Chapter 10

Ideas from Tears

 

The first time had piqued her anger. The second time had succeeded in igniting the embers. This third time merely ebbed the flame. A third time seen out in public. If this had been a few mere centuries before, perhaps even less, their spotting would have unofficially announced an engagement.

            Was that it? she wondered silently. Had she actually succeeded in her seemingly endless endeavor of diverting Bane’s attentions? And rather than simply telling her of the new development, he simply courted her sister before her? The idea had merit, certainly. She considered it. If she had succeeded in swaying him, what did that mean for her? If he were to nullify their betrothal contract, and rather marry Eliyana, what would happen to her godship?

Eliyana was not a god, only half so, but a union with a god of Bane’s stature could possibly gain her a throne. Would Eliyana, by uniting with Bane, usurp her throne in the court? Would she lose her godship to her sister? And if so, what would become of this world?

            Tears sprang to her eyes at the very thought. She loved earth, this world, more than anything. It calmed and soothed her like nothing else could—from the bolstering city streets to the serene stream in the mountains, it all healed her. If Eliyana were to become the goddess of earth…humans were in desperate need of help. A demon turn god, given godly powers without a god’s remorse, it was a terrible thought to behold. Devlyn was born, ingrained naturally, with her love and affection of this wonderful place. She loved humans—the human race, her own children, in so many ways. Eliyana could never hold such affection for them. They were minion to her. Minion with slim physical strength and bendable, moldable minds.

            No, she could not let that happen. She would rather die than see her subjects and her world enslaved. And two such beings, she didn’t doubt for a second what they would do once they put their minds together. She would never go so far as to call Bane evil—he really wasn’t. But he wasn’t good either. He danced along that fine line so subtly it bordered amusing and annoying by turns. But if he were to bond with a demon, there was little doubt as to which way he would swing. He changed sides to suit him—the only cause he cared about. Married to Eliyana, it would do him well to side with her.

            She couldn’t kill her sister. Evil or not, her nature could never let her slice and dice her own blood. Frankly, the similarities, at least physically, between the two of them were too close for her to be able to do the act with her own hand. She also did not have the strength to take on a being such as Eliyana. She was half-demon, half-god, and Devlyn had yet to ascend her throne. As a god, she could be able to easily fight her. But without her ceremony, she would have to fight her while her powers dwindled with each passing day.

            But Bane. Now there the entire argument took a shift. Yes, he was physically stronger, metaphysically stronger as well. But he was male. She had entirely different resources at her disposal for a being such as him. He wanted her, yes. Could she play that to her advantage? Did she have the ability, the potential to work him over to spot such a weakness that could give her the in she needed?

            Of course! She had a muse at her immediate disposal and a horny male at her beck and call. If the three of them could not come up with a successful plan, it was futile from the beginning. And this already had the markings for one hell of an excellent plan.

            But how could she get them to agree? Aren would balk—she knew that without a doubt. He’d made his opinion—she was an utter fool for throwing him away and continually remaining stubborn about him—felt and heard long before Bane’s recent sudden appearance in her life. But Katerina was much more malleable. Katerina wanted her happiness above all else, and once she divulged this new information, surely Katia would agree with her and offer her aid and support?

 

           

 

 

She was actually crying as Aren approached her sitting on the settee in the living room of the townhouse. Devlyn. Crying. That was something that didn’t happen very often, hardly ever, in fact. That alone shot warnings off that something here was quite amiss. Devlyn was crying in the middle of the living room, not in her room, or behind some other closed door. This was about as public a cry as someone like her would do, and it was extremely odd that she was doing it now.

            “Devlyn?” he called softly as he approached her. He touched her shoulder lightly, and she swung up to look at him, her face red and puffy, indicating that she had, indeed, been crying for quite a while already. Oh, dear. “What’s wrong, petite?” he asked gently.

            She looked up at him, slightly more composed now that she knew someone was witnessing her meltdown. “I’m just tired of running, Aren.” She looked exhausted, as though about half of her spirit had been torn out of her.

