by Amy Sumida
“Your mother is going to make me clip your wings, Bas,” Azrael chided as he took the baby from me.
Sebastian giggled more.
“I think we really should.” I picked up Dominic and nuzzled him again. “But not my sweet Dominic's,” I cooed at him. “Only naughty boys get their wings clipped.”
“Vervain,” Azrael chided, “we can't actually clip their wings.”
“Why not? They'll grow back, won't they?”
“That's hardly the point.” Azrael laid Sebastian down on the changing table and then went to the mint green dresser.
He opened the top drawer and pulled out one of the padded straps we used to bind the boys' wings. Sebastian scowled at his father as Azrael turned him onto his belly and affixed the strap, securing his wings in a folded position. Sebastian started to cry. The straps had a touch of magic that kept little angel-faeries from vanishing their wings and bringing them back—a trick they learned early on to escape the bindings.
“Stop that,” Azrael said firmly to Sebastian as he turned him over and took the onesie from me.
I had to craft special onesies for the boys with my territory magic so that they'd button around the wings. Let me tell you, parenthood is ten times harder when your children have wings. I wouldn't wish that hell on anyone. Luckily, I had the perfect man to deal with hellish situations.
When Sebastian continued to whine, Azrael tickled him until he forgot about his wings entirely. He got Sebastian dressed and picked him up, following me out of the room and downstairs to the master bedroom. My other men and children were either downstairs or—in the case of Arach and my first set of twins, Rian and Brevyn—in the Faerie Realm. So, Az and our sons had the room to ourselves. I set Dominic down on a play blanket so he could crawl about and he instantly wobbled onto his hands and knees, heading for one of the many toys scattered across the colorful expanse. Azrael did the same with Sebastian and he headed for the same toy Dominic was after.
I shook my head at the angel-faerie who was leaning more to the other side of his father's family tree. Azrael, used to demonic inclinations, grabbed two toys, handing one to each boy. They took them and sat back to inspect the pieces of plastic with their mouths.
“Maybe we should look into finding a spell that would banish their wings until they get older,” I suggested.
“You're just tired.” Azrael kissed my forehead, then headed to the kitchen. “I'll make you a cup of tea.”
“Make me a pot, please,” I muttered as I went to sprawl in a kitchen chair. “I didn't realize how hard twins were.”
“You have twins with Arach.”
“In a faerie kingdom with lots of nannies to do all the hard work,” I whined. “I didn't want kids again so soon but you and your fertile faerie magic cock had to—”
“Vervain!” Azrael exclaimed in shock, then looked pointedly at the babies.
“They can't understand us,” I huffed, breaking one of my own rules. I had a strict, no-swearing policy around the kids—from baby to adulthood. But I was so fucking tired. And I had god and fey recuperation abilities.
“Carus, it will be okay,” Azrael said gently as he joined me at the table. He picked up my hand and kissed it. “Things will get easier.”
“I hate you so much,” I grumbled.
Azrael chuckled. “I love you too.”
“When is your meeting with NATO?”
He glanced at the clock. “I've got a few hours.”
“Do you want me to come with you?” I asked hopefully. Yep, I'd rather deal with politicians than my babies.
“No, I'll be fine. We're talking about the possible trade of fey plants. It's just a preliminary meeting.”
The world had been reintroduced to the Fey a couple of months before my sons were born. It had been chaos at first, especially with Azrael, who had been consumed by wild fey magic and become a faerie god, at the helm. The Faerie God, actually. That's what he had called himself when he tried to take control of the world. Long story short, Az and I created an Elemental Well beneath his citadel in Texas—yes, Texas—and used it to get the magic under control. And then I sliced most of the wild magic out of him using his scythe and we pulled most of the fey magic back into a few miles around the only remaining rath—path to Faerie—on Earth.
The humans were coming around to the idea of faeries now that they had their world back. That was due in large part to the efforts of the Imps—Fire Faeries who were skilled at technology. One of those technological skills was the ability to traverse the Internet and manipulate the streams of energy inside it. They'd been using their powers for the good of the Fey by manipulating the streams of social media to promote a positive fey image.
