The moment she was covered, he summoned his brother.
Zephyros, I need you
. “I know, but I want to help. I’ve been a giant pain in your ass, haven’t I?”

She managed a nearly genuine grin. “Yeah, kinda. But you’re growing on me.”

“Like mold.”

“There’s a fungus among us.” She grimaced.

Chrys chuckled. “That was an…absolutely terrible joke.”

She covered her laugh with her hand and nodded. “I know. I babble when I’m nervous. It’s horrible.”

“Don’t be nervous. I don’t want to make you nervous.” What
did
he want to make her feel?

“You just healed me. Again. And you’re half naked now.”

Heat stirred within him. “Does that bother you?”

“It doesn’t bother me, exactly. But maybe we should keep our clothes on until we get to know each other a little better.”

“Annoyingly reasonable,” he said with a smile. He materialized a new shirt. “Better?”

He studied her eyes as they worked over him. He knew the exact moment she absorbed the fact he’d produced a new shirt by the way her eyebrows flew up into her hairline. “Oh, boy. I think I better sit down now.” She pushed off the door and made for the bed.

Her limp wasn’t as pronounced as that first day in the barn, but oh, how he wanted to heal her leg, too. Soon. If she’d let him.

In the meantime, he resisted the urge to scoop her up and carry her the rest of the way. Barely.

It was an odd desire for him to have, wanting to touch someone so freely, so frequently. Moments ago, he’d had his hands all over her. And he wanted more.

Where are you, Zeph?

She leaned against the edge of the bed. “You can sit, if you want.”

“That’s okay.” He scrubbed his hands through his hair. “Look, I know you have a lot of questions about me, and the visitor you just had necessitates I tell you what’s going on.”

“The woman?”

“She wasn’t just a woman, Laney.”

“What do you mean?”

Zeph’s energy closed in fast. He materialized into corporeality, a scowl on his face.

Laney gasped, slid off the bed, and pressed her back against Chrys’s front. Was she just seeking his shelter? Did she think she was…protecting him?

He gripped her shoulders, both possibilities lighting him up inside. “It’s okay. He’s friendly…ish. This is my brother, Zephyros.”

“He just appeared out of thin air. Just like she did,” she said.

“What’s going on, Chrys?” Zephyros barged forward, the tone of his voice making it clear he sensed the Fury’s energy here, too.

“Laney just had a visit from Tisiphone.”

“Who?” she asked, looking between them.

“Jesus, Chrys. What the hell is going? And why did you involve the woman?” he asked in an accusing tone.

“Hey. Give him a break, all right? It wasn’t his fault. He was hurt.” Heat radiated off Laney, soaking into his chest.

Chrys squeezed her shoulders and kissed the top of her head before he even thought to do it. She sucked in a small breath and leaned into him, the rhythm of her pulse harder, faster beneath his hands. “I’d prefer to explain it when we’re all together. I thought I could handle it on my own, but if Tisiphone’s visit means the Olympians are ready to intervene, I’m willing to admit I need help. Laney appears to be on
everyone’s
radar now, which is my fault. So I need to protect her until this is over.”

She pulled out of his arms. “Okay, enough. Stop talking like I’m not here. Someone explain what the hell is going on.”

“Fine. I’ll call a meeting, but we gotta do this today. Meet at Owen’s? Boreas is already there.”

“Might be better if they came here,” Chrys said, gesturing to Laney.

“Um, hello?” Laney crossed her arms, the heat of anger crawling up her face.

“If you want Owen in on this, it’ll have to be at his place. No way he’ll be willing to leave Megan and Teddy alone. And given the revolving door of visitors here, maybe you should just move her.”

“Stop it. Just stop!” Laney yelled, drawing both gods’ gazes. “First of all, talking over me is really pissing me off, especially when you’re talking
about
me. Second of all, I’m not going anywhere. Third of all, what visitors? And who is Tisiphone? Start talking
to
me. Now.”

Chapter Nine

Laney shook she was so mad. And scared. And completely bewildered by the strange woman disappearing into thin air, and Zephyros appearing out of thin air, and the healing. Again.

