Page 47 of The Goddess is Angry
“You and West hero worship him, so I knew I was getting him to sign it when I was getting the rest of the team to. I may have told him it was a Yule gift for you and if he didn’t do it, I’d quit the team and tell you and Oscar he ruined your Yule gift so the two of you would quit, too.”
“And he didn’t shift and eat you?”
“He laughed and said he admired my negotiating skills. Zion said I’m a hell of a goalie and if I don’t want to go pro when I graduate, to use them in real life.”
“Iknewhe was a softy!”
“Ineversaid this, but Zion is terrible with technology and pretty gruff, but he adores teaching at the Academy of the Profane. The board didn’t seek him out because they were thinking about forming a dodgeball team. Zion found out there was an opening for a magical-combat professor and fought like hell for the job. The dodgeball team happened after he proved he was qualified to teach magical combat. They don’t give that job to shifters often,” Azren said.
“He’s just a big, cuddly bear,” I cooed.
“Never say that to his face. This is from me.”
Azren handed me a smaller box. Inside was this gorgeous choker. There was a large garnet surrounded by rose quartz. It was gorgeous and looked really old. They started teaching us crystals in kindergarten. It was mostly coloring pictures and little sing-song rhymes, but crystals were just as important as potions for protection and bringing extra magic to your home.
I looked to Azren because they never did anything without a reason and they always dropped some knowledge on me that had been lost in time.
“Garnet helps with courage and positive thinking and rose quartz is associated with love. Contrary to the stories, Hades and Persephone were deeply in love. He never tricked her into staying. Hades commissioned seven necklaces for Persephone from several realms. This one was made in the Fae realm with Seelie magic. I was helping those two with something and Persephone gave me this one. She said one day, I was going to meet the person I wanted to gift this necklace to. Persephone assured me I’d find my person when I was at my lowest. It took a few thousand years, but here you are.”
“Now that we’re away from prying eyes at the academy and you can’t get fired, you are so doing more than just kissing me after telling me that. Now, it’s time for my gifts.”
I loved giving presents. Even if it was just something I’d crudely drawn in kindergarten, I loved giving them to people. And I wasterribleat art. I adored picking out the perfect gift for the right person. I had to go to Hell for Azren’s gift and add a little god magic to alter the appearance so it fit in with the rest of their collection.
My family had money. My mom’s library job paid extremely well. My dad knew where all the gold was stashed back when people worshipped him. My aunt didn’t fight him when he said that was his gold and not a museum’s. If Balthazar was asked to consult for the Paranormal Investigation Bureau and the person he was looking into had money, he generally stole some if they were guilty. The trust Minerva left Matilda, and I kicked in as soon as we turned eighteen, so I had a cushion to get me started.
I got Drake top of the line goalie gloves. The gloves were insulated and magically protected because dodgeball was dangerous. The balls the team witch didn’t tame didn’t really discriminate against players. The field edges were lined with black salt so the balls didn’t go wild and take out the spectators, but that wasn’t going to stop them for going to Drake.
“Holy shit. Are these what I think they are? I thought you could only buy these if you’re on a pro team.”
“Well, I have a vested interest in protecting your hands because you’re an amazing musician, I want to hear all the new things you compose, and Oscar can experience music again by touching your violin. My parents all taught us different things. Balthazar taught us there are no rules on the internet, just don’t be an asshole and if you absolutely need to fuck someone up, do your due diligence and make sure they deserve it.”
Drake laughed.
“I get how your family got together. You’re all agents of chaos.”
“Totally. Azren, open yours next.”
Finding a book Azren hadn’t read with information they might not know was hard, but not impossible. I transfigured the cover to look like one of their old, dusty books but left the interior the same.
“I don’t have this one.”
“No one does yet. Lucifer has kept journals since he defected. No one knows how long angels live, but my freshman year of high school, he found a gray hair and freaked out. He decided he didn’t want to die without telling his story. Lucifer has been buried in his journals. He wrote an expose about the early days in Heaven when angels were first created, leading up to when they were tasked with harassing Lilith into destroying her creations and when he defected, to the creation and early days of Hell when he got turned into the human boogeyman.
“He let us read it while he was writing it since we’re all big readers. It’s pretty eye opening. Lucifer got me an advanced copy to gift to you, but it’s not releasing in Hell or my realm for another month.”
“You’d definitely better fuck our girlfriend because I’ve never been able to find a history book you’ve never read,” Drake said.
Azren let out that silky chuckle that was always sexy as fuck.
“It’s perfect, George. And it has a lot of information I don’t know, but want to. Now, get the fuck out of my house, Drake. I want to show George to my bedroom.”
Finally.
george
Azren used their magic to make themselves at home in their office and staff cottage. They could just wave their hands and put it back when they decided not to teach at the Academy of the Profane anymore. But this was a place they spent a lot of time and was just so Azren.
I didn’t know they were obsessed with gardening or cats. Azren’s house was just like their office and cottage—dark colors with candles and books everywhere. There were colorful houseplants and a whole jungle gym on the walls for their cats.
