A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums (Lilith and Co. #1)

Chapter 20

Chapter

Twenty

I heard them all downstairs talking at the dinner table and it pissed me off to miss it. Somehow, Lily Joy got it in her head that I needed to stay in bed to rest. I understood she was trying to get me strong enough to use my magic, but alienating me from the rest of the group totally hurt my morale. In a big way. I needed people around me. I needed stimulating conversation mixed with the adoration of my mate. Okay, so I laughed at myself for even thinking that last part. But I missed the big lug’s face and his scent, and the way he held me. I missed how gently he stroked the skin on my arm totally unaware that he was doing it. I did say I needed people around me.

The four walls closed in on me to the point that if I didn’t get out, I’d go mad. Could some call me overdramatic? Yes. Did I remotely care at this point? Hell no. Even though I stood slowly, my head spun, causing me to put a hand to the bed for balance. Then once I felt ready, I pulled the quilt from the end of the bed and made my way downstairs. The food smelled good. Connor laughed at something Madigan said. I felt completely alone as I slipped out the front door. Slowly, I made my way over to a two-person swing that Lily Joy built around the side of the house to watch the setting sun.

The big, orange ball burned beautifully in the sky. I wondered how Mrs. Hildibrant was faring. I needed to check on my cat. At least he knew how to get into his food and her water fountain lasted for weeks.

So much had changed within such a short span of time. I missed my Jeep and my store, and the days when there weren’t demons and a man named Beetle trying to kill me. Lilith had been selfish to bring me here, to lay all this on my shoulders. A good man died because of her decision. Jeffery didn’t deserve that. If I’d stayed in my time, then he might have met a nice, mortal woman and they would’ve lived in a nice house with a couple of beautiful kids. He could’ve led a blissful life.

But then there was Connor. Surely, the universe would’ve picked a woman better suited to be his mate. Maybe another death hound. Lilith set all this in motion, now leaving me to clean up the mess caused because of it.

Even thinking of my mate with another woman hurt, though. What I needed to do was try to manifest myself away from this place right now so that nobody I loved got hurt fighting this foe who had it out for me in particular in a big, fricking way. But I wasn’t so naive to believe that Connor wouldn’t get himself killed trying to find me. He’d set the world on fire to get to me.

I pressed the palms of my hands to my eyes, frustrated by the whole situation. What did I do? What was the right course of action here? How much clearer could the universe make it? I wasn’t strong enough to take on an enemy like Beetle. The state of my injuries proved that.

If I only had the power to go back in time and take out Adam before he had the chance to attack. Or at the very least keep this Beetle from discovering my secret.

My thoughts kept me occupied for a while longer. I supposed that was how Connor dropped down next to me and I hadn’t seen him coming. I sensed him, but I always sensed him. Our bond made sure of that.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” he asked as he wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me in close to his body.

“I felt a little left out. You all were having such a good time at dinner and I needed to clear my head.”

“You weren’t thinking of doing something stupid, were you?”

“Technically, stupid is relative to the person or situation in conjunction with performing an action. But to put your mind at ease, no. I was just out here lamenting our situation.”

“What exactly are you lamenting?”

“That I’m not strong enough to protect you. That I’m not strong enough to defeat Beetle when that inevitable battle comes.”

“Simone,” he said softly. “I’m not exactly helpless and you won’t be alone.”

“It’s not fair. Lilith shouldn’t have ever put this on our shoulders. I have a target on my back and you’re forced to wear one too—you weren’t given a choice.”

“Neither were you. I have to believe she had her reasons. This might’ve been in the works with a much worse outcome because you weren’t here and we didn’t find each other.”

“I just…” I sniffled. “I got Jeffery killed and he was a good man. He shouldn’t have ever been involved in this. What if I get you killed? I couldn’t live with myself, Connor.”

