Destiny Descending

tell me about their plans, Sin?” I asked after he'd had a few bites. “Anything that could help me reach a truce with them?”
“You want a truce?” Sin asked in surprise. “Wow, you really are different.”
“I was evil,” I huffed.
“Not entirely,” he protested. “You treated me pretty well. I mean, besides blowing me off.”
“Nonetheless, I'm back to my non-evil self,” I insisted as I evaded the questioning stares of my husbands. Viper already knew about Sin's unsuccessful pursuit of me and he only smirked. “And I'd rather not go to war with your pantheon because of things I did when I wasn't myself.”
Sin sighed. “I don't know how to stop this war, Vervain. You came into their land and took it from them. You killed one of their main gods and ground the others beneath your heel. That's not something easily forgiven and it's never forgotten.”
“I zink I take children outside,” Kirill stood up and swung Lesya up into his arms. “Vero? You vant to come?”
“Daddy.” Vero hugged his father tighter.
“I guess I'll go too.” Trevor gave me a long look.
“I'll come and get you when we're done,” I promised.
Kirill and Trevor took the children outside while Odin and Viper got up moved into the vacant seats.
“So, you don't think there will be any reasoning with them?” Odin resumed our conversation.
“I don't see how.” Sin grimaced. “I can tell you that they're all in Bahrain gathering to attack you, but they won't be able to do that until you come out of the God Realm.”
“Yes, I know.” I glanced at the other men. “I wanted to wait them out.”
“That won't work.” Sin shook his head. “The longer they wait, the angrier and more desperate they'll become. They'll find a way to smoke you out, and you won't like their methods.”
“Any suggestions?” Azrael asked him. “You know these gods; what would you do if you were us?”
“I'd run,” Sin admitted. “But I don't have ties like you do, Vervain. I don't have people they could use against me.”
“My people are here,” I reminded him.
“Are they?” He lifted his brows at me. “All of them?”
“Oh, fuck,” I whispered. “I have human family and friends in HR. Do they know where my mother lives?”
“I don't think so, but if you have any human ties on Earth, they'll find them,” Sin said. “I'd put them under guard if I were you. Then I'd gather my allies and all the weapons I could muster.”
“All right. Thank you, Sin.” I laid a hand on his shoulder. “You didn't have to come, and I appreciate it. If there's anything I can do for you, just say the word.”
Sin stared at me for a long moment then said, “I'll keep an eye on the Mesopotamians for you. If they leave Bahrain, I'll call.”
I gaped at him. “Really?”
“Really.” He pulled out his phone. “But you gotta give up the digits, mama.”
I laughed and gave him my phone number. “Text me. Phone calls don't do well here.”
“You got it.” Sin promised then went back to eating with gusto.

Chapter Seven
Not only did Sin promise to call when the Mesopotamians left Bahrain, but he also gave us addresses for the homes of several prominent Anunnaki—the collection of 600 Mesopotamian gods who rule the rest. Sin is an Anunnaki, which is how he knew so much about his pantheon's plans even though they were mad at him. Evidently, you can't kick an anunnaki out of a meeting.
With Sin's information, we were able to direct Blue's vampires better and detailed reports of the Mesopotamians' movements started pouring in. Despite what he said, Sin did try to negotiate on my behalf. He was seen speaking with Marduk himself. But Sin was also seen leaving with an unsatisfied look on his face so I don't think the negotiations went well. I wasn't surprised; Marduk started off hating me, before I even did anything bad. He has a deep dislike of dragons that had begun with the Goddess Tiamat, who had been a dragon and a witch. Add faerie to that and she would have been me. So, yeah, I had rubbed him the wrong way simply by breathing.
Ninkasi was also very supportive, welcoming the vampires into her club and giving them access to the private, upper floor where only Gods were allowed. That surprised me a bit. Ninkasi had been nice enough to me but after all I'd done as the Dark Star, I expected her to side with her pantheon. I would have. Then again, Sin and Ninkasi were close, and he had been my general. He probably protected her through all of my madness. She might have even benefited from it.
On top of our espionage, I set a lion guard on my human family and friends then started assembling a list of allies to ask for help. The Intare and Froekn were a given and so were the Valkyries. Artemis returned with an answer from the Olympians, and they'd support us as well. They were already keeping an eye out for any Mesopotamians outside of Bahrain. In addition to the substantial might of the Greeks, Hell's Demons would fight for Azrael, the Fire Fairies would follow Arach, and the Egyptians would rally for Re.
I could also ask the Nagas, Thunderbirds, and even the Celts to help us, but I'd rather not, for various reasons. The Nagas are generally peaceful and even though they owed me for saving several of their people from Hanuman, I didn't want to ask them to fight if I didn't have to. The Thunderbirds have fought with me before, but I felt as if they'd paid their dues, and the Celts... well, we've had some rough patches. Even without those groups, we'd still have thousands of soldiers if needed. Our odds were good. Oh, excuse me, that was a missed opportunity. Let me revise; the odds are ever in our favor.
So, why did I have this sour feeling in my belly?
I headed down to our communal