“Thank you, Godhunter.” Ereshkigal shook my hand. “I don't enjoy waiting, but I understand that we have no other option.”
“Please, call me Vervain. And believe me, I'm more anxious than you are. You lost a set of keys. I lost my brother.”
She nodded crisply and headed for the stairs with Ninkasi.
I looked around at my family. “Let's go home.”
Chapter Five
The next morning, I had breakfast with my husbands and children. As usual, we took the kids outside after we ate and lounged on the veranda as they played in their mini castle and drove their little cars. Yes, I made my children miniature cars to drive around the grasslands. Now that they were getting older, I had to adjust the cars to suit them. Lesya's car was a pink 1956 Chevrolet Corvette convertible, thanks to the Barbie movie. A different sort of hero inspired Vero. He asked for John Wick's car. I had to look it up. It's a black 1969 Ford Mustang Mach 1. Not that I needed to know what it was to make it. I just had to hold an image in my head. I made Zariel an open-top Land Cruiser. She wasn’t influenced by a movie, but by her father. Of course, Dominic and Sebastian didn't drive. They preferred to fly. So, as three very different mini vehicles sped around the meadow before the palace, two little Fey-Angels dive-bombed them.
Trevor said it was good for them.
After an hour spent with my family, I went up to the library. Odin left as well, going to Valaskjalf, his hall in Asgard, to look through his library there. It was more impressive than mine as far as occult books went, but you never know. What we need could be in a book of myths or even a random history of the Gods.
It had been a while since I had researched anything, and it felt good to walk down the aisles formed by the soaring shelves, sliding my finger over titles until I found books that might contain something helpful. With my arms full of old books with serious covers, I went to the study table in the center of the room.
I didn't know what I was looking for, but that's how it goes. When you have a library as big as mine, it's impossible to remember the contents of every book. So, I searched and searched, annoyed that most spellbooks didn't have a table of contents. I was swaying in my seat, eyes drifting shut, when my cellphone buzzed.
Fumbling through the piles of books, I found the phone and checked my messages. I was hoping it was Fenrir with good news. It was not.
“What the Hades?” I frowned at the text from Persephone. Then I stood up and hurried out of the room.
I found my husbands outside, most of them playing some kind of ball game with the kids. Re, however, lounged on a chaise, holding a glass of golden liquid that matched his coloring. Samantha sat beside him with a cup of coffee.
“My love!” Re twirled to his feet, his lithe body reminding me of a ballet dancer. “You're done already? Did you find something we can use to track down the brigand?”
“You've been watchingPoldarkagain, haven't you?”
Re cleared his throat. “Outlander, actually.”
“Ah, well, I haven't found anything yet. I got a text from Persephone.” I glanced at the game. “Damn, I don't want to disturb them, but they're going to want to know.”
Samantha stood up and whistled. It was one of those ear-piercing sounds that makes everyone take notice. And they did. She waved them over and motioned to me.
“Thanks, Sam,” I said.
“No problem. I don't have any plans for today if you need to take your husbands with you.” She motioned at her husband, Fallon, to stay where he was, out in the meadow with the kids.
“I don't think we all need to go.”
“Go where?” Azrael came up the steps first, folding his black wings tightly to his back. “I’m meeting with Elliot Gray in about an hour.”
“That's fine. I just wanted to let all of you know that I'm going to the Greek Underworld. Persephone just texted. She said they needed me there. Now.”
“I'll go with you, La-la,” Re offered.
“Me too.” Viper grabbed his shirt from the back of a chair and pulled it on.
“Da, I go as vell.” Kirill pulled on his shirt.
I tried not to sigh about the sudden lack of bare chests.
Trevor glanced at the kids.
“Stay, honey-eyes,” I said to him. “I know you want to be here in case Fenrir texts.”
“No, it's not that. He can text me in the Underworld. I just have a bad feeling about leaving the kids here. I don't like that the trickster got past our wards.”
