Chapter Twenty-Eight

 

 

Gello had a little place down the street from Cid's house in the Inferno district. Evidently, Hell had a suburbs. Not too surprising when you consider what life in a suburb is like. But this suburb was full of mansions, and the metropolis it skirted was formed of ice blocks. I don't know if that made it better or worse than those in America.

“This is fucking creepy,” Trevor whispered as we stood at an iron gate in front of Gello's house.

The sky was a normal indigo, but there was a clear line in the distance where it shifted to burnt cinnabar. Oddly enough, the rusty sky was lighter and brighter than the night sky in the suburbs of Hell. Most of Luke's Hell existed under that wounded sky, and now that I was thinking about it, I realized that it was always dimly lit; neither night nor day. But there in Demonville, the sky had darkened as it should, and the night was lit by vintage iron streetlamps. The streets and sidewalks were immaculate; with neatly manicured trees lining the lanes. Couples ambled by holding hands, birds cooed in the trees, and crickets chirped. Night-blooming flowers—planted in the flower beds to either side of Gello's gate—perfumed the air. It was all so painfully normal.

“There are cars in Hell?” I asked Azrael.

“Only in the Durbs,” he said. “Dad won't allow them anywhere else; he says it ruins the ambiance.”

“The Durbs?” Odin asked.

“The Demon suburbs,” Azrael explained as he hit the button on a panel set into the wall.

“Of course,” Odin rolled his peacock-colored eyes.

“Azrael!” Gello exclaimed after her face appeared on a little screen. “Whatcha doing here, darlin'?”

“I need to talk to you... and your mother,” Azrael said. “Is she there?”

“Yeah.” Gello frowned; her poison-green eyes crinkling at the corners; the shade of her eyes was darker than Samael's but they still reminded me of him. “Why do you want to talk to my mom?”

“It has something to do with the Virtues attacking me,” Az said gently. “Have you heard about all that?”

“Yeah; that shit is fucked up,” she growled. “Come on in, honey. If we can help, we will.”

The gate buzzed and parted for us. We strode up a winding drive, past a red Ferrari, to the front door of a Gone With the Wind mansion. Elaborate gardens stretched out to either side and back from the house; lit by more iron lampposts. The front door opened before we finished climbing the steps, and Gello came out to hug Azrael. She was thankfully in her human form instead of her winged, cloven-footed, barbed-tailed, demon one.

“Vervain!” She hugged me too. “It's good to see you.” Her gaze traveled over the rest of the group. “And the fucking Horsemen?! This is the best day ever!” She hugged each of the men. “What has it been; like forty years?”

“Give or take.” Ted grinned. “How's it going Gel?”

“Good, it's...” her voice faded away as her gaze landed on Odin. “Who in Hell is this fucking gorgeous hunk of a man?”

Gello sashayed over to Odin and ran a long, pointed, red nail down his shirt.

“Oh, my; what big muscles you have,” she purred. Then she looked back at Az. “Did you bring me a present, sweetie? Your mamma raised you right; you always bring a gift when you visit someone's home.”

The men—including Odin—were cracking up, while I was grimacing. Gello was the epitome of lush female appeal, with a personality that was eager to use every curve to her advantage. Now that I knew who her mother was—the original wanton woman—it all made wicked sense.

“Gello, we've already met,” Odin rumbled.

Gello went still and then slowly turned back to face Odin. She narrowed her eyes and stared into his.

“By all that's unholy!” She finally exclaimed. “It's the fucking King of Asgard!”

Odin laughed. “I shaved my beard.”

“J-man Christ!” Gello shook her head in amazement. “You've been hiding all of that under a beard? Hair hid that?” She waved her nail at his face. “Odin, growing that thing was a bad idea; don't you ever cover up that glorious mug again.”

“Thank you,” Odin said sincerely as he claimed Gello's hand and kissed it. “That's the loveliest thing a demoness has ever said to me.”

“I'm sure it is,” a woman said from the doorway. “And it's the absolute truth; you have a striking face.”

We all turned to see a lady who looked nearly identical to Gello, except her skin was fair instead of tan, and her eyes were a soft brown instead of green. She had on a more modest dress than Gello's skin-tight red one, but her curves were still apparent. It was obvious that they were related, though they looked more like sisters than mother and daughter.

