Chapter Twenty-Three
Buck
I woke to the sound of someone’s errant rooster crowing to the skies to ward off other roosters and likely attract the attention of any predator in a five-mile radius.
Opening my eyes, I sat up and turned to the edge of the bed, letting my bare feet hit the floor. I leaned forward and scrounged around for my hat, the only thing I ever truly wore. I loved that hat and it fit me perfectly, not that I couldn’t change that on a whim—but I’d know. I liked it the way it was, the way I was.
I sighed and glanced at our bedroom clock and shied away when I caught a reflection of myself in a framed photo of Jacque. The eyes that stared back at me were not the green I’d known for so long, but that depthless blue. Almost taunting me, like River was judging me.
Even in a state of renascence, he had the ability to mock me unerringly. And whatever I owed him once he returned to power would be substantial . Favors among gods were not cheap.
Like most mornings when we were in Storm’s lands, our lands these days, Cliff had risen early to tend to his online studies, bundled in too many blankets while staring fixatedly at a screen. Despite all that he was learning, he gained the ability to manipulate and sense without all the fancy education. He needed the degree for human purposes and paperwork though. Some sort of marker of achievement.
I shuffled through our bedroom and into the small living room where his dark-rimmed eyes reflected the blue-cast glow from the depths of too many blankets. A sharp click and tap from his keyboard were the only evidence I had he was conscious. “Morning, sexy.”
Cliff grunted in response and blinked slowly. The slight drone of a voice from his computer told me his focus was needed elsewhere. Something about basalt stone…what they’d made temples to me out of. The scent of it lingered about him at times and it made me nostalgic for times long forgotten.
“Want some cereal or breakfast?” I scrounged around in the kitchen and stared at the empty egg skelter. I needed to visit the communal run and check on the chickens, bless them a little. And by bless them, I would probably just make sure the soil and grit around them was high in calcium for their eggshells, rich in diatomaceous earth to keep parasites away, and tainted with just enough sulfur to deter snakes. Though, I found myself less interested in these chickens than I did Storm’s. Pecker made things far more entertaining.
“Orange juice. Leftover Chinese in the fridge.” His low grumble caught my attention and I nodded, thankful I didn’t need to go get eggs. “Both cold, please.”
I glanced over at him as Jacque peeked out of his blankets and blinked at me.
“Salad?” I asked the hare.
Gimme salad, bitch!
His thoughts mirrored his sound board, which we’d changed recently due to the frequency in which we found Hail and Clay running about. He jogged over as the button said, “Gimme salad, please!”
He grunted at the button and barked at it, as if he no longer approved of the message.
He analyzed his little buttons and hopped over to smash the mad button to punctuate his point, and followed me into the kitchen.
As he’d asked, I pulled out a few containers of Chinese food left over from the day before and stuck a spoon in one of them before juggling a glass of orange juice with it. When I sat it down on the table beside him, he grumbled a thanks and Jacque, having found an opportunity with the fridge door open, dove into the produce bin to chow down with little grunts of happiness.
When I returned, he gave me a wall-eyed stare, mouth cycling through a dwindling kale leaf.
“Beats your daddy’s breakfast.” I stared the creature down and found it quite amusing that I had stooped to conversing with a neurologically damaged lapin.
“Dude, it’s finals. I eat myself silly and be sick until my grades come back, though I know I’m all B’s and an A.” He sighed heavily and leaned back while I filled Jacque’s bowl.
“We’re heading out in an hour for the test, correct?”
“Yeah, and getting the last of my stuff from Mrs. Pemberlin’s apartment.” He chewed his thumbnail nervously. The pod had already been delivered for his things as a gift from his brother. Cliff wasn’t as financially savvy or flush, it seemed. It didn’t matter though. He had ambition and we had followers that would, at least, make sure we always had what we needed so long as they had what they cared for.
“Of course. I’ll work on it while you’re at school.” I gave him a wide smile and let him continue to study his recorded lectures while I made sure Jacque was fed. Inundated with something of Cliff’s power made him remarkably tolerant to our way of travel. “You can take her car once you get there, right?”
He nodded and sighed, leaning back as the mountain of blankets slid down his shoulders. After a deep breath, he flopped over and threw an arm over his face, sighing. “I just wanna naaaaap.”
“You can nap after you take your test, and I know you’ll do well.” I chuckled as he groaned and flopped back onto the couch, creating an open spot for Jacque to run up and settle on his lap before stretching out.
Baby.
“Yeah, that’s right. You’re my baby.” Cliff groaned, and Jacque nuzzled into his chest and stomach before thumping his back legs on his lap.
Baby!
Jacque barked once and leaped off when Cliff leaned up to dig into the takeout and juice.
In the nine weeks since River had given me his humanity, I’d been what Cliff had assured me was depressed . My heart ached like it did when I recalled the blood that made me what I was, the blood they continued to spill. Like River, I was a death god, but my sacrifices came willingly.
River had been trying for a child, had been accepted into his new land, reviving himself, and all of it went to me. It made a pit drop in my stomach when I thought about Cliff’s impending heat. A heat that I realized we’d ended short, due to the incident.
Cliff was prone to bouts of surliness, affectionate when in private but plain-spoken. He was also an unmistakable lush during his heats, and I’d had him through three as they regulated, a seasonal night or two of passion. Usually, two. I’d not been with him long enough to have run the gamut of his lusts.
