My husbands pressed in around me, and I let their love comfort me. The melding scents of warm men, magic, and dangerous beasts sank into me and calmed my own inner animals. Once they were calm, I was able to think straight again. And I didn't like what I was thinking.
“I shouldn't have hit him,” I muttered, furious at myself.
“It wasn't much of a hit—any of them,” Trevor said with a teasing smile. “I think he'll survive.”
“I overreacted, then he said that I've run off like that.” I frowned. “Have I done that to him?”
“Not zat I recall,” Kirill said and shrugged. “But even if you had—especially if you had—he should have understood your fear.”
“People say mean things when they fight, La-la, you know that.” Re kissed my cheek tenderly. “On a scale of 1-10 for a lover's spat, that wasn't even a 5. It will be all right.”
“Thanks, Re.” I rubbed at the back of my neck.
Now that the fight had left me, as it were, exhaustion had taken over. Immortality couldn't heal this ache and it had seeped through my body with the departure of adrenaline. I just wanted to hide in my bed and pretend I hadn't argued with Viper. Immature, I know, but when love goes wrong, it tends to turn me into a teenager. Or maybe that was just another animal instinct; animals hide when they're hurt.
“Come on, sweetheart, let's go inside and finish this,” Odin said. “Then we can go home.”
“Okay.” I slumped into the house, leaning on my men, feeling absolutely pathetic, and not being able to do a damn thing about it.
Chapter Nine
We went inside and found only the God Squad waiting with Austin. Even with the thinned numbers, it was standing room only. The gods had made sure Austin had a chair, though. He slumped in it with a cup of coffee in his hand, on the verge of passing out.
“I'm so sorry, Austin,” I said immediately. “I shouldn't have done that right on your doorstep.”
“Hey, you were worried about your man and he was kinda an ass about it,” Austin said. “No biggie. I get it.”
“We all get it,” Persephone added. “Viper was a jerk.”
“We both were,” I defended him. “But let's forget about Viper for now. I want to talk about these snakes so we can get out of Austin's house and he can get some sleep.”
“Your lions have gone to investigate the house Viper located,” Thor said. “Hopefully, they'll have more information for us soon.”
“Until then, let's go over what we've learned,” I suggested. “It looks as if we were set up tonight. That snake led Viper into an ambush.”
“But how could they have known about us in time to set us up?” Hades asked.
“We've been driving around this town,” Finn reminded everyone. “We were obviously spotted.”
“He knew who I was,” I pointed out.
“That's right,” Azrael agreed. “He called you Godhunter. But, he also seemed surprised to see you. I'm not so sure that this was an ambush, at least not a premeditated one. It may have simply been a case of opportunity presenting itself.”
“Just like the killin's,” Austin murmured.
“No, not like the killings,” Hades protested. “He had every opportunity to kill that woman but he didn't. Why not?”
“She never looked back,” Persephone pointed out.
We all went still.
“What I say?” Persephone looked around at all of us. “It's true, she didn't look back. She ran as soon as she heard someone behind her. The guy, however, turned to face whoever was following him.”
“This sounds familiar,” Odin scowled as he spoke. “Like a story I've heard.”
“They're safe until they turn around,” I mulled it over.
Odin nodded absently, then focused on me. “I'm going back to Valaskjalf. I want to check my books.”
