by Unknown
The shrieking had faded to moans and we all looked across the room to see that Gish was standing in a field of rubble and corpses. He stared at us with wide eyes, his body covered in blood and his chest heaving.
“Never mind; I got this,” Thor growled as he strode by us.
We all followed after Thor halfway across the room, stopping well before we reached Gish. No one wanted to go wading through dead bodies. Especially those dead bodies. I've seen a lot of gruesome things in my time but that sea of rendered flesh and ruptured organs had to be on my top ten most gory list.
Thor stepped over the corpses like they were puddles, just minor obstacles in his path. Gish didn't move at all, just watched Thor approach with wide eyes. For a minute there, I thought Gish would be an easy conquest, that Thor would simply grab him and whisk him away.
Boy was I wrong.
Gish may have been surprised by the gore but he wasn't standing still because he was horrified. On the contrary, he was absorbing all that delicious magic those sacrifices were giving him. His eyes closed briefly and he sighed in delight... right before he smashed his fist into Thor's face. For the second time that day, Thor went sailing... and not in a boat. Nope, he sailed through the air on a straight course for our group, which had thoughtfully gathered together and made an easy target for Gish.
We lurched apart, several of us falling down completely in our haste to not be hit by the Thunder God, and Thor smashed into a pile of chairs. I scampered back to my feet and started forward but Gish was already gone.
“Sons of Anarchy!” I shouted and stomped my foot. “And I didn't even get to use any of my lines.”
Chapter Twenty-Four
Hades and his team hadn't caught any gods either but not due to distraction. Neither Qaus nor Disani had been at the mountain hide out. Hades' group did wipe out the facility and destroy all the weapons, as our group had done at our location, but with all the villainous gods on the run, it was obvious that this wasn't over.
Their team surprisingly didn't have as many human casualties as we had. Once the ISIS humans had seen what gods could do, they had run off screaming. Blue had been smart enough to catch one of the humans for interrogation and so he'd at least come back with information on more ISIS hide outs. The man Blue interrogated didn't know all of the locations but still, the list was a long one. As Blue began to go over it, I fell back into a seat, overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task.
“That's a lot of places to clean out,” I exhaled roughly as Teharon came over and gently laid a hand on my shoulder. I looked down and saw that I'd been shot. When had that happened?
“Allow me,” Teharon waved a hand at the wound.
I could have healed it myself with fire magic but I knew that look on Teharon's face. He needed to do something good, something positive in light of all the killing he'd just witnessed. I gave him a nod and his hands started to glow. A glance in the direction of my lovers showed me that they were fine, any wounds they'd received had been healed during their shift back to human form. But I saw Trevor exchange a grateful nod with Teharon.
So he'd noticed my wound and had sent Teharon over to heal it, since I hadn't thought to do so myself. A little passive-aggressive but I forgave the maneuver since it managed to accomplish two things at once; ease Teharon's mind and heal my shoulder. Trevor gave me a little smile and walked over with Kirill.
“We're going to take care of this,” Trevor took my hand. “We've already made a huge step forward. They might not be able to recover.”
“Oh, they'll recover,” Hades grimaced. “At least on the side of ISIS. It's imperative that we find those other camps.”
“If they spin this off as an ISIS attack here in Kabul,” Torrent mused, “which I'm sure they will, then the Afghans will rally to the cause too. And if we end up killing more soldiers, we'll just be helping those stupid Rainbow Gods and their Water Goddess.”
“She's not a water goddess,” Blue began.
“It's a joke, Blue,” I waved him down.
“I don't think this is a laughing matter,” Blue frowned.
“No, the name is a-never mind,” I sighed. “Torrent's right, we ended up killing too many humans today, despite our good intentions.”
“We need to proceed more carefully,” Thor sighed.
“I agree,” Hades said grimly. “David, can you remain here and continue to keep a watch on things? We will of course pay for your stay.”
“Dude, you're gonna foot the bill?” Dave grinned. “Yeah, I'll stay as long as you want me to.”
“We appreciate it,” Hades said sincerely. “Then we can get on with finding the ISIS stockpiles.”
