*     *     *

 The next three days largely went off without a hitch. All except the girls discovering the effects of overimbibing reaper's brew. Apparently, Sabine had vowed retribution. Byron had chuckled at the challenge.

 For their part, the males were mildly intrigued with him. The Wroths especially felt strongly about aiding him, since they were familiar with the impact of being turned into an immortal.

 Declan had been raised an ocean apart, but their age made them closest in kin to what had happened in the mortal world. It was good to share with someone else.

 The same went for Holly, Queen Elizabeth, and even Melanthe, who had them by a few centuries. She was quick to be of help, although she did demand that no one use her phone number.

 Apparently she could respond to a mystickal connection more swiftly, and the first "Baby Sh-" tone was enough to get her to answer.

 Thronos was loving the tune. "A little humility in my wife is a worthy thing," he grunted with a grin.

 Byron assumed he was having to work hard to stay in his queen's good graces. Then again, the two of them appeared to have ironed out a lot of problems, from what he'd heard.

The second day he and Phenїx were in a massive fight. Nїx wanted to continue planning out new alliances; he wanted to go on the offensive against evil.

"You can't win wars just by getting everyone in proximity to fuck!" he roared. "You oughta know, demigoddess, how many Horde bloodsuckers did you off that would've wanted a night with you in the sheets?"

"That's not the point, reaper!" Nїx had answered while stomping furiously on the sand. "By getting these alliances started, I can make headway against evil bastards!"

"Of which there are millions of others throughout all Creation!" he shouted back.

"But every mated pair makes the others wonder if there's more, reaper!" she argued. "Not every evil wants to be evil!"

"Ahh!" He'd stomped off, "God, help me! This woman!"

"Valkyrie!" she shrieked at his back.

Later on when he returned, he grudgingly gave her an apology. Half-hearted, but it was more than she expected from the proud male. He also gave her the surprise gift.

He grudgingly admitted he had hoped to give it to her under better circumstances. But she recognized what the tome was the moment her fingers touched the leather. She'd sipped air to steady herself. "This is an incantation book."

Byron had nodded.

She paused, reviewing the ancient runes that slowly shifted so she could read them. Goddess Powers.

When she opened it, the knowledge within took her breath away. The book was meant to be read slowly. Once learned, everything within it would be as second-nature to her mind as breathing. She pinned Byron with a look, "This is bound by blood."

"Grim's own grimoire on deity-class curses, offensive and defensive powers," he grunted. "The feminine ones, anyway."

The staggering reality made her breathless. "Byron... you're permitting me to read this?"

"I'm your escort," he explained. "You need to know what it is you'll have to face when you fully ascend. This can help."

* * * * *

By the end of the day, Nix had ingested over a third of the tome. Meanwhile, Byron had disappeared, leaving her to travel back and forth between the hell and the mansion unescorted.

After that near-miss, though, she was finding her friends waiting for her whenever she passed through. They didn't say anything directly, but she knew they were watching over her carefully.

She took the time to read the grimoire with Mariketa, although the Queen of Mirrors admitted she wasn't able to fully read the tome herself.

"Some of it is really, really high-level stuff," she mumbled. "But I can confirm, that, I've seen." Mari tapped one power in particular.

The curse that had almost frozen her in the mirror.

Nїx had nodded, "It would make sense that that bitch would attempt to curse her own power so others wouldn't be able to make use of it."

"Yes, but I doubt even Hekate has an incantation-blood-bound book of her own to use such as this," Mari murmured. "That's just frightening. And kinda awesome."

She had to agree with her favorite Wiccan. It was both.

The Lykae were largely wandering the streets of New Orleans regularly, with little to show for their efforts. The tension of what was hanging over their heads made them surly.

It was never a good look on a werewolf.

Still, their wives were more than up to the task. A sliver of something like envy had wormed its way into Nїx's heart whenever she saw them curled up with their mates, cooing endearments.

Of all the Lykae, Munro she missed terribly. But after what had transpired between Kereny and her mate, they had needed some serious 'alone time'.

There was still Furie to contend with, but that thread was already unraveling by itself. It wouldn't be much longer.

Meanwhile, she began considering the rest of her sisters. Many of whom would be in for a shock in the near-future. A day later, the thought of being reaped crossed her mind.

She had asked Byron, "Byron, you said Crom Cruach is in his hell torment?"

"Yes."

"So anyone can reap a god or goddess?"

"That depends," he'd admitted slowly. "If it's done by a dieumort, the odds are yes."

"What about Haxa?"

