“Alright, which one of you dorks did this? Dionysus? Was it you? Very cute.”
He looked up from treating Apollo to more of his healing energy, then creased his forehead. “Don’t look at me. That’s Florian’s doing. He appears to have enjoyed making enormous plants a little too much. Speaking of which.”
Dionysus freed one hand from Apollo’s skin, eliciting a complaining groan from the sun god, which he ignored. He motioned with his fingers and slashed a hand through the air. All at once the gargantuan flytraps and pitcher plants dotting the landscape folded in on themselves, twisting back into hiding beneath the earth. That left just the single rose.
“Nice touch,” I told Florian, patting him on the back.
He rubbed his cheek sheepishly. “You think so? When you killed Beelzebub, she started drifting down from that black lightning stuff. I figured I should try and catch her with something nice and soft. I guess it works as a bed, too. Poor lady needs a nap.”
I laughed. “Dionysus is right. Look at you, showing off now that you know all about giant flowers.” I kept laughing, confused when I felt a tear spilling down my face. I wiped a hand under my eye, laughing still. It felt so good to laugh. It felt so good to be perfectly happy again, without fear. Mom was safe, and that was all that mattered. “Thanks again, buddy. I agree, she needs a little rest. But I kind of want to go over and say ‘Hi.’”
Samyaza pushed himself up from the ground, grunting. “I’ll come with. Josie probably won’t be too happy to see me, but I at least owe her an explanation.”
“I’m sure she’ll appreciate that.”
“You saved her, kid.” Samyaza placed an arm across my shoulders, which I realized was him needing a little physical support more than him trying to give me a reassuring hug. “She’ll appreciate that most of all.”
I walked him over to the rose, being sure to be careful because of his limp. I frowned. “Are you sure you should even be walking?”
He straightened his posture, frowning. “Of course I’m sure. Just a twisted ankle from the fall. I’ll heal up in no time. Speaking of fall, though – nothing left of Beelzebub, huh? You did a number on him. Raziel says that trick you pulled even blew up the hellmouth.”
I looked over to the volcano. Physically, it was unchanged, but if Raziel said that the gate had been destroyed, well, then that was just a bonus, wasn’t it?
Samyaza grunted softly as he settled onto the rose bed, sitting a short distance away from Mom. The petals were cool, fragrant, so inviting that I almost threw myself among them myself. Mom moaned, shifting in her sleep at the disturbance, her lashes fluttering. And then she opened her eyes, looking around herself groggily, her forehead creasing when her gaze finally settled on me.
“Mason?” she croaked. “Is that really you?”
“It is, Mom. It’s me.” I sent out one shaky hand, lightly touching her on the arm. In my head I repeated the same question. I couldn’t believe it was really her. After all this time, here she was at last. We were reunited.
She brushed the tips of her fingers against my cheek, smiling, her eyes going damp. “I can’t believe it. My baby boy. Look how much you’ve grown.”
The tears started coming. I wiped my fist against my right eye, laughing softly. “I haven’t grown that much, Mom.”
She groaned as she pushed herself up. I helped her ease herself into a sitting position, and she frowned as she studied my torso.
“Well, certainly grown enough to get yourself inked. When did you get all these tattoos? There are so many of them, Mace. We need to talk about this.”
I laughed. “I didn’t have much of a choice. I’ll explain later. We’ve got lots to talk about.”
She blinked hard, noticing the canopy of feathers still draped across my back. “I can’t believe I noticed the tats before I noticed the wings. I’m still dreaming, aren’t I? Tell me I’m not dreaming. I don’t want to go back to – back to that place.”
I looked over my shoulders, two spots on my back going warm as I remembered to dismiss my wings.
“You’re okay, Mom. You’re safe now, right here with me.”
I bent in to give her a hug. She returned the embrace as tightly as she could. She felt so frail in my arms, but we’d have time to recover together. I was going to feed her so many pancakes.
She pulled back, wiping away a tear on her cheek, then looking around herself. “Wow. This isn’t Humpuck, is it?”
“It’s, uh, it’s Nicaragua, actually.”
“Okay, yeah. We’ve got a lot to talk about, for sure. You’ll need to explain a whole lot of this to me.” She gestured at Samyaza, waving up and down his body. “Including why this guy who looks like someone I slept with decades ago is sitting here staring at me like an idiot.”
Sam ran a hand through his hair, smiling sheepishly. “It’s me, Josie. It’s Sam. Same guy, same idiot.”
Mom curled her fingers in front of her, unsure whether to laugh or to grit her teeth in frustration. “How is this possible? I got caught by some devil person, and it turns out my kid’s an angel? Wait. Was I knocked up by an angel? Sam, is that what you were all along? Oh. Oh God.” She pushed her hands up against her forehead. “This is a lot to process.”
“Give it time,” I said, helping her up off the bed. “Let’s head home, and you can rest up there. There’s plenty for you to process, but maybe after you’ve had lots of food and sleep.”
Samyaza helped her stand as best
