Blessed Death Read online

  “Azrael,” I whispered, “take Lesya, please.”

  Azrael chuckled as he scooped Lesya out of Odin's arms. “Come here, little lion-girl,” he said. “Mommy and Uncle need some alone time.”

  “Do we?” Odin's eyes began to sparkle.

  “Well, I don't usually sleep with strange men I've just met,” I continued with the Gaga drawl. “But for you, handsome, I'll make an exception.”

  “It is a big difference, isn't it?” Odin asked in concern.

  “It is,” I said as I slid into his arms. “And I like it. You look like a Calvin Klein model, except with more muscles”—I ran my hands appreciatively over his huge biceps—“and ten times more attractive.”

  I pulled his face down to mine and gloried in the tickle-free kiss. Odin wrapped his arms around me and lifted me off my feet with a growl. I hooked my legs around his waist and deepened our kiss.

  “Mommy likes pretty Uncle,” Lesya said.

  And that's why the window was gone.

  “Yes, she does,” Azrael said. “Now, what shall we have for breakfast?”

  “Creole!” Lesya declared as Odin carried me toward his tower bedroom.

  “It's pronounced; cereal,” Azrael patiently corrected her.

  “That's what I said,” Lesya growled menacingly.

  “Fuck the bedroom,” Odin muttered as he shifted direction. “I'm taking you to Asgard. I have a feeling that my new face will take hours for you to adjust to.”

  “And I have a feeling that I need you to rub that smooth face against,” I whispered in his ear, “and it's right between my legs.”

  Odin started to run.

  Chapter Three

  I cried out as Odin's talented tongue and chiseled chin brought me to another climax. As he rolled that smooth face between my thighs, his magic produced the sensation of several hands kneading my flesh, several mouths sucking on my skin, and one, hard phallus surging into me. Odin was like an entire bed full of lovers rolled into one man. I trembled into ecstasy, and Odin lifted up to replace a member made of magic with his physical one. My orgasm multiplied as Odin grabbed my knees and pushed them up to my ears. I looked down the planes of his wide chest, to the clenching muscles of his tapered waist, and then to that perfect piece of flesh pounding into me.

  “Clench yourself around me again,” Odin moaned into my ear.

  “I got you, baby.” I did as he asked.

  “Yes; you do,” Odin groaned as he surged into me.

  I was about to get really nasty when the door opened and Re strode in. He took one look at us and started to smile; then he glanced again at Odin.

  “Get off my woman, you filthy Viking!” Re roared as he slammed into Odin.

  The men rolled across the floor as Re started to glow with Sun magic. I screamed for them to stop, and finally climbed on Re's back and tried to pry him off Odin.

  “Re, it's Odin!” I screamed.

  “What?” Re froze and stared at Odin. “Holy fuck, man; you look like a... a...”

  “Yes?” Odin lifted a dark brow as he pushed the shocked Re off his chest.

  “You're too fucking pretty!” Re snarled angrily as he stood and waved a hand at Odin's face. “This is bullshit! You need to grow that damn beard back right now. I'm the most handsome of Vervain's men; not you. Trevor is the Alpha, Kirill is the sensitive one, Azrael is the bad-ass angel, Arach is the fire-breathing dragon, you're the smart one, and I am the gloriously gorgeous one. That's how it works!”

  “What's Toby?” Odin asked as he went to fetch robes for us.

  “What?” Re scowled.

  “You forgot Toby,” Odin said. “So, which one is he?”

  “Um,” Re fumbled, “the stoic one.”

  “I think Kirill could be the stoic one,” I mused as I slipped into my robe.

  “And the pretty one.” Odin chuckled.

  “No!” Re pointed angrily at us. “I am the pretty one! Now, put that beard back on, Odin.”

  “Re, relax.” I went over to hug him. “You're still the fairest of them all.”

  “I am?” He asked anxiously.

  “You have gold skin, honey; that's hard to beat,” I assured him.

  Re hugged me tightly in relief. I looked at Odin over Re's shoulder and mouthed the words, “He's not.” Odin's body shook with repressed laughter.

  “Now, why are you here?” I asked as I pulled away from Re.

