ThirteenNights Page 7

  “There’s nothing wrong with me either. My empathy is a talent, a gift. It makes me the best negotiator the warriors have.”

  “Mercy weakens the warrior.” Marta wrapped her arms around herself and the pacing began anew.

  “In a world where our numbers our rapidly dwindling, and we interact more with humans and other races, that mercy is necessary for our survival,” Tai responded, his hand tightening on her thigh, his anger with Marta barely contained. “If we don’t change our breeding rules, we face extinction.”

  “Keep your small dog leashed, Antiope. His words bury you deeper.” Fury coated Marta’s voice.

  “I quite enjoy him unleashed.” A smile to her sister, a reminder that they both preferred male lovers, a secret they shared growing up, admiring celebrity photographs in magazines they snuck into their bunks and read with flashlights. Marta’s return grimace, a rejection of Annie’s outreached hand.

  “He’s also right, Marta. Let me show you.” She popped out of bed and dug out Phoebe’s research. “Look at this, really look at it. The Elders suppressed it, but the numbers don’t lie. If we don’t change, the warrior races will die out.”

  Marta threw it away without a glance. “No, Antiope. I won’t be swayed. The warriors do not need a new way forward, they need to recommit to the old ways. We are at a fork, you must choose.”

  A fork in time. Sylla’s words. Her decision now might decide the fate of the warriors. Tai’s love wrapped around her—a psychic embrace. He was projecting, trusting her empathy to pick it up—loving and accepting all that she was. “Yes, I must choose. I choose a new way forward. My empathy will never allow me to give up my man…or my child.” There, it was out. Now what did they do? By telling her sister, Annie threw the gauntlet, blew the horn of battle. Instead of months to figure it out, they had hours, maybe a day.

  Marta’s face hardened, her lips thinned she was clenching them so tightly. “If you are indeed pregnant, I am duty-bound to bring you home.”

  Before Annie could blink, Marta tried to grab her but Tai was too fast. Off the bed, he had Marta pinned on the floor, face smashed to the wood, her hands behind her back in a steel grip. “Get me some rope, twine, anything to tie her up with. We can’t let her contact the Elders until we get a head start.”

  “Bastard runt. You’ve corrupted my sister.” Marta cursed into the floorboards and bucked but could not break Tai’s hold.

  In a flash, he had Marta tied up, mouth taped, and in the corner with a TV on. They dressed as quickly and headed out. “We’ll have someone get you as soon as we’re safe,” Annie promised. “For whatever it’s worth, we truly believe we’re doing this for the good of our people.”

  Tai’s computer and Phoebe’s research in hand, they got in Annie’s car. “What now, game-changer? How do the two of us take on the Elders?” Annie asked, a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. Homeless and at sea, she’d never felt so alive. Choosing to be with Tai, to make an attempt to create family, gave the warrior a personal war and a purpose. Bring it on, Elders. She was ready for a fight.

  “We go to Neutral Ground.”

  * * * * *

  They entered the club, three hours before it was scheduled to open. The aroma of freshly ground coffee, cinnamon scones and blueberry muffins tantalized Annie’s senses. Sylla had dragged her pastry chef in early that day and greeted them as if they’d been on her calendar for months.

  “Expecting us, old friend?” Annie asked after she chugged several mouthfuls of coffee Sylla had shoved into her hand.

  “Of course. What I don’t know is what I need to do after you eat breakfast.”

  Annie quickly explained the events of the past eleven days, hoping Sylla had some insights as to what they could do. Her networks were global, and given the unique role of Neutral Ground in the pantheon universe, she’d cultivated an extraordinary knowledge of supernatural rules and regulations. If anyone could help them plot a course of action, Sylla topped the list.

  “You have one best option. Present your case to the Council of Pantheons Tribunal—it is the only body that can overrule your Elders without any avenue for appeal.”

  “That body passes judgment only when it crosses pantheon lines. We’re both subject to the Greek gods.”

  “Tai hacked the database and allowed a breeding that was forbidden by the Amazons because of your unique heritage, for which he is subject to death. The Gargareans have no such problem with the coupling. Under their law, Tai is a warrior so any male child he fathers is a warrior too. For that alone a tribunal is justified.” Annie wrapped an arm around Tai. With him by her side, she felt no fear for the future. Not like when she’d been brought to an Elder tribunal by her sister and faced the music for saving Quicksilver, alone.

