“He needed this,” Holly said as she came to stand next to me and Az.
The rest of the God Squad, my Intare, and my lovers were strewn about the mansion; having a grand time with the denizens of Hell. Except for Lesya and Zariel, that is; they were upstairs in Azrael's old bedroom asleep. The little lion girls had been worn out by all the excitement very early on.
I was tired as well; I'd had my fun already and it was giving me a bit of indigestion. I should have stopped at one heart. Why, oh, why did I let Lilith peer-pressure me into eating the second one? Damn her and her enticing ways. Without going full dragon, I didn't have the right equipment to properly process my snacks. In fact, I had been contemplating taking a flight around Hell to settle my stomach, when Holly had walked up.
“He needed to puke on a carpet?” I teased her.
“I don't think I've ever seen Dad drunk.” Azrael was staring at his father as if he thought we might still have a possession problem.
“Luke's been out of his mind with worry,” Holly said. “He needed to let it all go. Purge.” She waved her hand at her puking husband. “But he's going to be so upset in the morning.” She giggled. “Especially when I tell him that he's the one who stained the rug.”
“He can just make a new one,” I said.
“Most of these things are actual items that we've brought in from the Human Realm,” Holly explained. “That rug is priceless.”
“Oh,” I whispered in horror as I watched Luke stumble up to his feet and start laughing with Cid.
The men wandered off, and the next demon who walked by got puke on his shoes.
“Damn it!” The demon swore. “Who hurled on Satan's rug? He's going to be wicked pissed.”
“That is Satan-puke, my friend,” another demon called over.
“Beware the Devil's bile!” The first demon called out as he shook his foot. “Anyone got a mop?”
I chortled it up with Holly. Luke was definitely going to be pissed. It's so much worse when you have no one to blame but yourself and your best friend.
“Damn, Azrael!” Carmax, Warden of Ice Block 2, exclaimed as he walked up. “I had no idea your wife was so hot.”
“We've met before, Carmax,” I reminded him.
“Not like this, we haven't.” Carmax ogled me.
I had remained in my dragon half-form for the party. Azrael and I had hurried home, informed everyone that both Katila and his mother were dead, asked one of them to contact Luke and give him the good news, and then raced upstairs to have wild, dragon-angel sex. After all the screaming and clawing were done, we'd come down to hear that Satan was having a rager. We gathered the Squad and traced straight over.
“She's a dragon-sidhe, Carmax,” Azrael said proudly.
“Yeah; I know,” Carmax said as he looked me up and down. “But I didn't know she could look like this.”
“This is her half-form,” Azrael said.
“You're a lucky man,” Carmax said with a sigh.
“I know.” Azrael beamed and puffed out his chest.
“Thank you, both,” I said. “But I think I need to shift into my full dragon form and go for a flight. My tummy's a little upset.”
“Really?” Carmax asked eagerly. “You know, Salem's outside; he'll probably want to go along.”
“Dragons flying in the sky of Hell,” Lilith said wistfully as she and her husband joined us. “I would love to see that.”
“If we can find Odin, we can have a dread of dragons,” I said.
“I'll get him,” Azrael offered. “We'll meet you out front.”
“Odin is a dragon?” Lilith asked as Az disappeared in the crowd.
“He's a shifter,” I explained. “He can take any form.”
“Hmm.” Lilith's expression went lascivious and thoughtful. “That could be fun.”
Samael lifted a brow at his wife.
“For her, of course.” Lilith smirked.
I made my way through the horde; Lilith following me and announcing to everyone that Hell was about to have its first dragon parade. By the time we reached the front door, nearly all the demons were with us. Not only did Azrael show up with Odin, but also with all of the God Squad and Lucifer too.
“You're gracing us with your dragon?” Luke asked with only a little slurring.
“Yeah; you wanna come?” I shot back.
Luke hooted. “We're flying with dragons tonight, my friends!”
The Demons cheered and a sound like thunder rolled across Hell as every last one of them spread their leathery wings simultaneously. Odin made his way over to me, and I shifted from my half-form to full dragon. He gave me a wink and ducked behind my haunches to undress. I glanced over my dragon shoulder to admire his Viking body before he shifted into a shimmering, peacock-colored version of me. Odin may not have been a real dragon, but it was close enough for me. And for Salem.
The green dragon who guarded Hell roared in delight as he tromped over to us.
“Hey, Vervain!” Salem shouted. “I heard we're going flying.”
“Well, I figured that I've flown around Faerie with you; it's about time that you showed me around Hell,” I said.
“Yay!” Salem bounced on his back legs. “You wanna come, Holly? You can ride on my shoulders.”
“I would love to,” the Holy Spirit said demurely.
My lovers divided themselves between Odin and me, and the rest of the wingless gods and lions found demons strong enough to carry them. No one was being left behind on such a momentous occasion. Even Samael
