Into the Void (The Godhunter, Book 10) (16 page)

“
But, Az,” I leaned forward so I could see him better. “Gabriel wouldn't take orders from your father.”

“
I know,” he nodded. “There's no one else though.”

“
You're all idiots,” Horus sighed dramatically. “Have none of you considered that the angel may be acting on his own behalf?”

“
Is that possible?” I looked to Azrael.

“
Technically, yes,” Az frowned harder, “and if it were any other angel, I would agree in a heartbeat.”

“
But?” Trevor prompted.

“
But this is Gabriel we're talking about,” Az looked around the table. “His loyalty to Jerry has been proven over and over again. It's unquestionable. He's like that little dog that always follows the big dog around.”

“
Chester,” I said sagely.

“
What?” Thor frowned at me.

“
Really, Vervain,” Horus sighed, “sometimes the babble that fills the holes in your speech can be quite insane.”

“
The little dog's name is Chester,” I stuck my tongue out at Horus and was rewarded with a brief twitch of his lips. “It's from
Sylvester and Tweety
. The little dog is always suggesting things to do and the big dog, named Spike, slaps him every time, like some mafia goombah, until Chester suggests going to beat up a cat, namely Sylvester. Then Spike is suddenly interested. It's kind of horrible except Sylvester always gets away.”

“
Sylvester the cat?” Sephy asked, her green eyes gone round.

“
It's a cartoon,” I looked around the table, “for children.”

“
Humans teach their children to beat up cats?” Brighid lifted a brow.

“
No, it actually teaches them not to pick on cats, er, people because bullies never win,” I waved my hands, “but never mind. We need to get more information on this. Azrael, is there anything you can do?”

“
I'll keep my eyes open but Gabriel spends most of his time in the Seventh Heaven, a territory where I'm not well regarded since it's where Jerry lives.”

“
Seventh Heaven?” I looked over at him. “There are seven? Also, that's where that saying comes from. I've often wondered.”

“
Yes, seven,” Az shook his head. “I rule absolute in Shehaquim but Araboth is governed by Cassiel, another angel very loyal to Jerry. I'd be under close scrutiny there.”

“
Alright,” I sighed. “Does anyone have any other ideas?”

“
I'll keep an eye on the naval ships,” Kanaloa offered. “If any of them leave port, I'll follow them and make sure they don't activate their sonar.”

“
How can you do that from below the surface?” Pan asked.

“
The sonar device has to be lowered into the water prior to use,” Kanaloa shrugged. “If they lower it, I'll find a way to prevent the signal.”

“
You mean you'll tear it to pieces,” Pan gave Kanaloa a gleeful grin.

“
Exactly,” Kanaloa grinned back.

We decided there was nothing else to do but wait and gather information, as is often the case. Azrael was going to be the most important part of the information gathering. Though with his limited access to the other heavens, I wasn't sure how much he was going to accomplish. It was pretty disheartening but at least we were aware of the situation and could stop some of the sonar blasts. I say some because obviously Pearl Harbor is not the only naval base in the world and we had no idea how many other ships Gabriel had taken over.

Kanaloa said he'd speak to the merfolk and have them keep an eye out on the other bases but he didn't want them too close because they weren't immortal like him and the whole point was to keep them safe. I had a feeling that they would view it a little differently though. When the lives of your family are at stake, you'll do whatever it takes to protect them and I don't believe for one second that that's a trait limited to us land walkers.

Hopefully soon we'd have a better handle on it all but I had to let it go and get some sleep. I crawled into bed between Kirill and Trevor, my body languid with exhaustion. I may have super healing abilities now but swimming for hours before infiltrating a Navy ship and averting disaster will make anyone tired, even a triple trinity whatever I was.

I fell asleep rather quickly, despite my worry for the merfolk and Azrael. My mind just simply couldn't handle anymore and shut down. Unfortunately, it wasn't going to get a break right away. Instead, the dark blankness of sleep was lightened by an image I didn't want to let go of.

“Odin,” I reached for him but just like in my last dream, he pulled back.

“
Vervain,” he smiled gently. “You must know by now that this is as it should be. You needed to live and I was content to die for you.”

“
But I'm not content with you dead,” I gave him my stubborn face. “You think you get to pull me back from the grave and I don't get to do the same for you? Nah-uh, not happening. You don't get to martyr yourself and just haunt my dreams telling me stupid shit about how happy you are in the Void.”

