The Black Lion: A Reverse Harem Paranormal Romance (Godhunter Book 30) Read online

  “Fuck fate,” I growled, not for the first time. I'd thought I was past fighting destiny but that was before destiny dared to take my lion.

  I spread my claws and jumped. My leap took me a good ten feet up a wall and my claws dug in to keep me there. The wall did that rippling thing again, and I realized that I hadn't injured it; my claws had sunk into its “stones” like a knife in Jello—very thick Jello that held firm. I made a rumble of satisfaction and started climbing.

  “Lala, what are you doing?” Re asked casually as he leaned against the opposite wall, looking chic and glorious and damn gorgeous as always. The man could be thrown into the Bog of Eternal Stench and still come out smelling like a rose and looking like a Playgirl model. Sprinkled in gold dust, no less.

  “Wait there,” I called back to him. “I want to check this ceiling out.”

  I reached the top in seconds and slashed at it with a claw. It went through easily but the ceiling repaired itself, oozing back together. I climbed higher and scraped at it with my horns. The stone parted and my horns slipped through. I took the win and advanced.

  “Vervain!” Odin shouted. “Don't!”

  I'm a little obstinate when I'm in weredragon form. Okay, in any form. I didn't listen to my husband even though he's one of the smartest people I know. I kept pushing. The stone closed in around my head, also closing off my air, but I continued on. With a pop that was felt more than heard, I cleared the roof and my head emerged into open air. The castle wall was only fifteen feet away from the labyrinth, give or take. I took a deep breath and prepared to pull myself up. But something took a hold of my ankles and yanked me back down.

  I thought it was one of my men and I prepared an annoyed retort. It wasn't. In the few seconds I'd been slipping through magic stone, Perun had sent us yet another surprise. He's so thoughtful. And no, it wasn't the Bog of Eternal Stench; thank all that's holy.

  Vines snaked out of the dirt floor and tangled around our entire party. A pair of them coiled their way up my scaled legs while they simultaneously bashed me into the ground. I grunted. Something snapped inside me and it wasn't a bone; it was my patience.

  I roared and as I did, light blasted from my body; my star finally granting a wish. Starlight filled the passage, turning the vines—and only the vines—into ash. The echoes of my roar faded as I got to my feet, men and lions following suit. The beasts and my lovers shook off a fine coating of ash, surprised but not shocked. Volos, however, stared at me as if I'd performed something far more miraculous than mere magic.

  “Vhat vas zat?” Volos asked in awe.

  “That was me wishing on a star,” I snarled. “Whoever can climb, follow me. The rest of you keep running.”

  I launched myself back at the wall.

  Chapter Forty-Two

  Did the stone of Perun's labyrinth give way to me because of my fey blood or merely because he wished it? That question circled my mind as I pushed past the gelatinous resistance and came out on top of the labyrinth. The castle I'd glimpsed earlier—so damn close—was now hidden behind a swirling tornado of wind, rain, and lightning. Darkness reigned once more, making the flashes of lightning seem even brighter and more ominous.

  I grimaced at the thing and came to a conclusion; Perun wanted me to break through. As only my lovers and Volos climbed up to join me—my Intare unable to grip the stone in human forms and unable to climb vertically as lions—I realized what Perun's plan had been.

  “He's thinning our ranks,” I muttered.

  “Yes,” Odin agreed. “But we are more than capable enough to face him.”

  “Sure,” Viper huffed and waved at the tornado. “All we have to do is get through that. I don't think either my starlight or snake magic will do the trick. Anyone got a better idea?”

  I prowled down the roof of the labyrinth. From my vantage point, I could see it twist out and back in upon itself, leading my lions in random loops around the castle. By the time they made it to the end, it would be too late. The question was; would I be too late as well?

  I narrowed my eyes at the storm. The funnel was inverted; drawing the sky down instead of sucking up debris from the ground. Its narrowed tip lashed like a whip at its top, rustling the leaves of the World Tree. But even that magical tempest couldn't conquer the human belief that had formed the tree. Branches swayed but didn't break and not a single leaf fell nor were they so flash of light, vibrating over my skin, and dense clouds boiled like furious faces, ready to swallow me whole. But this was just another obstacle cast between Kirill and me; one I had to surmount at any cost. The man I loved was strapped to an altar like Aslan and I had to get to him. That made things simple, didn't it? There was no choice, not in the labyrinth and not here. I was going in.

  I swear to my star; if they had cut Kirill's hair, I was going to go nuclear on their asses.

  I turned up my heat, my skin steaming as spray from the tornado hit it, and crouched with my wings laid flat on my back, preparing to spring. If my theory was right, that tornado would take me straight to the ground. The landing might be rough, but I'd get there.

  “Vervain!” Odin reached for me.

  “Don't follow me!” I shouted as I jumped.

  The storm took me. I flew on the winds even though my wings were tightly shut. Vicious air tore at the leathery membranes but I knew better than to open my wings. Instead, I released my fire. Air hissed and steamed. I rolled in a bubble of fog. My theory had been partially right; I headed roughly downward. But the cone of wind was thicker than I'd thought, and instead of taking me to the center of the tornado, the winds bashed me on the ground and bounced me back up into the spin. Caught like a tennis shoe in the rinse cycle. With a snarl, I curled into a ball and tried to roll toward the center and out of the storm; to the heart of the whirlwind where calm presided.

