Heart of the Serpent: Hades' Carnival, Book 5 (4 page)

That was shocking. Ever since the curse had been broken they’d been able to sense where their goddess was at any given moment.

“I can’t feel her either.” Arand pulled out his cell phone. “I’m calling the others. Maybe they can find her.” He walked away to place the calls.

“This has to be another trick of Hades.” Mordecai wanted to wring the god’s neck. Why couldn’t he leave well enough alone? “He’s not harming us, just interfering with communications.”

“Why isn’t he imprisoned?” Stavros asked. The jaguar was restless, pacing back and forth in the small space. “I thought after the Lady drained his power that Zeus imprisoned him.”

“The gods don’t see things the same way we do. You can’t trust them.” Mordecai had seen well enough how they worked. “They might consider a few weeks punishment enough for his misdeeds.”

“Even though he’d planned to overthrow them, steal their power and imprison them?” Stavros seemed incredulous. And while Mordecai could understand his friend’s point of view, Stavros didn’t know the gods as well as he did.

“One of the other gods or goddesses may have spoken up on Hades’ behalf if he or she wanted a favor from Hades now or at some time in the future. They’re always bartering and playing games.” And he’d hated it.

The shower came on in the background and Mordecai’s entire body tightened. His serpent roared at him to go and see to Jessica. He could easily imagine the cool water running down over her smooth skin. He envied the water. It got to touch every inch of her delectable body.

His cock was hard and swollen, but it was about more than just sex. His arms ached to hold her as well. He wanted to kiss her and make everything better.

“None of the others can connect with the Lady either.” Arand strode back into the room, tucking his phone back in his pocket as he approached. “They wanted to come, but I told them to stay away and keep vigilant. I don’t think Hades will go after them. To do so would end in his destruction. But I’d rather we not all be in the same place just in case.”

Mordecai agreed.

Stavros stilled. “I’ll go look for the Lady.”

When Mordecai started to object, Stavros shook his head. “I’m the logical choice. Arand should be with Sabrina, and Phoenix is protecting Tilly.” He gave Mordecai a knowing look. “And I don’t think you’d willingly leave Jessica.”

“Where will you start?” Mordecai asked his friend.

Stavros stilled and seemed to look inward. “Scotland, where she was last. If she’s left there, I’ll try the mountains in Washington State, the Rockies in Canada and then the rainforests of South America. After that, I’ll try Asia and the Middle East. I won’t stop searching until I find her.”

“Thank you.” The words were inadequate, but they were all Mordecai had.

“We are brothers. There is no need for thanks.” Those words were a balm to Mordecai’s dark soul. His fellow warriors had believed for far too long that he’d betrayed them. And in many ways, even though his intentions had been good, he had betrayed their trust. He knew that most of them still didn’t trust him, and he didn’t blame them for that.

Stavros closed his golden eyes and his entire body shimmered before he disappeared. Having all their powers back meant they could easily move from one place in the world to another with nothing more than a thought.

The water in the bathroom shut off and Mordecai swallowed hard. “I’m going to get her something cool to drink.” He hurried out of the bedroom and into the kitchen before he did something stupid. He couldn’t afford to think with his dick, not now, not when Jessica’s life hung in the balance.

Like the rest of the place, Jessica had managed to put her stamp on the kitchen in such a short time. His own apartment was spartan. But he didn’t need much. Her place was homey, inviting.

A pale green bowl filled with apples sat in the middle of her kitchen table. Bright yellow curtains hung at the window and the walls were painted a pale cream. He opened her refrigerator and pulled out a bottle of water and another one of ginger ale. He knew from spending time with her that she enjoyed the carbonated beverage. He heard the bathroom door open and hurried back into the bedroom.

Sabrina hovered next to Jessica, a worried frown on her face. Jessica wore a loose cotton dress that floated around her calves. No, not a dress, a nightgown. That’s what it was called. Her hair was damp and it was obvious that the shower had tired her. He set the drinks on her nightstand and went to her side. “You shouldn’t be walking. You need to conserve your strength.”

“I’m okay.” Her voice was weak but filled with determination. “I need that bag.” She pointed out one on the shelf, and he got it for her.

“What can I do to help?” Sabrina asked.

“Incense.” Jessica motioned Sabrina toward the door. “Middle drawer in the cabinet in the dining room.”

“On it.” Sabrina hurried from the room.

Jessica sat on the bed and took the bag from Mordecai. She opened it and dumped the contents on to her lap. Stones of all shapes, sizes and colors fell out. She studied them and then picked out several, holding them tight in her hands.

