The Lion, the Witch, and the Werewolf Page 13

  “Fuck you, Mirror!” Narcissus cursed. “How's that for emotion?”

  “Nothing you say will sway me,” I said. “Put him down.”

  “You must see the truth, Godhunter!” The Mirror shouted.

  “The truth is; if I kill him, you will implode,” I said.

  Everything went still. Even Narcissus stopped fighting his bonds and stared at me.

  “No,” the Mirror said.

  “Look deeper inside yourself,” I told it. “Your sole purpose is to hold Narcissus for eternity. If he dies, your purpose dies with him. You will self-destruct; it's how you were built.”

  More silence and then came a screeching roar. Narcissus dropped to the floor and stared up at me in shock.

  “You curse yourself if you free him!” The Mirror shouted. “This is my warning to you, Godhunter.”

  “If it's the truth, I thank you for it,” I said. “But I have no choice; there is only one way out for me. Unless you'd like to send my husbands and me back from where you took us?”

  “I cannot,” it said grimly.

  “Then I must continue.” I waved Narcissus forward. “Let's go, Narc.”

  Narcissus got to his feet and started shambling forward, his expression fixed forward in shock.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Trevor's screams turned my head briefly, but I kept going. I knew it was another trick. The screams tore at me, though, and I had to clench my teeth to keep myself from looking. But then I smelled him.

  “Trevor?” I stopped and turned.

  My wolf was chained to a metal floor by his ankle. He was snarling and fighting for all he was worth, but he couldn't shift and it was hard to battle beasts as a man. I screamed when one of the numerous lions surrounding him tore a swipe in his side. Trevor howled and bashed at it with his fists. Another came at him from behind. Lethal claws gleamed in the dim light and Trevor's eyes glowed. His gaze flicked to me wildly.

  “Run, Minn Elska!” He shouted.

  I felt the line connecting us inside me and knew that it was the real Trevor. He was being torn apart by the very beasts who were precious to me.

  “Damn you!” I shouted.

  But I knew the Mirror couldn't kill Trevor. The best thing I could do for him was to find that flawed mirror and get us out.

  “It can't kill him!” Narcissus echoed my thoughts. “It only looks as if he's being hurt. Trust me; he isn't. Now, come on!”

  Narcissus grabbed my hand and pulled me down the hallway. It ended in a simple, steel wall and a full-length mirror hung on it. It was an exact replica of the mirror I'd been pulled through, gilded narcissus flowers and all. And in its center there lurked a black smudge. I ran for the mirror and as soon as I stood in front of its tiny flaw, I shouted the anti-curse.

  “Diakopi!”

  A shivering started; a trembling that invaded every surface. Narcissus' stare shot to mine, but I only held it for a second. I was too busy peering around myself in wariness. I expected the Mirror to fight and wail, but it only shattered. The sound of breaking glass was piercing; ringing in my ears until I covered them with my hands. Suddenly, it stopped; the silence nearly as jolting as the shattering.

  “Remember my warning, Godhunter,” the Mirror said in sad resignation.

  And then everything went dark.

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  The dark brightened, and I opened my eyes. I was standing in my dressing room covered in a fine, sparkling powder. Kirill, Trevor, and Narcissus stood beside me. The Mirror was gone; even the frame had disintegrated. Narcissus just stared around himself in shock, but my husbands shouted in relief and hugged me between them; glittering mirror-dust falling from us like sea spray off waves.

  “Vervain?!” Odin's voice came through the door. “Is that you?”

  “It's me!” I called back. “We're all here. Open up!”

  The sound of locks sliding came through the wood and then the door was flung back and a crowd of people was revealed. Not only were my other husbands and boyfriend there, but also Nemesis, Morpheus, Fenrir, Vidar, Vali, the whole God Squad, and several of my lions. They all made relieved sounds and then cheered as the men and I stepped out of the dressing room.

  There was a lot of hugging and a few tears but halfway through it, I noticed Narcissus standing off to the side with Nemesis.

  “—your last chance,” I caught the tail end of what she was saying. “If you go back to your old ways, I will come up with an even better punishment.”

  We all stopped to stare at them. I heard the Mirror's voice in my memory; warning me about Narcissus. But what was done was done. As much as I wanted to give Narcissus a second chance, I was glad that Nemesis would be watching him. If he screwed up and proved the Mirror true, she'd put him back on ice, or glass, as it were.

  “I have changed, Nemesis,” Narcissus said calmly. “And I'm grateful for the chance to prove it. You won't have to cast your revenge upon me again.”

  Nemesis didn't seem swayed by Narcissus' speech—she is the Greek Goddess of Revenge, after all, and she'd probably heard hundreds of versions of it before—but she finally nodded and turned away from him. Nemesis approached me and shook my hand.

  “You did well, Godhunter,” Nemesis said. “I'm sorry you got caught in my enchantment, but I'm glad you were able to use the safety clause to get out. Honestly, I don't understand it; the Mirror shouldn't have been able to pull in a goddess.”

