“Nice save,” Pan whispered as he continued to write. “That was so smooth.”
“You have a way with words, Sun God,” I said softly. “Be careful how you use them next time.”
“As you wish, La-la,” Re leaned in to kiss my cheek.
“If we're done with this day's episode of 'As the God World Turns,' could we get back to the business of stopping a war?” Horus drawled.
“By all means; proceed.” Re waved his hand arrogantly.
I groaned and shook my head. Then I narrowed my gaze at Pan and asked, “What are you writing?”
“Ideas for a new porno,” he said merrily.
“I'm sorry; what?” I gaped at him.
“Pan makes porn,” Horus said disapprovingly.
“I can't help it; it's in my nature,” Pan said unapologetically.
“As it's in my nature to be adored,” Re added.
“What am I getting myself into?” I asked as I shook my head at Re.
“Yep; that's what you have to look forward to forever,” Pan said gleefully as he raised his pencil. “Any comments?”
“Well, not forever; maybe another sixty years if I'm lucky,” I said and then frowned. “Perhaps marrying a god isn't such a good idea.”
“What?” Re gaped at me.
“Are you still going to be glad that you married me when I'm seventy and gray?” I asked.
“Oh.” Re sighed in relief. “I thought you had a real protest. You won't age, La-la; we'll get you some Liquid Gold, and you'll become immortal like us.”
“Excuse me?” I asked with shock.
“Liquid Gold,” Re repeated. “The White Drops; they're what my pantheon uses as a source of immortality.”
“I thought you got that from sacrifice?”
“The sacrifice enabled the creation of such things, and not all pantheons have immortality consumables,” Re explained. “But I happen to have a whole bottle in my pantry.”
“In your pantry,” I whispered in shock. “We can just go into your pantry and find immortality drops next to the olives?”
“I think I'm out of olives, but yes,” Re said.
“And if I drink these drops, I become immortal?”
“That's right,” Re said smugly.
“Holy cannolis!” I exclaimed.
“Yes.” Re grinned. “I am amazing and delicious.”
“I need some time to think about it,” I said.
“What?” Re looked at me as if I'd lost my mind.
“It's a big decision,” I said. “Living forever; that's a mighty long time.”
“Yes; that's the point,” Re said.
“It's a significant change for her, Re,” Teharon said gently. “Give her some time.”
“Yes, so we can get back to the crazy Aztec,” Horus tried again. “If I'd known you'd be bringing your couple issues here, I wouldn't have invited you.”
“Sorry,” I mumbled.
“You will watch your tone with her and remember to whom you speak,” Re snapped.
“Yes, Grandfather,” Horus said respectfully. “My apologies. But this is very important.”
“As is my marriage,” Re said. “But I understand. Go on; you want to catch Huitzilopochtli at this rally.”
“Not catch,” Thor said, “kill. And we have to find a way to do it without drawing human attention.”
“You think that you can kill a god in broad daylight and no one will notice?” I asked in surprise.
“He'll most likely be invisible,” Thor said. “And so will we.”
“You can make yourselves invisible?” I asked with a look of amazement at my fiance.
“It comes in handy for a lot of things,” Re said with a sensual smile.
“I swear to... I just swear; if you spy on me when you're invisible, I will unman you—in a very old-school way.”
“Old school?” Re asked.
“With a pair of scissors,” I said.
Re winced. “That's a bit extreme.”
“It's a threat; they're supposed to leave an impression,” I pointed out.
“Color me impressed,” Re muttered. “And I had no intentions of spying on you; I was implying that we could have sex in public without anyone knowing.”
“Oh.” I blinked and then blushed. “But I can't turn myself invisible.”
“You don't have to be.” Re grinned mischievously. “You just need to wear some loose clothing.”
I thought about it and said, “I can't imagine how that could happen without me looking obscene and crazy.”
“But I would make sure that you didn't care,” he promised.
“Nope; not happening.”
Pan started scribbling again while Re pouted.
“Anyway,” Horus drew out the word. “How do we catch the Aztec and how do... we...” Horus began to smile at me. “I knew there was a reason I wanted you to join us. It must have been my subconscious at work.”
“She's not bound by our magic,” Thor said. “Yes; I thought that was your reasoning.”
“No!” Re's voice cracked out like a whip. “You said that you'd protect her. You can't do that if she's to be the assassin.”
“I'm going to be an assassin?” I asked with wide eyes.
“No, La-la; you're not.” Re stood. “We're leaving.”
“Re, please just hear us out,” Thor said. “Sit down; give us five minutes.”
“Five minutes,” Re huffed as he sat.
“Vervain can cast a spell onto a weapon that one of us can use against Huitzilopochtli,” Thor said. “The human magic will literally give us the edge we need to kill him.”
“All right; that's acceptable,” Re agreed grudgingly.
“Why does my magic have more power than yours?” I asked.
“It's not that it has more power,” Brahma said. “It's that it's the source of our power. We accepted offerings of energy through blood and that created a pact with humans. We look a certain way and have certain abilities because human belief has altered us.”
“You take their blood, and they get the right to change your appearance?” I asked.
“Among other things.” Brahma nodded. “But my point is; the magic we possess came from humans. We then changed it into god magic; this magic—although, different in each individual god—is the same
