As the Crow Flies (Book 19 in the Godhunter Series) Read online

  “As long as there's no pressure,” I muttered.

  Vervain! Faerie shouted.

  “Have I ever failed you?” I snapped back. “I do my best, okay? But now I have them to think about,” I looked down at my sons.

  I may have been given a hint that things were going as they should, but that didn't mean my children would be safe. The greater good often required sacrifice. However, if that sacrifice needed to be my children, the greater good could kiss my ass.

  “And someone is trying to kill them,” I went on. “So you can shove destiny up your metaphorical asses. I need to handle this first. And you, Faer, need to help me.”

  I am helping, she sighed.

  “By taking off to talk with Al when my husband was here alone?” I growled at her. “That's when you should have been watching Aalish. And what about Prince Morgan? He's being attacked too. Can't you get off the subject of my star for a few minutes, and help me figure out who's trying to murder faerie babies?”

  She has a point, Al muttered.

  You haven't told her everything, Faerie said back.

  “What everything? What now?”

  Al knows about the prophecy concerning Kirill, Faerie tattled.

  “And?” I went still.

  I've searched every possible future involving him, he said carefully. I cannot tell you what to do because I've seen how fate will twist itself to circumvent my interference. All I can say is that you need to stop running from prophecies.

  “Running?” I frowned. “I'm not running, I'm trying to save him.”

  By hiding Kirill in the God Realm, Al continued. You can't keep him away from death. If it's Kirill's time, death will find him, wherever he is.

  “The hell it will,” I sat up straight. “I happen to be married to Death, and I know for a fact that he won't go looking for Kirill.”

  This is not the time to get sassy, Faerie snapped. If you want your lion to survive, listen to Alaric.

  “But Al wants me to give up,” I deflated.

  Not give up, go back and face it, Al corrected. We will both stay here and guard the children of Faerie. You must return to the God Realm and confront this prophecy. Face it, speak to it, do everything you can to understand it, so you can work with it, not escape it.

  “You're not making any sense,” I huffed.

  Just go back to the God Realm, Vervain, Al sighed. And when the opportunity presents itself, make sure you ask the right questions.

  “I can't go back right now,” I looked to my sleeping boys. “Arach is out draining a death pond.”

  He's just returned, Faerie reported. You have two minutes before he finishes climbing the stairs.

  Surely you can leave them in our care for two minutes, Al cajoled. You'll be back before Arach reaches the bedroom door.

  I chewed at my lip and looked at my boys.

  “Fine,” I sighed, and kissed them each on the forehead. Then I got up and tucked pillows around them so they wouldn't roll off the bed. I rubbed my ring like a lucky charm, “Please take me back to Pride Palace, the moment I left it last.”

  Chapter Seventeen

  I appeared in front of the tracing chamber just as everyone was turning away from it, heading back into the dining hall. Horus jumped, knocking into Hekate with a curse. Hekate righted him and looked over to me calmly.

  “Back so soon?” Kate chuckled.

  “Are ze boys okay?” Kirill came over to me.

  “They're fine,” I nodded. “Alaric told me I needed to come back.”

  “Al did?” Odin lifted a dark brow. “What else did he say?”

  “That I needed to stop hiding from the prophecy of Kirill's death,” I admitted. “He said I should face it, whatever that means.”

  “So I'm not under house arrest anymore?” Kirill asked hopefully.

  “No, I guess not,” I sighed.

  “What about me?” Morpheus asked. “Do you think it's safe for me to go home?”

  “Why don't you stay a little longer?” Trevor slapped Morph's shoulder good-naturedly. “We like having you around. Besides, what are you gonna do all by yourself in that dark cave?”

  “Oh,” Morph blinked in surprise. “Okay, I guess I can stay a bit longer.”

  I nodded my thanks to Trevor. I didn't like the idea of Morpheus alone in the Cave of Dreams while Morrigan was out there, possibly plotting her revenge.

  “Does this mean we can go home?” Karni Mata, the Hindu Rat Goddess, softly asked her boyfriend, Teharon.