  “It had some help,” I said and grimaced. “An old enemy of mine—well, an enemy from the future—you know, what? Let's just go with 'enemy.' He warned Narcissus that I'd be entering the Mirror and advised him to get me to sacrifice myself and then take my magic; that it would make him strong enough to break the curse.”

  “Yes, Morpheus told us about Qaus,” Re said. “We've started searching for him. I'm tracing the Mirror through the auction house I bought it from. Hopefully, the trail will lead us to Qaus or one of his associates.”

  “Good.” I nodded. “But there's more; Qaus cast his own spell on the mirror so that it would pull me in.” I glanced at Kirill and Trevor; and yes, Trevor was back. “I think you two just got yanked along with me.”

  “I'm grateful that we did,” Trevor said. “I'd hate for you to have been alone in there.”

  “I'm glad that last scene was just an illusion.” I laid my palm against Trevor's cheek. “That one nearly got me.”

  “It wasn't pleasant, but it seems that it was all in my head. But even if it had been real, you needed to get to that flaw to get us all out of the Mirror,” Trevor said. “It was the right call; remember that in case anything similar happens in the future.”

  “It had better not,” I said in a dangerous tone.

  “What illusion?” Kirill asked.

  “You don't want to know,” Trevor and I said together.

  “We'll look for the other two gods as well,” Azrael interrupted. “Gish and Disani. I'd imagine they'd be in on whatever Qaus had planned.”

  “And I imagine that this won't be the end of it,” Odin said grimly. “Once they discover that the Mirror has been broken, they'll devise a new plan.”

  “Where's Lesya?” I asked suddenly.

  “She's with Sam and Zariel,” Fallon said. “We didn't want the girls waiting here in case—”

  “In case I came out dead?” I lifted a brow.

  “Or severely injured,” Odin amended.

  “Do you want me to get her?” Fallon offered.

  “Not just yet.” I shook my head. “There are a few things we need to talk about first. Like finding the gods who are gunning for me.”

  “The Froekn are on the hunt,” Fenrir declared as he clasped his son's shoulder supportively. “Our wolves will find them and then we're all going to have a nice talk.” He bared his teeth.

  Yeah; somehow I didn't think there would be a lot of words involved in that conversation. I grinned at my father-in-law. I wanted in on it.

  “No way, Minn Elska,” Trevor said firmly
to my look. “You have our son to think about, and he's already been put in enough danger.”

  I looked up into his honey stare and saw the horror of the abortion scene still haunting him. My alpha mate had waited a long time to see his child born and the threat against Vero had shaken Trevor to the core.

  I hugged him tightly. “I won't let anything happen to Vero.”

  “No, we won't,” he vowed. “Because you are staying right here until he's born.”

  “Trevor,” I said gently.

  “No, Minn Elska!” Trevor held me away from him so he could glare at me. “No more danger for you and our son.”

  “Let's give them some privacy,” Odin said softly as he ushered everyone out.

  Fenrir gave his son a pat on the back as he passed by and said to me, “You are one of the bravest women I know, little frami. And one of the smartest. I hope you will use both your strength and wisdom to protect my grandson.”

  I sighed deeply as Fenrir closed the door behind him.

  “Vero himself would tell me not to sit this out,” I said to Trevor.

  “I'm sure he would.” Trevor grimaced. “From what you've told me, you raised him to be another you.”

  “But he looked like another you,” I countered.

  “And I ache to meet him,” Trevor said softly. “Please understand that, Minn Elska. Every time you put yourself in danger, I'm terrified not only of what may happen to you but also of what may happen to our son. I've seen what happens to your children when you fight.”

  I clenched my teeth because he was right. Both of my pregnancies had gone badly. Not because of any kind of medical condition but because I'd been attacked. Both times. The first time, my son had to split himself in two to save us. And the next time, my daughter had to be removed from my body and left to grow in a god-incubator. I hated that I missed the experience of carrying Lesya to term, but at least she had lived. It had been a close call.

  “We were here, in Pride Palace, when we were taken into the Mirror,” I calmly pointed out.

  “That was a rare occurrence,” Trevor said. “And there will be no more god items allowed into this house.”

  “I will try my best to keep out of danger,” I relented.

  “Thank you,” he huffed in relief and pulled me into a hug. “Now, there's just one more thing for me to do before I'll be completely satisfied.”

  “What's that?”

  Trevor picked me up, carried me to the bed, and set me down on the mattress. He climbed onto it beside me with a wicked grin.

  “Get on your hands and knees, Mate,” he growled.

  I did a double take but it was still Trevor. The Wolf glinted in his eyes, but he was just along for the ride, as it were. I smiled slowly and bent forward. Trevor crawled over to me and positioned himself between my legs. He flipped my dress over my back and tore away my panties with his claws. Then he was inside me; his hands back to human and grabbing my hips roughly as he slammed home.

