“But when I brought Toby back, his magic returned.”
“Because of the spell, Vervain. Human belief. My magic returned to me immediately, but only what that belief could give me. Most of it was locked in Gungnir.”
“Right. Sorry.” I frowned and shook my head. “It's been a long time. Or maybe there are remnants of that Confusion Magic hanging out in my head.”
“You don't need magic to make this confusing,” Viper said. “I have no idea what's going on.”
“We're talking about how I brought Odin back from the Void,” I explained. “There were issues with the body we used. Its memories started taking over because most of Odin's magic had been left in his spear. I had to reunite him with his spear to return the magic to him. Once he had his magic back, his soul was strong enough to claim the body.”
“Uh-huh,” Viper said.
“But all of that is irrelevant,” Arach said. “Katila is dead, and he didn't put his magic into the Pasha.”
“Even if he had, only he would be able to retrieve his magic,” Odin added. “There is no way for another god to get Katila's magic.”
“Unless they're like me and have a way of taking god magic,” I said. “Katila found a way to be like me. By using the Pasha.”
“Katila was a special case,” Odin said. “It was a combination of things that allowed him to use the Pasha like that—his magic, his relationship to the Pasha's previous owner, and the way Demons possess humans. Your average god couldn't pick up the Pasha and drain another god's magic with it.”
“You can drain a god's magic?” Vero asked.
Several pairs of little eyes turned toward Odin.
“Yeah, definitely wait on being a parent again,” Viper whispered to him.
Odin grimaced at Viper before answering Vero, “No, you can't. Your mother is special.”
“We don't know why they took the Pasha,” Azrael said. “That's why we need to get to Makhon andinvestigate.”
“Wait. Makhon?” I asked. “Who had the Pasha?”
“Samael,” Azrael said. “He took it after the, uh, incident.” He glanced at the kids.
The incident where we had killed Katila and his mommy, the Demon Slayer.
“Oh,” I said. “Huh. I must have been distracted.”
“No kidding,” Re drawled.
Right. Re hadn't been thrilled to watch me eat a heart. Az had given him a hard time over that, told him it was my nature and to deal with it. But that was when Re was new to the family.
“I'll see if Samantha can sit with the kids while they finish breakfast,” I said.
“Yay!” Lesya shouted. “Maybe Zariel will want some pancakes. Can I go ask her?”
“Yes, all right.” I waved at the door.
Lesya darted past me, her dark hair streaming behind her.
I looked up and met Kirill's gaze. He grinned. I grinned back. Even the bad days were wonderful with the children.
“There's something else,” Azrael said. “They covered their trail with bleach.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Makhon, the Fifth Heaven, was where most of the Host resided. They held an incredible concert there that Az took me to once. Spectacular, really. The Archangel Samael ruled Makhon. Technically, Jesus ruled all the Heavens, but it seemed as if he was letting the Archangels who were previously in charge of certain heavens keep governing in his name. Whatever the case, Samael still lived in a beautiful mansion on the edge of a fairy-tale forest in Makhon with his wife, Lilith. Yes, that Lilith.
I assumed Samael's marriage to Lilith was more stable now that he wasn't a Jerry supporter. Lilith and Samael had several children, all of whom were Demons because they and Lilith had backed Luke in the war (the first big war that split the pantheon). It's very telling that Lilith earned the title of Mother of Demons, but Samael has never been called their father. Yup, theirs had been a mostly Team Luke household, but that didn't matter to their marriage. Love, for them, was beyond allegiances. I adored that about them. But in the end, Samael had changed sides in a big way.