“That’s where this is coming from,” he muttered under his breath. Then in a slick yet loving move, Connor lifted me from the swing to deposit me on his lap. He wrapped the both of us in the quilt, tucking it down around our thighs, and he held me, rocking gently. “Baby, you have to listen to me. I’m sorry Jeffery got caught up in all this, but it’s not your fault. You had no idea about any of this. And no matter how long or brief my life is, I will never resent meeting you.”

“You say that now?—”

“I say that because I mean it. But just to say, I’m not going anywhere. My life is tied to yours, so I have to survive for you and for the kids we’ll someday have. So see… I have a family to create with my mate. It’ll be a hardship, but I promise to practice until we get it right.”

“I’m scared,” I said honestly, showing him the vulnerability that I tried not to ever show to anyone. “And if you repeat that, I’ll deny it to your dying breath.”

He chuckled. “Your secret is safe with me.”

Then, rather than use his words, he used his mouth to tell me everything he felt in that moment. A kiss of epic proportions. Dammit, I loved this man. Things would be so much easier if I didn’t.

As our kiss reached the inevitable conclusion, Lily Joy came running out of the house shouting for us.

“Here,” Connor hollered back.

She rounded the corner with fear written all over her face. “A witch coven was hit outside of Boston. The news is calling them a preservation organization, but the Sisters of Salem?—”

“Is one of the largest covens in North America,” I finished for her. “How?”

“Bomb. It was a gathering night.”

“Shit,” Connor mumbled. Gathering nights were nights of celebration to bring new witches into the congregation. From what I understood, it was the night when they each declared a field of study, whether it be spellwork, herbology—like making teas and tinctures—crystal work, divination, or any other field of study.

“It’s started,” I said.

“It’s started,” Lily Joy agreed. And as if on cue from a stage director, Madigan and Sim ran out of the house shouting for us.

“Bamburg was hit,” Sim rushed out as they reached us, breathing hard. Bamburg? The German coven? No, no, no… This couldn’t be happening.

“Where are the other large covens?” I asked.

“Navarre and Edinburgh,” Lily Joy answered.

“Don’t forget Western Australia,” Madi said.

“There won’t be a continent unaffected. I see it now,” I said and I meant it. Like, as I spoke, this clear image of witch strongholds being attacked filled my vision. I felt lightheaded and sick like I had to puke.

“Simone?” Connor grabbed me before I passed out. “Talk to me.”

“Visions,” I managed to get out at the very same time my brother bent over in pain.

“I… feel… it…” he cried.

Madigan grabbed a hold of him to keep him standing. Then everything sort of happened at once. A large portal opened up from Hell, and thousands of demons started spilling out into this world. Once again, they’d breached all of Lily Joy’s spells and wards. They shouldn’t have been able to breach the wards.

A man appeared in the far-off distance right as Connor and Madigan dropped into their death-hound forms. The man in the distance disappeared as a death hound took his place, all this happening in the blink of an eye. He ran full speed toward us, tearing up grass and dirt in his charge. Lily Joy turned to look at the hound barreling down the hill and missed a demon aiming a nasty shot of something at her. I pushed her out of the way right before it hit her and Connor managed to knock me down before I got hit, but that put Connor in the line of fire until the unknown death hound launched himself at another demon, knocking him into the path. The demon dropped and vanished.

Who was this hound? Where did he come from? Despite the field around Lily Joy’s house having filled with demons, this new hound jumped right in fighting alongside us.

“Lilith,” I screamed, summoning her. Although I couldn’t see her, a ripple of energy radiated out from the field. I just managed to grab a hold of Connor’s ruff when the ripple hit, knocking us off our feet. I had the presence of mind to manifest our safety. I meant it to protect all of us, but when we landed in the hot, hard-packed sand, only Connor and I made it.

The sun blazed down on us. We had nothing for protection. My backpack was still up in our room at Lily Joy’s cottage—and that had the gem to Lilith’s dagger in it.

