Richelle Mead - The Immortal Crown

Three was apparently Mama Orane’s limit because when she released El Diable, she returned to herself, sagging in exhaustion. The boys were there to catch her and lead her out of the room as the spectators clapped. Her pretty assistant gave a polite bow to the crowd and thanked everyone for coming.

Justin and Mae returned to their inn, speaking little until they entered the building. “So, what was that? Multiple personalities?” she asked. “Or the real deal?”

“The latter, I’m afraid.” Mae had certainly seen stranger things in their missions together, but he was hesitant to elaborate this time. Fortunately, she didn’t press him.

Mama Orane wasn’t a fraud, he thought to himself. She recognized Mae as one of the elect. But is she really? She broke free of the Morrigan. The Morrigan was a Celtic goddess of death and battle, whose cult Mae had unknowingly been born into when her mother consecrated her to the goddess in exchange for healthy patrician genes. Mae had not only freed herself from the group, she’d also greatly reduced the Morrigan’s power in the RUNA. Mae rarely spoke of those events now, and Justin knew that she believed she was free of any supernatural entanglements, aside from their investigations. He’d started to believe it as well.

You don’t need a patron god to be one of the elect , said Magnus. Being chosen doesn’t make you one. You’re chosen because you already are one .

Circular logic, Justin pointed out.

Not really, countered Horatio. And Mae is one. She has no ability to hide it. If you’d stop half-assing it and actually improve your skills, you’d sense it in her too .

Justin wasn’t so sure. I didn’t sense anything from Mama Orane. Does she have a charm ?

She’s skilled , explained Magnus. She’s been doing this for a long time. She has no need for charms to hide what she is. Of course, it’s not really a secret she’s one of the elect when she flaunts and charges for her connection to higher powers.

Was she channeling gods? asked Justin.

Not exactly , said Horatio. There are other entities moving in this world.

That certainly wasn’t anything he’d heard much about. Like what? Like the ones you talk to every day, said Horatio pointedly.

Justin took the hint and mulled this over. He did talk to the ravens every day—every day for over four years, in fact. At times annoying, they had become a mainstay in Justin’s life, and sometimes it worried him how much he relied on their input. They’d been gifted to him by Odin, the Norse god Justin had become inadvertently involved with. Whereas Mae had been tied to a deity at birth, Justin had become enmeshed relatively recently, when Odin had appeared in a dream and saved him from violent fanatics. Repaying that debt had put Justin on a path to learn some of Odin’s craft and secrets, though Justin had thus far managed to dodge what Odin and the ravens wanted most: for Justin to swear complete loyalty and become Odin’s priest. Getting out of that arrangement had proven especially difficult, particularly since keeping his freedom meant Justin had had to sacrifice something he wanted very, very much.

His rumination was paused as their seedy innkeeper upsold them on dinner. They’d been stuck here a week, and although the food was passable, the prices were absurd. Considering some of the less savory options Justin had seen on the streets, however, he was willing to pay extra, particularly since it was Internal Security that was actually footing the bill.

They ate in relative silence, both because Justin was still mulling over the day’s events and Mae was on high alert, watching the room for potential threats. This was her normal mode, really: walled up and dangerous. Only rarely had he seen her vulnerable, one of those moments being their brief night together. Even then, he hadn’t technically seen it since the lights had been off. Nonetheless, Justin had sensed that shift in her . . . a softening. An acceptance. A yielding, even, that contrasted with the walled exterior she maintained in every other part of her life. It had proven to be an elusive, precious thing in her he often longed for again, though he knew expecting it was probably unreasonable, given their dangerous lifestyle and the fact that he’d pretty much screwed things up between them.

That, and she was the bargaining chip Odin held over him.

It had been part of the dream Justin had, when the god first appeared to him. Odin had marked Mae as special, calling her a woman crowned in stars and flowers. Justin had talked his way out of their first liaison, but Odin had made it clear that if Justin succumbed again and “claimed” her, he would be bound to the god’s service forever. Justin had fiercely vowed not to have any more romantic interactions with her and helped reinforce this by saying some pretty terrible things to her after their night together. It had successfully killed any interest she might have in him, and if Justin at times regretted this turn of events and the hostile atmosphere it had generated, he tried to reassure himself that he at least still had his freedom.

When dinner was over, Mae found an urchin happy to carry a message (for a price) to an Eastern Alliance cargo plane that was currently docking at the local airstrip. The RUNA had almost no regular interaction with this region, so their travel was being conducted through their sister country’s resources. The EA’s trade planes weren’t glamorous, but they did the job. Their mission accomplished, Justin was more than happy to endure an uncomfortable flight if it meant getting back to civilization.

Once they were back in Justin’s room, Mae relaxed her guard—slightly—and finally launched into the questions that had apparently been burning within her since the ceremony.

“What did that mean?” she asked, as soon as the door closed behind them. She double-checked the lock and then sat in one of the chairs, crossing her arms over her chest. “What El Diable said? All I understood was electi . Which I’m guessing means ‘elect.’”

Justin nodded and took his own chair, promptly pouring rum. He’d had enough time of his own to process the weird goings-on and also welcomed a moment with her that wasn’t antagonistic. “ Cave bellum electi . ‘Beware the war of the elect.’”

“Which is?”

He downed the shot. No need in holding back now that he was off- duty. “I’m not really sure.”

“Geraki said the gods are playing a game,” she reminded him. “A war is kind of an upgrade.”

It was the second time Geraki had been brought up today, and Justin didn’t want to expound on him. Mae knew Geraki was a prophet deeply involved with a religious group that had eluded the Gemman government’s attempts to uncover it. What she didn’t realize was that Odin was the god Geraki served, nor did she have any idea just how much time Justin had—reluctantly—begun spending with him, as part of the deal to learn Odin’s ways. Mae thought Geraki was just a contact for clandestine information, and Justin preferred she keep believing that.

“Maybe it’s all perception,” he suggested. “Maybe they’re playing a game with us—and a war with each other.”

Mae pondered this a few moments. “Why did she—or he—tell me that then? I’m not involved in any of this.”

Justin couldn’t help a smile at that. “Aren’t you, Mae? Look where you are.”

“That’s not what I mean. I’m not tied to anything specifically—no god. No ravens.”

I wouldn’t mind being tied to her , said Horatio.

“Perhaps. But you were conceived as part of a sacrifice to a Celtic death goddess,” he reminded her.