“
It's not stupid shit,” his lips twitched a little at the corners. “I wasn't risking my life to pull you out of the well. You will be doing just that if you want to bring me back.”

“
You gave up an eye, Odin,” I took a baby step closer to him. “And besides, Lucifer is teaching me how to navigate the Void safely. I'm not just jumping in half-cocked.”

“
For once,” he grimaced. “So you get here and you find me, then what? How do you propose to bring me back?”

“
I haven't got that all worked out yet,” I grimaced right back at him. “But Vidar is translating your book for me, the one you got from Mimir. I'm confident that it will tell me how to do it.”

“
Oh, it will,” Odin shook his head. “You'll have to put me in a womb, just as I did for you, and hopefully you won't lose me. Hopefully you'll find me again someday before I die because I'll be born mortal.”

“
I'll figure it out,” another baby step closer to him. “Have a little faith in me.”

“
Vervain, I've always believed in you, even before you
were
you. I have every faith in you... that you'll do the right thing and leave me here.”

“
Fuck you, Odin,” I reached out to grab him but my hand just went right through him and he stared at me sadly, as if it were proof that I would fail. “I'm coming for you and I'm bringing you back, so you better just get used to the idea.”

“
Why can't you simply take your own advice and wait?” Odin remained calm in the face of my anger, which just pissed me off more. “Remember how we travel around the circle? I'll come back to you on my own.”

“
Maybe, someday,” I growled. “It would be almost impossible to find you like that and as you just said, you'd be mortal.”

“
I waited five-hundred years for you, you've barely given me one.”

“
I've what? Oh now you're going to get it,” I stuck my finger in his face. “I'm bringing you back just so I can kick your ass!”

I stood in front of Pride Palace, looking at the designs I'd sketched out. Behind me was a gathering of my god friends, the Intare, and even the Froekn, all come out to see what I could do with a little creativity and a lot of magic. Luke was also behind me, though a bit closer than the others, looking over my shoulder while he made thoughtful noises. I glanced back at him and smiled into his sparkling eyes, he was obviously excited to see what was possible without limitations.

“
How would you recommend I go about this?” I asked him and he brightened even more, his wings whooshing open and catching the sunlight in a dizzying display. I had to squint at him. Damn sparkly wings.

“
Well it looks as if you have plans for each individual room,” he grinned and put his wings away, pulling them back into himself with a speed that made them seem to simply disappear. “Very ambitious but you'll still need to start out here and change the building first.”

“
Alright, let's do this.”

“
Picture the outside first,” Luke came up beside me and took my hand, just in case I needed an extra boost of power. “Then once you have that firmly in mind, add in the details for the interior. The insides will stretch to conform to the outside.”

“
Okay,” I centered myself and focused on the way I wanted our home to look.

I had spent a lot of time working through each detail, from the stained glass in a couple of the windows to the carved dragons perched at either side of the entrance. When it was perfect, I started picturing the inside. I saw the size of each room, the dimensions I wanted them to have, leaving out the little details which I wanted to add later on with the walk through. Then I pushed my will into it and told it to change.

Nothing happened.

I cracked open an eye to see the same African themed plantation house. I was about to start cursing when the earth began to shake beneath my feet. There were a lot of concerned murmurs behind me but Luke squeezed my hand confidently.

“Perfectly normal,” he said, “look.” He pointed to the foundation of the house, where the wood was starting to shimmer.

The shimmer soon revealed itself to be a band of white which moved higher up the house, changing things as it went. First came the moat. The ground in front of our swimming pool(which was out front and to the left with a lovely waterfall that I'd left alone) split with a great roaring crack and shot around the palace to encircle it. Water filled it as it went and I noticed the bottom was lined with the blue ceramic tiles I'd envisioned, right down to the detail of swimming fishes painted over them.

Over the moat came a drawbridge, which was really a veranda that simply laid across the moat. It was wide and made of white stone with veins of gold swirling through it, the same stone the entire palace would be made of. Two pillars at the ends on our side of the moat supported a flat roof and rose vines twirled around the pillars, blossoming as they went. On the veranda itself were collections of comfy white chairs and couches, rattan bases with cotton pillows.

