Monsoons and Monsters: Godhunter Book 22 Read online

  The days passed in a blissful haze. Tragedy makes the hours longer, but happiness has the opposite effect. I laid in the sun with my husband as we watched our children play, ate lazy meals with my family, and flew off with Arach for romantic interludes after the boys were tucked in at night. The worries of the past weeks faded quickly under the love of my family and the affection of my faeries.

  The cŵn annwn made peace with Dexter, and they formed an affectionate pack that only broke apart at night; when the cŵn annwn went to sleep beside Rian's bed, and Dexter slept beside mine. I thought the dogs needed names, but I wanted to leave that to Rian since they were his. Now that the matter of Annwn had been settled, the hounds were peaceful; no more howling or whining. The rest of the kingdom was peaceful as well, though that may have just been ignorance. Isleen had made monumental efforts to not disturb us during our stay-cation, and I suspected that she was handling any issues that arose. Whatever the case, I was grateful. Things were so quiet and perfect; exactly what I needed... up until the sixth day.

  That bitch has taken Lugh! Faerie screeched in my head, jerking me up from my casual lounge across Arach's lap.

  She must have spoken in his head as well because Arach scowled and winced as he got to his feet.

  “Ethniu?” I asked with dawning horror.

  No; not Ethniu, Faerie growled. Fand!

  “Fand?” Arach asked in confusion. “Why would Fand abduct Lugh?”

  I blinked, my mind racing as bits and pieces of information swirled together, trying to fit into place like a giant, incorporeal puzzle. Unk and Iya lived beneath the sea. Fand was a water faerie. Fand had raised Lugh, and she knew the High King. She wouldn't have the influence needed to convince Cian to close Faerie, but she was able to get into Faerie, and she would know where to find leverage against the high King. That leverage being his only son—the son she had stolen and raised as her own.

  “Oh, fuck,” I whispered as the puzzle clicked together and formed the face of a water-sidhe. “It wasn't Ethniu.”

  Didn't I just say that? Get your asses inside Aithinne and mirror Cian now! His knights are blundering about the forest, half of them in pursuit of Fand, and the other half wondering what to do.

  Arach and I snatched up the boys and ran into the castle, the cŵn annwn and Dexter hot on our heels. Arach shouted for Isleen, and I called for Grannuaile. Both women appeared quickly and raced up the stairs with us, knowing better than to ask questions. After quickly reassuring the children that everything would be all right, I had Grannuaile take the boys into their nursery, along with the hounds and Dexter. Then I hurried into the bedroom with Arach.

  The crushed dresser had been replaced, and the new one sat right where the old one had been; beneath a tall, gold-framed mirror. Arach swiped some eyebright over the glass and called out for the High King.

  “I know,” the High King said as he appeared in the glass.

  Cian's face was etched with worry, and his eyes were full of anger and frustration.

  “My knights have just mirrored me,” Cian went on. “How did you find out so soon?”

  “Faerie,” I said succinctly. “But all she told us was that Fand took Lugh. What the hell happened?”

  “Lugh went down to the Great Tree to confront Ethniu. He did so secretly and against my express commands,” Cian said grimly. “But before Ethniu came through the Aether, Fand appeared. She took one look at the knights waiting for her and then my shocked son. Before anyone could react, Fand encased Lugh in a bubble of water. As my son was held hostage, unable to breathe or fight back, Fand snatched him and took Lugh back through the Aether with her.”

  “Fand,” I whispered. “I never even thought of her.”

  “Nor I,” Cian commiserated. “Ethniu stepped out of the tree several minutes after Fand and was met by chaos. She calmed my knights and had them contact me in her hand mirror. She's on her way to the Castle of Eight now.”

  “And so are we, High King,” Arach said as he sent a look at Isleen. “We will get Prince Lugh back; you have my word.”

  Isleen hurried from the room.

  “You have my word as well,” I added. “But I'm not going to the Castle of Eight with Arach.”

  The men looked at me in shock.

  “I'm going to Pride Palace, and then I'm heading to Earth,” I said firmly. “I know exactly where Fand took Lugh.”

  “Queen Vervain, you rescue my son, and I shall be in your eternal debt,” Cian vowed, his eyes intense and glassy.

