the other hand, is responsible for the transport of souls. Whether it be coming or going,” Dana lectured to her enraptured audience.
It had been a week since her revelations with Mordecai and she was pleased to say their relationship had well and truly mellowed. The friendship she had been hoping for with the father of her child now felt solid. She had spent the past week explaining everything she was able to about Otherworld, the deities, the veil and how it all worked with the occupants of Max’s home. The Order of Aurora now had a sound grasp on what was real and what was legend. Unfortunately, for their tiny human brains, much of what they believed to be legend was in fact reality and Dana had thought some of their heads might implode from the information. After seeing her immediate family educated, she had resolved to enlighten her other guardians and warriors as well. As such, she was now at Eden, talking to a large crowd of wardens, chadens, and paladins. Including the entire IDC.
“Coming or going? Death is responsible for life?” Dawn asked, clearly intrigued by the notion.
Dana nodded. “Life and death are two sides of the one coin. All souls are created equal. Well, almost all souls,” Dana amended, smiling at her daughter in the crowd. “It is what people choose to do with them that decides their fates when Tanda comes to collect. Besides, Tanda is only the ‘Death’ god in this realm. There are many others just like him. As well as those who work with him. But they are not as powerful,” Dana added as an afterthought.
“Because he’s one of the Triumvirate, like you,” Knox stated.
Dana nodded and smiled. She felt great satisfaction in teaching her people. She also loved the simplicity of just talking with them as well. Although she had acquaintances and even a select few individuals she considered friends, she had never given much thought to how isolated she was over the eons. Once, she and her colleagues had walked the earth freely and were worshipped as the Gods they rightfully were. But over time, she – along with Tempus and Tanda – had withdrawn. Their legacies becoming more lore than anything else. She was lucky, the warden society largely still viewed her as a real Goddess. But Tempus and Tanda were more forgotten. Thinking on it now, she realised the exact moment they had retreated semi-permanently behind the veil. It was after that precedence had been set and they felt the need to make an example of it. Dana sighed regretfully, oh, boys, we really screwed up, did we not? Dana thought, not expecting a response. She therefore jolted harshly when Tanda responded.
‘We are not immune to human infallibilities. Although, you and Tempus do appear to be more susceptible than I.’
Tanda’s internal presence was gone as abruptly as he arrived, leaving him with the last word. As usual. Still, it was telling that he was monitoring her on this side of the veil in the first place. She allowed the discussion to ebb and flow around her, her gaze searching and touching on her daughter. Her dark red hair shone in the winter sun and she absently stroked her unborn babe as she talked with Blu and Hyde. To think Max was a one in a billion oddity of accidental fate. And now she was carrying a whole new deity herself. It made Dana wonder just how much of an ‘accident’ Max’s new life thread was. Yes, she had thought to create a weapon – a cure – for the chades, but she truly had not expected a genuine, new life thread to sprout. She could have sworn she heard Tanda chuckle in her ear. Spinning quickly, she ran straight into a solid wall instead. At least, that is what it felt like. But her spiking pulse and hardening nipples told a different story.
“Mordecai,” she breathed.
“You okay? You seem to be on a mission,” he said, releasing her upper arms where he had reached out to steady her.
Dana simply nodded, struck – as always – by the raw, masculine beauty in front of her. His jet-black hair shined like a raven’s wing and his eyes were as green and as clear as a pure cut emerald. The hint of Scotland in his voice was the icing on a very delicious, very sexy cake, and she longed to hear him whisper filthy things in her ear as he stripped her naked.