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

Chapter 24

Chapter

Twenty-Four

W e walk forever—hour after hour in those damp catacombs. I craved the sun of the Western Australian desert. I craved just about any sun about now. My skin felt pasty and my clothing clung to my body. But worst of all, I needed to get to Connor. It started getting harder to home in on his location about two hours ago. That meant our connection was growing weaker. Only one reason for that, and I couldn’t get myself to even think the words.

Connor had to be okay. He had to be. I wouldn’t accept anything less. And with keeping us cloaked while trying to keep my internal GPS locked on my mate and walking swiftly enough to actually get us to South America, my energy stores were spent. Hardcore spent. At least I knew where we were heading.

I started to panic when I couldn’t feel him. It was like his signal was there and then it was gone.

“ Connor? ” I sort of shrieked, but I shrieked in my head. “Connor, talk to me.”

“Sorry…” His word slurred. I was losing him.

“Swear to God, Connor Baghest, if you die on me, I’ll kill you!” My lip began to tremble and that just pissed me off more. I hated feeling fear. I hated feeling sad and I hated crying because of any of those. I was a badass woman—no, I was a badass Lilium woman.

It took a bit to get him back but then— whoa! I felt him. Like, I really felt him. This tunnel would lead me to my Connor. I stopped to fill in the other two. “We’re almost there. He’s going to be sick. I have to get him out. You’ll need to have my back.”

“Are you sure you don’t want us to get him out and you have our backs?” Karro asked. “You’re Lilith’s granddaughter.”

“Yes, and you’re her great-whatever-grandson. You’ve got power. Shafira has power. Don’t get unsure on me now. I need you to come out swinging with anything you’ve got in you.”

He looked me dead in the eyes. “I won’t let you down.”

I believed him. Karro wouldn’t let me down. We had this.

“My powers lie mostly with brewing teas to cure sickness or elevate consciousness to talk with the ancestors, things like that,” Shafira said.

“What do you need?” I asked.

She stared at me blankly.

“To cure a hellhound who has been housed in black salt? I’m running low on energy, but if you tell me now, I can use what I’ve got left to manifest the ingredients to you right here.”

“What about the black salt?” she asked, and good question.

“We aren’t close enough for it to interrupt the manifestation, but you all might have to carry me when I’m done. It’ll take what I’ve got left.”

She thought about it. And yeah, it’d have been so helpful if I’d been able to manifest us right to Connor, but I couldn’t. My magic wouldn’t let me. And I had no idea where in South America they held him prisoner. It was safer for us to travel the catacombs for the time being. Trust me, I’d been berating myself this whole time for not just transporting myself to him.

“Well, I need boiling water, ginger, turmeric, cinnamon, clove, calendula, lemon balm, and honey—do you think he has any infections? Feverfew could help with that, too. This is hard. I just don’t know what all his ailments are.”

“Throw the book at it. We don’t have time to mess around.”

“Can’t she just manifest the finished tea?” Karro asked.

Shafira looked between me and Karro. “She could try, but I worry about anomalies forming.” Anomalies forming? That was a thing? “They are two distinctly different types of magic. She is Lilith’s granddaughter, so maybe it is perfectly safe for her to mix them. As far as I know, she is the only one who can manifest objects into existence. For the rest of us, we do not mix spellwork with herbal magic.”

“Anomalies? So what are we talking? Not strong enough?”

“That could be an issue. Too strong is also an issue. Too strong may hurt him internally, like overdosing on a medication. It also may add rogue ingredients never meant to be in that potion by accident. You are magically creating a potion out of thin air. Much thrives in the air.”

Shit. I never thought of that. I couldn’t take the chance. Shafira told me way back when we were still sitting in her living room, that everyone had a destiny, a part to play. I needed to trust that the universe sent Shafira with me for this purpose. This was her part to play.

“Don’t let me down,” I said to her. “I can’t do this without him.”

She exhaled a short, sharp breath. “Fine, then I need rose hips, lemongrass, nettle leaves, peppermint, red clover, chrysanthemum flowers, Hawthorn berries, rosebuds—I think that should do it. Are either of you good at spellwork? You could amplify the effects of the tea.”

“I’ll try,” Karro said. “My spells have been improving.”

“I’m going to have to drop the cloak for a moment. I’m running out of energy. I can’t manifest everything and still keep us hidden.”

Both of my traveling companions nodded. I sucked in a deep breath, dropped the cloak, and manifested the crap out of those ingredients. I needed this to work. Connor needed this to work. A pitcher of boiling water appeared out of thin air first, followed by the herbs, then the flowers, and lastly, the honey. She used her hands to measure the dry ingredients and poured in the honey according to what felt right to her. She looked up from her work. “Want to try?” she asked. “You’re weak. If it helps you, then I think with Karro’s amplification, we can save Connor.”