And it had been working remarkably well.
The Fey were all the rage on Earth. They had fans with fan clubs, clothing lines imitating their style, and special bars that catered to them. Movies were being made about the Fey and toys created in their image. It was a bit ridiculous but I was pleasantly surprised. It was especially miraculous when you considered how poorly it had all begun. Now that magic wasn't being shoved down their throats, humans were starting to see all of the benefits of having it in their lives. Instead of pushing it away, they were begging for it. Azrael wasn't just dealing with world leaders anymore. He'd been approached by billionaires, huge corporations, and even schools asking him to do everything from enchant them to give motivational speeches.
Azrael had to build a second wall hundreds of feet out from the first one he'd put around the faerie land in Texas. People had started swarming to Lexington and they set up camps just outside the walls, hoping to catch a glimpse of a faerie. So, Az put up the second wall and created a buffer between the fey land and normal earth. It was within this buffer zone that our team of ex-Wild Fey (they'd been changed into a type of faerie by the magic but then we had changed them back) ran the Fey Embassy, lived in their own private neighborhood, and dealt with all of the minor human issues that we didn't want to deal with.
Some of those issues were rather distasteful. I won't get into the faerie-haters yet; just know that not all of the world was on the fey train. And for good reason too. Az and I may have been able to pull back most of the magic that had invaded Earth and altered so much of it, but that didn't fix all the damage that had been done. Sure, the altered humans and animals were back to normal and the land had shifted back to what it was before fey magic had exploded across it, but not all of the architecture, streets, and other trappings of civilization that had altered went back to normal. In some cases, the alteration had damaged or even destroyed the thing that had been altered. Like the Eiffel Tower, which looked as if a giant tree had burst through it. Because a giant tree had burst through it.
In short, it would be a long road to a full recovery for humanity but there were some benefits to that. Azrael had guided the wild magic where he could and the changes he made to power plants—all of them run on clean energy now—and weapons of mass destruction—no more nukes—had also stuck. The world had taken a giant leap forward and went green—in so many ways. The environment was flourishing along with the wildlife and the Fey—again, thanks to the Imps—were getting major props for that. Azrael had even appeared on Oprah.
The only exception was Iceland, which had already been running on geothermal power and also believed in Elves before the fey invasion. The changes there hadn't been as significant as everywhere else but those that had occurred—even the exceptionally odd alterations—were accepted with open arms and an almost child-like enthusiasm. Out of all of the humans on Earth, the Icelanders weathered the Fey storm the best. When the magic withdrew, they were the only race who mourned.
“Fine. Go ahead. Leave me alone with your spawn,” I huffed.
“At least one of them is a good boy,” Azrael said with a smile aimed at our sons.
I smiled to see him smile. Az was profoundly happy and that made up for my sleepless nights and countless chases around the ceiling. I took his hand and squeeze
d it. He squeezed me back and we just stared adoringly at each like a couple of romantic idiots.
Then we were interrupted by Satan.
Azrael sighed and looked down at his cell phone in annoyance. A rust-red face with black horns and a toothy grin stared up at him from the screen with burning eyes. It was his father's alternate form—the one he only used to mess with people or to go to war. Azrael swiped the image and brought up the incoming text from Lucifer Morningstar. Then he frowned.
“What is it?” I asked.
“My father wants me to come over as soon as I can,” Azrael murmured. “He says there's something strange happening with his new video game.”
“That's code for 'come over and play with me.'” I snorted.
“I don't think so.” Azrael handed me the phone.
I read the text, “Come to Hell ASAP. New game is cursed. Need your help.” I looked up at Az. “His game is cursed?”
“Maybe I should take you with me,” Azrael said.
His phone dinged again.
I read the new text. “Bring the witch with you.” I grimaced at him, “I think he means me.”
