“It's leading me out of the Aether,” Torrent stopped walking and lifted his free hand to feel the air before him. “There's no ward. This feels . . . odd.” He handed Trevor the jewel. “I'll keep the Internet up until I know what we're facing.”
“Go on,” Fenrir said. “We're ready.”
Torrent walked us out of the Aether and into a vast meadow. He searched the area, but there were no gods to be seen, only souls.
“You can drop the vein, Torr,” I said.
Torrent released the Internet, and it withdrew into the Aether, leaving us visible to those around us. But the souls didn't seem to care. They barely looked at us.
“This is where they took the lost souls.” Odin ventured closer to a soul sitting in the grass. He crouched to peer at the man. “Hello, are you well?”
The man spoke in Chinese, but I understood him—something that only happened in afterlife territories. He said, “I am fine. But do you know me?”
“No, I'm sorry. I don't,” Odin said.
“I don't either.” The man shifted his gaze to the distance.
Odin stood up, looking over the other souls—some wandering aimlessly and others sitting in the grass like the man. “So, they arrive broken no matter where they go.”
“What has that asshole done?” Fenrir growled, his head swinging to take in the field.
Suddenly, the landscape zipped by us while we stood still. We held our arms out, clinging to each other even though we weren't moving. The territory moved around us. Only a few seconds passed before everything went still.
I swayed and then steadied myself to peer up the side of a mountain. The air was crisp, and the sun was bright overhead. At the base of the mountain stood a massive log cabin, reminding me of the one I built for Trevor in Pride Territory. It soared up two stories, each level at least twenty feet high.
“What the fuck just happened?” Fenrir shouted.
“Sorry, that was me.” Modja—or rather, the trickster in their Modja body—materialized before us, with Ty at their side.
They were as beautiful as the last time I'd seen them, with deeply bronzed skin, a voluptuous body, long black hair that fell in tight curls to their waist, and a pair of soft brown eyes with thick lashes.
“Ty!” Fenrir ran forward and embraced his son. “My boy. We've been so worried about you.” He stepped back, but kept a hand on Ty's shoulder.
Ty put a hand over his father's. “I'm fine, Dad. You shouldn't have come.”
Ty looked slightly better than he had this past year—his heartbreak gone, but worry had replaced it. New lines etched the skin between his eyebrows and around his blue eyes.
“Ty, they're stealing souls.” Trevor stepped up beside Fenrir. “Do you really want to be a part of this?”
“I am not stealing souls, and you don't have to use those pronouns with me. When I look like a woman, I am a woman.” The trickster rolled their eyes—or her eyes, rather. “And I'll be a woman as long as Ty stays. So, you don't have to worry about—”
“I don't give a fuck about your fucking pronouns,” Fenrir snarled. “You broke my boy's heart and then manipulated him into helping you wreak havoc. You're a snake. What are snake pronouns? That's what I'll use for you.”
I snorted a laugh.
Viper, however, said, “Uh, I take offense to that.”
Ty removed Fenrir's hand from his shoulder. “Father, she hasn’t manipulated me. I think Agwusi is doing the right thing. She's trying to help humans. When they die, they'll go where they need to be without gods interfering.”
Damn it. There it was. Ty had just confirmed that the trickster was behind everything. I'd been wrong. The Internet wasn't sentient. It wasn't trying to take over. It was just a crazy goddess going even crazier.
“Yeah, that's not working out so well.” Azrael stepped up beside Trevor and glared at the trickster—Agwusi. “I appreciate your help in the past. I owe you a debt of gratitude for making the tool that brought me back. So, considering that, I will not hurt you. I'm just asking you to stop what you're doing. The souls are confused. Broken. They've lost pieces of themselves. All you have to do is look at those whom you’ve drawn here to know I'm right. This isn't helping them.”
“First, you're welcome, Faerie God.” Agwusi inclined her head. “Second, I know about the souls, and I take full responsibility for the machine malfunctioning. I needed more pieces to correct the issues. But I assure you, it's running properly now. Soon, you'll appreciate what I'm doing. Life will be easier for everyone. You, especially, should understand what I'm trying to do. You gave up your duties as the Angel of Death. It was too heavy a burden. And yet, souls get where they need to go without you.”
“What are you saying?” Odin hung back, sticking by my side.
“Things will be as they were, but with no need for your interference. The machine will handle everything. I just need some time to tweak the artificial divinity.”
