Chapter Nineteen
“Is everyone okay?” I asked.
It was night in Hawaii, and Moonshine was full of faeries, gods, and humans—dancing, talking, and getting to know each other in more physical ways. Luckily, the VIP balcony was empty. No one had seen us arrive.
“We're all here,” Fenrir said. “How the fuck did she do that?”
“Maybe God helped her,” Trevor muttered. He went to the railing, propped his forearms on it, and stared down at our club. “Oh, fuck.”
I knew it was bad when Trevor used a real curse word.
I hurried over to him along with everyone else.
Down below, a massive black man was striding up to the waterfall.
He was enormous, as big as Fenrir, oozing power and sex.
Both women and men tracked his movement across the room.
A few ladies tried to speak to him, but he just veered around them.
Fake moonlight shone off his bald head, his eyes sparked with magic, and his clothing had the look of another era—a time when men built their own houses and tilled the fields to provide for their families.
He looked up as if he sensed us watching. Then he pointed at me. “Godhunter, I need to speak with you!”
His voice carried over the pounding music, summoning even more stares as he went to the metal stairs.
The Froekn man guarding the stairs on the ground floor shifted in front of him, unimpressed with the man's bulk.
That's a wolf for you—they weren't afraid of anyone because they knew they had their pack to back them up.
“Oh, fuck,” Trevor hurried to the stairs. “Let him pass!”
The werewolf stepped aside with a smirk that conveyed how lucky the man was that the boss had told him to stand down.
No, not a man; this was a god. More concerning was the fact that he knew me while I had no idea who he was.
He came barreling up the stairs without holding the rails, his hands too busy being fists.
“Who is that?” I asked Fenrir.
It was Odin who answered. “Shango, Orisha of Thunder, Lightning, Fire, and Justice.”
“Also Virility, Dance, Drumming, and Strength,” Torrent added in a helpful tone.
“Great, so he should enjoy the club.” I hurried over to stand with Trevor near the stairs as the Orisha gained the balcony. “Hello, Shango. Welcome to Moonshine. Would you like to sit down?” I waved at the boulders.
Shango frowned. “No, I want to speak to you.”
“All right. Would you at least like a drink?”
“Uh.” He looked around the balcony as if he needed confirmation that I was showing him hospitality. “Yeah, all right. Rum. Dark. Thank you.”
“Sure thing, dude.” Viper went to the intercom on the back wall and ordered some drinks, including Shango's rum.
“How can I help?” I met his stare, and the sparks in his eyes died down.
Shango cleared his throat, his fists unclenching. “I . . . I'm sorry. I didn't expect you to be so welcoming.”
“Well, we've never met, so I'm giving you the benefit of the doubt that you're a good man. If you're here to fight, however, I'd appreciate a heads-up.”
He blinked. “I have no quarrel with you. I'm here because I've heard that you know about disappearing relics.”
I grimaced. “Don't tell me. You've had something stolen?”
“My axe. It's very important to me.” Shango shook his head. “I don't understand how anyone could have taken it. It's either with me or in my vault.”
“The thief has been gazing into the Aether. They've seen our secrets. They know where we hide the things we treasure. We've just come from confronting them.”
“You were with the thief?” He leaned forward. “Did you kill them?”
“No, she's powerful. She tossed us out of her territory before we could do anything. Tossed us here, actually. You have very good timing.”
“It's a woman?” Shango's face rippled, as if that made it worse. “Take me to her. I will do what you failed to do.”
“The battle isn't over yet, so we haven't failed.” Odin stepped between us. “And I don't think it's a good idea to attack her without a plan.”
Shango flinched. “Allfather, I didn't see you there. Greetings.” He inclined his head and then frowned from Odin to me and back. “Why are you with the Godhunter? Did you have something stolen too?”
“Yes, but I'm with the Godhunter because she's my wife.”
“Oh.” He looked at Trevor. “I'm sorry. I thought you were her husband.”