  I groaned in pleasure as his hard flesh slid into my softness. It was just what I needed after the tortures of the Mirror. A reaffirmation of life. I pushed back into Trevor's thrusts, and he went wild. Trevor snarled and grunted above me; his hips slapping my ass with loud smacks. I had to tense my arms to keep from getting shoved down into the mattress. Finally, I gave up and bent forward; pressing my face against the bed.

  Trevor howled triumphantly; the angle had given him better access and his thrusts went even deeper. One hand snaked forward and began to rub me furiously as the sounds coming from his throat became more savage. My body shivered and tensed as it strained for release.

  Then we exploded together; him inside me, and me around him. My body relaxed with a sigh, and Trevor followed me down; covering me completely. We shivered through the aftershocks together, and then he slid slowly out of me and shifted to his side. With a smooth motion, Trevor tucked me in against his chest and curled himself protectively around me.

  “Now, I'm home,” he whispered in my ear.

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Narcissus didn't hang around long. He waited for me to come downstairs with Trevor and then made his goodbyes.

  “Where will you go?” I asked him.

  “To see my parents,” he said with a glance at Morpheus. “Morpheus says they're still alive.”

  “I'm glad you have family.” I hugged him goodbye. “Good luck with your fresh start.”

  Narcissus' eyes went soft and a little sad. “Thank you, Vervain. You're a really good person.”

  “You only say that because you haven't gotten on my bad side.” I winked at him.

  “Wait until you see her eat someone's heart fresh from their chest,” Re said dryly. “That will make you think twice about crossing her.”

  Narcissus' eyes went wide.

  “It's a dragon thing.” I shrugged and then gave him a pat on the shoulder. “Best to not piss me off.”

  “No doubt.” Narcissus chuckled. “Goodbye, Vervain.”

  “Goodbye, Narc.”

  Narcissus traced away, and I couldn't help feeling relieved. The Mirror's warning was still fresh in my mind, and I didn't want a questionable god in my home and around my children. Speaking of children—

  “What day is it?” I asked.

  “February 17th,” Odin said. “There's plenty of time until the Twin's party.”

  Leave it to Odin to know exactly what I was worried about. Brevyn and Rian's birthday was on March 7th. Normally, I'd use my Ring of Remembrance to go back to the last time I'd left the Faerie Realm so the date in the God Realm wouldn't matter. But I was letting time catch up so I could take my god family and friends with me to the party. They wanted to be there to celebrate with us; mainly because several of them were related to Brevyn in a way. Brevyn's soul—part of it, at least—used to be my friend, Ull. When Ull died, I placed his soul in Brevyn's unborn body. Ull was also Thor's son and Odin's grandson and had been a beloved member of the God Squad. I breathed a sigh of relief for not missing the date.

  But then I froze.

  “The 17th?” I asked. “It was February 9th when we were pulled into the Mirror and it seemed as if only a couple of days had passed.”

  “Time stretches in the Mirror,” Nemesis explained. “I made it that way to lessen the impact on Narcissus' sanity.”

  “That was kind of you,” I said softly.

  I tried to hide my surprise. Not that I knew Nemesis enough to be surprised by her kindness. It was quite the opposite. But her looks alone gave the impression that she was more calculating than compassionate. Nemesis looked deadly. Her ebony hair hung in a straight line down her back, her face was all dramatic lines and aggressive angles, and her piercing eyes were the pale gray of a sword's edge. I saw bits of Nyx in her face and that might have influenced my opinion as well, but regardless, Nemesis did not look like someone who would take pity on a criminal while she also took her revenge.

  “It was more about practicality than kindness,” she admitted. “If Narcissus were to ever have gotten loose, I didn't want a raving lunatic running through the God Realm.”

  “Good call, Aunty Nem,” Morpheus said. “That guy feels off.”

  “Yeah; he might have gone insane despite your precautions. The Mirror warned me before I set us free,” I said grimly.

  “What did it say?” Nemesis drew closer; her stare going even sharper.

  “It said that Narcissus is a psychopath.” I grimaced. “It said it was Narcissus' idea to pull humans into the Mirror and kill them. That none of them died by starvation but were sacrificed by Narcissus to the Mirror in exchange for the Mirror sharing power with him.”

  “I knew they were lies,” Nemesis hissed. “All Narcissus' talk about change.”

  “You can't know that for certain,” I said. “The Mirror could have been lying to protect itself. But there's one more thing; when I was snooping around Narcissus' bedroom, I found boxes of braids in his closet. Locks of human hair tagged with names, hometowns, and dates. The
y belonged to the humans who died in the Mirror.”

  “He's a fucking madman!” Nemesis shouted angrily. “Why didn't you say something before he left?”

  “Because Narcissus told me the hair was his way of paying tribute to the humans and giving them a memorial. He was very convincing, Nemesis. I'm not sure what to believe even though I suspect you're right. Plus, what would you have done? Would you have killed Narcissus on the mere suspicion that he was lying?”

  Nemesis' face contorted in a sneer that was mostly self-directed. “I suppose you're right. I shall simply have to watch him more closely than I intended. Or perhaps I'll prepare another curse.”