Chapter Forty-Seven

We had just settled Ekwensu in a chair when Katila came storming in.

“Give me back the Pasha!” Katila shouted.

A roomful of gods turned to gape at Katila.

“I thought you were supposed to take care of him?” Horus asked Ekwensu dryly.

“Now who the fuck is that guy?” Ekwensu shot back.

Then a rumbling shook the citadel. Vines shot out of the walls while stone came from below, all of it aimed at Katila. Never attack a god in his territory. The Fey Lands of Earth was the Faerie Gods territory. And, sure enough, Azrael was back in his Faerie God form.

Katilas ghost form didnt care whose territory this was. Plants and rocks went right through him. As did every other attack sent his way. He strode forward, searching the room for Kirill.

“Fuck this!” Ekwensu cried and ran for the door.

Odin grabbed him and shoved him toward the back wall.

“Im not a part of this!”

Maybe he wasnt. Katila barely glanced at Ekwensu and certainly wasnt afraid of the guy. But if this wasnt the trickster, he must have chosen Ekwensus face for a reason. And even though Katila was heading for Kirill unscathed, no one was falling into a daze. Either the trickster wasnt there or Ekwensu was the trickster and a very good actor.

“Finn!” I shouted. “Watch him.”

“Yup.” Finn took a post in front of Ekwensu.

Then I saw the dagger in Katilas hand.

“Anubis!” I shouted.

“I see it,” Anubis raced for Katila.

The blasts of magic stopped. Not because of Anubis, but because of Kirill. Katila had reached his target. He lifted Deaths dagger. Would it hurt Kirill? I wasnt sure. Its main purpose was to take souls, but only human souls. Like the Pasha, it shouldnt work on gods unless that gods soul was in a human body. Then there was the Death magic, but as a death god, Kirill should be immune to it. And it was Death that did that whole numbing and controlling bit.

A gold flash came as Kirill yanked the Pasha off his neck and settled into a fighting stance. It would be soul-stealer against soul-stealer.

Another flash came. The Pasha whipped out. Katilas hand, solid for the attack, jerked to the side from the impact. Kirill drew back. The other gods prepared to blast Katila with magic. But then Katila dove for Kirill. The two of them rolled across the floor. Silver. Gold. Their weapons glinted. Silver. Gold. Kirill snarled. He wound up on the bottom, Katila above him, holding my husband down with his stolen power. Silver.

“Give me the Pasha!” Katila brought the dagger down.

Another snarl came, but it wasnt from Kirill.

Someone bashed into Katila and another roll for supremacy began. Again, Katila wound up on top. Beneath him was Anubis, his head that of a jackal. The Jackal God snapped his powerful jaws at Katila, but Katila didnt hesitate this time. He brought the dagger down.

“Ill fucking kill you!” Gello screamed as the dagger sank into Anubiss chest. In her Demon form, Gello launched herself at Katila. Her claws struck deep in his back, and then she rolled backward, taking him off her husband before tossing Katila into a wall. “Anubis?” She crawled over to Anubis.

I wouldnt worry about Anubis. I focused on Katila, summoning my star. Playtime was over. I was going to burn this motherfucker back to the Void while he was still corporeal. But when the starlight hit, it went straight through him.

“Oh, dont worry, my love,” Katila said to me. “I havent forgotten about you. But Ive decided to take our relationship to the next level. Your husbands will die tonight. And then youll be free to marry me.”

“Go fuck yourself, Katila,” I said. “Because you aint fucking me.” I blasted him again.

All of us did, my husbands especially. Starlight lit up the room again, but this time it was from Viper. Odin sent his spear flying. Kirill sent shards of ice. Re came on the heels of that ice with rays of sunlight hot enough to incinerate. Between the blasts, Trevor dashed in and slashed at Katila with werewolf claws. And Azrael used every element at his disposal.

None of them touched the Ghost God.