Hell yes, I wanted to try it!

“Hit me, bartender,” I said, hoping to bring a little levity to the situation as we were running dangerously low on positivity. We gave the tea a little time to steep. I raised the cloak over us again while we waited. In that time, I manifested a backpack for Shafira to store the leftover herbs and flowers in. She slung it securely on her back. I hoped this worked because the cloak fizzled out. We stood in that walkway completely exposed. I dropped to the floor as my legs no longer felt able to hold my weight. She handed me the pitcher and I took a big, burning hot sip. The power of the herbs tingled as they moved through me, invigorating my body, mind and soul just that quickly. “I feel great. Like, I want the both of you to take a few sips to get yourselves powered up.”

Karro smiled as if pleased with himself. “So the amplification spell worked.”

“Whatever both of you did, I’m feeling like a brand new person. Please” —I handed off the pitcher to Karro— “drink.”

“We need to save it for Connor,” Shafira argued.

“There’s a whole pitcher. I need you full strength.” I pushed the pitcher toward her mouth. “It’s go time.”

She nodded, taking the pitcher from me and lifted it up to her lips to drink. After she’d had her fill, she handed the tea off to Karro. He drank his share, leaving two-thirds of the brew for Connor.

“Let’s do this,” I said. I held the pitcher close to my chest protectively and had to keep myself from running to him or risk splashing the lifesaving brew all over my shirt. But I had so much spring in my step and we were so damn close, I swore I could smell him.

And then maybe twenty minutes passed before we found ourselves in front of the row of cells. The ones where Kamaris held my mate prisoner. We’d found him. I moved us to the center cell, where my usually strong mate huddled in a corner. His ashen complexion made me worry we’d gotten to him too late. I couldn’t see him breathing in the low light. But I still felt him—or did I? Maybe it was my excitement. What if it wasn’t him, but my excitement to see him that I felt? No. I shook that thought off, throwing my hand out to manifest the cell door opening. The magic fizzled out. Damn the black salt. It shouldn’t stop me. I wasn’t a hellhound. But then again, I didn’t know all the properties of black salt. Connor tipped his head up just slightly and I sucked in a sharp breath. My Connor, still alive! I started to panic.

“What do I do? The magic won’t work.”

“I got this,” Karro answered. He had this? What could he do that I couldn’t? Karro reached up to fondle the headdress with the feather. The feather waved and shimmied while his hand roamed for something. Then, smiling big, he produced a hair pin. My mouth dropped open. Picking a lock wasn’t as easy as the movies made it look. Karro sauntered over to the cell and dropped to his knees. He inserted the pin into the lock mechanism and started twisting it. I watched in dumbfounded disbelief as the lock popped.

“You did it,” I said.

“Some of my foster moms didn’t much like finding out I was getting more action from their husbands than they were. Picking locks became a necessary skill.”

“You learned to pick locks because your foster mothers locked you in your room?” Shafira asked.

“I didn’t mind being locked in the room, but dick is dick—there isn’t much I wouldn’t do for dick, even back then.”

“You are more than that,” Shafira said. Karro stared at her. She repeated herself. “You are more than that.”

“Right.” My cousin cleared his throat. “Let’s do this.”

“Ready.” I told my friends.

The cell door clanked when I opened it, causing each of us to wince. It was comical the way we all stopped even breathing to listen for activity—footsteps or talking—heading our way. I ran to my mate, falling to my knees in front of him and set the pitcher on the floor to gather him in my arms. “Connor, baby… I’m here.”

“Took you… long… enough,” he whispered and more damn tears spilled from my eyes. The dark circles and bruising aged his face by thirty years or more. When the longing to kiss him overwhelmed me, I gave in, bending in to press my lips to his. He shivered in my arms. I turned myself to cradle his body against mine.

“We have to get him out,” Shafira said. Agreed. Even though I hesitated to let him go, I allowed Shafira and Karro to help me carry him out. The man weighed a ton. It seemed impossible. I’d seen that body naked. My mate was all streamlined muscle. He had the body of a god. We grunted as we moved him through the cell’s threshold, setting him down on the damp stone. Along with Karro’s power up fizzing in the tea, one had to believe that we’d get him back stronger than ever. I didn’t waste any more time, picking up the pitcher to get him to drink.

“Here,” I said, tipping it to his open mouth. “Take in as much as you can.”

So weak, he never even asked what was in the brew. A full-strength Connor would’ve ask if it was poisoned. I held back the tears. Tears later—or never. Never would work. I squared my shoulders, tipping the pitcher even more. As my mate drank, Shafira gasped causing my heart to sink.

“Crap,” Karro said.

“What are you doing?” someone shouted.

That would be when the shit hit the fan. The demons descended. Karro, whom I was pretty sure had never fought a demon in his life, started popping off defensive spells, bless his heart. The man had power. Why could Karro use spells but mine fizzled?