“I’m sorry, Laney,” Zeph said, a blue glow surrounding him. Just like the woman’s red and Chrys’s yellow. What in the world was that about? Earlier, she’d worried she was developing halos in her vision that meant it was deteriorating, but now she wasn’t so sure. “I’ll let Chrys explain it all. See you later,” he said, and then he was gone.

“Holy crap, everyone needs to stop doing that,” she said, turning to Chrys. “You said you’d tell me what was happening here. Now would be a really good time to start.”

He heaved a breath. “It pretty much boils down to this—I’m a divine being, a wind god, to be precise, and I accidentally put you in danger. And now I have to protect you.”

Whoa
.
Just…freaking…whoa
. “Uh, wait.” She returned to the bed and pushed herself into a sitting position. No way she was standing for this conversation. “Let’s, maybe, take that apart a little bit.”

The mattress shifted, and Chrys’s glow appeared next to her on the bed. She ran her narrow gaze over him. What she could make out was…so freaking gorgeous. Vibrant green eyes. Wavy, tousled blond hair. Warm, tanned skin. She scanned downward… And muscles that out-of-thin-air shirt did little to hide. Geez. “I know how this sounds to you.”

Even if she hadn’t been able to see the concerned expression he wore, the sincerity was clear in his deep voice. “Chrys, I already know you had a fight in the sky that caused you to crash through my barn roof. And that you’re able to heal with your touch. Even though it feels surreal, I think I’m fairly well on board with the idea that you’re…different.”

“I really am a god. The Supreme God of the South Wind and Summer, one of the four Cardinal Anemoi. We control the wind and the weather and much about the seasons.”

She knotted her fingers in her lap, mind torn between fear and absolute wonder. “A god?” Fighting in the sky, healing abilities, appearing out of thin air… “Oh, my God. I mean…” She shifted toward him. “A god? You were the winged horse.”

“Yes. It’s my sacred animal form. The Anemoi, well, our godhoods allow us to shift between human, animal, and elemental.”

Holy crap! She was sitting on her bed chatting with a god. A fantastically hot, eminently powerful god. Maybe that’s why he smelled so good? She dragged her gaze over his face, wishing more than ever that she had the full capability of her sight, because she knew she’d never seen anything more amazing than him. And probably never would again.

Her gut sank. No way all those kiss-inspired thoughts were coming true, now. Why would he want her that way? She was just a woman, and not even a particularly impressive woman at that. Hell, she didn’t even have all the usual human powers, and he had super powers.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

She shook her head. “I…just that…what does this mean?”

He looked down for a moment, and his jaw-length hair fell around his face.

Laney had to restrain the desire to run her fingers through it. The memory of the soft blond hair brushing her leg when he’d put on her sneakers for her flashed through her mind. She would give anything to feel the softness against her sensitive fingers. Preferably while they were kissing.
Ugh!

He lifted his gaze to hers. “I told you I’d been fighting with my brother.”

“Yeah.”

“It’s a serious fight, Laney, and it’s been going on for months. Longer, really. But it’s turned into a full-blown crisis that I have been unsuccessfully trying to resolve. When I crashed through your barn roof that night, I inadvertently brought the fight to your doorstep. And him. Eurus was here, in your house—”

“And I take it that’s a bad thing?” she asked, knowing the answer, feeling it squeeze in her stomach.

“Very. And then, just now, Tisiphone was here. What did the woman want?” Worry radiated from his voice.

“She was looking for you and somebody else—I didn’t recognize the name at first because she called you Notos. I told her I didn’t know anyone by that name.” So, if she was keeping track of all this,
four gods
had been to her home in the past few days? “Wait. How did you know this Tisiphone person was here?”

“One of my subordinate gods was here guarding you. He summoned me immediately.”

Another god…so, make that five. And guarding her? Anger bubbled up again. She had enough of men watching over her every move, thank you very much. Seth was enough protectiveness for any woman. “Seriously? I don’t—”

“In Greek mythology, have you ever heard of the Furies? Goddesses of the Underworld?” Laney nodded. “We call them Erinyes. Either way, the one who came here is the infernal goddess of retribution. Her job is to avenge murder. She is lethal beyond imagination. That scarf she wears? Covers a head full of snakes.”

