Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) (15 page)

By the time we were out to sea, my whole body was starting to ache from being cramped up in the little space. Torrent's excitement hadn't lessened one bit though and I could feel his fascination like a weight on my neck. I however, would have fallen asleep if I wasn't so damn uncomfortable.

“Something's happening,” Torrent whispered and I blinked myself into alertness.

Sure enough, there was a twitter of nervousness running through the room. I looked at the tense faces and at the monitors displaying information that I had no idea how to decipher, and then I remembered that I didn't have to. Torrent was there.

“Can you read the monitors and see what's going on?” I asked him.

“
Read them?” A puff of air hit my neck. “I've been inside their computer network from the beginning. They're preparing to use the sonar.”

“
About time,” I sighed. “Wait, do you know why?”

“
Looks like a routine test but they seem excessively agitated over something routine.”

“
No kiddin-” my mouth dropped open, the words hanging half said from my lips, because there, in the boring gray oval doorway, was the Archangel Gabriel.

He was dressed in a white navy uniform with more pins and medals on it than the man I'd assumed to be the captain, and he looked completely human, his wings withdrawn, his demeanor one of intimidation. He'd aged his face a bit, gone were the boyish looks, replaced by lined skin and white hair but his hazel eyes were the same, much too vibrant for such an elderly face, and with that same scornful look to them.

“What is it?” Torrent pressed against me and Gabriel's eyes shot around the room.

I reached back and squeezed his arm in response, hoping he'd correctly interpret my request for him to be silent. Someone with better hearing than the humans had just walked in. Torrent seemed to understand and kept quiet. Gabriel was still searching the room suspiciously but the captain approached him and drew his attention away.

They went over to stand in front of a screen and I focused on their conversation. Gabriel wasn't the only one with enhanced hearing.

“
With all due respect, sir,” the captain was saying. “That's much too high a frequency to be using in such quantity within these waters. There's all kinds of marine life we'll be putting at risk and there's no reason for it. I've let you have your way on our last run but I've got to put my foot down now. I won't allow my ship to be a part of this.”

“
Oh yes you will, captain,” Gabriel's voice lowered and I could feel the tingle of magic crawling over my skin like ants. “For God and Country, right?”

“
For God and Country,” the captain echoed and then he turned to a man seated on his left. “Up the sonar to maximum output.”

“
But, sir,” the young man was sweating.

“
Just do it,” Gabriel leaned over and looked the man in the eye. Who knows what the poor guy saw in the archangel's eyes but he looked as if he was on the verge of peeing his pants.

“
Yes, sir,” he choked out.

“
Torr,” I whispered as low as possible. “We're leaving. Head back to Kanaloa's.”

“
Now?”

“
Now,” I took his hand, just as Gabriel lifted his face and looked directly into our little nook. He started forward but we traced away with my next breath.

As soon as we reappeared in Kanaloa's house, I grabbed Torrent, ignoring everyone else who had jumped to their feet at our entrance.

“
Can you stop them?” I practically yelled at poor Torr. “Mess up their computers or something?”

“
Well yes but why didn't we-”

“
Just do it, Torr, do it now!” I yelled. “They can't set off another sonar blast. It's whale watching season in Hawaii, our beaches will be ridden with the bodies of dead whales and mermaids!”

“
Merfolk,” Torr whispered.

“
Torrent!”

“
It's done, Vervain,” he took my arms, shaking them a little to get through to me and then pulling me into a hug. It was such a human response that it broke through my panic.

“
Are you sure?” I said more calmly.

“
Their entire system has been shut down,” he nodded. “They're dead in the water.”

“
Good,” I breathed the word out and shuffled over to Kanaloa's couches, where I fell back into one.

“
What happened?” Trevor plopped down beside me. He looked over to Torrent when I didn't answer right away.

“
They were going to run the sonar at maximum output for multiple blasts. They would have basically done a sweep of the area, the equivalent of standing in Times Square with an artillery rifle and firing it in a circle,” Torrent's eyes were fixed on my face. “But I don't think that's why Vervain's spooked.”

Everyone looked back at me.

“It was Gabriel,” I shook my head in disbelief. “He disguised himself to look older but it was definitely him.”

“
Who the hell is Gabriel?” Kanaloa frowned at me.

“
Close,” I huffed slightly hysterical laugh. “Try the opposite direction.”

“
The Archangel Gabriel?” Trevor's mouth fell open. “When did you meet him?”

