“Oh, enough of this!” Azrael declared as he swooshed open his wings and started fanning them, blowing the biting flies away.
The God Squad drew closer to the angel—Hades turning off his flames—and gave a collective sigh of relief. Morpheus, who'd had his wings hidden, released them to do the same. The Angel and the Dream God spread out and were able to cover the entire squad—a pair of divine fan boys. Azrael's wings were glorious, but Morph has stars within the midnight black of his feathers, and I couldn't help admiring the way they twinkled. Honestly, I was just glad I didn't have to add my wings to the mix; I didn't want to ruin my shirt.
I slid back into my normal skin and grinned at my brilliant husband. “Good idea, Az.”
“If you're all done whining about insects, maybe we could contact Mukasa?” Odin asked dryly.
“Waiting on you, babe.” I motioned him forward.
Odin rolled his beautiful, peacock eyes and headed off across the grass. It was a lovely place if you could get past the flies and really, once we were further away from the wooded area at our back, the threatening sound of buzzing faded until Az and Morph were able to give their wings a rest. The island reminded me a little of Hawaii, with the smell of saltwater on the air and the prevalence of palm trees, but some of the plant life—the trees in particular—was distinctly different than what you'd find in the Pacific. It was as if someone had blended Pride Palace's terrain with that of a tropical island. And that worked for me; I started to enjoy the hike.
“Is this island inhabited?” Persephone asked as she checked out the unique foliage; plants are kinda her thing.
“No. This island is home to Mukasa's main shrine and so it's visited when needed but no one lives here anymore,” Odin said.
“The main shrine?” I asked. “He's still worshiped? I thought the area was mainly Catholic?”
“The Ugandans are similar to Vodou practitioners in that they blend Catholicism or Christianity with their old religions. Mukasa has done much good for his people; they remember and respect him.” Odin brought us to a packed-earth path. “And to answer your earlier question, Trevor, this is Bubembe Island, one of eighty islands in the Ssese island chain. We're not in an ocean but a very large lake—Lake Victoria.”
“I'm more of a mountain man than an islander,” Trevor muttered.
“We won't be here long,” Odin promised. “Here it is.”
The path ended in a packed earth clearing. In the clearing were two buildings—two huts, to be specific. They had conical roofs that went all the way to the ground, making them both roof and walls, I suppose. These roof-walls were made of thatched grass with only one opening at center-front—an arched overhang that sheltered open doorways. They vaguely resembled tepees but were larger, sturdier—as evidenced by the thick poles within the arches, wider, and drabber. One hut was smaller than the other and it was to the smaller hut that Odin headed.
“This is where the medium comes to speak with Mukasa.” Odin hunched over to get through the doorway.
Inside, the hut was cool and dry. Woven-reed walls rose from the dirt floor. A fire pit waited in the center of the space and a charred wooden platform, its poles laid in a crisscross pattern like a grate, sat over it.
“Open concept,” I noted. “Looks like the medium is a minimalist. There's not even a chair.”
“Do we have to roast a pig or something?” Morpheus asked as he peered at the pile of wood that waited beneath the platform.
“That's not a barbecue grill,” Odin glanced from Morph to me. “That's the medium's chair.”
“She cooks herself?” Morpheus asked in horror.
“Hardly.” Odin rolled his eyes. “As you can see, the platform is high enough that she wouldn't get burned, only enveloped in the smoke. Mukasa is one of the few gods who never accepted human sacrifice, only animal.”
“Please tell me that we don't have to get up there on that contraption and light a fire to contact him.” Sarasvati made a face.
“No, the fire alone will do the trick,” Odin said as he waved me forward. “Lighting it is enough to gain Mukasa's attention. Would you do the honor, Vervain?”
I blew a stream of fire onto the waiting wood and it quickly caught. Flames rose but not high enough to threaten the platform.
“I don't know why that's sexy, but it is,” Viper said as he sidled closer to me.
“Slow your role, lover.” I held up a hand but also grinned to soften the blow. “We're waiting on company and although I'm a faerie, I'm not an exhibitionist. At least, not outside of our relationship.”
“What's this about Faeries?” Viper asked with a lifted brow.
“Evidently, public sex is not an issue for them.” I grimaced. “Or rather, I have an issue with it because they don't.”
“Faeries have sex in public?” Re asked with obvious interest. “Are we talking orgies or just one on one?”
“One on one, but don't get me started.” I pointed at him. “I've just found out about it and I'm not pleased.”
“Youjustfound out?” Trevor lifted a dubious brow. “You and Arach nearly went at it in front of everyone after that hunt we were invited to and none of the faeries there even batted an eye.”
