My Soul to Take (29 page)

“And compassion,” I added with a smile at Arach. “Told you so.”

And compassion,
Faerie agreed.
Rian is a fighter, King Arach. He's your heir and more powerful than any prince before him. His dual souls have given him twice the magic. It's why he's strong enough to accomplish feats such as carrying his brother along with him on his first flight. But Brevyn is something altogether different. Something our world has never seen. Something
no realm
has ever seen.

“A faerie prince who's not a faerie at all but yet can have the magic of
all
faeries,” I whispered.

“Sounds like a high king to me,” Arach muttered.

Faerie and I groaned.

I went back to the God Realm and informed my husbands of Brevyn's unique ability.

“We tell no one,” Odin declared immediately.

“We tell no one what?” Azrael asked as he came into the room.

“Brevyn's god magic is the ability to borrow another god's magic,” Trevor informed him.

“Like Vervain can?” Azrael made an impressed face. “Cool.”

“He can change magic whenever he feels like it and he's not limited to god magic. Because of his human soul, he can borrow fey magic too,” I added. “I think his magic is going to be substantially more powerful than mine.”

“We don't know that yet,” Odin said cryptically.

“A what soul?” Azrael held up a hand to stop us.

“Oh, sorry, babe,” I sighed. “I forgot to tell you about the boys each having human souls in addition to their fey and god souls.”

“So they're twins in many ways,” Az mused.

“And yet very different,” I nodded. “Rian's human soul makes him a super-charged fey and Brevyn's makes him a...”

“Thief,” Odin sighed. “And it all comes back to me. I did this to you and you passed it to your son,” he looked at me apologetically.

“Odin, this isn't a bad thing,” I gave him a grin. “I was worried at first, like you are. But then I realized that Brevyn will be able to become whatever he wants; faerie or god... and he can change his mind. It's a huge relief to know that he won't be stuck with a wrong decision.”

“So you won't know how many magics he can handle until he starts taking them,” Trevor frowned. “Maybe you should keep him away from gods for now.”

“What?” Odin growled. “No. I'm going to see my grandson.”

“Who's now your step-son,” Azrael chuckled.

“Step-son,” Odin mused. “Yes, I suppose that's what he is now. Just as Ull was once to Thor. How fascinating.”

“So actually, he's a stepped-up step grandson,” Azrael kept going.

“Nice one,” Trevor fist-bumped him.

“I just realized; in Faerie, Brevyn doesn't have to borrow an element from any one faerie in particular,” I said as I remembered how much brighter the element tendrils were. “He can connect with the elements in the land.”

“He should be able to do zat anywhere,” Kirill noted. “Elements are in all nature.”

“That's a good point. Though I suspect that the elements in Faerie are a little more magical than those in the Human Realm,” I smiled. “But that means he doesn't have to be a thief.”

“Even if he took a god magic, it sounds like he just mimics it,” Trevor mused. “When you take a magic, you pull it into yourself and claim it, Vervain. But you said Brevyn touches magic and forms a connection which he can later sever. He wouldn't be able to do that if he took the magic, it would need a place to return to.”

“And if he took it completely, the god he took it from would be dead,” Odin noted. “The magic would have no place to go. It would have to be released, in effect it would be destroyed. And no magic would willingly destroy itself.”

“That's right!” I started to smile bigger.

“So he's a copycat,” Odin considered.

“Why do you insist on using insulting labels for my son?” I asked him dryly.

“I didn't mean to be insulting,” he looked genuinely surprised. “Would you prefer mocker or mimic?”

“How about mime?” Azrael asked with a smirk.

“You're on a roll today, Archangel of Comedy,” I laughed.

“I had a good night,” he smiled serenely and slid into a chair beside me at the breakfast table. “I took an old man and his wife to Heaven.”

“Together?” I lifted a brow.

“Together,” he nodded. “She died in her sleep and it was like his soul sensed it and he just followed.”

“Thanks a lot,” I smacked him. “Now I'm going to cry.”

“It was sweet not sad,” he stroked my cheek. “And they're thrilled to be in paradise together.”

“I'm not crying cause it's sad,” I sniffed and then wailed, “When will these damn hormones go away?”

“You're just more sensitive now,” Az pulled me into his lap. “There's nothing wrong with that.”

“Alright, lovebirds,” Trevor chuckled. “Can we get back to the mime?”

“He's not a mime,” I ground out.

“You thought it was funny when he said it,” Trevor huffed and pointed at Azrael.

“He didn't mean for it to actually be used,” I grimaced. “It was a joke.”

“You should watch Brevyn carefully,” Azrael had a thoughtful crease between his eyebrows. “Depending on what element he borrows, it could have dangerous results.”

“What?” I gaped at him.

“Well fire and water makes steam; you know, all that stuff. Like what happens around the borders of the faerie kingdoms, where the elements meet,” Azrael slipped me back onto my seat and went to pour himself some coffee.

