Dark Star Read online

  The Trinity Star in my chest came to life and with its light came an epiphany; I wasn't the ninth point, my magic was. Star was the ninth point in our nine-pointed star; I was its heart. That's where she had got it wrong. I united us, not the magic. My magic was just another point of power. Of course, it was. On the heels of that revelation came another; to make us into a unified force, all I had to do was wish it. So simple, but Star had insisted on complicating things. No more.

  I wished upon a trinity star.

  A line of dark starlight surged out of me and into Sea. It hit him in the chest, came straight back to me as pure white, and then blasted out to Wind. Back and forth, the sparkling cords surged until a glowing, nine-pointed star connected all of us with me in the center. Amethyst and diamond, the streams were a map of magic, clearly showing their sources. Except for the lines connecting me to Star and Viper; those were deep purple.

  With the completion of our star, power rocketed through me, so much power that I couldn't even cry out. As my body trembled, the glittering lines of diamond started to darken; first to lavender and then to amethyst. The men went rigid under the gathering magic; the energy blasting along the streams, over and over, gaining darkness and power and brilliance as it went. Finally, the light came at me from every point, and my body burst with sparkling energy. My nine points fell away, flung to the floor with the shock wave, and my head arched back as my arms spread wide, and I began to lift off the floor.

  The castle disappeared as a vision unfolded before me. My Dragon Armies marched across continents, earth trembling beneath clawed feet as they spread my dominion from the mountaintops to the bottom of the sea. Then we traced through the God Realm, wards crumbling beneath my light and territories falling to my dominion. Entire Pantheons bowed before me. They worshiped me, the true Goddess. They chained their fellow gods and laid them before me to be consumed in my dark light. Finally, the Gods had become the sacrifice.

  And I didn't stop there. I spread my light to Faerie and took that realm too. Every kingdom, every element, every faerie submitted to me. I united them as I'd been trying to do from the beginning. I swept past their petty grudges and showed them the way to true peace. The Consciousness of Faerie and the Void had to be destroyed, but their deaths weren't wasted. Their power fueled me, and my light grew even brighter. A new banner flew from the branches of the Castle of Eight; a nine-pointed amethyst star on a black field.

  The Realms would be mine and my star gods would rule beneath me. Invincible. All-powerful. True Gods. I could hear the rejoicing voices of my worshipers, smell the incense they'd burn in my temples, and taste the blood they'd leave on my altars. Three realms united beneath the Dark Star. Utopia.

  I breathed in deeply as I slowly descended, my feet gently coming to rest on the floor, and opened my eyes. The Star Gods and Star were standing again, all of them staring at me with awe. Power crackled along my skin and through my hair before fading into me. Then Star burst out laughing.

  “I guess sex isn't everything after all,” she announced, and the rest of us started laughing too.

  Chapter Thirty-Eight

  “Mommy,” the little voice echoed down the hallway to me.

  “Brevyn?” I called back.

  “Mommy.”

  “Brev!” I started running but the hallway extended before me.

  I ran down an unending stretch, my son waiting at the end. It seemed like eternity separated us and my heart stuttered under the possibility that I might never reach him.

  “Brevyn!”

  But then the hallway ended, and I came to a sudden stop. I was there; I had reached him after all. All I'd had to do was wish for it. Brevyn stood before me, solemn and sad, holding his little hand out to me. I used it to pull him into a hug.

  “Brevyn,” I whispered in relief. “Are you okay, baby?”

  “I miss you, Mommy,” he said simply. “We all do.”

  Brevyn looked back over his shoulder, and I lifted my head to see that the hallway was gone, replaced by a misty room. Correction; a room made of mist. Blue fog crept over the ground, hovered on the horizon, and hung in panels in midair. Panels that were doorways to dreams. Before two of those panels stood Lesya and Rian, both of them looking terrified.

  “Come on.” Brevyn waved them over. “She's here; I found her.”

  My children rushed over to me, and I pulled them into a hug with Brevyn.

  “Rian. Lesya,” I whispered. “I miss you so much.”

  “Then why won't you come home?” Lesya asked.

  “Daddy is angry,” Rian said with tears in his eyes. “He left us with Aunty Isleen.”

  “I know; I saw him. He came to find me.” I set them back from me and stroked their hair and faces. My beautiful children; how could I have forgotten them? “Daddy and I don't agree on something right now, but I'm hoping that soon, your father and uncles will understand.”

  “Understand what?” Lesya asked. “I can explain it to Daddy. Just tell me what to say. He listens to me.”

  “No, honey, I won't use you like that,” I said gently. “Your father needs to figure it out on his own.”

  “He said you were coming home soon.” Lesya launched herself back into my arms. “But soon has passed, and you haven't come home. When are you coming home?”

  “I don't know, sweetheart.” I kissed the top of her head and sighed. “I wish I did. But I promise you that when this is over, even if Daddy and I don't agree, I will come back for you.”

