“Be thankful for that, Son,” Luke said grimly. “A woman who can make you smile through your tears is a rare gem indeed.”
Azrael smiled softly at me and said, “Indeed, she is.”
Chapter Three
When Luke, Azrael, and I returned to Pride Palace, we found the dining hall alive with animated conversations between the God Squad and some of my Intare. My lions were ready for a fight—as usual—but I hadn't been there to direct their angry energy so they were demanding information from Odin while he tried to calm them down. Luke's demons had fought with the Intare before; as in side-by-side, not against. Once you go to battle with the Pride—especially on behalf of the Pride or me—you become family, and we take care of our family. The Intare wanted justice for Alan and Mark nearly as much as Lucifer did.
“Wow,” Lucifer breathed out the word softly, but he somehow managed to be heard over the cacophony.
The room quieted, and everyone turned to look at him.
“I am overwhelmed,” Luke said as he walked forward. “I did not expect such fury and passion expelled on behalf of my people. Thank you; thank you all for caring about my friends so very much.”
“They've been there for us and our Tima,” Fallon declared; his hazel eyes bright with conviction. “We won't let them down now that they need help.”
“We're extended family,” Aidan added. “Our heart is married to their prince. I think that makes us siblings or cousins or something.”
“Then why do you keep chasing after Gello?” I asked Aidan as I stepped up beside Luke.
“Haven't you ever heard of kissing cousins?” Aidan smirked at me.
“You're right,” Azrael said to the Intare. “We are family, and I'm proud to be able to call such fiercely loyal men my brothers.”
The Intare in the room roared—literally—in approval. A few good words could motivate my lions like nothing else; except maybe barbecue. They really loved barbecue.
“That's fantastic,” Thor said in a tone normally employed by Horus. “But before we release the weapon that is your fierce brothers, we need to find out who to point them at.”
“Did you discover anything useful?” Odin asked with a little more tact than his son.
“We did,” Azrael said. “We have the names and locations of the people Alan and Mark were possessing. I think that's the best place to start.”
“So, where are we going?” Finn asked with a little more Irish lilt than usual; he must have been spending time with his siblings.
“One is in Tuscany; just outside Florence,” I said.
“Tuscany?” Eztli asked with a surprised look at her husband.
Blue shrugged noncommittally. Eztli had once been our enemy, and we'd fought her and her allies at a Tuscan villa. She'd gotten over her craving for the blood of my children when she became the Goddess of the Blood Moon, and now we were cool. Mostly. I glanced at Blue and then quickly away before I blushed.
Eztli would not be so cool if she found out how intimate Blue and I had been recently. We hadn't meant to betray anyone; our romance had happened in one of the alternate timelines that Aion had forced us into. Unfortunately, the memory of those timelines—all three of them—had returned with us. Some of us remembered more than others; as was the case with Odin's memory of our unborn child. Both Blue and I had remembered our affair from the moment we returned to the correct timeline, and more memories were surfacing every day... memories that left me a little breathless and flushed.
I glanced at Blue again and caught his knowing smile. He'd asked me to keep our intimacy a secret, and I had agreed. Confessing would hurt the people we loved—and our relationships with them—over something we'd done when we'd thought we were free to do so and could never take back. Blue had loved Eztli once and lost her. It had taken him years to find her again and a lot of trouble to win her back. Their love was epic; I could see it in the way they looked at each other. I didn't want to harm that happiness, and neither Blue nor I wanted anything more than friendship from each other now. But that didn't stop the memories from making me blush. Blue was an... aggressive lover, and the things we'd done together were not easily forgotten. It was hard for me to look at him and not see him in ways that I shouldn't.
“It's a coincidence,” Blue said to Eztli.
“Yes; of course it is,” she agreed. “But if we need to stay in Tuscany awhile, I'll have a place for us.”
“That could be helpful,” Trevor said as he held a chair out for me. “Thank you, Eztli.”
“My pleasure.” She nodded regally.
I gave my werewolf prince a kiss on the cheek before I took my seat. Kirill was already seated in the chair to my right; looking as if he'd been the only quiet lion in the room. He took my hand and lifted it to his lips for a quick kiss; his deep cerulean eyes focused on me adoringly. It was a look I attributed to the old Kirill; the broken lion who I'd saved from insanity and death. Nowadays, my Russian lion was much stronger and even had moments of acting the alpha. But that look reminded me that broken or whole, Kirill was the same honorable, kind, and loving man that I had fallen in love with.
“Do I have to dominate you to make you forget him?” Re whispered in my ear as he slid into the seat on my left; stealing it from Trevor.
Trevor rolled his eyes and took the seat one down from the Sun God as I
