Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) Read online

  “How would you recommend I go about this?” I asked him and he brightened even more, his wings whooshing open and catching the sunlight in a dizzying display. I had to squint at him. Damn sparkly wings.

  “Well it looks as if you have plans for each individual room,” he grinned and put his wings away, pulling them back into himself with a speed that made them seem to simply disappear. “Very ambitious but you'll still need to start out here and change the building first.”

  “Alright, let's do this.”

  “Picture the outside first,” Luke came up beside me and took my hand, just in case I needed an extra boost of power. “Then once you have that firmly in mind, add in the details for the interior. The insides will stretch to conform to the outside.”

  “Okay,” I centered myself and focused on the way I wanted our home to look.

  I had spent a lot of time working through each detail, from the stained glass in a couple of the windows to the carved dragons perched at either side of the entrance. When it was perfect, I started picturing the inside. I saw the size of each room, the dimensions I wanted them to have, leaving out the little details which I wanted to add later on with the walk through. Then I pushed my will into it and told it to change.

  Nothing happened.

  I cracked open an eye to see the same African themed plantation house. I was about to start cursing when the earth began to shake beneath my feet. There were a lot of concerned murmurs behind me but Luke squeezed my hand confidently.

  “Perfectly normal,” he said, “look.” He pointed to the foundation of the house, where the wood was starting to shimmer.

  The shimmer soon revealed itself to be a band of white which moved higher up the house, changing things as it went. First came the moat. The ground in front of our swimming pool(which was out front and to the left with a lovely waterfall that I'd left alone) split with a great roaring crack and shot around the palace to encircle it. Water filled it as it went and I noticed the bottom was lined with the blue ceramic tiles I'd envisioned, right down to the detail of swimming fishes painted over them.

  Over the moat came a drawbridge, which was really a veranda that simply laid across the moat. It was wide and made of white stone with veins of gold swirling through it, the same stone the entire palace would be made of. Two pillars at the ends on our side of the moat supported a flat roof and rose vines twirled around the pillars, blossoming as they went. On the veranda itself were collections of comfy white chairs and couches, rattan bases with cotton pillows.

  “Really?” Roarke was suddenly beside me. “You can make anything you want and you decide to go with furniture from Pier 1?”

  “Huh,” I chewed my lip. “Good point.”

  I concentrated and the couches changed to red velvet Victorian pieces, complete with matching side tables, coffee tables, lamps, and standing crystal ashtrays(I didn't smoke but they looked pretty and maybe we'd have guests that did). There were Persian rugs beneath it all and hand-painted folding screens to section off areas.

  “Much better,” Roarke nodded.

  “So glad you approve, cat,” I smirked.

  “Just trying to assist my Queen.”

  The palace continued up, three stories, four, five, six, and then it stopped in a peaked roof but wait. There were towers, four of them, one at each corner. They also happened to align with the four directions because that appealed to the witch in me. Plus, I had thoughts of naming them after their corresponding direction. I thought it would be fun to say things like, “I'll be in the North Tower.”

  My bedroom, along with most of the others, had been lifted to a higher floor. Trevor, Kirill, and I now had the entire top floor to ourselves while the Intare were in the floors below us. This actually wasn't my idea but had been Fallon's. He said it was for defense purposes. The Tima needed to be the hardest to get to. Everyone else had agreed and I had agreed with the view.

  I had lifted the butterfly garden right along with it and expanded it a little to be more of a full garden than just a courtyard. I hoped the butterflies had survived the trip up. I would think they'd be happier with the bigger space but you never knew with insects. They were still in the center of the palace, with an open ceiling covered in mesh, my bedroom had just grown to surround it.

  Beneath the butterfly garden was a central staircase that went all the way down to the underground floor, with a side stairway at the top which circumvented the garden and led up to a hallway that accessed our bedroom. I also installed an elevator next to the stairs because I knew I was just too damn lazy to walk up six flights everyday. I smiled as the rumbles stopped and the palace was completely revealed.

