by Amy Sumida
“Azrael retired; have you heard?” I asked Abaddon casually.
Abaddon looked surprised, and I knew then that he was innocent.
“No,” Abaddon said. “Can he do that?”
“Az tested our theory first; that souls would continue on to their afterlives on their own,” I explained. “When it was proven that they do move on without his assistance, he decided to retire. Azrael's been a reaper for a long time, and he was tired.”
“Good for him,” Abaddon said wistfully.
“We're going to retire as well,” Ted added as he stared at Abaddon in consideration. “It's not like there's ever going to be an Apocalypse, so maybe 'retire' is the wrong word for it.”
“What?” Abaddon gaped at Ted. “What do you mean?”
“As if Jerry will ever end the world,” Sam huffed. “As if the other pantheons would allow it. Come on, Abaddon; you must have realized by now that this is all a sham. We world-enders are basically useless.”
“We are?” Abaddon asked as he blinked rapidly. He scratched his chin and then said, “Perhaps we are.”
“We're done doing Jerry's dirty work just because we don't have a 'real' job,” Sam went on. “Screw him, and screw these fucked up myths. We're over it.”
“Done,” Abaddon whispered. “You can just say you're done and be done.”
“Abaddon,” Ira leaned forward to look the angel in the eye. “You can as well.”
“Is that why you've come here?” Abaddon narrowed his eyes on Ira. “To get me to validate Azrael's retirement by joining you?”
“No.” Ira looked uncomfortable. “We came for another reason. This is just...”
“A bonus,” I finished for Ira. “I'm sorry; I started this conversation by sharing my magic with you, when I should have explained our presence first. It's just that you don't seem happy here, and you reminded me of Azrael. Az wasn't happy either, and I encouraged him to change his life. He's an immortal, and yet he was living as a human; bound to his job as if he needed it to survive. You have eternity before you, Abaddon; don't squander it on waiting for the Abyss to be opened.”
“Oh, I'm not waiting on that,” he said.
“You're not?” Ira asked. “Isn't Jerry supposed to send a key to unlock the pit?”
“I have the key,” Abaddon said with a shrug. “Jerry didn't want to run the risk of losing it, so he just gave it to me.”
“So, you have to open the Abyss,” I whispered. “Jerry palmed off that too.”
Abaddon sighed. “Yes, and it's a burden that's been weighing upon my heart and mind for centuries. I hope the Apocalypse never comes because I'm not sure I could release those things upon the Earth.”
“But you can command them,” Sam pointed out. “You'll control what they do.”
“And that's even worse,” he growled. “I'd have to command them to attack every human without Jerry's blessing upon them. That's some evil shit right there. Most humans believe their religion is the right one; that all the others are wrong. They all have some myth about an afterlife that's reserved for the true believers—and that's fine. But our people had to take it further; they had to make sure that the other religions suffered.”
“I never thought about it like that,” Ted said as he looked at the other Riders. “Holy Holly Morningstar! If this thing ever happened, we'd have to attack other gods' followers.”
“And what do you think those gods will do when we attack their people?” Abaddon asked.
“So many of us have been forgotten,” Odin murmured. “Those who have followers left will defend them viciously; if for no other reason than to keep their supply of energy alive.”
“It will be worse than the war in Heaven.” Abaddon nodded.
“Then do your part to make sure that it never happens,” I said. “Walk away, Abaddon. No one even has to know. Just ward this place and leave it. Take that damn key and melt it down.”
“I can't believe that I've never considered leaving,” Abaddon whispered in revelation. “Just walk away; how beautiful it is in its simplicity.”
“There's one thing you should know before you take that step,” Odin said, “and it's also the reason we came here today. Someone is sending angels after Azrael because he retired. If you choose that route, they may target you as well.”
“Someone is doing what?” Abaddon looked horrified. “But that could start another war.”
“That doesn't seem to concern them,” Ted said. “Jerry says it's not him, but someone has used Jerry's authority to order the Virtues and the Principalities to attack Azrael.”