  “What?” Re's golden eyes widened.

  “Why did you just interrupt an intimate moment between my wife and me?” Odin growled.

  “Oh!” Re exclaimed. “I forgot. Yes... uh... we have a problem.”

  “Yeah; a big, golden, pretty one,” Odin drawled.

  Re grimaced. “This is serious, Allfather... ugh, I can't even call you that anymore; it's ridiculous to say it to that boyish face.”

  “Re,” I urged.

  “Dvārakā,” Re blurted.

  “What?” I frowned in confusion.

  “What about Dvārakā?” Odin narrowed his stare at Re.

  “Someone is trying to raise it!” Re declared.

  “What is Dvārakā?” I asked.

  “An ancient Hindu city,” Odin said pensively. “Krishna wanted to share some of our technological advances with the humans. He created Dvārakā to do so.”

  “And it failed horribly.” Re rolled his eyes. “He ended up sinking it.”

  “Why?” I asked.

  “The humans did what humans always do with power,” Odin said sadly. “They abused it.”

  “And now, someone wants to give it back,” Re set a grim stare on us both.

  Chapter Four

  “How did you find out about this?” Odin asked after we had dressed and taken the conversation down to the main hall of Valaskjalf.

  “Sekhmet,” Re said with a glance my way. “She's living in Dwarka.”

  “I thought you just said that it was a sunken city?” I asked.

  “Dvārakā—with a V and an extra A—is below water,” Odin explained. “The modern city of Dwarka—with a W—was built on the nearby shore.”

  “Well, that's not at all confusing.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Most people refer to them both as Dwarka,” Odin said. “But those of us who have actually walked among the magnificence of Dvārakā will always call it by its true name. It was an amazing accomplishment; the fact that Krishna built it in the Human Realm made it even more impressive. Gods of all pantheons flocked to see the city of gold, silver, and jewels.”

  “Okay.” I sighed deeply. “So, Sekhmet is living in the new city of Dwarka—not submerged—and has provided information about the old city of Dvārakā—submerged but possibly rising—and we are supposed to do what exactly?”

  “Stop it from rising, of course,” Re exclaimed, and then looked confused. “Isn't that what you Squidders do?”

  “Squadders,” I corrected. “The God Squad; which you are a member of, Re.”

  “Yes, La-la, whatever you say,” Re said in a patronizing tone.

  “I'm going to kick your golden ass if you don't watch yourself,” I growled.

  “Watch myself do what?” Re looked intrigued.

  “You're such a pervert.” I sighed again. “I have no idea why I love you.”

  “That makes two of us,” Odin muttered.

  “Hey! Mind your manners, young man,” Re snapped at Odin.

  We all stared at each other in shock before bursting into laughter.

  “I suppose we should gather the others,” Odin said. “Do you have any more information for us, Re?”

  “No, but Sekhmet does,” Re said. “I thought it best if we all went to hear it together.”

  “Then we'll ask everyone to meet us there,” I said. “Where is 'there' exactly?”

  Chapter Five

  Re took Odin and I to Sekhmet's home, which was actually on the island of Bet Dwarka; about nineteen miles from the coast of Dwarka. Oh, so many Dwarkas. After we arrived, Re texted everyone a picture of Se
khmet's home so that they could use the image to trace there.

  “Why haven't I thought of that?” I grumbled as I watched Re send the message. “All this time, we could have been sending pictures instead of tracing in big, prayer circles.”

  “The only reason I bought this phone was to text you.” Re waved his cell phone at me. “So, you're partially responsible for me figuring this out.”

  “You've taken well to human technology,” Odin noted as we followed Re to the front door.

  “It's not as if it's hard to understand after working with Atlantean technology,” Re said.

  “I've never thought of it like that.” Odin's expression lightened. “Perhaps I'll buy a computer.”

  “You don't need a computer,” I huffed. “You have Santa TV.”

  “Santa TV has its restrictions,” Odin said and then groaned. “Damn it all; now you've got me calling Hlidskjalf that ridiculous name.”