But Katila touched them. Deaths dagger shot out and kept stabbing, over and over. I watched the men I loved fall beneath the blade, unable to defend themselves. Katila only made himself tangible for the moment it took to stab someone, then he ghosted again. I tried desperately to hit him with something. Anything. I even resorted to Love. It all went through him like sunshine through glass.

Then Kirill roared.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw movement. Kirill. He was in his half-form, a glorious lion-man god, magic flashing in his blue eyes.

And Katila paused.

His stare focused on the Pasha. It was glowing as brightly as Kirills eyes. Oh, that was new. It looked as if the Pasha was ready to turn on its old master. Kirill drew it back, preparing to fling it again, and I knew I had to give him a chance to use it. I had to get Katila corporeal. But how?

Then Katila solved the problem for me. He twisted on his heels and dashed for me. Instead of running away, I met him halfway. He went solid, and we collided. Strong arms wrapped around me, but I wasnt worried about him tracing us away. The ward around the Golden Citadel prevented that. The only way out for Katila was through the tracing room.

Katilas eyes widened, but then reason came. When you want something as bad as he wanted me, so badly that he returned from the Void with that desire intact, it can blind you to other things. Like becoming solid when the Lion God of Death and Winter is hunting you with your own soul-stealing cord.

The Lion God and his wife.

I slammed starlight straight into Katilas chest. He gasped and stumbled back just as Kirill reached us. The starlight should have incinerated him, but it only burned a hole in his chest. I could see straight through him to Kirill. Unfortunately, Katilas heart survived the blast. It dripped blood as it continued to pump, the bottom tip of it visible. But that hole repaired itself as I watched.

It didnt matter. Kirill had him. The lasso hit Katila, winding around his throat. Katila growled and grabbed the end of it. Kirill planted his feet and pulled.

Around them, those who were still standing waited for a chance to attack. My husbands were not among them. They were all prone but alive, healing the wounds Katila had inflicted with that damn dagger.

The dagger. Fuck.

“Kirill, watch out!” I shouted.

Katila flung Anubiss dagger and hit Kirill in the throat.

“Kirill!” I screamed and ran toward him.

Kirill lost his grip on the Pasha and went down, his hands going to the dagger in his neck. He yanked it out, then covered the wound with his paw-like hands. I was steps away from him when something wrapped around my neck. It yanked me back, off my feet, and I hit someone. An arm latched around my waist while the cord tightened. I couldnt breathe.

As I choked, something cold locked around my wrist. My magic stuttered, then went out. My vision went wonky. I gasped and pulled at the noose. Movement came, but I couldnt see. Couldnt focus. A flash of chaos. The Aether. Oh, fuck. Katila had made it to the tracing room.

He had won.

Katila dropped me. I fell onto my knees, then forward onto my hands. Shudders wracked my body. I gasped, spat, and opened my eyes. We were back in Naraka, but Ekwensu, or whoever he was, wasnt there. Manacles encased my wrists, no chain between them. Before me was Katilas house, a mammoth thing of gilded domes and carved fretwork walls. At first, my air-starved mind thought it was Russian. But then I realized the construction was Indian. Russian. Oh, fuck—Kirill.

He had to be all right. I would have felt it if Kirill had died. And he was a god now. Only beheading could kill him. A stab in the neck would only slow him down, even if it was done with Deaths dagger. He was Death, after all.

No, it wasnt Kirill I had to worry about.

I stumbled to my feet as Katila fastened the Pasha around his neck. He looked pleased, but also expectant. His stare was focused on the tracing building. I turned to look at it. Katila couldnt possibly know that my friends and husbands could follow us. Could he? No. Hed have to know about Torrent, and very few people knew about Torr.

And yet Katila kept staring.

I backed away.

Katilas hand flicked toward me and a cage formed around me, rising from the ground to lock into place over my head. Very medieval, with iron bars that came to a rounded top. I grabbed the bars to test them, as every prisoner must do.

