“Give me a moment with him,” I said to Blue as I rushed in.
I found the whole God Squad in the library; all of them wearing grim expressions as Re faced off with Thor.
“We have to get into his territory!” Re was saying. “There are ways around wards.”
“Re,” I called to him, and Re stopped mid-tirade.
“La-la?” Re asked in shock, and then he raced over to me and cried out, “Vervain! I knew you were alive.”
“Hey, baby,” I whispered. “I'm sorry it took so long for me to get back to you.”
“As if that were your fault.” Re shook his head as he eased away from me. “Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” Re blinked as he took in what I was wearing. “Where did you get that?”
“Can I talk to you in private for a second?” I asked.
“Of course, but—” Re froze; his gaze fixed on the doorway behind me. “What the fuck is he doing here?”
I looked over my shoulder and saw Blue standing there.
“I asked you to give me a moment,” I snapped.
“I did,” Blue said. “The moment has passed.”
“How did you get into my home?” Thor rumbled as he strode over to confront Blue.
“I brought him.” Horus eased between the men. Then he looked at me. “Take Re somewhere else for this talk; I'll handle them.”
“Thank you, Horus,” I said sincerely.
He nodded crisply.
I took Re's hand and headed out the door, but Blue grabbed my arm to stop me.
“Little witch, I—”
“Take your hands off her,” Re growled.
“Okay, okay.” I held my hands up between them. “Let's take a breath. Blue, I need you to wait here. Re, please come with me and let me explain.”
Re and Blue faced off; the heat of their fury literally making me sweat. They made the term “hot under the collar” literal. Finally, they nodded and turned down the scorching heat, and I was able to remove Re from the library. I pulled him down the hallway and into a massive dining room done in an Indian style; as in saris and brass plates, not buckskin and totem poles. I didn't stop there but went out through the arched doorways and onto the balcony. The fresh air cooled my skin, and I took a deep breath of it.
“Re, I—”
“You slept with him, didn't you?” Re narrowed his golden stare at the bites on my neck.
“I need you to give me five minutes before you lash into me,” I said calmly. “Can you do that?”
Re took a deep breath and nodded.
I went through the whole story; telling Re everything except for the part where Alaric revealed that Blue and I hadn't been married. By the time I was done, Re's eyes were wide and his hands were shaking.
“We've barely been engaged a day, and you've already found another lover,” he whispered. “I can't tell you how hurt I am by that, Vervain.”
“I know, and I would be too,” I whispered. “I'm so sorry, Re. It was similar to the way we came together; I couldn't stop myself.”
“And he's not the last?” Re asked. “You want me to not only accept him but also other men you find?”
“If I have the time to find them,” I said. “We're trying to fix this, remember? It all may be moot.”
