“We don’t know if we’ve got any now, but if we have,” Ra added quickly as Seth looked up, “when we have, they will be adored as is their right. They will be loved and welcomed, cherished and protected, as will my mates. I am Ra. I decree this. I am sending my voice to the heights of every pantheon and down to the depths of the far corners of the underworld. My mates will be granted all rights afforded to me. Any offspring from this joining will be loved and protected. Any fool who rises against me, or those I claim as mine through love, will be destroyed, no more, forever dismissed from my presence. Do I make myself clear?”
“How could you do this?” Seth raged but the power behind his words were gone. “I… I thought we were happy.”
“We’ve existed a long time together, you and I,” Ra said softly. “And never could I have had a greater protector, or companion, than what I found in you. But cross me, and I will take all you have. Hurt my mates, and you’ll spend eternity comparing dick sizes with Osiris. The winds of change have been a long time coming. My mates are only the start of that change. Embrace it and be swept up in it, reveling in the challenges that come with it, or ignore it and be swept aside, leaving you to reside in the one place in existence the wind doesn’t blow.”
“You’d banish me to the world of the dead?” But Seth seemed to be more talking to himself than Ra. This Seth was someone Ra had never seen before.
“If that’s what you push me into, then yes, that’s where you’ll end up.” Ra closed his eyes briefly and let out a long breath. “It’s time for you to go. Our realm must be prepared for my mates’ arrival. I would introduce them to any of our kin who wish to celebrate my mating. Send me word when it’s been arranged.”
“Why would you have me do this? After all I’ve said and done?” Seth sounded more lost that Ra had ever heard in all eternity.
For a moment, Ra did hesitate. Seth had a lot of prejudices. But their long history together countered it. He was loyal. If nothing else Seth had always been loyal. “There’s no one I trust more. Do not let me down,” he said as he flicked his hand and sent Seth back to their realm.
The moment Seth left, all the energy that’d kept Ra upright left with him. His wards collapsed, and his knees gave out. He groaned as his body hit the ground.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Vampires weren’t in the habit of having heart attacks, but when Kirill raced into the house, saw Ra facing off with a spiteful god, and Arvyn slumped in a heap by the wall, his heart jumped enough to cause one. He couldn’t be reckless though, his eyes taking in the situation in a quick glance. Ra wasn’t the one who needed him, although it went against every protective cell in Kirill’s body to leave his godly mate without support.
But Arvyn had been hurt, badly if his closed eyes and the trickle of blood he had coming out of his ear was any indication. Hurrying to his side, Kirill pricked his finger on one of his fangs, allowing the wound to bleed before holding it against Arvyn’s lips.
“Take it beloved,” he murmured softly. “It’ll help you heal before you can shift.”
“Ra…?” Arvyn suckled on his finger, and no it wasn’t appropriate, but Kirill’s emotions were running high. His cock started to unfurl and plump up in his torn pants with every suck of Arvyn’s sweet mouth.
“A fight is inevitable,” Kirill kept his voice low, seething at Seth’s blatant attack.
“Help me up. I want to kill him. I don’t care how badly he’s hurting, I want to kill him.” Arvyn released Kirill’s finger from his mouth but kept holding it as Kirill gently lifted him from the floor so he could find his feet. “I guess that’s not possible when gods are involved.”
“No, and our precious Ra…” Kirill broke off as Ra turned to them, his head bent so as not to hit the ceiling.
“Please, Kirill, stay here. Take care of Arvyn for us both. This won’t take long.”
“Ra?” Kirill looked between Ra and Seth. Seth was also watching Ra, but Kirill couldn’t make out what the other god was thinking.
“Kirill, please.” Ra kept his voice soft. “The powers a god uses during a fight could kill you both. You’ll be safe in this house; you have my word. Trust me.”
Kirill swallowed hard, and then nodded. Beside him, Arvyn gave him a thumbs up, even though he winced as he did it. Damn, Arvyn needs to shift and fast.
“Kir,” Arvyn grabbed hold of his coat as soon as the two gods left the house. “We can’t let him face Seth alone. There was too much pain and rage in him. I can’t tell about gods, but I could tell that about him, that’s how strong his emotions are. I don’t know what he’ll do to Ra.”
“You heard what Ra said.” Kirill hated the idea as well. “Godly powers can kill us, and I doubt a fight between them two is going to involve throwing their fists around.” More like lightening bolts and fire balls.
“No, that can’t be right. Those powers shouldn’t be able to kill us at all,” Arvyn insisted. “When Ra claimed us, we became immortal just like him. Don’t you see? We have to be with him.”
This is the downside of having two mates. “Babe, we might be immortal, but we don’t have magic or powers like they do. Think for a minute. What did you feel from Ra when he agreed to fight that asshole?”
Arvyn was keeping his breathing slow. Kirill used his finger and swiped up the blood on the side of his head, licking that same finger clean. “He seemed resigned,” Arvyn said at last, glancing over at the window – not that there was anything to see. Kirill had already looked. “But you heard what Seth said. Ra doesn’t fight. He never fights.”
“I think he’s fighting for us.” Kirill shook his head. “Correction. I know he’s fighting for us, and if you think about it, it makes sense. In the shifter world, or in a vampire coven that’s what a mate or beloved would do when their claimed one has been insulted or manhandled. This is my fault… again. I should’ve been here. If I hadn’t got pissy about the idea of being pregnant and stormed off to do my tall, blond, and broody moment over at the cliff edge…”
“Tall, blond, and broody. You do that so well.” Arvyn chuckled. “Babe, this is not your fault, not this time. It was Seth’s, pure and simple. Whether you’d been here or not, he’d still have had attitude. He threw me against the wall. I didn’t say anything or do anything. It was like he was deliberately goading Ra to fight him. You don’t think… you don’t think they have challenges in the pantheons like they do in packs or covens, do you?”
“I’ve never heard of anything like that.” Kirill sighed. “I think the rankings among the ancients are pretty much set in concrete. It doesn’t matter what Seth does, Ra will still outrank him and probably still have more power than he does. I just wish he didn’t have the need to fight at all.”
“Seth started with his attitude the moment he arrived, insulting Ra for cooking and insisting I should be on the floor kissing the ground Ra walked on, instead of beating eggs in a bowl.”
“Ra wanted to cook?”