“Azrael, you must protect Eden,” Lucifer said grimly.
“I know, Dad. I will.”
Azrael and Michael hurried away, wings twitching—one pair midnight-black and the other white as snow.
“Eden?” Austin asked. “As in the Garden?”
“Yes, it's in Azrael's territory,” I said. “Shehaquim is the Third Heaven. It holds Eden and within the garden are the Tree of Life and the Tree of Knowledge.” Then I blinked and exclaimed, “Holy hamburgers, the Tree of Life!”
“Yes,” Luke said. “That's why it's integral that Azrael protects Eden. Without the Tree of Life, souls can't come forth from the Void to fall into the Guff. Or float up into the Guff, rather.”
“The Guff?” Austin asked.
“The Treasury of Souls in the Seventh Heaven,” I said to him, then looked back at Luke. “The Tree of Life is connected to the Guff and therefore, to Araboth.”
“Yeah, Dad's mind is fried with hate. He hasn't thought it through,” Jesus went grim as well. “All the Heavens are connected.” He wove his fingers together, then drew them apart. “If evil spreads through Shehaquim, it will taint the Tree of Life and the souls upon it.” He drew one of his hands up, waggling the fingers. “When those souls float up to the Guff, they'll infect the souls there, waiting to be born.” He exploded his fingers outward. “And poof! Heaven turns evil.”
“Heaven turns evil with a poof?” Pan whispered to Horus.
Horus smacked Pan.
Luke rubbed at his perfect jaw. “Jerry really has lost his mind. This one action will destroy the Heavens.”
“And those poor souls,” Jesus said. “If Az can't stop the spread, I'm gonna be totally bummed out.”
“The souls wouldn't be born though, right?” Torrent asked. “If they go evil, they won't be born?”
“Not without Gabriel and Lailah working their juju,” Jesus said. “And I don't think either of them would help an evil soul be born.”
“Lailah wouldn't, but Gabriel might,” Luke said. “Don't forget, he was the one who abducted Vervain after killing all those merfolk.”
“Fucking Gabriel,” I muttered.
“Not cool.” Jesus shook his head, then flipped his long hair back, over his shoulders. “That Angel's got issues. Whole subscriptions full.”
“Yes, I would have liked to have tortured that little powder puff, but getting Jerry to make a blood vow that none of his Angels would ever seek to harm a human or a merperson again was worth it.”
“That's right!” I exclaimed. “I forgot about that vow. Doesn't that mean he can't bring the war to Earth?”
Luke winced. “Technically, if they're seeking to hurt gods and faeries, they're not breaking the vow, even if humans get hurt in the process.”
“Damn.”
“Maybe Jerry has found another way around his vow,” Hades said.
“What do you mean?” Horus narrowed his bi-colored eyes—one gold and one silver—at Hades.
“If Gabriel is a staunch Jerry supporter, and he's also the Angel who pulls the souls from the Guff, tainting the souls could be a part of Jerry's plan. He may want Gabriel to put those evil souls into humans. It would cause chaos on Earth.”
“And he's just going to sacrifice all of Heaven to do it?” Pan asked.
We all looked at Jesus.
Jesus squished up his face, emphasizing his hooked nose. “I don't know. This thing with Azrael becoming the Faerie God has really messed with his mind. He just might be crazy enough to destroy it all for vengeance.”
“It wouldn't surprise me,” the Devil said.
“I think it may be time for you to pick up the mantle of Godhunter again, Vervain,” Thor said.