  “I-” Teharon was about to answer her when Bad Moon Rising started to play from the vicinity of Trevor's butt.

  We all stared at him. He gave us a lopsided grin and a shrug while he pulled out his phone and answered it. Then his face fell and his eyes flew to Kirill.

  “Right. Don't go outside, and don't let anyone else leave. Keep them all far away from her. We're on our way.” He looked up at me with his battle expression in place. “Morrigan is standing outside Moonshine.”

  “She's just standing there?” Finn asked with his slightly lilted Irish accent. “That doesn't seem so bad.”

  “She just stood outside my clubs too,” Eztli scowled, “and watched as one of them exploded.”

  “But she wasn't the one who caused the explosion,” Blue reminded us before we got too upset.

  “Nuada also said she may have been drawn to the club because of a premonition, and simply wanted to enjoy the violence,” Odin offered.

  “Either way, it doesn't bode well for Moonshine,” I declared. “Let's go.”

  “Wait,” Trevor was scowling. “Should I have Ty evacuate the club?”

  “Not just yet,” I recalled Al's words. “I'm going to try to talk to her first. Alaric said I needed to ask questions when I had the chance. And he was very insistent that I return immediately. That can't be a coincidence. I think this is the chance he spoke of. Evacuating the club might spook Morrigan into running.”

  “Alright: talk first, then we fight,” Trevor nodded.

  “Talk first, then hopefully we won't have to fight,” I corrected him.

  “Minn Elska,” Trevor gave me smirk, “your hopes and mine sometimes differ. This is one of those times.”

  “Ha ha,” I rolled my eyes, and headed towards the tracing room. I heard a whole lot of footsteps behind me. So I stopped and looked over my shoulder. “You're all coming?”

  “Like we have anything better to do,” Mr T joked, and his wife slapped him on the arm. “I mean, we are the God Squad after all. This is what we do.”

  “Alright,” I shrugged. Then I saw Kirill pulling on his jacket. The very same jacket I'd seen in my vision of Badb. “No!” I nearly shouted. “Not you.”

  “You said I could leave palace,” Kirill frowned at me.

  “I changed my mind,” I whispered, eyes still fastened on the dark material. “You stay here. Take that off.”

  “Tima,” Kirill started forward, but stopped when I lifted my eyes to his. I knew what he saw in them: stark fear. He sighed and took the jacket off. “Okay. I stay.”

  “You too,” I pointed to Morpheus. “You're staying with Kirill.”

  “Aw, come on,” Morpheus whined like the teenager he kinda resembled.

  “Yes, come on,” Kirill waved him back towards the dining hall. “I have some vodka.”

  “You do?” Morpheus lifted his brows. “How strong is it?”

  “It vill be strong enough if ve drink all of it quickly,” Kirill said serenely.

  “Oh, good plan,” Morpheus nodded, and followed after him. “I like how you think, my Russian friend.”

  I gave a sigh of relief, then nodded to everyone else. “Let's go ask the right questions.”

  We traced over to Moonshine, directly into the tracing chamber. It was at the end of a hallway, behind the door marked: Family Room. I have no idea why Trevor had labeled the door that way. All that was down here was the tracing room and several bedrooms for any vampires who ended up partying too late to leave. There was n
othing familial about the bare cement hallway or the metal warehouse stairs, which led up to that oddly labeled door, and out onto the VIP level of Moonshine.

  I opened the door and found Ty waiting on the other side of it. I may have jumped a little.

  Ty managed Moonshine in Trevor's absence. His nickname was short for TryggulfR, and the werewolf happened to be Trevor's younger and favorite brother. He was one of my favorites too, a charming guy who never took much seriously. Except for now. His face was set in worried lines as he came forward and reported to Trevor.

  “She's still out there, just watching the front door,” Ty said. “It's damn spooky.”

  “And I see we're packed,” Trevor surveyed the busy club as he strode forward. “If something bad is about to happen here, we need to know soon,” he set serious eyes on me.

  “Okay, I'm on it,” I headed towards the stairs, and everyone fell into line behind me. I stopped and looked back at them again. “Are you guys really going to trail after me like a line of baby ducklings?”