“Easy, my love,” Katila said. “Your husbands will be here soon. Then I can kill them, and we can be united at last.”

“Naraka is warded,” I said. “They wont be able to come after me.”

Katila lifted his brows at me and smirked.

“You dropped your ward?” I asked.

He rolled his eyes.

No. He couldnt know about Torrent.

“How do you expect them to get through?” I tried again.

“Come now, Vervain. There shouldnt be lies between us. I know about your Internet friend.”

“What Internet friend?”

Annoyed, he turned to face me and planted his hands on his hips. “Torrent. I know he can open wards. Now, shush!”

Reeling under that gem, I didnt react to the shush right away. I was too busy trying to figure out who the hell had told Katila about Torrent. Had he learned things in the Void? Was that how the trickster knew things? But no. None of the other gods who had returned from the Void came back with secret knowledge. And Id been to the Void. It wasnt a place that unraveled the mysteries of the universe for you. It was just a holding cell for souls.

“How do you know about Torrent?” I finally asked.

“Ah! Here they are!” Katila clapped his hands.

As Katila clapped, the landscape changed. The Asian garden became a desert, flat as far as I could see. Granted, that wasnt as far as usual, what with my magic subdued. But still, it went on and on. Black-shrouded souls spotted that vastness, hunched over empty baskets and cribs. Baby cribs? Yeah, baby cribs without babies in them. And the souls wailed at the lack.

Those wailing souls didnt even notice us. They didnt look up, not even when the ward of Naraka disintegrated and gods poured through the tracing building. In the lead were my husbands, Fenrir, Jesus, and Lucifer. Behind them was the reason they were late. I had thought they had needed some time to heal, but that wasnt it. They were calling for backup.

My Intare had come, but also a huge amount of Froekn, maybe all of them. A sacred squadron of Angels stood behind Jesus, a bunch of Demons (theres no pretty name for a unit of Demons) was with Lucifer, the Valkyries had come for Odin, and Anubis had brought his Jackals. Among the Angels were Azraels buddies, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, and Az rode with them on his pale horse. That was a sight I hadnt seen in a while.

“Holy shit,” I whispered.

It was awe-inspiring, part of the awe inspired by the speed at which this conjoined army had assembled. And it warmed my soul to see all these gods storming a territory for me. It was also monumental, glorious, and a bit ridiculous. They were there to fight one man. One single man.

But the first thought in my head, the thought that overwhelmed all others, was—Torrents secret is out.

As soon as they were all in Katilas territory, he cracked his neck and grinned.

“Its a trap!” I shouted. “Get out of here!”

I didnt know what Katila was up to, but it wasnt good. Men didnt smile like that for nothing. Granted, Katila was crazy, but his crazy had some backing.

They either didnt hear me or it didnt matter to them. The army kept coming. As they did, the land beneath them shuddered. The scenery shifted again. Suddenly, Katila and I were atop an enormous mountain. The sides of the mountain were unnatural, shaped like waves. The solid stone looked as if it had been carved and smoothed into those rolling hills and valleys, creating a strange obstacle for the invaders.

But they kept coming. Furred bodies flowed over the stone waves, claws scraping for purchase. Gods slipped and slid, but not all of them were on foot. Angels, Demons, and Valkyries took to the air to fly for us. The sky filled with wings.

Then the mountain moved. The solid waves rolled as if they were water, spewing the ground forces into the air to knock the airborne out of the sky. It was the craziest shitstorm of a battle Id ever seen. Gods cried out in shock, flying horses neighed and lashed out with their hooves, and the army folded in upon itself like pastry dough.

My fingers were going white from clinging to the bars. Was this it? Was Katila truly going to kill my husbands and friends? Was this bastard going to win?

But then the army rallied. They pulled back the ground troops and sent only the winged soldiers forth.

Katila chuckled.

