by Amy Sumida
“All of them,” I whispered. “How is that possible? Won't they fight each other inside him?”
Vervain, they exist in the source together, she said in a duh tone.
“Oh, right,” I murmured.
“What's happening right now?” Morpheus asked as he looked back and forth between us.
“Azrael seems to have acquired all of the elements,” Arach explained to Morpheus and Odin, neither of which could hear Faerie. “He is completely a god and yet completely a faerie, but unlike any faerie in existence. He is what I had hoped Brevyn would become—a faerie who could experience all of the elements.”
“But Brevyn will never hold all of the elements at once,” Cian said. “And that is a blessing.”
“Why?” I demanded as my stomach clenched. “Why is it a blessing?”
“Azrael's body is now like the Earth,” Cian tried to explain. “The magic is wild inside him. If there were one element, he would be aligned with a kingdom and his element could focus him. With all of them inside him, he must become like Spirit to control them—a unifying, unbiased force. I hope that he is strong enough but it might be better for the Earth if he isn't.”
“What the fuck does that mean?” I snarled.
“A Thaisce,” Arach said gently as he took my hand. “Please, he's only trying to help.”
I ground my teeth together and took a deep breath. “I'm sorry, High King. Go on.”
“If Azrael can control the elements and his god magic, he will become a being of such power that no god nor faerie will be able to stand against him,” Cian said gravely.
“Azrael wouldn't hurt anyone,” I said defensively. “Not unless they offered him harm first.”
“Not your Azrael, no, but he is no longer that man,” Cian said gently. “If he can control the magic, he may return to who he was or he may become something new.”
“And if he doesn't control the magic?” I asked.
“I don't know for certain, Queen Vervain.” King Cian grimaced. “But my guess is that Azrael would become like the fey magic itself—a wild thing. A being of the elements. He may even become the elements.”
“You mean, he may die,” I whispered.
“Yes.”
“Well, fuck that,” I snarled and leapt into the air.
Chapter Thirty-Nine
I didn't let the others stop me this time. I flew straight to the Great Tree and traced back to Russia. I knew Az wasn't there anymore but I had to start somewhere and if he remained elusive through our bond, I could always track him the old-fashioned way. Luckily, once I was on Earth, the bond between us grew brighter and I didn't have to resort to my dragon nose. I closed my eyes and mentally followed the glowing cord between us until I located him. I didn't even attempt to see where he was, just traced to him. I came out of the Aether in...
“Texas?” I whispered. I had reformed on the property in Lexington.
Sirens screamed around me and helicopters thudded overhead. I cringed—shocked to find the humans there and horrified that they'd see me in my weredragon form. But there was nothing I could do about it. I wasn't about to go human and give the people circling overhead another kind of show. I did the best I could and retracted my dragon features—wings, tail, claws, and horns—and covered my body in thick, dragon scale armor. I looked like an alien come to Earth to do battle but it didn't really matter; I wasn't the main attraction.
Azrael stood before the apple tree that was now part of an orchard. The ward was gone and he was clearly visible—the new him. He was just as Morpheus described except... more. Azrael's midnight, feathered wings were still there but they glittered as if dusted with gold and they seemed larger than before. But that might have been because of the way he held them—outstretched and aloft. It went with his aggressive stance—legs spread and arms crossed over his broad chest. The stance also emphasized his enhanced musculature—now just shy of Odin's Viking bulk.
There were indeed antlers on Azrael's head but they weren't ordinary stag antlers. They were golden, like a burol's, and yet looked completely natural. Azrael's chin was lifted, showing off the new sharpness of his features, and his eyes glowed harshly, casting green highlights onto raven-black hair that fell down to his waist in soft waves. His clothes must have been lost to his shift because he now wore a dark tunic and trousers reminiscent of fey garments. But there was something strange about the clothing and even the boots that came up to his knees. Something... fluid. No, nebulous. Shadowy! Morpheus had said that shadows had surrounded Azrael. It was the Darkness. His clothes were made of the dark element.
“Jiminy Cricket,” I whispered.
Azrael's stare met mine and he smiled serenely.
The helicopters lowered, blasting us with air, and a voice came through a megaphone, “Get down on your knees and put your hands behind your head! You are in the custody of the United States Government.”
Yeah, that would work.
Azrael cocked his head at the helicopter as if confused or, even worse, amused. He didn't hold up a hand or make any indication that he was using magic, but what happened next was obviously orchestrated by him. The wind picked up and blew downward until both of the helicopters were forced to land. The men inside them shouted and shifted frantically, unsure whether to use the guns they had trained on Az or try once more to apprehend him. Technically, he hadn't done anything.
