“Anything else?” I asked.
“I know of only one other way.” Odin looked at Azrael. “A reaper has the power to carry a soul wherever he or she wishes.”
“Just as I once did for Sabine,” Azrael whispered.
“Well, we know it's not Azrael,” I said. “So, that narrows it down. How many reaper gods could there possibly be?”
Everyone looked at me with amused expressions.
“That many, huh?” I sighed. “Okay; let me try this again. How many reapers would want to mess with Amaterasu?”
“Now, that's an interesting question,” Amy noted. “Those who know me wouldn't want to incite my wrath, and those who don't know me wouldn't have a reason to.”
“Why come to us?” Odin asked. “You have numerous gods who could help you.”
“I hope to keep this quiet,” she admitted. “If it gets out that a god has made a fool of me, my status in my pantheon would be questioned.”
“All right,” I said. “Let's start with some basic investigating. Can you take us to the exact location of the last suicide?”
“You're standing on it,” Amy said. “It happened just yesterday.”
I glanced at Kirill and Trevor, and they nodded. We all began to walk around the area, inhaling deeply, and searching with more than our eyes. The rest of the group stayed out of our way, and I was grateful for that. It's nice to have help, but when you're trying to concentrate, it's better to simply be left alone.
“Do you smell a horse?” I asked the other shapeshifters.
“Da,” Kirill said. “Horse and cow.”
“A bull; to be specific,” Trevor added.
Amy cursed in Japanese while Sakuya closed her eyes and shook her head sadly.
“What is it?” I asked. “Do you know who did this?”
“Ox-Head and Horse-Face,” Amy growled.
“Are you still cursing or are those gods?” I asked.
“They are demi-gods,” Amy explained. “Guardians of Jigoku.”
“Jigoku?” I asked.
“Hell,” Azrael said simply.
“Japanese Buddhist Hell,” Sakuya clarified. “Gozu and Mezu—those are the Guardians' true names—are minions of Lord Enma, God of Death.”
“The Japanese Buddhist gods sometimes clash with the Shinto,” Amy said. “The Japanese Buddhist gods have connections to Indian Buddhist gods, who are then connected to Hindu gods. The other gods of Japan don't like this religious and racial blending. We like our magic to remain pure.”
“That sounds a bit bigoted,” I noted. “I may have to start calling you 'Bellatrix.'”
“Perhaps it is bigoted,” Amy agreed—ignoring my Harry Potter reference. “But we are guardians of our magic, and I take that very seriously.”
“Thank you for your help, Godhunter,” Sakuya said.
“Oh.” I blinked in surprise. “You don't need us to go after this Enma with you?”
“No; you've helped enough.” Amy bowed to me. “I wouldn't impose on you to do something that I can do for myself. Thank you all for coming; I will not forget the debt.”
“There's no debt between friends,” I said as I reached out to shake her hand.
Amy smiled softly as she took my hand. “I am honored to be considered such and to consider you as such. Safe tracing, Vervain.”
“Goodbye, Amy,” I said.
We traced back to Pride Palace and left the goddesses to their hunt.
Chapter Thirty-One
“Is it just me, or are there a lot of trouble-making death deities running amok?” I asked as we stepped out of Pride Palace's tracing room.
“It does seem odd,” Odin said.
“Do we know anything about this Enma guy?” Trevor asked.
“Yeah; like who he may be connected to in the Hindu Pantheon,” I added.
“His counterpart is Yama,” Azrael said. “They are two separate men.”
“How do I know that name?” I wondered as we all wandered out onto the drawbridge veranda.
“Karni-Mata mentioned him once,” Kirill said. “I zink she had problem vith him.”
“Something about the rats,” Trevor said as he nodded.
“So, we get called in to consult on a case involving Yama's counterpart while someone is attempting to bring Dvārakā up from the sea, and someone else is inciting angels to attack Az.” I plopped into a large, Victorian armchair and huffed hair out of my face. “I feel like the answer is right in front of me.”
“You think it's all connected?” Ted asked.
“I don't know,” I muttered. “But it is strange timing.”
“I don't like coincidences,” Ira murmured. “I don't believe in them.”
We all nodded.
“Well, don't all of you look depressing,” Macaria exclaimed as she walked out onto the veranda.
“Mac,” Az said in surprise. “What are you doing here?”
“I thought I'd come check on you,” she said. “I hope I'm not interrupting anything.”
“No; it's fine,” Azrael assured her. “Come meet my friends.” He waved to the Horsemen. “These are the other Horsemen; Sam, Ira, and Ted.”
“The Horsemen of the Apocalypse?” Macaria asked with eager eyes. “No way.”
“Nice to meet you,” Ted said as he looked Mac over with a reserved air.
“Yeah, you too,” Macaria said with a small frown. “Um; I hope you don't mind, but I brought a friend with me. This is Marzana, she's the Russian Goddess of Winter and Death. I thought you might like to talk to another death deity who doesn't get a lot of work these days.”
I was about to get angry about Mac not only showing up unannounced but with a stranger to boot, when Ted beat me to the punch.
“You brought an unknown god into another god's territory?” Ted asked with horror. “That's bad form.”
“I...” Macaria gaped from Azrael to Thaddeus. “I'm sorry, I didn't—”
“It's all right, Mac.” Az smacked Ted and gave him a quelling look. “Hello, Marzana; welcome to Pride Palace.”
“Zank you,” the Russian woman said in a thick accent; similar to Kirill's.
Marzana was very pale—nearly white—and had long, thick, ebony hair that shone like seal fur. Her eyes were dark and round like a seal's as well,