“
Really?” Roarke was suddenly beside me. “You can make anything you want and you decide to go with furniture from Pier 1?”

“
Huh,” I chewed my lip. “Good point.”

I concentrated and the couches changed to red velvet Victorian pieces, complete with matching side tables, coffee tables, lamps, and standing crystal ashtrays(I didn't smoke but they looked pretty and maybe we'd have guests that did). There were Persian rugs beneath it all and hand-painted folding screens to section off areas.

“Much better,” Roarke nodded.

“
So glad you approve, cat,” I smirked.

“
Just trying to assist my Queen.”

The palace continued up, three stories, four, five, six, and then it stopped in a peaked roof but wait. There were towers, four of them, one at each corner. They also happened to align with the four directions because that appealed to the witch in me. Plus, I had thoughts of naming them after their corresponding direction. I thought it would be fun to say things like, “I'll be in the North Tower.”

My bedroom, along with most of the others, had been lifted to a higher floor. Trevor, Kirill, and I now had the entire top floor to ourselves while the Intare were in the floors below us. This actually wasn't my idea but had been Fallon's. He said it was for defense purposes. The Tima needed to be the hardest to get to. Everyone else had agreed and I had agreed with the view.

I had lifted the butterfly garden right along with it and expanded it a little to be more of a full garden than just a courtyard. I hoped the butterflies had survived the trip up. I would think they'd be happier with the bigger space but you never knew with insects. They were still in the center of the palace, with an open ceiling covered in mesh, my bedroom had just grown to surround it.

Beneath the butterfly garden was a central staircase that went all the way down to the underground floor, with a side stairway at the top which circumvented the garden and led up to a hallway that accessed our bedroom. I also installed an elevator next to the stairs because I knew I was just too damn lazy to walk up six flights everyday. I smiled as the rumbles stopped and the palace was completely revealed.

It was something out of a fairy tale, exactly how I wanted it to be. The stone shone in the bright sunlight, the veins of gold sparkling. It was smooth, unscalable, with walkways on the top level for everyone to go up and enjoy the view. In front of the drawbridge/veranda steps, were two large dragons, carved from stone and enameled. The one on the left hand side was gold and the other was red, for me and Arach. I wanted to have a representation of my fey heritage there in the God Realm.

The dragons weren't the only connection to Faerie though. Growing on trellises adorning the veranda, were bright fire orchids, the same flowers I'd accidentally created in Faerie. I stared at them thoughtfully, they hadn't been a part of my design but had sprouted up all on their own. Just as they had in the Faerie Realm.

“
Is that Cinderella's castle?” Roarke cocked his head to the side.

“
What, too much?” I smirked at him. The castle looked nothing like the Disney version. Roarke was just trying to get my goat.

“
Too gay,” he kept a straight face for all of three seconds before he broke into a grin. “It's fantastic.”

“
Thanks,” I turned to look behind me, since everyone had gotten suspiciously quiet, and found them all staring in open-mouthed wonder at our new home. “What do you guys think?”

Cheering was my answer.

“Bravo!” Luke clapped.

“
It's amazing, Vervain,” Trevor nodded as Kirill gave me a quick hug.

“
Beautiful,” Kirill said.

“
I may be coming to visit more often,” Azrael grinned and gave me a quick kiss.

“
Ready to go in and finish this?” Luke smiled at me, clearly enjoying himself.

“
Definitely,” I looked over at the waiting group. My tabby cat, Nick, was in his carrier next to Roarke so he wouldn't get hurt. Geri, Freki, Hugin, and Munin were there as well but I saw no reason to cage them. They were magical creatures and I hadn't anticipated them freaking out like Nick might. Sure enough, they were just sitting there watching avidly while Nick was huddled in his cage. I took a moment to go and comfort Nick before I turned to address the Intare. “Fire up the grill, boys and get the drinks flowing, this is going to take awhile. Would you like to come along, Luke?”

“
Would I?” He laughed and gave me his arm.

Gone were his casual jeans and T-shirt I'd originally met him in, instead he was dressed in a collared shirt of light pink and pressed dark blue slacks. His hair was combed down nicely and he had shiny loafers on his feet. He looked like a male model on the cover of some business magazine. We went up the steps of the new veranda, between the massive statues of my guardian dragons, and across the new space that I was sure would become a favorite gathering spot. We were followed closely by Azrael, Trevor, and Kirill. None of them seemed to want to leave me alone with Satan. Odd.