“But how would that be dangerous?” I pressed.

“I don't know,” Az shrugged. “I just feel like it could. But that's only if he's able to borrow more than one element at a time.”

“Just keep Brevyn under close observation until we figure this out,” Odin offered. “He's a baby, Vervain. We have plenty of time to deal with this.”

“You're right,” I sighed. “And Faerie said she'd watch him. I'm just relieved to know that Rian will be reborn if he ever dies and Brevyn will have the choice that Ull wanted.”

“Lots of choices,” Kirill snorted.

“How do you know what Ull wanted?” Azrael asked as he came back to the table.

“Oh, wow, I forgot just how much you've missed,” I blinked.

“I got this,” Trevor gave my hand a squeeze and caught Azrael up.

“Thanks,” I said to Trevor while Az reeled from the surprises.

“Tima,” Alexander, one of my Intare, came running in holding the enchanted Samedi plate. “Something's happening.”

“Samedi on the move again?” I asked as he slid the plate onto the table before me. “Wait; what's he doing?”

“It looks like he's stealing soul pots,” Trevor growled.

“He is,” Alexander confirmed.

“Jerry jinx it,” I stood up. “Where is he?”

“I don't know, Tima,” Alex shook his head. “I saw him trace out of his territory and then into this room but I can't tell where the room is.”

“Son of a sea biscuit!” I clenched my fists in futility.

“Is that Seabiscuit as in the famous horse or sea biscuit as in a weird faerie food?” Trevor asked dryly.

“The food,” I looked at him in confusion. “There's a horse named sea biscuit?”

“Yep,” Trevor nodded.

“Why?”

“No one knows,” he shrugged.

“Vell, ve can't stop Samedi,” Kirill got us off the silly horse name. “But at least ve now know for certain zat he's guilty.”

“Oh poop,” I huffed and fell into my seat.

“Da, big Seabiscuit poop,” Kirill nodded.

We called a God Squad meeting to let everyone know what we'd discovered about Samedi. Yemanja was invited too of course. We had all just settled into our seats when Blue walked in... with Eztli. Everyone went quiet.

“Eztli wanted to help,” Blue said into the silence. “But if we're not welcome...”

“You're absolutely welcome,” I jumped up and went to greet them. “Absolutely! The absolutest. Thank you for coming,” I shook her hand. “Please,” I waved to the table,” have a seat. Would you like some coffee?”

“I'd love some,” she smiled at me, her full lips making it seem suggestive even though it wasn't. Blue had definitely bagged himself a hottie, not that I ever doubted his sexual appeal.

“Pan, could you pour her a cup?” I waved to him. “You're closest to the pot.”

“I'd be happy to,” Pan gave Eztli a wink. “And there's a free seat next to me,” he nodded to the empty chair beside him.

“I think we'll sit over here,” Blue gestured to the opposite side of the table. “Thank you,” he whispered to me as they went by.

“Alright,” I said as I resumed my seat. “Everyone's here now so I'll go ahead and tell you what we've learned. Samedi is definitely the one behind the pot de tet thefts.”

“What?” Yemanja sat forward in alarm.

“We saw him stealing jars,” I said gently to her. “We know it was truly him, not some impostor, because we saw it in the plate Odin enchanted to watch Samedi.”

“Oh Sam,” Yemanja sighed. “Why?”

“Unfortunately, we couldn't stop him since we didn't know where he was,” I grimaced. “So I think we need to-”

“Tima?” Fallon came into the room holding an envelope. “This was just delivered to Moonshine for you. The messenger said it was urgent.”

He handed me the large envelope and I looked over the beautiful calligraphy on the front.

“Godhunter,” I huffed a laugh. “Well okay,” I opened the envelope while everyone watched. “It's probably just another invitation,” I offered. “We've been getting a lot of those lately...” I  trailed off as I read the elegant, gold-embossed card.

“Is it an invitation?” Brahma asked.

“Oh yeah,” I felt my eyes widen. “The first of its kind that I've ever received.”

“Are you going to tell us what you've been invited to?” Horus drawled.

“We're all invited actually,” I looked around the table and held up the card. “To war.”

“Someone sent us an invitation to war?” Trevor took the card from me and stared down at it. “
Godhunter and Squadron, You've been cordially invited to test your strength and magic against me and my army...
and then there's coordinates,” Trevor laughed. “Well damn, we
have
been invited. I think that's the most polite battle cry I've ever heard. Or read, rather.”

“Who sent it?” Odin snatched the card out of Trevor's hand. “It's signed;
Me
. Cute, very cute.”

“So, another battle?” Eztli looked at Blue.

“You want to join them?” He asked her in surprise.

“You thought I just came to socialize?” She lifted her brow at him and I laughed.

“Alright,” I confessed. “I'm starting to like her.”

“Wait till you see what Blue and I can do in battle, Godhunter,” Eztli smiled.

