A Fey New World (The Godhunter #32) - Amy Sumida Page 0,93

here as guardians. Should you ever stop protecting the planet, you would forfeit it.”

The men and women around the table, myself included, stared at Azrael in horror.

“As it stands, I am your new god and you will not be working with me, you will obey me. Your governments are now my governments. You will run them at my discretion and retain what power you have on my sufferance,” Azrael's voice filled with magic and so did the room—it swirled around the humans, lifting their hair and bringing expressions of terror to their faces. “Now, I ask you again, is that understood?”

The men and women around the table were not used to being spoken to like that and not a single person there liked the word obey any more than I did, but they were also politicians and they knew when to admit defeat. Or at least retreat to debate another day. Plus, I think they wanted to go on living. They nodded.

“Good,” Azrael's voice toned down. “Your first order is to establish order. Make it known that fey fruit and vegetables are safe to eat. Once you remove the threat of starvation, the level of desperation should lower.”

“They can't just eat fruit and vegetables,” the Chancellor of Germany argued.

“I don't see why not. But if you need meat, you still have your cows,” Azrael pointed out. Then he amended, “Most of them. And you have the sea. Fish.”

“The seas aren't safe,” the Prime Minister of Japan argued. “Our fishermen have been attacked by monstrous creatures.”

“The oceans are safe if you respect them,” Azrael shot back. “You must return to true sailing, without the use of engines, and never discard waste into the water. If your fishermen cross the water calmly and don't pour filth into it, they won't call forth the beasts of the sea.”

The men and women shared uneasy looks.

“You can take my word as absolute truth and law,” Azrael said. “Follow my instructions and you will flourish. Fail to, and you will die. Simple.”

“Azrael,” I whispered in part reprimand and part plea.

“Do not test me further, Carus,” he hissed.

I went as silent as the humans.

“Take stock of what you have and distribute it fairly,” Azrael went on. “And I mean fairly. Do not let me discover that you are hoarding food or selling it to the rich. Food should be available to everyone. If you do this, I will handle the Wild Fey.”

“Handle?” President Lopez asked.

“Handle,” Azrael growled. “They are my people now.”

“Very well,” the British Prime Minister said crisply. “I have no problem with a fair distribution of food.”

“Excellent,” Azrael said as he looked around the table and received nods of capitulation from all of the members of NATO. “Feed your people, get them under control, and then I will give you further orders.”

“Er, how?” the American President asked. “How will you be contacting us? Do we need a charm or a—”

“The cellphone towers are still intact, correct?” Azrael asked with a smirk.

“Yes.”

Azrael waved his hand and a book appeared on the table before President Lopez with a golden pen beside it. “Write down your phone numbers. I will call you.”

The world leaders—or perhaps ex-world leaders—wrote their cellphone numbers in the Faerie God's book with the air of people who had just survived a bombing. I felt similarly stunned but instead of being intimidated as they were, I was working up to another explosion.

Chapter Forty-Six

We saw our guests out.

As soon as the drawbridge lifted, Azrael turned to me and demanded, “How can we rein in the magic?”

“Oh, hell no!” I snarled. “You don't get to ask me that after treating me like a fucking Stepford wife in there. First, you look me in the eye and tell me that you couldn't have stopped the magic from overtaking the entire fucking world!”

“You seem to be suffering under the delusion that I answer to you, wife,” Azrael snarled as his wings flared out and he lowered his face to mine aggressively. “Let me cure you of this; I rule here.”

“Oh, I see. The honeymoon period is over, eh?” I snarled back. “All your pretty words and your offer to compromise were nothing but a bunch of burol-shit.”

Azrael pulled back and let out a long breath. “I have never and will never lie to you.” His stare simmered into a soft glow as it trailed over my face. “I love you, Carus. I do this for you. I want you to rule beside me but for us to succeed, we