God Of Mischief (Fate's Warriors Bk 1) Read online

  Assessing them for a moment, he crossed to Natalie’s side. “Are you going to introduce me to your new friends?” he asked in what sounded like a faint Italian accent.

  Violet stared at the vampire, comparing him to her boyfriend. They were disturbingly similar in appearance. Nathan’s eyes were dark blue and he wasn’t as pale, but it bothered her that she and Nat had the same taste in men.

  “Girls, this is my husband, Lucentio Ferrenzi. You can call him Luc. The chick with the black hair is Lexi,” Nat said then pointed at the other girl. “That’s V.”

  “My name is Violet Harper,” the blond said dourly.

  “I’m Alexis Levine,” the other one said. “Most people call me Lexi.”

  “Don’t take the nickname personally,” Luc said to Violet with a fond look at his wife. “Natalie is Australian. They all shorten people’s names.”

  “I thought you were British,” Violet said to the vampire whose home they had been sent to.

  “Nope. I’m an Aussie through and through,” Nat said. “Do either of you need to eat or drink?”

  Lexi nodded. “I’d kill for a cup of coffee.”

  “I hope she doesn’t mean that literally,” a young male voice said from the room Luc had just left. It was followed by a shrill giggle.

  “I’d prefer tea,” Violet said. She had no idea who was in the other room, but hearing the lighthearted laughter put her at ease slightly. Two of her closest friends had the tendency to giggle at inappropriate moments. The sound of childish amusement almost made her feel like she was at home.

  “You’re both in luck,” their hostess said and herded them towards the door. “I had a hunch I’d be having visitors and bought some provisions just in case. My closest friends are waiting in the kitchen. I bet they’re dying to meet you.”

  “No we’re not,” the same young voice said. “We’re already dead.” He sniggered and was joined by another young male.

  Nat sent a scowl at the door, but she fought down a grin. “You’ll have to forgive Geordie. He’s young and he has a hard time staying serious.” She sensed that the sun had gone down about an hour ago. It seemed her friends had all gathered to pay her and Luc a visit. While it wasn’t unusual, they didn’t tend to all come at once like this very often these days.

  She gave them a big smile and Lexi exchanged a look with Violet. Lexi might be part vampire herself, but her interaction with her kind had been far from pleasant. On her world, the living dead were evil to the core.

