Godhunter Page 16

  “Vervain,” the rich smoothness of his voice flowed over me. “I’m Teharon of the Mohawks.”

  I cocked my head and stared at all that pretty hair again. “Did you miss the memo on the hairdo?”

  His eyes crinkled when he laughed. “I’m not a warrior, I’m a healer. They call me He who holds Heaven in his hands.”

  I had to clear my throat twice before I could speak again. “I bet they do.”

  “I brought Teharon here to teach you to spirit-walk,” Thor growled, “not flirt with you.”

  “I'm not flirting,” I felt my face heat. “I can't help it, you're all gorgeous. What's a girl supposed to do?”

  “Choose,” Thor rumbled and Teharon laughed louder.

  “Be at ease, Thunder God,” Teharon patted Thor's shoulder, reaching up since Thor was a good foot taller than the Indian. “I came to teach, not steal, there's no war-party at my back.”

  “Oh great, an Indian joke,” Thor sighed and took the chair I'd vacated by the fire.

  “What's spirit-walking,” I was finally regaining my brain power, “and why do I need to learn it?”

  “Thor told me about your situation,” Teharon gracefully sank to the floor and sat, well, Indian style. He gestured to the floor before him and I sat as well. “I know of Huitzilopochtli's powers. His ability to control minds is great but like all great magics, it has its limitations. It only works with him in the vicinity. The greater the distance between him and his intended victim, the less control he has. When he took your blood, he was able to form a link with you that has let him surmount this restriction. With his bite, he has strengthened the link even more. That he was able to do so in a dream is troublesome to say the least.”

  “You're telling me,” I sniffed.

  “I can show you how to use that link,” Teharon continued, “turn it around on him. With proper training you could not only protect yourself from his invasion but invade his mind in return.”

  “This could be the chance we've been waiting for,” Thor leaned his forearms on his knees to get closer to the conversation. “They know we have their plans now, so they'll most likely alter them but if you can peer into the very mind of one of their most aggressive leaders, we'll have the upper hand once more.”

  “I'm game,” I smiled at Thor's relieved expression. “What do I need to do?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Two hours later, I had the basics under my belt. I knew how to search out my link with Blue and send myself down it. I knew how to slip quietly through his mind and filter through his thoughts so he wouldn't even know I was there. I knew how to protect myself from him by not only building shields around my mind but by shielding off his link inside my mind. I'd learned, processed, and practiced as much as could be practiced without actually doing the deed.

  Thor had long since headed out. The process was tedious and involved a lot of silent communication through meditation between me and Teharon. He shared parts of his mind with me so I'd be able to get the feel of sifting through someone else's thoughts. I was shocked and grateful that he'd allowed me the intimacy. Teharon's thoughts were peaceful, he was a man who pondered, who took the time to consider things like consequences. It was a calm night to the violent day of my own mind.

  “I think you've trained enough for now,” Teharon nodded and dropped my hands.

  “You think I'm ready then?”

  “No, I just think you need a break,” he smiled gently.

  “I don't need a break,” I huffed. “I need to get into that bastard's head. We continue.”

  “After lunch,” Thor announced from the door.

  I turned to find him leaning there with his arms crossed, looking at me with a small smile and a large possessiveness which was both thrilling and annoying. He also looked amazing in a green silk dress shirt and black slacks that clung to his thick thighs. The green showed off the red in his hair and I admired him a second before I realized that the man from the peace rally was standing behind him, watching our exchange avidly.

  “What are you doing here?” I blurted.

  “I live here, woman,” Thor frowned, “this is my home. I’ll go where I please.”

  “Not you, you ass,” I got to my feet and walked around Thor to point at the man who had recently been ousted to me as a swan-shifter, “Fiachra.”

  Swan boy’s brows rose and his eyes widened. “How do you know that name?”

  “Did you just call me an ass?” Thor interrupted.

  “I met your father,” I glanced at Thor, “and yes, I called you an ass.”

  “I go by Finn now,” Fiachra-now-Finn reached out and I shook his hand.

  “Vervain Lavine.”

