How to Worship a Goddess (13 page)

Aw, fuck it.

“Yeah, I can see your dilemma,” Ty said. “Okay, so, the
Fata
are Etruscan fairies, though I suggest you don't use that word unless you want to start a brawl.” Ty tapped a beer for a guy who'd walked over from a table. “They're a separate race from humans, older, longer lived and more powerful. The race originated in Europe about a millennium or so before humans showed up. So did all the elemental races. In the beginning, there were three races, the
fauni
,
silvani
, and
aguane
. Over the years, through interbreeding, there are now more than fifteen races of
Fata
.”

Brand nodded, as if he understood what the guy was talking about. And maybe he did. Kind of.

“The
Enu
are humans who can work magic, and that's where the Etruscans came from.”

Enu
. Humans who can work magic. Got it.

Damn, he'd always thought he had an open mind, but this… Hell, he needed brain surgery to open a hole in the back of his head to be this open-minded.

But the way he felt about Lucy…

He'd never been so damn infatuated so fast in his life. Not even as a teenager when his hormones had been raging.

But it wasn't just infatuation. That would've been easy to ignore. What he felt for Lucy he couldn't ignore.

“So, what makes someone
fauni
as opposed to, uh…”

“
Aguane
and
silvani
. Well,
fauni
have more of an affinity for animals. They can shift into any animal, as opposed to the
lucani
who worship Lucy.”

Worship, huh? Well, she was a deity. “
Lucani
. Those are the werewolves, right?”

“Hey, dude, good job on the pronunciation.” Casey slid onto the stool next to Brand and held his fist out for a fist bump, which Brand obliged. “Not many people get our name right. How's it going, Brand? Good game tonight.”

“Thanks.”
I
think.
Brand wanted to shake his head to make sure his marbles were still there. “So you're a werewolf.”

“We call ourselves
versipelli
. It's Latin for skin shifter.”

Ty snorted and Casey gave him the finger. Obviously Casey didn't feel the need to kowtow to Ty.

“I do have a master's in engineering, you know.” Casey tried to look offended but couldn't hold back his grin. “Okay, so I was definitely
not
a straight-A student in high school, and I majored in girl chasing during my undergrad days.”

Casey's wide grin was infectious and Brand returned it even as his brain started to spin in its track.

Holy
shit
.

This guy turned into a wolf, too. And Caeles, tuning his guitar on stage, could turn into any animal he wanted. There were creatures—people?—who called themselves fairies.

“Hey, Brandon. Man, are you okay?”

Refocusing on Casey's face, he reached over and placed his hand on the kid's shoulder. “Yeah, I'm fine. Just a little much to take in all at once, ya know? It's gonna take me a little while to get up to speed on everything. But trust me, I'm good at adapting. So, you turn into a wolf under the full moon?”

And there was Casey's thousand-watt grin again. “Actually, I can turn into a wolf anytime I want. The
lucani
usually come into our change when we're teenagers, usually around thirteen or fourteen for boys, sometimes younger for the girls. We can't control it right away, so it's only under a full moon until we're about twenty. By then, we can usually do command performances.”

“So if I asked…”

“Yeah, but I haven't filed my nails for a while and Lucy doesn't like when we mark her floors.”

Brand felt a laugh bubble up but swallowed it. “I can see where that would be a problem.” He looked around the room. “Is everyone else here…
lucani
?”

Casey looked over his shoulder. “Pretty much so. Oh, except for Larth. He's
stregone
.”

“And that means…?” Brand asked.

“He's a witch.”

Of course he was.

“Hey, Case.” Ty set a mug in front of the kid, who didn't look old enough to drink. But he'd said he had a master's degree in engineering. “I think Brand's had all the lessons he can stand for one night.”

Casey's grin dimmed again and Brand shook his head. The kid would never be able to play poker. “Nah, I'm good. Just… processing.”

