House Of Gods 9 - Samantha Snow Page 0,32

false accusation. Brenna tried quickly to think of a way to smooth things over and get everyone to sit down at a meal together, but Helia was thinking of something far more important than that.

“Tannin,” Helia’s voice calmly tried to cut through the fury that was usurping him. “Let’s forget this for now and go home.” She clearly wanted to remove him from the situation in the best interest of everyone there. They could deal with Rolf and his apprehensible actions later.

“How…dare…you…” Tannin snarled at Rolf.

Tara looked at him and at Button still affixed to the top of his head, and she remembered how he had told her that no one else besides her had ever been allowed to touch his horns. She knew he must feel violated by what Rolf had done.

“Tannin,” Tara said as she walked up to him and put her hand on his chest, which surprised every single one of them standing there, except for her brother who had been spying on their intimacy in the woods when he had come to steal Button and set up this elaborate guise to frame Tannin.

Tannin didn’t look at her; he couldn’t. He was too embarrassed about the debacle that he had been made to look a freak. He reached up and pulled the bear from his horn and shoved it into Tara’s hands. Then he pushed her away with his palm so that he had a clear shot at Rolf.

“Tannin don’t,” Helia said.

But it was too late. Tannin hurled a bolt of electric-blue lightning that he seemed to have just plucked from the air around him at Rolf, striking him squarely under the jaw in a wound that looked lethal enough to have killed him on the spot. Tara screamed and ran to her brother.

“We have to go now,” Helia said. She grabbed Tannin by the shoulder and instantly used her magic to put them back into Hel.

Matt looked up startled from his dinner when he saw the two of them return back so early. When he saw the look on both of their faces, he knew immediately that something was wrong.

“What happened?” he asked them as he stood up and walked closer.

“What could you have possibly been thinking?” Helia screamed at Tannin.

“I didn’t do it!” Tannin screamed right back at her. “I didn’t take the damn bear.”

“I know you didn’t, but why would you try to kill him?”

“Hold up,” Matt interjected. “Kill who?”

Tannin ignored him and continued to argue with Helia. “He insulted me in front of her. He falsely accused me of something I did not do. And then he humiliated me, and he touched my horns!”

Matt had never seen Tannin this enraged, neither had Helia. He still had no idea what was going on, but he knew that whatever it was had to be really bad.

“Okay,” Helia said as she tried to calm both of them down. “I’m sorry. I understand why you are so upset. Rolf was wrong, and what he did was inexcusable. But Tannin, you might have just killed him with that bolt of energy to his throat.”

“Oh fuck,” Matt said as he sat back down, shaking his head and rubbing his hand against his temple.

“Good. I hope I did.”

“You can’t mean that,” Helia said. “He’s Tara’s brother. There won’t be any chance for the two of you to join if you kill her brother. She’ll never forgive you.”

Tannin went to sit on Helia’s throne, and this time she allowed him to do it without saying anything. He put his head in his hands and was quiet. She sensed there was something more than what he had told her.

“What is it?” she asked as she went to stand beside him and put her hand on his shoulder.

“We did join already,” he said.

Helia wasn’t sure what he meant until Matt made a noise like clearing his throat and then gave her a look. She still couldn’t believe that’s what Tannin meant, though. He and Tara had hated each other up until today. She knelt down beside the chair and spoke softly to him.

“Did you make love to her?” she asked.

“Yes,” Tannin said without looking up. “And then that fool humiliated me in front of her.” He looked up at Helia with tears in his eyes. “I had just earned her trust, and he took it from me. I hope he does die. I hope that bolt struck him right through the jugular and he bleeds out.”

Helia felt the pain that she saw in