He'd quirked his head. "She was an immortal at the time, so she'd end up going to a different hell-plane, if she was as bad as Mariketa says."

"And what about me?" Nїx had chewed her lip a bit at the thought. "Do I have a hell waiting to torment me?"

"No. Demideities that serve evil deities are the ones that have hell torments made for them, like that first wasteland we were in. Although between the two of us, that treatment of Josephine, breaking her body? Cruel shit, Phenїx."

She frowned, recalling what she'd done. So, she broke a few bones on the phanpire, what of it?

She'd shaken her head. "Byron, that's not fair! There was no other way, reaper."

"Wasn't there, demigoddess?"

Nїx was left to ponder that the rest of the day.

He would listen to her tell of how she had traveled across the realms, listening to her inner details on the romances and alliances she had built. In spite of his desire to fight, he found her astonishing.

She in turn would listen to him speak about his own travels. Discovering that he'd been in locations she had never been, thanks in part to his reaperdom.

Phenїx had had no knowledge that a heaven-plane existed for demons that was bordered by a realm known as Freva. There, a multitude of demon outcasts who escaped the ravages of the Primordial Wars had settled.

They were not warriors. They lived simple yet fruitful lives. Byron hypothesized that their work in the fields of Freva also benefited the magicks of the Gaia universe and others besides it. He had seen firsthand a warlock appear and be healed of a lethal immortal poison with a handful of berries from one such Freva plant.

At times, she would extract a kiss from him as payment. He in turn negotiated a massage was equal to a kiss, and had repeatedly worked his hands over her muscles. It was welcome; for some reason, she kept feeling sore throughout their time together.

She was doing everything in her power to remain relaxed. Nїx wagered it had something to do with when she fell asleep. Every morning the reaper would be a little slower to get up. As though he were tender from a recent beating.

He played it off as recovering from her kneeing him in the balls, but while his dry humor was welcome, she knew he was lying to her. Keeping secrets from her was not something others were known for.

And the coal on her mental sword spoke volumes.

There were also times when she noticed him watching her, and a stray wisp of gray smoke would glimmer out of his irises.

That look sent more than a shiver through her. It made her question how the gods could trap a single male in such a predicament.

It wasn't right to her.

But every time she tried to even breach the subject of "fun time", Byron would excuse himself. A pure, stubborn male.

Well, not pure. He definitely imagined a lot more with her that he didn't tell, but he wouldn't go farther without her permission.

Worst of all, the kisses they had shared had begun to eat away at her. Not because they were bad, but because they were missing something. And she knew instinctively what it was.

Intensity.

Every time they kissed, the longing she sensed in him would rise up. He was practicing with her, but also enjoying. At the moment that the enjoyment reached a fever pitch, he withdrew, leaving her aching for him.

Another niggling habit she picked up was drawing out these blasted sigils that had been wandering through her mind. They seemed to repeat, like a mantra. But she couldn't decipher them, and without her foresight, the meaning of them threatened to overwhelm her.

The circumstances were maddening. It was almost as bad as when she'd let her mind slip into the ether. There were times when she wanted to slip away completely.

That could not happen. But it did remind her of how fiercely the reaper had argued with her.

He cared.

On their fourth day in the jungle realm, she resolved she would go find out what Byron did in the meantime.

What was he doing when she was away from him?

After he spent the morning eating several pounds of fish, he'd excused himself. Nїx wandered after him thirty minutes later.

If he held any attraction to her, he had to be doing something. Her thoughts meandered to the possibility he might be having to handle his own urges in private. But when she rounded a bend in the river, the sight of him made her jaw drop.

Byron was completing a workout routine. She'd seen plenty of immortal males training or playing rough games in her time, but none like this.

He was underneath a boulder that must have weighed two tons, his feet planted under two areas where it could balance. The reaper was doing a standing push-up, clearly straining his might with how slowly he was moving. He went further down, until she thought his elbows might snap. They had to.

Then, back up.

Once he'd finished, he began lowering the stone down with his legs, maintaining pressure and balance with his arms braced. The male was controlling his whole body. The sweat glistening off him told her he was pushing his limits.

His dress slacks had fallen over his calves and knees, exposing skin that showed generous veins and muscles. Muscles that now flexed the boulder back to where he'd raised it thirty seconds ago.

Nїx tasted the air with her nose and nearly moaned. Forest trees, myrrh and male.

He was just about to lower himself again when he paused, and then heaved. The boulder launched off into the distance like it came out off a trebuchet. Her eyes shot open.