Once the helicopters were grounded, plants grew rapidly over them and into them until the engines whined and died. Smoke streamed out along with the soldier who abandoned the helicopters while warily watching the ground. Unlike the other MZs, this one didn't try to evict the humans. Once it was done with the helicopters—which was likely more Azrael's doing than the MZ's—the land stayed dormant. I had a feeling that was because there was a new sheriff in town. The soldiers rallied and approached Azrael, pointing their weapons at him.
“Stop!” I shouted as I ran forward and set myself between the humans and Az. “He won't hurt you if you don't threaten him! Lower your guns!”
“Who the fuck is this now?” One of the men asked another.
“Get out of there, lady!” another man shouted.
“That ain't no normal woman. Look at what she's wearing.”
“Woman, come to me.” Azrael held a clawed hand out to me imperiously. “You and I are bound.”
“Azrael”—I turned to look at him over my shoulder—“try and remember who you are. You've been fused with fey magic. Fight it! You're Azrael Morningstar. You're my husband. Remember?”
Azrael frowned.
“Did she say fey?” one of the humans asked. “Is that like, faeries?”
Another helicopter approached—this one carried a news crew. Ballsy, but weren't they always?
“Fuck,” one of the soldiers cursed. “Someone get those reporters out of here.”
“Sure, I'll just flap my feathered wings and get right on that,” one of the men muttered. “Oh, wait, the only guy with wings is that freak over there.”
“I know exactly who I am,” Azrael said to me. “And I know you are mine. Come here.”
I went to him because I could never be afraid of Azrael, no matter what magic was inside him. I took his clawed hand and stared into his altered face and saw my husband there. My hand went to his cheek—barren of the mark I loved—and stroked the sharp angle of his cheekbone gently. Azrael pulled me close, his clothes writhing between us—tendrils of darkness curling over me. Those beautiful, glittering wings lowered around us as he bent his head to mine. I met his lips halfway. He kissed me tenderly.
And power burst across my tongue.
I gasped and breathed it in—tasted it. The mineral tang of Earth and the sharp bite of Darkness charred by Fire, sweetened by Air, and then quenched with Water. The elements didn't hurt me, not now that they were within Azrael. Instead, they called to me. They lured me. They promised passion and power and pleasure. I trembled as my wings burst free. Leather met feathers. Stroked and shivered. Darkness parted a
nd a thick shaft prodded me intimately, slipping over my scales. I went dizzy with magic and lust. I clung to those muscular shoulders and lifted a leg to wrap around Azrael's waist.
I was about to withdraw my scales when shouting finally broke through the lust haze in my mind. I glanced up and saw the eye of a camera focused on us. Azrael looked up as well, then down at me. The shadows moved back over his shaft, becoming pants once more, and Azrael smiled at me adoringly. My heart pounded with relief—he was still in there. Azrael would control the magic and come back to me. It would be okay.
“You and I will rule this world together,” Azrael whispered seductively and opened his wings.
“What?” I gaped at him, banishing my wings as he extended his.
Azrael only kissed my hand in answer, then addressed the soldiers and the reporters above, “Do not be afraid. I am in control of the magic now, and I'm not here to harm you. I'm here to help you. You have injured your world. You have poisoned the seas and tainted the soil. You have slaughtered many beasts while overbreeding. It must stop.”
The news helicopter was joined by another. Cameras focused on Azrael as the soldiers shifted uneasily on their boots, looking at each other in confusion as they waited on orders.
“I speak now for the Earth,” Azrael went on. “I speak for the oceans. I speak for the animals and the trees and the sky above.”
Great, he's the fucking Lorax, I thought to myself.
He's much more than that, Al said gravely. You must stop him, Vervain.
I would if I could figure out how!
“I bring an age of renewal. A golden age,” Azrael declared. “A time to heal. Lay down your weapons, destroy your poisons, and listen. Heed my words and follow my guidance and you shall help return this world to its former beauty. It's not too late. I will show you the way.” Azrael held out his arms and the earth rumbled.
“Az, please, whatever you're doing, don't,” I begged.
“Trust me, my queen,” he said with a wicked grin.
The land rolled. I stumbled and clutched at him. He slid an arm around my waist and held me steady. The earth beneath our feet crumbled away as rock surfaced. Azrael and I were lifted on a flat-topped stone that quickly became a wall, then battlements. The soldiers backpedaled, then, as the earth below them buckled, they turned and ran.
I looked around frantically as I clung to Azrael. A castle was emerging out of the earth as if it had been buried there, just waiting for someone with the power to summon it forth. A massive keep formed behind us, its towers stretching up like grasping claws. The stone walls went dark with shadows that smoothed them into a glass-like sheen, then molten metal erupted from fissures in the darkness and coated the stone. Water droplets condensed in the air and fell on the red-hot walls, quenching them. Steam billowed as the castle cooled, misting around a gleaming thing of gold that soared into the sky.