Goosebumps erupted everywhere and she shuddered. “Are you freaking kidding me? Snakes? Why would she come here?”

“Likely, she sensed my presence and her boss probably sent her to make sure my family was keeping its word to bring a murderer to justice.” Chrys reached out like he might touch her, then dropped his hand, rose, and began to pace.

Head swimming with questions, Laney stood and limped to the foot of the bed.

He paused, and for a long moment, he seemed to study her. “I’m sorry I’ve gotten you mixed up in all this. I promise I’ll make it right.”

“So, I’m in danger?”

“Yes, but I can protect you. And if we leave—”

“Chrys, I just can’t
leave
. My farm manager, Seth, is one of my oldest friends in the world and he’s here every day. There’s no way I could explain this to him, and it would kill him if I just up and disappeared without any explanation. Plus…” She sighed. “I haven’t been completely honest about something, either. I’m nearly blind. I have a degenerative eye disease called retinitis pigmentosa. I was diagnosed when I was seventeen. It started with the loss of my night vision, then my peripheral vision, and then the increasing narrowing of my central vision. I’m completely blind in my left eye, and I have less than twenty percent of the central vision in my right eye remaining. I can see a very limited amount of what’s directly in front of me, like looking at the world through a straw. So traveling…it’d be hard for me.”

He walked right up to her, close enough that his warmth was noticeable against her front. “Gods, Laney. I’m—”

“Sorry? Don’t be. I’m used to it by now.”

Chrys grasped her hand, infusing his strong warmth into her and helping her calm. “I am sorry, but that’s not what I was going to say. I’m…impressed. You move around with such competence. Most of the time, I’d have had no idea… Damn, that means you helped me the night it was storming without really being able to see? And, then I shifted forms on you…”

She lifted a shoulder in a small shrug. “Yeah, I guess that’s right. And, thanks. It took a lot of time to learn independent mobility. I used to crash into things all the time. I’ve taken classes that taught me how to organize so I can move around safely, but I can’t drive anymore. And if I go out in public, I have to use my cane, as much to let others know I’m blind as to aid myself in avoiding obstacles. So, you see, it’s not easy for me to just pick up and go somewhere new. My life is based around order, routine, and familiarity. It doesn’t work well any other way. You can’t make me leave.”

His thumb stroked the back of her hand, and he heaved a breath. “Okay. We’ll figure it out, but I won’t make you go if you don’t want to.” Chrys came a step closer. “Last night when I was here, when we were here in your bed, it seemed like you could see me. If you’re almost blind—”

She twisted her lips. “I could. Because—I know this is going to sound crazy—but…”

“After everything I’ve told you? I doubt it.”

She gave a small laugh. “I guess that’s true. Okay. When I look at you, you seem to…glow.”

Laney chewed on her lip, waiting for Chrys to tell her how ridiculous that was. When he pulled his hand away from hers, her stomach plummeted.

“I do? What does it look like?”

She focused on his face, and the gold seemed stronger. His expression was…serious. “You seem to be surrounded in golden light. It moves with you like it’s part of you. And not just you, either. Zeph had a blue glow around him. And Snake Lady glowed red.” She clasped her hands together as relief flowed through her. “Oh, man. I just realized that if I’m seeing these glows because you’re all gods, that means my vision isn’t getting worse. I thought the glowing was halos, and…” She shook her head. “Wow. A bit of silver lining in the midst of all this craziness.”

The gold surrounding him appeared more intense, more bright. Even his eyes seemed to glow with it. He cupped her cheek in his big, warm hand, and she leaned into it. “I’m glad. Seems like something about the changes to your vision has given you an interesting ability to perceive us.”

“Well, score one for the human. I need some way to see you guys as you pop in and out of a room.” In truth, though, relief flowed so strongly through her that it helped even out some of the chaos in her mind.

Chrys chuckled, and the sound of it was sweet and sexy. She hadn’t heard him laugh often, and she enjoyed the sound of it very much. “I know you don’t want to leave for a longer period, but do you think you’d be up for a short trip?” Chrys asked. “My family is meeting to discuss what to do about this situation and I need to go. Given everything, I’d like to bring you.”

