Page 20

Chapter Twenty

Aline

T here was someone in the house with me. A voice that I’d never heard before, yet felt familiar—safe—was drawing me toward a door, down a darkened hallway. The only light around me was the sliver coming from under the door.

As I got closer, a wave of dread and fear washed over me urging me toward the safety of the door, but before I could reach for the doorknob, a hand shook me awake.

“Wake up, Aline. You need to get dressed. We’re going to be attacked,” Xochil’s whispered words and concerned face, illuminated by her phone, had me sitting up quickly. Xochil put the phone on the nightstand, so it would illuminate our room a little. She passed me my clothing and began pulling on her own. I listened for fighting while I dressed, but could hear nothing.

“W—” I started, but stopped when she put a finger to her mouth. “What’s going on? I don’t hear anything,” I whispered.

“The warriors on duty saw them approaching,” she mentioned, and as I was going to ask another question, we heard guns going off.

“I need to get you to Mom and your grandmother, so I can go help. Stay behind me,” she ordered, taking my hand and pulling me after her.

She opened the door a crack, and when she saw it was empty, she started pulling me toward the living room. Fear spiked in my chest when I heard the gunshots coming closer to the house.

“Go with Mom,” she told me when Nat came into view as we entered the living room.

“But y—”

“I’ll be fine. I’m going to go get your grandmother,” she said, guiding me over to her mother. “Where’s Dad?”

“Outside with the rest. Humans aren’t usually a problem, but there’s a lot of them,” Nat answered, looking calm.

“Stay safe. I’ll go get her grandmother,” Xochil replied.

“Be careful, Xochil. They were coming from that side,” Nat called after her daughter.

“Shouldn’t we go with her?” I asked her.

“They want you, sweetie. Keeping you out of their hands is priority number one.”

I nodded and bit my lip. I felt exposed in the living room, but we did have the couch between us and the patio doors. I just needed my grandmother and Xochil to be near me so I could relax.

Gunshots were still going off around us, but none of them sounded close enough to hurt us. I could hear roars in between the blasts of the guns, and I hoped Helios, Miguel and all of his warriors were okay. I hated the thought of anyone getting hurt because of me.

I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw Xochil walking in from the hallway, my grandmother holding onto her arm. I stepped away from Nat and toward the two people I loved the most, when a loud noise rocked the front of the house. I watched a group of people burst through the door armed to the teeth and with some sort of mask on their faces. The masks confused me, but made sense moments later, when they threw something our way making the room flash, and filled with a very thick gas. I couldn’t see anyone, and the burning and coughing from the gas was making me light-headed. I heard Xochil calling for me, her growls and my grandmother’s pained coughs, before I felt something hit me in the back of the head, and everything went dark.

I need you to wake up so we can talk, Aline, I heard a voice in my ear.

I moaned and tried to turn, but I wasn’t able to do it. There was something stopping me from turning over to either side. I tried putting my hand on my head, where I could feel it throbbing, but when I tried, my other hand jerked with it.

You’re tied up in the trunk of a car, the same voice informed me.

Panic engulfed me, and my breathing became shallow as I processed the words. I started squirming, trying to push against the walls surrounding me, but they weren’t budging.

Was I running out of air? Oh god, was I going to suffocate in here? I tried kicking out, but my legs were tied together, and there wasn’t much room to move. Spots started appearing in my vision, and I was afraid if I passed out, I wouldn’t ever wake up again. Tears began to form and fall as I thought about Xochil. Would she really feel my death? It wasn’t fair that I was going to die so soon after feeling all her love for me.

Calm down. Take a deep breath. In… Out… the voice said, and I tried to follow his advice.

I was aware that I should be freaking out that there was a man nearby, but he seemed to want me to stay alive, so I trusted him—for now. Once my breathing was a little more stable, and I could think clearly, I asked, “Where are you? Who are you?”

That gets a little more complicated. My name is Ogum. I’m inside your head.

“What?”

I am an orixa. Your orixa, to be more specific.

Shock went through my body once more, but this time it wasn’t in fear.

“How?”

You know I’ve always been attached to you. You’ve felt me all of your life, he answered.

“You’ve never spoken!” I replied, my voice a little high.

Don’t speak so loud. If they hear you, they might stop to try to knock you out again. I’m in your head. You can speak to me with your mind.

How are you speaking to me? I thought to him.

There’s been a barrier between us since you were born. That barrier is gone now.

How? I haven’t done anything.

You accepted our mate. When she marked you, it gave me the strength to break the barrier between us.

Even though I was in the dark and no one was around, I felt my cheeks heat as I remembered what we were doing when she marked me. It seemed my orixa—I should get used to him having a name—could follow my thoughts, because he chuckled.

She is beautiful, isn’t she? he asked dreamily, as the memory of Xochil standing in front of me naked pushed to the front of my head.

Despite the new information and my predicament, I felt a shot of lust shoot through my body.

Focus, I chided myself. Now wasn’t the time to get horny.

