God Of Mayhem (Fate's Warriors Book 2) Read online

  The werebear who had defied Loki galloped towards the soldier. He moved far faster than expected for a creature that was so large. One swipe of his paw sent the hunchbacked warrior flying. Hitting the side of a building with a splatter of purple blood, the alien’s brain leaked out through his shattered skull.

  Grimgorg shamans and warriors turned on the shifters and found themselves facing enraged killing machines. A bloodbath would ensue if Loki didn’t put a stop to it. “Enough!” he shouted above the ruckus. Silence fell and he strode between the two armies. His beasts now numbered in the thousands. They were few compared to the invaders, but they were frighteningly ferocious. “These beasts have been compelled to protect humans,” he said to King Rho. “Tell your minions to treat their captives with care, or they will pay a severe price.” He pointed at the purple bloodstain that marred the wall and then at the crumpled body of the fallen warrior.

  Rho snarled in fury at being ordered around by his ally, but he wasn’t foolish enough to argue with him. With a curt nod of his head, he motioned for his shamans and soldiers to continue with their tasks. Now that they’d seen how eager the werebeasts were to kill, they would take far greater care with their prisoners.

  Feeling their hostile eyes on his back, Rho was starting to wonder if this was all worth it. He already had control of Asgard. Did he really need to conquer more worlds? Would they all be this difficult to quell? Darting a glance at Loki, he saw a sardonic look on the handsome Asgardian’s face. He was pretty sure Loki couldn’t read his mind, but he clearly knew what he was thinking anyway.

  ~~~

  Chapter Thirty-Four

  ~~~ Alpha World ~~~

  Sitting near Loki on the plush couch, Bianca watched him from the corner of her eye. Without taking his gaze away from the TV, he spoke. “Why do you stare at me so?”

  Averting her eyes, she looked down at the mug in her hands. It wasn’t doing much to warm the chill that was ever present in her bones now. “No reason,” she replied. At his incredulous snort, she turned to see him staring at her with one eyebrow raised. Clearly, he wasn’t going to let it go. “I was just wondering how all this came to be,” she said and waved a hand at the news report of the invasion that was happening in Dallas.

  “I have already told you,” he replied almost curtly. “Odin banished me from Asgard. This is my revenge for his mistreatment of me.”

  It was on the tip of her tongue to point out that humanity hadn’t done anything to deserve this fate, but she knew it would be a mistake to voice that thought. “You tried to overthrow him?” she said instead. She remembered that much about his explanation.

  Seeing Bianca was genuinely curious, Loki sighed and settled himself deeper into the comfortable couch. He took a sip of coffee before he gave her the story she seemed to crave. If their positions had been reversed, he would have wanted to know what had brought about the utter destruction of his way of life.

  “Odin isn’t quite as all-powerful as he pretends to be,” he began. “There are factions who plot against him in the shadows, hoping to usurp him and to take his place as the ruler of Asgard.” Shifting, he turned to face her and she mirrored his pose. Her hazel eyes were verging on gray again. She was feeling sad and she was looking for a distraction from her troubles.

  “Were you a member of one of the factions?” Bianca queried. Somehow, she couldn’t see him as a team player. She was amazed he’d managed to retain his alliance with the Viltarans and Grimgorg for this long.

  He chuckled and almost spilled his coffee. “I have a reputation as a trickster on my world as well as on yours,” he said with his usual charming grin. “No one trusted me to lead their rebellion against Odin.” His gaze shifted away from her. He became distant as he remembered back to the moment that had changed his life forever. “I’d heard that an attack against Odin was imminent. Their leader was a great warrior, but he lacked the intelligence to rule.”

  “It wasn’t Thor, was it?”

  He laughed again, but more softly this time. “Thor is Odin’s son. He would never turn against his own father. He is far too noble for that.”

  Sensing his bitterness, she knew better than to question him about his parents. He’d hinted that he hadn’t had a happy childhood. Bringing that up now would only sour his mood. “Who was the warrior then?”