  The rush of air in my ears screeched like a bean-sidhe, but I could still hear growling over it. I lifted my head and panic shot through me. There, tumbling through the tornado with me, were the men I loved. The Wolf, his dark fur blown wildly and his mouth open on a snarl. Odin, trying to shift into something that might be able to battle the storm. Azrael, wingless, just a man toppling through a savage sky. And Re, glowing with the power of the Sun, blazing his way through the darkness like a meteor.

  Damn them all!

  “Come on, Star!” I growled and dug deep. “One more wish; get us down to that courtyard.”

  We spun helplessly. The wind increased speed. The men fought, trying to swim through the wild weather. My name echoed around me as hands reached for me. The Wolf crashed into Viper. They clung together, trying to turn the momentum to their advantage. Odin shifted into a giant octopus. Yes, an octopus; it surprised me too. Then his tentacles whipped out, stretching with the force of the gale, and latched onto to each of us. One rubbery arm smacked its suckers on my scales and tightened.

  I grinned and grabbed on, hoping Odin's new body was strong enough to withstand this strain. Hand over hand, I pulled my way to my husband, the tentacle coiling around me as I went, while the other men did the same. When we were finally together, in one giant octopus ball, Odin shifted into his armored form, and we clung to him and each other like a bunch of skydivers performing a trick.

  “Fire, Vervain!” Odin shouted over the wind. “We need a blast to blow us inward!”

  I turned my head away from the men and waited until we'd been spun so that I faced the outside of the tornado. Then I let the dragon fire explode from my throat. Re held out a hand and added his sun magic to the mix. The heat and strength of the combined blast sent us surging inward, providing just enough momentum to free us from the gale's grasp.

  But without that wind, we dropped like rocks. Odin sprouted wings along with Azrael and they grabbed Viper and Wolf. I clutched Re to me and extended my dragon wings. We were too close to the ground for it to make much of a difference; even when I caught air, it wouldn't save us from the impact. But then a shaft of sunlight encased Re. He slowed our descent until w
e glided gracefully down in that glowing ray like a couple of true gods. I could practically hear angels singing. The other men slowed their fall a little but still crashed as I'd predicted. I stared at Re in surprise; I'd completely forgotten that he could do that.

  “I have my uses.” Re winked at me.

  “It would have been nice if you had shared your sunshine with us,” Viper groaned as he got to his feet.

  “Sorry, Slytherin, I can only use the Sunray Express for myself,” Re said smoothly then grinned at me. “And one passenger.”

  “I approve the Harry Potter references,” I said as I got my bearings.

  The courtyard—what I could see of it—was unremarkable; just an expanse of stone beneath my feet. The castle wasn't within the tornado with us, not even the steps, so I couldn't pass judgment on it. But there was a focal point; an altar stood in the center of the vortex. A massive, rectangular block of stone with iron rings set halfway down its short ends. Kirill was chained to it by ankles and wrists, his arms stretched above his head and his feet together, the chains leading to those rings.

  Kirill's glorious hair—thankfully still attached to him—trailed over the stone like black water. They'd taken his shirt and boots, leaving him in his faded jeans, looking for all the world as if he'd been posed for a woman's pleasure. Which made me even more furious.

  Kirill's eyes were shut and he laid absolutely still. Which added fear to my fury. Around him, a few people stood waiting, staring at me expectantly. None of them were Mokosh or Jarilo. I knew that for a fact, despite never seeing a picture of Mokosh, and it had nothing to do with her scent. I knew it because I recognized all three people. One was Perun, one was a dream goddess, and the last was dead.

  “You,” I whispered in horror as things began to click in my brain.

  The way Kirill had been acting; changing his mind every time he woke. Ravaging me in his sleep. Being so adamant that we go to Russia then adamant that we remain, just the three of us. Refusing to fetch the rest of the family to help us. My dream came back to me; the one in which I'd thought I had walked into Kirill's. The room that resembled the place Nastasija had taken him to. It hadn't merely resembled it; it was that room. Maybe Kirill had drawn me into his dream or maybe an echo of it had found me in mine, but whatever the case, I knew now that it had been real. As real as dreams can be.

  Damn it all; I thought I'd dealt with that goddess.

  Perhaps the company Nastasija now kept made her feel brave enough to oppose me. Strong enough to come back for Kirill. To enter his dreams once more and twist his thoughts. Except this time, Nastasija had been more subtle about it. She'd hidden herself, maybe even from Kirill, and changed his mind with cunning instead of brute willpower.

  Seeing Nastasija surprised me but not as much as the woman who stood beside her. I didn't just recognize this other woman by sight, her scent also filled my nose and set my teeth on edge. That familiar god smell that I couldn't place. Yeah, I'd smelled her before, just not often enough to commit her to that type of memory. It was her scent that I'd picked up at the homes of the drowned humans. She had been the one to send the shooters. And it was her who I'd smelled on the souls in the Underworld. Her. The dead woman. Not dead enough, apparently.

