“Oh, I knew you'd figure it out!” He strolled over and tapped me on the shoulder. “Well done. And sorry about that. I wasn't going to hurt Viper, but you were about to catch me. I had to buy some time.”
“Who the fuck are you?”
Katila snorted.
The man laughed and jerked his thumb at Katila. “He asked the same question after I brought him back. Same question exactly.”
“Why did you . . . wait. You had no scent. I couldn't track you. I assumed you were Katila. Is it the suit?”
“No, not the suit. I borrowed Katila's I'm-not-here magic.” The man grinned.
“Borrowed? You have the magic of borrowing?”
“Oh, no. Not like your son, Brevyn, no. I've found another way to borrow magic.”
“Enough explaining to her,” Katila huffed. “She doesn't need to know all this.”
“Why not?” The man crossed his arms. “I like her. And she's played my game with such gusto. I think she deserves to know why.”
“I do,” I growled. “So, why? Why are you doing this?”
“For fun!” The man declared and tossed out his hands. “Azrael has been bringing you down with all his drama. And the humans, ugh! I try to show them the way, but they don't listen to me anymore. I have such knowledge to share. But anyway.” He shrugged. “You needed a new villain to fight. So here I am. Bwahahaha.” He rubbed his hands together.
I frowned at that. It looked so familiar. Maybe because I had made fun of villains in a similar way. “You did all this because you thought my life was boring?”
“Oh, no. Of course not. I did all this to advance the human raceandbecause your life has gotten stale.”
“What?” I scowled at him.
“He can be hard to follow sometimes.” Katila, standing behind the other man, twirled a finger beside his temple and widened his eyes at me.
Oh, that was rich—Katila calling this guy crazy.
“Look, your man messed with the status quo, and I love that. Well done him. And well done to you before that. But it's left things a bit of a mess. You're trying to clean it up, I'll give you that. But the humans are so baffled that they're stuck. They're not advancing. They don't have to advance now that you've revealed faeries to them. There's magic in the world. Magic they believe in. It inspires some of them, but others have sort of given up. They need a jolt.”
“And attacking us will give them a jolt?”
“It's a process.” The man took the seat beside mine.
I finally realized we were in Naraka, back in that enormous living room I'd been in with Katila. Great.
“A process?” I asked. “The humans aren't a part of this. You've played your games with gods alone. And how did you get into Faerie?”
“I have my ways.” He winked at me.
“Who are you?” I asked again. “You're not Fey.”
“Oh, come now, Vervain. We both know you're going to escape and run back to your God Squad. I can't give you my name. Not yet.”
“Then explain a little more. How is abducting a dog, a child, and two men helping the human race?”
The man went serious. “Humans need to see that magic isn't everything. That even the great Faerie God can be led around the world like a puppy. That those under his protection are not as safe as they seem. I had no intention of hurting anyone. All who were taken were returned to you.”
“You hung Princess over a pitchfork!”
“But did I?” He leaned forward and grinned. “I didn't. I made itlookas if I hung her over a pitchfork. The rod wouldn't have hurt her. I made sure to place it perfectly so that she'd fall to the side if you didn't save her in time. But I had faith in you.” He leaned his elbows on his knees then set his chin on his fists. “The Godhunter. The Queen of Fire. The O.G. Fairy Godmother. It's so cool to sit here, face-to-face with you at last.”
“She's going to be my wife,” Katila said. “You agreed.”