  Violet’s world didn’t have any undead creatures at all. She was torn between curiosity, and alarm at the thought of working with a bunch of bloodsuckers. Then again, some of the beings she was allied with made vampires seem almost tame in comparison.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Four

  ~~~ Asgard ~~~

  Loki stood on the balcony of his quarters and stared down at his kin as they were herded away by Grimgorg warriors. King Rho’s shamans had placed glowing silver collars on the Asgardian prisoners. The magic dulled their wits and made them compliant. They would do whatever was asked of them, even if it brought them pain.

  Turning away from the cowed captives, he couldn’t wait to be gone from Asgard. King Rho had personally constructed the portal that would enable a contingent of his soldiers to escort them to meet their allies face to face. So far, they’d communicated with Uldar, leader of the Viltarans, through one of the magical doorways. It had taken a lot of convincing to get the gigantic gray alien to agree to their plan. Loki knew the Viltaran wouldn’t truly believe in his magical abilities until he gave them a demonstration in person.

  Sighing, he crossed the black marble floor to the table and poured himself a glass of wine. Taking a sip, he looked around at the opulence that surrounded him. Gold was the predominant color. It graced the walls, ceiling and furniture. The drapes that adorned the large windows fell to the floor in graceful golden shimmers. Even the plates, glasses and utensils were flecked with gold. Doorways led to his bedroom and bathroom that were just as beautifully decorated.

  Soon, he would put this life behind him and he would never return. Asgard was already changing beneath the rule of the Grimgorg. The beautifully landscaped gardens were being neglected and the buildings would be sure to follow. Used to living in squalid huts in swamps, the invaders had no appreciation for beauty, or for the finer things in life.

  His lips twisted in distaste at the thought of joining forces with the Grimgorg and Viltarans. He’d truly sunken low to consort with these creatures, but he’d been left with little choice. Odin had brought this upon his own people by banishing Loki. Heimdall was also to blame. He’d been the one to send Loki to the Grimgorgs’ planet.

  Lounging on a gold couch that was piled high with cushions, Loki remembered hurtling along the bifrost after he’d failed to overthrow Odin. He’d landed in waist deep, odorous water. Tall, sickly trees were draped in clumps of mud and rotten twigs that indicated the changing tide level.

  Drenched in the putrid liquid, he’d slogged his way over to land. Feeling eyes on him, he’d quickly found himself surrounded by ugly little green beings with huge yellow eyes. One of the creatures had worn a black tattered cloak over his crude bronze armor. He’d stepped forward and addressed Loki. “Who are you? What do you want?”

  Understanding alien languages came naturally to him. Lifting his hands, he’d used the smile that most found to be devilishly charming. “I am Loki, of Asgard. I am an exile and I come in peace.”

  He’d been taken to a large village of crude huts that had been constructed on stilts. They’d climbed a rickety ladder and made their way along swaying plank bridges to a large shack where he’d been introduced to King Rho. Before long, he’d convinced the shrewd ruler that they could work together to engineer the downfall of the Asgardian race. To do this, they would need strong allies.

  Rho had shown him a silver portal that they used as windows to view other worlds. It seemed that they’d been spying on the race known as Viltarans for some time. Warlike and bloodthirsty, they possessed technology that could help them bring humanity to its knees quickly and easily. Their cities were vast, but showed evidence that war had erupted and the damage hadn’t yet been repaired. Strangely, none of the buildings had windows.

  Fascinated by the portal, Loki had been gripped with the idea of imbuing it with his power. Blue magic had begun to pulse around the edge. He’d shocked the Grimgorg magicians when he’d put his hand through it. Without quite knowing how, he’d altered the portal so it could be used as a doorway rather than just a window. It was almost as though someone was whispering instructions into his subconscious.

  A few items had been thrown through the portal as an experiment. They had all landed safely on the roof of a badly damaged building on the other side. Volunteer shamans put their hands up to step through the doorway. One had been chosen and had landed lightly on the roof. When he’d indicated that the atmosphere was safe, another shaman had been sent through after him. He’d taken a second portal along so they could communicate with their king. Clambering down to the ground, they’d allowed themselves to be caught by Viltaran sentry robots. The pair had been taken to a building and the being known as Uldar had used his robot to question them. The droid had quickly learned their language and had been able to translate their conversation.

  Uldar might be ugly, but he wasn’t stupid. He’d listened to their story and had ordered them to activate the portal. One of the shamans had done so and Loki and King Rho had come face to face with the Viltaran leader. With the robot acting as a translator, Loki had invited the Viltaran to join their war.