  I needed to rectify that.

  Before I could leap for her, the stone below me rose like water, enclosing me up to my chest. I snarled and struggled as the same happened to all of my lovers except for the one chained to an altar. Azrael shook violently but couldn't free himself. Odin shifted, over and over, into shapes big and small, but the prison moved with him; expanding and compressing with every form. Viper tried to go snake, but even that wasn't slippery enough to elude the stone. The Wolf howled and lions roared in the distance. I felt them, all of the Intare, down the cords that connected us. They were panicked, running at full speed. All but one; the Black Lion. He laid atop the altar, still peaceful, still asleep. His mind a blank wall to me.

  “Velcome to my birthday party, Godhunter,” Marzana said brightly. “Ve've been vaiting for you.”

  Chapter Forty-Three

  “You're a dead woman,” I snarled.

  “Nyet, I survived Dvaraka.” Marzana, or Marena, or whatever her damn name was, opened her arms as if to showcase this fact.

  “No. I mean; I'm going to kill you. I should have killed you the first time we met.”

  Marena laughed, a delighted tinkling, but the amusement didn't reach her dark, somber eyes. She's the Goddess of Winter and Death, after all. She could laugh all she wanted and never lose that icy glint. That darkness. She had been the one who concealed the Rusalki.

  “Congratulations on your daughter's survival,” I said to the smirking Perun. “It's a shame that you'll have to watch her die before I slaughter you.”

  Perun laughed, a booming sound similar to the one Thor makes when he's truly amused. “Such big vords for trapped voman.”

  “You have no power over me, King Jareth,” I hissed.

  Perun's face suddenly gave me a case of deja vu; it had folded into an expression I'd seen several times before on Thor; utter bafflement.

  “Really?” I asked in disappointment. “I thought for sure you'd get that reference.” I shook my head in amazement. “It really was just a coincidence.”

  “She's been trapped before, dickhead,” Viper hissed, getting the villain-revelation conversation back on track. “But my girl always wins.”

  “Not zis time,” Marena declared confidently. “Zis time, I vin.”

  “Hello, Nastasija,” I said coolly to the other woman, ignoring Marena's boast.

  Nastasija cringed like a rabbit spotted by a wolf.

  “I didn't think you had it in you, but I guess it's easy to be brave when you're hiding behind gods who are stronger than you are. All you've done is proved the adage that there's a fine line between bravery and stupidity. A line you just crossed, you dumb bitch.”

  Nastasija glared at me around Marena's shoulder. She's a slight woman; small, delicate, blonde, and ethereally beautiful. And she looked like a child hiding behind her mother. “You may have taken him back, but I still had path to him.”

  “And I still had bond vith him,” Marena added as she possessively ran a hand over Kirill's bare chest. “He vas sacrificed to me. Given to me. I'm just taking back vhat's mine.”

  “Kirill was never yours. Take your dead hands off him,” I snarled. Then I swung my gaze to Nastasija. “What did I tell you, Nastasija? I will always find Kirill and bring him home. And Kirill will always return to me if he can.”

  “Aw, but he can't,” Marena said with mean-girl, fake sympathy. “He's mine now, just as much as he is yours. Can't you sense it, Tima?” She emphasized his title for me scathingly. “Zat's vhat I've been doing vhile my father sent you running in his maze like rats. I've been bonding vith your husband.”

  “It's a labyrinth,” I corrected with a growl. “And what the fuck are you talking about?”

  “I used power I've gained from sacrifices Rusalki brought me to strengthen bond between Kirill and me,” Marena took glee in confiding. “My mother almost ruined my plans, but I took care of her.”

  “You killed your own mother?” I gasped.

  “Nyet,” she was just as appalled as I. “I am not monster. I just trapped her.”

  I stared at Marena as if I wasn't so certain about the monster thing.

  “My brother actually helped vithout meaning to.” She laughed. “Leading you around Alūksne and leading us to you. You can hide from me but he can't.”

  “Jarilo,” I hissed. “That's how you found us so quickly in Texas.”

  “Blood is strongest link,” Perun said smugly.

  “Da, Jarilo unknowingly gave Rusalki and men zey seduced several chances to grab Kirill.” She grimaced. “Zey failed couple times, but still.” She shrugged. “All's vell zat ends vell. Zey got him in end. Your daughter is adorable, by ze vay. Too bad she traced away before Rusalki could grab her; I could have used her against you.”
She sighed deeply. “Oh, how glorious zat vould have been.”

  “Don't you fucking speak one word about my daughter,” I snarled. “Oh, my Gods, I'm going to kill you so dead! So dead that you soul won't even be able to get to the Void.”

  “Men they seduced?” Odin asked. “What did you promise the Rusalki to get them to enchant men for you? It sounds as if you got all of the sacrifices.”

  “Nyet. I shared sacrifices.” Marena sashayed over to Odin and stroked his chiseled jawline as he glared at her. He didn't give her the satisfaction of jerking his head away. “Just like you; I am good at sharing ven it suits me. I got vomen and Rusalki got men. I even shared vith my father. I'm generous goddess.”