Mordecai quickly gathered the rest and put them back in the bag. “You need to rest,” he told her. She was naturally pale, but now her skin appeared almost translucent.

“Maybe for a minute.” She leaned back, settled on the pillows and released a sigh. She placed the stones she’d chosen around her and then gripped her wrist once again. Lines of pain bracketed her mouth and eyes.

He covered her bare legs with a throw and tucked the edges in around her. He felt more helpless than he had since the early days of the curse that had imprisoned him for five thousand years. He hated feeling this way.

Behind him, he heard Sabrina moving around. It wasn’t long until the scent of sage and sweet grass filled the air.

Jessica’s eyes had closed and her breathing was even. She’d fallen asleep, exhausted by the pain and the physical exertion of getting a shower.

“She asleep?” Sabrina asked.

Mordecai nodded.

“I can sit with her.”

He shook his head. “I’ll sit with her for now. You check on Tilly. Maybe she knows something that can help.” He’d once underestimated the strength, wisdom and resilience of humans, but never again. He’d seen too much, been through too much to doubt them.

“Call if you need us or if her condition changes.” Arand squeezed his shoulder and led Sabrina from the room.

Alone with Jessica, he studied her features. When had this human woman become so precious to him? Was it solely because she’d given him back his animal half, his soul? He didn’t think so, but he couldn’t be certain.

What he was sure of was that he’d do everything in his power to defeat this latest curse of Hades and see her well again.

Nothing else mattered.

Chapter Four

Jessica woke slowly, aware of another person lying next to her. Mordecai. She’d know his earthy scent anywhere. But why were they in her bed together? And they were in her bed. She could smell the herbs she’d planted perfuming the space and the scent of incense on the air. Feel her soft sheets against her skin. She opened her eyes, surprised there were shadows in the room.

She frowned. The sun had been shining only moments ago. Hadn’t it? Now it was going down. She remembered sitting in Jackson Square and tipping her head back to enjoy the warmth on her face.

She turned her head slowly and studied Mordecai. Even in sleep, there was no softness to his features. Tough and uncompromising. Those were the two words that sprang to mind. And, okay, ruggedly handsome. His dark hair fanned over her pillowcase and long black lashes were swept downward. It should be a sin for a man to have hair that silky and eyelashes that long and thick. But it didn’t diminish his masculinity in the slightest bit.

As if he sensed her regard, his eyes popped open and he was totally alert. He started to reach out to touch her face but abruptly pulled his hand back. She tried not to let her disappointment show. Obviously nothing of a sexual nature had occurred between them because they were both fully dressed.

“How do you feel?”

She frowned and automatically did a mental check of her body. It was only then she realized her left arm was throbbing from wrist to elbow. “My arm.” She went to touch it, but he caught her hand.

“Don’t.” His fingers were warm and strong against hers. “Do you remember what happened?”

Now that her brain wasn’t so foggy with sleep, she did remember. “The woman in the Square.”

“Yes. Hades has found a way to harm us without directly attacking.”

“Tilly.” Jessica sat up in bed and threw aside the covers.

“Phoenix has her,” Mordecai assured her.

“But is she okay?”

“I haven’t heard any news, so I assume that’s a good thing.”

“I need to talk to her.” Jessica would rest better if she knew Tilly was okay.

Mordecai reached over and turned on the bedside lamp. Several of her healing stones sat beside it. She had a vague memory of holding them in her hands at some point.

He plucked his cell phone off her nightstand. “Call her.” He handed her the phone and she quickly placed the call. It rang and rang and rang again. Jessica began to worry but, thankfully, it was answered on the fourth ring.

“Mordecai? How is Jessica? Is she okay?” Tilly’s voice and her concern soothed Jessica like a healing balm.

“It’s me, Tilly.”

“Why are you using Mordecai’s phone?” She could hear the suspicion in her friend’s voice.

“Because I don’t know where my phone is and he’s sitting with me.” That seemed to satisfy her friend.

“What happened, Jessica? Phoenix said something about a woman, a minion of Hades, burning your arm.”

Jessica winced as she studied the circular wound. It was black in color, raw and inflamed at the edges with tiny steaks of red running up toward her elbow. She described it to Tilly. Her friend was quiet for quite some time. “I’m not sure about this, Jessica. This is bad.”

“I know.” Jessica knew in her heart that Hades wanted her dead. She’d helped Mordecai defeat him and she was completely human and without protection. Easy prey for a vengeful god.

“I’m coming over. I should be with you.”

As much as she wanted her friend with her, she wanted Tilly safe even more. “No. Stay with Phoenix. Hades may be after you too. No sense in all of us being in one space and making it easier for him.”

