Re's body blasted heat as his eyes flared. “I moved my treasury,” he snapped. “Sekhmet won't be able to find it and even if she did, she doesn't have the magic required to open it.”
We all waited; stares ping-ponging between Kirill and Re. I didn't want to step in and choose a side; that gets tricky. So, I just waited along with everyone else.
Finally, Kirill nodded crisply.
“That's all I get?” Re asked. “A nod?”
“Vhat do you vant?” Kirill asked. “I von't apologize for zinking logically.”
“Fuck, I will,” Trevor said and broke the tension. “I'm sorry, Re. We should have spoken to you about it reasonably.”
It was what Kirill should have said, and I saw my lion flinch with the truth of it. But it's hard when you're drowning in hatred. Giving an inch feels like being dragged for a mile. All Kirill could do was nod again, but this time, Re accepted it. He nodded back and the men took seats across the table from each other.
“Thank the stars that's over,” Horus huffed. “It was starting to feel like the tropics in here.” He cut a look at his grandfather. “I haven't been in the line of your anger for awhile.”
“That's hard to believe,” Pan said dryly.
It wasn't that funny, but we needed a little comic relief so badly that we all ended up laughing. I was still smiling when I started to tell them about Brevyn's vision and what Scotaidh had found in the Inter Realm. But my smile quickly faded as the vision replayed in my mind. And I wasn't the only one deeply disturbed by my news. When I mentioned Dhumorna, Brahma cursed and shook his head.
“What is it, Brahma?” I asked.
“I should have thought of her.” Brahma grimaced. “I'm sorry, Vervain. I discounted Yama since he's dead. So foolish! Half of your enemies are related to people you've killed.”
“We all looked over him. Don't beat yourself up,” I said gently. “So, you know Dhumorna?”
“I haven't met her, but I know of her,” Brahma said. “She has killed many demons, but that was centuries ago. As far as Katila; I wouldn't have considered him to be a threat, but if he has the Pasha, that's another matter entirely.”
“Would he be able to use it?” I asked.
“Technically, no.” Brahma frowned. “But who knows? Maybe because it was passed from father to son, he's able to.”
“From what I've heard, Dhumorna is a controlling mother,” Sarasvati said. “If Katila is our Reginald MacKenzie, you can bet Dhumorna is behind him; pulling the strings. It may be that she has found a way for her son to access the Pasha's soul-harvesting power.”
“She's sending her son out to avenge her husband,” Brahma said. “It makes perfect sense; that's what mothers do.”
“That's what mothers do?” I asked in horror. “Not this mother.”
“Well, in times of war, it happens,” Thor said as he exchanged a grim look with Brahma. “When the head of the household is killed, the oldest son avenges him. It's about honor.”
“And they make the perfect team,” Sarasvati said. “Katila captures the souls and then takes them to his mother to destroy; like a tribute.”
We all stared at her.
“I didn't mean to imply that I approved,” Sara huffed. “Just that I saw its potential.”
“Brevyn's vision showed me an empty Hell,” I said softly. “All the Demons were dead, and Dhumorna was walking with Katila toward Luke's home. I think they mean to take over.”
Azrael scowled. “If they killed all of my father's demons, it would only make him stronger,” he said. “I don't see how they could kill him and take his territory.”
“I don't know.” I shook my head. “Maybe we should ask Luke.”
“I'll text him; I need to tell him about this anyway.” Azrael pulled out his phone and started typing. After a few seconds, Luke responded, and they texted back and forth rapidly for awhile before Az looked up and said, “Dad said that normally, when one of his demons dies, their magic returns to him, but when Mark and Alan died, he received nothing. Their bond was severed and their magic was lost.”
“Lost?” Odin scowled. “I suppose it could be grounded. What a waste.”
“But even if all his demons died like that,” Azrael continued, “Dad would still have his own power and the constant sacrifices that reinforce it. He can't see how anyone could conquer Hell with him in control. But he's grateful for the lead and he's going to send his demons out looking for Dhumorna and Katila.”
“No!” I shrieked along with Brahma and Sara.
Everyone looked at us in shock.
“You can't send demons after a demon slayer,” I explained. “Text him back, Az, and tell him we'll find them for him.”
“I'll have better luck than the Demons anyway,” Brahma added. “Those two are in my pantheon; just ask him to give me some time to locate them.”
“Yeah; okay,” Az said as he texted.
Yes; this was important, and Az should have been speaking directly to his father, but text worked better through the Inter Realm lines. Phone calls ran the risk of getting garbled.
The phone beeped and Az frowned as he read the message. A quickfire text-session ensued until Azrael finally put the phone down and sighed.
“He's agreed to give us two weeks,” Azrael said. “He says that's about how long we have before demons will start being pulled into possessions.”
“No problem,” Brahma said cockily. “I'll find them long before that.”
I groaned internally. In my experience, words like those tended to give birth to the exact opposite of what they declared. I had a feeling that Brahma had just screwed us.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Two days later, Brahma still hadn't found Dhumorna and Katila. We were