“Hey, V, can't you go were-dragon?” Hekate asked casually and totally off subject.
“Were-dragon?” I lifted a brow.
“Like a dragon/human form,” she clarified.
“Yeah,” I frowned, wondering what she was getting at.
“Aren't your scales bulletproof?” She went on. “You could do that instead of worrying about a ward.”
“Actually, I have no idea what my scales can hold up to,” I mused. “Either way, there are weak spots that could be pierced. That's how my ancestors were killed. Well, that combined with magic.”
“Oh, right,” Kate nodded. “The dragonlances.”
“That would be the weapon that murdered my family, yes,” I said dryly.
“Sorry,” Hekate grimaced. “That was a little insensitive.”
“No, it's fine, really,” I sighed. “My nerves are just shot.”
“Just like your shoulder,” Trevor gave me his I-hate-it-when-you-get-hurt look.
“Ve're all on edge after zat horror,” Kirill said as he sat on the floor in front of me and leaned back into my legs. I automatically started rubbing his shoulders.
“I don't think you should test your half-form in battle,” Trevor sounded concerned. “Maybe start by testing it at home.”
“Sure, I'll just shoot myself in the shoulder,” I made a face up at him. “I know I can take it.”
“Not funny,” Kirill turned to say.
“Well, how else do you test that theory?” I shrugged.
“Shoot, edge of upper arm,” Kirill said after some thought. “Least amount of damage.”
“Okay,” I gave a huffing laugh. “Wow, sometimes our conversations astound me.”
“You and us both,” Trevor grimaced.
“I think we're all in need of some R&R,” I observed. “Time to get back to the Bat Cave. Maybe a few drinks will help clear our heads and we'll be able to come up with a better plan.”
“The what cave?” Horus frowned.
“Batman, Darling,” Kate shook her head at her boyfriend. “Really, what's wrong with you?” Then she looked over to me, “I swear, sometimes it's like living with a cretin.”
“Marry her, Horus,” I pointed at him imperiously.
“I intend to,” Horus drawled, shocking us all. All except Hekate, that is; who just smiled serenely and pulled off her glove, revealing a huge, sparkling, diamond ring.
Chapter Twenty-Five
After Horus dropped the bomb about his engagement to Hekate, we all decided to go out and celebrate. What better place to celebrate than Moonshine, where we could have the entire VIP floor to ourselves? So that's where we went. And that's where we found the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.
I had no idea that I was married to one of them.
“Hey! I didn't know you were going to be here,” I said to Azrael as I came out of the door to the Family Room, AKA the door which led to the overnight (actually overday) rooms for vampires to rent, and the tracing room. I went over to give him a kiss.
“Carus,” he smiled brightly and slid an arm around me. “Guys, this is my wife, Vervain. Carus, these are some friends of mine from childhood.”
“Childhood, eh?” I looked them over as the rest of our group filtered in.
“Sam?” Hekate came up to us and stared at one of the three men in surpri
se.
“Katie?”
The guy was tall and sleekly muscled like Azrael. Not crazy body builder muscles but he was much bigger than the average man. His biceps stretched the sleeves of his black, Gods of War T-shirt. He had soft brown hair, cut in a short, modern style, and buff colored skin. His eyes were hard to make out in the low light but as he came towards Kate, one of the twinkle-lights in the nearby trees caught him just right and I saw red. Like literally, his eyes were demon red.
Not a huge surprise. Az knew a lot of demons, having been raised in Hell. It made sense that these childhood friends would be demons too. It was just strange that I hadn't met these guys before. I'd been to Hell numerous times with Azrael and I thought I'd met all of his friends.
“What are you doing here?” Kate asked Mr. Demon Eyes, I mean Sam. Then her gaze shifted to Azrael and she nodded. “Oh, right. How long has it been since you four have hung out?”
“Even longer than it's been since I've seen you,” Sam smiled and pulled Kate into a hug.
A hug which lasted a little too long. Horus cleared his throat and Kate jerked away from Sam.
“Um, Horus, this is Samuel, my ex-boyfriend,” Kate gave Horus an apologetic smile. “Sam, this is Horus, my fiance.”