  “Even more importantly,” Sylla continued, “Tai is a game-changer. The decision will affect the future, which reverberates beyond the warriors into the supernatural world. It will take me twenty-four hours to pull it together.”

  They both nodded.

  “We have rooms and a full-service gym on the top floor. Make yourself at home. Tomorrow’s going to make Hades look like a walk through the park, but it does give you a chance.” She threw them a key. “Your warrior regalia has already been brought to your rooms.”

  “Let’s get in our battle gear and hit the gym.” She heard what he didn’t say. They needed to feel strong, powerful. A good, sweaty workout was just the thing.

  Annie had to admit Tai looked sexy beyond her wildest fantasies in the leather loincloth on his hips and the weapons that crossed his chest. His clothing—if you could even call it that—exposed every muscle, every scar, and the tattoo—a natural proclamation of potency and toughness. Her outfit wasn’t much different. The chain mail armor covered her vital organs and her sex and not much more. The links crisscrossed between her breasts, covered her heart and ribs but left the mounds bare. Amazons designed their gear to be functional—it used their barely contained sexuality as a weapon to distract their enemies and provided easy access for the sexual release required after a heavy battle.

  Tai’s eyes bugged out when he saw her dressed and he let out a long wolf whistle. “Hell.”

  The gym had a running track that circled the exercise equipment. They sprinted five miles. Tai pushed her to a grueling pace.

  Pumped up from the run, Annie headed to the chin-up bar. When she reached to grab it, Tai positioned himself in front of her and circled one tight nipple with his tongue, then the other, drawing a moan from the back of her throat.

  “I’m going to watch you.” His body remained so close her breasts slid against his chest and the leather of his weapons holster with each up-and-down motion.

  When she was in the up position above the bar, her fiftieth chin-up completed and lust firing through her bloodstream, Tai wrapped her thighs around his neck. “Stay there until you come.” He licked her clit in long, slow laps, circled it in an evil tease. “You taste good. I could do this all day.” Then he drew lingering figure eights.

  “You’re just being cruel.” Her needy cries echoed through the room. Her biceps began to cramp but she had no intention of moving.

  “You like it.” He nipped at her thigh then returned to lick, suck and tease her wet, hungry sex. One hand reached up and massaged her breast. When her arms began to shake, he suckled harder while pinching the nipple. Her body splintered in an orgasm so violent she fell off the bar into Tai’s arms. He held her through the waves of pleasure.

  “My turn,” Tai said, eyes all appetite as he put her down and headed over to the bench press. While he lifted, Annie sauntered over, reached under the leather loincloth and began to stroke. She loved the feel of him hardening in her hand, the soft silk of his skin as she pumped him, the beads of pre-cum that tickled her palm.

  On his last lift, the heavy weights held over his head, arms locked, she inserted his cock inside her and began a slow, sweet ride. Her hands glided up and down his chest with each thrust. Revenge. Tai’
s eyes locked on to hers, glinting with wickedness, daring her to do her worst. He’d never accept less than what she was. How could she not love him? “You feel good, just keep those arms up ’til we’re done here,” she taunted.

  Another one of his smiles.

  She rode him harder, but moved one hand to her breast and the other to stroke her clit.

  “I want to be doing that.”

  “We have all day and all night. You can do what you want to me. Anything you want. After we’re done here.”

  “I like that idea. Let’s start on the mat, shall we? I’ll finger you hard while you hold a backbend, fuck your pussy and your ass from behind when you’re doing dog kicks. When I’m doing sit-ups, I want that pretty mouth of yours all over my dick.”

  She pumped him fiercely, stroked her clit faster.

  “After I’ve made you orgasm on every piece of equipment in this room, I’ll take you back to the bedroom, tie you up in ribbons and torment your breasts for hours, until you come from that alone. Then I’m going to worship every inch of you until my love for you is tattooed on every cell in your body. Baby, you’re going to limp into that tribunal room tomorrow with a satisfied smile and the knowledge that you’re fully loved and will be for every minute of every day for the rest of your life.”

