Casey gathered his music sheets into a folder. It was after the last Sunday Mass, and he was tired from practicing a new interpretation of the 23rd Psalm. He wasn’t sure if he was actually going to use it in the mass, but it was a challenge and he liked musical challenges.
Both doors to the church opened, letting in the sun. A man stood dramatically in the center. Casey stopped, turned, and watched as three birds flew into the chapel – a raven, a sparrow, and a hawk. All three took different perches near the altar – the raven choosing to land on the altar itself.
He turned back to the doors, and they closed gently behind the man, who was walking down the center aisle. His black hair was cut short, and he wore a t-shirt and jeans. His boots echoed on the marble floor.
“This is where my people worship now,” he said, not a question, but a definitive statement.
Casey knew that when Soniac had come in for Easter and she wasn’t struck by lightning, that God and his Son and Holy Spirit either didn’t care about other gods in their house, or judged that they were equal. Casey, for one, was not going to ask God what he thought.
“Some,” said Casey, coming down from the nave.
“They no longer worship me or Sky Woman.” He turned to Casey. “Only you.”
“You got some hits on your web site.”
He looked flatly at Casey, not comprehending.
“Some people were curious about you, Lord Hino.” It sounded strange, calling him Lord Hino in the house of God. He suddenly felt claustrophobic.
“What of the waubuno.”
Oh, shit, here it is. “He isn’t a black magician. He’s a good magician, but he uses dark magics to heal and help the innocent.”
“Dark magics to help? He must want something out of it.”
“I didn’t ask him that.” Casey walked over to Hino and stood directly across from him. Looking at the man Hino had picked to assume his guise among men, Casey now understood what Scott felt looking upon him. Even when Hino was in his glory – feathered skirt, wings and all – the god was definitely hot. But Casey could never wrap his head around doing anything more than worship. “However Scott said that he’s a little paranoid.”
“Paranoid?”
“He thinks he has enemies everywhere.”
“Does he?”
“I don’t know that either. But he didn’t trust me. He didn’t invite me in his home when I went to visit.”
“What do you feel when you’re around him?”
Shit, you had to ask that question. He decided to hedge. “I think…I feel uncomfortable around him. Because he’s a mage. Mages use magic of all kinds – dark, light, elemental. I don’t know how to fight him if I could.”
“You will not fight him.”
Casey stood still. “Please, Lord Hino, don’t fight him.”
“I will not fight him, either.” He crossed his huge arms over his broad chest. “I have other, more important things to worry about.”
“Like what, Lord Hino?”
“Like my wife.”
“Is she hurt again?” Soniac hadn’t been around since Easter, but that didn’t mean that she got into trouble.
“No. She spends too much time among the people again.”
“You need to tell her to not forget about you and your needs.” Casey grinned.
Again, that flat look, and Casey lost the smile. He coughed.
Hino waved a hand, and the birds followed him out. “Tell Scott, if you see him before I do, that his boyfriend is safe from me.”
“Yes, my Lord,” said Casey. But is Scott?