Chapter Forty-Five

I didnt forget everything. I remembered what the trickster told me to remember—that he had my best intentions at heart. And to not worry about Katila. Once I remembered that, I remembered the battle, Katila abducting me, and meeting the real trickster. Beyond that, I had nothing. No specifics of our conversation other than his reassurance.

“You said that he was doing this for the humans,” Odin said. Again.

“I know, honey,” I said.

“Shes not absentminded, Odin,” Re said. “Shes been enchanted.”

“Whatever he told you, he didnt want you to remember it,” Trevor said.

“I dont think it was something he told me.” I frowned, a memory tickling my brain. “I think Katila said something the trickster didnt want me to know.”

“Why him?” Azrael asked. “Why work with Katila?”

I shrugged. “Whatever the reason was that he chose Katila, I think hes regretting it now. Why else tell me that hed take care of Katila?”

“Zis is insane,” Kirill said.

I blinked, and a memory surfaced. I was dancing with a man—the trickster. “I remember what he looks like!”

“Hurry!” Odin said, lurching to his feet. “Tell us!”

We were back home, in Pride Palaces dining hall with the Squad, my lions, and all the other gods who had joined us that night. Everyone focused on me. And most of those stares belonged to shifters. No one focuses like a shapeshifter.

“He has a very dark complexion. Full lips. Brown eyes. The lower third of his face was longer than the middle. He—”

“The lower third?” Pan interrupted.

“Im an artist,” I huffed. “I think of the face in three sections—upper, middle, and lower. The lower face is from the base of the nose to the chin. That portion of his face was longer than the others. He had a prominent nose, but his chin was less so.”

“So the lower portion was longer but not as prominent?” Torrent asked as his eyes focused on something in the air before him. “Would you say that his glabella was prominent?”

“Glabella?” Pan asked as if Torr and I had gone mad.

“The rounded surface of the frontal bone between your eyes,” Torrent explained.

“Moderate,” I said. “On the verge of being prominent.”

“And his nose, was it wide?”

“Yes. His hair was curly and black. Tight curls.”

“An afro?” Torrent asked.

“A little more defined, but I guess you could call it that.”

Torrent blinked and focused on me. “I think hes a Nigerian god.”

“Nigerian?” I asked.

“They have long lower faces and less prominent chins. Nigerian would be my first guess.” Torrent grimaced. “Im ninety-nine percent sure.”

“Well, if youre ninety-nine percent sure,” Horus drawled.

“Theres also the fact that the Igbo tribe of Nigeria has a God of Confusion,” Torrent added.

The table went silent.

Odin sat down.

“Well?” Fenrir, back into his real body, which was really big, demanded. “Who is he? Whats this confusing gods name?”

“His name is Ekwensu. Hes a trickster god. The Spirit of Confusion.”

“A trickster,” I said.

“Thats him,” Luke said. “It has to be.”

“And get this,” Torrent added. “Hes known to incite people to violent acts. And hes crafty.”

“That sounds like him,” I said.

“Great. We know who he is,” Anubis said. “But how do we get to him?”

Anubis had once cleansed Torr and me of the Darkness and saved our lives. He knew Torrent had taken me through the Aether and into another territory where wed been infected. So he knew what Torrent was capable of, if not exactly how his magic worked. But there was also Samael and Lilith to consider.

“We can get into Naraka,” Odin said without even glancing at Torrent. “Weve got Death on our side, and Naraka is an underworld.”

“Wed have to go through the soul entrance,” Samael said. “And even then, Im not sure Katilas wards will let us in.”

“Maybe we should wait,” I said.

Everyone looked at me in shock.

“The trickster said hed handle Katila. Shouldnt we give him a chance to? It would save us a lot of trouble.”

“The trickster still has my stone tablets, Vervain,” Jesus said. “Thats not cool.”

“And he has my dagger,” Anubis said.

“No, Katila has your dagger,” I said. “And Im not saying we should give up on finding the trickster. I owe him for stabbing Viper. Just maybe we should let our enemies have at each other first. Theyre probably fighting right now over the trickster freeing me. I mean, doesnt that earn him some points with us? He freed me. Katila had me chained. I paused. Then I went on in revelation, “I was chained with fey manacles.”

Are you sure they were fey? Alaric asked in my mind.

“Al!” I screeched.

“Was she infected by Katilas crazy?” Lilith whispered.

“Im not crazy,” I said to Lilith. “Im just talking to the voice in my head.”

Lilith snorted a laugh.

“Al, were you there?” I asked. “Did you hear what was said to me?”

No. The ward around Naraka is superior to any Ive encountered. I could not penetrate it.

“Damn it,” I muttered. “Then why ask about the chains?”

Because there are other magic-suppressing spells that arent fey and could be used to enchant manacles. If, say, the god knew of such things.

“And Ekwensu seems to have a lot of knowledge,” I said.

Precisely.

“Who cares if he made those chains or not?” Fenrir asked. “Hes been stealing things and playing games with us. He may think hes helping humanity, but hes fucking with gods in the process. I vote we go after them both. Now.”

Several people nodded, many of them were lions.

“I found him!” Torrent shot to his feet.

“What?” I asked in shock.

“I found Ekwensu,” Torrent said.

“We know where he is,” Thor said.

“Hes not in Naraka. Hes in the Human Realm. He must have kicked Katilas butt because hes having a celebratory drink.” Torrent pulled his stare away from whatever he was watching to say, “At a bar in Lexington.”

“Do not say the Wet Whistle,” Austin drawled.

Simultaneously, Torrent said, “Hes at the Wet Whistle!”

“Of course, he is. Where else would he be?” I muttered as I pulled out my phone to text Taran.