“First of all; you call him Blue? That's awesome,” I grinned. “Second, please call me Vervain. If we're going to be friends, that's a good place to start.”

“Alright, Vervain,” she nodded.

“Well happy, happy day,” Horus waved his hands about. “Can we get back to the war with the anonymous
Me
?”

“More like;
Despicable Me,
” Kirill said to Trevor and then they both chuckled together like children.

“Well he isn't anonymous, is he?” Yemanja said sadly. “It's Samedi, it has to be.”

“Which means he'll have innocent possessed humans fighting for him,” Karni Mata said sadly. She turned to Teharon, her boyfriend, and the sweet Hindu Rat Goddess shared a concerned look with the Healer God of the Mohawks.

“We'll put them to sleep,” Teharon reassured her, his turquoise eyes staring at her earnestly.

“You won't be able to,” Yemanja shook her head. “The possessed are immune to magic that works upon the physical body. It's not
their
body after all.”

“So what do we do?” Finn asked. “I'm not down with killing a bunch of innocents.”

“Me either,” Morpheus added. “I've done enough of that to haunt me forever.”

“We'll have to corral them and incapacitate them somehow,” I chewed at my lip and then looked to Yemanja. “Do you have any idea how many pots were taken?”

“Hundreds,” she whispered.

“We're going to need help,” I looked around the table.

“Well, Dad did say that Hell would stand with you,” Azrael reminded me.

“Oh,” Eztli looked to Blue. “It's
that
battle.”

“Yes, I realized,” Blue said grimly.

“That's right, you knew about the vision Elena had,” I narrowed my eyes on Blue.

“Elena said it would do more damage to warn anyone,” Blue defended himself.

“And Elena is always right,” Eztli gave me an annoyed look. “As irritating as that is.”

“She approached me at your wedding,” I told her. “Told me that she knew who was behind all of this but couldn't tell me.”

“Yes, even when she can't tell you, she still likes you to know that she knows,” Eztli grumbled.

“That's obnoxious,” I observed.

“You're telling me,” Eztli rolled her eyes. “She's been my best friend for over four centuries.”

“That's a long time to deal with an annoying person...” I drifted off as I realized my husbands were all giving me amused looks. “What?”

“Nothing,” Trevor said and they all looked away.

“You guys are so going to get it after we're done defeating Samedi,” I growled. “And not the good
it
.”

“Anyway,” Hades drawled. “Will all the demons of Luke's Hell be enough or should we solicit more aid?”

“How many soldiers will Luke bring?” Yemanja asked.

“Thousands,” Azrael grinned maliciously.

“That will be sufficient, I'm sure,” Yemanja's eyes widened.

“Can I use my bow if I promise not to kill them?” Artemis asked.

“Do what you have to do,” I nodded. “We'll try not to kill the humans but if it comes down to it, your lives are more important,” I gave them all level stares. “Everyone good with that?”

“I'm not dying for a stranger,” Pan shrugged. “Be they human or god.”

“Good,” I sighed.

I used to be adamant about protecting humans but these days I was more concerned with the lives of my friends. Call me selfish but that's how I felt.

“We have vampires we can bring as well,” Eztli offered. “They'd be helpful in subduing humans without killing them.”

“Really?” I lifted my brows. “But if Teharon's sleep magic won't work, what can a vampire do?”

“Drain enough blood that the body will have no choice but to shut down,” Blue explained. “It's not magic, just science.”

“Yemanja?” I looked to her.

“Souls usually won't stay in dead bodies,” she mused. “That causes stress to the soul; its natural instinct is to leave a dying body.”

“So if they drain them enough,” Hekate mused, “the souls will actually leave?”

“Yes but then we're left with dying humans,” Yemanja pointed out.

“Vampires have had to be very careful about killing,” Eztli said. “We've learned exactly how much blood we can take without killing a human. It won't be a problem.”

“I can call in the Egyptian gods,” Re offered.

“No,” I said along with my husbands.

“Why?” Re blinked at us.

“Do you not remember the whole kidnapping thing?” Odin growled.

“Or the attempted murder of our wife?” Trevor added.

“No more Egyptians,” Kirill said decisively. “Ve have enough already.”

“Fine,” Re huffed. “But a god can do more than a demon can.”

“Really?” Azrael lifted a brow. “Because a demon can possess a human.”

“Oh,” Yemanja gaped at Az.

“Even if they're already possessed?” I asked him.

“It depends upon the strength of the possessing spirit,” Azrael smiled. “And I think my demons, who also happen to be gods by the way, are more powerful than any human soul.”

“Demons are gods?” Re blinked.

“Minor ones but yes,” Azrael confirmed. “They're gods, not demi-gods.”

“Well damn,” Re exclaimed.

“Yes, they can do that too,” Azrael chuckled. “You can leave the vampires behind. I think we'll be alright without them.”