Connor had to stay in his hound form because whatever happened drained me and I didn’t have the power to manifest clothing for him.

“ Where are we? ” he asked in my head.

“I don’t know. I don’t know what happened.”

“ It’ll be okay. ”

“What about Madigan, Lily Joy, and Sim? And who was that hound?”

My mate shook his head.

“If they planned to just attack us, then why hit the covens?”

“ Something else is going on,” he said. “I don’t think they meant to kill us. I think it was a distraction .”

“We need to find shade,” I said, holding my hand over my eyes like a visor. A person could go blind out here. “And we need to find water.”

After several hours of walking, we found an oasis. Connor dug down fairly deep to find us water, but he found it and we greedily drank our fill. It might’ve been gritty, sandy water, but it was safe to drink.

The sun began to set at our oasis, meaning England was hours ahead. Connor lay down, leaving a space open for me to settle in a way that he would be able to keep me safe and warm throughout the night. I managed to drift off until I didn’t-know-how-long later. Connor startled me awake when he stood abruptly, his head low, baring teeth at something in the distance.

“ Stay back ,” he ordered me as several giant dogs moved into view. Great. Just freaking great.

“ Who are they? ” I asked him in my head.

“ I don’t know. ”

The pack leader stared at us, nodded, and then turned to run back the way they’d come from. Connor started off after them but then stopped so I could climb on top of him, then he took off at full speed. He followed the giant dogs back to a camp, where each transformed back into a man when they had clothing to cover themselves with.

One of the men threw Connor a pair of blue, cotton pants in rough shape and a faded, red T-shirt. We must’ve been in South America, given the look of the men, and I was pretty sure they spoke Spanish. The men eyed me like a raw steak. One asked in very broken English if Connor would be willing to trade me for goods he might need.

“No women near,” the man managed to say and so not my problem. The man had very tanned skin from living in the desert, black hair, dark eyes, and a strong physique that I was sure other women found attractive. But sorry there, fella—my mate has everything over you. Connor rose up to his full height, which let’s be honest, towered over these men.

“Touch her and die,” he said in a fierce growl, and with the way their eyes grew wide, each and every man here clearly believed it.

One of the men began whining, “ El infierno ,” over and over again. “ El infierno .”

“That means ‘Hell,’” Connor said to me.

“So they know what you are?”

“Seems that way.”

“But they aren’t death hounds?”

“No. Just your garden variety shifters.”

Then it hit me. “Do you think, since they know what you are, that they’ve seen other death hounds? Are we close to a portal?”

“I’m not fluent by any means, so I hope I’m saying this right.”

“Saying what?” I asked, but he ignored me.

“Sorry if I get this wrong,” he said, then he followed with, “?Estamos cerca de un portal? ”

“ ?Sí, sí!” the men shouted.

“ Necesitamos comida y agua primero ,” Connor said. They nodded and ushered us over to their little nomadic settlement. “I taught myself some Spanish through Google Translate when I was younger. I have no idea if it’s grammatically correct, but it’s close enough for them to understand me.”

“You taught yourself through Google Translate?” I laughed in spite of the situation, picturing a young Connor on Google Translate while other boys his age were playing video games.

He shrugged. “When I’m not trying to keep my mate alive or save the world, it gets slow at work sometimes.”

Well, I couldn’t argue with that. But, um… just how long had he been in service to Luc? Did he go to public school at all? Was he homeschooled or could it have been like with Richard, a Jewish boy I’d gone to school with? He went to public school during the day and then had to go to Hebrew school afterward. Once we had the time for more ‘get to know you’ conversation, I’d have to ask about that. I refused to put my future kids into service for Luc, fallen angel or not. They were going to have a regular childhood just like any other children. Even death hounds deserved a childhood.

We sat on raggedy rug mats that the men laid out around a fire. One man shoved a cup in my hand. I smelled it first. Just water, which out here made sense. Then they shared roasted meat with us. Once they’d realized that Connor could end them all pretty much at the same time, they stopped assessing me for mating purposes.

