“You took a potentially fatal blow just to get the scythe to Vervain,” Az said. “She may have wielded it in the end, but the victory was yours.”
“Az,” Satan whispered.
“You saved us all, Dad. Me, Vervain, our unborn children, and the whole world. The Devil saved the world.”
“If only the humans knew who you really are,” I said.
“Oh, goodness, no!” Lucifer said in a horrified tone. “Then all that lovely energy would stop flowing to me. No, I don't mind being the villain. It's a sort of sweet irony that Jerry put me in this role, believing that he was hurting me, and ended up giving me the better end of the deal.”
“It takes a really good man to play the part of a villain without letting it infect him,” I said.
“Okay, okay.” Luke waved us off. “I don't need any more ego-stroking.”
“Are you sure?” Cid asked. “Cause I could tell a few more stories.”
“No!” Lucifer practically shrieked.
Cid smirked.
“What stories?” Azrael asked.
“Nothing. There arenostories.” The Devil gave his right-hand Demon a stern look.
Cid smirked harder. “Nope, no stories.”
“We could tell you some stories about Azrael,” Samuel said as he stepped over with the other Horsemen. “Tales that would lift a few brows.”
“No, you could not,” Azrael said in the same tone his father had used with Cid.
“Wild stories?” I asked.
“Oh, yeah,” Thad said. “Your boy was a damn lunatic.”
I looked at Azrael.
“I was young once, just like everyone,” Azrael said.
“There was that Day of the Dead festival in Cancún,” Ira said. “You guys remember how we hijacked that parade float?”
“Oh, yeah!” Sam said. “And Azrael shifted into his Death form, thinking that he'd blend in, but he didn't.”
“Because Mexicans know Death better than most,” Ira said. “They all started to kneel as he passed by. Totally ruined the party vibe.”
“Buzzkill!” Thad chortled as he slapped Azrael's back.
“Stop now or I will kill you and tell everyone you died of natural causes,” Az said dryly.
“That's a Southern saying—I'll kill ya and tell everyone you died,” Austin slurred as he stumbled past.
Azrael glanced at Austin, shook his head, then refocused his glare on Thad.
“He was so disappointed,” Thad said to me. “Poor guy just traced away in a huff.”
A muscle in Azrael's cheek twitched.
I knew that Az has always loved humans, and he took his role as Death very seriously. But he'd always felt alone, unable to interact with humans in any way other than their death experience. He could offer them comfort too, but that was done while he was invisible and wasn't much of an interaction.Iknew all that, but it appeared that his closest friends didn't.
“If you want a good story, you should ask Thor about the rock in his head,” I said.
