“I'm merely pointing out that's why he's doing it,” Blue countered calmly.
“It's not about tradition,” Thor rumbled. “Killing your own child is the greatest of all sacrifices. The one person you probably love even more than yourself. Someone you're supposed to protect. An innocent life yet to be lived fully, it's potential untapped. It's a testament of faith and obedience. There's magic in that kind of sacrifice and it magnifies the power in the blood.”
“But these people aren't sacrificing their children,” Hekate argued. “Someone is murdering them.”
“The Adroanzi are technically sacrificing the children to Adro,” Horus said to his wife. “It's a loophole.”
“Gods using loopholes,” I muttered angrily as I sat up. “It's not as if this is a new development.”
Azrael dropped his wings as everyone turned to face me.
“Arguing about this isn't going to accomplish anything.” I slid off Azrael's lap. “We need to find to Adro and stop him. That's our goal and it hasn't changed. Currently, our only lead is Adroa so we're going with the plan to talk to him. If he can't or won't help us, we'll walk the streets of Austin while Odin watches from Hlidskjalf until we find an Adroanzi and grab him. Either way, we're getting this son of a bitch.”
The God Squad surged to its feet in agreement.
“Whoa.” Odin held up his hands. “We can't all go to see Adroa; it's too aggressive.”
“I think it's just enough aggression,” Thor argued. “He needs to feel the magnitude of what his badder half is doing.”
Badder half—that got me to crack a smile.
“Thor's right,” I said to Odin. “We all want to be there so we should all go. No one should have to sit this out. Not this time.”
“Fine,” Odin huffed and headed for the tracing room. “Form a damn line.”
“Give me a second; I need to hug my children,” I hurried off.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Mufasa—I meanMukasa—was a Ugandan god, not the Lion King. Odin was friends with him but he didn't have access to Mukasa's territory. Fair enough. But that meant that we had to find another way to contact Mukasa, and he wasn't one of the gods able to take phone calls or texts in the God Realm. So, we had to old school it.
We came out of the Aether into the warm evening of an African summer. The time was the same as Pride Palace's but it was a bit warmer there. I hadn't realized until then how much my magic moderates the weather in my territory. The heat didn't bother me—I rather enjoyed it—but some of the other gods made sounds of distress and pulled their clothing away from their suddenly sweaty chests. Then the breeze shifted and with it came some cool humidity—we were close to water.
“Ow! What the flying fuck?” Morpheus cursed as he smacked himself on the neck. He brought his hand down and stared at his palm. “It bit me.”
Blue waved a hand gracefully around his face, chasing away another insect. In fact, everyone started swatting and growling at the pesky bugs.
“Tsetse flies,” Odin said with a chuckle. “These islands are named for them because they swarm here.”
“What islands?” Trevor growled as he flinched away from a fly. “Where the hell are we? Or is it Hell?”
“That's a good idea, Trevor. I think I should add a version of this place to Hell,” Hades said thoughtfully as he held a hand aloft and set it aflame. He started waving his blazing hand and killing flies like a living bug zapper. “I'll call it the Fury of the Flies.”
“Would that make you the Lord of the Flies?” I teased.
Hades grimaced.
“I think there may be a cell like this in the Ice Block.” Azrael had his wings closed protectively around himself. “It's an effective form of torture.”
I started to laugh at all of the annoyed faces but then one of the little bastards bit me. I snarled, smashed it into fly goo, and shifted my skin to scales. “Bite me now, you little vampires, I dare you.” I glanced over and caught Eztli's grimace. “Sorry. No offense to real vampires.”
She chuckled. “Usually, our victims enjoy being bitten.”
“Why aren't you getting bit?” Pan asked Eztli as he waved frantically around himself.
“Bad blood.” Eztli grinned wickedly, showing off her fangs.
“I'm seriously reconsidering whether I need to be here,” Teharon grumbled.