The landscape shifted again. Became darker. Full of shadows. Cold. I drew back from the bars. Without my magic to protect me, the wrongness of the place sank into my skin and burrowed deep. Evil reigned here. Everything looked menacing. Like the scene in a movie when someone approaches a haunted house, there were warning signs everywhere.Even the plants looked as if they were screaming at us to leave.

But there was nothing else there. I searched the shadows for terrors and found none. The place was empty. Wasnt this Hell? It was obviously one of the hells with levels or sections or something. Different areas for certain types of souls. Degrees of torment. Id seen souls standing over those empty bassinets. But this place had none. No dead. Come to think of it, the waving mountain didnt have any either. Where were the souls of the dead? Oh, fuck, had Katila eaten them too?

The army paused. The winged soldiers landed. I wasnt the only one to sense the evil there. But nothing happened. It was just creepy.

Then the scenery changed again.

It got even darker. So dark that I couldnt see. The others, with their god senses, probably saw just fine. But my eyes were shrouded with the sort of darkness that makes you feel blind. I blinked and blinked until I wasnt sure if my eyes were open or closed.

Then came the screams.

I huddled into a ball, fear coating my skin and crawling down my throat. I hoped those were the screams of tormented souls, but after seeing the last levels empty, I wasnt sure. Flashes of magic lit the dark. I got glimpses of movement with every burst. Tableaus of battle. Faces set in harsh lines, bodies twisted in mid-motion, and weapons lifted. The Valkyries were on the ground, surrounding Odin. One of them was grabbed by something and tossed away.

I gasped. The darkness was alive. Id faced such darkness before, but this was different. This darkness wasnt Fey. It was born of fear-ridden humans. Of their hatred and hope for revenge. And it had one job—to torture whatever landed in its grip.

Jackals whimpered. A flash showcased the ground swallowing several at once. Lightning crackled through the sky and hit Thors hammer. He looked like a painting. But then darkness swallowed him, even the lightning.

“Thor,” I whispered.

“Tima!” my lions shouted.

I couldnt feel them without my magic, but when I heard their wounded cries, I knew they were going down. Fenrir was roaring, but it was cut off suddenly. The Great Wolf God had been defeated. Seconds, only seconds, and this dark land was winning. Katila barely lifted a finger.

Then Re turned on the light.

Shrieks came again, but this time it was from whatever thing that darkness was. It seeped into the ground as my husband went supernova. Then Blue added to the sunshine, and then Mr. T. Horus lent his strength to his great-great-grandfather, his right eye glowing gold. And under the light of the sun gods, the darkness didnt stand a chance.

I took a breath. Maybe we stood a chance after all.

Then the landscape shifted.

The light of the gods illuminated a horrifying swamp. A fetid ooze covered the ground. It bubbled thickly, the goo gleaming puke green and putrid yellow. The Gods began to scream. I screamed along with them. Not in pain but in horror. The noxious stuff on the ground was crawling up their bodies and consuming them. No, not crawling. Infecting. It was toxic. But immortality is a tenacious thing. The Gods healed and those with wings launched into the air, taking as many with them as possible before the sludge could do its damage again.

But there were so many. My husbands were safe, but my Intare were falling. Screaming. Boils covered their bodies. Tears poured down my cheeks as I shook the bars. My lions! I couldnt help them. Couldnt heal them. It was on Kirill to sustain them now. At least they had him. Oh, and the Froekn. They were holding Fenrir aloft, keeping him off the ground while they writhed in pain. Fenrir should have been roaring, fighting, helping them. But he was unconscious. Gello carried Anubis, her great Demon wings holding them both aloft, but he fought her, trying to get to his jackals. His dying jackals. His jackals who shouldnt have been able to die.

“Stop,” I whispered. “Please, stop.”

“Whats that, my love?” Katila asked gleefully. “You want this to stop? Your wish is my command.”

The landscape changed.