“You thought it might be me,” Abaddon whispered with a smile. Then he laughed outright. “I haven't even seen another angel in over a century. Hell, you're the first visitors I've had all month. Last time, it was the Seventh Day Adventists. That was so ironic that I laughed for fifteen minutes straight. But this; this is even better.”
“I'm glad that we haven't offended you,” I said. “But don't let this affect your decision; if you want to leave, do it. You need to honor the magic that has been given to you—the sacrifices made—and live well.”
“I like that; honor the magic.” Abaddon nodded. “And I like you... Godhunter. You are remarkably pro-god for a witch who made a name for herself by killing my kind.”
“Our kind,” I corrected him. “I'm one of you now. Life can change in an instant.”
“Sometimes with only a knock on your door,” he agreed.
Chapter Thirty-Four
After exchanging contact information with Abaddon, and offering to help him with his relocation if he needed it, we returned to Pride Palace. Azrael was in the Common Room with Lesya, some of the Intare, and Michael. Mike had heard about the Principalities and had come to tell us that Jerry was furious, and had called all of the princes back to Heaven. There would be no more attacks coming from that front. We told Az about Abaddon's innocence, but he didn't seem surprised. He just nodded and murmured something about being glad that we didn't have to fight scorpion-tailed locusts.
We brainstormed for a bit, but came up with no new leads, and it was getting late. So, we called it a night and went to bed. The next morning, I had breakfast with my husbands, Lesya and Toby in our kitchenette; off to the side of my enormous bed. Toby had gone home the night before, but had returned early that morning.
“Any coffee left?” Re asked as he walked into the room.
“A fresh pot is brewing,” I said. “Have you been with Sekhmet for all this time?”
“Yes; I didn't want to leave her alone too long,” Re said as he took the last seat. “Has there been any developments?”
We brought him up to speed, and he scowled through most of our report.
“This is feeling more and more odd,” Re said. “Perhaps I'll ask Osiris to watch over Sekhmet for awhile. I think I need to be here with the family.”
“Ze family,” Kirill smiled as he said it. “I like zat.”
“It sounds a bit mobster to me,” Az said. “But I'm okay with that.”
“How's the rest of your family, Re?” I asked him. “I haven't spoken to Ma'at and Anubis in awhile.”
“Oh!” Re exclaimed. “I forgot to tell you about Anubis; he's dating someone.”
“A woman?” Azrael asked with a teasing smirk.
“Yes, a woman,” Re said. “Much to Thoth's disappointment.”
“Poor Thoth,” I whispered as I put another sausage in front of Lesya.
We'd fed Lesya a healthy mix of food—as far as humans were concerned—at first. Then we had a check-up with her doctor, Hygeia, and Hygeia said that Lesya needed more protein; specifically meat. The lioness part of my daughter needed it to grow. So, now Lesya got a pile of meat for breakfast. I swear; that little girl ate more than Kirill and I combined.
“Thoth does just fine,” Re huffed. “Don't let his grumpiness fool you. He has plenty of lovers; he just doesn't bring them around Anubis.”
“Because he's hoping Anubis will suddenly turn gay
?” Trevor asked.
“Hope springs eternal,” Re said.
“But sometimes the spring is polluted,” Azrael muttered.
“Az!” I chuckled as I smacked his shoulder.
“Pole hooted!” Lesya declared.
“Or a word that sounds like that.” I nodded to my daughter.
“Man or woman”—Re shrugged—“I don't care what makes Anubis happy, so long as he is. He's spent far too long alone.”
“I'm glad that he's found someone,” I said. “Though I knew he would; I saw it.”
“In that future?” Re asked in surprise.
“Yes.” I frowned. “You don't have memories of it?”
“No; my only memories from that false future are of you,” Re whispered.
“Magic works in strange ways,” Odin murmured.
“Strange and delightful ways,” Re said as he smiled at me.
Chapter Thirty-Five
Sometimes, all you can do is wait.
Nothing was happening on the angel or Dvārakā front; no fresh leads or suspects had popped up. I enjoyed a couple of blissfully normal days with my god family, and then decided to spend some time with my fey one. The twins' birthday was coming up.
