The God Squad agreed and slowly made their way out; each of them stopping to pat Azrael's shoulder, kiss him on the cheek, or just assure him that they were with him on this. By the time it was just my lovers and my lions in the room with me, Azrael was looking much better. The food helped too. When he was done, he wiped his mouth and stood up looking stronger—both emotionally and physically—than when he'd sat down.
“All right, who's coming with me?” Az asked.
“To the Death face-off?” Re asked. “I'm there.”
“I already said I'm going,” Trevor said.
“Do you think Lilith will be there?” Odin asked warily.
“Probably,” Azrael said with a smirk.
The last time Odin had seen Lilith, it was along with her daughter, Gello, and both mother and daughter had flirted with him shamelessly. In their defense, Odin had just shaved off his beard and not only did he look like a new, younger man, but he also looked smoking hot—just how demons like their lovers.
“I think I'll stay here with Lesya,” Odin said.
We all laughed.
“Hiding from a demon lady.” I clucked my tongue at Odin. “What would the Aesir think?”
“The Aesir don't have to be pawed by the Mother of Demons.” Odin grimaced. “They can think whatever they like.”
Chapter Ten
Makhon was the Fifth Heaven. No; there isn't just one Heaven, there are seven, and that's only in the Trinity-Pantheons. Most of the Angelic Host resides in the Fifth and it's also where this big angelic concert happens—the Trisagion—in a massive amphitheater in the middle of Makhon's forest. But we weren't going there to listen to singing today; we were visiting Makhon's ruler.
Azrael, Trevor, Kirill, Re, Toby, and I entered Makhon through a tracing room in a magnificent palace, but it wasn't Samael's home. The Ruler of Makhon was too smart to live in the same place most of the Angelic Host had to tromp through just to get into the territory. Instead, he had a second, slightly less grand palace next door.
We took the footpath along the border of Makhon's majestic forest, and I breathed in the scent of pine resin, ripe fruit, and that earthy undertone of decay that still manages to seem fresh in a forest. I wondered at that; they decay, I mean. Every time I visited Makhon—which wasn't all that often—it smelled the same. There was always ripening fruit sweetening the breeze. So, if this magical forest was stuck in summer, when did it have a chance to decay? Perhaps it was always in the cycle of summer. Angels were big on cycles; some were even shaped like wheels.
I pushed thoughts of the Orphanim (the wheel angels) from my mind as we climbed the steps to the other Angel of Death's door. It was never a comfortable conversation with Samael, but I was hoping that love of his children would sway him into being more friendly this time.
The door opened before we reached it, and Samael filled the doorway with his intimidating presence; glowering down at us with bright, snake eyes. His expression turned even more sour as he looked over the men—that Samael sneer settling into place—but his lips shifted and quirked up a little at the corners when his gaze landed on me.
Well, what do ya know? Azrael was right; Death #2 liked me. But then, Death, in general, seemed to have an affinity with me. Odin was a death god too. Although, he didn't have the handy ability of pulling a person's soul from their body. When he had wanted Sabine's soul transported to Hvergelmir, the Viking Well of Souls, he had to ask Azrael to do it for him. That thought made me wonder just how many death deities actually had the ability to transport souls to their afterlives.
Anubis didn't; his job was to sit on his throne and judge the souls of the dead. Lucifer didn't; and yes, he's a death god. Lucifer rules Hell; I'm pretty sure that governing the dead makes you a death god. Which leads us to Hades; as far as I knew, he didn't have a tool or ability to remove souls from their physical bodies. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that a list of death deities with a soul-severing ability would probably be a short one.
“Did you come all this way just to make strange faces at me, Vervain?” Samael asked; jolting me out of my musings.
“Sorry,” I stuttered. “I was lost in thought.”
“Indeed.” Sam's lips quirked again. “What do I owe this thoughtful honor to?”
“Have you heard from any of your children?” Azrael asked.
“Let them in, Sam!” Lilith shouted.
Samael grimaced and stepped to the side. “Do come in.”
“Thank you,” I said brightly as I strode past him.
I went in the direction I'd heard Lilith's voice coming from and found her lounging across a chaise with a martini in one hand; lifted as if she were posing for a picture. She smiled sensually at me as she stood—undulated up is probably more accurate—and then she sashayed her substantial curves over to me and gave me a warm hug. The scent of vanilla and roses nearly choked my beast super-smeller.
“Vervain, how good to see you,” Lilith purred (I'm not sure if she knew how to speak without sounding sexy). “Thank you for coming in our hour of need.”
“You've heard,” I said in surprise.
“Of course, we've heard,” Samael said as he came in with the others. “Our children called immediately. The loss of two demons is a tragedy; one which I intend on rectifying.”
“Rectifying?” I asked.
“He means he's going
