14. Sometimes, the simplest solutions worked the best. #3
“Excellent. I’ll also work with Sunny as well, as this is my domain as much as it is your wife’s. Fire is our element—although hers is different.”
I sucked in a breath. “Hers is the fire of the sun. Yours is the fire of Hell.”
“I love when my brothers produce smart children—and in her way, your mother is just as clever as you. She’s figured out a lot of this on her own, although she’s not sure which angel her father is.
Her last guesses were Gabriel and Michael, and she met both with her father in the same room, so she’s delightfully confused. She’s a splendid little niece.”
“Should I just call you my uncle?”
“Keeping track of the greats and the grands is so tedious.”
I agreed; my family tree confused me on a good day. “Why does Bailey need a conduit?”
“When pushed too far, she’ll transcend temporarily.
Transcending involves abandoning the mortal coil for a period of time.
However, because hers is temporary and will always be temporary, she needs to figure out a path to return here.
She can only teleport where the sun shines.
Your sun is not the same sun as the one that shines beyond the mortal coil. ”
“Amun-Ra. The sun god. She’s one of his children, isn’t she?”
“She’s broken the rules, yes. She’s one of his children,” the Devil replied.
“So that mortal fucking asshole is Amun-Ra?”
“Not exactly.”
I narrowed my eyes. “Is she the product of a triad?”
“It’s more of a quartet, and a very odd one. Amun-Ra, who does prefer to be called Ra, if you please, gets bored. But he’s a being of sunlight and fire; he never was all that good at manifesting on Earth, so he took over a human for a while. Her human father. This is where it gets complicated.”
“So, Ra possessed Bailey’s mortal asshole of a father?”
“Yes.”
“Let me guess. Someone possessed Bailey’s asshole of a mother, too.”
“You’re such a smart little nephew.”
I groaned and bowed my head. Bailey’s odd genetics began making a sickening amount of sense. “And Ra is the product of other divines, isn’t he?”
“So, so smart. And her divine mother is likewise the product of divines.” The Devil grinned.
“She’s a first. A double possession so two naughty divines could indulge in each other.
They forgot their actions could have consequences.
It’s entirely possible neither realize Bailey was born.
When they learn, your wife will find herself the subject of doting parents. Perhaps for Christmas?”
My eyes widened. “Her mortal parents are not ideal people. She’s having trouble accepting people could care for her.”
“I’ll make arrangements for Christmas and bring them along with your attire for your special day.
She deserves a little joy, and I do enjoy tweaking His nose whenever I can.
As for her mortal parents? No, they aren’t ideal.
There is a special place in my hell for them, as I do not appreciate when anyone mistreats members of my family—which she is thanks to marriage to you.
That arrangement has already been made, and there is insufficient compassion in their darkened hearts to earn His mercy. ”
After what had happened at the courthouse, my grandfather had likely indulged in an angelic temper tantrum, aiding in the loss of two souls from the heavens.
The Devil smiled.
“Who is her mother?”
“A Cahuilla divine representative of the moon, Menily. That’s why they did as they did. Their admiration for each other blurred some lines.”
“Cahuilla?”
“A Native American tribe. Menily is a quiet divine, and as is the way of things, opposites attract. She is a good tempered and sweet divine of the night, a rather misunderstood guardian. Ra is of the day. They met in the middle, possessing a pair of amorous humans for their tryst. They would have conceived your wife without interference, but their magic infused the newly conceived child. Hers was a rather unique conception, really.”
“Unique is one way to put it. Why does Bailey become a unicorn, then?”
“That would be the fault of one of her grandmothers,” the Devil replied.
“Epona. You should invite her, too. When you expose Epona’s divinity to Ra’s, it’s sensible for the result to be a mix of the two.
Cindercorns are the closest the mortal coil has to such a being, so that is what she became.
It’s even more complicated than that, truth be told, but I don’t think there’s sufficient paper to even attempt to draw that tangled family tree. Yours is bad enough, little nephew.”
That it was. “And her immunities?”
“Her grandfather on her mother’s side—her divine mother’s side. Februus. He was, in the time of the Etruscans, a god of purification, death, wealth, and the underworld. She strongly inherited his purification magics. You should thank him for her resistance to death, too.”
“I’m not sure how to invite them over for Easter or Christmas,” I admitted. “I would.”
“I can help you with that. I’ll have to make arrangements for your wedding, anyway.
I’ll issue both invitations at once. I will enjoy informing Ra and Menily they produced a daughter.
Tormenting them over their ignorance will be so very enjoyable.
Ra will be rather put out with Anubis. It’s going to be a delightful wedding. ”
“Wait. He’ll be put out with Anubis?”
The Devil snickered and gestured to Sunny.
“He knows, of course. He figured it out when he saw her magics. There are limited divines who could create a child like Bailey. He’s known from the first time he saw her in the courthouse, that Ra had brought forth a child into the mortal coil, and she carried with her the matured powers of all her line.
Her inheritance from Ra is minor compared to the rest.”
“Breathing fire and teleporting through sunlight is hardly minor!”
“Compared to the rest of what she can do? She has but an echo of her father’s powers.
But that is for the best. Otherwise, you would love living flame and be left with nothing to hold.
” The Devil patted my shoulder. “Come along, little nephew. Arthur, do watch over his little children for a while. They would be distressed should they witness what is required for my nephew to become a proper conduit for his wife.”
Before I could protest leaving the children, the Devil seized my arm and silvery light enveloped me.