A Fey New World (The Godhunter #32) - Amy Sumida Page 0,70

even all of the magic in Faerie. You'll find him, sweetheart. Trust me.”

I looked over at Odin and then Arach as I slowed into a hover.

“I've tried to touch him through the bond and he doesn't feel right, Odin,” I whispered. “He won't respond to me. I can't sense where he is.”

“It could simply be the distance,” Odin said gently. “You're in Faerie, and Cian has been trying to seal the realm. The magic could be thicker now. Do not panic, Vervain. Azrael needs you to remain calm.”

I gave him an expression that told him exactly what I thought of that load of crap. The distance part, not the calm part; he was right about that.

Turn around you idiot, Faerie snapped in my mind. Your husband has just become a god of Faerie. You're gonna need some help. You can't just wing it, even if he is an Angel.

Are you trying to make a joke when my husband I in jeopardy? I snarled at her.

What? You're the only one who can crack jokes at inappropriate times?

Morpheus caught up to us. He looked calmer now that I had panicked. “We'll get him back, V. But I think they're right. There's no getting through to Az now. We need an expert on fey magic to tell us how to deal with him.”

Without another word, I turned around and flew back to the Castle of Eight. King Cian and Queen Meara were waiting on the steps of the central tree. I set down in the courtyard and strode up to them.

“How do I get the magic out of him?” I demanded. “How do I remind Azrael who he is?”

The other men landed behind me and joined us on the steps.

“You know far more about your husband than I do, Queen Vervain. I can't tell you how to help him remember who he is,” Cian said gently. “But I can tell you that your husband has now become an avatar for the wild magic. I don't know how it's possible. A god has magic of their own; Azrael's magic should have protected him against any invader.”

“Azrael hasn't used his magic to its full extent for a long time,” Odin noted. “He retired.”

“Retired?” Cian asked as if he didn't know the word, or at least couldn't understand it in that context.

“It means that he stopped doing what the humans believe he does,” Arach tried to explain. “They think he's the Angel of Death who harvests souls but the harvesting wasn't necessary—the souls can ascend on their own. So, Azrael stopped serving as a psychopomp.”

“Az doesn't have to carry souls to use his magic; he used it to comfort me the other day,” I argued. “After we left Faerie.”

“That was once in how long?” Odin asked me. “And Comfort is a sub-magic. His main magic is Death.”

“Death,” King Cian whispered. Then he exclaimed, “That's it!”

“What's it?” Queen Meara asked.

“Azrael doesn't just possess death magic, he is believed to be Death—it's embodiment,” Cian explained. “Azrael is the Grim Reaper and that personification is not just god magic but also strong human belief. Humans who don't believe in gods, still believe in the Grim Reaper—if not in his existence then in his mythos. This is very similar to the way that the Fey are viewed by humans these days, correct?”

“I suppose,” I said slowly, hesitantly.

“And the fey magic is on Earth now, being altered by the power there and that power is, at least partly, human belief. Azrael is Death but faerie magic is Life—pure life. It's elemental,” Cian explained. “Azrael's magic coming into contact with its exact opposite could cause a... what do the Imps call it?” He frowned, then his expression cleared. “Oh, yes, a fusion. A merging of harmonious materials. All made possible by Azrael's rejection of his magic. He made Death vulnerable; he made himself vulnerable.”

“Azrael didn't reject his magic,” I protested.

“Repressed,” Cian amended. “However you label it, it has gone unused.”

“You've been talking with the Imps?” Meara asked her husband with an approving smile.

“I speak with all of our people, my love. It is my duty as High King to care for them.”

“Yes, yes, that's wonderful. You're an awesome king.” I made a shooing gesture with my hand. “But what about Az? If the magic did fuse with him because he's Death and it's Life, what does that mean? What does that make him?”

I told you what it makes him, Faerie said—by the look of the other faerie's faces, she said it to