“Short version is that Odin seeped all of Loki’s powers into Valleywood's magic, so in a sense, the town belongs to him, but he can only use a small amount of it. He has to do good deeds in order to get it all back. Remember, this is Loki, so you know how long that’s going to take.”
“Forever,” Uriel said, and Azazel could see that he was trying his best not to laugh at Loki’s expense. He cleared his throat, then spoke. “You’ll never learn your lesson, so I won’t spare the breath to lecture you, but what I will say is thank you for killing Angrboda on Donald’s behalf. I know how much having her on your side meant to you. But even with that, this still does not make us friends. I don’t like you. I know that you don’t want me and Azazel together, but tough shit, I’m done with letting others influence our relationship.”
Loki stared at Uriel for a few seconds. “I feel the same about you, but he chose you. If you hurt him again, I will hunt you down and kill you with my bare hands.”
“Try it and see what happens,” said a fresh voice.
Everyone turned to see Orion enter the room. Before Azazel could welcome the man, Uriel rushed over to the newcomer and hugged him tightly.
“What are you doing here?” Uriel asked.
“You get admitted to the hospital and you expect me to stay put? Not gonna happen. Plus, Benito is in town.”
“What?” Uriel asked. “Why?”
“I’m guessing to see you,” Orion said. "Or rather, Blue."
While Orion and Uriel talked, Loki stepped closer to Azazel. “That’s who I saw him with that night. Are you okay with Uriel and his former lover being so close?”
Azazel side-eyed Loki. “Orion is not, nor has he ever been, his lover. They are like you and me. Friends through thick and thin, plus he's Kristoph’s godfather.”
“Who the hell is Kristoph?”
Azazel wanted to chuckle at the confused look on Loki’s face. “Your godson.”
“You have another son besides Donald? How old is this one?”
“He’s ten.”
“Are you sure the kid is yours? The math is off.”
Azazel chuckled. “I’m sure. After everything is taken care of, I’ll explain things to you.” Azazel looked at his friend, recalling that he’d shown up unannounced. “Why are you here?”
“I heard you canceled all of your meetings, so I came to find you.”
“Oh,” Azazel said. Just as he was going to say more, Uriel walked over to him.
“Azazel, we need to get me out of here,” Uriel said. “I need to clean up this Blue and Benito mess. Kayne is on his way to meet with Alistaire, and Synder is staying with Kristoph.”
“We also need to find the guy who stabbed you,” Azazel said.
“Let’s leave that to Alistaire,” Orion said. “What we need to find out is where a human got that knife from.”
“What knife?” Loki asked.
“You’re the mayor of this damn city and you don’t know what the fuck is going on?” Orion sneered. “What the hell have you been doing for the past year! All you know how to do is manipulate people.”
“What the hell is your problem? I don’t even know who you are. How dare you judge me?” Loki paused and narrowed his eyes, but the blatant hunger Azazel saw could not be hidden, the way he was staring at Orion, looking him up and down. “Did I fuck you and forget you?”
Both Azazel and Uriel, who had been silent, stepped back simultaneously, away from Loki and Orion. Azazel looked at Orion, who had a smile on his face.
“You poor thing, you’re trying to bait me into challenging you to fuck me,” Orion said in a mocking tone. “It’s a pity you will never know how good I am. Hell, one night with me and you just might get your full powers back.”
“I’ll pass,” Loki said.
“I wasn’t offering,” Orion countered.
“All right, you two, that’s enough,” Azazel said. “We’ve wasted enough time horsing around.” He turned to Loki when an idea came to him. Azazel knew that he didn’t have to ask Loki for help and explained what he needed. “I can’t go into specifics right now. I need you to reach out to your connections to find a weapon for me. Baby, do you think you can draw a picture of the weapon so that Loki knows what we are looking for?”
