I woke up the next morning to roaring. Not the lion variety but that of a man. Or a god, rather.
After pulling something on, I raced downstairs with Re, Viper, and Odin. The other men stayed behind to handle the children. The four of us came out of the elevator to find Jesus standing in the foyer, hands clenched into fists and face tight with rage. Salem peeked his head in through the front doorway, then quickly withdrew.
“Jesus!” I ran up to him and grabbed his forearms. “Hey! What's happened?”
“The Grayel is gone!” Jesus said.
“What?”
“It's gone, Vervain. It has to be my father. He must have gotten the tracing chant from Zachariel and came here on his own.”
“No, I warded the territory from him when I went to fetch the kids last night.”
“Then he must have done it during or right after the battle.”
“How could he get that massive machine out of here without anyone noticing?”
“It's not a massive machine,” Odin said.
“Uh, yes, it is. The chalice is just the receptacle for what the Grayel produces, and the Grayel is a big machine,” I said. “I should know, I've drunk from the chalice.”
“And I saw Jesus bring—” Odin started to say.
“The Grayel can be condensed into a case,” Jesus cut him off. “The chalice is set into the case for transport. Both are required for the immortality elixir to be brewed and both are missing!”
“What's going on?” Azrael came out of the elevator with my other husbands and children.
Meanwhile, Intare were descending the stairs, rubbing at their eyes and yawning. They gathered around us, several plopping down on the stairs to watch the drama.
“He's taken the Grayel, Az,” Jesus said. “My father has stolen the Grayel.”
“Son a bi—” Az looked at our twins, both in his arms, and altered the trajectory of his curse. “. . . bitcoin.”
“Someone mention bitcoins?” Torrent asked as he came out of the tracing room with Artemis. “I can totally hook you up.”
“What are you doing here?” I asked Torr.
Torr's face went grim. “There's something you need to see.”
“Whatever it is can wait,” Jesus said. “My father has the Grayel.”
“That's the thing that makes the immortality juice, right?” Torrent asked.
“Yes, it's that thing,” Jesus huffed.
“What happened to your whole hippie vibe?” Artemis asked.
“I don't have time for a vibe! The Supreme Dick of the Universe has stolen my cup!”
“Brother,” Azrael said gently, then looked pointedly at the children.
“Oh, darn. I'm sorry, kids. Don't listen to Uncle J right now.”
“Why are you so angry, Uncle Jesus?” Lesya asked.
“Because my daddy stole something very important from me.”
“Daddies don't steal,” Lesya said, her hand firmly held by her father.
