Chapter Twenty-Seven

 

 

I had assumed that the palace we had entered Makhon through was Samael's. It was not. Samael didn't want to live in the same place where the angels of the territory—and there were a lot of them—trace in. That was simply too much foot traffic—or wing traffic, as it were. So, Samael lived somewhere nearby. Tagas led us around the edge of the sleeping forest, on a cobblestone path, to a more modest structure of pale green stone.

“Aw, it's the color of his eyes,” I observed.

“What about Lilith?” Azrael asked Tagas. “Did she go to dinner with Samael tonight?”

“Lilith and Samael have been at odds these last few months,” Tagas said. “They had a violent disagreement, and then the Lady took some belongings and left Makhon.”

“Lilith left Samael?” Azrael's eyes widened.

“And you didn't think to tell us?” Odin asked.

“Is it relevant?” Tagas looked more surprised than Azrael.

“It could be,” Azrael said gently. He gave Tagas a pointed look and added, “Depending on what they were arguing about.”

“Oh!” Tagas blinked rapidly. “You think that perhaps Lilith was protesting an attack on your person?”

“Lilith is a Luke supporter,” Azrael said. “She would never condone an attack on me.”

“Wait.” I held up a hand. “Samael—the guy who is a staunch Jerry-atric—is married to a Luker?”

“What did she just say?” Tagas gaped at me.

“My wife has a delightful tendency of making up words.” Azrael chuckled. “I believe she is trying to be humorous by labeling the supporters of Jerry as Jerry-atrics and those of my father as Lukers.”

“Oh, I see,” Tagas murmured as my husbands chortled.

“Jerry-atrics,” Odin repeated. “I have to admit; that's clever.”

“Thank you,” I said. “But no one has answered me. Why is Samael married to someone who supports Luke?”

“Love conquers all.” Tagas shrugged.

“Though it has made their relationship rocky,” Azrael noted. “Their children supported my father as well, and they became demons after the war ended.”

“Shiver me timbers!” I declared. “No wonder Samael doesn't like you.”

“I told you that he had his reasons,” Azrael said dryly. “And it also happens to be the reason that Samael and Lilith fight a lot. I think we're reading more into this than is warranted.”

“That's why I didn't mention the argument.” Tagas nodded. “The Lord and Lady of Makhon argue often.”

“But it doesn't usually result in Lilith leaving the Fifth Heaven,” Sam said. “Not from what I've heard.”

“You're correct, Lord Samuel,” Tagas agreed. “Lady Lilith's exodus is unusual.”

“So, it must have been an argument of note.” Sam looked at Azrael grimly.

“Let's just get this search over with, and then we can try to find Lilith,” Odin said before Azrael could get upset.

“So be it,” Azrael huffed. “Tagas, you may join us to supervise or you may leave so that you're able to claim ignorance.”

“I'll take the ignorance, Lord Azrael,” Tagas said. “Just make sure to leave everything as you find it.”

“Of course.” Az shook Tagas' hand. “Thank you for your help.”

“There is only one place where you may find evidence of Lord Samael's innocence or guilt,” Tagas said before he left. “His study. Samael keeps journals regarding every important event in his life.”

“That's convenient,” Trevor said.

“He is a historian,” Tagas explained. “One of the forms he takes is covered in eyes. Lord Samael cannot help but watch, and when you see as much as he does, you tend to want to record it.” Tagas bowed and left.

“Covered in eyes?” I whispered in horror.

“It's not something you want to see,” Azrael said with a grimace. “Come on; let's find his study.”

We all went into Samael's unlocked and unwarded home. I thought that was rather trusting, but then if you live in Heaven, theft isn't really an issue. Still, it made me doubt that we would find anything incriminating there.

Locating the study was easy enough; we found a wood-paneled room that looked straight out of a Dickens novel. The furniture was hand-carved, the carpet deep green, and the drapes were a depressing mauve. It was sinister in the dark, but as soon as Az clicked on the desk lamp, a warm glow made it welcoming and even cozy.

Azrael sat in a high-backed leather chair behind Samael's desk and started rooting through desk drawers. The rest of us went around the room to search through the bookshelves that lined nearly every wall.

“Are these all journals?” I asked as I perused the neat rows of identical leather books; each one labeled with a year. “Whoa; this one says 38 AD.”

I started to pull out the book, but Odin stopped me.

“We don't have time to read through the angel's life,” Odin pushed the journal back in. “We have no idea how long Luke will be able to delay Samael.”

“Yeah, okay,” I huffed in disappointment.

“I found his current journal,” Azrael said as he lifted a book up for us to see.

“Well that was fast.” Trevor went to peer over Azrael's shoulder.

“It was in the center drawer.” Azrael shrugged as he perused the entries. “Here's the fight. It says 'Lilith and I had a terrible argument, and she has gone to stay with our third daughter, Gello.”

“Gello is Lilith's daughter?” I asked in shock.

“Yes,” Azrael wouldn't meet my gaze.

“What am I missing?” Odin asked.

“Well”—I smirked—“Gello is Holly's best friend, and she was also Azrael's first crush.”

Trevor chuckled. “Diggin' on the demon girls, eh?”

“She's a lovely woman,” Azrael huffed defensively.

“Named after a jiggly dessert,” I added with a giggle.

“Now, that's not fair, Vervain,” Ira chided me. “Gello couldn't possibly be named after the gelatin dish; she was born centuries before its creation. The dessert must have been named after her.”

“For obvious reasons,” Sam added with a jiggling motion around his chest.

We burst out laughing; all except for Azrael, who only rolled his eyes.

“Yes, fine,” Azrael said. “She's a curvaceous woman.”

“She's the Jessica Rabbit of demons,” I said. “And I mean that in the nicest way possible.”

“And you have a similar form, Carus,” Azrael said with an appreciative smile. “Now, can we get back to this journal?”

“Sorry, Az.” Trevor thumped Azrael's back. “Does it say why they argued?”

“Not precisely,” Azrael read further. “Just that it was a monumental issue. Samael has a talent for being overly descriptive without saying much at all.”

We all stared at each other tiredly; Samael was looking more and more guilty.

“There you are,” Ted huffed as he came into the room. “I just talked to an angel who said that he saw Lilith leaving in a huff; Samael and her had—”

“Yeah; we know.” Ira rolled his eyes. “I think we have all we're going to get out of this heaven.”

“Time to go to Hell,” I declared.