I had seen those eyes before in a souq in Bahrain. They'd been bordered by swaths of dark cloth, the rest of his face hidden. This man had given me a ring then and told me some strange things. I glanced down at my hand and there it was; crimson metal swirling around a matching jewel. The facets of the jewel sparked as if it held fire within. How had I forgotten about it? Again. All through my time as the Dark Star, I had worn this ring but never remembered it was on my hand. Then I came home and showed it to my husbands. I told them the story of the man in the souq, the child of Tiamat who had given me a ring and a promise to help me fight a war. A different war than the one I'd been planning when I met him. He said he could see the future, and he promised to come to my aid when I needed it. All I had to do was smash the ring's jewel.
I stared at him, but he said nothing. Just stared back at me. All of them did. The children of Tiamat, the Great Dragon. I had asked him if they were monsters.
“That's what they called us, but it's not what we are,” he finally spoke, but it was only my memory of him speaking.
He wasn't really there. Or was he?
The man glanced above us. “Fate has come for you, Godhunter. It's time.”
He turned into flames and vanished. Burned away into nothing, not even ash. He and all of his people. Gone in a second.
“Wait!” I called after him even though I knew it wasn't really him. “Wait!” I shouted and sat upright.
I blinked, startled to go from dream to reality so quickly. Kirill and Trevor sat up to either side of me and the men who were gathered around us spun toward me. But I wasn't looking at them. I stared straight ahead of myself at the women who stood at the foot of my bed.
“Fate has come for me,” I murmured to myself.
“You like that, do you?” Clotho, the Spinner, asked gleefully. She had her dark hair braided back from her gentle face and her blue eyes were full of mischief. “I thought it added a nice sense of drama.”
“You were manipulating my dream?” I asked in horror.
“Don't be daft!” Atropos, the Unturnable, snapped.
Atropos' green eyes held no mischief, only acidity. She doesn't like me much. She flung her auburn hair away from her face and crossed her arms.
“We inspired your dream,” Lachesis, the Alotter, explained. Gaunt and gray, she didn't look as if she could fight a fly, but the scissors that hung from her belt weren't for cutting wrapping paper. They were used to sever the cord of a life. Lachesis is the deadliest of the trio. “You needed a touch of fate, Godhunter. We gave it to you, but we had no control over what it showed you.”
“Who was the man?” Clotho asked eagerly.
“What man?” The Wolf growled and swung his head toward me.
“A child of Tiamat,” I whispered as I lifted my hand.
The crimson ring glinted on my finger and sounds of amazement circled the room.
“Did we forget about that thing again?” Viper hissed. “What the fuck?”
“Language,” I chided him absently.
Viper gaped at me more.
“The children,” Odin murmured to Viper. “We try not to curse, remember?”
“The children aren't here, Vervain,” Viper growled as he slid onto the bed. “Now, how did we fucking forget about that fucking ring again?”
“It's a valid question.” Odin leaned over Viper's shoulder to peer at the ring. “I recall you saying something about the Children of Tiamat being dragons or monsters.”
“He said he wasn't a monster,” I murmured. “But I don't think he's a dragon either. He did form out of fire, though.”
“Fire?” Arach's crimson brows lifted. “You have just pierced my interest.”
“Piqued,” Re whispered to Arach. “Piqued your interest. Although I like the sound of pierced better.”
Arach rolled his eyes.
“Then what?” Azrael prompted before a piercing discussion began.
“I feel as if we've had this conversation before,” Odin muttered.
“I'm supposed to crack the jewel when I need his help.” I looked around at my men. “I think I should do that now.”
“Oh, this is fantastic!” Clotho exclaimed. “A fire-man gives Vervain a ring to summon him. So mysterious!”
“I don't like this,” Wolf growled.
“Me either,” Re agreed. “But it may be necessary. The Fates wouldn't have led her to it if it wasn't.”
Atropos nodded a crisp approval at Re. “You must listen to the vision, Vervain. It's all the help we can offer you at the moment.”
“Crack the ring,” Lachesis urged simply.
“First, how do you feel, Vervain?” Teharon, who was standing just beyond the barrier of my men, along with Torrent and Artemis, asked.
“Teharon!” I exclaimed. “Your healing helped. Thank you, I feel much better. Stronger.”
Teharon nodded, his long, silky, raven hair slipping forward to showcase the blood-tipped white feather, bound to the end of a thin braid. “I'm glad to hear it.”
I nudged Kirill, and he slid out of bed. I tried to follow him, but Wolf grabbed my wrist.
“Mate, I don't want you summoning this fire-man.”
“I don't have a lot of options, honey,” I said gently. “We've gone up against Marduk twice now, and he just keeps taking more from me. Maybe these people will know of a way for me to fight him without losing any more of myself.”
Wolf sighed but let me go. I kissed his cheek and nuzzled him before I moved away. I got to my feet feeling steady, Teharon really had helped. I stretched and looked down at myself. I still had my fighting leathers on. They're a bitch to
