My parents were murdered when I was fifteen. Star-crossed lovers don’t always get happily-ever-after, and in my parents’ case, that ending was a bloody, vicious one. My paternal grandfather and maternal grandmother colluded to have them murdered. And it worked. They would have killed me too, except that I happened to be at school. I came home to find them lying in pools of blood.
Angel’s mother had offered me a place to live, so I went to stay with Mama J. and my best friend. They helped me keep sane, but they couldn’t take away my anger. Luckily, I had finally managed to have my revenge—and never let anyone ever tell you that revenge isn’t sweet. It doesn’t stop the pain, but it does give a certain feeling of closure.
After college, I went on to become a freelance investigator. I took care of goblin problems, I cleared out nests of sub-Fae who were causing havoc, and in general, I kept to myself except for Angel. She became my best friend when we were eight years old, and she’s still my best friend. While our lives are slowly leading us in different directions, we’ll always be sisters of the heart.
A year and a half ago, her little brother went missing. Long story short, I found him safe, but the resulting cascade of events led to both of us working for the Wild Hunt. And that led to me dating Herne, my boss and a god, and that led to him proposing and me accepting and now we’re engaged. I bought a house, Angel moved in, and our lives have been charging ahead ever since. We’re both happy, in love with our respective partners, and if we have to save the world every now and then? Well, so be it.
I sat down on the floor of my office and started sorting through the chaos. I didn’t want to think about going after Straff a second time. The first time had been bad enough, but at least this time, we knew what to expect, especially with his father. Psychos like Straff were bad, but Blackthorn was far more cunning and cultivated, and his agenda was driven by ancient, treacherous forces.
As I sorted the papers into different piles, I heard a noise at the door and looked up. Yutani was standing there, frowning.
“What’s up?” I asked.
He shrugged. “Heard from my old man last night.”
I stopped, setting the papers back down as I scrambled to my feet. “How did it go?”
Yutani was still getting used to the idea that the Great Coyote was his father. What that meant for his own evolution remained to be seen. Yutani was a demigod, thanks to his parentage, but he’d shown no real sign of any powers he might have gained from the Trickster, except for chaos following his heels.
Yutani shrugged, then tiptoed through the maze of paper on the floor to sit down on the loveseat at the back of my office. The room was small—it wouldn’t have been big enough for a bedroom, really—but it served its purpose.
It was pouring outside. I had opened the blinds on the window that overlooked the alley, and now I could see the rain coming down in sheets, steadily hissing as it sputtered against the concrete below. I turned on the overhead light, and leaned against my desk, staring at the paperwork spread out before me.
“He just shows up without warning, expecting me to drop everything and hang out with him. I have a life. He never seems to acknowledge that. To be honest, I feel like I’ve backslid in my emotional growth since he showed up.” He sounded more upset than I had thought.
“Has he ever talked to you about being your father? I mean…about what that means for you?” I asked.
Yutani shook his head. “No, and every time I try to bring it up, he just blows me off and acts like it shouldn’t matter. He’ll be like, ‘Let’s go grab a beer’ and when I say no—I’m finding that not drinking at all is better for my addiction than giving in now and then—he acts like I’m a killjoy. His life is a whirlwind because that’s all he is. But I need more than chaos, and I can’t seem to make him understand that. He just blows me off and accuses me of being too linear.”
I could tell this was bothering him. I dusted my hands on my jeans and carefully picked my way through the paper maze to sit beside him.
“Can your aunt help? She has to know more about the story surrounding your mother and the Great Coyote. Hell, I don’t even know if your mother’s still alive.”
Yutani gave me a long look. He was tall, lean, and muscled, and he had the most beautiful eyelashes that I had ever seen—long and silky, just like his hair.
Yutani was Native American, and he came from the Southwest. While he kept his private life private, we all knew that he was a Top and into the D&S lifestyle. He was an expert at kinbaku—Japanese rope bondage—and there was a sensuality to his movements that was hard to ignore. Early on, before Herne and I started dating, I had briefly toyed with the idea of getting involved with Yutani, but I wasn’t submissive, and any relationship other than as friends would have quickly imploded. For that same reason, when he pursued a good friend of mine—Raven, one of the Ante-Fae—she had quickly pushed away his interest.
“My mother? Yes, she’s still alive. What can I say about her? My aunt Celia raised me. When the village burned down, Auntie left and took me with her. We left all of our family—including my mother, who is Celia’s sister—behind. They blamed me for something I couldn’t control. Their anger left a bad taste in my mouth for anything concerning family.” He dropped his head back, sliding down to rest it against the sofa.
I wasn’t sure what to say. I had loved my parents, but they had been taken from me far too early. On the other hand, I had quite willingly killed my grandfather when he threatened my life, and I’d do it again if I had to.
“Are you afraid of what you might find if you explore your lineage? The Great Coyote’s a walking time bomb, in my opinion.” I felt bad even saying that, but it was the truth. I blamed Coyote as much as I blamed Yutani’s mother for abandoning him. The Great Coyote owed it to his son to help him grow into his powers, whatever they were. Hell, we didn’t even know if Yutani could be killed. The gods were immortal. Herne was, although he could be severely injured. But we had no clue regarding Yutani’s lifespan.
“What are you thinking about?” Yutani suddenly asked me. “You have a strange look on your face.”
“I’m thinking about…” I paused, searching quickly for something that wouldn’t spark off more anger than Yutani already have. “I’m thinking about immortality. What if Herne was decapitated? If the gods can’t die, what would happen to him? Would he carry his head around? Would his attacker be unable to actually cut off his head? Or would the head just miraculously reattach?” As the words came out of my mouth, I realized how bizarre they sounded.
Yutani sputtered, then began to laugh. “Oh, my side, I’ve got a stitch,” he said, grimacing as the laughter continued. He was trying to get himself under control when Talia peeked into the office.
“What’s so funny? I could use a laugh too,” she said.
“Ember was thinking about cutting off Herne’s head to find out what would happen,” Yutani said between great gulps of air. He must have been wound tight to find what I said so funny.
I gave him a pointed look as he began to collect himself again. After a moment, he let out a long sigh. “All right, I’ll stop. But seriously, what a question to ask.”