I used my ring to return to the moment after I'd left Faerie, and appeared right in front of Arach. The last time I left had been the morning after Brevyn told me about his dream. So, Arach was waiting anxiously for me; even though it had only been moments for him. Despite his anxiety, Arach took the time to kiss me and welcome me home before he asked me how things had gone with Azrael. I explained what had happened, and how we had hit a wall in the investigation.
“Your list of angelic suspects have dwindled,” Arach said as he led me into the bedroom. “Perhaps it's time to move on to non-angelic ones.”
“Yes; we thought so as well,” I agreed. “But that list is a bit daunting, and then there's the fact that the culprit had knowledge of Jerry's actions. I simply don't see how a god outside of his pantheon could manage that.”
“Is there nothing more that could narrow down the list?”
“We'll find something,” I assured him. “But I don't want to dwell on it now. Let's focus on us for awhile.”
“I'm in full agreement with you,” Arach said as he scooped me up. “And there's a particular place on your body I would like to focus on first.”
We focused on each other late into the morning and then met with Isleen regarding the finishing touches on the boys' birthday party. Every year, we hosted a huge celebration at Castle Aithinne and invited the entire Fire Kingdom, as well as a few friends from other kingdoms, to attend. All of the royals had to be invited, but I especially hoped that the King and Queen of Water would be joining us. King Guirmean was married to an ex-fire faerie named Nora. Faerie—the Consciousness of the Realm—had transmutated Nora into the first water-phooka (a sort of dog/horse-shifter). Guirmean also had a son around Brevyn and Rian's age; though he wasn't as far advanced as my twins. Still, my boys had known Morgan for all of their lives, and they loved it when he came to visit.
Isleen confirmed that all the royals would be attending, along with my lion, Darius; who lived in Water with his lover, Lorna. Lorna was Prince Morgan's mother, but she had only slept with Guirmean to give him an heir. That made for a very unique living situation which was eased by the fact that the Water Kingdom had two castles—three, if you considered that one of them was split in half. Castle Deuraich was perched on the rim of the Water Kingdom's basin—a large landform that held the ocean which made up most of the kingdom. Deuraich was the main castle and was used for meeting with air-breathing visitors. Within the ocean, there was another castle that was split horizontally; the bottom half of it was encased in an underground cavern full of air, and the top half was above the sand and open to the ocean. Collectively, it was Castle Underwater, but in its separate entities, it was Castle Under and Castle Water; named for the cities surrounding it.
Lorna and Darius had a suite in Castle Deuraich, while Guirmean ruled the Kingdom from Castle Underwater. The idea was that Prince Morgan would journey back and forth between castles to spend time with both of his parents. But Lorna and Guirmean were friends and most of the time, Lorna and Darius would live wherever Guirmean was. It said a lot about both Guirmean and Lorna that they were all happy living that way.
Water wasn't the only kingdom who'd be bringing a royal child to the party. The newest kingdom—the Kingdom of Darkness—had twins like us. Prince Baidhen and Princess Sinnea were a little older than my twins, but they were growing at the same rate (dragon-sidhe rate), and so had plateaued at around the same maturity as my boys. Yes, the Dark Royals were dragon-sidhe too; they were the only other dragons in Faerie.
Arach had hopes of Rian marrying Sinnea one day (Brevyn already had a girlfriend waiting for him—long story) but I wasn't going to force my son into marriage simply because Sinnea happened to be the only available female dragon-sidhe. I had already done my part to continue the species; I wasn't going to force my son into it as well. We were immortal; eight dragon-sidhe were enough for now.
That didn't stop Arach from doing everything within his power to inspire affection among the children.
“Make sure that Princess Sinnea sits beside Rian at the feast,” Arach said to Isleen.
“Arach,” I growled under my breath.
