My Soul to Take (32 page)

“I'm going to turn you into splinters and use you to pick my teeth if you talk to my wife like that again,” Trevor growled and Pinocchio's legs started to shake, making a horrible clicking noise.

“And I will burn the remaining toothpicks into cinders,” Re added.

“My apologies,” the wooden puppet waved his hand in a warding motion as he backed away slowly.

“I'm Vervain Lavine, Goddess of Love, Lions, and the Moon,” I gave Trevor and Re annoyed looks. Can we please not threaten Pinocchio?

“Prince VéulfR Fenrirson,” Trevor said. “Heir Apparent to the Froekn crown.”

Pinocchio's eyes went wide.

“Kirill Alexeyevich,” Kirill intoned. “Ganza of the Intare.”

“Death,” Azrael said simply and Pinocchio fainted.

“Wonderful,” Re huffed. “Now he can't announce the Sun God, Re.”

“You'll be fine,” Odin stepped over the prone puppet and then held a hand out for me.

I took the offered hand and we entered a massive ballroom. The floor was white marble and the walls were pale pink plaster. The ceiling was a dome painted to look like the sky and beneath that sky, scattered tables were filled with gaily dressed gods. On one side of the room, a buffet was set up with a feast of food from several cultures. On the other side, there was a small area for dancing. Directly across from us was the high table where Pan sat with his honored guests; Horus and Hekate. Behind them was an open balcony, showcasing an amazing view of Neverland.

“The Godhunter has arrived!” Pan shouted in glee and I sent him a happy wave.

Thankfully, the room was full of gods I knew so there were no glares of doom sent my way. Of course just because I knew them, it didn't mean I
liked
all of the gods. I grimaced as Re's daughters; Sekhmet and Bastet, walked up to us. They went immediately to kiss their father and then an awkward silence ensued.

“I'm going to get a drink,” I said and started to leave.

“Wait, Vervain,” Bastet grabbed my arm and I looked down at her hand pointedly. She let go. “We're sorry about what we did to you.”

“You know they were acting under my instructions,” Re added.

“Was it your instructions for your daughter to bring along her psychopath husband to try and kill Vervain?” Trevor growled.

“No,” I held up a hand between them. “We're not doing this here. This party is for Horus and Hekate and I'm not letting any of you yahoos ruin it for them.”

“Fine,” Trevor muttered.

“Yes, you're right,” Re sighed. “But no, I didn't order Ptah to try to kill Vervain. What a ridiculous question.”

“Then they weren't acting under your orders, were they?” Trevor snapped.

“Hey!” I glared at both of them. “What did I just say? I swear, it's like being a high school teacher sometimes.”

“At one of those schools where the kids bring guns with them,” Odin muttered.

“Very helpful, thank you,” I gave Odin a peevish look.

“I do my best,” Odin sniffed and then looked to the cat and lion goddesses. “Frankly, I'm shocked that either of you two ladies would dare to approach my wife after what you pulled.”

“I didn't think he was going to hurt you!” Bastet declared.

“I know, Bast,” I took her hand. “I heard you try to stop them and I forgive you for your role in that whole mess.”

“Thanks, Vervain,” she gave me a hug. “I'm glad you worked things out with my father.”

“Me too,” I smiled but it faded when I looked at Sekhmet. “But you, you're harder to forgive.”

“I didn't ask for your forgiveness,” Sekhmet growled, tossed her long mane of golden hair, and strode away.

“Alrighty then,” I shrugged. “I guess that settles it; not forgiven.”

“My sister just needs some time,” Bast shared a concerned look with Re. “She gets even angrier when she knows she's wrong.”

“Well, I appreciate your apology, Bastet,” I avoided talking any further about her sister.

“May I offer one as well?”

I turned and saw Sokar, an Egyptian god I'd met in Aaru, the Egyptian Underworld; where the aforementioned mess had been made. I'd stopped at his pyramid for tea on my escape out of Aaru and he'd ratted me out to Ptah. And yes, I know how crazy that statement sounds. But he'd basically prevented my escape by insisting I have tea with him and then the cat sisters had shown up with Ptah and that jerk had tried to destroy me by separating my souls.