  It was something out of a fairy tale, exactly how I wanted it to be. The stone shone in the bright sunlight, the veins of gold sparkling. It was smooth, unscalable, with walkways on the top level for everyone to go up and enjoy the view. In front of the drawbridge/veranda steps, were two large dragons, carved from stone and enameled. The one on the left hand side was gold and the other was red, for me and Arach. I wanted to have a representation of my fey heritage there in the God Realm.

  The dragons weren't the only connection to Faerie though. Growing on trellises adorning the veranda, were bright fire orchids, the same flowers I'd accidentally created in Faerie. I stared at them thoughtfully, they hadn't been a part of my design but had sprouted up all on their own. Just as they had in the Faerie Realm.

  “Is that Cinderella's castle?” Roarke cocked his head to the side.

  “What, too much?” I smirked at him. The castle looked nothing like the Disney version. Roarke was just trying to get my goat.

  “Too gay,” he kept a straight face for all of three seconds before he broke into a grin. “It's fantastic.”

  “Thanks,” I turned to look behind me, since everyone had gotten suspiciously quiet, and found them all staring in open-mouthed wonder at our new home. “What do you guys think?”

  Cheering was my answer.

  “Bravo!” Luke clapped.

  “It's amazing, Vervain,” Trevor nodded as Kirill gave me a quick hug.

  “Beautiful,” Kirill said.

  “I may be coming to visit more often,” Azrael grinned and gave me a quick kiss.

  “Ready to go in and finish this?” Luke smiled at me, clearly enjoying himself.

  “Definitely,” I looked over at the waiting group. My tabby cat, Nick, was in his carrier next to Roarke so he wouldn't get hurt. Geri, Freki, Hugin, and Munin were there as well but I saw no reason to cage them. They were magical creatures and I hadn't anticipated them freaking out like Nick might. Sure enough, they were just sitting there watching avidly while Nick was huddled in his cage. I took a moment to go and comfort Nick before I turned to address the Intare. “Fire up the grill, boys and get the drinks flowing, this is going to take awhile. Would you like to come along, Luke?”

  “Would I?” He laughed and gave me his arm.

  Gone were his casual jeans and T-shirt I'd originally met him in, instead he was dressed in a collared shirt of light pink and pressed dark blue slacks. His hair was combed down nicely and he had shiny loafers on his feet. He looked like a male model on the cover of some business magazine. We went up the steps of the new veranda, between the massive statues of my guardian dragons, and across the new space that I was sure would become a favorite gathering spot. We were followed closely by Azrael, Trevor, and Kirill. None of them seemed to want to leave me alone with Satan. Odd.

  I decided to start at the heart of the house, the main bedroom. So we went to the gilded, old fashioned, cage elevator and took it to the top. Good thing I'd made it big enough to fit several people. It lifted us steadily past the other floors, giving us glimpses of the new layout. It was amazing to see the changes from within and I felt immensely proud of myself as we left the elevator and walked down the new hallway, into our new bedroom.

  We hadn't bothered to remove any personal items because Luke assured me that I could alter things without changing the stuff
inside them. So that was a huge amount of work that we escaped from. Since I'd enlarged the palace, the furniture had remained where it was and so was now in the center of the bedroom. Well, we'd change that.

  I stood amid the furniture and focused first on the floor. I wanted carpeting, thick lovely carpeting that cushioned my feet when I walked. I could see it in my head, a deep bluish purple that ran from wall to wall. Then I felt it beneath my feet, as if it were sprouting from the ground. I opened my eyes and there it was.

  “You're getting faster” Luke smiled approvingly.

  “Thank you,” I bit my lip in delight, admiring my new flooring. “Okay, I'm leaving the bed because we like that, and the closet because my lions made it for me, but that over there,” I indicated a doorway next to the bedroom door, “is a walk-in closet and I'd like the armoire placed within it.” I focused and the armoire was gone, presumably to its new resting spot in my closet.