After I ate my fill, I curled up against Connor, using him as a body pillow, and he let me drift off for a while. Eventually, he shook me awake. Aside from the stars in the nighttime sky, blackness surrounded us.

The men held little torches. I stood and stretched before Connor took my hand to lead me behind the men through the desert. One of the men put up a hand to stop us before we reached a rocky outcropping, but he stayed eerily silent, as did the rest of the men. They doused their torches. We waited maybe fifteen minutes before a door opened out of thin air and someone stepped out.

I looked at Connor, but he shook his head once in warning because what emerged from the portal wasn’t a death hound. It was a demon. A curvy woman with short, bleached blonde hair—a pixy cut—and red glowing eyes. She scanned the area. Connor pulled on my hand as he dropped down to the rocky, sandy soil. I dropped next to him.

Our nomadic friends slunk off back into the dark, leaving me and my mate alone. The demon sniffed the air and kept walking in a direction away from us. Thankfully, we were downwind from the portal.

“Isn’t this still Luc’s area?” I asked in a very soft whisper.

Connor nodded. “But I don’t know that demon.”

“Do you know all demons who reside in Luc’s territory?”

“I work directly under Luc. It’s my job to know everyone in his territory.”

My mind was officially blown. His job seemed so much more complex than I’d originally thought. My respect for him grew exponentially.

He pushed up from the ground, grabbing my hand again, and began walking softly toward the space where the portal opened for us. As a death hound, it would. We started down the stone steps and the heavy portal door shut behind us.

“Baby, can you cloak us?” he asked.

“I can try.”

Taking in a strong breath, I closed my eyes and tried to use manifestation to cloak us, but I still felt too weak. I’d shot us into the desert before I was ready.

“I’m sorry… I can’t cloak us both,” I said, feeling ready to cry.

“Then cloak yourself.”

“No, Connor. We do this together.”

He kissed me good and thorough. “I don’t know what we’re going to face down there. Please, I need you to do this for me.”

My protector as well as my mate. I kissed him one more time. “Love you, Connor Baghest.”

“Love you, Simone Lamia—even though you’re a huge pain in my ass.”

I covered my mouth to keep from giggling. “I promise you can be a huge pain in mine if we make it home alive.” And I gave my eyebrows a good waggle so he understood exactly what I was talking about.

He sighed, pressing his forehead to mine right before I cloaked myself and we continued the rest of the way down the slick staircase. Rather than walking into a lit office space like we would have back in Raven, we emerged into a dark, dank tunnel that smelled strongly of rotten eggs. More catacombs? We managed to access a portal that bypassed Hades to lead us to the catacombs underneath Hades? Given the stern look on my mate’s face, he didn’t know this kind of portal existed either.

Why couldn’t we have found our way to a sloth sanctuary or a beach resort? Fear and exhaustion sapped my energy as fear and exhaustion were wont to do. Why did bad things happen when you were the least prepared to deal with them? I gripped Connor tighter, getting a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Nothing good ever came from dark, dank tunnels. And this was the last thing I needed to deal with given that I still had no idea if Lily Joy was okay. Did my brother and Madigan get away? Beetle wanted my family’s grimoire, why? We needed to get a look at the book Lilith left with Simeon. I felt that down to my little Lilium soul.

And lastly, who was that death hound who jumped into the fray? I didn’t know him. Connor didn’t know him, either. All those questions deserved answers, yet here we were moving through the darkness in a tunnel filling me with dread. Dread . I hated dread. Especially when it came with no answers in sight.

Connor stepped into a puddle, making a soft splash. From nowhere, a cage dropped down out of the blackness. I managed to dive against the stone floor and roll before it captured me. My mate wasn’t so lucky.

A disembodied voice came at us from the darkness. “Connor Baghest, how nice of you to join us.”

Oh. Crap.