Oathbreaker (20 page)

I actually felt a shudder course through his body… a shudder. Sometimes it really astounded me how much Trevor loved me and sometimes it irritated me a little. I didn't like having his death hanging over my head and I really didn't like that he found it comforting.

It seems like a lot of women want a man that's willing to die for them, and I won't deny the gallantry of it, but all I really want is one that will live for me. The years Odin had spent mourning Sabine, hoping to one day be reunited with her, seemed far more romantic to me than Trevor's declaration that he'd be happy to follow me into my grave. Dying would be easier on me if I could know that the person I loved would go on living.

With that thought came a quick flash of memory. I was still lying in bed but it was a different bed... my deathbed. Odin was holding my hand and I was reassuring him that we would meet again. It had felt peaceful. I was happy, knowing the man I loved was immortal and would be there for my next incarnation.

Trevor would not. If and when I reincarnated, I wouldn't have him to come back to. It was a sobering thought. Now that I had proof of reincarnation, I had to rethink a few things. Did Atlanteans reincarnate? Or did they forgo that option by choosing immortality? Oh, now my head was starting to hurt. I didn't want to think about losing Trevor. No matter what his views on life and death were or how much he sounded like an emo vampire when he talked about them, I loved him and I wanted him to live.

I sighed and reached back to stroke his cheek. “I love you, honey-eyes but I need to sleep now. Can we discuss eternity in the morning?”

“Sure, Rouva,” he laughed softly and it was the sweetest lullaby I’d ever heard.

Chapter Twenty-One

I woke up to a natural disaster erupting all over my front door. A natural disaster that sounded like a cross between an earthquake and a tornado, and who went by the name of Thor. Hurricane Thor kept up the violence on my poor abode until Kirill let him in and came to get me out of my nice warm bed.

I just lay there groaning.

“
Please not to make me deal vith Zor,” Kirill's Russian accent got worse when he was nervous. It was kind of cute but I'd never tell him that. It would probably just make him more nervous and then I wouldn't be able to understand him at all.

“
But I don't want to deal with Zor either,” I whacked the blankets to either side of me with my arms. “I mean
Thor
.”

“
I'll deal with him,” Trevor's face twisted into what some people might call a grin, and by people I mean sociopaths.

“
Stop,” I sat up and pointed a finger at him. “You at least need to put some pants on.”

Trevor looked down at his nudity and shrugged. Yeah, if I looked like that, I probably wouldn't mind flaunting myself either.

“
Then
can I deal with our guest?” He did that almost smiling thing again.

“
No,” I sighed and rolled to the opening at the end of the bed. “I'll speak to him.”

I dressed and followed the guys out to the kitchen where Thor was seated in one of the carved Chinese chairs at the matching table. He sat rigid, regal, arms over both armrests and chin up. I felt like I'd just been granted an audience with the King. I had to shake the feeling off and remind myself that this was my ex-boyfriend in my dining room.

“What's up, Thor?” I slid into a chair beside him as Kirill went to make coffee. Bless his little lion heart.

“
I've been informed that something serious went on last night in Asgard,” he frowned but that was Thor's usual expression since we'd broken up. “As guardian of Asgard, I'm offended to not have been alerted. As
your
guardian, I'm offended to not have known you needed assistance.”

“
Ve protect Tima now,” Kirill put a cup of coffee down before both me and Thor. I silently thanked him for speaking up before Trevor could.

“
Yeah, we got this,” Trevor called out over his shoulder, from where he stood making breakfast.

“
Be that as it may,” Thor nodded his thanks to Kirill for the coffee. “I still have a standing Blood-to-Mouth vow with your Tima. I can't help feeling protective. Now tell me what happened, Vervain.”

“
How did you even hear about this?” I yawned and poured cream into my coffee till it turned beige. “We only just got back.”

“
Rain,” Thor frowned and looked away. “I was at a party at Epona's and he was there of course. He came up to me and asked how the link between us was holding up, now that you have a new man. I was about to get angry when I realized I couldn't sense you anymore. So I began to concentrate harder and I felt a tingle of your relief.”

“
Relief?” I glanced at Kirill as he took the chair on my other side.

“
Yes,” Thor's stare intensified and I suddenly saw so much of Odin in his face, it freaked me out and I had to look away. “Before I could say anything, Rain mentioned that you'd gone with Odin to help out with some unknown issue. He suggested it might be a good idea for me to check up on you this morning.”

“
What the hell?” I looked at Kirill and then back at Thor. “That boy is really getting on my nerves with his weird cryptic manipulations. What's wrong with him?”

“
You're making one of your jokes?” Thor was frowning again.

“
No,” I glared back. “He's really pissing me off. He asked me how I'd feel about being a mother, right before I left and.... Holy shit,” I looked over at Kirill's slack-jawed face.

“
Holy shit, what?” Thor prompted.

“
We’ve discovered that Vervain is actually Sabine reincarnated,” Trevor placed a plate in front of each of us, piled high with food.

My eggs were perfectly done, over-medium like I preferred, and he’d even added a scoop of rice. I loved that wolf. He sat down and I gave him a look of gratitude for explaining for me.

“Excuse me?” Thor sputtered into his coffee.

“
Balder has evidently harbored a grudge against her for all this time, so when Vervain went to help Odin oust some traitors, Balder kidnapped her,” Trevor poured himself a cup of coffee calmly, like he was talking about the score of last night’s Warrior’s football game. “We found her chained up in Breidablik but Balder fled. We also found out that he was behind a plot to kill Odin and take his place as leader.”

“
Are you alright?” He took my hand carefully, like I might break… or pull away.