W— ho — so you can talk now? What else can you do? I asked Ogum.

We have a lot of power, but I have to teach you how to access it safely. Helios will be able to help us, too.

Only one problem with that, I reminded him. We’re kind of alone here with limited mobility to escape.

He chuckled at my words, and I wasn’t sure why.

You’re mated to a wolf, Aline. You’ll never be alone again.

What do you mean?

Look inside yourself. Find the bond that binds you together. You can feel her through it. She’s scared for you, but she’s also pissed. These guys have no idea what they’ve done: taking the marked mate of an alpha wolf, who’s a descendant of the Aztec God of War. They’ve signed their own death warrants.

I did as he asked. I looked within me, to that place where I held Xochil close to my heart, and I found it, the bond, a golden thread full of love and life… and anger. So much anger that it made me grin.

But how does that help us? I asked.

It will help Xochil find us. She can feel the bond a little stronger than we can because of her wolf. A thought suddenly flashed into my head, and as he followed it, he added, We’ll get there. The bond between us was strong before. Somehow, you knew what my nudges meant. Now that we can communicate—that there’s nothing separating us—our bond will catch up, and we’ll feel the connection to our mate just as strongly as they do.

So, you’re what? The equivalent of her wolf?

For all intents and purposes, I suppose I kind of am. But I can’t shift. I’m a deity who’s attached to a witch. We’re not half of one entity. We’re two, connected. Sharing a body and life forces.

Why? I couldn’t help asking.

Why what?

Why would you choose me?

Because we both have a destiny. A destiny that’s greater than you and me. One that’s been in motion for generations.

I’m just a restaurant owner, I told him.

You are so much more than that. You are a witch, now also half-deity and a Luna. Now, try to rest. It will be a few hours before we arrive before Benicio.

How do you know?

I just do. When I attached myself to you, I saw what our life could become. It’s how I’ve been able to guide you, and help you see who would be important in our life. As I processed that and was impressed with his power, he continued more sheepishly, I was also still conscious before we got put in the trunk of the car because you weren’t fully out. They said it was going to be a couple of hours before we arrived, and you weren’t blacked out for very long.

His admission made me chuckle for a moment, but then I sobered up a little more.

Are we going to survive?

Yes, but— he hesitated and didn’t finish the sentence. Instead, he said, Rest, Aline. Everything will happen as it should.

When he didn’t elaborate more, I closed my eyes and willed myself to relax, following his advice and forcing myself to fall asleep. As I drifted off, I tried not to worry about his unfinished statement.

A big part of me was well aware that this could all be an illusion — a hallucination due to a concussion — but there was nothing else I could do. I was bound in a trunk, unsure of where I was or where they were taking me. Hallucination or not, I needed to rest so my mind could fire on all cylinders when I woke up. One thing I did know for sure was that Benicio needed me alive, so I was at least safe for a little while.

I was dreaming about Xochil and a life with her, when I was roughly shaken awake, who knew how long later.

“Finally. Get up. I’m not carrying you again, you fat bitch,” the man standing above me said in Portuguese.

I sat up with some difficulty and fell painfully against the pavement when he pulled me out of the trunk of the car.

“Fat and uncoordinated,” he said with disgust, hauling me up to a standing position.

“You kind of have my legs tied, you twat,” I spat back at him in Portuguese.

The man glared at me, but bent down to cut the tie around my ankles. I was thinking about kneeing him in the face while he was kneeling and trying to run, but the clearing of a throat gave me pause. I looked to my left, and saw another man standing near the driver’s side with his hand near a gun on his hip, giving me a don’t-even-think-about-it look.

Just because you know we’ll live through this, doesn’t mean we should antagonize them, Ogum groaned inside my head, and I almost jerked in surprise.

You’re really real?

Yeah, I am, and I would like to keep it that way, he replied a little testily.

But if we have a destiny, doesn’t that mean they can’t kill us? I argued.

Nothing is ever set in stone. Actions have ripple effects that can change the course of a life thread. Also, they might not kill us, but they can hurt us, he reminded me.

“Move!” The man jerked me forward roughly.

I stumbled forward in surprise and fell to my knees painfully. I hissed as I tried to stand, and found my leggings were ripped, and blood was seeping from the torn skin.

I could heal you, but I won’t. It would be too suspicious right now, Ogum told me.

You can heal me?

Yes and no. Since our merging is now complete, you are part deity now. Your body’s aging will crawl to almost a stop in a few years, and we’ll remain healthy. I don’t have rapid healing abilities myself. My gifts lie elsewhere. But, it’s our bond to our mate that allows our body to heal faster than normal. Like her, I can also control when to hold it back, and when to let it happen. Once the bond is complete, we’ll be able to heal almost as quickly as she does.

I thought our bond was complete? She marked me. She said that was all we needed.

Her part of the bond is complete. We still need to mark her.

But you said we weren’t wolves? How are we supposed to bite her?

Our mark will be different, but no less effective.

