As I mentioned, there were more people in my bedroom than usual. The entire God Squad to be specific.
“I don't know. He's in there, and he's not dying, so that's good. But he's not responsive either. It's like he's in stasis. I reach for him, but he can't reach back. He won't respond to anything I say to him telepathically, either.” I looked at Kirill. “This has to be a result of using your Death Magic together. What were you thinking? You didn't train with Az. And Azrael could have handled that shifter in seconds! Why would you bother using that magic? We didn't want to kill him! He was right to send that wave to us. He had to defend himself.”
“Shh, now, La-la,” Re cooed as he slid onto the bed behindme and wrapped his arms around me. His skin heated, and the warmth sank into me, soothing me. “No one wanted this.”
“Fuck,” I whispered. “What the fuck happened?”
“You sent Torrent to fetch me,” Odin said. “But I arrived too late. You went over the side of the dam with Kirill and Azrael. We couldn't catch you. Had to chase the three of you down the river. When we finally pulled you out, all three of you were unconscious. Kirill came to first, and then you woke up, but Az has been like this ever since.”
“Kirill,” I growled. “You are the one I want answers from.”
Kirill crawled onto the mattress and laid his head on my lap. “I'm sorry, Tima. I failed you.”
It had been a long time since Kirill had treated me like his Tima. Not that he disrespected me. He would never. But he had gained confidence after becoming the Lion God of Winter and Death. He was more aggressive now. More alpha. And that was a good thing, considering how broken he'd been before. Dying and coming back to life had helped heal him, but it was godhood that really made him epic.
That god was gone now. Kirill was back to the man he'd been when I'd found him—chained and beaten down into submission. It hurt to see him like that. It hurt enough to get me past my anger.
“Don't do that,” I whispered as I wrapped myself around him.
Re eased back to let us have a moment.
Kirill shuddered and turned toward me, bending his knees to curl around me. “Ve vere too cocky. Ve tried to bind the beaver vith Death. Only bind, not kill. But it vas too complicated. I pulled out of spell ven it started to go vrong, but Az . . .”
“All right, stop that, Kirill,” I stroked his long hair. “I'm not your Tima anymore, remember? You're god to my goddess. And you are bound to Azrael now too. You don't get to lay this at my feet and ask me to fix it like one of the kids. You're going to help me fix this because that's what gods do.”
“Vervain,” Kirill whispered.
“Fuck, I can't watch this. This is brutal,” someone in the Squad muttered. I think it was Morpheus.
Whoever it was, the God Squad eased back as a whole and moved over to the kitchenette. Enough distance to give us some privacy until Kirill got his shit together. But they weren't leaving. They knew they'd be needed.
“I'll make some coffee,” Viper said.
Yeah, my husbands had gone with the Squad. All but Odin, who sat on Azrael's other side, holding his hand.
“Get up, Kirill,” I said, my tone going harsh. I was getting angry again. I wanted to comfort him, but I knew he needed something else from me. And that pissed me off. I wanted to be the one who got to fall apart. I needed that right then, but he took it from me. “Get up!” I hissed.
Kirill sat up, blinking his wet eyes. “I'm sorry.”
“I know. But I don't need you to apologize. I need you to connect with Az and Odin.” I waved at Odin. “I tried to reach Az, and I couldn't. Now, you two need to try.”
“She's right,” Odin said. “Take his hand, Kirill. We can look into Azrael through our bond. Maybe we'll be able to sense something that Vervain couldn't.”
Kirill swiped at his cheeks, then moved to sit beside Azrael's hip. He took Azrael's hand, bent his head, and closed his eyes, his hair falling around him. Odin nodded at me, then shuthis eyes too.
Then came the waiting. It seemed as if they searched within Azrael for hours, but it was just a few minutes. I know because they came back just after the coffee pot chimed. Kirill and Odin blinked out of their trance at the same time and looked at me.
“Son of a bitch!” I hissed, reading their expressions.
“That doesn't bode well,” Blue said from his seat at the table beside Que.
“Let's go talk with the others,” Odin said as he climbed out of bed.
“One second,” I growled and got out of bed too. I made a beeline for the bathroom, shut the door, went to the far side of the massive room, and screamed into a towel. Again and again and again. I screamed until my throat burned, my eyes burned, and my hands burned. I screamed until the towel literally caught fire and dissolved into cinders. Then, panting for breath, I stared at the ash on my hands.
Azrael. Lost in himself. It seemed impossible. He had become the strongest of my husbands. Stronger than me. Maybe. I don't know. Yeah, probably. He had control over the Wild Magic and Death. He couldn't shift into a dragon, but he practically ruled the world. Okay, now I was trying to distract myself. That would help about as much as the screaming. And Az wasn't dead. He needed my help. I just had to figure out what that help was.
I didn't rush out to speak to Kirill and Odin. I didn't need to hear what they'd seen inside Az to know that the Angel of Death was in a personal purgatory. Something they did triggered this. Azrael and Kirill. But I didn't think Kirill was the key to waking Azrael up. At the moment, there was only one option I could think of. It was a long shot, but I was a faerie. Partially. I had to try.