My cage was now at the lip of a pit—a massive pit filled with thick, black sludge. It bubbled up into thick arms and plucked the flying gods out of the sky. No one escaped this time. They were drawn, shrieking and flapping, into the sludge. Even the horses were pulled down with their riders.

I couldnt scream anymore. My voice had gone hoarse. I knew it was over. They were dead. They were all dead. I had held one hope through the battle—that Torrent might reach us and unmake Katila. If any of the gods could kill this motherfucker, it was Torr. And he had said he would do it to save his loved ones.

But Torrent was in the pit with Artemis. With all of my loved ones. He hadnt stood a chance. None of them had.

The surface of the sludge roiled as the gods fought to remain afloat. I watched until the end, my heart stuttering as the sludge went still. Gone. All of them gone. The only comfort was that without my magic, I didnt have to feel them die. But I almost envied them. I was trapped there. Alive. With an insane man who had danced out of the Void and destroyed my life.

“I told you I would handle him,” someone whispered. “Why did you come here?”

I looked to the right.

There was Ekwensu, sitting cross-legged on the ground beside my cage.

He sighed and shook his head. “But I suppose I can work with this.”

Something glowed on his neck. A pendant. A crystal point.

A slurping sound pulled my attention back to the pit. The sludge bubbled. Rippled. Then it spewed forth a tide of bodies. Gods and demigods gasped as they hit the ground with wet smacks. The sludge drew back into the pit, leaving them clean and whole on the rim.

“What the—?” Katila jerked about, searching for the one who had saved his enemies.

I looked to my right, but Ekwensu was gone. If he even was Ekwensu, which I was doubting more and more. Once again, he had sounded nothing like the Nigerian god.

“No!” Katila shrieked as the army gained its feet. “No! The pit will have you! No one escapes the black poison!”

The pit bubbled again.

The gods around the rim paused.

Every eye focused on the oily surface of the pit.

Suddenly, another eruption came. The gods dashed back from the pit. But the sludge didnt attack them. It wasnt moving on its own.

Souls flew from the black poison, mouths open in soundless screams and arms extended. Toward Katila. The hoard focused on him. A terrible rushing sound came, melding with thick slopping as the human souls of Naraka flew out of the pit of poison and launched themselves at the God of Hell.

“The Yamaduta,” I whispered.

Katila had killed the guardians of Naraka. He had consumed them and stolen their magic. He thought he could control Hell alone. But theres a reason that underworlds such as Naraka contain multiple gods. One man cannot sail a ship. A boat maybe, but not a ship. Not of this size. And definitely not a prison barge.

Katila the Fool had left the wailing souls in the first hell alone. He probably figured they were too focused on their empty baskets to notice that the Yamadutas were gone. But the others couldnt be left to wander about alone. So what did he do? He stuck them all in the pit and left them to the poison. Maybe he intended to come back and consume them eventually or maybe he didnt want to bother with souls that didnt possess magic. Whatever the case, he had put several levels worth of souls into a pit and forgot about them. But they hadnt forgotten about him.

They flew into Katila in a swarm, his body jerking like one of those shooting victims in a movie. Side-to-side rapidly, his expression shocked. He screamed, but it was cut off by a soul diving into his mouth. The black poison went with the souls, seeping into Katila and infecting him. Souls dove into him dripping black goo, then flew free of him, glowing pure white. It went on for several minutes, several long minutes, but no one else moved during that time. No one wanted to draw attention to themselves.

At last, the tide of black souls stopped. The spirits, freed of poison and the pit, floated away, hopefully to the Void where they could be reborn. Katila crumpled to his knees, completely black. Poison oozed from him. When he hit the ground, he made a splat. His knees burst like popped balloons, and he fell forward onto his face. With the impact, his entire body exploded into a puddle like a wicked witch hit with water.

My cage disappeared. Poof, gone. I stood up warily, watching the black goo gather itself, then bubble and gurgle its way back into the pit like a living thing.

“Ding dong the witch is dead,” I whispered.