  “He's my friend, and you are the High King,” I whispered gently. “You will owe me nothing.”

  Cian swallowed visibly and nodded his gratitude, too overcome to speak. I hugged Arach and was about to ask my ring to return me to the God Realm when Arach grabbed my hand.

  “Wait!” He cried out. “We've just changed things.”

  “What?” I asked in surprise.

  “You said that you overheard people talking about Fand leaving,” Arach reminded me. “That she had left Earth just after you were captured.”

  “Yeah.” I frowned and then worked it out. “And that conversation was long after I'd been taken. So Fand either took longer to grab Lugh originally, or she had already returned with him, and her friends were just unaware.”

  “It is likely the first option, which means that Fand is a little behind your time; you'll be heading into her future,” Arach said. “And we want you in the God Realm as soon as possible.”

  “But I can't trace back through the Aether now, Arach,” I said. “I don't know exactly where I was at this point. I could still be on Earth, but what if I'm already in the God Realm? Either way, it would be a mess. I'd go right back into the time I've already experienced and be powerless to do anything until I caught up to my present. I may even get stuck in a loop.”

  “Damn it all!” Arach snarled. “You'll have to use the ring then.”

  “I don't believe that Fand will hurt Lugh,” I said to King Cian. “She will try to use him against you, but she won't hurt him. In her own twisted way, Fand loves Lugh and thinks of him as a son.”

  “Go, Queen Vervain,” Cian said as he nodded. “We shall handle things as we are able to from here. Perhaps you will return to the God Realm only to find this already settled.”

  “Perhaps,” I said softly, but we all knew it was a near impossibility. “I will get him back for you, either way, High King.”

  “Mirror us when you get there,” Arach said before he kissed me. “Good luck, A Thaisce.”

  “Good luck to you too,” I said as I faded through time and space.

  Chapter Forty-Nine

  I reformed before my men in my dressing room. They all looked relieved for a brief moment before I spoke.

  “We were wrong,” I said urgently as I hurried out into the bedroom for my cell phone. “It was Fand.”

  “Fand?” Odin's voice was shocked.

  The God Squad stared at me with wide eyes.

  “She just abducted Lugh,” I said as I texted Toby. “She's obviously the one who has been colluding with our enemies.”

  “Fuck,” Trevor growled. “What are we going to do?”

  “We're going to get into that undersea fortress and rescue Lugh,” I said as I looked up from the phone. “And then we're going to destroy that machine. I'm fucking done with this shit!”

  Everyone began to smile as my cell phone went off. I looked down at the text and nodded.

  “Toby and Naye will meet us on Thor's ship; The Atlantis,” I said to them. “I need to mirror Arach before we leave. I'll meet you at the tracing room.”

  The God Squad hurried out and down to the first floor of Pride Palace, but my men stayed behind.

  “You need to mirror Arach?” Kirill asked.

  “Time was off a bit, and Fand had a head start,” I said as I headed into my dressing room and over to the mirror. “I need to get an update.” I pulled some eyebright out of a drawer and rubbed the herb over the mirror. “King Arach of Fire,” I calle
d out.

  Within seconds, Arach appeared in the glass, a worried expression on his face. Behind me, my men gathered to listen in.

  “A Thaisce,” Arach said grimly. “Prince Lugh is still a captive. Fand has mirrored the High King with her demands. She wants him to close off the way to Faerie or she will kill Lugh.”

  “Cinderella's slippers!” Trevor swore, reverting to our new habit of swearing creatively around Lesya.

  Arach blinked at Trevor briefly, then continued, “King Cian was able to bargain for more time by telling Fand that it would take at least a day to work the spells required to close the realm.”

  “So, we have twenty-four hours to save the prince,” I said steadily.

  “I know you'll prevail, A Thaisce,” Arach said, “and I've assured the High King of it as well. But that was three hours ago, so you only have twenty-one hours left.”

  “Tell the High King that I won't fail him; he'll have his son back soon.”

  “He knows that already.” Arach gave me a smug smile. “However, he's sent you something to help; a charm to locate Lugh.”

