“Trevor,” Odin stepped into our path. “Congratulations. I'm happy for you and Vervain.”
I could hear the longing in Odin's voice, and I knew what saying those words had cost him. So did the Wolf.
“Thank you, Odin.” The Wolf shook Odin's hand.
“One more zing,” Kirill came over to me. “Give me your hands, Vervain.”
I held out my hands, and Kirill slipped my rings on them; my wedding band on the left hand and my Ring of Remembrance on my right.
“Ty gave me zese to hold onto,” Kirill said.
I leaned forward and hugged Kirill; whispering in his ear, “Thank you. I love you, Lion.”
“You're velcome.” As soon as Kirill finished hugging me, he pulled the Wolf forcibly into a hug. “I know you're angry now, Brother, but I love you, and I'm happy for you too. I can't vait to see our children playing together.”
The Wolf shuddered and closed its eyes; hugging Kirill back for a moment before pulling away.
“Thank you.” The Wolf laid his hand on Kirill's shoulder. “I may be the wild part of Trevor's soul, but love cannot be split between us. I am Trevor, and he is me. You aren't just Pride to us; you're also Pack.”
The men shared a moment that eased a block of tension in my chest. I grinned gratefully at Kirill as the Wolf reclaimed my hand.
“We'll attend you,” Fenrir declared. “It's been awhile since we've had a good fight, and my teeth ache to tear that bastard's meat from his bones.”
The Wolf smiled at his father. “I get first bite.”
Fenrir laughed; a booming, proud sound. “That you do, Son.”
“I may need Torrent,” I said. “Can someone find him and bring him to Moonshine?”
“I'll get him.” Kirill kissed my cheek and then headed to the tracing chamber.
“Time to hunt,” the Wolf said to his father.
“Boy, looking at you makes me want to let my wolf loose.” Fenrir shook his head and smiled. He turned to the small group of Froekn and shouted, “You heard your prince; it's time to hunt!”
The Froekn howled as they followed their king and their prince into the Aether. A steady stream of us came stalking out of the door marked “Family Room” on the VIP balcony of Moonshine. It was night in Hawaii and the club was packed, but the gods on the upper level knew better than to stop us and ask what the hell was going on. All but one, that is.
“Vervain!” Elatha, King of the Fomorians, disengaged himself from his clingy date and hurried over to me. “What's going on? Do you require assistance?”
“Elatha?” I jerked to a stop and then stepped out of the way of the flow.
The Wolf growled and side-stepped with me; glaring at Elatha as he sized him up.
“Give me a moment,” I said to the Wolf. “I'll be right behind you.”
The Wolf gave Elatha another warning glare and then nodded to me and headed downstairs with his Pack.
“What are you doing here?” I asked Elatha.
“Having a night out.” He shrugged. “I've liked this place from the moment I stepped out of prison into it. It's charming and has lots of dark places to make use of.”
“Elatha,” his date whined right on cue.
“Give me a minute, my dear,” he said sweetly to her. When Elatha turned back to me, he rolled his eyes. “Tell me how I can help, Vervain.”
“We got this, thank you,” I said. “Go back to your date.”
I started for the stairs, and he followed me.
“That was a lot of werewolves and gods that just walked past,” he said shrewdly. “The wolves don't come out en masse for nothing. Why don't you want my assistance?”
“Because I'm not sure what it will cost me,” I said blandly.
I had a tenuous relationship with the Celtic Gods. Things had happened—bad things—and I wasn't sure if any of them really liked me anymore (besides Lugh). Not that I would blame them. I helped to stop a war between their two major divisions; the Tuatha and the Fomorians. And I had done it in a violent, gory way. I literally played with a body part in front of them; the foot of one of their goddesses. So, no; I didn't trust the Fomorian King to have my back. Then again, Elatha killed a friend of mine and stuck his silver arm on a wall so maybe the foot thing made us even. The crazy Celt might have even respected me for it.
“Vervain,” Elatha said sternly, “I will not tally favors with you. You saved my people from an endless war; I honestly want to help you.”
I considered Elatha and his words and then glanced downstairs. The end of our group was just disappearing out the exit. A Froekn bouncer who was guarding the door looked up at me expectantly.
“All right, come along if you want,” I said. “I'm here to track a murderer.”
“You are?” Elatha's deep-sea eyes lit up with excitement. “Excellent! I haven't had any fun in ages.”
“What am I?” His date huffed.
“A lovely distraction, my dear,” Elatha kissed his date on the cheek and then started walking away with me.
It said a lot about how gorgeous Elatha was that the goddess just pouted instead of bitch-slapping him or storming off in a huff. One of Elatha's titles was the Beautiful Prince of Darkness with the Golden Hair. Yeah, it was a mouthful, but it was also accurate. He was one of those gods with huge amounts of magic that was so powerful it didn't have to decide to be one thing or even make sense. Elatha was a sun god but also a god of darkness and the sea. He supposedly fathered a lot of gods, but I wasn't sure how many of them were his actual children.
