“It's all right,” Taran said. “You guys go ahead. I think I'm going to stay awhile.”
“Feel free to bring some guests up here,” Trevor said. “I'll let Ty know to look after you.”
“Thanks. This has been helpful and entertaining.” Taran stood up with Trevor and they shook hands.
“I'm sorry to cut your evening short,” Jesus said as he stood up too.
“No, it's fine,” Taran said. “Good luck with your trickster.”
“Thanks.”
I think Taran was trying to be cute and speak Jesus's lingo when he said, “Peace out,” and headed for the stairs with Trevor.
Unfortunately, Jesus wasn't in the right frame of mind for that. He stared after Taran, then shifted his stare to his brother, and said, “Let's hope peace is not out.”
Chapter Three
I stepped out of the Aether and into Araboth's tracing temple. Araboth as in the Seventh Heaven and the Seat of Heavenly Power. A.K.A. the J-man's home base.
And yes, the top tier of the Heavens had a temple for arrivals. I wish I could say it was unusual, but a lot of gods had temples as tracing chambers, even in individual territories. They didn't clean them with bleach, however.
“Ugh!” I cried and ran out of the stone building, holding a hand over my nose.
Trevor raced out behind me, but even after we made it outside, the burning sensation lingered. There was more. I ran until I could take a breath without my nose paying the price. At last, Trevor and I came to a stop and took several deep breaths of fresh air.
“Son of a sock puppet!” Trevor snarled.
“What's going on? Are you two all right?” Abaddon asked as Jesus, Az, and he caught up to us.
“Bleach,” Trevor blew air out of his nose to try to clear it, but the damage was done.
“Strawberry milkshake!” Azrael cursed.
Abaddon looked from Trevor to Az. “Bleach? Strawberry milkshake?”
“They've amended their cursing for the little ones,” Jesus explained, even as he scowled. “I'm so sorry. I didn't notice the smell.”
“It's not your fault. It's too faint for me to notice too,” Az said. “Unfortunately, their sensitive noses will be out of commission for a while.”
“All because of bleach?” Abaddon asked.
“Yes.” I rubbed at my nose. “We could ask Kirill to come over, but if this person bleached the tracing temple, I'm betting they covered their entire trail with it.”
“I say we give our noses time to recover and meet with the God Squad in the morning,” Trevor said. “Then we can come back and investigate with their help.”
“I'm sorry, Brother,” Azrael said. “But I think they're right. That would be best.”
“It's all good,” Jesus said. “I didn't expect you to solve the mystery tonight. And it's not as if they're doing anything violent. My people are safe, and that's what's important.”
“Why don't you come by Pride Palace in the morning?” Trevor suggested. “You can join the meeting.”
“Thanks. I will.” Jesus looked at Abaddon.
“I have to meet with some of the teachers tomorrow morning,” Abaddon said.
“No biggie.” Jesus slapped Abaddon's shoulder. “I can tell them about the library.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