  “He's sending it to me?” I asked in confusion. “How is he doing that?”

  “It should already be there,” Arach said. “Along with your friend, Craigor.”

  “Craigor?” I whined.

  “He's to attend the High Prince, and bring him back to Faerie once you've saved him.” Arach laughed. “Be nice to him, A Thaisce.”

  “You know that I'm fine with Craigor,” I reminded Arach. “He's been cool with me ever since I reunited him Aradia. I just don't want to have to babysit Mr. Poopypants while I storm the underwater Palace of Lust and Doom.”

  “Ah, yes; I forgot to mention to Cian that Fand was keeping Lugh underwater,” Arach said with unconvincing innocence.

  “Arach!” I snapped. “You knowingly let Cian send an air-sidhe to help me infiltrate an underwater palace?”

  “I'm sure it will be fine,” he said unsympathetically. “Save me a foot, my darling.”

  I may have forgiven Craigor's past behavior toward me, but Arach obviously hadn't. It wouldn't surprise me to learn that he suggested Craigor to Cian as the faerie he should send.

  I shook my head at Arach's relentless grudge-holding, but said, “You got it, babe.”

  I wiped the mirror clear and rushed out of the room with my men. I was dressed in a faerie dress of pale blue velvet, but I wasn't taking the time to change. If I ended up swimming in my skirts, so be it.

  We met the God Squad outside the tracing room; they were standing there with Craigor.

  “Queen Vervain,” Craigor bowed, his moth wings shivering behind him and dusting the floor with sparkles, as he held a necklace out to me.

  “Watch the floor, Mothman,” I teased Craigor as I took the offered amulet.

  “What's that?” Horus asked, eyeing the charm with an appraiser's skill.

  “Something to help me find Lugh.” I slipped the slinky silver chain over my head. A glowing teardrop hung from it, and I tucked it down my bodice. The glow was muted, but it still shone strangely up my cleavage. “You all know Craigor?”

  I didn't wait for an answer, just strode into the tracing room. There wasn't time for niceties. Or to warn Craigor about what he'd be facing. Okay, so maybe I was looking forward to Craigor's unease a bit.

  We all traced to Thor's ship without much discussion. Everyone knew how dire the situation was and how imperative it was that we arrive as soon as possible. If we couldn't save Lugh, Cian would cut off Faerie to do so—despite the fact that Fand was most likely bluffing. Faerie, my kingdom, and my fey family would all be lost to me, as Lugh would be lost to Cian. And I wasn't sure if Fand would release my friend, even if she won. There was only one way this could play out that would result in happiness for me, and it involved Fand's severed foot in my hands.

  Chapter Fifty

  I stepped out of the Aether into a small tracing room on The Atlantis—yeah, I know. He named a ship after a sunken continent; Thor's sense of humor is twisted. I hurried out into the hall as the others traced in behind me. Azrael had texted Thor, so he was waiting for us on deck, along with my Intare. Thor's arms were crossed defiantly over his massive chest, and his legs were spread like a sea captain's. The roar of wind and magic filled the air, and salt-scented the whipping breeze as we walked out into a spell-storm.

  Five ships were anchored around a downspout in the ocean. Gods, angels, and lions lined the ships' railings, concentrating their focus and magic into the spout. A funnel of multi-colored light and sparks flowed around the surface of the water, creating a cone of air that led down to the bottom of the sea. I stepped up to the railing, my hair tossing about in the crackling wind, and stared down into that open space. At the very bottom—the tip of the cone—I saw the slick shape of some massive rock formations. Not coral; rock. But I knew those weren't just rocks; they were a clever disguise for the entrance to Unk's undersea home. Except it wasn't exactly under the sea at the moment.

  “Thor told me of the latest developments,” Inyan waved a hand as he stepped up to our group, creating a still area around us that allowed us to hear each other. “We have been working in shifts for hours and have nearly broken Unk's ward. Your angel friends have been very helpful in that regard; their magic is cutting days off of our work.”

  “I hope they haven't been too much to deal with,” Azrael said with a glance at the other ships.

  “I have had much practice in dealing with large egos.” Inyan smirked. “Their magic is worth the price of dealing with them.”