Not wanting to distract him from his studies, I shuffled closer to him and inhaled, scenting him as I leaned in, disguising my effort as a quick kiss. It was hard to tell over his natural scent and the cloying spices in the takeout, but he did smell sweeter. I wouldn’t know for certain until he shifted. The question was, if true, how ?
We’d switched roles during his heats. It’s not like I would get pregnant.
Then again… We did experiment in our feral forms a little… A lot.
Yeah. That should have been obvious.
We had a few days until the full moon, when we would shift and run, and I could let someone else be the bearer of news. Good news? Bad news? I knew he didn’t want to be pregnant. Guilt sweltered in my gut.
“Come on, get ready.” Cliff stood and dusted himself off, a few grains of rice hitting the floor much to Jacque’s delight. He nibbled a few pieces covered in some variety of beef’s sauce.
Most lapins were herbivores, but it appeared Jacque was an omnivore.
Between one step and the next, his clothes shifted from cozy pajamas to a shirt and jeans. Not in the way of illusion like I did, like most gods did, but he discorporated clothing he already owned and let it cover his form. He was growing to enjoy his gifts and I grew to love watching him use them.
“Always ready.” I gathered Jacque into my arms and smiled as he packed a backpack and jogged up to me, resting a hand on my arm.
I took the cue and let our powers mingle, drawing our being into dust in the wind, from earth and stone of one place into the earth and stone of another.
When we arrived, he patted my shoulder, gave me a kiss, and ruffled Jacque’s ears before jogging off to get the keys to Dani’s car.
“Good luck!” I raised an arm and let Jacque down to nibble the lawn weeds while I loped off to finish packing his belongings. And, as a god, I could do things much more efficiently.
***
I sat on the couch in his apartment, surveying the pile of boxes that I’d stacked in the center of the room. Dust in the corners swept into the air and made its way outside to drift off into the unknown. Cabinet doors opened, dirt and debris in the corners there doing the same thing as the remnants of spices and sauce packets tumbled free and onto the floor at my guidance, into a box I’d earmarked as trash. There was no need to buy more spices and things as neither Cliff nor I cooked and the pack always had meals available for dinners and the like.
Where Mama? Jacque climbed up into the windowsill and peered out, his little claws scrabbling at the glass.
“Home soon.” I kept my answers short with him, since he understood me so easily.
He glanced back at me and sighed. Mama, another baby? Jacque baby.
“Don’t know. Yes, you’re baby.” I stared the hare down before he barked in frustration and thumped his back legs. “You’d know better than I would at the moment. You’ve been around him longer.”
Jacque stared at me, head tilted as if he were contemplating what I’d said. He’d understand a chunk of it and muddle through the rest like a child might.
Yes. Another baby. Jacque know. He snuffed sharply, the puff of air almost a hiss.
I stood and stretched, eyeing the boxes as I went about carrying a few down at a time, keeping it in the realm of believability. I could have moved them downstairs with my powers, but the effort and risk of being spotted wasn’t worth it.
And so I spent the rest of my day the same, moving boxes, telling dust and dirt to abandon the place, and finally settling down to visit with Dani on her porch.
“I got something for ya, but you gotta promise me you ain’t going ape shit.” Dani rocked back in her chair. “I figured out who cursed your land.”
I froze in my seat and glanced over at her grim, yet smug, expression. “Best to give it to Grim Dawn before me. I cannot keep that promise as he endangered my well-being and the time I spend with my mate.”
“Your hogs are out contracting any witch that’ll take a dime. They’re out for blood. You’ve got Ida Maye and Mama Vy’s protection so nobody wants money that dirty.” She cracked her neck and sighed. “But between that and the boy’s momma asking all kinds of questions, one of them Wyoming witches out in the desert took the contract.” Her mention of Deborah, Cliff’s mother, made me perk up. We knew she’d been avoiding contact.
“I take it that Deborah was involved in the attack?” I sat up straighter, brows furrowed.
“Indirectly. She ran off, blabbering about, and gave enough info to pierce the heart of your land. I trust you’ve hidden your heart well now?”
“And in multiple places. With Cliff at my side, it’s easier to disperse my power to anchor it.” I offered a half grin that I couldn’t muster the heart behind for the anger I held. For me, for my mate, and for River most of all. As much as I disliked River superficially, he’d saved me, and had always been there and respectful, if annoying and dangerous.
“Someone won’t be getting grandmother time—” I caught myself muttering, catching Dani’s curious gaze.
“Oh Jesus. You two got one on the way?” Dani blanched, and I cringed.
“Not sure. Cliff doesn’t know, and I don’t want to scare him until I know for certain.” I huffed and she stared at me with a steely glint in her eye.
“I’ll figure it out. I got this tea I make for the local raccoon gaze women and omegas. If he’s in the family way, it should taste nice.” She threaded her fingers together and leaned back.
“And if he isn’t?”
“Taste like hot ass.” She nodded once and I recalled Rayne having something similar.
“Do it.”
She smirked and stretched, making her way inside to the kitchen. When Cliff got home soon, I’d know and… I didn’t know what. I loved him so much, but I didn’t want to make him unhappy.