Accidentally...Over?(37)

"Ashli." Máax cautiously took her hand. "I know you are upset, but I want to explain my actions-"

"You've sentenced everyone to death," Kinich challenged. "There is no explaining that."

"What would you have me do?" Máax snarled. "Tell me, brother! Would you  shove Penelope and your unborn child into a burning volcano if it meant  saving the world?" He paused. "How about you, Niccolo? Would you let  Helena, the mother of your child, die for the good of humanity? Or would  you fight like hell to find another way to stop the end of days?"

The couples looked at each other, their eyes filled with sadness.

"You are right, brother." Kinich took Penelope's hand. "I would not give  her up. I would find another way." His brother Votan and sister Ixtab  agreed.

Yes, they understood.

"That is the path I have chosen," Máax added. "There is nothing I will  not do for Ashli. Nothing. And I will fight until my last breath to keep  her from dying, including in an apocalypse. What I do not understand is  why my brethren will not fight by my side when I have sacrificed  everything to come to your aid time and time again."

"He is right," Votan, the God of Death and War, said. "He has selflessly  put himself in harm's way. Repeatedly. We love you. In fact, I too feel  the urge to write a song. But about you, our brother."

One might think that Votan was joking, but he wasn't. What the hell had gotten into everyone?

Must be the apocalyptic vibe in the air messing with everyone's heads.

"This is all wonderful. I'm touched. Truly touched," Ashli fumed. "But I  won't be writing any songs in your honor because I want nothing to do  with you, Máax. Take me home. This time, I mean it. I was an idiot to  trust you. And it's a mistake I'll never make again."



Ashli had never felt so betrayed in her entire life. Ever. From her  point of view, she'd done an amazing job rolling with the punches given  the circumstances, but this was too much. How could she stay with Máax,  knowing he'd lied to her? Lied. Sure, she'd been able to forgive him  when he'd withheld information and made her immortal without her  permission, but she'd assumed that would never happen again. And  technically, it had not been a lie.

But this? It was the textbook definition of a lie, and blatant  dishonesty was the one thing she couldn't tolerate. Especially not from a  man like Máax who had such a strong emotional grip over her.  Extra-especially from a man who claimed to stand for the truth. That  made him an extra-special fake.

Worst of all, the lie had brought her forward in time and derailed the  prophecy? She didn't know what it meant to break one. Or why her staying  in 1993 would have stopped the end of the world. But it was clear that  the situation was bad. Really, really bad. And they were almost out of  time. Why hadn't he frigging told her?

Oh, giantmonkeycchinoballs! The world is going to end! Ashli gripped her stomach. She was going to hurl. What had she done?

"Take me back," she croaked.

"You cannot mean that, Ashli," Máax argued.

"I can, and I do. Take me back!"

"But we don't know what will happen," he said. "Death might still seek you out."

"I would rather have one more day of a life I loved and trying to fix  this mess than spend one more minute here with you, living a life based  on a lie. Or worse, living with a god who proclaims to stand by the  truth, but is just a weasel."

The entire room tensed. It was as if the cosmos held a breath.

Máax tried to take her hand, but she yanked it away.

He made a little growl. "I understand why you might feel that way; however, if you gave me the opportunity to-"                       
       
           



       

"What? To treat me like an infant? Make a life-altering decision for me?  I've lost everything, Máax. Everything. First my family, and now you've  taken away my humanity, my home, not to mention, have you seen my café,  Máax? Have you? It's like Starbucks turned into a gigolo and knocked up  a baboon!"

"I admit that the Uchben asset team may have overstepped their  boundaries. However, their ability to predict consumer trends is  flawless. Your café is quite successful. You have over one hundred now."

"What? Ohmygod, do you think any of that matters? We're all going to die!" Her mouth hung open.

"Uh, no. Not really. But you brought it up-"

"I hate what you've done to me. I hate that you've made me some murderer  of the human race, not that I even come close to understanding how  that's possible. But I hate it, nonetheless. And I hate that for a few  hours I got a taste of a damned happy new life; then you snatched it all  away. But none of that matters now, because I'm going to fix this. Take  me back," she demanded.

Even the vampires in the middle of the room looked uncomfortable.

"Ashli, you are upset. And probably in shock. But we will get through  this. All of us will get through this if we pull together."

Was he for real?

"Máax. Didn't you hear me? I want you to take me back."

"I cannot do that." There was a moment of pause. "I won't allow you to  run away, Ashli. Not from me. Not from this fight. It is time for you to  grow up and cease being an emotional hermit who lives in the shadows of  the past. We will fix this. Sentin, please take her to Kinich's home. I  will be there momentarily."

"Are you kidding me?" He was going to take her against her will?

"I am a god, Ashli, I rarely kid," Máax said.

"I'm a god, and I do it all the time," Cimil said.

"There are many things you do that I would not advise," Roberto pointed out. "Such as lighting your own jail cell on fire."

"One of my best moments, indeed!" Cimil replied.

"You're treating me like your property, Máax," Ashli growled. "Don't you dare do this."

"Sentin. Please take my woma-Ashli."

Son of a bitch. "You're not who I thought you were."

Sentin stepped forward in a blur, and Ashli found herself standing in the middle of a very large bedroom.

Ohmygod! She spun in a circle. "I can't believe this. I hate him."

Sentin laughed. "Gods are known to be a bit overbearing at times," he  said with a thick Italian accent. "But they are nothing compared to  vampires. By the way, are you single now? I'm digging your whole angry  human vibe thing. It's kind of hot."

"What?" Ashli stared up at the tall, lean vampire with dark messy hair  and a boyish smile that she wanted to slap right off of his face.

He lifted both brows. "I cook really well, and I'm great with kids. Just ask Niccolo's wife."

Ashli huffed. These people were unbelievable.





Seventeen





As soon as Ashli left, the heated debate reignited. Only it wasn't a  debate; it was more like a frantic screaming match among the gods,  vampires, and Uchben over what to do next.

As for Máax, he paced the cement floor of the cellblock, trying to  understand what had transpired. How could things have gone so very, very  wrong? Not only had the apocalyptic situation escalated to DEFCON 1,  which was bad, but Ashli also hated him. That had to be a first in the  world of mates, didn't it?

You had this coming.

"Fuck!" He punched the glass in front of Cimil. "Fucking hell!" He had to fix this. But how?

Cimil, who now wore pink shorts and a gold blouse with a pink unicorn on  the front, sat cross-legged on her cot, scrunching her face into a tiny  pale ball. "They don't actually do that in hell. And come to think of  it, hell is a fictitious place. Unless you want to count waiting in line  at the DMV, then hell yeah! Totally there with ya. But they don't  fornicate there, either. Except on Talk Like a Pirate Day. Mark it on  your calendar. September nineteenth. Arrr."                       
       
           



       

Fucking Cimil.

"Cimil. I'm going to ask you a question," Máax fumed. "And I warn you,  the next words that come from your mouth had better be the godsdamned  truth."

"The godsdamned truth." She cackled and then buffed her nails on the  front of her shirt. "Oh, I'm on fire today! Not literally, but figurat-"

"Cimil!" he screamed, then looked at one of the vampire guards-not that  the guard knew Máax was looking at him. "Open this cell right now. I'm  going to snap her neck."

"I think not." Roberto stepped in toward Máax.

"Jeez." Cimil rolled her eyes. "Since when did you become King Poopie-Doo of the party, Máax? I was just kidding."