“
I’m fine, Thor,” I did pull away but I tried to do it gently. “I’m just a little shaken to find out that I’m a mother.”

“
Vidar,” Thor’s face went slack, like it hadn’t occurred to him before then. “Damn, did you meet him? He’s rarely around anymore.”

“
Yes, we met,” I tried to smile but my lips were shaky. “I also met Vali, you know I consider him my son as well?” Thor nodded slowly, like it was those words more than anything else that convinced him of me being Sabine. “But Rain, he asked me how I'd feel if I was a mother in an entirely different life. Did he know about Vidar and Vali?”

“
Probably,” Thor nodded like it was a given.

“
What do you mean, probably?” I sat back in frustration. “What's he like, a psychic or something?”

“
Yes,” Thor took a sip of his coffee before resuming his frowning. “I thought you knew.”

“
No, I didn't know,” I turned to look at the other men. “Did either of you know?”

“
No,” from Trevor while Kirill simultaneously said, “Nyet.”

“
Hmph,” I sniffed and rubbed at my forehead. “A mother in another life. No kidding. No wonder he laughed.”

“
And that explains why he prompted me to go find you,” Trevor took my hand. “Remind me to thank Rain.”

“
I hadn't thought of that,” I guess I'd have to forgive him his cryptic clues. “I guess he kinda saved my life.”

“
He helped a little but now you know why I listened and came over this morning. How do you feel, Vervain?” Thor’s face looked like it didn’t know whether it should convey sympathy or anxiety.

“
I feel…” I looked down at my plate, then over to Trevor before looking back at Thor. “I’m scared. Thrilled. Worried. Confused. Sad,” I shook my head. “Pick one, they’re all accurate.”

“
Did Vidar speak to you?”

“
Of course he spoke to me,” I laughed and it sounded just a tad hysterical. “I’m his mother, sort of.”

“
There’s no sort of,” Thor took a deep breath. “If he recognized you, then it’s true, you’re Sabine. Her soul has returned to live again; for whatever reason, she’s back. Your body is new, your life is new, but your soul is the same and it’s your soul that’s linked to his as his mother. The body doesn’t love, only the soul can do that.”

“
Thank you,” I smiled. “You’ve just explained things in a way that I can finally understand.”

“
You’re welcome,” Thor frowned. “Now tell me what Balder did to you?”

“
Drugged me and slapped me around,” I shrugged and brushed my hair back so he could see my cut. “He didn’t get to the really rough stuff because I threatened to drain him.”

“
You what?” Trevor looked over at me.

“
Vervain, I told you to be careful with that,” Thor rubbed at his forehead, right where he had that piece of stone imbedded. Oh, so many jokes. “You've already done it twice. You could overwhelm your human body.”

“
I found a way to integrate them all,” I mixed my eggs with the rice and poured some shoyu on top. “I'm fairly certain I could add more if I needed too.”

“
Fairly certain?” Thor bit at his lip. “What if you take so many different powers, you lose the ability to control them all? What would happen if you lost control of Love or War? Great Scott, I don't know what would be worse.”

“
Did you just say,
Great Scott
?”

“
Vervain, please,” Thor groaned, “focus.”

“
Right,” I sighed. “Here's the thing, if a god is trying to kill me and I have no other options left, it's kind of a damned if I do, damned if I don't situation. I figure if I try it, I'll at least have a chance. Besides, I don't have to drain them all the way, remember? I could just take enough to weaken them and borrow their magic for a bit.”

“
There is that,” he gave me a grim look. “So be it. I'd rather you live to deal with the problem later, as well. Do what you feel best but be careful.”

“
I’ll save that trick for emergencies,” I smiled but it was as grim as his look.

“
I think that may be best,” Trevor held my hand.

Thor frowned, “I can't believe Balder's trying to kill Father.”

“
I just realized how screwed up this is,” I couldn’t pull my eyes away from Thor. “I was married to your father. Does that make me your Stepmom? Holy shit, I’ve slept with my Stepson. I’m some kind of depraved slut.” I moaned as I dropped my face into my hands. “Balder was right; I’m a whore, a big fat whore.”

“
Vervain, stop it,” Thor took one of my hands gently away from my face. “Sabine was another life. You’re not a whore and I think Trevor will happily join me in ripping Balder limb from limb for ever saying that to you.”

A quick peek at my wolf showed him to be leaning in and nodding with a fierce light in his eyes. He took my other hand and kissed it.

“You’ve done nothing wrong,” Trevor squeezed my hand.

“
Sure, easy for you to say, you’re a Prince, you guys can date within the family,” I pulled my hands back from them both. “I however, don’t have the royal prerogative of inbreeding.”

“
Very funny,” Trevor pushed my mug at me in an attempt to get me to fill my mouth with something besides my insane chatter. “I take it you’re over your initial horror?”

“
It’s faded a bit, yes,” I sipped, still inwardly cringing but unwilling to show it anymore.

I don’t know why it shocked me so much but it did. I just kept seeing myself as some slutty trophy wife sneaking off into my hot stepson’s bed. It was like an episode of Law & Order, except no one was dead… well, I guess I was, er, I mean Sabine was. Oh hell, and Al. My head started to pound. Al.

“Vervain, are you okay?” Thor caught my eye.

“
I'm fine,” I said quietly, memories of our relationship pouring over me. Did I regret ending it? I mean if I hadn’t broken up with Thor, I wouldn’t be with Trevor. I looked over at Trevor and found him staring at me intensely. I took his hand and gave it a quick squeeze to lighten his look. He didn’t deserve all the stress I’d been putting him through. “There's more. Demeter killed one of my lions last night. Alfred. He's dead.”