I decided to start at the heart of the house, the main bedroom. So we went to the gilded, old fashioned, cage elevator and took it to the top. Good thing I'd made it big enough to fit several people. It lifted us steadily past the other floors, giving us glimpses of the new layout. It was amazing to see the changes from within and I felt immensely proud of myself as we left the elevator and walked down the new hallway, into our new bedroom.

We hadn't bothered to remove any personal items because Luke assured me that I could alter things without changing the stuff inside them. So that was a huge amount of work that we escaped from. Since I'd enlarged the palace, the furniture had remained where it was and so was now in the center of the bedroom. Well, we'd change that.

I stood amid the furniture and focused first on the floor. I wanted carpeting, thick lovely carpeting that cushioned my feet when I walked. I could see it in my head, a deep bluish purple that ran from wall to wall. Then I felt it beneath my feet, as if it were sprouting from the ground. I opened my eyes and there it was.

“
You're getting faster” Luke smiled approvingly.

“
Thank you,” I bit my lip in delight, admiring my new flooring. “Okay, I'm leaving the bed because we like that, and the closet because my lions made it for me, but that over there,” I indicated a doorway next to the bedroom door, “is a walk-in closet and I'd like the armoire placed within it.” I focused and the armoire was gone, presumably to its new resting spot in my closet.

“
I told you,” Kirill held his hand out to Trevor and Trevor put a five dollar bill in it.

“
What the hell?” I huffed at Trevor. “How could you not guess that I'd make a walk-in closet? Hello? When I get done, it's practically going to be a showroom. I'm talking central glass-covered cases to display my jewelry in and spotlights.”

“
Da, I know my voman,” Kirill held his hand out again and Trevor put more cash into it.

“
What was that for?” I looked at Trevor again.

“
The showcases,” Trevor sighed.

“
I told him you like looking at your jewelry,” Kirill smirked. “I knew you'd vant to display zem. He didn't agree.”

“
Who puts their jewelry on display?” Trevor scoffed and then saw my lifted brows. “Um, I'm sure it will be lovely, Minn Elska.”

“
Maybe you two should withhold your commentary to the end of the proceedings,” Luke offered and Azrael hid a chuckle behind his hand.

“
Watch it, sulfur breath,” Trevor growled. “You're in my home right now.”

“
Apologies,” Luke waved magnanimously. “Can the lady continue now?”

“
What's with the British gentleman routine?” I looked Luke over. “The other night you were all
I forgot to save my game
and
There's real shepherds in it
. Now it's
apologies
and
withhold your commentary
.”

“
Azrael told me I had to be on my best behavior,” Luke gave me a grin that looked much more like the first version of him I'd met. Well the second version technically, since the first version was actually his Satan Drag, as I was calling it in my head. “So I watched a lot of BBC. I figured the Brits are the most well behaved people in the world but I couldn't do the accent, that just seemed a bit pretentious.”

“
You're a very interesting man,” I laughed. “However, I prefer you as you are, without any modification to your behavior.”

“
Oh thank you,” Luke sighed dramatically and undid the top button of his shirt. “I was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic, now I can really enjoy this.”

“
Dad,” Azrael had a warning tone to his voice.

“
I'm here to help, son,” Luke smiled at Azrael and his affection for his son was very apparent. “I won't mess things up for your girl.”

“
I'm sorry, Dad,” Az sighed. “This thing with Gabriel has got me wound up.”

“
I told you I'd look into it,” Luke shrugged.

“
This needs to be handled discreetly,” Azrael shook his head. “I love you, Dad but one thing you're not is discreet.”

“
Hold on,” I got between them. “Let's at least hear him out. How would you look into it?”

“
Have I mentioned how much I like you?” Luke grinned at me and glanced back at Azrael. “She's a keeper and she's got more sense than you at the moment.”

“
Thanks, Dad,” Az grimaced.

“
Could you maybe try not insulting my boyfriend when you compliment me?” I turned my stare onto Luke. He shrugged and grinned. “So you were going to tell us your plan.”

“
Oh yes,” Luke smirked at Azrael. “It's kind of appropriate considering what we're currently doing. My son seems to have forgotten that although I am persona non grata in Araboth, I happened to be the one who built it.”