  “He was a rival of Thor’s from when they were children. If you’ve never heard of me, it is doubtful you would know his name.” He said this with an utter lack of modesty. She must have lived in a bubble to have not heard about Asgardians. “He and his pack of rebels weren’t as circumspect as they thought,” he continued. “I overheard them plotting in a seedy tavern. I was intrigued, so I cloaked myself in shadow and listened in on their plans.”

  Picturing Loki lurking in a sordid bar, Bianca smiled a little. He was a surprisingly good storyteller and she wanted to hear more. Turning towards him further, their knees were almost touching as he continued his tale.

  “Their brute of a leader planned to wait until a feast began later that night, then his followers were going to instigate a fight. Brawls happen with great frequency, so their actions wouldn’t have been suspicious. When Odin’s guards were busy breaking up the fight, the leader planned to pretend to assist them. When he was close enough to Odin to act, he was going to strike him down.”

  “That sounds pretty cowardly for someone who is supposed to be a fierce warrior,” Bianca said with a frown.

  “You do not know Odin,” Loki told her gravely. “His skill with magic makes me look like an infant in comparison. It isn’t easy to outthink him. He has eyes and ears everywhere.”

  At his glum expression, she thought he wasn’t going to continue, but he began speaking again after a short pause. “I was quite inebriated at the time and the plan sounded like it might actually work. On a whim, I decided to take the warrior’s place. When he stepped into the privy to relieve himself, I cast a sleeping spell over him and hid his unconscious body in the cellar. Taking on his appearance, I returned to his friends. They were even more drunk than I was and they had no idea their leader had been replaced.” He sneered at their lack of attention and low levels of intelligence.

  “What happened next?” Bianca prompted.

  “We attended the feast and took our places at the tables. I waited for most of the warriors to be drunk before I gave the signal to my followers to play their parts.” His eyes twinkled merrily at the memory. “Right on cue, they began to brawl. It spread to other tables until Odin called in his guards to break them up. I worked my way around to him until I was standing on his blind side.”

  “Blind side?” she queried.

  “Odin only has one eye,” he explained. “It is said he sacrificed it in return for knowledge.” This wasn’t a history lesson, so he went on with his tale. “I was about to plunge my dagger into his heart when one of his cursed ravens alerted him that he was in danger.”

  Bianca knew nothing about Asgard, or its history. “What ravens?”

  “Hugin and Munin,” he replied with a curled lip. “They are his watchdogs and have magic of their own.”

  “Magical ravens?” she said almost to herself. “What next?”

  “Odin caught me red-handed and he instantly knew I wasn’t who I appeared to be. He dispelled my illusion, revealing me to the entire gathering. He was so furious at my treachery that he refused to believe I hadn’t instigated the plan from the beginning.” Loki brooded about what had happened next, but he decided she might as well hear it. “He put me on trial right then and there and denounced me as a traitor. He had me dragged away in chains while his warriors and their women laughed at me in derision.” Fortunately, he’d managed to hide his prized sword beneath an illusion before it could be stripped from him.

  Wincing inwardly, Bianca almost felt sorry for the ordeal he’d gone through. She had to remind herself that he’d brought it on himself through his treachery.

  “I was taken to the chamber where Heimdall watches ove
r the nine realms,” he said. “Odin ordered him to exile me to the most dismal planet that he could find, which turned out to be the Grimgorg’s world. At least they removed my chains before they tossed me into the bifrost.” He said this with a dry smile that didn’t reach his eyes.

  Bianca processed the information and concluded that it wasn’t wise to embarrass Loki. He’d engineered the fall of his entire civilization as revenge for being laughed at in public. Now every world would have to pay the price for his wounded pride and fragile ego.

  ~~~

  Chapter Thirty-Five

  ~~~ Lexi’s World ~~~

  Lexi sat at the dining table and listened as Mark and her father strategized. Reece sat next to her with his arm around her shoulder. He sensed the misery she was trying so hard to contain. Their bond made it impossible to hide anything from him. He knew she felt like a failure and he couldn’t do anything to change her mind about it. She’d been created for the sole purpose of being their version of Earth’s guardian. Now that Loki was here, she was more of a danger to humanity than their savior, or so she thought.