  “I’ve been anxious to meet you, Vervain,” he released my hand slowly, sliding his fingers along mine. “I owe you my life.”

  “All in a good day’s work, sir,” I put my hands on my hips, puffed out my chest, and did my best cop impersonation.

  His eyes lingered a little too long on my chest, even though the jeans and sweater I had on were pretty modest. I raised a brow when he finally raised his face and he had the grace to blush.

  “I’m sorry, I caught a glimpse of you before and thought you were pretty. Now I find that I've severely underestimated your appeal.”

  “Yeah, a lot of men underestimate me,” I tried for flippant but the blush still crept up my neck. It must be that feast or famine curse and boy was it feasting time. I almost felt the need to do a little happy dance, almost.

  “We've yet to finish discussing your insult, Vervain,” Thor took my arm and escorted me to a loveseat.

  “Thor, you might as well know this now,” I sat and he took the seat right beside me. “I will probably insult you a lot. It just shows how comfortable I am with you.”

  “So you only insult people you like?” He bit and licked his lips. I had to force my eyes away from them and wondered if he was doing it on purpose.

  “No, I insult people I don’t like, worse.”

  “You’re a strange woman,” he looked up briefly as the other two joined us.

  “That I am,” I laughed, “welcome to Vervain World, party on, excellent.”

  Thor looked at Teharon. “Did you understand any of that?”

  “It’s a movie reference,” Ull grinned evilly from the door. “You’re getting old, Dad.”

  “Of course,” Thor glared at Ull, “older and more powerful every day. Remember that, infant.”

  “I’m sorry to interrupt this witty repartee,” Finn looked at me, “but did you say you met my father? Does that mean he was with Huitzilopochtli?”

  Oh shit, I hadn’t thought about having to tell the son that good ol’ Dad wanted him dead. Surely Finn knew his father’s intentions but what if he didn’t? I should probably tread carefully.

  “Yes and yes,” how was that for careful?

  Finn took a deep breath and let it out, just as careful as I. “He tried to kill me, didn’t he?”

  “Sort of,” I tried to keep the pity from my voice but some must have leaked through because Finn laughed bitterly.

  “My father does not do sort of, Vervain.”

  “No, I don’t expect he does.” A vision of the cold-hearted man popped into my head, his face closed down, cut off. “Let's just say he didn't try to prevent it.”

  “What did Lir say to you?” Thor put his arm behind me on the couch, attempting that sly move normally reserved for movie theaters and first dates.

  “Not a lot,” I let his hand slip onto my shoulder without comment and shook my head at the triumph in Thor’s face over the minor victory. “He said his children had been plaguing him, whatever that means.”

  “Did he tell you of my curse?” Finn looked grim, sidestepping my implied question.

  “Yeah,” I stared at all that male beauty and wondered how it looked in swan form.

  “I’m a black swan,” he smiled at my raised brows. “You looked curious.”

  “I’m sorry,” I smiled ruefully. �
�You must get tired of it.”

  “Not from a beautiful woman,” he made a slight bow. “I’ll shift for you if you’d like to see.”

  I felt my body twitch at his words, intrigued despite myself. I had no idea why the thought of him transforming into a swan did it for me but it did. Zeus bagged a Queen with his swan form so I wasn't the only woman who found the idea interesting. Or maybe it was the way Finn had said it. Either that or I was just in desperate need of a real shagging.

  I swallowed hard when I noticed all of them watching me with different types of interest. Finn’s eyes were wide and bright, Ull’s were twinkling, and Thor’s narrowed and twitched around the edges.

  “Maybe some other time,” all I could manage was a whisper.

  “Anytime, anyplace,” Finn claimed my hand and kissed the knuckles.

  Thor moved so fast, I barely felt it. One second he was sitting beside me, the next he was holding Finn off the ground by his shirtfront. I had a passing thought that the shirt was going to be horribly wrinkled.

  “You accept my hospitality and then insult me by trying to seduce my woman?” He shook the smaller man but Finn only laughed.

