Green Tea and Black Death (The Godhunter, Book 5) by Amy Sumida Page A

back inside and shut the door, locking it with an ominous click. “I zink he delivered zem after ve’d finished and then he just left.”
       I noticed the card tucked into the monstrous blooms and plucked it out. The elegant script seemed a mockery to the message it conveyed. Although maybe it was my paranoia making the words seem more menacing than they actually were.
       “ Never fear Death, nor mourn his arrival,” I read aloud, “for Death is just another life, another man patiently waiting for your company. When you grow tired of the pain, Vervain, I will gladly end it for you. Love always, Anubis.”
       Kirill started to growl but I just shook my head and crumpled the note. I had a crazy stalker who just so happened to be Death. Nothing to worry about, nothing unusual here, just another day in the life of Vervain Lavine. It didn't help that I'd kissed him, he'd probably found that a bit encouraging. Sigh.
       I couldn’t bring myself to toss away the beautiful flowers, I never threw away any of Anubis’ gifts actually. I didn’t like to waste. In fact, I'd been able to sell off some of the jewelry I'd been wearing the day we were supposed to be married. The diamonds had brought in more than I imagined they were worth. I was set for life and could now support my lions if need be. All thanks to Anubis' generosity. So at least some good came from him.
       I put the flowers on the dining table, where they immediately dominated the other arrangements. Not surprising that Anubis’ blooms would be the most impressive, even amongst other god given flowers. The Jackal God was never one to be outdone, dominating was part of his repertoire. I shivered a little as I turned away and remembered the way he had tried to dominate me.
       Kirill would have none of that though and I soon found myself in his thick arms, being carried down the hallway. I tried to lose myself in the magic of my lion, I kissed him as he snuggled into the bed beside me, but as I lay there listening to his strong heartbeat, I felt again, the weight of the collar on my neck, drawn down heavily by the length of chain that had bound me to Anubis. I reached a hand up to rub at the skin it used to cover, sometimes it felt like it was still there.
       Would it always be this way or was this a normal healing process for victims? Sometimes I thought it was worse for me because I was such a fighter. Anubis' control over me, the things he made me do, were all choreographed to cause the most damage to my psyche. It was a brilliant plan and it triumphed spectacularly. At the end, I'd felt broken, a powerless pawn. It was my greatest nightmare and even though Anubis had fallen for me and begged my forgiveness, I still wore the scars of his torture on my heart. I still felt the collar on my neck.
       Trevor was right, I was twisted to have kissed him.
       I closed my eyes tighter, scared as I burrowed deeper into my lion's side, not because I feared Anubis would ever chain me again but because in some ways I missed it. I missed the simplicity of being bound without choice, without option. No battles to fight, no decisions to make… and to be really honest with myself, I missed Anubis too.
       What the hell was I going to do about the God of the Dead?
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Chapter Eighteen
     
       It was August eighth, my birthday.
       My Mom had said I'd been born on a very fortunate day, the number eight being the number of perfection and magic, but bad things had a tendency of happening around my birthday and I was coming to think that maybe I'd been a harbinger of doom. I'm not just talking about bad things in my life either. Lots of natural disasters liked to happen close to my special day. This year, I decided I wasn't going to celebrate it.
       Instead, I'd gone to lunch with my Mom, Kirill, Odin, and our sons, and we spent some time becoming more familiar with our new family situation. It had gone well, which was more than I had