“We cannot walk away, you foolish woman,” Samyaza snarled and then swung his head to face Luke. “When have you started letting women rule you, Lucifer?”
“Vervain speaks on her own behalf, not mine,” Luke said. “Although, I have to agree with her; I have no quarrel with you, Samyaza. I'm here to protect my son. You are only the latest threat against him. His enemy is cowardly and sends others to do his dirty work.”
Satan looked pointedly at the Grigori, and Samyaza narrowed his eyes.
“Why can't you walk away?” I ignored the sexist insults and macho banter. “You don't really want to battle demons and angels.”
“No; we want to kill Jehovah, but to do so, we have to hold Azrael here for as long as possible,” Samyaza said.
“You will lose this battle,” I said. “You know that.” I waved a hand around me. “You have already lost.”
“Then we will die fighting!” Another Grigori shouted, and the others cheered him.
“For what?” I asked calmly. “Some angel who manipulated you? You will never get your revenge upon Jerry; you will die here today and waste your chance at freedom. Or you could surrender to us now, and fight for us instead of against us.”
“What insanity is this?” Samyaza asked. “Grigori don't surrender.”
“If you surrender, your debt is paid,” I reasoned. “Technically, you battled Azrael for as long as you could. Instead of killing you, Azrael now takes command of your angels.”
“Why would we follow you?” Samyaza asked Azrael.
“Because if you do, I will give you sanctuary in Shehaquim,” Azrael said.
The Angelic Host—who had descended behind Azrael—gasped in shock.
“You will have to abide by the laws of Heaven and agree to live peacefully among the other angels,” Azrael went on. “But if you can agree to those terms, I will stand with you against any who try to imprison you again.”
“Against Jehovah?” Samyaza asked.
“Even against Jerry,” Azrael agreed.
“Will you allow us to attack him?” Samyaza pressed his luck.
“No; Jerry has his place,” Luke interrupted. “You cannot bring war to him without involving his angels, and they are innocent.”
“There are no innocents in Heaven,” Samyaza scoffed.
“Those are the terms,” Azrael said. “Accept them, and you live free.”
Samyaza turned to the Grigori—who looked shocked and confused, but also hopeful.
“I said I would defend you against Jerry,” Azrael reminded them. “That means if Jehovah comes against you again, you will have the might of Hell standing with you.”
Samyaza smiled wickedly. “We accept.”
“Good.” Azrael shook Samyaza's hand. “Now, where was Mot headed.”
“I don't know,” Samyaza huffed. “He released us and pointed us here; that's all.”
Azrael swore.
“It's fine,” I said as I held up my phone. “I know where he is.”
My cell phone had been buzzing with texts but I'd been a little busy dealing with rampaging Grigori. When Azrael had taken over the negotiations, I had checked my messages; they were all from Re.
“Mot is raising Dvārakā.”
Chapter Fifty-Three
As the angels and demons traced to India, I texted the God Squad—and a couple of other gods—and then went home to mirror Arach. I had made my faerie husband a promise to always include him if I went to war, and this was going to be war.
“I'm on my way,” Arach said as the mirror went hazy.
A second afterward, Arach was standing in my dressing room; the benefits of owning a time-travel ring. He looked over my leather pants and vest with surprise.
“Won't you be shifting into your dragon form?” He asked.
“Not this time,” I said. “We're going into the Human Realm, and I think my other magics may serve us better. I'd like you to hold off on shifting as well, until we assess the situation.”
“All right,” Arach agreed as we headed downstairs to join the God Squad.
I walked out of the elevator and immediately began to get the God Squad up to speed.
“Azrael's gone with the Grigori, his father, and their troops to Dvārakā. We need to trace into Sekhmet's home and meet up with Re,” I said to the Squad. Then I saw Macaria. “What are you doing here?”
“She offered to come,” Hades answered for his daughter. “I thought we could use all the help we could get.”
“Okay, fine.” I gave in, but I also gave her a nasty look. “Let's just get over there.”
I took Arach's hand to lead his travel, and we all traced to India. We stepped out of the Aether into a cacophony of chaos. The shifters in our group cringed at the collection of booms, shrieks, screeches, and screams that filtered in from the back of Sekhmet's home.
“Vervain!” Re shouted as he rushed over to us. “It's about time.”
“Where are the angels?” I asked.
Re led us into the living room and pointed out the window. Framed perfectly within Sekhmet's picture window was a shining city of gold and silver that stretched as far back as I could see. As I watched, chunks of eroded stone and coral fell from some of the structures to reveal more of the gleaming metal beneath. Jewels caught the sunlight and sparkled from intricate designs adorning the buildings while pearls gave a more subtle glow. Dome-topped spires shot toward the sky and water rushed off the edge of the slowly rising city as humans screamed and ran for their lives.
“They'll believe in us now,” Macaria whispered.
We all looked at her in surprise.
“Well, it's the truth,” she huffed. “Humans can't deny the existence of beings greater than themselves any longer.”
“First of all; Atlanteans are not greater than humans,” I growled at her. “Second; never underestimate the human ability to explain away what
