Defy & Defend (Mythverse #7)

Chapter 4

4

I’ve never been completely sure what I believe about the afterlife, but I’m pretty sure it doesn’t smell like dog farts. Also, someone is l*****g my face.

My eyelids flicker and I focus on a light above me. Is this the Elysian Fields? Do I get to be with my team in the afterlife? I can hear their voices, the low grumble of Mac and Griff, punctuated by Shauna’s pipsqueaks and Greg’s anxious fast-paced patter.

Wait. Greg? He can’t be dead too. He gave his life for me once already. Confused, I shake my head, and the light above me comes into clearer focus. Okay, I’m pretty confident that the afterlife doesn’t have light fixtures made entirely out of deer antlers. I know this motif. I know where I am.

I’m at our safe house, the cabin. Totality is standing on my chest. “Tot? Good boy.”

He gives me one more lick, and jumps down.

I struggle to sit up, and there are instantly cool arms around me, easing me back down. “Don’t move too fast,” a familiar voice says. “Ketamine is nothing to mess around with.”

“Fern?” I mumble, my eyes shifting to her face. “You…you…”

I want to be angry, want to rant at her for overdosing my team and sending us all to our deaths, but the Fern I saw on that platform is not the girl holding me now. She’s smiling gently, and rubbing my wrists.

“You’re okay,” she reassures me. “You’re going to be okay.”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far,” I hear Mac say. “My d**k hasn’t worked since you loaded me up with that shit.”

“All of your normal functions will return in time,” Fern says placidly, eyes still on mine.

“There’s nothing normal about my functions, baby,” Mac says, and I can’t help but laugh. His coarse humor and endless innuendo usually gets on my last frayed nerve. But not today. Mac’s alive! I can listen to d**k jokes all day.

And if Mac is alive…“Griff?”

I sit up all the way this time, resisting Fern’s arms and looking wildly around the room. Shauna is on the couch curled around...an unconscious Tina. In a soft voice Shauna talks nonstop in a language that sounds like words I know and yet the meaning refuses to come together in my head. That’s fae magic at work right there. All their magic is tied up in trickery.

Still it’s sweet to see Shauna watching over Tina like that. Although it would be even better if Tina sat up and said something insulting to me. And then threatened to rip someone’s throat out. That’s the Tina we all know and love—not the lifeless creature stiff on the couch.

I continue scanning the room. Mac is sitting on the kitchen countertop, swinging his legs while he juggles knives. Kit is on the couch, his eyes still closed. And Greg is on a tablet screen propped up next to Fern.

“Oh thank gods, you’re alive,” he says, relief clear in his face. “You’re gonna go get Edie and everything is going to be okay.”

Woah. So Greg is clearly betting all his chips on me. No pressure there.

I force myself to smile. “Thanks for getting me out of there.”

“Oh, it wasn’t just me,” he says. “It was a group effort.”

“Uh-huh,” I scan the room once more, looking for Griff.

Fern’s takes hold of my wrist, checking my pulse.

“Your bear man went for a run,” she tells me. “I don’t think he liked seeing you all not-in-charge.”

“He went for a bare run, alright,” Mac says, effortlessly flicking the knives out of the air and into a MAHA poster hanging in the corner. “That boy does not like clothing. Not that I’m complaining.”

Fern pulls my hair back and checks my eyes, asking me to follow her finger. I’m able to do everything she asks, but I’m definitely still confused.

“The whole thing was a set up?” I ask. “We were never meant to be executed.”

“No, no, of course not,” Greg pipes up from the tablet screen. “I would never let them execute you.” He pauses. Frowns. “Well, I would, because it’s my job and also I would never stand a chance going against the gods.” Greg shrugs apologetically. “Luckily, it was the Tri’s idea. They needed to appease the Humans First people. They also felt like they couldn’t ignore creatures invading our world while disguised as one of our own. So…” He holds out both hands. “It all just worked out.”

I think this is meant to be reassuring. Instead, I feel angry. If everything hadn’t lined up just so, it seems like I’d still be cooling my heels behind bars and Edie would be getting rescued never.

Fern, as if sensing my thoughts, gives my shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “When I heard about Edie, I would’ve taken Underworld Reformatory apart brick by brick to get you out. We’re all on your side.”

I’m not comforted. I jerk away from her and cross my arms over my chest. “Maybe next time let me know that I’m not really going to die?”

“Oh, shut up,” Shauna says from the couch, momentarily diverting her attention from Tina. “They got us out. Kit and Tina too. They couldn’t risk us knowing and the Humans First people twigging to us faking the whole thing. Anyway, who cares how it happened? We’re alive. Let it go.”

“We are ready for lift-off!” Mac suddenly shouts. Jumping to his feet, he thrusts out his hips so that even Greg on his tiny screen can see the massive boner pitching a tent in Mac’s pants. “Shauna’s right, Mavis. All’s well that ends well.”

“I’m going to check on Tina,” Fern says softly. “I’ll give you a minute.”

She moves away and I swallow, fighting to get a hold of myself.

I hate not being in control. Especially of my own body. It makes me want to squirm out of my own skin.

Speaking of which...I arch my back, instinctively shifting into a housecat. It feels so good. I flick my tail and meow my pleasure, rolling on to my back. Tot snorts in surprise. It always takes him a moment to adjust to me when I shift.

“It’s okay, Tot. It’s me,” I tell him. To everyone else in the room it just sounds like a meow, but when I’m in cat form, Tot can understand me. Unfortunately, he needs proof to back up my words. After giving my kitty-behind a thorough sniffing, he’s convinced it’s actually me.

“Aw, hello pretty kitty.” Cassie’s face looms in front of me and then she is scratching behind my ear. I purr, but snap back into human form when Mac says, “I spot some p***y!”

“Oh my gods, Mavis! I didn’t realize that was you!” Cassie says, despite having seen me shift a million times. She always tells me she’s more of a dog person and that all cats look alike, which is just about the most insulting thing you can say to a cat shifter.

I stand, ready to hug Cassie. Despite her cat shortcomings, I am still overjoyed to see her. But there’s still plenty of sedative in my system and I’m woozy after shifting. The floor rushes toward me and I’m ready to face-plant when Fern catches me.

“Marguerite, Cassie, and Greg engineered everything,” Fern says, as she lays a blanket over me. “They weren’t about to let the Humans First movement have you.”

“But we have their man cave,” I say, looking around the cabin. It’s a rustic old charmer, equipped as a training site for the Humans First people. My old friend from high school has a husband with too much money to spend and not enough hobbies to fill his free time. She told me about this place and I repurposed it for my squad.

My squad…which apparently now also has a half-insane baby vamp on it.

“Um…” My eyes go to Kit, who is still unconscious.

“He’s perfectly fine,” Shauna says, jumping to her feet. “Kit just needs some domestication and I’m sure he’ll stop killing everything he sees.”

“Which is why he’s still under, and still wearing a collar,” Fern whispers to me.

Just then, Griff comes through the front door, holding his clothes in a bundle in front of his manhood. He’s so surprised to see me awake that he almost drops them, but I don’t need any more evidence that he’s happy to see me than the huge grin on his face.

“Mavis,” he says.

“Awwww….” Shauna says, running her hands through Tina’s hair.

“Hey big guy, welcome back,” Mac says, as he tosses his last knife at Griff. The bear shifter catches it reflexively, dropping his clothes.

Yep, he’s glad to see me. Either that or this guy really likes running.