Chapter 15

The press of bodies crowding the park across from the White House was overwhelming. Perfume, sweat, and the scent of freshly painted signs mingled with a steady murmur of excited voices in the air. I started breathing more shallowly; sweat beading at my temple. Did I mention I was a tad bit claustrophobic? I avoided Waikiki for the same reason; I hate crowds.

We had all split up to try and search the area for the terrorists. Brahma and Horus had gone to search the surrounding buildings for snipers—Horus in falcon form so he could peer into windows as he flew by—but I had a feeling these guys were going to get up close and personal. I searched the crowds anxiously.

My hands kept clenching; like a gunman anticipating the draw. I had a protection spell ready, all I had to do was release it with a throw of the powdered mullein already in my hand. It could cover a space of about nine feet square usually, but I was hoping with my borrowed power it might go a little further. If it came down to hand-to-hand, a quick downward shake of my arms would release the knives from my gloves. Then there was my kodachi and the dagger in my cleavage. I really should give in and get a gun, but I'd always had this feeling that trying to shoot a god was a bad idea. As a witch, I generally try to go with my instincts.

So, I walked through the danger zone with only a handful of herbs and some magically enhanced blades to defend myself with. I followed Thor, pressed closely against his back, and he guided me through the masses efficiently. He maneuvered us to the front, where a podium had been set up and a man was already addressing the crowd.

"What are we still doing in Afghanistan?"The man was saying. "Our troops should be back by now! This is now the longest war in US history. It's time to put an end to this and bring our people home!"His voice was deep, rich, and carried a slight Irish accent. I was intrigued enough to check out the packaging.

The voice was not false advertising. The man towered above us on the podium, but he was probably only a little over six feet tall. His black hair was cut short in sharp layers around a classic, Gaelic face with perfect winged eyebrows. Beneath those brows, his green eyes glowed with passion for his cause, outlined in thick lashes a supermodel would envy. Why did guys always end up with lashes like that while we girls had to glue them on?

I sighed unintentionally, and Thor looked over at me and frowned.

"Who's he?"I jerked my chin in the direction of Mr. Green Eyes.

"No one you need to know."His tone grated, and I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow.

Did Gods get jealous? Duh, of course, they did. There were plenty of myths about the jealousy of Gods. I wasn't about to let it go to my head, though. It was probably just a case of Thor staking some barbarian claim on me and feeling as if I should be honored or some crap. Or maybe he just didn't want to lose a potential follower. Either way, I was certain it had nothing to do with the softer emotions and everything to do with an old fashioned power trip. So, I ignored him and went back to staring at the new eye-candy.

The stone started buzzing again in my pocket, but when I touched it, my vision remained clear. It didn't need to show me where the magic was; I was already there. I looked around guiltily. I needed to stop being so easily distracted. Didn't I just give myself a lecture on this? Why don't I ever listen to myself?

Sure enough, there were the two Middle-Eastern men from my vision. They were sliding through the crowd with ease. Behind them was a space which stayed conspicuously empty even in the thick press of people.

"Those are the guys from the hotel,"I murmured to Thor.

"Huitzilopochtli,"he whispered to me.

"Let me guess; he's that empty space?"I kept my eyes on the spot behind the men.

"Yes."

"Groovy power,"I said with admiration, and Thor looked over at me with a lifted brow. "Uh, I mean, what do we do?"

"Wait."Thor's hand slid down my arm and even there, filled with terror, I shivered. So not good.

I looked back at the dark-skinned men. Their eyes were focused on the speaker, and I realized they were going after him first. They cleared the edge of the crowd, and I saw them both reach into their jackets.

"Gun!"I screamed as I ran forward and flung my hand towards the podium; releasing the protection spell with a cloud of powdered mullein. The herb sparkled as it spread out; drifting down in an impenetrable and invisible protective shell. The spell was good for one attack only so I hoped my target was smart enough to take cover afterward.

The crowd panicked and turned to flee; screaming and shouting as they went. The two terrorists didn't even spare a glance for me, just fired at the speaker like a couple of Stepford wives. The speaker stood there, staring at them in shock. His eyes grew even rounder when the bullets hit my barrier and dropped harmlessly to the ground. Mr. Green-Eyes turned unerringly toward me, and our gazes met for a second while I ran across the space that separated me from the gunmen.

"Get down!"I shouted at him as I flung my arms down and felt the comforting click of the knives sliding into place. I didn't have to look to know there were now four, three-inch long blades protruding over my knuckles.

The terrorists finally turned startled eyes to me, but they moved their weapons a second too late. I hit both of their gun arms at the same time; flinging my arms wide and then down like some macabre eagle as I ran between them. I felt the blades slice through flesh and skid over bone as the men screamed, but my momentum carried me past them and straight into the empty space.

"Vervain!"Thor's voice thundered, and I glanced back to see him pushing Green-Eyes behind him.

My relief at seeing the speaker unharmed disappeared as I hit a solid wall in the empty air. It felt as if I ran into a tank and as I looked up, the air shimmered and the illusion of open space vanished. No tank, just armor covering a very large, very angry, Aztec warrior.

"Huitzilopochtli?"I tried to keep the oh shit tone out of my voice as he smiled maliciously at me and metal clad arms threatened to squeeze the air from my lungs.

"And you are?"His voice was thick and soft like silk velvet.

It slid over me, brushing against places it shouldn't have been able to touch. I looked up and found myself staring into a pair of exotic eyes the color of freshly spilled blood. I flinched, but then a creeping lethargy overtook me—sliding through my veins like an opiate—and all I could concentrate on were how beautiful those horrifying eyes were. Deep and soft, like the heart of a rose. I couldn't look away. Wait, he'd asked me something. What was it?

"Vervain,"I offered my name to him like a prayer and felt my heartbeat quicken when his gaze warmed and his smile softened.

He was murmuring something, and I had a nagging suspicion that I should stop him, but I couldn't seem to remember how. My arms hung limply at my sides, blades scraping against my jeans. In the distance, I heard a resonating voice calling to me—a voice filled with thunder and rain—but it grew more and more faint, like a receding storm.