Every time Arach tried his hand at matchmaking, I remembered the horrible future we had averted. In that future, Rian had refused to marry Sinnea because he was already in love with Kaitlin; the aforementioned girlfriend. I had allowed Rian to abdicate his claim on the throne so that he could be with Kaitlin. I had felt responsible; both for placing Ull within my son's body and for allowing Thor to keep Kaitlin alive with the Norse Apples of Immortality. So, I had convinced Arach to name our daughter, Samara, as his heir. And then Arach had promised Samara's hand in marriage to Prince Baidhen. Their engagement had united Darkness and Fire and had eventually led to our kingdoms becoming one; the Kingdom Collective of Darkfire. That had in turn led to so much destruction that I couldn't think about it without crying.
But that future was with a Rian who hadn't been split into twins. Now, the part of him who had loved Kaitlin was Brevyn, and Brevyn was free to love her while Rian was free to love whomever he chose. If Rian happened to choose Sinnea, that may be good for the dragon-sidhe race. Or it might lead us down the same path that we'd been on before. Whatever happened, I had to make sure that the Kingdom of Darkfire never existed.
“I want to sit next to Brevyn!” Rian cried.
“You will be sitting next to Brevyn,” Arach assured him. “Sinnea will be on your other side.”
“Oh.” Rian simmered down. “Okay then.”
“You're okay with Princess Sinnea sitting next to you?” I asked Rian.
“Yeah; she's nice,” Rian said. “She can make smoke people.”
“She can do what?” Arach asked.
“Smoke people,” Rian said again.
“Sin can blow black smoke from her mouth,” Brevyn explained for his brother. “She can shape it into stuff; people, animals, whatever she wants.”
“Oh.” Arach nodded. “So, Rian, do you like Sinnea?”
“Arach, stop,” I growled again.
“He thinks she's pretty,” Brevyn tattled.
Arach's dragon eyes lit up.
“Enough!” I grabbed Arach's hand and pulled him out of the room. When we were a safe distance away from the boys—with a shut door between us—I lashed out at him. “Don't you remember what I told you about that other future?”
“Things are different now,” Arach huffed. “I know better.”
“We cannot unite our kingdoms.”
“We won't unite them in that manner,” he said with deadly seriousness. “I promise you, Vervain; that will never happen.”
“Thank you,” I said in relief.
“But that doesn't mean that our children can't marry and have children of their own,” he went on wistful
ly. “Sinnea could live here with Rian while her brother remained in Darkness to be the heir apparent. There could be noble dragon-sidhe walking the halls of Aithinne again.”
“I don't know, Arach,” I whispered. “But either way, it has to be their choice. I don't want them to feel compelled to be together. You will not hold the continuance of our species over their heads like you did with me. We were lucky that we found happiness together.”
“I won't force them into anything,” he agreed and then pulled me into a hug. “I want this for our children, A Thaisce. This happiness—the sublime joy that you have given me—is worth risking our race for.”
“Damn it, you did it again,” I growled.
“What?”
“Ruined my tirade by being romantic.” I sighed. “I love you, Dragon King.”
“I love you too, Dragon Queen,” Arach whispered and then crowned his romance with a kiss.
Chapter Thirty-Six
March 7th: Rian and Brevyn's birthday.
The celebration started as soon as the boys woke up. Arach and I went into their bedroom with an excited Dexter, to hug the twins and wish them a happy birthday. An elaborate breakfast awaited us downstairs, and the cooks were ecstatic to hear the boys shout in delight over all of their favorite fey breakfast dishes.
A little after breakfast, the fire faeries started to arrive. Tents had been erected in the open area outside the castle; on the side of the Fire Kingdom. Guests were welcomed with refreshments and then directed to their accommodations so they could get settled. The Royals arrived around midday and were shown to private suites befitting their station.
The castle was soon full of excitement and laughter, and my sons were some of the biggest sources of both. The Fire Kingdom had the largest amount of children in Faerie. Not only did we have the phooka children, Hunter, and my boys, but there had also been five more children born. All of those children had come to celebrate with their parents, and then there was Prince Morgan, Prince Baidhen, and Princess Sinnea. Faeries of all races watched the young wistfully; these children represented the hope that the Faerie race as a whole would continue.
