Chapter Thirty-One

In the morning, chaos descended.

“Lesya, do not poke your brother with your fork,” I said.

“Im not.” Lesya innocently stabbed a piece of pancake instead of Vero. Then, when she thought I wasnt looking, stuck her tongue out at him.

“I saw that!” I pointed my fork at her.

Lesya pouted.

“Sebastian!” Azrael put his hands on his hips and glared at our son, who was circling the ceiling. “Dont make me come up there.”

Sebastians twin, Dominic, was sitting on his big boy chair, eating his pancakes nicely, ignoring his brother.

I was glad that Sebastian and Dominic hadnt matured as quickly as their siblings. I really was. It gave me more time with them as children. But the price for that was times like these.

Someone meowed. I looked down with a smile. Nicholas, my immortal tabby cat, was rubbing his silky, gray body against my legs.

“Hey, you. Did you have breakfast?” I scratched him behind the ear.

He plopped on the floor, pressed against me, and started to purr. Nick had an automatic feeder now, set on a timer, which made my day a lot easier. But I liked to give him some wet food to supplement the dry. It was healthier for him. Plus, if I didnt, he started hunting little creatures in the grasslands and leaving parts of them for me to find. I got up to open a can of cat food. Yup, he had me trained.

As I set Nicks bowl down in the kitchenette, Azraels phone chimed.

“Son of a . . .” Az trailed off as he pulled out his phone.

“Do you want more pancakes, Dom?” Vero, who was younger than Dominic but more mature thanks to his Froekn magic, offered.

“Yes, please,” Dominic said.

“Oh, my sweet boys,” I said as I went back to my seat. I paused to kiss Dominics cheek, then Veros.

“What about me?” Sebastian finally landed and hurried over to me, his green eyes wide and midnight wings dragging on the floor behind him.

“Lift your wings, honey.” I picked Sebastian up and set him on a chair beside Dominic. “Now show me what a good boy you are and eat your breakfast.”

“Yes, I think waiting for more children is a good idea,” Odin mumbled.

I snorted at him. Then I noticed Azrael. “Az?”

“The Pasha is missing,” Azrael said.

“The Pasha?” Viper asked.

A chill ran down my spine. Of all things for the trickster to take, that was up there with the worst of them. Higher than the Ark.

“Its a god weapon,” Trevor said. “Well, it wasnt made to be a weapon. But then its owner died and passed it on to his son. Katila used it to consume god souls.”

“Demon souls,” I whispered. “Katila.”

That was a name I hadnt thought of in a while. Katila was a god who had been born without magic. Or so everyone thought. But everyone was wrong. Katila did have magic—the power of Invisibility. Not invisibility in the way that Gods could glamour themselves to be invisible. Katila could be standing right next to you, and you would simply not notice him. It would be more apt to call it Unnoticeable Magic. He was so unnoticeable that he was practically a ghost. Katila didnt even—

“Oh my gosh!” I exclaimed as the thought trailed off in my mind.

“What is it?” Odin asked.

“Katila had no scent. He had a non-scent,” I said.

“Vervain, Katilas dead,” Trevor said. “You . . .” He looked at the kids and winced. “You made sure of that.”

Trevor didnt have to say it. I could never forget the way I had pulled Katilas heart out of his chest and then ate it like an apple. Yes, Katila was very dead. Thank all that was good for that. He had been nuts. Absolutely bonkers. And not in the good, Alice in Wonderland way. Katilas goal was to kill all the Demons by consuming their souls and then he would have used that combined power to overthrow Lucifer. And Katilas craziness involved me as well. He thought I was going to be his queen.

“I know hes dead,” I said. “But if someone has the Pasha, maybe they . . .” I trailed off.

“Will someone finish a sentence, please?” Viper growled.

Lesya laughed.

Viper made a funny face at her, and she laughed harder.

“Sorry. I just realized that the Pasha has to be used on the living.” I looked from Az to Odin. “Right? It couldnt take magic from a soul in the Void.”

Odin frowned. “No. The magic doesnt go with us into the Void, remember?”

“Right. I had to give you the Spear for you to reconnect with your magic.”

“Well, that was only because I left most of my magic in the spear to protect you. Otherwise, it would have dissipated.”

“But when I brought Toby back, his magic returned.”

“Because of the spell, Vervain. Human belief. My magic returned to me immediately, but only what that belief could give me. Most of it was locked in Gungnir.”

“Right. Sorry.” I frowned and shook my head. “Its been a long time. Or maybe there are remnants of that Confusion Magic hanging out in my head.”

“You dont need magic to make this confusing,” Viper said. “I have no idea whats going on.”

“Were talking about how I brought Odin back from the Void,” I explained. “There were issues with the body we used. Its memories started taking over because most of Odins magic had been left in his spear. I had to reunite him with his spear to return the magic to him. Once he had his magic back, his soul was strong enough to claim the body.”

“Uh-huh,” Viper said.

“But all of that is irrelevant,” Arach said. “Katila is dead, and he didnt put his magic into the Pasha.”

“Even if he had, only he would be able to retrieve his magic,” Odin added. “There is no way for another god to get Katilas magic.”

“Unless theyre like me and have a way of taking god magic,” I said. “Katila found a way to be like me. By using the Pasha.”

“Katila was a special case,” Odin said. “It was a combination of things that allowed him to use the Pasha like that—his magic, his relationship to the Pashas previous owner, and the way Demons possess humans. Your average god couldnt pick up the Pasha and drain another gods magic with it.”

“You can drain a gods magic?” Vero asked.

Several pairs of little eyes turned toward Odin.

“Yeah, definitely wait on being a parent again,” Viper whispered to him.

Odin grimaced at Viper before answering Vero, “No, you cant. Your mother is special.”

“We dont know why they took the Pasha,” Azrael said. “Thats why we need to get to Makhon and investigate.”

“Wait. Makhon?” I asked. “Who had the Pasha?”

“Samael,” Azrael said. “He took it after the, uh, incident.” He glanced at the kids.

The incident where we had killed Katila and his mommy, the Demon Slayer.

“Oh,” I said. “Huh. I must have been distracted.”

“No kidding,” Re drawled.

Right. Re hadnt been thrilled to watch me eat a heart. Az had given him a hard time over that, told him it was my nature and to deal with it. But that was when Re was new to the family.

“Ill see if Samantha can sit with the kids while they finish breakfast,” I said.

“Yay!” Lesya shouted. “Maybe Zariel will want some pancakes. Can I go ask her?”

“Yes, all right.” I waved at the door.

Lesya darted past me, her dark hair streaming behind her.

I looked up and met Kirills gaze. He grinned. I grinned back. Even the bad days were wonderful with the children.

“Theres something else,” Azrael said. “They covered their trail with bleach.”