  “Stop blaming yourself, Alexis,” her dad said in a tone that meant she was trying his temper.

  He rarely used her full name and it made her sit up straighter. “I know it isn’t my fault that Loki can control shifters,” she said. “But if he hadn’t caught Kendricks and used him to link to me, they wouldn’t all be at his beck and call right now.”

  “It sounds like you’re still blaming yourself to me,” Kala said. She was slouched in her chair with one leg entwined with Philip’s. Werecats tended to be affectionate and the couple were always touching each other.

  “We all know what’s going to happen when the soldiers enter Vegas,” Lexi said in near despair. “They’ll open fire on the shifters as well as the aliens.”

  Philip had advised his former commanding officer that the shapeshifters wouldn’t harm humans, but he knew Lexi was right. They would be seen as a threat and there was a good chance they would be cut down along with the invading Grimgorg.

  “She’s right,” Mark said into the silence. “We all know the shifters are going to be collateral damage.”

  Flynn shook his head in sorrow that was mingled with outrage. “Are we just going to let them be murdered?”

  An idea came to Reece and Lexi seized it immediately. Turning to him with wide eyes, she leaned over and kissed him. “That’s why I love you,” she said when she released him. “You’re as smart as you are hot.”

  “Less kissing and more talking,” Kala ordered. “What brilliant plan did you just come up with, Reece?”

  “We know our zombies have to keep their distance from Loki,” he replied, “but there’s a task they can perform that could save our kind.”

  “What task?” Kala asked in puzzlement. “Aren’t they going to rend and tear the Grimgorg apart along with the vampires?”

  “They will, but I’m going to give them another mission first,” Lexi said. “Reece’s idea was to remove the shifters from Vegas and confine them somewhere they can’t escape from.”

  Understanding dawned and Kala grinned. “Somewhere like our compounds, you mean?”

  Mark nodded at Reece in approval. “The thirty-foot-high electric fences should be enough to hold them.” The only time they’d ever failed had been an oversight which he’d quickly corrected. Lexi had managed to escape from her new enclosure shortly after she’d been turned. She’d ultimately saved his life, but he still didn’t want it to happen again.

  “It’s a sound plan,” Philip agreed. “The further away you can send them, the better. The werebirds will need to be taken to our most distant compounds. We don’t want them to be close enough to return to the battle immediately.”

  “I’ll make sure my zombies take them as far away as possible,” Lexi reassured him. Her despair was gone and determination had taken its place. While the citizens of Las Vegas had suffered horribly, hopefully they would be able to stop this invasion before it spread to other cities.

  “So, it’s decided then?” Philip said and waited for everyone to nod. They’d worked out the details of their plan. Now Mark just needed to run it past Cromby. The head of the US branch of the PIA would liaise with the man in charge of the assault on Vegas. Since he was no longer in the army, Philip could only advise them from the sidelines. He missed being a sniper, but his new life as a werecougar with Kala as his mate more than made up for it. As a member of the Shifter Squad, his mission remained the same as when he’d been a soldier; to protect humans from harm.

  Mark retreated to the coms room to make the call while everyone else dispersed to get some rest. Most of them wouldn’t be able to take part in the battle and they weren’t happy about it. Only Mark, Ava, Nat, Violet and Elijah would be taking part, since they weren’t susceptible to Loki’s influence. Sabine was a lamia rather than a shapeshifter, but Flynn didn’t want her to endanger herself. Out of love for him, she’d agreed to remain behind. Her skills to mesmerize her foes wouldn’t be particularly useful in the coming war anyway.

  When the sun slipped from the sky and darkness took over, Natalie was fully alert when she woke. Anticipation gripped her with the knowledge that she and Violet would face Loki again tonight. A clash was inevitable, but whether he would live or die was yet to be determined. As a demi-god, she wasn’t even sure he could be killed. Then again, Asgardians weren’t immortal. They were just extremely long-lived.

