“My life is hell,” Death declared.
Chapter Nineteen
We had a nice lunch with all of the Squad and some of my lions. The Pride was more than willing to defend Azrael, but they were more the “Just tell me who to kill” type. Most of them didn't need, or even want, to be a part of the investigation. After lunch, Azrael had a private meeting with Michael, and then Michael left; saying that he had a few calls to make.
While the Morningstars were gone, we brainstormed. The Archangels were at the top of the Anti-Azrael list, but we weren't going to limit ourselves to the Heavenly Host. We began to go over all of the gods who had enough knowledge, power, and—most importantly—the motivation to instigate an angelic attack on Azrael. Most of the names we came up with were my enemies, and most of the Squad—myself included—thought that this felt more personal. Yes, hurting Azrael would hurt me, but there were far easier ways to go about it than inciting angelic rage. This was deliberate.
“We need to find a concrete motive, and then we can work from there,” Blue said. “Find the reason and we can trace it to the mind who possesses it.”
“So, why would anyone want to hurt Azrael?” I asked.
“Well, we've already established the motive of hurting you,” Thor said. “Then there are his parents. But if we look at this purely as an attack on Azrael—vengeance for something he has done—then there is only one reason I can see for why another god would want to hurt him.”
“His retirement,” Odin said.
Thor nodded. “So, who—besides the Archangels—would be angered by a reaper retiring?”
“Other reapers,” Torrent whispered.
“Well, my daughter is obviously off the suspect list,” Hades said. “Not only did she meet with Azrael specifically to help him, but she also fought off his attackers with him.”
“Of course she's not on the list,” I said immediately. “Her parentage alone speaks on her behalf.”
“Thank you, Vervain,” Hades said softly.
“But there are numerous death deities besides Macaria,” Artemis said. “In the Greek Pantheon alone, there is Thanatos and the Keres.”
“The Aztec Pantheon abounds with death gods,” Eztli added.
“So does the Hindu,” Torrent said. “And—”
“Hold!” Thor held up his hand. “Before we get into the death deities, let's focus on reapers. Death gods won't be affected by Azrael's retirement, but other reapers might be. So, who would be the most affected by his particular retirement? Who would have to pick up the slack, as it were?”
“I collect the souls of Christians, Jews, and Muslims,” Azrael said. “But no one is picking up my slack; the souls pass on by themselves now.”
“Okay, so it isn't a case of increased workload,” Thor murmured as he looked at his father.
Odin shook his head. “It would have to be pride; a god who is offended that a reaper would abandon his duties.”
“But other reapers have done this,” I pointed out. “Macaria, for one.”
“Well, technically she didn't retire,” Hades said with a thoughtful frown. “Belief in the old ways has waned and on top of that, Mac only collects the souls destined for the Elysian Fields or the Blessed Isles. To enter Elysium, the soul must be heroic or virtuous, and to get to the Isles of the Blessed, a soul must have been sent to Elysium first, but choose to be reborn—three times—after the fourth return, if they are still pure, they go to the Blessed Isles.”
“Goddess of Blessed Death,” I murmured. “I get it now.”
“That's a hell of a standard,” Odin said.
“And the reason why Mac has a lot of free time on her hands,” Persephone said.
“Have there been other reapers who have retired?” I asked.
The God Squad looked around the table at each other and then shook their heads.
“I believe Azrael is the first,” Odin answered for the group.
“So, we're back to reapers and death deities,” Thor muttered.
“Sooka sin,” Kirill hissed.
“What kind of sin?” I asked.
“It means; Son of a bitch,” Torrent translated.
“Sooka sin,” I repeated.
Chapter Twenty
Luke and Holly returned with the expected news: Jerry assured Luke that he wasn't behind the attack on Azrael, and he would do everything he could to make sure that no future attacks occurred. Luke added that Jerry must have been terrified because he had been on his best behavior.
But we still had no idea who was manipulating the Host. It could be an Archangel or it could be a god associated with death; reaper or otherwise. The list was way too long to even start investigating.
Brahma, Sarasvati, and Karni-Mata returned shortly after the Morningstars, and they reported that the Hindu Pantheon was about as concerned over Dvārakā rising as Krishna was. They simply couldn't conceive of a god outsmarting any of them. That whole saying about pride going before a fall? Hopefully it wouldn't come before a rise as well.
We had done all we could; we had warned the Hindus, spoken to Jerry, and found all the information we were going to find in one night. At least Azrael was safe within my territory. Shehaquim was a shared territory; which meant that any members of the pantheon could enter it. Which meant that Az wouldn't be heading there for awhile. The Angel of Death was grounded again. So, we went to bed; Toby went home, and Re went back to Sekhmet's place in Dwarka.
To make up for Azrael being stuck in Pride Palace, my husbands gave up our scheduled rotation, and Az got a night alone with me. After releasing our pent-up aggression—multiple times—we fell asleep in each others arms. The reprieve felt brief, and morning came all too soon. Sunshine filtered in through the gauzy curtains; pulling me slowly from my dreams. I stared across an expanse of muscled,