“Oh,” Sam's face cleared with comprehension. “Sorry about that,” he held out his hand to Horus. “Didn't mean to step on any toes. You're a lucky man. Congratulations.”
“Thank you,” Horus shook Sam's hand and we all relaxed a little.
“Soooo,” I looked around at the unknown faces as the rest of the God Squad started settling onto the faux hill seats around me. “You're Sam,” I stuck out my hand to him. “Nice to meet you.”
“Nice to meet you too,” Sam gave me a grateful grin and eased away from his ex-girlfriend and her new fiance. “We were all shocked to hear that Azrael got hitched. Sorry we couldn't make it to the wedding, we were a little tied up,” he cast a lamenting look at his friends.
“Did he tell you about our situation?” I asked, casting a quick glance at my winged husband.
“About your multiple husbands?” Sam lifted a brow. “Yeah, that's wild.”
“Oh good,” I sighed and took a seat beside Az. “Cause these are my other husbands; Trevor and Kirill,” I waved a hand at them.
“Oh, okay,” Sam nodded to them as he returned to his seat. “Nice to meet you guys.”
“Likewise,” Trevor sat on my other side and Kirill remained standing behind us.
“And these are the rest of the Horsemen,” Azrael waved at the the remaining men. “Ira and Thaddeus.”
Ira was model thin, like female model thin. Gaunt actually but somehow he managed to look beautiful. He had white hair that fell to his chin in soft curls and tan skin, like he'd been sunbathing for weeks. His cheekbones stood out sharply beneath startling citrine eyes and his lips were as thin as his body. All in all, his was a hungry look. Like a starving predator.
Then there was Thaddeus. Blonde hair, almost golden, swept back from a regal forehead. His eyes were green, like freshly formed leaves, and his skin was a healthy pinkish cream. He looked angelic instead of demonic and the pink bow tie he wore only added to the effect. There wasn't even a hint of menace about him. He was the dream boy, perfect for taking home to meet Mommy and Daddy.
“Hi,” I said to them. “Wait... Horsemen?”
“You know I'm the Angel of Death,” Azrael looked at me like he'd been caught in a secret that he hadn't known was secret.
“Death,” I frowned and then felt my eyes go wide. “As in He rides a pale horse, that Death?”
“Yes, Carus,” he smiled gently. “I'm sorry, I thought you knew.”
“How could I?” I huffed. “There are other death angels.”
“Yeah but I'm kinda the big one,” he said in his modest way.
“So that would make you guys...?” I looked out at Az's three childhood friends.
“War,” Sam gave me a cocky grin as he settled back on his seat.
“You can never be too rich or too thin,” Ira added.
“Famine?” I guessed and he nodded. “So that would make you, Pestilence?” I asked Thaddeus with a doubtful look.
“Actually, the first horseman is the Antichrist,” Thaddeus gave me a rueful smile. “Common mistake. Pestilence actually falls under Famine's domain.”
“You're the Antichrist?” I gaped at him.
“That is amazingly cool,” Torrent swept around me and stuck out his hand to Thaddeus. “I'm Torrent and this is my girlfriend, Artemis,” he gestured over to Artie and she nodded serenely to the Antichrist.
“Nice to meet you,” the Antichrist shook Torrent's hand. “Call me Ted.”
“Ted, the Antichrist,” Torrent said in awe as he headed back to his seat. “This is surreal.”
“Says the god born of Internet magic combined with god magic,” Artemis followed Torr.
“Yeah but he's the Antichrist,” Torrent whispered dramatically to her. “Do you know how many movies he's in?”
“Not him personally,” Artemis laughed.
“I'm married to one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” I tried to process it.
“The Horsemen ride again!” Sam shouted, holding up his drink.
“The Horsemen!” The other three, including Azrael, shouted back and clicked Sam's drink with their own.
“And they're frat boys,” I looked over to Trevor for support but he was grinning in delight. “Okay. Well, we're actually celebrating Kate and Horus' engagement so you boys have perfect timing. Trevor, can you ask one of the waiters to bring up a few bottles of champagne?”
