The Witch's Vampire (New Adult Paranormal Romance) (Mystery Springs Series) (23 page)

“Your home? The Greek Gods are aliens?”
Holy shit! This is unbelievable!

“Greek Gods, Roman Gods, Egyptian Gods. We all hail from different planets. How else do you think we could influence your under-developed world so much?” The woman with curly brown hair, dark skin, and piercing angry eyes responded. “We are simply people who want to get home, and your town council keeps us from that destination.”

“I’m sure they have a good reason for it.” Sophie countered. She really didn’t like the woman that talked so easily about killing her.

“The reason is of no consequence.” The last man who looked of Japanese descent spoke up. “It’s our home, and we have the right to return.”

“That’s not true.” Thanatos approached the group from behind, Giovanni at his side. “You’ve been exiled from home because of the crimes you’ve committed. A fate we all share.” Thanatos said the last part in a softer tone. “We’re here until the judges on our respective worlds send for us.”

“We’ve been here too many centuries, Thanatos. How long must we pay for our indiscretions?”

“Attempting to overthrow the royal families on the five planets was not a simple indiscretion.” Thanatos reminded them. “And I’m not the only one who agrees with this fact. If you continue down this path you will bring about a war of epic proportions.”

Giovanni used Thanatos’ conversation as a distraction to slip past the group and stand next to Sophie. Even in the dream realm she smelled amazing and felt better than he expected. She offered him a grateful smile and leaned into his side ever so slightly. Never showing weakness, but still acquiring his strength. He groaned inwardly at their touch, craving more. It took all he had to stomp his desires down and focus on the issue at hand. As a vampire he doesn’t dream so he wasn’t immune to the fantasy magic that existed in this world. For him it was almost overpowering, a weaker man would’ve succumbed.

“So the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Your attack on the town is the same aggressive behavior you exhibited to get us sent here in the first place. Our worlds are peaceful. They’re not going to accept war-hungry citizens back with open arms. Centuries have past and none of you have learned your lesson.”

“Some of us have. We don’t plan on hurting innocents in our attack, only those that keep us from our quest.” The blonde man defended them.

“Really, Eros? Because what I see is an innocent witch doctor defending another innocent human from dangerous gods.” Thanatos snapped back.

Sophie and Gio bit back the urge to speak. Thanatos was doing a good job of talking them down but the ninja dream weavers that surrounded them made them both feel uneasy. Gio pulled her even closer against him, his possessive arm snaked around her waist. His job in this scenario was to protect his girl and he’d do that with his dying breath, even against the gods. And if she was Beatrice’s soul reincarnated, he’d get his redemption.

“Frankly, I’m surprised to see you on this side of the battle. I thought your motto was love before war?” Thanatos continued his lecturing of the rebelling gods.

“I just want to go home.” He stated darkly, but Sophie could see pain and conflict in his eyes. Perhaps he could be saved as well.

“And how does attacking Sophie make that possible?” Giovanni asked, he didn’t mean to speak up. The words simply slipped out of his mouth, his desire to protect her was overwhelming.

All six pairs of eyes turned toward them. It was a terrifying sight. The godly eyes held varying levels of anger and disgust.

“Sophie is the healer. Without her you would be even more defenseless.” The unknown male with dark hair and olive skin spoke up.

“Sounds like a strategy from a war god, not the god of fear, Deimos.” Thanatos shot back and the volley of words began again.

“Well, Ares is my father and he has taught us all to be masters on the battlefield. His problem is that he gets taken over by his thirst for blood. I, on the other hand, am more strategic. If they lose access to their healer, fear will set in, and fear is one of the best tools to use when you want to disarm the enemy with few casualties.”

“So you kill Sophie and there are less innocent casualties?” Thanatos nodded his head.

Giovanni moved in front of Sophie. He didn’t like where this discussion was heading.

The logic behind the words was there. The good of the many outweigh the good of the few. But that looked completely illogical to the few that were on the losing end of that belief. Sophie had had enough. She slipped past Giovanni’s protective stance and moved forward. “First off, I don’t care if you’re aliens with god-like powers. Deciding who lives or dies like pawns on a chess board is inhumane. Who gives you the right? No wonder you all lost favor with the humans. Secondly, did you even try talking to the council and addressing your concerns like decent beings with a respect for life would have?”

Gio snaked his arm around her waist and spun around putting his back to the gods, and effectively placing his body between theirs and hers. “I need you to stop.” His eyes pleaded with her. He wouldn’t lose her. Couldn’t. Instinct was telling him to shut her up before her mouth got her killed.

All six of the alien gods turned in her direction again.

‘You need to quiet yourself, child.’
Nike’s voice echoed in her mind.

“No, I won’t be silent. If you plan to kill me I plan to have my say in the matter.” Sophie glared at Giovanni and Nike.

“The council won’t grant them access. It is their job to keep them from the power source and the gateway.” Thanatos answered Sophie’s question.