  They looked and each other, and then back to me, nodding.

  “Fine,” I sighed. “Cue the cute background music. Perhaps something from a Disney movie.”

  “Oh, how about; Just Around the River Bend? I love that song,” Pan asked hopefully.

  “That's hardly an appropriate song,” Horus scoffed. “We need something more like Following the Leader from Peter...” Horus stopped as he realized what he'd been about to say.

  “Peter Pan?” Pan piped up. “Perfect!” He started to sing, “We're following the leader, the leader, the leader. We're- ugh,” Pan's song was interrupted by Horus' fist, right in Pan's belly.

  “Are they for real?” Ty asked as he walked beside me. He was evidently coming along as well.

  “Oh yes,” I grimaced. “Welcome to Pan and Horus' reality show, The Falcon and the Satyr.”

  People moved aside as we walked purposefully through the club. I suppose a line of gods was a lot more intimidating than a line of ducklings. Still, every time I glanced back, I had to restrain a chuckle. We were going to look ridiculous, striding out there to confront Morrigan together. Like some teenage god gang. All we needed were matching head hankies.

  The pound of rock music faded to a low murmur as we walked through the entryway, and then out of the club's main doors. Sure enough, there was Morrigan, across the street from the club, leaning casually against a lamppost while she stared at Moonshine intently. Her stoic expression cracked just a little when she saw us. Her lips twitched.

  I knew it: ridiculous.

  “Morrigan,” I said to her in the traditional I'm-a-bad-ass greeting.

  “Godhunter,” she gave me the reciprocating, yes-I'm-a-bad-ass-too salutation, and then looked over the semi-circle of gods forming around her. “Godhunter minions,” she nodded to them, then she went back to staring at Moonshine.

  “Hey,” Persephone started pointing her finger in Morrigan's face, but Hades pulled his wife back from the War Goddess. And, most likely, a painful death.

  “I'm done with this game, Morrigan,” I said wearily to her. “If you have a problem with me, let's deal with it. Right here, right now. No more stalking my club, no plotting against my friends or my husband, no-”

  “What in Nuada's name are you talking about?” Morrigan stopped staring at Moonshine to look at me with irritated confusion.

  “This,” I waved to her. “Aren't you here to harass me?”

  “No,” she rolled her eyes, and on the down swing, she saw Eztli. “And I wasn't harassing you either, Bloody Eztli.”

  “Watch how you speak to my wife,” Blue said in a dangerous tone.

  “Oh please,” Morrigan huffed. “You're all idiots, and I don't have time to deal with you. Get out of my line of sight, and let me get back to grown up work,” she pushed me aside and went back to staring at the club.

  “Did you have a vision of our club being attacked?” I eased back in front of her. “Is that why you're here?”

  “Look,” she snapped in irritation, “I'm not after your friends or your husband, okay? Not any of your husbands,” she snickered a little. “Though, well done on snagging so many hotties,” she gave me a look that clearly expressed her bewilderment on how I'd managed it.

  The look didn't really bother me. Frankly, I couldn't understand it either.

  “I was shown a vision of Badb washing my husband's jacket,” I ground out. “You wanna rethink that statement?”

  “Why do they always blame me?” she shook her head at the sky before looking back to me. “If Badb was washing his clothes, your man is as good as dead. But I have nothing to do with it. Badb only sees the death, she doesn't see the how and she doesn't make it happen, you fool.”

  “But Morvran...” I gaped at her.

  “He was my friend,” her jaw tightened, “and I warned him that loving the vampire bitch would bring about his death, but he didn't listen to me.” Her voice dropped to a sad whisper, “They never do.”

  Why don't they ever listen? Badb's voice echoed in my memory.

  “So you don't want to kill Morpheus?” Hades clarified.

  “For avenging his family?” Morrigan lifted her brown brows, so dark against her pale, perfect skin. “No, I don't want him dead. I know the kind of vicious circle that can create, and I don't have time for that. Morpheus can rest easy.”

  “Then who's going to try to kill my husband?” I grabbed her crimson silk shirt and pulled her forward.

