She’d never expected anything even close to a traditionallife with Azagoth, but sometimes hearing how normal things could be, even forbiblical legends, made her a little envious.
Would anyone hold a shower for her baby when the time came?Would Azagoth even be excited, given that their child would be only one ofthousands?
“Hey,” Idess said softly.“Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Lilliana said, and she was.
Really.She was a little tired, maybe, and if she was honestwith herself, she’d say she was a bit lonely.Whatever was going on withAzagoth had taken him away from her, not just emotionally, but physically, too.
Well, except when it came to sex.Which, she just realized,might be the key to getting him to talk.She just had to go about it in adifferent way.
With a shaking hand, she poured another glass of liquidresolve.
Azagoth was about to get a lesson in abstinence, and he wasvery much not fond of being told no.
Chapter Seven
Sheoul-gra, and all its ancient Greek glory, wasteeming with activity when Hawkyn arrived.It took a minute to figure out whycolorful paper lights had been strung up between trees and buildings, food anddrink had been set out on dozens of long trestle tables, and music was beingstreamed via magical conduits that dispersed sound evenly throughout the entirerealm.
It was The Celebration of AngelsDay,a holiday he figured had been invented to let typically uptight angels releasea little pressure.Rumor had it that angels could do whatever they wanted onthis day and there would be no repercussions.
Hawkyn wasn’t going to take that chance.
“Hey, man.”Cipher, his long blond hair tied back with astrip of leather, clapped him on the shoulder and drained a cup of mead.TheUnfallen angel loved his nasty ancient beverages.“Where’ve you been?”
Journey flanked his other side.“Dude, you were gone fordays.”
“Days, dude,” Maddox agreed as he stumbled alongsideJourney.Hawk had known Maddox for over a hundred years, and although hisbrother was older by twenty years, he still acted like a delinquent teen human.
“What, you guys are my babysitters now?”
Cipher snagged another cup of mead off a nearby table.“Youmissed game night.”
“And movie night,” Journey chimed in.“We watched JohnWick.”
“The second one,” Mad added.“It was awesome.If thatcharacter was real, he’d totally be Primori.”
“I’ll bet Keanu Reeves is,” Cipher said.“He’s had a bigimpact on society.”
“I heard he’s a vampire.Or a demon.”Maddox gestured at thenearby gazebo.“And speaking of demons, you just missed Idess.Well, you missedher by a couple of hours, I guess.”
Cipher braced his shoulder against a marble column, proppingthe heel of his boot on the snout of a demon carved into the base.“Who’sIdess?”
“Of all my father’s children,” Hawkyn said, “she’shis favorite.”He waved to his half-brother Emerico,who headed their way.
Journey snorted.“You could have fooled me.”
“What do you mean?”
“She came to see him with her demon kid, but he barely spoketo her.Totally ignored her demonlet, and then he took off.Left Idess withLilliana.Our father can be a dick sometimes.”
“Sometimes?”Emerico joined them, his spiky black hairlooking like something out of a cartoon.“He’s a fucking career dick.I askedhim why we can’t enter the Inner Sanctum and he said he doesn’t trust us.Likewe’re children.Bastard.”
“Shh.”Mad looked around wildly and lowered his voice.“He’ll hear you.”
“I don’t give a shit,” Journey said, all puffed up like arooster.“I’ve told him the same thing to his face.”
“To his face?”Hawkyn was more than a little skeptical.