Byron pushed off the ground with his arms forty feet, flipped round, and landed on one knee, braced, eyes scanning. She hadn't seen a male pull that maneuver in a very long time. Her breath caught.

"Phenїx?"

Nїx giggled, then swiped out her magicks over the beach. Remembering her past mistake, she projected two more of her body's vibrations in different areas, and covered herself in magick veils.

Byron was smelling the air. Nїx saw his skin pebble, and his eyes were growing half-lidded, a knowing smile crossing his mouth. The sight made her nibble her lips.

He's so knowledgeable... She liked that about him.

"Phenїx Ever-Knowing, are we playing hide and seek again?"

Nїx threw her voice to one side, "Yes."

He shifted halfway to address the location, paused. "Tricksy demigoddess."

Another giggle erupted from her throat, and she cast it behind and around him. His eyes slid shut and he swiveled slowly in a circle.

Byron hummed, "I thought you were going to see your sisters."

"Mm. Not yet," she murmured softly. "I wanted to see what you were doing."

He glanced back at where he'd heaved the boulder. "Just training."

"Why would you need to?"

He shrugged. "It helps."

She stared a long moment at him. He was doing a workout just to work off his energy? She bit her lip softly. Gods, reaper... I could give you a real workout if you needed it that badly.

He swiveled towards her suddenly, eyes narrowed, "You like playing this game?"

She blinked. What...? Then she remembered her projections. She let one walk by him. He was eyeballing her, and she let her projection sway her hips sensually. "I do," she replied, flicking some of her hair.

He inhaled slowly, then quirked a brow around him, searching. She could see steam roiling off him. She her projection walk back, grazing a hand over his bare chest. Byron snapped to attention, his muscles instantly flexing.

Then he shook his head.

"You're learning." He rolled his joints like he was readying for another workout. "Nice projection. Very realistic."

"Thank you."

"Welcome," he bobbed his head while glancing around, his feet carrying him to and fro.

Phenїx cast another projection, this one with her vibrations. He swiveled and ran a few feet towards it, paused, then inspected it more closely. He clucked his tongue once.

"Uh huh. Nice try."

She wanted to get closer, so she cast the impact of footfalls on the sand around him. The plinking of sand made him glance around, but he was squinting, zoning in. Still, now she was within twenty feet of him.

Byron asked, "May I ask you a question?"

An idea occurred to her. There was a time when her mother had been known, not only for her magicks, but also for her voice. Hypolita had once said that Freya had gifted Phenїx with one of the best voices among the Valkyries.

And he is an audio fan... She whispered in his ear. "Feel free."

He shivered, goosepebbles breaking out over his skin. It was so titillating that her claws curled. Mother, I really enjoy making him respond like that...

Byron let loose a sigh. Then he put his hands on his hips. "I've told you what it means to be a reaper. I'd like to know about oracles and predetermination folks. What's foreknowledge like?"

Of all the creatures in the realms, this male wanted to learn about her greatest gift, directly. When was the last time she had explained it fully to another?

"It's complicated," Nїx evaded at first. "You ever think about 'what if this had happened'?"

"Often."

"Foreknowledge allows me to play the 'what if' game in the future, but lets me see where the equations, the fates, will align the most."

"Like radar?"

"Hmm. In some ways."

"Wait..." Byron's countenance widened. "I'll wager it's more like echolocation."

She gasped, smiling. He is onto it! Her head tilted slightly to regard him carefully. Impressive.

"That's why you love Bertil so much! He sees things the way you see them." The awe in his voice was enough to make her shiver.

The sight of his eyes lighting up had Nїx giddy. She had to clap her fingers over her mouth to stifle from shouting at him from where she was. Instead, she cast a wind over his form, cooling some of the sweat off that chest. "You're catching on, reaper."

Byron's body was relaxing, the tension going out of him. The air had to feel refreshing. Then she saw his eyes tracking back and forth underneath the lids.

"If that's true. You scan ahead with foreknowledge and zone in on the fate you want, the fate those who come to you truly want," he concluded.

Nїx wanted to shriek her delight. Instead, she snapped her fingers. "Exactly! I put out another 'chirp' in the fates and decision trees each time until I get close enough to snap it up."

"And your chirps also follow the scent of the best fate for whomever you're seeking," he offered.

She purred out, "Very good, Byron."

The reaper pumped his fist. Nїx felt ecstasy light up her mind at the sight of this male's comprehension. Then his eyes lifted slightly, "Is it a scent?"

"Mm. It doesn't quite appear as such. Instead it appears more like threads, weaving back and forth. I can smell some things in the visions of course, but it's the colors of the threads that tell me where to follow and where to lead."