  Uldar had instantly been intrigued. He’d told them that he had ships that could be used to assist them with conquering Earth. Apparently, fuel was scarce and it was being hoarded in case of an emergency. Loki had offered to tinker with their engines so that they could run on raw magic rather than whatever substance they were using.

  It had been a deal that Uldar couldn’t refu
se. Lack of fuel was the only reason the Viltarans hadn’t conquered more planets. His crimson eyes had glowed at the knowledge that he could expand his reach and go to war once more. His species had begun fighting each other from sheer boredom. They were on the brink of destroying their own planet with a world war.

  Loki and Rho had been forced to wait for several days for Uldar to force his kin to cease their infighting and to join his cause. They apparently had an army of robots and what he referred to as ‘clones’. At any moment now, Loki expected to be called to the throne room to embark on the next step of their journey.

  At that thought, he heard several pairs of footsteps approaching. A knock came at the door a few moments later. Pushing himself to his feet, he crossed to the door and opened it to see three Grimgorg shamans lined up side by side. “It is time, Lord Loki,” one of them informed him.

  “Excellent,” he declared. His prized sword, Lævateinn, stood next to the door. Buckling the scabbard to his belt, he shut the door behind him. Striding down the wide corridor, he didn’t look back at the apartment where he’d spent the past couple of centuries living in solitude. It was time to put his old life behind him and to embark on his new future.

  Once he had enough soldiers to continue his quest without their assistance, he would give King Rho and Uldar the locations of several worlds. As per their agreement, they could do whatever they wished with them. Also according to their bargain, Loki had graciously agreed to relinquish some of the humans to become their slaves. Given that there were seven billion of them, there were more than enough to share.

  Entering the vast throne room, it seemed strange without its previous owners sitting at the banquet tables. King Rho sat on Odin’s throne, holding his staff across his lap. His legs were far too short to reach the ground. Steps had been added to assist him to climb up onto it. “Uldar has advised me that he is ready to embark on the invasion,” the Grimgorg ruler said imperiously.

  Hiding a smirk at the diminutive alien’s pretentious manner, Loki nodded. “I am ready to travel to Viltar whenever you are.” Using his magic, he called on his armor. His green tunic and brown pants turned into the black, green and gold leather that he favored. A golden helmet with long horns appeared on his head and gasps came from the Grimgorg warriors. They still weren’t used to his ability to change his appearance at will.

  Pretending he wasn’t impressed by the display, Rho climbed down from the throne. It was far too large and he decided to have it melted down. He would order a more suitable throne to be constructed from its remains when they eventually returned from their war.

  Waiting for Loki to use his magic to alter the portal that lay on the floor in the center of the throne room, Rho watched the blue spread out around the edges in envy. It galled him that he couldn’t duplicate the feat. He and his fellow shamans could only use the portals as windows. The Asgardian seemed to be the only one who could turn them into doorways.

  A ripple spread across the silver surface. The image of Uldar and his honor guard shimmered, then steadied. They stood in a large, empty room. Everything in their buildings seemed to be made of the same silver substance. Their décor was non-existent and they obviously lacked any form of art.

  At Rho’s gesture, his guards leaped through the portal. Seeing the warriors land safely, Loki jumped through next. The disconcerting sensation of falling lasted for only a moment before he found himself standing on solid ground. King Rho followed him, along with hundreds of his shamans and warriors. Some of their soldiers would remain on Asgard to keep watch over the former owners. The bulk of their forces was still on their home planet and would stay there until they were needed.

  Waiting for the last hideous, hunchbacked alien to appear, Uldar stepped forward to speak. One of his robots stood two steps behind him, ready to translate. The droids were nine feet tall and had gray exoskeletons, pointy ears and scarlet eyes. Their mouths were mere slashes that barely moved when they spoke. They’d been made roughly in their maker’s image, but were nowhere near as formidable in appearance. They wore simple black clothing. Soldier droids were similar, but went without garments.

  “Welcome to Viltar,” Uldar said in a guttural voice that grated on his guests’ nerves. “My ship is ready to transport us to Earth. Once you have demonstrated your power to use magic to fuel my vessels, we can begin preparations to leave.” His warriors shifted in eagerness to do battle with new foes. Around twenty of them were lined up behind him. Most were around ten feet tall and each one was uglier than the last. Their clothing was also black, but it was better quality than the droids’.

  Out of all the beings Loki had met during his travels, Uldar was one of the most repulsive. Like the others, he was gray skinned and had scarlet eyes. The fangs on his upper and lower jaws were almost tusks. His nose wasn’t quite as flat as a bat’s, but his nostrils were like small caverns in his face. Filthy black hair fell to his waist. There appeared to be clumps of meat stuck in it. His stench was very nearly overpowering.