“
When I went to see Azrael to ask him to introduce me to his father,” my head was spinning with possibilities. Was Jerry behind this? Why? What could the Christian God possibly have to gain from mermaids... excuse me, mer
folk
dying. “Azrael was in a meeting with some other angels when I arrived and Gabriel was one of them.”

“
So what does the Christian God have to do with this?” Torrent echoed my thoughts.

“
Jerry,” I said distractedly.

“
What do you mean, Jerry?” Trevor looked over at me with a little frown.

“
That's his name.”

“
Who's name?” Kanaloa inquired.

“
The Christian God's,” Gruach rolled her eyes. “Pay attention. I haven't spoken English for thousands of years and I understood her.”

I looked at Gruach, shocked by her outburst, and had one of my own... of pure laughter. It was exactly what I needed, a little comic relief. My shoulders relaxed and I sank back into the couch, laughing until my stomach hurt and tears came to my eyes. I wiped them away and was suddenly able to think clearer. There was a reason I often used humor as a shield.

“Thanks for that,” I winked at Gruach.

“
No problem, Fire Queen,” she smiled sweetly.

“
Okay, we need to get back to Pride Palace and call the God Squad together for a meeting,” I stood up, Trevor and Torr followed suit. “You guys coming?” I looked at Kanaloa and Gruach.

“
I would love to see your god home,” Gruach stood.

“
Um, I think you'd better change or there might be a stampede of lusty lions in your direction.” I looked over her bikini-clad figure.

“
I have just the thing,” Kanaloa jumped to his feet and pulled her from the room.

A few minutes went by with only the sound of Gruach's angry voice drifting back to us. I glanced at my guys and grinned. Evidently she didn't like what Kanaloa had picked out for her.

“Five bucks on Gruach,” I smirked at Trevor.

“
No way,” Trevor laughed. “I don't take losing bets.”

Sure enough, she came out in a lovely cotton sundress, yellow with pink flowers... as pink as Kanaloa's cheeks. He followed behind her glumly, a look of pure defeat written across his face.

“We're ready now,” Gruach smiled brightly, her pearly skin almost glowing.

I grinned at Trevor and he just shook his head at me. A werewolf wouldn't have ever tried to hide his mate's beauty. In fact, a Froekn would probably enjoy seeing other men chase after his woman for two reasons. One- it was a compliment to his own prowess that he had such a desired woman, and two- he'd have an excuse to start a fight. I know, it's a little barbaric but that's wolves for you.

I gave Kanaloa and Gruach the chant to get them past my wards and then we all traced over to the palace. Well, all of us except Trevor, who went to gather the Squad.

“
Azrael's coming too,” Trevor took a seat beside me at our massive dining table. “I thought he'd want to know.”

“
Good call,” I nodded as I watched everyone shuffle in.

I had a moment of peace, watching them. I wasn't alone anymore, hadn't been for awhile, but it still shocked me a little every time I saw all the support I had. Another surprising thing was the growing size of the God Squad. When we'd first started working together, there was only ten of us, including myself. Now we had added Trevor, Azrael, Finn, Blue, Hades, Karni Mata, Torrent, and occasionally my sons Vidar and Vali. Samantha usually joined in and of course my Intare. Even Fenrir helped out once in awhile and we could call on the Froekn in a pinch.

And perhaps even Brighid.

I smiled at the bright goddess as she walked in on Thor's arm and she smiled warmly back. I was so happy for him. He deserved this, deserved to have someone wonderful. Also, I liked her a lot more than Epona, his last girlfriend.

“Thank you for coming,” I said to Brighid as she took a seat beside me.

“
I was hoping you wouldn't mind,” she glanced at Thor and he smiled at her, his blue-green eyes sparking just a little with lightning. “Thor said you wouldn't but I didn't want to intrude.”

“
Are you kidding?” I laughed. “We can use all the help we can get. I'm thrilled to have you with us.”

“
Thank you,” her smile was as bright as the flames within a hearth.

“
Yes, thank you, Vervain,” Thor put his arm behind Brighid's chair and leaned my way.

It was something he used to do with me and I had a brief moment of reminiscing warmly. It was so nice to be able to think of him and I together without feeling angry or sad anymore. I met his eyes and realized that it was the same for him, he'd finally reached a place where he could remember us fondly.

“What a lovely pendant,” I changed the subject, focusing on a gold symbol at Brighid's throat.

“
Oh,” her hand flew to it automatically. “It's my cross, the cross my people used to represent me.”

“
How unusual,” I looked at it more closely. It had four branches that came out from a central square. “It almost looks like bundles of reeds.”

