Chapter Nine
After dragging Kirill and Viper away from the baby animals, we headed home—my husbands and I to Pride Palace, and Hades to the Greek Underworld. Hades wasn't thrilled, but there wasn't anything more for him to do. We wouldn't know if we were going to Naraka for a while. So, we promised to text him with any news.
We'd been making that promise a lot lately.
“How did it go?” Trevor came into the entry hall from outside.
We froze.
“What?” Trevor demanded.
Odin came in after him, looked at our faces, and cursed. “Frozen Fudgesicles!”
“Souls aren't getting where they're supposed to be.” I glanced around them. “Where are the kids?”
“The older ones are doing schoolwork, and the twins are having a nap.” Trevor nodded toward the veranda. “It was just Odin and me out there. Some of the Intare are off on a run, but they shouldn't be back for a while. Should we sit down?”
“Let's go into the dining hall.” I went in that direction. “I need a drink.”
“I second that notion.” Re followed me, with the others close behind.
We went down the long room along the dining table to the far end. A swinging door took me into the industrial-sized kitchen. I veered around a huge butcher block worktable in the center of the room and went to search the cupboards for something strong. I found a bottle of Duat wine and opened it.
Re grabbed some glasses while Viper took some bottles of hellbrew out of the refrigerator. We returned to the dining hall and sat at the table where the other men were waiting.
“Tell us,” Odin said.
“And why are you with them, Az?” Trevor added.
“Jesus asked me to come by Heaven.” Azrael opened a beer by pulling the cap off with his bare hand. Bottle openers are unnecessary when you're a god. “He texted Vervain as well.”
“The banks of the Lethe were empty.” I poured myself a glass of wine and then passed the bottle to Re. “Charon was surfing.”
Trevor snorted. “That tracks. So where are the souls?”
“That's the question.” Re poured a glass and gave it to Trevor. “While we were in the Greek Underworld, Hades sensed a soul approaching, but then it vanished.”
“Vanished or diverted?” I asked Re.
“I'm guessing the latter.” Re looked back at the others. “Hades said it slipped away. He believes it was taken from him.”
“Wait.” Odin leaned onto the table. “Souls are being diverted? By whom?”
“The trickster, of course.” Viper took a swig of beer and then looked around. “What? It has gotta be them.”
The men looked at me.
“It's a possibility,” I admitted. “I was certain at first, but after talking to that soul in Heaven, I'm not so sure.”
“What?” Viper looked baffled. “It's obviously them! Ty vanishes, gods are missing important stuff, and now this. They have to be connected, and that means the trickster is doing this.”
“Look, I know the trickster is crazy, but they believe they are helping people.” I looked around the table. “That has been their motivation from the beginning. I think Ty went willingly with the trickster, but I'm not sure the trickster is behind everything else.”
“Then who?” Trevor asked.
“I don't know. Maybe someone who's impersonating the trickster.”
“That would be a hell of a coincidence,” Azrael said.