“I am.” Trevor waved his hand to include my other husbands. “She's our wife. All but my father, Fenrir, Wolf God, and Torrent, God of the Internet.”
Shango's gaze slid from man to man. I could see his mind spinning faster with every look. They were powerful gods, each one impressive in their own way. He hesitated over Azrael's wings and then shook his head as if to free himself of insanity.
I chuckled. “You're one of the few gods I've met who hasn't heard about our family.”
“Family?” Shango cocked his head at me. “What spell did you cast upon them to get them to agree to this?”
I laughed harder. “There is a spell that makes them comfortable with the situation, but it's not mine.
Or rather, I didn't cast it. I inherited it when I killed Nyavirezi and took her Lioness Magic. It gave me dominion over her pride of werelions and a magic that required me to take multiple lovers. Eventually, my lovers became my husbands.”
“You are the one who killed Nyavirezi?” Shango raised his eyebrows. “Impressive. She was a powerful goddess and a horrid bitch.”
“Ah, you knew her well.”
He snorted a laugh. “Not well, but well enough. I didn't like the way she treated her lions.”
“Neither did I. I freed them, and we became a true pride—a family.” I motioned to Kirill. “One of them has even become a god.”
Kirill inclined his head to Shango.
Shango stared at Kirill. Then he stared at me. Finally, he nodded. “We will make a plan and kill this trickster bitch together.”
“I don't know about killing her, but we will get your axe back.”
He shook his head. “You are a lioness now. You know it's kill or be killed.”
“I'm also the Goddess of Love and the Moon. I know when to show mercy. This woman has helped my family and saved my husband's life. My brother is in love with her. I can't just kill her.”
“Entanglements.” Shango grimaced. “Very well. We hunt her and take back what she's stolen. If she attacks us, though, we'll kill her.”
I looked at my men. They shrugged.
Fenrir smirked and came over to shake Shango's hand. “I think I'm going to like you, Shango.”
“Yeah, yeah, remember to puff out your chest when you beat your fists on it.” I rolled my eyes.
“We need to talk this through. We can't face her in her territory. All gods are more powerful in their territories, but Agwusi is especially so. If we gain the advantage, she can just toss us out. We need to draw her to us.”
“Uh, V?”
“Yeah, Torrent?” I looked over to see him holding the jewel. It was glowing.
“This is still working.” He lifted it.
“Okay. And?”
“If it's still working, she hasn't completed the machine,” Odin declared. “If she had, the mirror’s connection to the jewel would be broken.”
“She said she did. Maybe the bond is strong enough to surmount the machine.”
Odin gave me his think-about-what-you-just-said look.
“Yes, I know she could have lied, Odin,” I huffed. “But I don't think we can assume the machine isn't complete just because the bond is still active. One bond shouldn't negate another.”
Azrael pulled out his phone. “I'm texting Jesus.”
“Shango, what does your axe do?” Torrent asked.
“It summons thunder and lightning to punish evildoers. It is a tool of justice.” Shango lifted his chin.
“Justice.” Torrent looked at me. “Hephaestus's core for power, Ereshkigal's keys for judgment, Ma'at's feather for truth, Thoth's tablets for computation, Amaterasu's mirror for . . . what does the mirror do?”
“Transformation,” I murmured. Then I spun to look at Shango. “The mirror can't be the only relic with a bond.”
Shango lifted an eyebrow.
“Shango, it's your axe. You are connected to it. Even if the machine is on, you should still have that connection.”
Right on cue, Azrael said, “Jesus says there have been no new souls.”
I looked at Odin, who cursed. “So, she wasn't lying. The machine is running. But it doesn't matter. That proves that even with relics attached to the machine, they keep their previous bonds. And that means we have a chance.”
“What chance?” Viper asked.
“The machine contains stolen parts. Maybe the owners of those parts can separate them from the machine.”
“How?” Shango asked.
“Through your bonds.” I pulled out my cellphone. “I'm texting the others.” As I sent out the mass text, I muttered, “It's going to be a long night.”