  She tried to brush me off, but my star was healed now and my grip stayed firm. She gaped down at my fists, then looked up at me with a measure of respect.

  “I don't know,” she said gently, and laid her hands over mine. “I don't like you, Godhunter. You murder my people.”

  “They're my people now too,” I reminded her. “And I kill only when forced to. I don't murder. Not anymore.”

  “Fine, fair enough,” she nodded. “But I was merely going to say that no matter how much I don't like you, I would never take out my fury on an innocent man. Especially not one as beautiful as your men. That would be criminal. I'd sooner try to steal them from you.”

  I released her shirt in confusion.

  “I'm sorry, but if you saw a vision of Badb washing his clothes, it was a warning of his death,” Morrigan sighed. “It doesn't start with us, we have nothing to do with fate. We're merely messengers. Like I said, we don't even know the how of it. Go home and say your goodbyes, Godhunter. Use this as a chance to make peace with his death. Most people don't get such an opportunity.”

  “The hell I will,” I growled.

  “You cannot fight fate,” Morrigan said sternly. “Trying to do so will only bring you and him more pain.”

  “You obviously don't know me,” I huffed. “I can fight anything, even time itself.”

  “If you aren't here for Kirill or Morpheus, why are you here?” Odin asked shrewdly. “Is Moonshine in danger? At least allow us a small warning to evacuate the building.”

  “In a way,” she heaved a deep sigh. “I don't know for certain if it will be Moonshine. I've been following a trail of destiny, seer magic, attempting to pinpoint the location that was shown to me.”

  “What location?” Eztli edged forward. “Does this have anything to do with my clubs?”

  “I don't have time for this! I need to keep focused,” she snapped, her gaze trailing back to the club. Then she went still, her dark eyes growing round. “Do you feel that?”

  “What?” I looked around.

  “Son of a bitch!” she swore as a commotion from inside the club carried out to us. “You've distracted me, and he used the opportunity to sneak by.”

  “Who snuck by?” I asked as she raced across the street towards Moonshine.

  “I don't know yet,” she growled as she went.

  We all looked at each other in shock, and then chased after the Celtic goddess. The screaming started just as we reached the front doors. Morrigan was already inside, and a stream of people was f
lowing out into the streets, preventing us from following after her. The humans were terrified, running for their cars and peeling out of the parking lot like Hell had opened up beneath Moonshine. I didn't see any gods among the fleeing flock though, and when we made it inside, I learned why. They were all staring in frozen fascination at a man in the center of the forest green, vinyl, dance floor.

  Morrigan was headed straight for this man, but she was too late. Whatever he was trying to do, it was well on its way to a conclusion. His hands were lifted, holding a crystal the size of his palm. There were streams of light flowing into the base of the crystal, each one connected to one of the frozen gods. A larger, single tube of energy shot out from the crystals point, seeming to condense all the collected god energy. The condensed light was forming into a ball right before the man, at about head level. The sphere emitted gusts of air strong enough to fling Morrigan's long, raven locks straight back from her head, and impede her progress. Yet it had no affect on the man holding the crystal.

  He was blonde and very beautiful, with high cheekbones and creamy caramel skin. I couldn't see his eyes, they were raised to the globe of light like an acolyte, but I didn't doubt they'd be just as wonderful as the rest of him. His feet were planted solidly apart, as if he stood on the deck of a rolling ship, and his wide chest was lifting steadily with his deep breaths. He was struggling. Whatever he was doing, it wasn't easy.

  Morrigan was shouting something at the man, but her words were lost to the wind. The branches of the trees within Moonshine's woodlands-themed main room bent under the gusts, decorations and plants were tossed about, and bottles crashed behind the bar. The froekn on duty were circling the dance floor, but they couldn't get any closer than Morrigan. And those poor frozen gods seemed to be caught in a magical drain, unable to move or defend themselves in any way.

  I hurried forward to help them, the God Squad with me, but we were just as powerless as the others. The wind was too strong. It had to be a spell, something more than mere air magic. This was a type of elemental ward.