“I’ve been searching a long time for you, Aline,” a voice disrupted the excitement I felt at finding out I would be able to mark Xochil one day.

“Who are you?” I asked, looking at the rounded man sitting at the head of a long table.

He had short, black hair that was neatly covering a bald spot and was clearly dyed. Gold chains adorned his wrist and neck. He was wearing a black blazer over a white shirt, but it was the way his dark eyes were looking at me with greed, that made the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“My name is Benicio.”

“You’re the man who killed my parents,” I accused, and heard Ogum groaning in the back of my head.

Right. I wasn’t supposed to antagonize them.

“That was never my intention. I approached them with good intentions. I wanted to help them, and in return, you could help me, but they misunderstood and ran away. My people tried to stop them, and—”He stopped and shook his head with supposed regret. “What happened was a tragedy, and my people were punished for their part in it, I assure you.”

I couldn’t help scoffing at his words. I may have been young when it happened, and not understand why they were hunting us, but I clearly remember the intent of the men who showed up at my parents’ house wasn’t to stop us. It was to kill them and take me.

“What is it you want from me? You’ve been chasing and hurting the people I love for almost two decades.”

“I want what I wanted almost twenty years ago. What your father agreed to,” he stated, and nodded at someone at the door to his left. The guard turned around and exited, leaving only another two guards in the room.

“What do you mean ‘agreed to’?”

“When I realized you had a gift, one bigger than your grandmother’s, I approached your parents about a match,” he answered.

“A match of what?” I asked, genuinely confused, and I heard Ogum groan again in the back of my mind.

I was beginning to miss when it was just a nudge. At least then, I could only assume he didn’t sound impressed with me. Right now, I was certain of it.

“A match to my son. Ah, there he is. Bernardo, meet Aline, your future wife.”

I turned around to see a man walking in the back door of the giant dining room with the guard who left earlier. He was five feet five or six, and medium build. He wasn’t hard on the eyes—if you were inclined that way. Since I wasn’t, I started laughing, wiping the interested look off his face, and turning it into one of confusion.

Stop antagonizing them, Ogum groaned again, but I could hear the way he was trying to conceal his laughter from me.

“Why are you laughing?” Benicio asked.

“Because it’s too funny,” I wheezed out a response, wiping a tear from my eyes. “You guys think I’m going to marry him.”

“You will marry him!” Benicio replied with clearly caged anger. “You will marry him and bear him a child. It’s the only way to align our goals with yours. The only way to guarantee your loyalty.”

“I’m a good lover. You will learn to love me,” Bernardo explained, gritting his teeth as I continued to laugh.

“I won’t,” I assured him, trying to control my laughter, but every time I looked at his face, I started giggling again.

“Why not?” he demanded to know, a blush of humiliation on his face, but a determined set to his jaw.

In the back of my head, the part that wasn’t laughing, I knew he must not get rejected often, and was feeling offended at my clear refusal.

“Because I like women,” I answered, chuckling at the look of shock on both men.

We stood in silence for a good while, then Benicio crossed his arms stubbornly. “It doesn’t matter. You will bear him a son and tie yourself to our family.”

“We will fucking not!” Ogum raged in the back of my head, but his voice also came out of my mouth, surprising all three of us.

How did you do that? Also, I thought you said not to antagonize them? I asked him.

We share your body. I can take over for a few moments at a time right now. And it was a reflex, he mumbled.

“What was that?” Bernardo asked.

“Nothing,” I answered, a little too quickly. “Just me telling you we’re not doing any such thing.”

“Bullshit! You sounded possessed! And you said ‘we’!” Bernardo countered.

“Bring her!” Benicio growled, and I got ready for someone to grab me, but instead, the same guard who went to get Bernardo left again.

Less than a minute later, he came back dragging a woman in chains. Her skin was as dark as mine, her body was covered in rags, and her hair looked like it had been hacked off recently. And despite all of that, she was beautiful and carried herself with a sense of grace that couldn’t be taught.

“Can you see it?” Benicio barked the question at her. “Do we have the right woman?”

The woman turned to look at me, cocking her head to the side. Her lips twitched, as if trying to stop them from curving up.

“She’s the one you seek,” she answered.

“Erase her memories. Remove everyone else from her life so she becomes loyal to my son,” Benicio demanded.

I was going to protest, but stopped myself when I heard Ogum chuckle in my head.

“I cannot. My powers do not affect other deities, and she has fully connected with the orixa,” she informed him, surprising me.

Gods can recognize all types of magic. Especially other deities , Ogum explained.

She’s a goddess?

Yes. Probably the sibling Avó spoke about.

“She’s even more powerful than I thought.” Benicio snapped me out of my conversation with Ogum. “You will submit to my son and our family,” he ordered.

I opened my mouth to tell him it would be a cold day in hell before I submitted to a man, when the lights went out around us, and Ogum pushed forward instead.

“Oh, you’re not going to like what happens next,” he said delightedly, and shortly after, glass shattered to our right as two giant wolves burst through window, my mate jumping in after them.