Byron closed his eyes again, the lids fluttering while he imagined. "Colors? What colors are there?"

"Gold, platinum, silver, bronze, ruby, black. Occasionally I'll see an emerald one."

"Hm," he smiled. "Are the colors aligned with emotion?"

"Sometimes," she admitted. "But not necessarily. They're more like a tapestry."

"I read that your mother was said to have foreknowledge."

"She did." Nїx paused, sighing. "But she always said I was better at it."

"Because you are."

She glanced up, taking him in. "Why would you say that?"

"The records show that of the goddesses given foresight, you are rated as one of the strongest. Pronoea and the Moirai are the only ones thought to be your equal."

Nїx tilted her head, "Do you ever question the records?"

The reaper smiled and nodded, "Absolutely. But what I've observed, in this case, they're right. I've never seen you weep until earlier. I thought you might take after your mother and weep gold."

Her eyes winced when she remembered the last time she had seen her mother cry. "She only ever did that on a few occasions."

"Extreme pain?" he asked.

"Yes." Nїx paused, quirking her head, "You picked up on echolocation and these insights so readily. So few immortals even take the time to think about it... why do you, Byron?"

He shrugged and began moving a little closer to her. Even with her magicks, he was an able tracker. It made her heart race to see him come ever closer, even while she maneuvered her way to dance around him and see him from a different angle.

Getting to stalk the reaper was exciting.

"Just cuz I do what I can, doesn't mean I don't take the time to muse on the deeper meanings of life," he mentioned without censure. "Or think on the way of others."

Nїx sighed. Byron the reaper was immersed even more deeply in knowing her than most of those who were her closest allies.

"But I'm curious." He tilted his head. "What happens when someone chooses to go against the fate you see for them?"

She sighed. "Then it gets ugly. You have to be cruel to be kind, sometimes."

"Mm. So that rumor about Rydstrom and Sabine and their courtship?"

Phenїx giggled. "Their courtship wasn't that terrible. Lothaire had it the worst. Well, it was pretty harsh for Emmaline, too. And yes, Josephine is not a fan of me."

Byron notched a brow at that. "Uh huh..." he tucked a cheek in, thinking about that a moment. Then he began again, "How is it that you see others' deaths? Enemies' deaths?"

Nїx began another magickal twirl with the audio waves, letting her voice float around this sexy reaper. She circled him.

"Same way as Lothaire, I suppose, but reversed and magnified," she answered. "I have insight of my own, I'm a Valkyrie, a warrior engineered from birth. I instinctively take in body frame, stance, weaponry. I catalog opponents."

Her voice softly twirled over his face. The way his head twitched, she knew she was tickling his mind in the most delicious fashion.

"Between others," she continued. "I can tell who is older, who is more determined, who is more skilled. With those I'm watching, it's just foreplay," she giggled when his breath hitched. "It's a breeze to foresee an upset."

The reaper was close enough to the jungle that she cast one of her projections behind him. He swiveled and jumped. He grunted appreciatively when he passed through.

"Damn!" he mumbled.

She blew the projection apart. I win! She laughed.

He growled. "Mm-hm. That means planning out your targeted enemy's demise is a matter of putting mates in place who'll have the greatest strengths for the mission at hand."

"Excellent analysis, reaper."

"You're a masterful artist, Phenїx Ever-Knowing. Now I think I understand. Once you've snapped up the fates properly, you get to wear which t-shirt you want to tell folks what will happen," he finished.

She snickered, "Ding. Score one for the reaper."

He put his hands on his waist, sighing. "My God in Heaven, you truly are one hell of a woman."

That compliment was one of the best she'd heard in a long time. It made something in her power font actually sparkle. Part of her truly began to wonder if perhaps, just maybe, her nose was off.

What if he is the One?

The thought left her with a pit in her stomach. The vision hadn't been changed, yet. And something told her it was coming closer. That was only one matter. The other was... what if Byron didn't believe in fate?

True, that made him different from many, but it also made him vulnerable. Especially to goddesses that could change the fates readily.

Byron caught sight of another of her projections just behind him. The way his pupils bloomed, she knew he was getting aroused. The uptick in his heartbeat confirmed it.

Nїx quirked her head and put a duplicate in front of him. Her projection stared at him provocatively. Byron scrutinized the facsimile a few moments, then blew on the dust. His face crinkled when it dissipated a little bit of her projection's shoulder. Nїx giggled and twirled the noise of her voice on his neck.