  “I told you,” Kirill held his hand out to Trevor and Trevor put a five dollar bill in it.

  “What the hell?” I huffed at Trevor. “How could you not guess that I'd make a walk-in closet? Hello? When I get done, it's practically going to be a showroom. I'm talking central glass-covered cases to display my jewelry in and spotlights.”

  “Da, I know my voman,” Kirill held his hand out again and Trevor put more cash into it.

  “What was that for?” I looked at Trevor again.

  “The showcases,” Trevor sighed.

  “I told him you like looking at your jewelry,” Kirill smirked. “I knew you'd vant to display zem. He didn't agree.”

  “Who puts their jewelry on display?” Trevor scoffed and then saw my lifted brows. “Um, I'm sure it will be lovely, Minn Elska.”

  “Maybe you two should withhold your commentary to the end of the proceedings,” Luke offered and Azrael hid a chuckle behind his hand.

  “Watch it, sulfur breath,” Trevor growled. “You're in my home right now.”

  “Apologies,” Luke waved magnanimously. “Can the lady continue now?”

  “What's with the British gentleman routine?” I looked Luke over. “The other night you were all I forgot to save my game and There's real shepherds in it. Now it's apologies and withhold your commentary.”

  “Azrael told me I had to be on my best behavior,” Luke gave me a grin that looked much more like the first version of him I'd met. Well the second version technically, since the first version was actually his Satan Drag, as I was calling it in my head. “So I watched a lot of BBC. I figured the Brits are the most well behaved people in the world but I couldn't do the accent, that just seemed a bit pretentious.”

  “You're a very interesting man,” I laughed. “However, I prefer you as you are, without any modification to your behavior.”

  “Oh thank you,” Luke sighed dramatically and undid the top button of his shirt. “I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic, now I can really enjoy this.”

  “Dad,” Azrael had a warning tone to his voice.

  “I'm here to help, son,” Luke smiled at Azrael and his affection for his son was very apparent. “I won't mess things up for your girl.”

  “I'm sorry, Dad,” Az sighed. “This thing with Gabriel has got me wound up.”

  “I told you I'd look into it,” Luke shrugged.

  “This needs to be handled discreetly,” Azrael shook his head. “I love you, Dad but one thing you're not is discreet.”

  “Hold on,” I got between them. “Let's at least hear him out. How would you look into it?”

  “Have I mentioned how much I like you?” Luke grinned at me and glanced back at Azrael. “She's a keeper and she's got more sense than you at the moment.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Az grimaced.

  “Could you maybe try not insulting my boyfriend when you compliment me?” I turned my stare onto Luke. He shrugged and grinned. “So you were going to tell us your plan.”

  “Oh yes,” Luke smirked at Azrael. “It's kind of appropriate considering what we're currently doing. My son seems to have forgotten that although I am persona non grata in Araboth, I happened to be the one who built it.”

  “That was true?” I gaped at him, along with everyone else.

  “Why doesn't anyone ever believe that part of my book?” He threw up his hands. “Yes, I built Heaven. All seven of them. And Hell. I am very bad ass.”

  “So that's where you got it,” I grinned at Azrael before turning back to his father. “Okay, I'll agree to the bad ass comment if you can tell me that you made some kind of secret passage through the heavens,” I narrowed my gaze on him.

  “Of course I did,” he huffed. “What kind of engineer doesn't make a back door for himself?”

  “You have secret ways through the heavens?” Azrael grabbed his father's arm. “And you never told me?”

  “It never came up,” Luke shrugged. “It's not like we ever wanted to go through them. The main reason I made them was for...”

  “Mom,” Azrael laughed. “You made them so you could sneak Mom in and out of Hell.”

  “What man isn't inspired by love?” Luke shrugged.

  Azrael, Trevor, and Kirill all turned to me with the sweetest soppiest looks on their faces. I felt my eyes go soft and I gave them my own soppy smile. My life could be difficult but standing there, looking at three of the most amazing men I'd ever met, and knowing that they loved me, made everything worth it. What woman wouldn't put up with a little difficulty for that?

