Chapter 44

Kailua Beach was deserted; an odd occurrence even at eleven o'clock at night. Usually, there were at least a few lovers or teenagers partying and hiding from the occasional cop who decided to patrol the beach. Yet the sand was empty for miles; it was only us and the endless waves sweeping the shore.
"Did you do some juju or something?"I looked up at Thor.
"I wanted to be alone with you,"he admitted as he took my hand.
"Humph."I shook my head and let him lead me further down the shore. "Must be nice to be a god."
"It has its perks."Thor stopped abruptly and pulled me against him. "Here's another,"he whispered as he brought his mouth to mine.
I tasted the hops on Thor's tongue, but I didn't mind even though I hated beer. On him, it seemed to enhance his masculinity, just another flavor of male. His hand snaked through my hair as he deepened the kiss; holding me tightly. I groaned at the feel of his chest, hard against mine, and the tingles his hand made as he slid it down my back. Everywhere he touched seemed to come alive as if he were some kind of Dr. Frankenstein, and I, the monster's bride.
Lightning flashed out on the water and thunder rumbled in response. I pulled back, a little dazed, and looked up to find the flashes mirrored in his eyes. No, wait; they began in his eyes and mirrored into the world. Didn't Frankenstein use lightning too? My head spun, and I would've fallen if Thor hadn't been holding me so tightly.
"You never told me your stories,"his voice had gone low; a sultry vibration.
"You said you knew me already,"I teased.
"I also said that I wanted to know you better."
"Okay."I drew back and sat in the sand; trying to push away thoughts of mad scientists and monsters. "What do you want to know?"
"Do you have any siblings?"He sat next to me; looking as comfortable on the sand as he did on his loveseat in Bilskinir.
"I have one half-sister and two half-brothers."
"Why half?"He frowned.
"One brother is from my Dad's marriage to another woman. My remaining sister and brother are from my Mom's marriage to another man."I cocked my head at his confusion.
"You don't consider them to be fully your family?"He seemed surprised.
"Of course, I do."I finally understood. "It's just a way of saying that I only share one parent with them, not both."
"Family is family."Thor brushed back a strand of hair that had blown across my face. "It's silly to have labels for the quantity of blood you share."
"Maybe. I never really thought about it."I shrugged. "It doesn't make me love them any less. I just wasn't raised with them so it's a different relationship from siblings who have grown up together."
"Ah, yes. I have a different relationship with Vidar and Vali than they do with each other because they were so close in age. Even though they had different mothers, they were raised together. I think Vali saw Sabine more as his mother than he did Frigg. Balder, though, has always been his mother's son."Thor grimaced.
"Then you understand."I leaned a shoulder against him, and he swept his arm around me.
"I do,"he agreed.
It was amazingly sweet to sit on the beach beside Thor. All the annoyances of the beach which I usually hated were dimmed in the dark. Moonlight was kinder than the Sun on my skin and made Thor into a mysterious stranger. The salt breeze was gentle and the sand was soft beneath me. Honestly, the only reason I wanted to bring him there was to see if the reality of Thor on a beach at night was as good as the dream. I was shocked to find that it was even more so. Thor made the beach beautiful. For me, that said a hell of a lot.
A pueo, a Hawaiian owl, flew by us; its white feathers shining in the night like a star.
"Oh!"I pointed. "Did you see it?"
"Yes."Thor nuzzled closer. "A good omen."
"Maybe if you were in Greece,"a deep, feminine voice startled us and brought Thor to his feet instantly, "but here you may find that the sight of an owl is quite different."
I was a little slower to rise; spending more time on locating the source of our interruption than on gaining my feet. I found her in the least likely place; walking in with the tide. I stared open-mouthed as a beautiful black woman walked up to us wearing a dress that seemed to be made out of the waves themselves. When she reached the shore, her dress broke free and formed a full hemline of froth. Upon her brow was a silver crown draped with pearls and topped with a gold starfish.
"Yemanja."Thor nodded with respect.
"Hello, Thor,"her voice sweetened, and I felt a terrible emotion swirl through my gut: jealousy. "Hello, Godhunter."
"Hello."I followed Thor's lead and nodded.
"Did you send the owl?"Thor took my hand and squeezed it reassuringly.
"You've never been one for subtleties, Viking,"she said and sighed. "That used to be something I found charming, but now that you no longer share my bed, I don't see the appeal. It's funny how sex changes your perspective."
"If the owl wasn't a blessing, then what was it?"Thor was being unusually patient with her, and it was making me increasingly angry.
I was creating a list in my head of all the reasons this woman was better for Thor than I, the top of which was her being a lwa (a voodoo spirit) of the sea. The fact that she was stunningly beautiful didn't hurt either.
"It was a warning."Yemanja ventured another step forward but seemed unwilling to go too far from the water. "There's trouble coming for you and most of it is standing right there."She pointed at me.
"Hey now!"I started forward, but Thor held me back.
"I know she's trouble"-he grinned—"but she's worth it."
"Then be warned and be careful, love. You're walking your father's path, treading precisely in his footsteps, and the price may be higher than you suspect."She shook her head before looking at me. "The warning is for you as well, Godhunter. You may not believe this, but I've watched over you since you were a child even though you are not mine to protect. Do you not remember me?"
I blinked and frowned through a sudden flash of memory; my accident on a yacht back when I was a little girl. I did remember someone in the water with me. A beautiful face on a dark-skinned woman with pearls in her hair. I'd thought she was one of the guests, come in after me, but when I concentrated, I recalled that the woman had come from beneath me. She'd never been on the boat at all . . . and she'd had a fish tail. How had I forgotten that?
"You,"I breathed as shivers raced along my arms.
"You do remember,"her voice was sweet as she smiled brightly. "You were so little. You had climbed the railing and slipped. No one saw you fall and your party dress was pulling you under. I lifted you up until they came for you. There's great magic inside you, even back then it was enough to catch my notice. I knew that you weren't meant to die so young, and so I saved you. What I didn't know was that you'd end up seducing my favorite Viking when you got older,"her voice teased, and I found myself smiling in response.
"You saved my life."I had no idea if she had ulterior motives, but for whatever reason, she'd helped me once. "Thank you. It's way overdue, but thank you."
"You're welcome, Hunter."Yemanja raised a hand, and the owl came to perch lightly on her fingers. "Remember my warning, and I just may save it again. You've become the prey. The Wolves have your scent and the only way to stop them is to save them. Your gentle touch shall force them more than your force shall make them gentle."She lifted her hand, and the bird flew toward us, only to disappear in a shower of stars. "Remember,"she whispered, and when my vision cleared of starlight, she was gone.
Talk about a dramatic exit.