  “I slip into your brain slowly,” I said as I fluttered my fingertips together deviously. “You don't even known I'm there and then; blammo!” I blasted my hands apart. “You say something in Vervain vernacular... Vervaincular.”

  “Oh, yay,” Odin said dryly, “another new word.”

  “I love it!” Persephone declared as she walked over to us. She gave me a big hug. “Hey, girl. We brought Hades' daughter with us; I hope you don't mind.”

  “Hades has a daughter?” I asked in shock.

  “From a brief liaison pre-Persephone,” Hades explained as he walked up with a stunning brunette. He waved to the woman and said, “This is my daughter, Macaria; Goddess of Blessed Death. Mac, this is Vervain, Godhunter; and a whole list of other things.”

  “Hey,” Macaria—aka Mac—said as she reached out to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you. Dad has told me a lot about you.”

  Macaria's eyes matched her hair; a nice, normal brown—so she didn't take after Hades in that respect. She was slim and tall, with porcelain skin and a sassy look to her face that was most-likely due to an eyebrow that seemed to arch higher than its partner.

  “Yeah; nice to meet you too.” I gaped at her. “Sorry; I'm just a bit thrown. I had no idea that you existed.”

  “I get that a lot.” She smirked and shrugged. “I like to keep a low profile.”

  “I feel Death among us,” Azrael intoned dramatically as he walked up with my other husbands (all except for Arach, of course—he was in Faerie with our sons).

  “Yeah; that's you, dude,” Trevor huffed.

  “No; I believe he means me,” Macaria announced as she turned toward the men. “What's up, Death Angel?”

  “Hello,” Az said with a frown. “Do I know you?”

  “Auntie Mac!” Morpheus exclaimed.

  Our other winged member of the God Squad came rushing past Az to hug Macaria.

  Then Morpheus, the Greek God of Dreams, turned to speak to everyone, “This is my Father's sister, Macaria. She's the Goddess of Blessed Death.”

  “She's your aunt?” I looked from Morpheus to Hades questioningly.

  “On her mother's side,” Hades explained. “I had one child with Nyx, but she had many children with Erebus.”

  “Erebus...” I nodded as I recalled meeting Morpheus' grandfather on Olympus. “Okay; I think I get it now.”

  “Oh, you,” Azrael's expression lightened as he continued to stare at Macaria. “I've felt you before.”

  “Excuse me?” I gave Az a horrified look.

  “He means that he's felt my death energy before,” Macaria explained. Then she turned back to Az. “Yeah; I think we crossed paths once in Italy.”

  “The Spring of 1348,” Azrael murmured. “Black Death. You were collecting some Greek souls in Florence.”

  “You remember!” Macaria said as if it were a party they'd both been to. “Yeah; that was me.”

  “I met my wife during an outbreak of the Black Plague as well.” Azrael smiled brightly.

  “What a coinkydink,” Macaria said merrily.

  “Am I only one who zinks zis is veird?” Kirill asked as he eased up beside me.

  I shook my head, but it was Odin who answered, “Nope; not the only one.”

  “Sam is vatching Lesya,” Kirill whispered to me before he kissed my cheek. “She said to take our time; zey're going on picnic.”

  “Thanks,” I whispered back. “I need to get that woman a muffin basket or something.”

  “Jewelry is better,” Kirill said sagely.

  “Nice to meet you, Brother Death.” Macaria shook Azrael's hand. “Like actually meet instead of passing by each other at work.”

  “Yes; it is nice.” Azrael laughed. “Though I'm retired.”

  “Yeah; Dad told me,” Macaria said. “It's one of the reasons I came along. I don't work a lot these days either, but I remember how restless I was when things first started getting slow, and I thought maybe you might need some pointers.”

  “Az is adjusting really well, actually,” I said proudly.

  Azrael frowned.

  “Aren't you?” I asked. “I thought you were happy?”

  “I am happy, Carus,” Azrael assured me. “But there are moments when I feel...”

  “Lost?” Macaria asked.

  “Yes,” Az whispered. “Lost; without direction.”

  “I didn't know,” I said as I blinked through more shock. “Why didn't you tell me?”