“Sokar,” I nodded to him. “So you made it out of Aaru.”

“I'm taking your advice and seeing more of the realms,” he smiled. “Vervain, please accept my humblest apologies. I was acting under loyalty and had no idea Ptah would do something so horrible. But still, that's no excuse for breaking the laws of hospitality.”

“I accept your apology,” I tried to be gracious about it, even though I kind of wanted to punch his face in. I'd forgiven Eztli after all, and she had tried to do much worse than Sokar had.

“Thank you,” Sokar bowed, his black eyes lowering respectfully.

“Please tell me you're not starting a fight the minute you walk into my engagement party,” Horus drawled from behind Sokar.

“She was doing nothing of the sort,” Sokar defended me. “Merely granting forgiveness where it's not deserved.”

I admit, I stopped wanting to punch him after that.

“Horus,” I grabbed the Falcon God and hugged him before he knew what was happening. He squirmed a second and then gave up and accepted the hug. “Congratulations,” I said when I pulled away. “I'm glad you decided to propose sooner.”

“What?” He blinked at me in shock. “Sooner?”

“Never mind,” I smiled and drifted away as my men surged forward to offer Horus their congratulations. “Katie,” I hugged Hecate next. “Are you sure you want
him
forever?” I teased her.

“I heard what you said to Horus,” she narrowed her eyes on me, completely ignoring my Horus insult. “It's that future, isn't it? That's what you were talking about? Were we married in it?”

“He had just proposed,” I admitted. “And it was years from now.”

“Oh yeah, that future was
all
wrong,” she snickered. “I never would have waited that long.”

“I am worth waiting for,” Horus entered the conversation at the perfect time.

“Uh-huh,” Katie gave him an innocent look. “You just keep telling yourself that.”

“You bring chaos wherever you go,” he looked to me in accusation.

“I had nothing to do with this,” I chuckled and turned away.

“Pan punch?” Pan offered me a glass filled with a bright pink liquid.

“Why yes, I would like to punch you, Pan,” Horus smirked. “But since you threw me this fairly nice party, I'll restrain myself.”

“Ha ha,” Pan rolled his eyes. “I wasn't offering it to you, Tinkerbell.”

“Will you stop calling me that?” Horus growled. “I don't even understand what prompted this sudden Tinkerbell idiocy.”

I looked away innocently.

“Vervain,” Pan said.

“I did not!” I denied and then realized that Pan was just bringing my attention back to the punch. “Oh, thank you.” I took the drink as my men took glasses off the tray of a passing waiter. “Is that Captain Hook?” I gaped at the waiter, who was holding his tray with his only remaining hand while he used the hook to steady it.

“Neverland wouldn't be complete without him,” Pan shrugged. “He was actually a Greek philosopher in life.”

“Wait... what?” I cocked my head at Pan.

“Well you didn't think I simply created life from my territory's energy, did you?” He lifted a nutmeg brow.

“I hadn't thought about it,” I looked around the room with new eyes. “I made animals in my territory.”

“Yeah but basically, those creatures are soul-less things that can move,” Pan pointed out. “If you tried to make a human, they'd be animated but wouldn't be able to have a conversation with you.”

“Sounds like the makings of a perfect woman,” Horus lifted a brow at Hekate and smirked.

“Who are you kidding?” She teased back. “You wouldn't even need her to move around; just hold still for two minutes.”

“Oh... da-a-a-amn,” Trevor drew out the word.

“Yes, she's spectacular, isn't she?” Horus smiled proudly at his fiance.

I barely spared them a glance, I was too busy looking around the room. I spotted Cinderella, Maleficent, and Prince Charming, all handing out glasses of Pan's punch. It was like Disneyland but the characters were real. Like
really
real; no make-up or prosthetics needed here. Except they were actually souls pretending to be the characters. So I guess it was more like Disneyland than I'd first thought. Or rather, Disneyland was more like Neverland, since Neverland came first.