“I know it's kind of—”

Casey cut off and turned toward the kitchen door, his expression melting into abject happiness, while Brand felt heat slide up his spine a second before Lucy walked through the door.

Damn, maybe he was developing his own powers where she was concerned.

She wore the same outfit she'd had on at the arena—a deep purple sweater that molded her curves, tight jeans and a pair of black boots with fuck-me heels that would bring the top of her head to his chin.

She let her gaze slide by him the first time around, making sure she acknowledged everyone in the place before she came back to him.

Hell, his smile probably looked as goofy as Casey's and now he had a raging hard-on to go with it.

“Hello, Brand. Good game tonight. You played well.”

He swallowed, hoping like hell he didn't embarrass himself when he tried to speak. “Thanks. The team was sharp tonight. The kids are coming along pretty well.”

She walked over to the bar and stopped directly in front of him. Their gazes locked. “No injuries tonight, though I thought you were going to take that guy's head off in the second period.”

“Yeah, he had a few disrespectful words for my goalie. I made him think twice about using that kind of language around the kid again.”

Lucy's husky laugh filled every empty space in the room with shivery anticipation and Brand had to fight back the urge to vault over the bar, throw her over his shoulder, and take her upstairs.

When her laughter died, she continued smiling straight into his eyes. “Since I know how persuasive you can be, I'm surprised he wasn't in any mood to hear you out, considering he took a swing at your head. I'm glad to hear you have no lasting injuries that would impair your… playing.”

Damn, he really liked this woman. So much so, he knew right then that he could happily live with her for the rest of his life.

The thought shut him down cold. Was he nuts? What the hell was he expecting to happen here?

Did he truly believe they were going to walk off into the sunset and live happily ever after? With a goddess?

Hell, if he bought into everything she and her barful of worshippers were saying, she was immortal. The best he could hope for was another five good decades.

Shit.

“Brand.” Her tone drew his gaze back to hers and he knew she
knew
exactly what he was thinking.

He could see it in her eyes, they were that expressive. “Don't.” Then she gestured behind him. “Want to shoot some pool? I'll let you win one or two games.”

Her sly grin made his mouth quirk in response. “You can break my balls any time.”

***

Brand shot straight upright in bed, certain he'd find someone watching them again.

Pale morning light shone down on them through the skylights, lighting the room enough for him to see every corner. He saw no one.

Glancing down, he saw Lucy asleep, naked and curled on her side. Her dark hair curled like a shadow across her shoulders and down her back. Her pale skin looked strangely sallow in the light, almost jaundiced. He reached out to run his hand down her hair, an unreasonable fear gripping his stomach in an icy vise. Damn, she felt hot, like she was running a fever. Was she sick?

“Lucy? Hey, baby, you okay?”

She didn't answer, didn't move.

He actually put his hand in front of her mouth to make sure she was breathing. Maybe this was normal for her. What did he really know about goddesses anyway?

His stomach tightened further as his earlier fears about her immortality and his lack of it rose up like bile.

He found it hard to wrap his mind around the idea that this woman had been alive for more than two millennia. Even worse, the thought that he'd be only a footnote in her life made him want to lay someone out.

Hell, she probably figured this was a fling, a little diversion to pass a few months, maybe a couple of years. Would they even last a decade?

And why the hell was he getting his shorts in a knot anyway? It wasn't like they were going to get married and live happily ever after.

She'd probably laugh in his face if he dared ask. Talk about opposite sides of the tracks. Jesus, thinking about this made his head hurt, almost canceling out the sense of dread now making his stomach roil. What the fuck was going on?

He gave the room another once over, trying to be alert to every—

There. In the far corner. What the
hell
was that?

A shadow had formed, dark and ominous and completely out of place in the increasingly sunny room.

For several seconds, he watched it coalesce as if in slow motion. Almost mesmerized at the out-there sight, he didn't even think to move.

Until he realized anything that looked that bad had to be up to no good. So he got his ass in gear.

