Goddess of the Rose (Goddess Summoning #4)(92)

"Hatred tricked me," she said faintly, her head resting against his shoulder.

His arms tightened around her. "That's what Dream Stealers do. They infect mortals until their poison actually twists thoughts so that dreams sicken, and eventually, die. Do not punish yourself for falling prey to that which has been destroying mortal dreams for uncounted ages."

"I thought awful things. I was filled with . . ." She shivered convulsively, not able to continue.

"You were poisoned by hatred, envy, fear, and selfishness. They weren't your thoughts, Mikado, they were sick shadows of your infected imagination. You must not punish yourself for their evil, for that is a type of a victory for them. If they can taint your life, even after they've been banished, then they haven't truly been defeated."

"I'll never let them fool me again. And I'll never go into that damned forest again, either." She raised her head and stared at him. "How do you stand it? How can you go out there and collect the threads of reality and know they're out there, too, watching and waiting for a chance to attack?"

"It is my destiny to battle them. Many of them are old, familiar enemies."

"Aren't you afraid?"

"Only when I think about what would happen if I failed and allowed them to have their way with the realm."

"But you won't ever fail," she said.

"No. I cannot."

She thought he sounded incredibly tired, and she hoped desperately that he wouldn't have reason to battle the Dreams Stealers again until he was well rested and - "Oh, God! Put me down! You have to go back and make sure the rose wall is okay and that no part of those things stayed in the realm."

"The realm is safe. The north wind blew the last vestiges of their evil deep into the forest."

"But shouldn't you go back and make sure everything's really okay?"

"All is well, Mikado. When Dream Stealers have been faced and defeated, they are loathe to attack again soon. They know that once they have been recognized for what they are, their power to taint lives is drastically weakened. They must retreat to lick their wounds and plot a new attack for another day."

"I remember Hatred said he is never finished."

"He isn't. We must always guard against him."

Something she had read once surfaced in her mind, and she spoke the words softly aloud. "Good defeated is stronger than evil triumphant." She touched the side of his face. "You fight on the side of good."

"And I will not allow evil to triumph."

"I won't let them taint my life; they won't defeat me." She lay her head back on his shoulder and then said, "How did you save me from dying?"

"I beseeched a boon from Cronos," he said quietly.

Her head snapped up again. "Your father?"

He nodded.

"You talked to your father?"

"Briefly."

"How long has it been since the last time you talked to him?" she asked, wondering at the odd, wooden expression that had hardened his face.

"I have never before spoken to him."

She studied him, feeling angry as hell at the arrogant Titan who had so cavalierly created and then discarded a son, wishing that she could erase the centuries of pain and loneliness in his past. Not knowing what else to do, she kissed him gently on the cheek.

"Thank you for saving my life," she said.

His face softened into a smile. "I was just returning the favor, Empousa. Remember, you brought me back to life once, too."

"That's right." She nipped his jaw. "And I like you better this way."

"Because you find that you are weary of walking, and you enjoy being carried about by your beast?"

Mikki laughed. "Well, the myths do say that the Minotaur was half bull, but I don't think bulls make very good beasts of burden. Rumor has it they're not docile enough."

"In this case, the rumor," he said, giving her a quick, hard kiss that ended in a growl, "is true."

By the time they reached Asterius's lair, Mikki was tired of being carried, even though when he finally put her down the cave rocked a little under her feet. Especially after she realized that her chiton was hanging in shreds from her body, which was sticky with drying blood.

She groaned through clenched teeth. "I'm going to puke my guts up if I don't get this stuff washed off me." She glanced up at Asterius. "You may have to carry me up the stairs to my baths."

He swung her into his arms again, but instead of leaving the cave, he strode to his bedroom.

"Okay, I realize that my head is truly screwed up right now, but I do believe you're going in the wrong direction. Not that I don't want you to take me to your bedroom, but after I've washed this mess off of me."

"We keep forgetting to finish your tour of my lair."

"We don't forget; we get interrupted," she said.

"Then allow me to show you the rest of my lair without interruption." He carried her through his bedroom and then to a rounded doorway that fit neatly within a corner Mikki hadn't noticed before. It opened to a torch-lit tunnel, at the end of which was another rounded doorway, which, Mikki noted with surprise, was framed in sunlight.

"You know, this place isn't really very lair-ish. I mean, it's actually comfortable and beautiful. I think you should call it," she paused, thinking, while he took them closer and closer to the light. Then he stepped from the tunnel and into a large round room, the ceiling over the center of which was open to show the clearing morning sky. And also to allow the rising steam from the contained hot spring bath to escape. "I think you should call it paradise!" she breathed.