  Finn patted Thor’s forearms like an old friend. “All's fair in love and war, especially with a woman as rare as our Vervain.”

  “She is not our Vervain,” Thor’s voice was taking on the deep rumble of thunder that seemed to precede his storms.

  “Okay,” I stepped up and slapped Thor’s ass hard, the downward swipe-slap that really stings. “I’ve had just about enough of this.”

  Thor almost dropped Finn but managed to reassert his grip at the last second and looked over his shoulder at me. “You spanked me?”

  I almost laughed at him but I valiantly controlled myself. “You’re behaving like a child so you’ll be treated like one and for your information, you've called me woman twice within the last thirty minutes. I happen to already know my own sex and have no need of your reminders.”

  “What?” Thor put Finn down without even realizing it.

  “Stop calling me woman,” I took both of his hands, gently liberating Finn’s shirt. “It makes you sound like a caveman.”

  “It’s an endearment,” he let me lead him back to the loveseat as Finn tried to smooth out his shirt. I knew it would wrinkle.

  “No, honey,” I patted his leg when he sat, “see, that was an endearment, woman is not. Would you like me to call you man?”

  “It would be better than ass.”

  The room was quiet for about two seconds before all three of us started laughing at Thor. By the time we were done, tears were streaming down my face.

  “Okay,” I held my hand out to him, “I won’t call you ass if you don’t call me woman, deal?”

  “Deal,” we shook on it. See, I can compromise. “Now how about lunch?” Thor got up and helped me to my feet. “We can talk over pizza.”

  “Pizza?” I followed him out into the hallway. “Is it delivery or DiGiorno?”

  “Neither,” Ull laughed while Thor frowned. “I picked it up on my way. Hope you like Chicago style.”

  “I love it,” I smiled as the scent of garlic, tomatoes, and hot crust filled my nose. “Where'd you get it?”

  “Uh, Chicago,” Ull gave me his duh voice.

  “You went to Chicago for pizza?”

  “It's just as far as anywhere else from here,” he laughed at me.

  “Oh,” I felt like an idiot, “right.”

  I walked into the dining room and just stood and stared for a second before following Thor to a seat. Imagine a Viking eating hall; long trestle tables, stone walls with torches poking out of them, piles of fur, poles for practicing your ax throw, those kind of things. Okay, got it? Bilskinir’s dining room was nothing like that.

  The table was made of wood but that’s where the similarities ended. It was mahogany polished to a mirror-shine, the kind that would make your glass do the condensation slide eerily across the table without anyone touching it. The dining set looked modern American but everything else in the room looked Indian, as in India, dot not feather. There were saris instead of curtains and carved fretwork everywhere. A mirror edged in brass loomed over a statue of an elephant holding a bowl of marigolds balanced precariously on its tusks.

  The walls were gleaming white marble and the floor was covered in bright carpets. A double-domed ceiling was adorned with brass lanterns hanging on long chains from their apexes and the windows were more like doorways. Their wide arches were separated by sinuous columns and they led to a balcony filled to overflowing with plants. The sound of surf and the cry of birds trickled in on the breeze. Gods sure did know how to decorate. Maybe they had a god interior decorator. The God of Décor. He was probably gay with a really thick British accent.

  “Damn,” I looked down at my gilded china plate with its huge piece of oozing pizza.

  “Something wrong?” Thor sat casually to my right, once again eschewing the seat at the head of his own table but somehow commanding the room nonetheless.

  “Nope,” I smiled and took a bite. The pizza was unbelievable. “Everything's just perfect.”

  “Good,” he poured me some red wine and the food was suddenly lead in my belly.

  “Uh, do you have white?” Flashes of my dinner with Blue and his glass of “wine” snapped into focus.

  “Sure,” he frowned, taking my glass for himself and replacing mine with his fresh one. He poured me some white wine, staring more at me than my glass. “What is it?”

  “Nothing I want to talk about right now,” I took a swig and felt some of my strength return.

  “Alright,” Thor gave me a quick nod and let it go, bless his little Viking heart.