Sliding out of bed without waking Lucy wasn't as hard as he thought it'd be. He figured she'd rouse pretty easily. But no, she didn't even move. Christ, just something else to worry about.

Maybe he should wake her? But what if this turned out to be nothing more than his overactive imagination?

And
what
if
it
doesn't?

Fuck it. If he looked like an idiot when she woke up, so be it. He slid behind the bathroom door, watching from behind it as the shadow formed into something far different than anything he could have even imagined.

Heart beating a mile a minute, Brand forced himself to calm his breathing so maybe that… that thing wouldn't hear him.

Jesus, what the hell was it? From behind, it had a human form but its blue skin held a faint sheen in the brightening sun and its black hair coiled like snakes down its back. When it turned, Brand could see it had no visible sexual traits—no breasts, no genitals. It had long pointed nails and a mouth full of sharp teeth that it bared in something resembling a smile.

Now fully formed, it sniffed the air then hissed like a snake. The creature immediately honed in on Lucy. Alone. On the bed.

Shit.

“Hey, you butt-ugly asshole.” Brand stepped out from behind the door. “What the
fuck
are you?”

He wanted the thing to get the hell away from Lucy and focus on him. He got his wish. The whatever-the-hell-it-was turned and Brand had to force himself not to take a step back.

Holy shit, that was freaky as all hell.

It looked human, mostly. Except for that blue skin and those teeth a shark would be proud of. It had a long straight nose and high cheekbones and a square jaw.

And Brand still didn't know if it was male or female.

Maybe
it's neither.

And, whoa. That was a whole other freak-out.

Turning its head, the thing sniffed again, this time in Brand's direction. “Hmm. Maybe that's a question I should be asking you.” Its gaze slid down Brand's naked body, making creeped-out goose bumps rise and his testicles want to crawl back inside his body. “What's your name?”

Brand's hands curled into fists at his sides before he forced them to relax. He'd treat the thing like a rabid dog. Show no fear but be ready for anything.

“You don't need to know my name. You just need to leave. I don't think you were invited to this private party.”

“So you were having a party with beautiful Lusna. Interesting. Lusna usually sticks close to her
lucani
.” The thing drew in another deep breath, its nose actually twitching like a rat. “Now, you're not
lucani
but you're not strictly
eteri
either, are you?”

What the fuck was this thing talking about? “I don't know what the hell—” Wait, maybe engaging the thing in conversation wasn't such a good idea. “You don't need to know what I am. Just know I'll kick your ass if you don't get out of here now.”

“Oh, I will be. But not without my prize.”

Every muscle in Brand's body tensed, ready to spring into action should that thing go for Lucy. But no, it just stood there, clawed hands on its nonexistent hips, and sniffed again.

Christ, that was creepy. What the hell was it trying to smell anyway? Finally, the thing tilted its head in an oddly female gesture and stared at him with eerie red eyes. Either the thing had been on a bender for the past two years or it was one of those demons Cal and Tessa had been talking about. A real honest-to-G—wait. Honest to God was taking on a whole new meaning lately. And he really didn't have time to think about that.

“Fuck” covered it for now.

“You know, you'd be a lot more threatening if you weren't naked,” the blue demon said. “Not that I don't appreciate the show. Very tasty.”

And now Brand's testicles wanted to crawl into his chest to hide.

“Dude, you're making me ill.” Brand forced the words out from between clenched teeth. “Get the fuck out or I will make you get the fuck out.”

The thing laughed, more like it cackled, and it made Brand wince like it'd dragged those nails across a chalkboard.

“Oh, you're very brave, I'll give you that. I can understand what Lusna sees in you. But you're not exactly what you think you are. And that could prove to be problematic.”

Okay, maybe Brand was still asleep. Maybe he was dreaming. He'd taken in a lot of information yesterday and they'd had a hell of a lot of sex last night.