Chapter 33

"Pizza?"I followed him out into the hallway. "Is it delivery or DiGiorno?"
"Neither."Ull laughed while Thor looked confused again. "I picked it up on my way over. Hope you like Chicago style."
"I love it."I smiled as the scent of garlic, tomatoes, and buttery crust filled my nose. "Where did you get it?"
"Uh, Chicago,"Ull gave me a duh tone.
"You went to Chicago for pizza?"I blinked in surprise.
"It's just as far as anywhere else from here."He laughed at me.
"Oh."I felt like an idiot. "Right."
I walked into the dining room and just stood and stared for a second before recovering and following Thor to a seat. Imagine a Viking dining hall; long trestle tables, stone walls with torches poking out of them, piles of fur, poles for practicing your ax throw, those kind of things. Okay, got it? Bilskinir's dining room was nothing like that.
The table was made out of wood but that's where the similarities ended. It was mahogany and polished to a mirror-shine; the kind that would make your glass slide eerily across the table without anyone touching it. The dining set looked modern American but everything else in the room looked Indian; as in India, forehead dot, not feather. There were saris instead of curtains and carved fretwork adorning everything. A mirror edged in brass was hung at the far end of the room. It loomed over a statue of an elephant holding a bowl of marigolds balanced precariously on its tusks.
The walls were gleaming white marble and the floor was covered in an enormous Persian carpet. A double-domed ceiling was adorned with brass lanterns hanging on long chains from their apexes and the windows were actually arched doorways. Their wide curves were separated by sinuous columns, and they opened to a balcony filled to overflowing with plants. The sound of the surf and the cry of birds trickled in on the breeze.
Gods sure did know how to decorate. Maybe there was a god who was good at interior design. The God of Décor. He was probably gay with a thick French accent. Sorry; that was terrible typecasting.
"Damn,"I whispered in awe as I looked down at my gilded china plate with its huge piece of cheese-oozing pizza.
"Something wrong?"Thor sat in an elaborately-carved chair on my right; once again ignoring the seat at the head of his own table, but somehow commanding the room nonetheless.
"Nope."I smiled and took a bite. The pizza was unbelievable. "Everything's just perfect."
"Good."He poured me some red wine and the food was suddenly lead in my belly.
"Uh, do you have white?"Flashes of my dinner with Blue and his glass of wine snapped into focus in my mind.
"Sure."Thor frowned; taking my glass for himself and replacing mine with his fresh one. He poured me some white wine; staring more at me than my glass. "What is it?"
"Nothing I want to talk about right now."I took a swig and felt some of my strength return.
"All right."Thor gave me a quick nod and let it go, bless his little Viking heart.
"Ah, we have perfect timing I see."Pan sauntered in, followed by Horus, Persephone, Brahma, Mr. T, and Mrs. E.
"Help yourself."Thor waved at the open pizza boxes at the end of the table. "I called you all here because we've had a new development."
"Oh?"Brahma took the seat on my left and reached immediately for the red wine.
I looked away. It was going to be a long time before I could enjoy a glass of red again.
"I think it's safe to assume they won't be following the Make War list now that they suspect we have it."Thor's arm crept around the back of my chair as he leaned back and addressed his friends. "So, it's fortuitous that Vervain now has a link to Huitzilopochtli."
"A link?"Mr. T paused with his fork lifted halfway to his face (Chicago style needs a fork).
"Huitzilopochtli bit Vervain, but Teharon is training her to use the mark as a way into the Aztec's mind,"Thor spoke into the shocked silence. "With a little luck and a lot of skill, we should have some information very soon."
"Yeah, like right after lunch."I started shoveling pizza into my mouth.
The sooner I could become competent at spirit-walking, the sooner I could find out what Blue was up to, and the sooner I could kick his mind-raping ass. The thought brought back my appetite with gusto.
"Slow down, Vervain."Teharon shook his head at me. "You won't be ready until we've completed at least one more session. You definitely won't be trying it tonight."
"But . . ."I gaped at him, a small piece of pizza falling forlornly off my fork.
"No."He shook his head again, more firmly.
"Thor?"I looked at Thor for help.
"I think you should listen to the expert."he shrugged. "What's a couple more days in light of your safety?"
"Fine,"I grumbled, "but we're doing it first thing when I come back tomorrow."
"Come back?"Thor dropped his arm from my chair and turned to face me. "I thought you'd stay the night."
"Oh, really?"I raised a brow at his presumption.
"I brought your cat and everything."
The entire table was watching our exchange like a tennis match. Back and forth, back and forth.
"I know. I'm taking Nick home with me."I took another bite of pizza, took my time chewing it, then looked up at him. "I like sleeping in my own bed, and I'm perfectly safe now. I may not be up to spirit-walking, but I'm solid as far as shielding goes. Isn't that right, Teharon?"
Teharon frowned a little at me; clearly displeased that I had involved him in our argument, but he finally nodded. "She's more than competent enough with her shielding now. She should be safe in her own home."
"See?"I smiled smugly at the sullen Thor and sent Teharon a grateful look.