  Leaping out of bed, she took a quick shower before donning her leather gear. If this was to be their final showdown in this reality, she wanted to be dressed in her own clothing again.

  In the room next to hers, Violet was also taking a shower. Like Nat, she was looking forward to their confrontation with Loki. Dressing in her faux leather jacket with the brass skull buckles and her favorite pair of jeans, she braided her hair on the sides, leaving the bulk of it to fall free down her back.

  Geared for battle, she left her room just as Nat stepped into the hall. The vampire looked sexy and dangerous in her leather outfit and with her sword hilts poking up over her shoulders. “Are you ready for this?” Nat asked.

  “Yep.”

  “That’s it?” Nat complained. “Yep? Where’s the snarky one-liner I was expecting?”

  “Sorry, Rigor Mortis,” Violet said with deep sarcasm. “I guess I’m out of snappy comebacks today.”

  “There’s the snark I’ve grown to love,” Nat said with a grin and slung her arm around the young woman’s shoulder.

  A door opened behind them and they paused when Elijah stumbled out of his room. His hair was messy and his face was unshaven. Wearing wrinkled clothing, he looked more like a bum than a powerful warlock. He smiled weakly and hurried over to join them. He’d spent most of the day tossing and turning rather than sleeping. The fate of the world rested on his shoulders. If he failed to create holes in the dome and to keep them open, the soldiers wouldn’t be able to infiltrate Vegas and help take down the invaders.

  Nat gleaned the information from him without even trying. He was broadcasting his concerns too loudly for her to be able to ignore them. She didn’t bother to attempt to soothe him. He was right, they were depending on him. He calmed down a bit when Violet sent a reassuring smile over her shoulder before heading for the coms room. He was suffering from a strong case of hero worship. Nat was pretty sure he would have done anything for the angel, including giving up his life. She just hoped it wouldn’t have to come to that.

  ~~~

  Chapter Thirty-Six

  ~~~ Lexis’s World ~~~

  It was getting dark and Loki was beginning to feel weary. He was tired of the suspicious glances the Grimgorg and his werebeasts were sending his way. The shapeshifters were efficient soldiers and kept his small green allies at a distance, but they weren’t much use to him right now. They were growing increasingly restless at the treatment the humans were receiving. Watching the collared civilians being herded through portals to a distant world was conflicting wi
th their command to keep the populace safe.

  The wolf, lion and bear glowered at him constantly. He’d gleaned from their minds that their names were Aiden, Cole and Bruce. If he hadn’t created their kind, they would have torn him limb from limb the moment they’d met. All three were huddled together, uselessly plotting against him. The bear wasn’t even an alpha, but he was still strong-willed.

  At a count, he had over five thousand furry guardians now. The only ones missing were Lexi, Reece and the small group they thought of as their pack. It was highly unusual for different species of shifters to live and work together, but their pack was anything but normal from what he’d learned. Reading the minds of his minions was handy. It was only possible because he’d used his magic to change their ancestors. He’d learned all sorts of information from them about this world. Most of it was useless, since their way of life was about to change drastically.

  Hunger gnawed at him, so he headed for his penthouse in the grand casino where his bevy of women would be waiting for him. He was looking forward to choosing one to spend the night with. “Why stop at one?” he murmured to himself with a smirk. He’d found two women to be very satisfactory.

  Taking the elevator up to the penthouse, he stepped into the foyer to see two leopards guarding the doors. Curled up on the floor, they opened their eyes and regarded him. While they looked half-asleep, it was just a sham. They were both alert and were ready to act at a moment’s notice.

  He paused to bend down and stroke their soft heads and received purrs of contentment and a lick on the hand from a rough tongue in response. When he stepped inside the apartment, he saw all fifteen women who had decided to join him gathered in the main living room. He’d forgotten about the mess he’d made. They’d removed the broken furniture and had carried in couches from the other rooms.