House Of Gods 9 - Samantha Snow Page 0,1
now he is. What is he upset about now?”
“He thinks we don’t like him,” Tara answered.
“Well, if he keeps killing us, then he’s right,” Jerrik said.
“Tara,” Lopt intervened. “We need his help.”
“You need a baby’s help?” she asked, surprised.
“Yes. He’s a very special baby, and he might be able to help us. Can you ask him if he would help us please?”
“You want me to wake him up? I don’t know if that’s such a good idea. He’s probably still really mad.”
“I want you to ask him to help us by sharing his power, even with just one of us, so that we can save ourselves from the humans,” Lopt said.
“Okay,” Tara said reluctantly. “I’ll try.”
The rest of them backed up in case the boy decided to throw a tantrum again that resulted in more of them meeting death. Cai didn’t back away, though; he stayed standing beside Tara. He was not about to let another one of Gretel’s siblings die, especially not Tara. She had grown to be his favorite, and the two of them shared a very special bond.
Tara tapped the baby on the forehead, and he slowly opened its eyes. If it were possible for an infant to look annoyed, this one definitely did. She stared at him for a while and then turned back around to Lopt. “He says okay, but he wants something in exchange.”
“You didn’t even speak to him,” Lopt said in confusion.
“Oh, I don’t always need to say words to him. I can already hear him in my head. It’s just that sometimes I need to yell at him because he makes me so mad.”
“This is craziness,” Erik said as he looked between Tara and the baby. “The little girl has some sort of telepathic connection to Baldur’s kid, who, mind you, just murdered two of us in cold blood. And we’re supposed to make a bargain with this little demon?”
The baby made a small noise and crunched up its face in disapproval.
“He doesn’t like being called a demon,” Tara relayed.
Lopt quickly tried to resolve things before it lost its temper again. “What does he want?”
“He wants his parents to be together.”
Kemma looked across the room at Baldur in what amounted to a rather horrified expression.
“He wants Kemma and Baldur to be together? For how long?”
“Forever. And he wants them to stay with him. I think it sounds like he just wants to have a family, and maybe for everyone not to be scared of him. But I’m not really sure about that last part.”
“Why not?” Lopt asked her.
“Because sometimes it seems like he likes it when people are scared of him.”
Baldur walked closer to look at his son. “Fine, tell him sure. His mother and I will be together with him.”
Kemma looked up at him as though she were about to protest.
“You have to mean it,” Tara said. “He can tell if you’re lying.”
“How can he tell? Never mind, okay, yes…I mean it.” Baldur looked at Kemma for her agreement, but she didn’t say anything.
“Kemma?” Tara said. “He wants to know if you promise too. You have to swear to it, or he won’t help.”
Kemma was inclined to agree with Erik; this was all a bit far-fetched, even considering everything else they’d been through. But there was no other choice; they needed his power.
“Okay,” she answered. “I swear, I’ll stay with Baldur, and we will both stay with our son.”
The baby wriggled in her hands until Kemma brought it back close to her chest again and it nuzzled up against her. He was a handsome-looking baby, with big gray pools for eyes and a mop of dark hair on his head. He had sweepingly long eyelashes and a cream-colored complexion.
“Oh, one more thing. He also wants a name.”
Jerrik rolled his eyes. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Sorry, it’s his rules, not mine,” Tara said as she shrugged her shoulders. “He won’t do it without a name first.”
Kemma looked down at the baby. She hadn’t even thought about what to name him yet.
“How about Lucifer?” Baldur suggested.
“Really?” Brandt huffed sarcastically at him. “You don’t get to pick; it’s Kemma’s decision.”
“Agreed,” Lopt said. “But I suggest the decision be made with hast.”
The mortals were beginning to appear at the doorway again and were poking at the magic smoke protections at the edge of the room.
“Tannin,” Kemma said. “I want to call him Tannin.”
No one had the time or desire to question it, so “Tannin” it was. The baby seemed to like it because he