  Luke cleared his throat and ruined the moment. “Um, did you four need some privacy?”

  “Dad,” Azrael groaned again.

  “So you can sneak in and out of Heaven,” I got us back on course. “You could spy for us.”

  “Yep and what are they gonna do if they catch me?” He laughed. “I'm stronger than all of them now. Bring it!” He made a slashing motion with his hands, slapping them down on his thighs as he thrust his pelvis forward. I nearly died laughing.

  “That's the best news I've heard in days,” I gave him a quick hug after I recovered from the humor. “Thank you.”

  “Hey, I don't want the mermaids to die either,” he shrugged, looking a little embarrassed.

  “Merfolk,” the rest of us chimed in all at once.

  Chapter Twenty-Nine

  Once we'd established that A. I would not be making out with my three boyfriends in front of one of their fathers, and B. Azrael would be going with said father on his spy missions, we were able to continue with the whole reason we were all there. My manipulating my territory.

  I changed almost every room and Luke was indispensable in helping me through it. He showed me how to create items from nothing. Well, not exactly nothing. He taught me to sense the magic currents in the air and take hold of them, transforming them into something solid. So every Intare got to have not only an Xbox in their new larger suites(I made them too big to be called rooms) but had a full entertainment center to go with the couches I put in them as well.

  I felt that Nyavirezi had wasted a lot of space, making hundreds of tiny cell-like rooms for her lions when she only had around eighty lions to begin with. I combined those rooms and made larger ones, and that wasn't even counting the additional floors I added.

  We still had all of our original public rooms, like the armory, the theater, the weight room, common room, and so on, but they were upgraded to larger and more efficient versions of themselves. Well, everything but the ballroom, that I removed entirely and replaced with a giant dining hall, in which we could have parties if we wanted.

  It took hours to go through the whole place but I enjoyed every second of it. It was like going on a shopping spree with someone else's money and having a fleet of movers install all your purchases for you. I went through each room gleefully, putting in every little detail that my heart desired or that I thought my Intare might desire, and it barely took any effort at all.

  My favorite transformation had to be the library of course. No, that's a lie, it was my closet(maybe dressing r
oom is a more appropriate term for it now) but the library was a close second. Now on the second floor, the library still had large picture windows facing the front of the house, with a similar view to the one it had before only from a better vantage point. It was much bigger and looked more like a library you might find at Hogwarts instead of one you'd find on an estate in Africa.

  There were no bookshelves on the walls anymore. Instead, there were rows of super tall free-standing shelves. They were made of mahogany polished to a nice shine and I loved to trail my hand over them as I walked by the stacks. On top of the shelves, statues of mystical creatures loomed, trying to read over the shoulders of anyone considerate enough to open a book beneath them.

  The sitting room was still there, though it was now a computer room as well, and it was a bit brighter than the rest of the library. I liked the look of leather books and polished shelves in low lighting but no one wanted to have to read like that. The sun pouring through the windows would brighten up the library during the day but at night it would be a little mysterious. So there were plenty of reading areas available in the sitting room for those wanting less mystery and more illumination.

  The lack of wall shelves made it possible to display several art pieces, some of them even my own. I admit I made replicas of famous paintings, it's not like I was going to sell any of them, and why shouldn't we be able to enjoy a Matisse if I could provide one for us? They each had a beautiful gilded frame and their own little light above them on the wood paneled walls.

  There were heavy wood tables placed randomly about the room with their own desk lamps and there were numerous comfortable wingback chairs as well. Then, just beyond the French doors set between the large windows, there was a long balcony with comfortable chairs available to lounge in. It was perfect.

  After I'd finished all the new transformations, down to the bigger and better theater in the basement, we went back upstairs and I took a look around the foyer of our new palace. It was perfect, exactly as I'd envisioned it, but then of course it would be since it was my vision that had created it.