Pronunciation Guide
A Thaisce: Ah Hash-keh
Aalish: A-lis
Aednat: Ey-nit
Aillidh: Ah-lee
Ameterasu: Ah-mah-ta-rah-soo
Aodh: Ee
Aoife: Ee-fa
Arach: Air-rock
Artair: Ar-ter
Bean-nighe: Ban-neeyah
Bean-sidhe: Ban-she
Bearach: BEH-ruck
Bodb Derg: Bo-hid Dar-rig
Bronagh: Bro-nah
Caitir:KAH-te-heer
Carus: Care-us
Ciaran: KEE-a-rawn
Cian: Key-an
Craigor: Kraeg-or
Credne: Creh-d-nyah
Danal: Dah-nal
Daoir: Daheer
Dhumorna: Doo-more-nah
Diarmat: DEER-mit
Drachleen-sidhe: Druch-leen Shee
Eilidh: Ael-ee
Ellingran: El-ING-rawn
Erebus: Air-ree-bus
Estsanatlehi(Mrs E): Es-tan-AHT-lu-hee
Farinne-sidhe: Fare-nya Shee
Fearghal: FAR-rell
Fionn: FYOON
Fionnuala: Finn-noo-lah
Fionnaghal: Fyoon-ghal-a
Froekn: Fro-kin
Gobniu: Guh-rev-nyew
Grainne: GRAW-nya
Granuaile: Graw-nya-wail
Gruach: Groo-ah
Guirmean: GOO-rah-man
Hachiman: Ha-chee-man
Huitzilopochtli: Weet-seal-oh-POACHED-lee
Ilmarinen: Ill-mah-ree-nen
Imleag: Im-mah-lack
Intare: In-tar-ay
Isleen: Is-lean
Kanaloa: Kah-nah-low-ah
Katila: Kah-till-ah
Kirill: Key-reel
Leannan-sidhe: Lah-nan Shee
Lemminkainen: Lem-meen-ki-nen
Macaria: Ma-cah-ree-ah
Meilyr: May-ler
Neala: NEE-ah-la
Nephthys: Nep-th-es
Nyavirezi: Nee-yah-veer-ez-ee
Peig: Paeg
Raiseala: Rash-uh-lah
Roarke: ROAR-k
Ruari: Ro-ree
Scotaidh: SCO-tee
Shehaquim: Shah-ha-keem
Shinno: Sheh-no
Tairhail: Tah-vel
Taog: TOOK
Taran: TA-ran
Tima: Tee-mah
Tlaloc: T-la-lock
Tsohanoai(Mr. T): So-ha-noe-ayee
Vainamoinen: Vie-nah-moy-nen
Vejasmate: Vay-hahs-mah-tee
Veve: Veh-vay
Vilkacis: Vill-ka-seas
Glossary of Characters
This list has gotten so extensive that I've moved it to my website. You may find it on the Godhunter Series Page here: https://www.amysumida.com/book-list
About the Author
Amy Sumida is the Internationally Acclaimed author of the Award-Winning Godhunter Series, the fantasy paranormal Twilight Court Series, the Beyond the Godhunter Series, the music-oriented paranormal Spellsinger Series, the superhero Spectra Series, and several short stories. Her books have been translated into several languages, have won numerous awards, and are bestsellers. She believes in empowering women through her writing as well as providing everyone with a great escape from reality. Her stories are full of strong women and hot gods, shapeshifters, vampires, dragons, fairies, gargoyles... pretty much any type of supernatural, breathtakingly gorgeous man you can think of. Because why have normal when you could have paranormal?
Born and raised in Hawaii, Amy made a perilous journey across the ocean with six cats to settle in the beautiful state of Oregon which reminds her a lot of Hawaii but without the cockroaches or evil sand. When she isn't trying to type fast enough to get down everything the voices in her head are saying while her kitties try to sabotage her with cuteness, she enjoys painting on canvases, walls, and anything else that will sit still long enough for the paint to dry. She's fueled by tea, inspired by music, and spends most of her time listening to the voices in her head.
For information on new releases, detailed character descriptions, and an in-depth look into the worlds of the Godhunter, the Twilight Court, the Spellsinger, Spectra, and the Happily Harem After Series, check out Amy's website:
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