Chapter Thirty-Nine

 

 

“So, if Macaria is your aunt, does that makes Hades your grand-uncle?” I asked Morpheus.

We were meeting on the veranda for a change of scenery.

“No, Auntie Mac is my father's half-sister, and that half is from Nyx, not Hades,” Morph explained.

“In such a large pantheon, our connection is notable,” Hades said. “But not enough to label it.”

“There's no blood binding them,” Macaria said. “And blood is always the most important bond of all.”

Hades had brought Mac along again; this time by request—Azrael's request, not mine. I didn't want her involved in the Squad, but Az thought she might be able to help us with Thanatos. We compromised (score one for Neala) and agreed that Mac could stay for the talk on Thanatos, and then Azrael and her could have a visit—in another part of the palace—to discuss reaper retirement issues.

“Blood is important,” I agreed. “How important is it to you? Enough that you'd protect your brother, even if he's guilty?”

“Guilty of what?” Mac shot back. “What are you accusing Thanatos of?”

“Nothing yet,” Azrael interceded. “He's a death god, and there have been connections made to him that raise suspicions.”

“What connections?” Mac countered again.

“My father,” Morpheus said softly. “Toby killed him in battle.”

“I thought this was about Azrael?” Macaria frowned.

“We're exploring every option,” Brahma said evasively with a weighted look my way.

I blinked in surprise and a fair amount of relief. It looked as if I wasn't the only one unwilling to trust Macaria so soon.

“Mac,” Hades interrupted, “your mother orchestrated a significant argument between Persephone and me. One that nearly destroyed our marriage. The timing for all of this feels planned.”

“And Mom's actions have what to do with Thanatos?” Macaria asked.

“He's her son... as Hypnos was,” Hades said. “We have no hard evidence against Thanatos or your mother, we're just investigating death gods, and Thanatos got put at the top of the list because of his connections; you understand?”

“Yeah; sure,” she huffed. “You want me to spy on my brother.”

“Not at all,” Odin said. “We're asking if you've noticed anything odd concerning him lately; anything that struck you as out of the ordinary.”

“Well, Thanatos has been talking a lot about how much he hates angels,” she offered.

“What?” Hades asked in horror.

“She's joking,” Azrael said with a chuckle.

“Which you should have known.” Mac frowned at her father. “But it looks like this angel knows me better than my own father.”

“Macaria.” Hades sighed. “I know you very well, but I had thought you were more courteous than to joke about a situation that could hurt this new friend of yours; a friend who evidently knows you better than I.”

Macaria sighed. “Okay; you're right. Sorry, Dad. I just got pissed off about you thinking poorly of Thanatos. My brother is a good man; even his death magic is good. Thanatos wouldn't hurt Az.”

“What about me?” Toby asked. “Would he want to hurt me for killing his twin? I know that I would want revenge if my brother were killed.”

“Would you really?” Macaria looked at Toby dubiously. “You seem like a reasonable guy. Would you really hold someone responsible for killing your brother if it occurred during a battle? Warriors die; that's what happens in a fight, and Hypnos chose to participate. My brother knows that.”

Toby canted his head, and the thin braid he wore among his loose, long hair, fell forward; the black feather at its end getting caught in the V of his button-up shirt. It reminded me of another battle, when Toby had saved my life and died in the process. Before he passed away, Toby had used his feather to free me from a spell I was under... a spell that his twin brother, Naye, had placed on me. Toby hadn't approved of his brother's actions, but he had supported Naye, because that's what twins did for each other. I thought of my boys and knew they'd be the same way. The bond of twins is special, and I had a feeling that it could change even the most reasonable man's perspective. But Toby narrowed his eyes in thought, and then shrugged.

“You're certain Thanatos isn't behind this?” Thor asked Mac.

“I think I know my own brother,” Macaria huffed.

“As well as your father knows you?” Horus shot back.

Macaria narrowed her eyes on the Egyptian, and Hekate narrowed her eyes on Macaria.

“I suggest you turn your death stare somewhere else, little girl,” Hekate growled; her midnight eyes flashing bright white for a second. “You're outclassed and outranked here.”

Macaria paled and looked to her father for help, but it was Azrael who saved her.

“I think that's all we need for now,” Azrael said as he stood. “You want a drink, Mac?”

“It's like 11 AM,” Macaria grumbled as she got up.

“And?” Azrael grinned.

“Fuck yeah; I want a drink!” Macaria laughed.

The two of them wandered into the palace, and as they went, I heard Azrael whisper, “We try not to curse here; because of the children.”

“Oh, shit; sorry,” Mac said. Then she realized what she had said. “I mean; I'll try not to swear so much.”

“She's a gem, Hades,” Blue said dryly.

“Wait till you have children,” Hades said, “then talk to me about parenting.”

“Fair enough.” Blue laughed as he took Eztli's hand.

The couple shared a soft smile. Until recently, Eztli was purely a vampire; a demigod made by accident when Blue gave her his blood. Eztli had been stuck in stasis; unable to conceive. But then she became the Goddess of the Blood Moon (long story) and now, having a child had become a possibility.

“That doesn't concern you?” Ted whispered the question to me as he jerked his head after Az and Mac.