“What does the Lady say?”

Jessica wondered the same thing herself. “Just a second and I’ll ask Mordecai.” She didn’t need to ask him. With his preternatural hearing, he’d been listening to her entire conversation.

“We can’t reach her.” She sensed his growing frustration. Not that you’d ever know it by looking at him. As always, he seemed calm and self-contained. No, it was only because she’d come to know him so well over the past few weeks that she realized just how agitated he was. “It’s as though Hades is doing something to block our communication with her. Stavros is searching for her but that will take time.”

What went unsaid was it was time Jessica didn’t have. She filled Tilly in on what Mordecai had told her.

“Shit.” Tilly echoed all their sentiments.

“I’ll be okay,” Jessica told her friend, even though she didn’t really believe it. “Maybe you should leave town or something.”

“I’m not sure that would make a difference.”

“But you can’t know that.” The more she thought about it, the more she liked the idea. “It might be safer for you to go away. Just until this blows over.”

“What if it never does?” Tilly asked. “What if it only ends when we’re both dead?”

Mordecai frowned and reached for the phone. She moved out of his reach. “We’ll figure something out.” Jessica had to believe that. “In the meantime, stay safe.”

“I will. If I think of anything, I’ll call you.” There was a long pause. “Love you, Jessica.”

She closed her eyes and swallowed hard. “I love you too, Tilly.” She pressed the button to end the call and handed the phone back to Mordecai.

“You are not going to die.” Mordecai emphatically pronounced each word as he dumped the phone back onto the nightstand.

“You can’t promise that. No one can.” The last thing she wanted was for him or her friends feeling guilty about this. “Whatever happens is on Hades. There’s nothing you or anyone could have done to prevent this.”

“Bullshit.” Mordecai rolled off the bed and began to prowl around the small room. “I should have left weeks ago. If I’d been off living by myself, Hades might have left you alone.”

Jessica shook her head. No way was she allowing him to go down this road. “No. It might have taken him longer to remember I existed, but he would have remembered. It was my grandmother who set you free, who helped you trick the devil himself. For that alone, he’d have come after me.”

There was a question she’d wanted to ask for weeks but hadn’t dared. Now with death staring her in the face, she figured she had nothing to lose. “Were you attracted to my grandmother?” Her grandmother had been quite the looker back in the day. It was all too easy to imagine Mordecai attracted to her. Jessica didn’t like the dark jealousy that gripped her when she thought about him and her grandmother together, but the image just wouldn’t go away.

“What?” He stopped pacing and stared at her like she had three heads.

“It’s a valid question,” she pointed out. “Considering the last four warriors released from the curse all ended up mated to the women who released them from the curse.”

“Why do you even care?” he countered.

She would not let this go. She couldn’t. “Because I do. Just answer the damn question.”

He stood, hands on his hips, legs spread, scowl on his face, looking every inch a warrior. “I admired your grandmother. She was a brave and clever woman.”

Jessica felt her heart sink. Her grandmother had been tall and curvy, not short and slender like Jessica was. Her color had been darker, more striking as well. Jessica was blond and pale. She hated feeling so inadequate and knew her grandmother wouldn’t like her feeling that way. She’d lecture Jessica about it. She could practically hear her grandmother telling her that any man would be lucky to have her.

A muscle twitched beneath his eye and his jaw tightened. His eyes darkened, becoming deep pools of midnight. “But, Jessica, she wasn’t you.”

It took her a moment to process what he’d said. When she did, she threw herself off the bed and into his arms, ignoring the pain that rocketed up her arm.

He caught her easily. “What are you doing? You need to rest.”

No, she needed something more than that, something only he could give her. “I might not make it,” she began.

“You will.” He tightened his arms around her briefly before he set her back on the bed. “You have to.”

She shook her head. “But I might not. I don’t know how much time I have, but I suspect not long.” In fact, she was surprised by the reprieve. “If I’m going to die, there is one thing I want to do before that happens, and only you can give it to me.”

“What is it? He sat on the bed, his arms braced on either side of her body as he loomed over her. “Anything you want. You have only to ask.”

She reached up and touched the side of his face, marveling at his hard, smooth jaw. “You, Mordecai. I want you.”

Not much had taken him off-guard over the course of his long lifetime, but Jessica had managed to do just that. Oh, he knew she was attracted to him. But he’d certainly never expected her to say the only thing she wanted before she died was to have sex with him. No, not have sex. He knew she wanted him to make love to her.