“Sure, Minn Elska” Trevor kissed my forehead and headed over to the railing to shout down at one of the Froekn waitstaff.
“Right, I caught that,” Azrael smiled over to Horus and Hekate. “Congratulations, you two.”
“Thank you, we're very happy,” Horus seemed to be loosening up now that it was becoming apparent that Sam wasn't about to whisk Kate away from him.
“You guys gotta come to the wedding,” Katie said to the Horsemen and Horus stiffened back up immediately.
“Um, I'm going to go check on that champagne,” I jumped up before the Horsemen could reply to Kate's invite.
I hurried over to the railing, where Trevor had just finished shouting his order down, and grabbed Trevor's arm. “This could go very badly,” I whispered to him.
“Yeah, I got that,” Trevor looked back over at the group. Kate, Pan, Torrent, Morpheus, and Artemis seemed calm enough but the rest of the Squad looked nervous, especially Horus. Not exactly what we needed after the day we'd had. Trevor headed over to Az, casting an, “I'll take care of it,” back at me over his shoulder.
I was about to head back myself, when a golden shimmer from the bottom floor caught my eye. I frowned and looked closer. It was Re, dressed in jeans and a black collared shirt. His skin gleamed in the low light and he looked amazing... as usual. Every woman (and quite a few men) on the lower level was following his progress across the dance floor and there was more than one who tried to intercept him as he passed by but his determined pace kept him going; straight to the stairs which led to me.
“Oh, no way,” I whispered. “Talk about bad timing.”
I headed towards the stairs to cut him off as celebratory shouting erupted behind me. I glanced back to see the Horsemen getting to their feet and then waving to the Squad as they headed my way. What now? I froze, unsure whether to go down and confront Re or wait for the Horsemen who were giving me that look people give you when they're coming over to speak to you.
I took too long and the decision was made for me.
“What are you doing standing here, Carus?” Azrael asked as they reached me.
“Um, I... where are you guys going?” I asked instead of answering.
“Trevor suggested we use the Wild Room as a party place, that way we can get as crazy as we like. He said if there were any Froekn in there, he didn't think they'd mind,” Az
grinned and the Horsemen behind him mirrored it. Well played, Trevor.
“We might lure some women in with us but don't worry,” Sam gave me a wink, “I'll make sure Death doesn't do anything he'll regret.”
“As if she has anything to worry about,” Ted rolled his eyes. “I could count the number of women I've seen him with on one hand.”
“On one finger,” Ira chuckled. “Honestly, Az, we wondered if you were gay.”
“I've been with other women,” Azrael shot me an uncomfortable glance. I'm not sure if he was uncomfortable because he was mentioning other women or because he didn't want me to think he'd been a virgin when we'd met.
“Okay, enough with trying to embarrass my husband,” I chided the Horsemen of the Apocalypse. “Go have fun. It was nice to meet you. Maybe you can come over to Pride Palace for a barbecue or something.”
“None for me,” Ira sniffed disdainfully.
“Oh, right... uh,” I stammered and they all laughed.
“He's just teasing, Carus,” Azrael gave me a quick peck on the cheek. “He has a crazy metabolism. Just because he's Famine, it doesn't mean he has to starve.”
“Oh good,” I chuckled.
“Vervain,” Re's sexy voice slid over me. Something inside my chest fluttered with happiness as I simultaneously cringed to see Azrael's shocked reaction to Re's presence.
“What the hell are you doing here?!” Azrael's wings came out in full Angel of Death glory and his buddies automatically had his back; all three of them displaying their feathers like a bunch of angry peacocks. It was actually damn impressive; Azrael's star-sprinkled black against a background of Ted's brilliant white, Ira's golden brown, and Sam's blood red wings. I gaped at them, barely hearing Re's response.
“I'm here for her,” Re wasn't at all cowed by the intimidation fan but then he was kinda a big deal in Egypt.
“Alright, alright, Flyboys,” I held up my hands and waved the winged wonders back. “Don't go all Horsemen on him until I hear what he has to say.”
“Does that mean we get to hear what he has to say?” Ted smiled wickedly. “Cause I don't like the looks of this guy.”
