Jesus stepped back, a look of peace on his face.
In a booming voice, Samael declared, “I am the Wrath of God no longer!”
Chapter Thirty-Eight
Lucifer sent Jesus to Heaven with the Archangels and Jehovah's body while the rest of us started cleaning the palace, trying to set it as much back to rights as we could. A lot of artwork couldn't be saved and the plaster would have to be redone, but our apple-enhanced magic made quick work of putting things into orderly piles and repairing as much of the structure as was possible without masons and carpenters. We were almost done when a group of Angels strode up to Azrael.
“We've brought the reporters back,” one of the Angels said. “We were able to convince them that this was a battle between faeries and you were protecting them and trying to save them from the King Arthur impostor. Will you speak with them?”
“Yes, of course.” Azrael, still in his Faerie God form, started off with them.
“I'm going with you.” I fell into step beside him.
“That's not necessary, Carus.” Az lifted my clawed hand and kissed its golden scales. “I'll just tell them that we're all faeries. The Angels are Air-Sidhe and the Demons are from the Earth Kingdom. After the incident with the Filipino Gods in Texas, they'll be relieved that they aren't more monsters.”
“And I need to speak with you, Vervain,” Arach said.
My Fey husband had used his dragon form to help with the clean-up, but now he was in his weredragon body, one similar to mine but with red scales instead of gold. Azrael widened his eyes at Arach—this wasn't a form he took often and it was a striking look. But Arach didn't even glance at Az, his furious, yellow, dragon eyes were locked on me and his long tail whipped around his legs as if searching for a victim. Yeah, he was pissed.
“Fine,” I said to Arach. To Az, I added, “Be sure to tell them that the impostor is dead.”
“I will.”
Arach didn't say anything. He just grabbed my hand and dragged me into the Picture Gallery, then into another room near the end of the hall. I glanced around the room as Arach closed the door. A bed dressed in white silk stood to my left with a teester above its padded headboard, pale blue silk trailing from it. A couch sat at the end of the bed and to the right of it, a dressing table was set in front of the window.
“Go figure you'd find a bedroom here.” I rolled my eyes as I turned around.
Arach had just finished locking the door. I didn't expect him to be suddenly in front of me, much less tackle me onto the bed. I lay on the silk, staring up at his bared teeth in shock as his hands went to my wrists and pushed them down beside my head.
“Banish your wings,” he said.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” I growled.
“Put them away, Vervain!”
“Fine!” My wings vanished, allowing Arach to press my hands into the bed.
“You promised me!” he roared. “You swore to me that you would summon me if you went to war.”
“Arach, I—”
He snapped his teeth at me.
Holy shit!
“For fire's sake, will you calm down? I already told you why—”
“You broke your promise!”
“I'm sorry!”
“Show me,” his voice dropped into a growl. “Show me now, Vervain. Now!”
What the fudge brownies was this?
“Show you?” I asked. “What do you—” His cock slid free of its scaled covering, hardening as it moved over the shield that guarded my sex. “Oh.”
You'd think scales would be a detriment to sex, but if you touched them in the right way, stroking instead of stabbing, they conveyed sensation deliciously. That one caress of his shaft set me to trembling.
