Gaia reveals something that shakes Lyden to the core. She also sends him on his next mission: to get talismans from each Pillar; Earth, Air, Fire, Water, Light, and Darkness. Impossible tasks followed by an impossible request await the generator.
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Chapter 31
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What Must Come
Thomas was still angry with me when I brought him into my Mens Mundi. The fact that Ondine had revealed his inability to get her off didn't help, and it took both Shemhazau and me to calm him down enough to listen to reason.
I still feel guilty for sleeping with his woman, but as I sit on the edge of the stream in my mind, listening to my father—the one-time ruler of the succubae—give him advice on how to please women, I let some of it go. I'm just glad the older man was finally willing to let go of some of his pride and listen.
"Well, I've done all I can for now," my father's voice states right behind me. "I don't want to overwhelm him all at once, and honestly, if you'd just bring in some women for him to try out. . . ."
"No," I state firmly. He'd tried arguing that talking is all well and good, but he needs to practice. I can see his arguments as an opportunity to be a lecherous old man. Besides, I can't bring Ondine into my Mens Mundi without feeling awkward, any of my women are off limits—I know, I'm a hypocrite—and I'm not willing to bring some stranger in here. Jennifer may be willing, but I don't even know how I'd go about asking her that.
"Well, he seems like an eager student, so it'll only take a few hundred years to teach him everything I know." I don't know if he's just bragging, or being serious. I'm not sure if I want to know that much about my father.
"Then I'd better get up and get to work," I state, standing and skipping a rock down the stream.
"You sure you don't want to bring someone else in here?" he asks me. "I'm sure we could have some fun with Jennifer's large tits. I think she'd even be into doing it. Sex is a great stress reliever."
I ignore him, pulling myself out of my Mens Mundi, and waking up.
Suit yourself,
he tells me as I walk out of my room.
My eyes go straight to Emmet as I close my door behind me. I've come to a decision about the balding healer. Before I can get to him, however, Brooke and Becky are right there. I notice that Gaia is nowhere to be seen.
"What happened?" the short brunette asks me.
"Ondine still refuses to talk to us, but at least she looks happier," Brooke throws in next. I wonder that they don't put two and two together. Looking into Becky's eyes, I see that she has, but I'm thankful she stays quiet.
"Thomas isn't a bad guy," I tell them. "It was all a misunderstanding."
"I'm glad my name has been cleared," the referenced man states, obviously annoyed that there had ever been any question.
We exchange nods and understand that the matter between us is settled.
I finish moving over to Emmet, who stands to greet me.
"He cast a spell to put Thomas to sleep after you went into your room with Ondine," Areth says, landing on my shoulder. Thankfully her next question is whispered. "Did you go in there and do perverted things to the little mermaid?" Maybe the fairy is learning some tact.
"I know," I state before I can think better of it, ignoring her other question.
I hear someone ask "How?" behind me, but I ignore it.
"You could have used the chaos of the situation to try and escape, but you didn't." I don't make it a question, but a statement of fact.
"Somehow I felt that the chaos may have ended in violence, and I didn't want that," he tells me evenly.
I examine the balding man, trying to figure out his angle. For the most part, he's been the perfect prisoner. Considering his order's penchant for wanting every creature from this world killed, I'd expected him to be a bigger handful. I'm also a bit surprised that he wouldn't want violence to break out.
"Brooke, may I see your sword, please?" I ask, holding my hand out, but not looking away from the Paladonic Healer. The man flinches as I feel the grip hit my palm. When I realize she hasn't let go, I turn to look at her.
"Don't," she tells me, and I can see the uncertainty in her gaze. She'd wanted him dead right away, from the way his brethren had treated her, but for her to try and stop me from doing it now, says something.
She lets go when I nod to her, and I turn back to face Emmet. I can see a trickle of sweat slip from his large forehead, but he remains standing tall as I bring the shimmering blue blade around. Moving quickly, I grab his tied wrists and free them on the edge of the sharp blade. He stares at me in shock as I do the same for his feet.
"Are you sure about this, Lyden?" Jennifer asks me. "It was his people that killed Lisa."
Hearing my dead lover's name sends a jolt through me, but I shove it away. "This man has done nothing to hurt us. He hasn't necessarily been on our side, but I won't kill a man for something his friends have done."
"While I agree with you on that," Jewkes states, assuming his police role, "I have to wonder. We're at war, and anyone who isn't our ally should be considered dangerous."
"No," I say, holding my ground. I hand Brooke's sword back to her hilt first, and then place my now empty hand on Emmet's shoulder. "I can't spare the time or effort to return you to Earth, but I won't keep you here against your will, either."
His eyes narrow as he considers my words. "I'm a dead man if I go out there on my own," he tells me. "I'm still a prisoner."
I nod, knowing that what he says is true. As a human, if he were to leave here without any protection, some supernatural creature or another would take him. After that, who knows what'd happen to him.
"Yes, I suppose you are, but I won't have you treated like one anymore. Besides, so are Becky, Jennifer, and Captain Jewkes, by that same logic." He chews on his cheeks for a moment, considering my words.
"They're here by their own choice," he states after a moment.
Some of my patience slips. I'd been trying to offer an olive branch to the man, and he's treating it like a slap in the face. "They're also here because your people will kill them if they return to Earth." I state a bit heatedly.
