Total pages in book: 106
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 98961 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 495(@200wpm)___ 396(@250wpm)___ 330(@300wpm)
For our family.
Lucas takes my hand and we go inside, greeted right away by Eliza. Her blue eyes flash like glass and she growls, fangs drawn.
“If either of you fucking disappear into some sort of fucking portal again without fucking telling me first, I swear on my afterlife I will burn down the house and everything inside. Except Juliet and my pigs, of course,” she adds. “What was that?”
“Osiris called me back,” Lucas explains and then looks at me. “I don’t know what happened after that.”
“I kinda cast a spell on you and then got on Famine but he didn’t like me and he bucked me off so I asked Osiris if we can trap the energy in the vessel instead and he was like sure, bring it and let’s try and I was like cool, just gotta find the thing and he was like sure, whatever, don’t take too long and then I helped him strengthen the warding and he let us both come back.”
“Did you hit your head when you got bucked off?” Eliza raises her eyebrows, looking at me like I’m a crazy person. And right now, I am. Everything and everyone has a line that can be crossed. I didn’t want to see it, didn’t want to admit to myself that I need one when it comes to Lucas. He’s the love of my life. My husband.
And I’ll do whatever it takes to keep him with me.
“Then go get the vessel,” Eliza says.
“My dad has it and surprise, surprise, he’s not answering.” Both Lucas and Eliza are staring at me. “Where’s Juliet?” I ask, both wanting to know if Eliza just set her down, as well as needing a distraction.
“On her play mat. Binx and Freya are watching her and I will never get over how absurd it is to ask fucking cats to watch a baby.”
I laugh and then my composure that I’ve been frantically holding up crumbles into tiny pieces all around me and my laugh turns into a sob.
“And that is why you should wear a helmet when you ride a horse,” Eliza quips, putting one hand on her hip.
“Attend to Juliet,” Lucas commands her and she huffs but speeds away. “Callie?” Lucas’s hands clasp around my waist.
“I’m sorry,” I cry and collapse against him. He picks me up, carrying me into the family room. “I’m so sorry.”
“It’s okay, my love.” He sits us down on the couch, keeping me in his lap.
“I want us to be together and I want the demons to stop coming after me.”
“They will. Somehow, we will find a way.”
Tears blur my vision as I tip my head up. “I think I found a—” I cut off, gasping as I recognize the familiar shift in the air. Alona appears only feet from us, and Lucas springs up so fast I fall off the couch.
“It’s okay,” I rush out, throwing out my hand and releasing a string of magic to stop Lucas from rushing at Alona. “She’s a good angel.” I shake my head, mentally adding that to my what the fuck list of weird things said just today.
“Michael heard your prayer and sent me,” she says, and I have to remind myself that she doesn’t know who I really am. So, you can hear me, Dad. “It’s not safe for him to return at this point, as he’s being watched. He said you’d know what that meant.”
“I do. Julian said something about a vessel that could be used to house a powerful demon. I saw it, but I don’t know what happened to it after he…” I can’t bring myself to say it and I used to think it was stupid how people couldn’t say a word. It’s just a word. Yet it hurts every time. “I think Michael has it, and I was hoping to ask him if he could give it to me because it seems we could use it.”
“Another demon is trying to open the Gates,” Lucas goes on, picking up right away that Alona doesn’t know the full truth. “Which would offer Paimon a chance of escaping.”
Alona nods. “I’m aware. The demon who calls himself Murmur took thirteen willing sacrifices in a place of worship, breaking one of the seals keeping the Gates closed.”
“Murmur,” I repeat. “How powerful are we talking?”
“He has thirty demons under his command and is familiar with both Heaven and Hell as he used to be an angel. He fell from grace and fell hard when he aligned himself with Lucifer during the rebellion.”
“Whoa, shit,” I mumble.
“Yeah, that is an appropriate response. He used to be called Matthias and he and Lucifer were friends. I do not know where his loyalties lie at the moment.”
There is a lot to unpack there, and I can’t ponder anything out loud in front of Alona. Dammit, Dad, I really need to talk to you. I don’t know what she knows and if I say the wrong thing, I’m pretty much dead.