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.
Chapter Twenty-Nine
“As lovely as the tea party in Hell was, now we're back to square one,” Ted declared as we had breakfast together the next morning.
We were down in the dining hall again, and some of the Intare were wandering in to have their morning meal as well. Luke had texted Azrael the night before and reported precisely what we'd already learned; that Samael was too involved in his separation from Lilith to embark on such a complicated plot to hurt Az.
“We're out of leads,” Sam said. “So, now what?”
“We go fishing,” Ira said.
We all stared at Ira in confusion.
“For leads,” he clarified. “All we need is bait.”
Ira looked pointedly at Azrael.
“You want to put my husband on a metaphorical hook and toss him into a river of suspects?” I lifted a brow at Ira.
“Pretty much.” Ira shrugged his model-slim shoulders. “We head down to the Human Realm and do what we normally do. Nothing that will look suspicious; just business as usual. Azrael's enemy will most likely attack, and we can capture him or her for questioning... instead of calling in a cleaner.”
Ira grimaced at Azrael, and Azrael rolled his pale blue eyes.
“Hold on; wouldn't 'business as usual' for you guys mean bar-hopping until you couldn't walk?” I asked.
“We're angels,” Ted huffed. “We burn off human alcohol in seconds.”
I stared at him.
“But yes; the rest of that statement is accurate,” Ted admitted.
“So, you want to take Az clubbing.” Trevor smirked. “I just happen to know a great place.”
“That's actually perfect,” I said. “We can watch over them.”
“And no angel will be allowed in without making an oath,” Ira pointed out. “Which means that they'll never attack Az there. Not to mention, the odds would not be in their favor.”
“Ira's right,” Az agreed. “We need to make it as alluring as possible; a back alley bar with minimal customers. Do you guys ever go to places like that?”
The three other Horsemen looked at each other and then laughed uproariously.
“I'll take that as a yes,” Az said drolly.
I was about to respond when my phone chimed. I looked down and saw a name that made me blink.
“It's Amy,” I whispered.
“Amaterasu?” Trevor asked.
“Do you know another Amy?” I asked him.
“Well, there was this author I met once...” Trevor let the sentence hang as I glowered at him. “Come on; you deserved that.”
“You're a big furry ass,” I declared and then ignored Trevor to read the text. “Amy says that she needs my help. Another god is leading her followers into an unnatural death.”
“Unnatural death?” The Antichrist asked. “That sounds awful. Are you guys talking about the Japanese Goddess of the Sun?”
“Yeah; we helped her out not too long ago,” Trevor said. “She worked with my father.”
“Right; the Yakuza Gods.” Ira nodded. “Az told us about that.”
“What kind of help does she need now, Vervain?” Sam asked with an interested gleam in his brown eyes. “Please tell me it involves ninjas! Ninjas are awesome.”
“I don't know what she needs,” I said as I texted back. “I'm asking for more details now.”
My phone chimed again.
“She said she needs help discovering who is leading her people into Aokigahara,” I said. “Whatever that is.”
“It's the forest at the base of Mount Fuji,” Odin said. “Japanese people go there to commit suicide.”
“The Suicide Forest?” I asked. “I've actually heard of that place.”
“Of course you have; zere vas movie made,” Kirill teased me.
Lesya was playing with Zariel again; upstairs, under Samantha's watchful eye. So, I wasn't worried about the subject matter. I was worried about the possibility of heading into a haunted forest, though.
“That place is supposed to be evil,” I whispered.
The Antichrist started laughing.
“Shut up.” Az tossed his napkin at Ted. “She was a witch before all of this changed her; she can't help how she was raised.”
“Sorry,” Ted mumbled.
“What's so funny about it?” I growled. “Of all people, you angels should know that every action has energy, and energy leaves traces behind. If bad things happen over and over in one place, that place soaks up the negativity; especially when that place has living organisms to give feed the energy. A forest can become evil.”
“She's right,” Ira said solemnly. “We've been off duty too long. We've forgotten that evil is real; not just myths that humans make up.”
“I haven't forgotten,” Ted said. “But evil must be directed; an evil place—like this forest—can't physically harm anything. It's a repository for bad feelings, and so it oozes those emotions. If there's enough energy stored up, it may even be able to project images of what occurred to affect it. It can confuse and even