He wasn’t sure he could, didn’t know if he truly understood what love was. Hell, he hadn’t even been certain this thing called love had even existed until he’d seen what the warriors and their women had been willing to do for one another to survive. Such selflessness still amazed him.

“Mordecai?” Her soft voice brought every cell in his body humming to life. He wanted her so much his teeth ached with need. But he wouldn’t take advantage of her, not when she was wounded and clearly not thinking straight.

“Jessica,” he began.

She shook her head. “If you don’t want me, that’s okay. But don’t lie to me or to yourself. I want you. I want to have your lips on mine, feel your hands on my body while your cock thrusts deep.”

Holy crap, Mordecai was surprised his dick didn’t explode after that pronouncement. It was certainly hard and read for action. “You’re not yourself.” He had to do the right thing even if it killed him.

“No, on the contrary, I know exactly what I want.” The smile she gave him was filled with tenderness and an underlying sadness. “All my adult life, I’ve known I’d eventually have to do my part to pay my grandmother’s debt. She knew it too. That’s why I never got involved in any serious relationship. I didn’t seem fair when I knew I was facing a potential death sentence.”

The thought of some other male having the right to touch Jessica, hold her, love her, made him crazy. But was she saying she’d never been with a man? He swallowed heavily and his cock twitched. “Are you saying?” he began and broke off, not quite sure how to ask. “Are you saying,” he started again, “that you’ve never had sex?”

She smiled then, so brightly it made his heart ache. “No, that’s not what I’m saying.”

Mordecai wasn’t sure whether to be disappointed or relieved. On one hand, he couldn’t bear the thought that she’d been alone all these years without someone to look out for her. On the other hand, he didn’t like the idea of any man touching her. His hands were fisted, and he made himself relax his fingers. No, he didn’t like that idea at all.

“I’ve been in relationships,” she continued. “But I always knew going in they were short term. And once I moved here to New Orleans, I didn’t bother with anything other than a casual date.” She touched her chest over her heart. “I always knew that my family’s debt would be paid here, in this place.”

“A debt. Is that all it is?” He didn’t like hearing her talk about her returning his serpent half, his soul, as nothing more than a debt.

“In the beginning, that’s all it was. Then I met Sabrina, and it became about keeping my friend safe.

He tried not to let her words hurt him. It amazed him that a puny human had the power to make his chest ache and his soul cry out in pain.

She licked her lips, and he tried not to notice how lush and pink they were. It was impossible. Everything about Jessica called to him.

“Then I saw you.” She shook her head. “I don’t know. It was as though I’d known you in another lifetime.” Her blue eyes grew soft as she gazed at him. “Then it became as much about saving you.”

“You can’t save me,” he blurted. “No one can.”

He tried to move away, but she wrapped her uninjured hand around one of his wrists, chaining him to the bed with her gentle touch. “Why would you say such a thing?”

Anger bubbled up from the well of darkness that dwelled deep within him. “Why?” He leaned down until their noses were almost touching. “Because I am tainted. After so many years residing in Hell, I am filled with the stench of Hades’ realm. It changed me.”

She stroked her hand up his arm. Shockingly, he began to tremble beneath her touch. “The core of you is unchanged, Mordecai. You are a man of honor and courage. A man who did what was necessary to protect his friends and his goddess.”

Mordecai shook his head. He could not allow her to believe such lies. “No, I knew I couldn’t defeat Hades in battle and I wasn’t ready to die.” There, he’d laid his greatest shame out in front of her. “I was a coward.” There was such self-loathing in his words and he deserved every ounce of mistrust and anger his fellow warriors felt toward him. He didn’t deserve their trust. He had betrayed it. “I wasn’t even certain until the last minute I was going to try to save Roric and the others. I was tired of fighting the darkness after so many years.”

He shook his head and sat back, feeling bereft when her hand fell away from him. “It was easier with Stavros and Phoenix. It was early days then and I still had hope.” He’d been so fired with noble thoughts of saving them all. Arrogance was his curse. “But it was long years after that before Roric was released. I was teetering on the edge by then.”

And Hades’ lies were seductive. The offer of power and freedom had begun to look good after so many years of being alone. But that was no excuse.

Jessica sat up in bed and smacked his arm. The slight sting brought his attention back to her. “How dare you say such a thing?”

He rubbed his arm, trying to absorb her touch even if it was an angry one. “It’s the truth, Jessica.” He would not lie to her or to himself.

“It doesn’t matter.” She crossed her arms and he tried not to notice the way it pushed her breasts up against the thin material of her nightgown. He almost lost his mind when he saw the outline of her dark nipples against the pale lilac material. His pants grew uncomfortably tight. She was killing him and his good intentions.