“Lilith,” Azrael said as he went to hug the woman. “How are you?”

“I'm good, darling,” she purred in a tone similar to her daughter's. “And I'm excited to see the rest of the Riders with you. Hello, boys.”

“Lady Lilith,” the Horsemen said as one as they bowed to her.

“Always so gallant,” Lilith noted with pleasure. “And you are Odin, I presume.”

“It's nice to meet you,” Odin said. “This is our wife, Vervain.”

“I've heard a lot about you, Godhunter.” Lilith cocked her head at me. “You're exactly what I expected.”

“Well, that's new,” I said with surprise. “Normally I get; 'I thought you'd be taller.'”

“From idiot men, I assume,” Lilith said with a smile. “I knew you'd be someone less obvious; a petite woman with powerful magic. I wholeheartedly approve.”

“Thank you.” I smiled back at her. “Have you met my husband, Trevor?”

“No; it's a pleasure, Wolf Prince,” Lilith said. “But let's not be savages; come inside, everyone.”

We filed through a grand foyer, past its spiraling staircase, and through a hallway lined in fine art. Lilith led us into a sitting room done in pink and cream; a room so soft and feminine that all of us looked out of place in it; especially Gello and her mother.

After we were seated on the beautiful but uncomfortable furniture, Gello went to make some tea. As soon as she left, Lilith focused on Azrael.

“What has my husband done now?” She asked.

“I don't know for certain that he's done anything, Lilith,” Azrael said gently. “We're trying to discover whether he had anything to do with the Virtues' attack on me. I don't think he did, but my opinion is in the minority.”

“Why come to me?” She asked.

“We've just been to Makhon,” Azrael said. “We heard that you had a fight with Samael and left. I'm sorry to ask, but was that argument about me or my father?”

Lilith took a deep breath and released it with a scowl. “The argument was personal, and not about you or your family.”

“Are you all right?” Azrael immediately asked. “Is there anything we can do to help?”

Lilith's expression softened. “No, sweetie, but thank you. It's a matter between husband and wife, and we are the only ones who can work through it.”

“My apologies, Lady Lilith,” Odin said. “We didn't mean to pry into your marital affairs.”

Lilith flinched at the word “affair,” and I tried not to show my own reaction. Samael had been cheating on his wife; I was sure of it. I didn't know why, nor was it any of my business, but after meeting Lilith, it was a bit shocking. Shocking enough to make me wonder.

“I once thought Arach was cheating on me,” I blurted.

Lilith gaped at me. “What?”

“Oh, sorry; the mention of marital issues reminded me of my own,” I said. “My faerie husband was sneaking around the castle with this leanan-sidhe woman, and I was certain he was having an affair with her.”

“You never told us about that,” Azrael said. Then he looked at my other husbands. “Did she?”

“No; she didn't,” Odin said sternly.

“Because I was mistaken,” I said it to them, but it was really for Lilith's benefit. “I had misinterpreted every touch and look. The leanan-sidhe was designing a nursery for our sons, and was a overly excited about it. She's a hugger.”

“Did you confront your husband?” Lilith asked.

“I did.” I nodded. “And he denied it.”

“They always do, sweetie,” she said sadly.

“But he also explained what I'd seen and introduced me to the woman,” I went on. “They showed me the nursery, and damn if she wasn't as affectionate with me as she'd been with him. I was wrong to doubt him. I should have trusted in what I knew to be true; that Arach loves me too much to risk our marriage on a silly affair. Luckily, he also loves me enough to forgive me.”

Lilith frowned.

“That's a very interesting story, Vervain,” Gello said as she wheeled in a tea cart. Yes; an honest-to-gods tea cart. “There's a good lesson in it; to not overreact without knowing all of the facts. And to give people you love a chance to defend themselves before you... say... leave an entire territory.”

Gello cast a weighted look her mother's way before she began to fill the tea cups. Lilith glowered at her daughter.

“One lump or two?” Gello asked her mother. “How many was it that you gave Dad before you walked out?”

“Your father is literally a winged snake!” Lilith shouted.

“So are you!” Gello shouted back. “Except you also drink blood.”

“Just give me the damn tea, Gello,” Lilith snapped. “Two lumps.”

Gello calmly handed her mother a cup of tea, but after she turned back to the tea cart, she winked at me gleefully.