“Head,” I corrected. “Don't let it go to your head.”
“I said exactly what I meant,” he insisted. “Don't get distracted by your emotions, A Thaisce. This is the time for cool calculation.”
“Then I had better get all of that emotion out of my system now. I love you, Dragon. You are fire and life and all that makes me happy.”
Arach's somber visage softened into an adoring smile. It was the last thing I saw before my ring took me back to Aaru.
Chapter Fifty-One
I reformed to the sound of revelry. Right; the celebration was still going strong. And I had just invited Sin to live with me.
“Okay, don't freak out,” I muttered to myself as I strode through the partying lions, wolves, and gods. “Keep calm. Don't kill him. Hear him out.”
“Vervain?” Fenrir stopped me. “Are you okay, Little Frami?”
“Dad! I think—” I caught myself before I blabbed it like a five-year-old. Fenrir would do exactly as I'd been counseling myself not to, except he'd do it worse. I couldn't tell him about Sin.
“Yes?” Fenrir frowned.
“I think... I lost Trevor. Have you seen him?” I blinked innocently.
Fenrir scowled deeper but pointed to his right. “He's over by the fire with your other husbands and that snake boy.”
“Dad,” I grumbled, “please don't call Viper a snake boy.”
Fenrir shrugged. “He shouldn't be ashamed of what he is.”
“I made him what he is,” I reminded Fenrir. “And I'm not ashamed but that title sounds patronizing.”
Fenrir sighed dramatically. “Very well, I won't call him a snake boy.”
“Thank you.” I started heading toward the fire pit my men had gathered around.
“I'll go with 'snake man,' although he himself says that he's a baby.”
I rolled my eyes and kept walking. This was not the time to get into a discussion with Fenrir about age versus maturity.
“There you are,” the snake man said as I stepped into the firelight. Viper pulled me in beside him and kissed my cheek. Then he frowned. “When did you change your clothes?”
“I just returned from Faerie,” I explained. “I went back with Arach.”
“Oh.” Viper blinked his bright eyes at me. “I'm never going to get used to that.”
“You'll be surprised what you can get used to,” I muttered. “What can become so commonplace that you don't notice when it betrays you.”
“Vervain?” Odin asked in concern.
“I've had some startling revelations,” I admitted as I glanced around the party, looking for Sin. “I think Sin may have been playing me.”
“Playing you?” Azrael asked. “In what way?”
“In every way,” I growled. “I don't think he was ever on my side.”
“But Sin helped us, and he's proved himself. We saw Marduk torturing him,” Az protested.
“It's not as if spies haven't taken a beating for the team before,” Trevor murmured.
“But he didn't even do that,” I grumbled. “At least, I don't think he did. I think Sin used his illusion magic to make us believe that he was being tortured. When I rescued him, the chains didn't come with us; he arrived unbound and unharmed.”
“That's right; I remember commenting on his lack of injuries,” Trevor exclaimed.
“He said he was a fast healer,” Azrael added. “But now that I think about it; he's not. Remember when I picked him up from Moonshine? The time when Marduk had taken Ninkasi? Sin was wounded then; I remember him bleeding.”
“Why would Sin trick us like that?” Odin asked reasonably. “What did he have to gain?”
“I think Marduk gave Sin my moon magic,” I said. “I remember him being stronger after I lost everything. And when Marduk gave me my magic back, I felt it taken away from someone else. Someone not Marduk.”
“That doesn't mean it came from Sin,” Re pointed out.
“No, but who else would be able to hold moon magic?” I countered. “When I first started taking magic, Thor was worried about me taking too much. Gods can't go collecting magic like I can. Power, maybe, but not magic. Even I'm limited to three. I think Marduk intended to give Ishtar my lion magic as well as Love. That's how he planned to take my territory, but the Moon had to go to someone else. So who would he give it to? Are there any other moon gods in the Mesopotamian Pantheon?”
The men looked at each other and grimaced. We'd all been researching the Mesopotamians before the war, but I hadn't done as much digging as the men. I knew some general things about all of them and some particular things about a few of them, but I didn't know if there were other moon gods.
“No,” Odin finally said. “As it is with most pantheons, there's only one moon god in the Mesopotamian pantheon. There's only Sin.”
“I suspected as much,” I murmured.
“But is zat enough for Sin to betray you?” Kirill asked. “More magic? And if so, vhy help us kill Marduk?”
“I don't know. Perhaps he didn't expect us to win. If Marduk took my magic again, he'd have to give it back to Sin.” I shrugged helplessly. “I've been going over it in my head again and again. The way Marduk was so shocked that we attacked him, how he looked confused when I accused him of breaking his vow by attacking Sin, and the way he kept calling me a traitor. His last words condemned me for betraying our oath; he obviously believed it to be true.”
“Those are damning pieces of evidence,” Re agreed. “But are you certain, La-la? This man protected you when we could not. We owe Sin a massive debt, and I'd hate to accuse him if we're not absolutely sure of his betrayal.”
“There's one last thing. The night before the battle when I lost my destiny, Sin gave me some advice.”
“Advice?” Trevor scowled.
“He said he knew Marduk's weakness,” I confessed.
“You didn't tell us about that,” Odin said in a slightly wounded tone.
“Sin didn't want