  “I love you, Tai.” Her body exploded and it took him with her. Tai tossed the weights to the side and circled his arms around her after she collapsed on top of him. After sufficient recovery time and several deep, toe-curling kisses later, she went to the mat and did a backbend.

  Thirteenth Night

  Dressed in his battle clothes, Tai took Annie’s hand and headed to the courtroom in the basement of Neutral Ground. Full warrior regalia stressed their commitment to their heritage, their conviction that their actions were about building a better future. A justice nymph led them to a long table that faced the tribunal bench, set for five judges.

  Tai laid his hands flat on the table and sat stone-still as the tribunal judges entered. His thigh touched Annie’s lightly. A small comfort, but that Annie allowed it in such a setting spoke volumes of her courage.

  “Andromache,” Annie whispered, as a tall, white-haired Amazon Elder strode in, her muscles still warrior-honed in the Amazon uniform. Wrinkles from age and anger radiated from lips clenched tight. Her gaze skated up and down Annie’s body and settled on her breasts. “Damn. I thought Sylla was my friend,” Annie said. “Andromache assigned herself as my sexual mentor when I turned eighteen and still does not understand why I don’t return to her bed since she trained me. She sent me to retraining and rendered judgment on Phoebe.” Her voice pitched low to his ears only. “She looks pissed.”

  “Strike two,” Tai said, his tone equally hushed, his eyes following the Elder Gargarean who took the seat next to the Amazon with his arms crossed and eyes narrowed, his anger displayed for all to see. “Ajax is known for his zealous traditionalism.” He pressed his leg tighter against her, taking as well giving comfort.

  “Themis.” The Greek goddess of divine order, law and custom entered, clad in a silk toga. “She’s a true unknown—with a leaning to support existing law and tradition,” Annie whispered. “This is not looking good.”

  “Wait a sec. That’s Wenchang Wang, the Chinese god of literature and scholarship, the patron of scholars and reputed for compassion and leniency. One story says he started as a warrior, killed in a rebellion.” An elderly Chinese gentleman, gray at the temples but resplendent in silk robes, a pencil-thin moustache over thin lips pressed firm. His eyes shone with kindness and ruthlessness. He could be mean when crossed.

  “Oh my,” Annie breathed, a smile tugged at her lips. “Ganesh, the Hindu god of intellect and wisdom and remover of obstacles.” His elephantine features were unique among the pantheons. “I’d always wanted to meet him, but not like this.”

  “This tribunal is not acceptable. Only those from the Greek pantheon may render judgment on the Greek warrior races,” Andromache’s deep voice echoed through the walnut-paneled room. A sharp nod from Ajax showed the Gargarean’s support.

  “The decision taken today will reverberate across all the supernatural races, so the Council of Pantheons deemed others to be included in the final judgment,” Sylla said.

  Tai swallowed hard. He hadn’t really put much value on his designation as game-changer. That the membership and approval of the tribunal was overseen by the Council of Pantheons, the highest body in the supernatural world, changed that. He wanted Annie, believed it was the right future for them and for his people, but never fully understood he had set in motion an action that touched all the supernatural races. Is that why his mother in the end didn’t take the research above the Elders? Wenchang Wang’s presence in this room signaled its value.

  “As the defendants are Greeks, Themis has the deciding vote,” Sylla continued. “Two judgments must be rendered—the first shall be whether Tai and Annie, and by extension all other warriors, can choose their partners, form families and raise their children, and the second on Tai’s fate for hacking the database and mixing DNA forbidden by the Amazons.”

  As the decider of the final verdict, Themis would remain silent throughout the proceedings. Three pieces of evidence were put on the table for consideration. Phoebe’s research and conclusions on the fate of the warrior races, a reproduction of the way in which Tai hacked the database and Annie’s and Tai’s genetic histories.

  Andromache’s stance never wavered—custom should be preserved, Tai put to death, Annie’s child to be raised by the camps, and henceforth, Annie’s breed partners were to be selected by the Amazon Elders.