“What?” I asked. “Azrael spending time with Macaria?”

“Yes.”

“Concern me how?” I asked.

“As a woman,” he lowered his voice even more. “As a wife.”

“You seriously think that Azrael would cheat on me?” I asked in a scoffing tone.

As I said the words, all of my old insecurities rose up. Mac had already caused problems between Azrael and me; I had seen how close they were getting. Then just now, with that whole joke about Thanatos hating angels; Az had understood her as if they were the best of friends. Should I be worried about Azrael and Mac?

“I don't think he'd make a conscious decision to cheat on you,” Ted said. “But I don't like that woman; she makes my skin crawl.”

“Coming from the Antichrist, that's pretty bad,” I noted.

“Just watch your back with her, Vervain,” Ted said. “I have a bad feeling.”

“Okay,” I whispered.

“No offense, Hades, but I don't think we should remove Thanatos from the list of suspects just because of Macaria's faith in him,” Thor said.

“I agree,” Hades said as he tucked Persephone in closer against his chest and kissed her forehead. “Macaria may be blind to both her mother and her brother.”

Hades and Sephy were like a couple of newlyweds after their near-break-up; and they had been affectionate before. Almost losing each other had made them clingy to the point of ridiculousness. Not just newlyweds; teenage newlyweds.

“And no one can truly understand the bond of twins except for the twins themselves,” Toby said; confirming my earlier thoughts. “I would avenge Naye; even were he in war when he died... even were he on the wrong side of a war.”

We all processed that for a moment.

“So, we still have Thanatos,” Finn broke the silence with his sexy Irish lilt. “Who else is there?”

“Anubis is safe to cross off the list,” Re said. “He's blissfully happy with his new lady.”

“Though he would have been a viable suspect,” Torrent pointed out. “We're looking for death deities who have a bone to pick with one of us.”

“One of us,” Teharon murmured as he shared a look with Karni-Mata.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Yama,” Karni said. “I mentioned him to Teharon, but we decided not to bring him up since there's no connection between him and Azrael.”

“Yama!” I exclaimed as I looked at my husbands. “I forgot about him.”

“There is a connection?” Karni asked, and then her expression went livid. “I knew it! That no-good death monger!”

“Whoa; take a breath.” Trevor held up his hands. “Amaterasu called Vervain to ask us help her investigate some suicides in Japan, and the god behind them was Enma.”

“Enma?” Brahma looked at Sarasvati and then at Karni-Mata. “That's Yama's counterpart.”

“And his brother,” Sara said. “By blood.”

“He is? But Enma is Japanese,” I said without thinking. The looks on everyone's faces were enough to remind me that all gods were Atlantean; their appearances had nothing to do with their actual ethnicity, or even their parentage, evidently. “Right; I'm a moron.”

The Horsemen chuckled.

“This is getting stranger and stranger,” Brahma noted. “I feel as if the answer were right before us; a torn tapestry waiting for us to connect the threads.”

“Let's go over what we know,” I suggested. “Someone is trying to raise Dvārakā; an ancient Indian city.”

“An ancient Atlantean city,” Mrs. E corrected me.

“Right,” I started again, “an ancient Atlantean city in India. Then there's a plot to kill Azrael.”

“Which I'm not certain is the goal,” Ira interrupted.

“Okay,” I agreed. “Facts are that there is a plot to pit other angels against Azrael.”

“That's more accurate.” Ira nodded.

“Let's continue with the facts. We know that Lilith and Samael are separated,” I went on. “Jerry is not only denying that he sent the orders to kill Az, he's also making an effort to keep his angels from attacking Azrael in the future. He even recalled the Principalities to Heaven.”

“We know that Abaddon has been living a hermit's existence in Ohio; guarding the Abyss,” Samuel said.

“We know that Krishna has been living a similar life in my temple,” Karni offered. “And he has isolated himself specifically so that he can't be used to raise Dvārakā.”

“And we know that Enma was manipulating Amaterasu's followers into suicide,” Ira added.

Ira was about to say more when a white, swooping thing flew through our meeting and came to a landing on the coffee table.

“Mr. Snuffleupagus!” I shouted in fright.

“No”—Alex cocked his owl head at me so that it was nearly horizontal—“the name is Aleksanteri. Are you all right, Godhunter?”

“I was using the name as an exclamation,” I huffed. “What are you doing here, Alex?”

“My mistress sent me.” He straightened his head. “Again. You failed to text message her.”

“Oh, Fozzie Bear!” I decided to keep with the Muppets theme. “I forgot.”

“The Olympians,” Hades whispered and then sat forward; bringing Sephy with him. “Vervain; this would be a very good time to become one of the Twelve.”

I considered it; as a member of the Council of Olympus, I could take my concerns about Thanatos directly to my fellow Olympians. But was it worth the headache of having to judge every drama that unfolded in the massive pantheon?

“Will you send your reply now?” Alex prompted.

I looked at my men; each one of them nodded.

“Tell Athena that I accept,” I said. “I'll take my place as an Olympian.”

“A wise decision.” The owl bowed his head. “I shall convey the message.”

Alex leapt into the air and flew back to Mount Olympus.

“New fact,” Artemis said gleefully, “Vervain is about to become an Olympian.”