            Aren didn’t realize that it actually had. She was so tired, she just wanted to go home. Gods weren’t meant to stay on earth this long, especially when they weren’t even full-fledged gods yet. It was draining her, painstakingly slow, by the day, the hour, the minute.

            “So what do you propose we do about it, m’dear?” he asked softly. He had to be so careful with her sometimes. She could be so unpredictable, and not always in that wonderful, spontaneous way Katerina was. There were moments when he saw that small child that she once was, and then there were moments when he saw the ruling goddess she would be. In those times, he could see how much of her mother she had in her, and how much of her father’s nature she possessed. This innocent woman had a devil inside her, and that devil needed to be pet often to keep it at bay.

She looked him dead in the eyes and said with all of the serious and gravity the situation deserved, poised and controlled, “I say we murder him.”

Hmm, simple as that, eh? he wondered. “Murder, Dev? Really? That doesn’t go against some kind of deity code of honor, or anything?” he asked.

Her chin rose to an obstinate level, and Aren knew he had probably just said the wrong thing. “It’s the only way to be done with him, Aren. That’s the only thing that I can think of. And I’ve thought of everything, everything.”

One red brow shot a good two inches into his forehead with that one. “And just how do you propose to kill a god, much less an extremely powerful god, Devlyn?”

The chin went back down, albeit only slightly. “I’m not exactly sure. I know there are ways, most involving a potion or a specific kind of dagger. The only catch is that most of these devices are found in the heavens, and I can’t exactly get to there now, can I? I’m sure Eros would have one or more of these objects within his grasp, but I sincerely doubt he would loan them to me for any period of time. For some bizarre reason, he’s rather fond of Bane. He thinks I’m a fool for refusing him—“

“He’s not the only one,” Aren mumbled under his breath.

She narrowed her eyes at him and pointed her finger. “I’m not listening to that, do ya here? But if I can’t get something from Eros, then I might can take a chance and contact one of my sisters, since I already know that Eliyana is in town. I’m sure that it wouldn’t take much to find out where she is staying and swipe something from her stock. A demon such as her would not dare travel without weapons, and if I know my sister at all, she has a serious affection for some really awesome weaponry. She wouldn’t travel without at least some of it, for safety’s sake. This is the right decision. I just need somebody to help me execute it.”

He narrowed his eyes at her, suddenly suspicious that perhaps those tears weren’t indeed faked merely to gain his sympathy. It wasn’t like her, plotting and faking tears; he wasn’t even certain she could fake tears. On the other hand, plotting murder of someone, much less a god she loved, wasn’t like the Devlyn he’d come to know and love over the years. Right now, though, he wouldn’t put it passed her. The woman in front of him was very much capable of anything. “And I take it I got cast in the role as lovely said person?”

Her eyes lit up and he knew he’d been a perfect fool for believing that she had actually genuinely cried on the sofa in the living room. “Perfect! Thank you, Aren, really—“she squealed as she threw her arms around his neck.

He cut her off and removed her arms from his neck, though keeping a hold of her hands in case she got a mind to start waling on him with her fists.“I didn’t say I’d do it.” He looked at her crestfallen face and really wanted to take it back. No, he wasn’t going to be an accomplice in her scheme to f**k up her life and the entire world. D****t, but how did she manage to influence and persuade people into doing her bidding? And she could. She didn’t always exercise her natural power. He didn’t think for a second it was power supplied by divine rights, but more of just a part of her personality. People just wanted to see her happy. But bloody hell, why did she have to go acting like a crazy person when she beseeched him? Damn females, all of them, especially the one in his head.

“But, Aren, you just have to!”

“No, Devlyn. And don’t think for a minute you’re going to include Katerina in on this scheme.”

She smiled wickedly at him. “She’s already agreed.” Oh, he wanted to throttle both of their necks. Unfortunately, he could only do that to one. The other, oh, the other would pray for desperate help when he was through with her internally.

He cursed a blue streak that had Devlyn's eyes dancing with laughter by the time he was finished. He saw that look in her eyes and wanted to thrash her severely for finding his outrage amusing. “I’m sorry, m’dear, I was not aware that my torment was for your entertainment.”