  “There wasn't anything to be done about it.” Azrael shrugged. “It's not as if I want to start collecting souls again. It's just something I need to get over.”

  “This is all very fascinating,” Horus drawled as he walked up with the rest of the Squad. “But could we have this powwow another time? Perhaps when I'm not here.”

  “I think I might be offended by that.” Toby frowned.

  “By the word 'powwow'?” I asked as I looked pointedly at his Native American face.

  “No, by Horus being such a prick,” Toby drawled.

  “Very funny.” Horus rolled his eyes. “He's in the Squad for all of three seconds and he's already insulting me; wonderful.”

  “The guy catches on fast,” Pan said in approval.

  “Be that as it may,” Horus said, “our hostess is waiting on us. It looks as if I'm not the only prick here.”

  Horus raised a hand to indicate that Sekhmet was indeed standing within the doorway of her home; waiting for us to notice her. Re had already gone inside; no doubt bored with our conversation. If Re didn't want to be somewhere, he just left. Sometimes I wished I could follow his example.

  “Please come in.” Sekhmet waved us in.

  “Before we go in, could we just talk about this?” Finn waved his hand toward Odin. “Is that Odin, or has Vervain acquired yet another boyfriend?”

  “When Thor shaved, no one said a damn thing,” Odin muttered. “Why am I getting so much flack over this?”

  “Because Thor didn't transform into another man when he shaved,” Pan said. “You look like Thor's younger brother.”

  “His younger, hotter brother,” Artemis murmured under her breath.

  Torrent grimaced at his girlfriend.

  “What?” Artemis shrugged. “He's hot; who knew? Be confident enough in your own attractiveness to let me note it.”

  “I knew,” I said smugly. “The beard didn't cover all of his attractiveness.”

  “But its removal has revealed some striking features, Odin,” Mrs. E said gently. “It's a very good look; you should stay clean-shaven.”

  “Oh.” Odin cleared his throat. “Thank you.”

  “Told you.” I winked at my husband.

  Chapter Six

  There is a lot of poverty in India. People live in poor conditions in most of the country. But those who happen to be members of the upper crust of society live like royalty. Sekhmet may not have been a goddess anymore, but she was still very high society.

  “Nice palace,” Macaria said what we were all thinking.

  “Thank you,” Sekhmet said as she led us to a large, ai
ry living room where Re was already reclining with a crystal tumbler in his hand. “Help yourselves to a drink.” She waved toward a bar in the corner. “And make yourselves at home.”

  She had made herself at home already; the interior of Sekhmet's house was done in the décor of the region. From sari curtains to carved wood furniture, the place was heavily influenced by India.

  “Why did you choose to live here?” I asked Sekhmet as the others went to see what the hand-carved bar had to offer.

  “This is why.” Sekhmet waved toward the room. “My money goes much further here.”

  “And no one recognizes you,” Macaria added.

  Sekhmet flushed.

  “Mean girl alert,” Torrent whispered.

  “Mac,” Hades growled.

  “What?” Macaria huffed. “It's the truth. You said she was stripped of her magic by her father.”

  I widened my eyes at Hades.

  “Thank you for your discretion, Hades,” Re snarled.

  “My most sincere apologies.” Hades flushed. “I had assumed that my daughter could be trusted.”

  “So did he,” Mac nodded to Re.

  Sekhmet was visibly shaking.

  “That will be enough of that!” I declared in my Mommy voice, and everyone went still. “Sekhmet made a mistake, and she is paying for it; end of story. A story of which you are not a part of, Macaria, and therefore have no right to comment on. Now, we've only just met, so I'm going to cut you some slack this once. But if you make one more nasty comment to anyone here, you will not be welcome back—not in my home, at least.”

  I looked questioningly at the rest of the God Squad, and they all nodded.

  “Nor in any of our homes,” Horus added for the group.

  “This bitch stole your baby,” Macaria huffed at me. “She ain't your friend.”

  “Get her the fuck out of here, Hades,” I growled. “Before I give her title a new meaning.”

  “All right, all right,” Macaria growled. “I was trying to get your back, Godhunter, but I guess I read this sitch wrong. I apologize for offending whoever I just offended.”