I grinned at my husband. If Az could find some happiness in this mess, more power to him.
“Come on in.” Azrael waved the men further into the dining hall. “We just started.”
The Horsemen and Michael followed Az to the end of the table where we were sitting; the end closest to the kitchen. It made it faster to grab a drink refill. The guys took seats together on the edge of our group.
“Hey, Luke!” Ted waved at Azrael's father.
“Hello, Thaddeus,” Lucifer said graciously. “Good to see all of you. Thank you for coming. Cid will be excited to hear that you'll be joining us.”
“Our pleasure.” Sam nodded. “Lookin' forward to seeing Cid again too.”
“We were just discussing battle tactics,” Thor got us back on track. “I don't think we should attack Marduk's home en masse. We don't want the humans to see us fighting.”
Tell the Thunderer not to worry about that, Al spoke into my mind. Marduk has moved. He's preparing for war as well.
“Snickerdoodles!” I hissed under my breath.
“I'm sorry, was that a curse or a request?” Sam winked at me.
“We're still trying to curb our cursing,” Az explained for me.
“The question you should be asking is why she cursed,” Thor rumbled and then looked pointedly at me.
I gave Thor a goofy grin.
“Vervain?” Thor scowled.
“Sorry, I'm just so happy to have you here all muscly and stuff.” I leaned over and hugged him.
Thor cleared his throat and drew back. “Thank you. It's good to be here.”
“Anyway, Alaric says that Marduk has moved and he's preparing for war,” I explained my cookie cussing.
A grim silence circled the table.
He's in Saudi Arabia now, the same place where you fought him before, Al went on. He wants you to find him, Vervain. He wants this battle as much as you.
I don't want this battle at all, I protested in my mind. Out loud, I said, “Marduk's at the site of our last battle, waiting for us.”
“That's good,” Odin said eagerly. “It's sandy ground but firm, out of sight of humans, and an open space. Does Al have any other information we can use?”
All of the Mesopotamians are with Marduk. They've built a fortress and stocked it with everything they need, but I don't think they intend to hide within it. They are training even now.
I repeated what Al said and glanced around the table. Everyone looked confident, more confident than I felt. Then I saw Sin. He winked at me, and I felt a tiny bit better. I hadn't told the others about his advice. If he didn't want people to know about him helping me, I wouldn't betray his confidence.
“When can you have those fire weapons delivered, Arach?” Odin asked.
“Our faeries will arrive tonight,” Arach announced. “My ring took me back to an earlier time in Faerie, and we've used that extra time to forge the fire weapons. Before I left, I gave our army orders to travel to the Great Tree tonight and trace here to meet us.”
“What about the boys?” I asked.
“Isleen is staying behind with them,” Arach assured me. “Our sons are safe, A Thaisce.”
“Then we go to war tomorrow,” Trevor declared.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
The number of Gods on that single plain in Saudi Arabia was staggering. Mind-blowing. I stared down the line of our troops feeling a little impressed at our own forces. To my right were the regal Egyptians, the ferocious Froekn, the gleaming Greeks, the terrifying Demons, and five angels who were even more frightening than the Demons. On my left were the stunning Valkyries, my fierce Intare, and the Wild Hunt of Faerie. Woven among all of them were the Ten Tribes of Jinn. Yes, even the Foot-Lickers had come to the war. The morning sun shone on golden armor, sleek fur, and rustling feathers. The howls of wolves and canine Hinn melded with the roars of lions, the yips of Jackals, and the savage, gleeful noises of the Fire Faeries, permeating the air with menace. God hands filled with magic but also clutched Fey weapons that would ignite with a single word.
Across the sand from us, a legion of Mesopotamian Gods faced us with solemn focus. I recognized Enlil—his platinum hair was hard to miss—and Enki, who I'd known well when I was the Dark Star, but most of the other gods were just unknown faces to me. Down from Enki stood his son, Marduk, and his face, in particular, bore an eager expression. Despite our impressive troops, which greatly outnumbered his, Marduk appeared certain of victory; it showed in every angle of his body. Wouldn't he be surprised?
Then a woman stepped up beside Marduk. She wore intricate leather armor that clung to her generous curves, but her nutmeg hair streamed down behind her unbound. I shook my head at that; it was just asking for trouble. You always put your hair up before battle. I preferred to braid mine around my head like a crown—it made for less of a handhold—but even a long braid would have been better than leaving all of that hair loose. Even if an enemy didn't grab it, it could snag on her armor. Still, it wasn't her hair that had caught my attention. It was the fact that she was riding a lion.
My Intare, already shifted, growled and paced like caged beasts, eyeing the animal. And that's all it was; an animal, not a shifter. This goddess had called a wild lion to her to be her mount. I made a mental note to try my best not to hurt it.
“Father!” the