He let loose a sudden grunt. Nїx witnessed his hands contracting into tight fists. He inhaled slowly, clearly controlling, but her ears picked up the double thump of his heartbeat.

"Byron?" she whispered.

He inhaled slowly through his nose, twitching.

"Does that tickle, reaper?"

His response was another head roll.

So sensitive, she thought to herself. So lethal. Hmm. Not nearly as arrogant as I thought originally. "Byron, are you thinking about me?"

He nodded. She hummed a lusty note in his ear. His head twitched hard. "Phenїx. You're playing with me."

"How does it feel?"

He shook his head hard. "You never go down without a fight. Feels..."

Then he bit down on his lips. Shaking his head harder like an animal trying to get rid of a scent. Her own heartbeat quickened at the sight. She touched him with dust in his back and his spine snapped back in response.

Byron's voice dipped to a rasp, "What do you think of me?"

Nїx stared over the reaper for a time. Disappointment with his stopping from explaining his true thoughts turned to consideration.

"I think you're more powerful than you let on," she purred. "You're fast, Byron. You keep your energy store suppressed. Your experience, your breathing, you control yourself to an insane degree."

She let a low moan of appreciation curl his ear. His body tensed and he tilted his head to the sound instinctively. The sight of his back tensing, solid muscles sliding made her lick her lips. She was making him strain not to break.

I want to see what this reaper looks like when he loses control, she admitted to herself.

"Mmm," Nїx murmured lustily in his ear, "Have you tested your limits yet, reaper baby?" He grunted, shifted. She let her smile show in her voice. "You like when I call you that, Byron."

"More than like," he muttered.

Her eyes flared. She turned him on. More, he didn't have any censure in his voice just then. More than like? She pressed softly, "Have you tested your limits?"

"Not yet." He was blowing out that tension again, then glanced around, smirking. "You know, I know where you are by now."

Oh?

"Do you, numbnuts?" She let a few more projections appear around him, notching a brow at him in each. Coy. Playful. He turned halfway, looking at another of her projections, leaning back towards it.

"Yep."

She giggled a bit and let her eyes flare slightly through her projections. "I dare you to catch me right now."

He leapt straight at her.

"AH!"

The next moment Byron was on top of her, holding her in place. Nїx squirmed. "Ohmygods, how-?!"

Even though she was still covered with magicks, his eyes were looking over her face. Then he drifted close, his breath on her cheeks.

"Found you, beautiful."

She giggled and let her magicks drop. "How, Byron?"

Byron licked his lips and leaned in. Nїx moaned when his breath stroked her ear. Her nipples tightened instinctively. She couldn't help the sultriness in her tone, "How?"

The reaper leaned back, his eyes half-lidded. Scorching her with a long gaze. "You were deeply convincing. But you forgot, your magicks extend beyond your body and soul. You left a void there."

Her heart stuttered at the observation.

He put a hand over her heart then, just a fingertip between her breasts. He looked focused. The intent in his gaze made her mind go blank before he murmured, "Now, concentrate on putting your magicks vibrations inside you."

Phenїx focused. Tingling suffused her while she did. It made her feel... sensual. Her heart and mind were brimming with energy. And the way he was looking at her was sinfully beautiful.

"Shhh, lower it, just a little," he whispered.

She did.

"Stop."

The tingling remained just under the surface. The magicks were making her feel wild amounts of energy, but not enough to keep her from focusing.

"Perfect," he intoned. "Next time, you'll be throwing me off even more."

Nїx thought of Freya. Her mother would approve of playing against this reaper. "Mother would have a field day with you."

He drifted closer, smiling. "I don't doubt it. She and Wóden are renowned for their magick abilities. Limina Mortis keeps records of every deity that's ever arisen. I studied them closely to understand where you come from."

"Why?"

Byron put his lips against the tip of her ear. "Comprehending who raised you is to grasp who you are another degree."

"Is that all?" she asked against his ear.

Silence for a few seconds. She pressed her lips against his cheek. He leaned back, gazing over her. Then the fire had come back in his eyes. Mother... I truly want that. Nїx whispered, "Byron?"

He straightened a moment, then she felt his hands gripping her tightly. Blood pulsed through her. She inhaled him and drifted up. Must... kiss.

Then something in him changed. He looked up, unfocused, then he shook his head with a smile. "Ah. Your sisters are here."

"Wait!"

His body heat had evaporated. He was already gone. Traced away to meet and escort them to her. She gave a frustrated noise.

So freaking close!!! DAMMIT!

*    *    *    *    *