“
Yes, straw actually,” she nodded. “Crosses were woven out of straw and kept in the home to ward off fire and evil.”

“
Fire huh?” I eyed it.

“
One of my talents,” she laughed. “It's a good thing we're on the same side.”

“
What else do you do,” I shrugged, “magically speaking?”

“
I'm the Goddess of Poetry, Smithing, Medicine, Cattle, and Spring.”

“
Oooh I've got Spring too,” I laughed and held up my pinky. “Wanna be besties?”

“
I would be honored to call you friend,” she said seriously.

“
Thank you,” I was touched. “Friends are something you can never have enough of.”

Every time I found a new god or goddess who respected me and wanted to fight for humans beside me, I felt so grateful and a little humbled but this, this guileless offer of friendship blew me away. It reminded me a little of Persephone and I looked over at Sephy, across the table from me. She gave me a little wave and I waved back.

“Okay, I think everyone's here,” Trevor looked around the table. “Wait, where's Azrael?”

“
I'm here,” Azrael came sweeping into the room, eyes tight with anxiety. He took a seat on the other side of Trevor after giving me a quick peck on the cheek. “Please, tell us your news.”

“
We've discovered that a god is behind the recent sonar blasts which have been killing marine life, including merfolk,” Trevor began.

“
I'm sorry,” Horus sniffed delicately. “Did you just say merfolk? Are you talking about the fey? I didn't realize so many of them have come through.”

“
No, not fey,” Kanaloa took over and explained about the aquatic race that branched off from humanity. “Sonar used in high decibels can cause physical damage to them and other ocean life. Fatal damage.”

“
That's why the whales have been beaching themselves,” Pan nodded.

“
Oh, please,” Horus grimaced at him. “Don't pretend that you knew all about this.”

“
I'm not pretending, worm breath,” Pan growled. “I've heard about the whales. Hello? There's a whole campaign called
Save the Whales
.”

“
Hey,” I pointed a finger at Horus and then Pan. “I will put you two in time-out if I have to.”

“
Sorry,” Pan mumbled but Horus just rolled his eyes.

“
People, this is serious,” Trevor hit the table. “Torrent was able to stop an attack today, and I do mean attack because there is a god behind this. One who uses angels to do his dirty work.”

“
What?” Azrael sat up straight in his seat. “What's this about angels?”

“
I saw Gabriel today,” I reached across Trevor and squeezed Azrael's hand. “He influenced a Navy captain to use their sonar in a way that would have surely caused numerous deaths. The captain refused but Gabriel put the whammy on him, it looked like a power very similar to Blue's actually.” I glanced over at the beautiful Aztec god.

“
Tell me what he did.” Blue leaned forward, his heavy, shoulder-length hair falling in a straight line around his strong jaw. His jade green eyes were intent on mine.

“
No, first tell me,” Azrael interrupted. “Are you sure it was Gabriel?”

“
I'm certain, Az,” I glanced at him and then back at Blue. “The captain refused and Gabriel fixed him with a look and told him he'd do it for God and Country. Then the captain repeated it like a zombie:
For God and Country
.”

“
Sounds similar to my mental abilities,” Blue nodded, “though I don't need to use speech.”

“
Because you're bad ass,” I gave Blue a quick wink and he preened a little.

“
Gabriel is God's messenger,” Azrael sighed and rubbed a hand over his face. He suddenly looked older. “Speech, the power of words, belong to him. It's his greatest magic.”

“
Can it be used against another god?” I hadn't even thought of it as a weapon.

“
Absolutely,” Azrael nodded. “To great effect.”

“
Why have we ignored the biggest question here?” Hades frowned over his tinted glasses.

“
What's that?” I caught a glint of fire behind Hades' shades and for the first time, I was disappointed that he had those fiery eyes covered. I guess being the Queen of Fire can change your perspective a bit.

“
Is it the Christian God behind this?” Hades spread his hands out, palms up, in a questioning gesture.

“
Jerry,” I said automatically.

“
What was that?” Hades lifted one perfect dark brow at me, his head cocked, one hand set to his chin, looking ready for a photo shoot.

“
Jerry,” Trevor sighed. “The Christian God is named Jerry.”

“
You're joking,” Brahma stroked his close-cropped beard with a fascinated glint in his eyes.

“
His name is Jerry, it's short for Jehova,” Azrael groaned. “Why does everyone think it's funny?”

“
Because it's deliciously ridiculous,” Mrs. E grinned at me and I gave a little laugh. It was good to have her light-hearted nature back.