“Uh…what kind of trip?” And how in the hell would she explain taking a trip to Seth? “I’m not sure if I could get away without it raising questions. It’s not like I leave the house very often.” She gestured to her face.

“Questions from the human man,” Chrys said, an odd tone to his voice. Like he was…no. No way.

“Yes, Seth. There’s no way he wouldn’t find my getting in someone’s car and driving away suspicious.”

An odd moment of silence passed. “Er, what time does he normally leave?”

“Around five or six, depending. He’s interviewing contractors today to fix my barn roof, so I’m not sure when the last scheduled appointment is.”

“Hmm,” he said, pulling his touch away and pacing. He turned. “What if we left after he does this evening and came back tonight?”

Excitement and just a little fear set off a troop of butterflies in her stomach.
Dare to know.
“I think that could work.”

He returned to her. “Okay, good. Thank you. I know this is a lot coming at you all at once. You’re handling it beautifully.” His voice was soft in Laney’s ear. She found herself leaning toward him. And,
God
, there was that scent again.

Slowly, she raised her gaze. Chrys towered over her, and heat absolutely rolled off him. In that moment, his eyes possessed a strange intensity she didn’t understand. She only knew how her body was interpreting all of it, what she wished he would do.

“I really am sorry,” he said. “About all of this.”

Laney blinked away the haze of lust that had wrapped around her. “I know.”

“Eurus won’t get near you. On my honor.”

Right.
That’s
why he was here.
Don’t forget it, Laney. You’re neither experienced nor tough enough to protect your heart around someone as powerful and magical as him.
Her heart? What did her heart have to do with anything?
Yeah, keep kidding yourself
.
You were attached from the moment you thought you’d found a stray Pegasus in your barn
. “How exactly is that going to work?” she managed.

“I’ll stay here as much as I can, and when I can’t, I’ll have someone else stand guard.”

Stay here? It was exactly what she’d wanted, what she’d yearned for all morning after she’d awakened to an empty bed, an empty house. She thought to ask where he’d gone this morning, but his words raised a more pressing question. “But how am I going to explain you to Seth?”

He frowned. “Why do you have to say anything to him at all?”

“Because no one’s ever here just to visit me and he’ll demand to know who you are. He’s a protective pain in the ass.” You know, in a totally loveable way. But still. His head would go all
Exorcist
at the appearance of a strange man just hanging around her house.

“Then, we can remain elemental. Never see us.”

She frowned. “I’m sorry but that’s…creepy. I can’t see enough as it is without wondering where my invisible god-protectors are. And how will I be able to talk to you? That’s too weird. I’ll be a nervous wreck and Seth will be all over me about it.”

He made a gruff noise low in his throat. “Then we need a good reason for me to be here.”

“What the heck would that be?” An idea came to mind. “Wait. I’ve got it. Only…any chance your godly bag of tricks includes knowing how to build a roof?”

…

Chrys drove the truck up the long gravel driveway. The one demarcated on the road by a sign that read, “Summerlyn Stables, Est. 1945.”

Summerlyn
. Laney’s family name was Summerlyn. He tucked that little nugget away for further exploration.

Focusing on the driveway again, Chrys had one thought: For the love of the gods, this better work.

“What’s the plan, my lord?” Livos asked from the passenger seat. After Laney had shared her idea, Chrys had summoned his subordinate to gather all the things needed to give them a shot at pulling this off.

“First step is getting Laney’s farm manager to hire me. Second step…well, that one’s gonna be a bit more interesting. Just let me do the talking. And drop the ‘my lord’ crap.”

Livos nodded. “As you wish.”

“I know you haven’t spent as much time with humans as I have, but tone down the formality or no one’s going to buy this, okay? How’s Aphel?”

“I’ll try. And Apheliotes is healed. Thanks to your generosity.”

Chrys waved away the compliment. No one deserved to be abused at his brother’s hands. Each new evidence of Eurus’s malevolence called Chrys’s hopes into question more and more. Maybe he wasn’t savable. Maybe he wasn’t redeemable. But contemplating such a thing about his own brother was a whole lot easier than accepting it in his heart, especially since he was to blame for some part of it.