  “For me and Daddy?” Lesya looked up at me.

  “I hope so.”

  “I can't see your future anymore, Mommy,” Brevyn said, his solemn expression replaced by fear. “It's gone. I thought you would come home but now, I don't know. I can't”—he sniffed and swallowed hard—“I can't see.”

  “You don't have to see the future to know that I will come back for you, Brev,” I said firmly. “I am your mother, I will always come back for you. I promise you; this is only temporary.”

  “Okay,” Brevyn whispered.

  “Brevyn said that you have something bad inside you.” Rian grabbed my hand urgently. “But you're not bad, are you, Mommy?”

  “No, baby. Of course not.” I squeezed his hand. “I have to do some bad things to save a lot of people, but I'm not bad. I'm still your mommy, and I still love you.”

  “Don't forget about us, Mommy,” Brevyn begged. “I saw you forgetting.”

  “But you said that you can't see my future,” I reminded him gently. “Do you know why?”

  “No.”

  “Because Fate doesn't control me anymore.” I tapped his nose. “I make my own future, and I promise you that all of you will be in it. I could never forget my babies.”

  Brevyn finally smiled. “Okay.”

  “Now, did you really come through the Dream Realm all by yourselves?” I asked them.

  “Brevyn did it,” Rian admitted. “He came and got me in my dream and then we found Lesya.”

  “And then you found me,” I finished.

  They all nodded.

  “I'm so proud of you.” I kissed all of them. “But don't do this again. It can be dangerous. Instead, I will visit you in your dreams, okay? You stay put, and I will come to you.”

  “Every night?” Lesya asked.

  “I will try to visit every night,” I promised. “I don't know if I can, but I will try. For now, be strong for me and your fathers. And Lesya, you watch over Vero, okay? Uncle Trevor is sad so you have to be a big sister and look out for your baby brother.”

  “Okay, Mommy.” She stood up straighter.

  “Good, now come on, I'll take you back to your dreams. Maybe we can bounce on the bellies of big gummy bears or fly on the back of giant eagles before we wake up.”

  “Yay!” The children shouted together.

  Chapter Thirty-Nine

  I woke up with a horrible ache in my chest and couldn't figure out why.

  “What's wrong?” Viper pulled me into the curve of his chest an
d kissed my forehead. “Did you sleep okay?”

  “Yeah, I...” I frowned as something tugged at the edge of my mind. I heard a little voice but before I could focus on it, it was gone, hidden beneath a dark light. “I guess it's just the magic.”

  “You mean our connected power?” He smiled as he rolled, coming to a stop above me. “The way we joined together and made each other stronger?”

  “You mean; invincible,” I said smugly.

  Viper started kissing me, and I kissed him back but it was distractedly. I felt as if I were forgetting something really important. But then his lips lowered to my breast, and his tongue flicked across my nipple before he sucked it in. All thought failed me, desire pooling in my belly before surging out through my body. I arched against him with a moan, and Viper sucked harder as he spread my legs. His sex nudged my entrance, but then I had a sudden flash of being Odin. Of standing in Hlidskjalf, the place where he could watch the world, and watching me. Viper and me. I tensed, and Viper looked up at me in surprise.

  “Hold on, honey,” I said absently and then spoke to Star in my mind. Can you ward us from Odin's stupid Santa TV? I asked her.

  He's been watching you? She countered with horror. I didn't consider that. I should have thought of that!

  Can you do it, Star?

  Yes, of course, she huffed. It's done. The Oathbreaker won't be spying on you anymore.

  Thank you.

  I looked up at Viper and smiled. “Okay, that's taken care of.”

  “Should I ask?” He lifted a brow.

  “Only if you do it from somewhere much lower,” I purred.

  Viper chuckled sensually as he slid down between my thighs and tossed the blankets aside. I stroked my hands over his broad shoulders as he bent his head and began a luscious licking. His pit viper eyes slid up to me, and my fingers slid through his silken hair and then over his face, stroking him lovingly as he used his tongue in his own loving way. I crested as I watched him, finally breaking our stare to throw my head back and scream out my release.

  As I shivered through the bliss, Viper rose up and drove himself into me; a swift, sure thrust. I cried out again and lifted my legs, pulling them back by the knees to open myself wider to him. His eyes brightened, a low growl rising up his throat as he stared down at my exposed sex.

  “So beautiful,” he murmured.

  “Come closer, baby,” I said softly. “Come deeper.”

  Viper leaned down, pushing my thighs back with his body so I could release them. His cock was a pulsing, solid thing, driving into me with desperate need, plunging deep enough to brand me. To make me believe that I'd feel him there forever. I wrapped my arms around Viper's waist and pulled, wanting even more.

  “Bite me,” I whispered in his ear.

  Viper went still and stared down at me, emotions warring in his eyes. “No,” he finally said. “Never again.”

