Accidentally in Love With a God (2012) (30 page)

I was supposed to be relieved. Wasn’t I? But something unpleasant was gnawing at me. “I thought you weren’t leaving for a few more days. What happened?”

“We were only delaying so Xavier could have a chance to dig up information. He’s done that, and now there’s no reason to wait any longer. We have work to do.”

I could see he was hiding something. “There’s more. Isn’t there?”

The sun shined on one side of his face. The light made his eyes look softer somehow, like translucent, icy blue lakes, though his expression was hard. A fortress. He was in warrior mode and thinking about bad things, dark things. Maybe…death? And war?

Of course he was. I sighed. He was such a hopeless case.

He ran his hands over the top of his head and down the back of his neck. “The Uchben we sent ahead are missing. We think the Maaskab were tipped off.”

I gasped. “Why do you think that?”

“One of the Maaskab answered Tommaso’s cell phone and told us so.”

If this were any other situation, I would be cracking a joke about a Maaskab talking on a cell. It would fall somewhere in the category of a vampire riding a unicycle. Just seemed funny.

“But it could be a mind game to make you second guess your own people. Tommaso could have lost his phone,” I offered.

“Perhaps, although not likely.”

“So, you think Tommaso is dead?”

“Very likely.”

How could he be so matter-of-fact about this while my heart was sinking? It was my fault. Guy sent him to Mexico because of me. Me. Never in a million years did I imagine he’d be in danger. I wanted to die.

My knees were about to take a siesta. “I—I’m not staying here.” I reached my hand out and steadied myself against Guy’s chest.

“You’ll only get in the way, Emma, and if Tommaso is dead, there’s nothing you can do.”

The tears began to trickle. “I’m not your property, Guy. You can’t tell me what to do. This is all my fault, and I should do something to help.”

People were now gathering around us to stare and take pictures of Guy.

“Emma.” He grabbed me by the elbow, dragging me across the courtyard. “I get it. You’re devastated. This is truly a horrible situation. But Tommaso was—is—a grown man and knew perfectly well what kind of life he’d signed up for. He accepted the risk. But are you so naïve that you’d believe he’d want to put your life in danger to save him? Or die needlessly? Are you so stubborn that you’re willing to forget those monsters at my villa? How about the pile of bodies they left behind?”

I wanted to vomit. “What about you?” I asked.

He stopped and turned to face me then laughed in that deep arrogant rumble. “Emma. Really. I’ll be fine. I’m indestructible, remember?”

“Yeah, famous last words from a man trapped for seventy years in a Mayan swimming hole. And, didn’t anyone ever tell you it’s a bad idea to tempt fate like that?”

He shrugged casually. “I supposed I heard that once or twice, but fate and I are old friends. Some might call us partners.”

Okay. Strange. But I didn’t have time to dig deep into that one.
Pock-et.

“Guy?” I slipped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest. I inhaled that sweet and smoky scent, which gently infused the air around him. I guessed it was what a god in his position should smell like. Dark, delicious, and deadly?

“Yes?” He wrapped his arms around me.

“I want you to put it back...the bond.”

He pulled away just enough to see my face. He looked way too happy, one might even say, smug. Like he’d achieved some giant victory. “Why?” he asked.

I didn’t really know why. I felt like the tiny ledge of sanity I’d managed to perch on was crumbling. Tommaso, who at a minimum I considered a friend for having risked his life for me, was dead. My family was still in danger. My life was still in ruins. And as a topper to my chaos salad, I couldn’t stand being left behind. I wanted to go to Mexico and see this end myself. I wanted to hear the Scabs tell me what they’d done with my grandmother. I wanted to see them pay for everything.

“Oh, stop gloating.” I rolled my eyes.

He laughed loudly. “That’s my spunky girl.”

Girl? Impossible. He was impossible.

“Emma, I want you to know something. It has to do with what you said last night. Despite what you believe, I don’t know more about the circumstances surrounding Gabriela’s horrible fate. But I have every intention of finding out and punishing the Maaskab severely, for everything.” He looked away for a moment then stared down at me, as if willing me to see the honesty in his eyes. “I just wanted you to know that before I left.”

“Thank you,” I whispered. “For telling me the truth.” Then a part of me thought about how great it felt delegating my revenge to Guy. I’d bet he was really, really good at it. The best.

“Come on.” He brushed his thumb affectionately along my lower lip. “We only have a few minutes; we’ll have to make it fast.”

Chapter THIRTY-TWO

“What do we have to do? You’re not going to make me sacrifice a little bunny or something?” I asked as we charged toward his quarters.

He laughed. “No, my sweet.”

There were two men I didn’t recognize waiting at his door. “Who are they?” I whispered.

“Jake, Alexander…this is Emma.” He gave them a nod. “They are tenth generation Uchben and will be looking after you.”

Jeez, seemed like there was an endless supply of brawny, fierce men around the place. They probably grew them in a garden outback. I smiled and greeted them.

“We’ll just be a minute,” Guy said. He pulled me inside to the sitting area then headed for the bathroom. He returned with a pair of silver sheers, reached around to the nape of his neck, and cut ten inches off his braid. The rest of his thick shiny hair fell around his face. He looked devastatingly handsome.

“Here. Hold this.” He handed me the braid. “Now turn around.”

“What? You’re going to cut off my hair?”

“Sorry. It was your brilliant idea to break the bond.”

I shook my head no. “Isn’t there another way?”

“Emma please, honey. It’s only hair.”

