“Thank you.” I cleared my throat as my men made rumbling sounds. “But I think I'll stay as far away from that Tablet as I can get.”
Iblis chuckled. “That is probably for the best. Goodbye, Dragon Queen. It has been an honor to fight beside you. Or beneath you, rather.” He winked at me.
“Goodbye, King Iblis.” I ignored his innuendos. “Thank you, all of you, for saving my big dragon butt.”
Iblis laughed again—his boisterous, booming laugh—and its echo lingered as he and the other Jinn disappeared.
Zimri-dagan was the last to leave. He hugged me goodbye first. “You know the way to my home. Please feel free to visit me, Vervain. You'll always be welcome in Jinn Territory.”
“Thank you, Zimri-dagan.” I kissed his cheek. “You're welcome here as well. The chant is the same as it was.”
As I was pulling away, he snatched my arm and leaned forward to whisper in my ear, “Go over this battle in your mind carefully, Vervain. All is not as it seems.”
“What?” I pulled back to look at him, but Zimri-dagan was already gone.
Chapter Forty-Six
Our losses weren't as great as I'd thought. In fact, there were none. That's right; zero, nada. Nothing, not a single god or demigod on our side died. The Jinn had protected our troops, diminishing the blows dealt them. In their spirit forms, Jinn can travel very quickly and even though they can't be hurt while incorporeal, they can still affect the physical world. The Jinn had put themselves between our people and everything that Marduk had thrown at them; taking the brunt of the attacks like living shields then going on to cause some damage themselves. They didn't have time to stop and free the gods who ended up trapped beneath things—like Pan—but at least they protected them from fatal injuries. Gods are hard to kill, to begin with but with Jinn intersession, we were practically invincible. We just hadn't known it until gods started comparing battle stories and realized that they'd all had the strange experience of magic glancing off them or blows cushioned by unseen forces. Add enough of those together and you come up with Jinn. I was going to pay Zimri-dagan a visit sooner than expected; I needed to thank him and his people again.
I didn't have the energy to rebuild my territory right away so we headed back to Aaru for our victory celebration. I would have liked to have invited the Jinn, but they had left too quickly. Something told me that they knew they would have been welcome, but it was more important for them to get the Tablet of Destinies into their territory and secure it. I didn't blame them in the least. In fact, I was grateful for that as well as everything else they'd done. The Jinn had fulfilled my wish—all aspects of it—even when my star wouldn't, and I'd never forget that. But then Zimri-dagan did say that they were instruments of the forces that guided my life. Perhaps they all worked together; the Jinn, my star, and this unknown power.
For our victory celebration in Aaru, Re erected white tents in the field before his palace and filled them with dining tables and chairs. Fire pits with seating areas were also set around the tents to give our allies several choices of areas to relax. Re's servants started preparing a massive feast, and they were even grateful to receive help from my lions. Especially since the Intare offered to work the grills outside the palace, effectively keeping out of the way of the servants.
The party was appropriate for our success; enormous and fantastic. Aaru came alive with magic, music, and laughter. No one can tell a war story like a god. They tried to one-up each other with their reenactments and poetry, magic sparkling in the night as each warrior relived the battle until it took on even more epic proportions. Jackals wandered among the throng, receiving head pats and handouts of meat as if they were pets. Anubis had even brought the souls of my dead Intare into Aaru to celebrate with us. My lions and I couldn't be happier; our family was safe, whole, and had its home back.
Beneath the glittering stars of the Egyptian Territory, Gods danced to the sound of ancient instruments, drank Duat wine, and roamed the Sun God's lands, pairing off to have victory sex in every secluded spot they could find. My children were asleep so I could fully enjoy myself as well. Re lifted his circular bed to the roof of his palace—it sits on a column that rises through the ceiling—and we had a quick romp up there, delighting in the naughtiness of making love just yards away from our guests while going completely unseen. Well, perhaps not completely; Re's sun rose with his climax and brought out my moon. Together, we glowed bright enough to warrant comments from the gods below.
After we came down, both literally and figuratively, I left Re napping in his bed and headed back to the party. On my way through the first-floor corridor, I passed a dark sitting room. Movement caught my eye, but I would have kept walking if I hadn't also spotted a sheen of silver. I paused and peered into the shadows.
“Sin, is that you?”
“Hey, V,” he said softly.
I went into the room, my eyes adjusting quickly to the darkness. Sin sat near a cold fireplace, hands crossed in his lap and metallic stare set on the pile of wood within the hearth. I took the seat across from him and leaned forward to blow a stream of fire over the logs. They came to crackling life, spreading warmth and light over us like a blanket. Sin sighed and stretched his feet toward the flames.
“Nice trick,” he murmured.
I eyed his somber