  Ajax echoed her support for custom and the need to maintain the camps for child rearing but he argued vigorously for Tai’s life. “Given Tai’s unfortunate birth,” he argued, “his hacking skills and battle victories offered undeniable proof that warriors are trained, not born.” His next words were crystal clear. “A proven warrior may choose his breed partner—the Amazon predilection for genetic approval is unnecessary and frankly undesirable. The Gargareans believe the genetic toying has reduced the Amazons’ fertility.” No way the male warrior would admit that his people were shooting blanks.

  Wisdom apparent in the gleam of his eyes and precise, controlled movements of his nose, Ganesh seemed to understand that the Elders’ fear of change was the obstacle to be overcome. Tai swore the elephant god shot a tag-you’re-it look at Phoebe, who had snuck into a seat at the back of the room ten minutes after the Tribunal started. Phoebe stood and asked to speak—a transgression to proceedings that both Ganesh and Wenchang Wang allowed over the Elders’ protests.

  Themis remained mute but only two approvals were required in the admission of additional evidence. Phoebe stood and approached the bench, grabbing a table then a chair as she made her way to the front of the room as if her legs needed the help. She squeezed Tai’s shoulder though she never gave him a glance before she settled her hand on the table. Annie’s thigh pressed his harder. Only the knowledge that an obvious display of affection would work against them kept him from pulling her into his arms. This trial could not be about them—but the future of the warrior races, and the pantheons, he suspected.

  “I’m here to admit to my greatest failing, my single regret.” Phoebe’s knuckles turned white, she squeezed the table corner so hard. “That Wenchang Wang agreed to oversee this tribunal speaks to the importance of my research. But I let it be squelched when I could have appealed, I let them take my son, because I too feared the changes my conclusions demanded. So I returned to my duty and though I participated in many Thirteen Nights rituals, I’ve never conceived another child.”

  Now hard truths will emerge, Tai thought.

  “When Antiope dared to find me, dared to bring my son to me, I understood how fear kept me quiet. I wasn’t brave for giving up my child, as the Elders insisted, I was a coward.” She blew out a breath. “Through Annie’s and Tai’s courage I’ve found my own. No more running from you. Our reproduct
ive conditions must change. I’ve emailed the research report to every Amazon and Gargarean I could dig up. As historian, my database is extensive. No matter what decision is taken here, most of the warriors will have the research and know it’s been approved by Wenchang Wang.”

  As if they’d been rehearsing together for weeks, Ajax and Andromache bolted out of their seats in battle-ready stance, their eyes bugged out in unison. Pride vied with love in Tai’s heart as his gaze volleyed between Phoebe standing tall and Annie biting her bottom lip so hard to suppress a laugh that a drop of blood formed. He stifled a vampire-like need to lick it off.

  Ganesh and Wenchang Wang nodded their approval. Just as the Elder warriors looked ready to storm out, Themis hit a gavel on the table. “I will pass judgment now.” The Elders sat, respectfully—powerful as they both were, neither were strong enough nor stupid enough to defy the Titan goddess of justice, the mother of the Fates and the ruler of the oracles. Even if the magic of the pantheon gods was waning, Themis remained formidable.

  “Antiope, you carry the descendant of Hippolyta, the greatest of all Amazon queens.” Annie nodded, but Tai felt her shoulders and back stiffen. Themis was the most powerful deity in the room, her mind her own, her decision final, and they had no clue how this would play out.

  “She ruled well and used her empathy to do so.” Gasps escaped from Annie and Andromache. “Empathy that the Amazons have been trying to eradicate from your line for centuries. Some failures should be praised.” Appearances be damned, Tai clutched Annie’s hand, proud to call her lover, proud to display his love. Their fate lay with Themis, let her decide from truth.

  “The current laws and customs pursued by the warrior races are leading to their extinction, which I cannot permit. The knowledge is out, it’s time to allow the change. Warriors will be permitted and encouraged to breed with non-warriors. Any who choose can take the blood oath and raise their children in their home on the condition that their children still receive training as rigorous as any other warrior. All children will be required to take and pass all tests mandated by the warrior code.” The time to celebrate had not yet arrived. While his DNA was now permitted, Themis had yet to decide on his personal fate. Gods could be fickle, he could still lose everything.