“Oh, Christ.” I turned my back to him and felt the swift execution of my red curls immediately followed by his soft lips and rough stubble brushing against my neck. Images instantly pulsed through my mind of his bronzed hard body sliding over me, his thick strong hands massaging my breasts, his hot wet tongue plunging in my mouth.

I shuddered and sucked in a deep breath.

As if reading my thoughts, he whispered in my ear, “I too wish we had more time, my sweet. There are many things I need to tell you…and to do to you.”

I shivered again. “Like what?” I said, my breath suddenly moving as fast as my pounding heart.

Again, he whispered in my ear, “Like ridding you of that nasty virginity.”

Oh, yesss
. That sounded nice.
Wait. You’re suddenly forgetting everything? You’re just ready to jump in the sack with him?
I paused for a moment. No. I wasn’t. He didn’t love me. In fact, I had no clue what I really was to him.

“I meant—what did you want to tell me?”

He placed his hands on my shoulders and turned me into him. His thick strong lips, his fierce eyes, and his black brows all worked together to form the breathtaking expression on his face. My heart swooned.

“When I come back,” he said, “we’re going to finish this.” He brushed the unruly curls from my face and kissed me softly before pulling me into him. He began reciting words I didn’t understand, nor could ever repeat. But they were beautiful, like they’d been created by the wind.

“What did you say?” I asked, tilting my head almost straight up to see his face. His height still fascinated me.

“The Prayer of Loyalty and Protection.”

“It was beautiful.”

“Tonight, you need to light a small fire outside and burn the hair together,” he instructed.

“Our hair? Why?” It sounded so…witchy.
Would eye of newt be involved too?

He shrugged as if the answer were obvious. “We are sending a smoke signal to the heavens, proclaiming our bond.”

Wow. That wasn’t pagan at all. It sounded endearing and romantic. Then I remembered the entire Uchben clan was bonded, too. “How do you guys get so much hair?”

“Sorry?” he asked.

“The Uchben, they get your protection, too, don’t they?”

“It’s not the same. What I’ve given you is a piece of my essence, a piece of what humans call the soul. It weakens me somewhat, but it enables me to sense how you feel and ties me to you. I gave it to your grandmother when she was five, and I think you inherited it because you carry a piece of her inside you.

“The Uchben, on the other hand, have taken vows, binding themselves to us, to serve us, and to live by our laws. The penalty for breaking their oath is death.”

I guessed “thou shall not kill” wasn’t one of the gods’ commandments. They seemed more like an eye-for-an-eye kind of crowd. Case in point, Guy’s title. But he was clearly so much more than just the bringer of death; he had an abundance of compassion, which is why I suspected he bound himself to my grandmother. “Why my grandmother of all the people in world? Why did you choose her?”

He hesitated suspiciously. “I wanted to be able to track her after I killed the Maaskab. I needed to find out how she was made and why.”

“Seems silly to weaken yourself right before battling Scabs.”

He shrugged. “Well, no one ever said I was perfect or thought things through all the time.”

“You say your perfect all the time,” I pointed out.

“See how wrong I can be?” He grinned.

“Guy, now’s not the time to be flawed. Please, don’t do anything stupid. Those men, the Maaskab, I swear they’re not even human. They’re something dark.” I shuddered just thinking about the shadows hugging the Scab’s body.

He pecked me on the cheek. “Emma, I’ll be back in two days, and then we’ll sort everything out, and deal with…your situation. I promise.”

He practically floated from the room. If I didn’t already know where he was going, I would have guessed he was going to see his favorite soccer team, or maybe buy a new sports car. He looked utterly jazzed.

Yes, nothing like a little death and war to get the old god pumping.

***

Every time I felt like things couldn't possibly get any worse, they did. I found myself wishing I could go back one week earlier when all I had to worry about was a bossy man with a steamy voice living in my head and only one family tragedy to deal with. I'd give the rest of my curls to have that old life back. It's funny how things work out that way.

Now Tommaso was likely dead because of me. Guy was running off to confront the only monsters in the world who could actually harm him. My life and the lives of my family were at risk.

This time, I was not going to ask that stupid, fate-tempting question, “Could things possibly get any worse?” Because if I did…ka-blam! Fate would find a way to do it.

I spent the entire morning alone—well, except for the other gods whose lovely buzzing voices were still just as incomprehensible as before—pacing around Guy's quarters, cleaning up the mess I'd left on the patio from burning our hair, chewing my nails, and asking Bill and Ted, or Bing and Bong—whatever—about any updates from Command Central.

Finally, right before noon, there was a knock at the door. Xavier entered with a long, dread-filled face. I knew it wasn't good news. “But I didn't ask. I swear,” I said aloud unintentionally pleading with fate.

“I don't want you to be alarmed, but—”

“Did they find Tommaso? Is Guy all right?” I interrupted.

Xavier raised his palms, cautioning me to slow down. “We don't know what's happening. The last communication we received, the men and Guy arrived and were getting into position. Then there was a lot of noise through the satellite feed and everything went dead.”

“Dead? Oh, god. No!”

“Oh, heavens. I meant silent.”

I took a deep, calming breath.
Okay. Okay. Get a hold of yourself.
“So, what's next? What are they going to do?” I asked.

“I don't know, my dear. The chiefs are deciding now.”

“This is awful.” I turned my back, whisking away an escaped tear.

“
Emma?”

“Yes? Please don’t tell me there’s more,” I answered quietly.

“I didn't say anything,” Xavier responded.

“
Emma?”

My eyes moved around the room suspiciously. “There it is again.”

“There’s what again?” said Xavier.

“
Emma, I can hear Xavier’s with you. Is there anyone else? Can you go somewhere private?”

“Holy shit, this can’t be.”