Sun God Seeks…Surrogate? (Accidentally Yours #3)(20)
Author: Mimi Jean Pamfiloff

“He met with an unfortunate fate.”

“You cooked him, didn’t you? Fucking gods. Will you ever learn? A prisoner is worth more than revenge.”

“The Maaskab caught me off guard—I had no choice,” Kinich lied. He knew he’d had a choice, and he’d chosen to cook the motherfucker for attacking Penelope.

“You could have tried to knock him out,” Niccolo grumbled.

“You going to help me or not?” Kinich said.

“I cannot. I am under orders from your brother to have every able warrior preparing for war.”

“Then I will go myself and catch one,” Kinich stated.

There was a long pause. “Why?”

“Why what?” Kinich asked.

“Why take a risk for this woman?”

Again, Kinich didn’t actually know why. He simply felt…needs. Lust-driven, obsessive sorts of needs. “That is my business.”

“I see.” Niccolo replied, followed by another long pause. “He’s going to kill me for saying anything, but lucky you, I enjoy pissing people off. Guy has someone on the inside now. Perhaps his spy can help.”

On the inside?

“Thank you,” Kinich responded dryly.

“Don’t mention it.”

“One more thing,” Kinich added.

“My daily quota for helping useless deities is filled.”

Kinich ignored Niccolo’s jab—he had more important things to worry about at the moment. Plus, he really liked the bastard. “I need to leave Penelope here for a few days. There are some urgent matters I must address. Your man—Andrus—can he handle her?”

Niccolo growled. But then again, he growled every time he heard the name Andrus. Andrus had kidnapped Helena once, intending to use her as a bargaining chip to get his hands on the now-deceased, evil vampire queen. To make matters worse, Andrus had also made a play for Helena. It chapped Niccolo’s hide to have Andrus under his roof guarding Helena and his daughter, little Matty. But Cimil had foreseen an attack where Andrus saves their lives. The decision to swallow his pride was a no-brainer. Helena was also madly in love with Niccolo, which helped keep his jealousy in check.

“Is she going to be trouble? Because I’m guessing if you’ve taken an interest in her, she’s a pain in the neck,” Niccolo said.

“I haven’t taken an interest. She’s in danger, and I can’t help wanting to protect mortals. But, yes, she’s no pushover.”

In fact, he found her bravery to be one of her most fascinating traits. She seemed afraid of nothing—not even him. How arousing.

“I’ll send Viktor to the Penthouse,” said Niccolo. “He is in New York taking care of an issue. I’m sure he’d planned to visit with Helena, anyway.”

Viktor, a very old vampire, was Niccolo’s right hand and best friend for the last millennium. He’d also been the one to turn Helena, which is why she’d grown quite attached. It was yet another relationship Niccolo had to come to grips with.

It was truly a goddamned immortal Mexican soap opera.

“Thank you, this means a lot,” Kinich grumbled.

Niccolo howled with laughter on the other end of the phone. “Wow. Sun God showing kindness? She must be something if she can make you civilized. Can’t wait to meet her.”

“Fuck off.” Kinich hung up the phone, irritated about the whole situation. He knew he cared more than he should about the human, but that didn’t mean anything. It was sexual. Nothing he couldn’t handle.

He would figure out why the Maaskab came for her, get her somewhere safe, and then go back to his life of being a god. After all, they had a war to prepare for, humans to save, and the issue of restoring balance to the universe—starting with putting a stop to the gods breeding with the humans. Although, he could be persuaded to make an exception for bedding them. That part, he again noted, was a diversion worthy of the gods.

CHAPTER 12

Vaguely aware of the unfamiliar yet incredibly soft sheets and fluffy-as-a-cloud pillow cradling my head, I rolled over in the bed. Some mysterious force made it nearly impossible to coax my mind from the transcendent state of relaxation, despite the unsavory snippets swirling aimlessly in the back of my mind—monsters with black teeth, garbage, flashes of light, and…

“Kinich!” I sprang from the bed, trying to gather my wits, my head whipping from side to side.

The room, decorated in pristine white, reminded me of those high-end European resorts—not that I’d ever been to one, but I had it on my To Do list. Right there along with renewing my passport, taking salsa lessons, and getting a Brazilicide (getting hammered on suicides—a schnapps and vodka drink—before getting a Brazilian bikini wax) my best friend, Anne, recommended.

I pulled up the thick, cream-colored blinds, shocked to discover I was in a very tall building. The city seemed daunting and glacial with its hazy winter air. The sun was just dipping below the skyline, bathing each and every gray building in an even gloomier gray hue.

Christ! How long had I been out if the sun was setting? It had been night when Nick…Nick…

He put me to sleep after voodoo Terminator attacked.

Son of a…what is going on?

Waves of dread undulated beneath my skin. Ironically, however, I didn’t feel afraid. No. Quite the opposite. I felt resentful. I felt…like kicking ass and taking names. Because whatever inexplicable bizarreness was occurring—monsters, the strange things I’d witnessed Nick doing, his crazy sister’s psychic handbook—I didn’t appreciate the intrusion in my life. Good or bad, it was my life. Mine. And nobody got to drive the Penelope-mobile except for me. How dare these…people?…Creatures?…Funky beings?…How dare these funky beings get in my car and drive.

Oh, so you think you can control everything, huh?

Yes.

Ha! Good one.

Shut the hell up!

A baby crying off in the distance caught my attention. I cracked open the door and found the brightly lit hallway empty.

I tiptoed in my pink, fluffy socks toward the sound.

Pink, fluffy socks? I looked down. Oh my God! I was wearing a Hello Kitty nightie. “What the…?” I moved my hands over my various parts and then lifted up my gown.

Speaking of intrusion…

“Kitty underwear, too? Damn him! How dare he touch me.”

And Hello Kitty? Seriously?

“Anything I can help you with?”

I spun around to find a shamefully attractive, well-built man with spiky, dark hair and turquoise eyes casually watching me—or, really, watching my bottom half. I gasped and dropped the nightie.