Chapter 74

Something cool and liquid was at my lips, and I drank it down greedily. There was soft murmuring around me and warmth everywhere. My body tingled like a freshly awakened foot, and I had the urge to stretch everything all at once. I opened my eyes and saw a white feather with a red tip hanging before me. I blinked, refocused, and saw that it was attached to a long, silky, black braid. Teharon. I smiled.
"We have to stop meeting like this,"I croaked.
Teharon laughed softly. Everything about him was gentle. He was the perfect healer. "Drink more of this, Vervain."
I heard some movement; it sounded like running. Far away, there was a crash, then a slam, and the pound of heavy footfalls. As they neared, I heard angry male voices getting louder with them, and I groaned. I was too tired to deal with more anger. Can't we all just get along?
"Tell them that if they can't control their hostility, they're not to come in,"Teharon looked to his left as he spoke.
I saw Mrs. E standing there in a white linen dress, looking like an angel. Or maybe that was just because she was holding a pitcher of water, and I was still so very thirsty. She smiled at me, winked, and walked calmly away. I gulped more water from the cup Teharon held as he brushed back the hair from my forehead. His touch was as cool and as reviving as the water.
"Easy, Godhunter, you've been through a lot, and it's taken many nights to heal you,"he said. "Don't overtax yourself."
"How many nights?"I frowned as I tried to remember and then tensed as I relived it all at once.
Teharon stroked my face and calmed me with whispered words, but soon there were more faces pressing in around him. Thor's face was pale and anxious. He knelt beside me and took my hand; pressing it to his lips and crying silently as he kissed it. I started to cry too, and he dove over me; wrapping his arms around me and burying his face in my neck. My back felt a little tight and achy but there wasn't any pain, and I silently worshiped Teharon's healing abilities.
"Are you in pain, darling?"Thor jerked back. "Did I hurt you?"
"No."I smiled as big as I could and looked over at Teharon. "I'm racking up quite a tab with you, Mr. Heaven Hands."
"Remember me when you release your bounty."Teharon winked, and I felt my face go slack. He held up his hand; immediately reassuring. "You're still the Godhunter. You're still Vervain Lavine, nothing has changed that. There's just more to you now."
"So, now you heal the spirit too, Teharon?"I reached for his hand, and he squeezed mine.
"I try my best."He gave me one last squeeze before releasing me to back away; ending up slightly behind the blue silk curtains at the foot of the bed.
"Then so shall I."I smiled with more strength and looked back at Thor. "How did you find me?"
"When you killed Aphrodite, her wards went down, and I was able to break through into her territory."Thor winced as he recounted it. "It was bad, darling. I didn't think you were going to live."
"She wouldn't have if she hadn't taken Aphrodite's magic,"Teharon admitted.
"The fighting stopped as soon as Aphrodite took you,"Thor reclaimed my attention, "Huitzilopochtli noticed first; the son of a bitch. He just started screaming and then disappeared. That's when I noticed you were gone too. I thought he'd somehow taken you, but Horus pointed out that Huitzilopochtli wouldn't have been upset if that were the case."
Thor looked over his shoulder at Horus, who shrugged as if it didn't matter to him whether I lived or died. But I caught the glimmer of relief in his eyes, and it made me smile.
"I went to Fenrir and asked for Trevor,"Thor continued. "He picked up Aphrodite's scent easily, but then he'd known it was her all along."
"He tried to tell me."I patted Thor's hand. "I can't blame him for his loyalty to his family."
"We'll talk of loyalties later."Thor looked grim, and I frowned but before I could ask anything, he continued, "I couldn't even sense where Aphrodite had taken you. She had you deep in the ground and that, combined with her wards, made you invisible to me. Trevor found the path, but we still couldn't get past her wards until she was dead. As soon as they fell, we went in after you. You were horribly abused. If Aphrodite hadn't already been dead, I would have killed her slowly."
"I love you too,"I whispered, and his face lost a little of its ferocity.
"Lady Hunter,"the low roll of Trevor's voice vibrated in my ears, and I looked over to see him at the foot of the bed.
I don't know why, but it was strange to see Trevor in Thor's bedroom at Bilskinir. It felt like a misplaced intimacy.
"Trevor."I started to smile, but something in his face made me hesitate. He had something to say, but he couldn't do it in front of the others. I don't know how I could read him so easily, but it suddenly seemed natural, like a childhood friend whose every twitch I could interpret. "Baby."I looked over at Thor. "I know I just woke up but could you clear everyone out for a minute? I need to talk to Trevor."
Thor looked at me, then at the wolf, and back at me again. He gave me a confused nod, but before he could get up, I pulled his face down and kissed him thoroughly. When I pulled back, Thor smiled, but his lips trembled and a relieved half laugh/half cry tumbled past them. He got to his feet still holding my gaze.
"Okay, let's give them a minute."Thor turned, and I finally noticed that the room was full.
All of my god peeps were there, and each one of them gave me a wink, a smile, or—in the case of Horus—a curt nod as they left. I smiled reassuringly at them; wondering how many more times we'd repeat this bedside scene. It was getting to be tedious, these near-death experiences, and I'm sure I wasn't the only one who thought so.
When the room was empty of all but Trevor and me, I held a hand out to him, and he rushed over with a blur of speed. In a move similar to one he'd done before, Trevor ran his face along mine. This time though, I felt his magic caress me; reach through me questing, seeking to see if I was truly healed. Trevor buried his face deep into the hair at the crook of my neck and then inhaled deeply and exhaled with a long shudder.
"I'm all right, Trevor."I felt my body start to tremble and I almost groaned.
What was with me? Had I turned into da-da-da-da… Su-u-uper Slut? Able to leap on tall gods with a single bound, fly through feelings faster than a speeding werewolf, and save blood-thirsty Aztecs with love magic. This was ridiculous. I couldn't be feeling anything for Trevor; I loved Thor. I was lying in his bed for fuck's sake. Well, maybe not right at the moment but after some rest, it would be for fuck's sake. Okay, that was crude. I apologize, but cut me some slack, things were getting weird, and my mind was having trouble coping.
Trevor didn't pull away as I'd expected. He crawled up onto the bed with me and wrapped all of his muscled, werewolf mass tightly against my side. I tried to tamp down the desire his touch ignited, but my new magic liked him. It liked him a whole lot. It whispered to me that he was deserving of love. He was worthy of our gift. In fact, he was already ours.
Trevor flung a thickly muscled leg over mine and an arm around my waist.
"Um, Trevor?"My voice was shaky as I looked down at the bulge of his bare arm.
He was wearing one of those tight black T-shirts again and, for some reason, it made me even more nervous.
"Yes?"He spoke into my neck; his breath hot against my racing pulse.
"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?"I patted his hand on my belly in what I hoped was a sisterly fashion.
"First, I'd have you know my true name,"Trevor whispered; his lips brushing my skin in an irritatingly sensuous way. "It's V?ulfR."
Shivers raced down my back. There was magic in the word, at least for me it seemed. I had to catch my breath.
"Why did you change it?"I asked.
"Trevor is easier for people to pronounce."He smiled; a quick movement of lips against my skin. "And I like it."
"Okay."I sighed in delight. "Now I know your name. Thank you for sharing. Is there something else you wanna tell me?"
"Have you heard of the Binding?"