Next, vines shot out of the earth around the keep and curled up, over the golden towers in delicate designs. Vivid green leaves unfurled and crimson fey flowers bloomed, imparting their heady fragrance to the air. The outer, curtain walls remained slick, free of foliage, and the reason why soon became evident. A moat cracked open around the castle and filled with the traditional water. But in that water, menacing shapes moved and when one surfaced, I gave a gasp of shock. The jagged-toothed creature looked similar to something I'd once seen in the Water Kingdom. Similar but not exact. Az was creating new types of fey life as if he were Faerie herself.
Or a god, Alaric added. A true god.
Below us, the land dipped and rippled. Nearby homes—already overrun by fey land—were pushed away as if they were boats and the land was sea. Forest formed between us, leaving a flower-dotted meadow directly before the castle, and the dry Texan air thickened with humidity. The golden edifice—built with the help of all of the elements—reminded me of the castles in Faerie, which were made the same way, and yet, it was different. There was an ethereal quality to the construction—an air of divinity in addition to one of magic.
The soldiers, who had regrouped at the edge of the meadow, stared up at us with wide, terrified eyes. The military helicopters were gone, consumed by the earth, but the ones holding reporters drew closer until they hovered right before us. I turned my face away from the blast of their propellers and the shouts of reporters trying to be heard over the wind. Azrael cupped my head with one hand and lifted the other. With a flick of his fingers, the helicopters floated gently backward until neither their wind nor their noise bothered us.
“It's time you learned the truth, humans,” Azrael declared, staring right into the cameras. “Your world is connected to that of the Fey. We once lived together in peace, but you turned on us. You hunted my wife's people until they were nearly extinct.”
I gaped at him. If he remembered that...
Yes, he can remember more. Stay with him, Vervain. Help him, Alaric urged.
As if I was going to leave, I huffed. Fuck me, he's speaking as if he is Fey.
Because he is.
“We closed our realm rather than wage war on you but the passage between our worlds is open again, and we have another chance to live in harmony. I have faith in you,” Azrael said firmly. “I have watched over you as Death and now, I have come to you as Life. Together, we can change the fate of the world. Humans and Faeries living side by side and working together to save the Earth. Join us. Speak for the planet and those creatures who cannot speak for themselves. Sow seeds instead of poison. Help instead of harm. Love instead of kill. Embrace what I offer and you shall know happiness as you never have before. For I am Life and Death. I am the voice of the wild things and wild places. I am the elements given physical form.” Azrael's eyes glowed as he shouted, “I am the Faerie God!”
Chapter Forty
Vervain? Odin's voice spoke through our link.
I'm okay. I'm trying to get through to Az. He's, uh, a little bonkers right now. He just called himself the Faerie God.
Azrael had me by the hand and was leading me into his castle. The helicopters still hovered above, watching us avidly while they could. The sound of their propellers muted into silence once we stepped inside.
Yes, we saw. A video of you two just hit the Internet, Odin said dryly.
But, hey, you know the line: all the best people are, I tried to joke but I sensed no amusement from Odin, only worry. How bad is it?
Azrael isn't the only one who's gone bonkers. The entire world is losing its mind. The humans might have disregarded him as a hoax if he hadn't been preceded by all of the fey magic. Plus, he was caught on camera by actual news reporters, not just some guy with a cellphone.
Right. I figured people would be freaking out.
But it's not as bad as it could be. Az spoke of peace and the camera caught it. I don't think the American President will order an attack now. He would look bad. Especially since it's obvious that Az would come out the winner.
Inside, the castle was a symbol of the elements. The floors were covered in grass, a breeze blew gently around us, fire burned in long trenches cut into the stone walls, and shadows shifted over the vaulted ceilings. Azrael walked with confident focus, silently leading me through the maze of corridors, and I used the opportunity to continue speaking with Odin.
He built a faerie castle, I said gravely.
I saw that too. We think Azrael pulled the magic from the other MZs and gathered it there.
The other MZs are gone?
Utterly. But it's not like when you took the magic. The earth isn't bare, it reverted to what it was. We think it's because the magic went willingly.
I can't believe this is happening, I muttered.
How is he?
He seems like himself but... not.
Get him back, Vervain. Keep reminding Azrael of who he is. We're going to try Lugh's suggestion and attempt to positively spin this through social media.
Seriously?
Magic was already on display but now, Az has confirmed it and given it
a name—fey. We have to run with this and try to make the Fey look like more than a bunch of egomaniacs who want to lead humans into their version of utopia. Unless, of course, you could get your star to fix things?
I'll give it another try but I doubt it will work. I waited but there was no response. Odin?
“You won't be able to speak to them anymore, my queen. Not the gods or the consciousness,” Azrael declared. “The Faerie God does not share his wife.”
“Vervain,” I said firmly. “My name is Vervain. But you also call me Carus.”