“
It's just a name,” Azrael shook his head.

“
Alright, Azrael, Archangel of Death,” I droned sarcastically.

“
Vervain, please,” Thor looked about as disturbed as Trevor was by the banter. “I sense the urgency here.”

“
Yes, you're right,” I shook my head. “I'm sorry, it's been a weird day.”

“
Tima had to go undervater today,” Kirill explained. “Give her a breaking.”

“
A break,” I whispered theatrically to Kirill. “Give me a
break
.” He just winked back at me, leaving me to wonder if he'd taken up Roarke's habit of saying the wrong thing on purpose.

“
Oh, give
me
a break,” Horus huffed. “Tell us the rest of it.”

“
There is no more,” I shrugged. “Torrent killed their operating systems, so the ship was unable to use the sonar but that's not an end to this, I'm sure whatever Gabriel's agenda is, one ship won't discourage him away from it.”

“
No, Gabriel is very tenacious,” Azrael hadn't stopped frowning. “I just can't imagine Jerry doing this. He's a royal asshole but this? This could kill more than the Holocaust. It could wipe out the merfolk entirely.”

“
And the whales,” I added. “And dolphins, sharks, etc. This is huge.”

“
You said it's whale watching season,” Trevor noted. “When is that exactly?”

“
December to May,” I looked over his expression and came to my own conclusion. “This was done on purpose. They want to kill the whales as well, they're not just accidental casualties. Why? Can gods take the energy of animals? Oh, scratch that, I'm such an idiot, of course you can. I've just been so focused on saving humanity, I've forgotten about animal sacrifice.”

“
Not just animal sacrifice,” Ull looked around the table seriously. “What about the uproar this will cause among the humans? There are a lot of people who will not sit idly by while the Navy kills marine life so carelessly.”

“
That's a good point,” Trevor nodded. “This could branch off into all sorts of complications.”

“
I don't think this is about the whales exactly. Though I do concede that there would be conflict over them,” Azrael mused. “I think the whales are a distraction. It's easier to hide the bodies of merfolk among whales.”

“
Right,” Karni Mata nodded, “a bunch of dead mermaids is not the best publicity for a god.”

“
Especially Jerry,” Azrael noted. “It makes no sense.”

“
Sure it does,” I cast him a disbelieving look. Why was he sticking up for Jerry? “You told me yourself that he's not as powerful as Luke. Maybe he wants more magic.”

“
Not as powerful as who?” Persephone asked.

“
Lucifer,” I answered absently, “Luke for short.”

“
Luke's more powerful than Jerry?” Persephone seemed to think about it. “Okay, I can see that, but don't people light candles for Jerry and stuff?”

“
The only candle lighters in the Christ faith are Catholics and they generally pray to angels first.” Teharon surprised us all by saying. “What?” He looked around. “I know about other religions. Jerry wouldn't be getting much energy from the occasional candle either.”

“
Yeah, angels interact with humans,” Az nodded with approval. “We tend to get more offered energy that way.”

“
It doesn't even matter anymore,” Brighid sighed. “Don't we all have enough?”

I liked her even more for that. She was a perfect match for Thor, that was one of the first things he'd said to me about the God War over humans. They all had enough energy and trying to get more was just greedy.

“Some gods have to share their energy,” Trevor said softly and I reached over and took his hand. “The Froekn just had a fertility scare because their magic was stretched too thin.”

“
I'm so sorry,” Brighid offered. “Is it fixed now?”

“
Yes, thanks to Vervain,” Trevor gave me a proud smile.

“
But Jerry doesn't have that problem,” Azrael continued. “He hasn't even shown an interest in anything other than sacred wine for years. Hundreds of years. Why would he all of a sudden decide to send out Gabriel to kill mermaids?”

“
Merfolk,” Torrent piped up.

“
Whatever,” we all groaned.

“
Perhaps it's not Jerry at all,” Thor offered. “Who else could command an archangel?”

“
No one,” Azrael said quietly. “No one except my father.”

We all looked at him in shock.

“Did you just accuse your own father?” Persephone gasped.

“
His father is the Devil, Bunny-Nose,” Hades whispered to her.

“
Hades,” I chastised, “shame on you. You of all people should know that Luke being the Devil has nothing to do with who he really is.”

“
You're right,” Hades looked to Azrael. “My deepest apologies.”

“
It's alright,” Azrael shrugged. “I'm the one who brought it up, but no, I'm not accusing Dad. I know he didn't do this. He has even less reason than Jerry. I was just being honest and telling you who else could control angels.”