  “Ah, we have perfect timing I see,” Pan sauntered in, followed by Horus, Persephone, Brahma, Mr. T, and Mrs. E.

  “Help yourself,” Thor waved at the open pizza boxes at the end of the table. “I called you all here because we've had a new development.”

  “Oh?” Brahma took the seat on my other side and reached immediately for the red wine. I looked away. It was going to be a long time before I could enjoy a glass of red again.

  “I think its safe to assume they won't be following the Make War list now that they suspect we have it,” Thor's arm crept around the back of my chair as he leaned back and addressed his friends. “So it's fortuitous that Vervain now has a link to Huitzilopochtli.”

  “A link?” Mr. T stopped mid-bite.

  “He bit her but Teharon is training her to use his mark as a way into his mind,” Thor spoke into the shocked silence. “With a little luck and a lot of skill, we should have some information very soon.”

  “Yeah, like right after lunch,” I started shoveling pizza faster into my mouth. The sooner I could become competent at spirit-walking, the sooner I could find out what Blue was up to, and the sooner I could kick his mind-raping ass. The thought brought back my appetite fully.

  “Slow down, Vervain,” Teharon shook his head at me. “You won't be ready until we've completed at least one more session. You definitely won't be trying it tonight.”

  “But...”

  “No,” he shook his head again, more firmly.

  “Thor?” I looked at Thor for help.

  “I think you should listen to the expert,” he shrugged. “What's a couple more days in light of your safety?”

  “Fine,” I grumbled, “but we're doing it first thing when I come back tomorrow.”

  “Come back?” Thor dropped his arm from my chair. “I thought you'd stay the night.”

  “Oh really?” I raised a brow at him.

  “I brought your cat and everything.” The entire table was watching our exchange like a tennis match. Back and forth, back and forth.

  “I know, I'm taking him home with me,” I took another bite of pizza, took my time chewing it, then looked up at him. “I like sleeping in my own bed and I'm safe now. I may not be up to spirit-walking but I'm solid as far as shielding goes. Isn't that right, Teharon?”


  Teharon frowned a little at me but finally nodded. “She's more than competent enough with her shielding now. She should be perfectly safe in her own home.”

  “See?” I smiled smugly at the silent Thor and sent Teharon a grateful look.

  Chapter Fourteen

  A loud knocking on my front door startled me and when I lost my concentration, my magic surged. It proved to be just the thing I needed though, blowing open the box I'd been working on for hours.

  “Yes!” I held up my gloves and kodachi triumphantly while I kicked the box that had previously held them hostage. Then I did a little victory dance, waving my weapons in the air with glee. “Who is it?” I called as I continued my dance down the hallway and to the front door.

  “Ull,” he called, “you okay in there?”

  “Yeah, fine,” I opened the door to Ull's smiling face. “What are you doing here?”

  “Dad was getting impatient,” he smirked. “He was about to come down here and get you himself but I talked him into being more subtle and sending me. You gonna ask me in or what?”

  “Enter and be welcome, Ull,” I stood aside, Nick peering around my feet and adding his meow to the blessing.

  “Thanks,” Ull reached down to scratch the cat's head before coming in. “Nice place,” he looked around curiously. “So what are you doing in here that's got you so excited?”

  “Huitzilopochtli sealed my gloves and sword in a box and I’ve been trying to find a spell to get them out. I finally succeeded.” I headed back to my altar room, waving for him to follow.

  “Your Wolverine gloves?” Ull was a fan of the X-men too.

  “No, my opera gloves, I’m just dying to see La Bohéme.” I crossed my eyes and stuck my tongue out at him as I sat back down on the painted pentagram adorning the floor in front of my altar.

  Ull whistled sharply as he looked around at the shelves of books, bottles, and assorted paraphernalia. He picked up a piece of mammoth ivory carved into an offering bowl with intricate knotwork along the sides. His fingers traced the delicate carvings before putting it down and moving to my altar. I was about to tell him not to touch anything, when I noticed his hands only hovered. I watched him a bit more, noticing how his fingers wavered over my tools like they rode a breeze, before I pulled my previously discarded book back into my lap.