  Staring up at the gigantic creatures, Loki hadn’t realized they were so large and muscular. Uldar had to be eleven feet tall, nearly twice his size. Hoping his magic wouldn’t fail him, Loki smiled charmingly. “Lead the way,” he invited. If he couldn’t use his power as an alternate source of fuel, the Viltarans would turn on him in an instant. Somehow, he didn’t think he was going to fail. He almost felt as if a higher power wanted him to succeed.

  Thanks to spying through King Rho’s portals, they’d learned the Viltarans were allergic to the sun, which explained why there weren’t any windows in their buildings. They’d witnessed one of the creatures being thrown into a metal pit in the ground. Once the sun had come up, the lid had opened and the offending alien had burst into bright blue flames. His flesh had quickly burned to ash, leaving his skeleton behind. Their bones had to be denser than usual, because there were dozens of perfectly preserved skeletons in the pit.

  Moving to a silver wall, Uldar used a contraption on his wrist to open a doorway. It slid aside to reveal a small metal box that could only hold a few of them. “This will take us to the hanger where one of my smaller transport ships awaits,” he informed them.

  Nodding, Loki stepped into the box. Rho followed with some trepidation and four of his shamans crowded in after him. Uldar entered last. The Grimgorg were barely able to hold in shouts of alarm when the door closed and the box dropped at what felt like a vast speed. It came to a gentle halt a few seconds later, then changed direction and zoomed along sideways.

  Shaken, and doing his best to hide it when the unnerving contraption stopped, Loki was glad to step out when the door opened. He’d never travelled in anything like that before and he had no wish to do so again. Seconds later, another box arrived and more Viltarans and Grimgorg soldiers joined them. A translator droid had also accompanied them.

  Loki followed Uldar down a long silver corridor. Rho scurried as fast as he could on his short legs, using his staff to hurry himself along. His shamans practically had to run to keep up. Reaching a door, it slid sideways to reveal a small black spaceship that hunkered in a large hangar. They crossed to the vessel and Uldar led them up a ramp. Taking a series of narrow dull silver hallways, they ended up in what looked like an engine room. “We use minerals from our planet’s core to fuel our ships,” he told them with the droid translating. “There is enough in the engine to start it, but not enough to fly far.”

  Loki knew little about engines and even less about alien technology. Seeing into the workings of the machine with his magic, he found the small store of fuel. Drawing on the sorcery his kin tended to mock him for using, he sent it flooding through the engine. “There,” he said and tried not to show how much it had drained him. “That should have given the ship an energy boost.” He mentally crossed his fingers that it would have a positive effect. There was no way to anticipate the outcome of what he’d just done, but he had a hunch it wouldn’t backfire on him.

  Looking down at the diminutive Asgardian skep
tically, Uldar moved to the console to see whether anything had changed. His brows rose when he saw the fuel gage was now at full capacity. “One of my droids will take the ship for a test run,” he decided. For all he knew, the ship might cease to function after an hour of travelling.

  Loki shrugged as if he didn’t care, but he secretly wanted to get this expedition underway. From what Uldar had told him during their negotiations, it would take them several months to travel to Earth and he didn’t want to wait a second longer. “If you wish,” he said carelessly. He was glad he wouldn’t have to use his magic to fuel the mothership just yet. That would wait until after Midgard had been quelled. During their long journey, he would be called on to use his energy to fuel the other small vessels that would be coming with them. They would be used to ferry the humans to the mothership.

  A Viltaran lackey escorted Loki and the Grimgorg to separate quarters to wait. The silver bed was far too high and lacked a mattress, blankets or a pillow. Loki lay down anyway and attempted to rest. He’d need it if he was going to be expending so much magic to fuel hundreds, or even thousands of transporter ships.

  After spending two days in space, the droid returned to report that the vessel showed no signs that its fuel was being depleted. Turning to Loki, Uldar held out a massive hand that was tipped with long black talons. Loki grasped the Viltaran’s forearm, trying not to wince at the tight grip when the fingers closed around his flesh. “I agree to our deal,” Uldar said and bared his fangs in a grin.

  “I agree as well,” Loki said. The act was repeated between Rho and Uldar, who had to bend almost double to accomplish the ritual. Their bond wasn’t forged by magic, but it was almost as binding. Loki had just given the Viltarans the means to travel almost anywhere in the universe. Their ships would never run out of fuel, at least not until Loki died. If he were to perish, his magic would fade with him, rendering their ships useless and leaving them stranded. That was a detail he wasn’t planning on divulging to his new allies. It would be a nasty surprise if they were to turn on him.