“So who are all these people really?” I asked Pan.

“My followers,” Pan shrugged. “My people tend to be open minded folk. Most of them love altering their appearance to entertain the children. Some of them even stay in character all the time. The mermaids won't even admit that they were ever anything else.” He leaned in to whisper, “Country girls.”

“It's lovely, Pan,” I saluted him with my glass. “Truly magical.”

“Your efforts to give the child souls an amusing afterlife is admirable,” Re added.

“They must adore you,” I noted.

“The children?” Pan asked and I nodded. “I'm their Pan,” he shrugged. “I guess that's come to mean a type of father to them. I don't know. I offer them sanctuary without conditions. Though I do have rules and the adult souls help me to enforce them.”

“I'd imagine that can be a lot of work,” Azrael noted.

“Not really,” Pan made a face. “The children are already dead so it's not like they can hurt themselves from roughhousing. It's only the little disputes we have to monitor. But honestly, those are rare. These kids were unloved and then found a family who wholeheartedly accepts them; nothing is more precious to them than each other.”

“Shared trauma can bond people,” Kirill nodded and I gave his hand a squeeze.

“Who was Pinocchio?” Odin asked casually.

“What's that?” Pan looked confused.

“The wooden puppet who led us in,” Odin explained. “Who was he in life? I'm just curious.”

“Oh, his name was Polybius,” Pan said.

“The historian?” Azrael looked shocked.

“Yeah, that's the one,” Pan nodded. “That's why he's my steward, he's great at keeping the house in order.”

“Oh, now I feel awful,” Az grimaced.

“Why? What did you do to my steward?” Pan began to look concerned.

“He's fine,” I reassured him. “He's just had a bit of a scare.”

“I'll be right back,” Azrael said. “I think I'm going to apologize.”

“Okay,” I glanced at the others as Az hurried off. “I guess this Polybius guy was a big deal.”

“He invented the Polybius Square,” Odin nodded sagely.

“Oh
that
Polybius,” I said.

“You have no idea what that is, do you?” Pan asked in a whisper.

“Not even an inkling,” I admitted.

“It's a tool used in telegraphy,” Odin went on and when he saw my blank expression, he went further. “Polybius assigned each letter of the alphabet a space on a square where it could be numerically cross-referenced.” I continued to stare at him until he finally huffed, “Spy stuff.”

“Oh,” I made a sound of epiphany as Odin rolled his eyes. “Cool.”

“Vhy don't ve go out on ze balcony?” Kirill asked me.

“I'd love to,” I took his arm.

“You guys go ahead,” Trevor offered. “Odin and I will stay and socialize so you can have some alone time.”

“Thank you,” I kissed Trevor on the cheek and then Odin. Pan angled his head out for a kiss too and I gave in. It's hard to resist that childish charm.

“I shall never wash my cheek again!” Pan declared dramatically as he held a hand to the spot I'd kissed.

“Gross, Pan,” I chuckled as Kirill led me away.

Night had set in as we'd wandered through the ballroom and now Neverland lay peacefully beneath an indigo sky scattered with stars. The sounds of playing children still carried over to us but they were winding down and muted. The toys and rides all looked mysterious in the moonlight and the lake glittered like a beacon, luring little swimmers into her embrace.

“I can't vait to have children,” Kirill said wistfully.

“Really?” I looked over at him. “I mean, I know you all are excited about having kids one day but do you really want one now?”

“I do,” he shrugged. “I know our life is unsettled and it can be dangerous, but I vant to meet our daughter. I vatch Fallon vith Zariel and I feel jealous. Zis is hard for me. I have never been a jealous man.”

“Alright,” I took a deep breath and let it out in a whoosh. “We can discuss trying soon but we'll need to include the others in the conversation.” I glanced back over my shoulder at Trevor and Odin.

“Vhen vas Lesya born; vhat number child vas she?” Kirill asked.