“That hardly seems fair since you are ‘gods’...”. She used air quotes to enunciate the last word. “…and we are humans with supernatural abilities.”

“You have the blood of the gods running through your veins. They created you all for a different purpose; power during a great war that only recently ended.” Thanatos explained.

“Some believe the war has not ended.” Deimos spoke in low dangerous tones.

“But it has, Deimos. The treaties have been signed and peace is expected to be maintained.” Thanatos chided. “The consequences of re-igniting that battle are far too great for all sides.”

“Your duty as the deliverer of souls to the gateway has really made you dense in what is happening on earth, brother.” Hypnos spit his angry words.

“Be that as it may, the consequences of starting another war are disastrous for all sides involved.”

“Wouldn’t what they are doing now be considered an act of war?” Sophie asked. She was getting more confused by the minute.

“There are no rules about fighting against the supernaturals and humans, only the rule about fighting against other gods.” Nike spoke up. The sad look behind her eyes made Sophie wonder how on board she was with all of this.

“So the gods have abandoned us?” Sophie asked knowing the answer but hoping to shame them into understanding.

“I’ll stand in as protector of this town.” Thanatos stated loudly.

Hypnos laughed. “You have no time to protect this town. Even as we speak your duties are piling up on you.”

“I have reapers to handle the soul gathering. The souls can wait in purgatory for a few hours while I manage issues here. You think because I choose not to spend time with you that I’m incapable of protecting a town?”

“So you are claiming Mystery Springs under your domain?” Hypnos asked once again for confirmation.

Thanatos paused for only a moment. Sophie silently wondered why he would pause at such a question. There was obviously more to claiming a town for a god then she understood. “As long as the town accepts me as their protector I’ll claim them as under my domain.”

Giovanni allowed a smile to spread across his cold lips. “I’ll call a council meeting as soon as we wake up. But as a representative of the council I’m sure there will be little problem with the claim.” Giovanni didn’t show his worry. Having death claim their town would be harder than one would think. The fact that he represented death didn’t help, but the council was also very much opposed to godly intervention since their job was to protect the nexus from the gods and the supernatural forces.

“Until then, we’ll keep her mother and the human as collateral.” Deimos spoke his terms.

“And we’ll continue our attack on the town.” Hypnos added. “It’s a race, dear brother. Who do you think will win? If history is any witness, that winner will be me.” A wicked grin spread across his boy-like face. It made the young god look evil.

“You can’t have my mother and Tiffany.” Sophie stated simply. Gio’s grip tightened on her and she pushed him off. “If you must keep someone, take me.”

If Gio had a heart that beat it would’ve stopped in that moment. “No.”

“The healer has made her choice.” Eros smiled as he took Sophie’s arm and pulled her toward them.

“Then I’ll go...” Giovanni tried to speak, but Thanatos interrupted him.

“…go get the council ready.” Thanatos said. “You’ll prepare them for the talks.”

“I’ll keep an eye on my daughter until you return to free her.” Regina spoke up, all eyes turned toward her voice. She was standing behind the ninja circle that wound around them with Tiffany at her side.

“Yes, we’ll keep her safe.” Tiffany added.

Sophie noticed a light behind the girl’s eyes that wasn’t there before. She could feel Tiffany’s hope returning. Sophie wasn’t sure what her mother had done, but she was thankful for whatever it was.

Gio fought the urge to rip Eros’ head off his shoulders and take his girl back. It was logic that kept him in check. He knew he wasn’t strong enough to defeat a god. He wasn’t stupid. He also knew Thanatos and her mother would keep her safe. And if something happened to her he was going to rain holy terror down on anyone who hurt Sophie. “If any harm comes to her I’ll personally kill you all myself.”  His voice was low and dark his eyes reinforced his promise.

The gods turned angry glares in his direction, but he was not the first to look away. Regina walked up to him and tilted her head while she examined the dangerous man that was ready to take on powerful gods to protect her daughter. She placed a gentle hand on his arm and smiled. “A vampire and a witch, now that is an interesting match-up. We’ll keep her safe.” She reassured him and offered a brilliant smile. In a softer voice she moved closer to his ear and whispered. “Thank you for loving my daughter.”

“Fine. The race is on, Hypnos.” Thanatos walked over to Giovanni. “It’s time to go.” He placed his hand on Gio’s shoulder and they disappeared. The last thought Gio had was how he wanted one last kiss before his insides were twisted and pulled. He felt as though the world disappeared around him and began to free fall back into the human realm.

Chapter Sixteen

It took Gio a little longer than the first time to recover from the transport. It was pretty obvious he wasn’t built for inter-dimensional travel to different realms. He’d make that trip a thousand times over to rescue his true mate. When he recovered
, he started making calls to bring the council together for an emergency meeting. He didn’t expect the search for the missing nephilim, Luke, and Gregor would be more important than his issue, but after speaking to two council members he quickly discovered that took precedence in their book.