She had the grace to lower her eyelids, before her amusement became quite blatant. “D****t, Dev, this is no laughing matter, don’t you understand that? You are not a child anymore, your ideas and your actions have immense consequences! You are actually sitting there, plotting murder to me! Murder, Devlyn.”

She flinched at the emphasis he put on the word. She started to argue with him, but she didn’t think “but it’s for a good cause!” would be any kind of defense against him. “Look, Aren, I’ve got to do something. I can’t run any longer from the b*****d.”

Aren looked her straight in the eyes and decided it would be better if he didn’t try to taunt her into participating in her own game. “Then why don’t you buck up, grow those balls you continually mock in my face that you have apparently made of chrome, and face him head on?”

Oh, yes, the bloody b*****d had to go and sound all mature and reasonable all of a sudden. When did he turn into the sensible one of the group? It must have been when she went out to coffee or to the bathroom or something. It was a recent development, of that she was sure. But I’ve always been the reasonable one! Yes, she had, previously. Of their group, she was the one to provide sense and sanity in the conversation, not that that was really saying that much, at least amongst the three of them. But even so, Aren was the one with the most outlandish comments and lewd and lecherous opinions. If she took the time to think about it, to really analyze and overanalyze the situation, she knew she’d realize that his reasonability coincided with Bane’s return. Damn, she’d have to chew that over for a bit.

Instead her features softened and she looked up at Aren. “I can’t do that, Aren. You don’t entirely understand. He’s more powerful than I am. He walks into a room and I feel him in every cell of my body. He pores and radiates over me, and I’m just not strong enough to deflect it. It weakens me, and I’m not about to sit here and abide someone making me weak.”

Aren refrained from making a pun on being “weak in the knees,” mostly because it was just too easy, and he was sick and tired of this same song and dance.  It was old and he was tired of listening to her sob on and on about how dreadful it was to have one gorgeous, heaven-sent specimen practically crawling on his knees after her, and simply because she hadn’t pointed him out of a crowd and said “I want him” he wasn’t acceptable to her. He knew of no other way to get her to face reality than to beat her at her own damn game.  He smiled wickedly when Katerina acquiesced to his plan.

“Alright, Devlyn.  I’ll help you kill the bloke; however, only on one condition: you have to do the bloody deed your own damn self. That’s the only way. If you want Bane dead, you have to do it with your own hands. Can you do that?”

Well, it wasn’t exactly how she would have planned the blessed event, still, help was help. Hopefully. She raised her chin high. “Of course,” she said, so condescendingly, with all the self-confidence she possessed. “Help me figure out how to get him there, and I’ll put the steel blade through his cold heart with my own left hand.”

“Oh, I know perfectly well how we’re going to do this, utilizing all of our talents to our best advantage.”

She looked quizzically at him. “You have a special talent?” she teased.

His reply was a glare in her direction. “The easiest way to catch a man unawares is between the sheets. Do you think you could handle that?” he asked her.

She blanched. “Between the sheets? You don’t mean to imply that I sleep with him, do you?”

“Well, that would be the easiest. Men are known to be quite spent after good sex. Or even bad sex, really. And what could it hurt to sleep with him? Other than to satisfy all of our curiosity.”

“I can’t sleep with him, Aren,” she argued indignantly. She couldn’t sleep with him… Killing him, she could forgive herself for that. She couldn’t forgive killing her first lover. There was something too cruel and too twisted about that to settle right with her.

“Fine, you won’t have to. But with Katerina working her magic on the both of you and the situation, I’m sure we could get him near to that point. In flagrante is all we really need. Foreplay, have him hot and bothered, distracted with passion, and there you go. Could you handle that?”

Kissing him, having him feel her, caress her, could she handle that? She didn’t know. The first time, she had come so close to giving him all of her. She nearly lost her heart there that night in the garden. Nearly? Who was she kidding? She had given him her heart, only to have him hand it back to her smashed in little bits the night of her womanhood celebration.