  “The more you bite me, the less your poison will hurt. I'll develop an immunity so that I won't have to heal it with magic.”

  “I don't want you to go through the pain of that process,” he said firmly and resumed a steady rhythm. “No, Vervain.”

  “Yes.”

  “I said; no!” He snarled at me, revealing the fangs I was after.

  I lifted my hips and ground against him. “Yes, Viper. I want to feel your teeth in my neck. If you were a dragon, I would give you my fire, and you would breathe it back into me.”

  “But I'm not.” Viper brushed his lips over mine and then set his hard stare on mine. “I will never be a dragon, Vervain.”

  “No, you won't, and I wouldn't want you to be. You're my viper, and I want your bite. Instead of fire, give me your poison. Give me all of you.”

  Viper didn't answer. Instead, he sped up; his hips slamming against me even though we were pressed tightly together. Pillows tumbled away until it was only us on that round bed. Only me lying beneath him, open and accepting. Only him driving into me, invading and demanding. Viper had been changing more and more ever since he'd taken my darkness, and I was enjoying his transformation thoroughly. I reveled in the savagery he displayed on the battlefield and the vicious tactics he proposed in the war room. I rejoiced in the merciless way he conquered countries for me as well as the merciless way he conquered my body. The cruel glint in his eyes, the arrogant set of his shoulders, and the demanding drive of his cock. I loved it all. My legs shook with his thrusts and the pleasure built inside me until I had to let it out on a scream. And as I screamed, Viper shouted and gave one last shove. He emptied himself into me and struck, his deadly fangs slipping into my throat.

  The poison spread like the burn of good alcohol, and I shivered as another orgasm crested. My hands went to Viper's head to hold him there, pressed against my neck. To hold those teeth inside me as they pulsed their venom into my blood. His essence within mine. Viper moaned and jerked, coming again with me, filling me even more, until I finally let him go. My arms flopped back to the bed as I panted with pleasure.

  Viper retracted his fangs and licked the tiny wounds in my throat before settling in to suck at them gently. He hardened inside me again, one hand going to work my breast as the other pulled me closer. I laughed, low and sexy, as his cock started its savage slide once more.

  “Your poison, my pleasure,” I whispered in his ear.

  You're welcome, Star said smugly in my mind. I've made you immune to his venom. Your lover shouldn't be toxic to you.

  Thank you.

  My pleasure, she mimicked me.

  Chapter Forty

  “Dark Star.” Enki bowed as I walked by him in the castle corridor.

  “Enki.” I nodded.

  “A quick word?”

  I paused and lifted a curious brow.

  “I heard that you had some trouble with your ex-husbands,” he started hesitantly. “They infected you with their blood?”

  “I'm fine now. Thank you for your concern.” I started to move past him.

  “I only mention it because I could help in such a situation.”

  I stopped again and looked over at him. “What do you mean by that?”

  “I am the God of the Deep, the Ruler of Abzu; the ocean beneath the world.”

  “There is no ocean beneath the world,” I said with a wry smile.

  “No, not really, and yet I can summon its waters.” Enki held out his hand, palm up, and a swirling spout of blue-tinged water appeared above it. He pulled a crystal vial from his pocket and held it out with his other hand. The water arched into the vial, Enki capped it, and then the vial transformed into a star-shaped pendant hanging from a glittering silver chain. “This water will cleanse and refresh you. It will remove any taint.”

  “Any taint?” I whispered as I took the offered pendant.

  “Anything,” he said soberly. “Please wear it. That way, even if I'm not nearby, I can protect you, Dark Star. When in need, simply pull the pendant downward, off the chain, and it will open the vial for you. Drink every drop; I can always summon more.”

  “Enki, this is very generous.”

  “You spared my son,” Enki lifted his chin, “and I hope that when this is over, you will allow me to have guardianship of Marduk and release him into my custody.”

  I smiled in relief. The gift had made me suspicious but now I saw the reason behind it. A father's love. That made sense to me. Parents do anything to protect their children. I blinked away the unease that the thought brought me.

  “For this and your continued loyalty, I promise to release Marduk into your care when I have conquered the world.”

  “Thank you, Dark Star.” Enki bowed.

  “You're welcome.” I nodded and continued past him to the elevator.

  As soon as the elevator doors closed, I fastened the pendant around my neck. If my ex-husbands tried to poison me with their blood again, I would be prepared. I wouldn't have to suffer through their memories. My thoughts trailed away as the elevator surged upward, replaced by lingering remnants of those memories
. They hadn't felt traitorous to me. They had felt...

  “Stop that,” Star said as she appeared. “They are traitors. If they weren't, they'd be here.”

  My doubt instantly disappeared, and I took a deep, relieved breath.

  “What's that?”

  “What?” I frowned at her.

  “That necklace. I didn't make that.”