  “I'm glad you think so.” Azrael chuckled. “I rarely do.”

  “Once we break the ward, we will infiltrate Unk's home together,” Inyan went on. “Don't worry about your friend; he shall be fine. I've warned the rest of the Wakan Tanka to look out for him, and see to his safety once he's found.”

  “Thank you.” I nodded to Inyan as I tied my hair back in a braid. “But just to prepare you; the woman holding Lugh hostage is a water-sidhe, and she'll be able to manipulate water as well as Unk can.”

  “We can handle some water magic, Godhunter,” Inyan assured me.

  “Vervain,” Toby exclaimed in relief as he stepped into Inyan's bubble of calm.

  “Hey,” I said shyly.

  I don't know why I was suddenly timid around Toby. I suppose it was the time I'd spent apart from him. It hadn't been long for Toby, but it had been nearly a week for me, and seeing him now was a little startling. The newness of our situation slapped my heart around a bit and left me breathless. Especially when he hugged me.

  “We'll get Lugh back,” Toby promised me.

  “I know,” I whispered into his neck and took the opportunity to breathe him in.

  “We're in!” A god shouted loud enough to reach us within Inyan's ward.

  Inyan dropped the ward, and we were all instantly buffeted by sound and wind. A cheer came from all of the other gods and my Intare. The angels just stood there smirking.

  Most of the magical storm calmed; only a few gods continued using their magic to keep the cone of air open. I looked over the railing again. At the bottom of the sea, the rocks were cracked wide open, and a tunnel had been revealed. Lakota gods and angels were already floating down to it, some of them simply sliding their way down the angled walls of water. I turned to the God Squad, and they nodded. My Intare was already gathering around us.

  And then I saw Craigor.

  “Crap,” I huffed as I went over to him.

  Craigor was staring around him in terror; at the surging sea, the tossing ships, and the downspout. His eyes couldn't focus on any one thing. I felt like a horrible person.

  “You don't have to go down there,” I said to him. “We'll rescue Lugh and bring him back up to you.”

  Water wasn't just abhorrent to an air-sidhe, it was dangerous. If Craigor drowned, he wouldn't recover as I did. His immortal life would be over.

  “I'm going,” Craigor's voice hardened, as did his stare wh
en he met mine.

  “Hey!” I held up my hands. “No one told me you were coming until you were on your way.”

  “You could have warned me in the God Realm,” he hissed.

  “Yeah, but I thought it would be better to let you have a few more moments of peace.” I grimaced; the lie was obvious. “Sorry.”

  Craigor nodded crisply and jumped over the railing. The wind caught him, and his delicate wings buckled. I gripped the railing anxiously as Craigor steadied himself. Then he looked at me, smirked, crossed his arms, and began to float gracefully down to the bottom of the ocean.

  The rest of us followed Craigor over the railing—the Squad and me first, with the Intare following. Those of us who could fly did so, the rest surfed down the water in a sleek glide. My Intare whooped as they went, fist-bumping each other after making it to the bottom. I transformed partially; shifting only my wings into existence. It tore my dress a little, and the neckline sagged a bit on me, but it held on. My wings were better suited to the rough weather, and I easily caught the current, then controlled my descent to the ocean floor. Grim-faced angels and winged gods drifted down with me, making the whole process take on an epic quality. I landed softly on the wet sand and squelched over to the opening with the others. My dress would be ruined by the time this was over, but I didn't care. I was too focused on finding Lugh.

  Gods, angels, lions, and I hurried into the rock entrance, sliding down a few feet before we landed on some slick steps. The steps led into a corridor. There were so many of us that the push of those trying to get in compelled us forward on a mindless wave. We weren't able to regroup until the Lakota gods and angels split off into groups at the intersections of corridors. My team eased down another hallway and took a moment to reevaluate.

  Toby remembered the passages better than I and offered to lead us. He took us down corridors that began to look familiar to me; this was the path we'd used to escape. Whenever we came to an intersection, I sent small groups of Intare down one path while I continued with the God Squad down another. I wanted to be sure we cleared every section of the labyrinthine fortress. We were down to ten lions, the twins, and the Squad when we came to a corridor lined with doors.