It hit me, we were connected, right? My magic started unbinding when we’d met. If I was right in my theory, that was some shit. I seriously hated the universe if my magic fizzled because my mate was sick and dying. Oh, the universe had an earful coming from me when this was over.

“Drink,” I ordered him. Connor must have read the situation and drank. As he healed, my magic tingled rather than fizzled. I threw out spells left and right, trying as hard as possible to miss my friends in the process. Oh yeah—the bitch was back!

I manifested the black salt to transform into black onyx. Connor stumbled back on his feet. Black onyx boosted strength, protection, and focus, among other things. The power inside me glittered over my skin as it built up like charging a battery and then I shot it into the room. Connor’s eyes grew huge—then heated.

Finally, Connor grabbed me. He kissed me, growled, and dropped into his hellhound form. Who let the mother-fucking dog out, indeed. Yes!

“Drink what’s left,” he ordered me in my mind. “You can help us once we get out of here.”

I lifted the pitcher to drink but had to stop to help Shafira. She screamed when the demon caught her in the shoulder. No—just no . Not Shafira. I gulped down the rest of that brew.

Anger roiled inside me. My power rippled in a golden glow over my skin and I rose off the ground. I shot my hand out and several of the demons disintegrated into ash before our eyes. Then I saw him, Kimaris. He scanned the scene and turned to run like a coward without the upper hand. I closed my hand into a fist, manifesting my magic to destroy him. Kimaris’s eyes began to bulge as he clawed at his neck to remove the invisible chokehold I held him in while his feet dangled off the floor. His face deepened to an ugly purple. I squeezed my hand tighter, ready to pop his head like a pimple.

“Simone,” Connor shouted, but it sounded far away, and like it came from underwater. I squeezed harder. “ Simone ,” he shouted again and I felt him move. He rammed his hard head into my arm, causing me to let go of the demon. Kamaris dropped to the ground, slumped into a heap on the stone. I snapped my glare to Connor, rubbing my arm. That shit hurt.

He mentally winced. “We can’t use him if he’s dead.”

“He’s a demon—he won’t die for good.”

I raised my hand again, but this time, instead of ramming me a second time, Connor moved back into his human form, yes, buck-ass naked because he’d torn his clothing to change. I’d have to manifest new ones. He moved in front of me, placing both hands on my face. “It’s done. Let him alone.”

“He hurt you. He tried to take you from me. He needs to be punished.”

“I’m okay. You saved me.” The man bent in to kiss me and I didn’t know how to explain it, but it felt like this huge sense of hatred and dread had lifted from my shoulders. I blinked several times before realizing that my mate stood there showing the goods to everyone in the room.

“What happened?” I asked. Karro and Shafira stared at me, which was a feat, given Connor’s state of undress.

“What do you mean?” Connor asked.

“It felt like I was here, but I wasn’t here. Like, I don’t know… I absorbed the power of the space.”

“A power-up,” Karro said.

“But this place is evil, so she absorbed the feelings along with the energy?” Shafira asked.

“Seems like it.” Connor pulled me tighter against him. “Baby, we have to get you out of here.”

Yes. Yes, we did. We needed to get out of here. And that was when we heard the slow whistle and all our eyes turned to Karro, who now openly gawked at my mate. “Jiminy Christmas—who gave you the right to have an ass like that?”

“Don’t turn around,” I ordered the gorgeous man. Karro seeing the back of him was bad enough. They didn’t need to know the heat my mate packed in the front.

“Not planning on it.”

“Please tell me you’re into threesomes—oh, better yet, where can I get me a hellhound all to myself?”

Connor laughed. Yes, he laughed . I wanted to rip Karro’s throat out for suggesting a threesome. I had to get out of this place.

“I thought you were smitten with that demon back at Belphegor’s place,” Shafira put in.

He sighed. “Crap. You’re right. A boy can dream, though.”

“Belphegor?” Connor asked at the same time I closed my eyes to manifest him a pair of joggers, a T-shirt, and some nice running shoes. The outfit showed off his assets nicely, but in a comfortable, breathable way that allowed quick movements, and right now, we needed quick movements.

“We made a stop at the Western Australian Coven. That’s where I picked up Karro, here.” I pointed to my cousin. “He’s a Lilium, too. But it’s a long story. We have to get out and find a place to hunker down for a rest.”

“Where do we go?” Karro asked.

Shafira shrugged. Great, another thing left up to me. Or so I thought, but then Connor surprised me—well, all of us.

“There’s an abandoned outpost on Antarctica that the demons were talking about,” he said.

“Did you hit your head or something? We don’t want to go where there are more demons.”

He shot me his ‘ Simone… shut up ’ eyes. Kind of ungrateful for a man who had just been rescued from the brink of death, but I digress. And I shut up. “They stay clear of it because it’s haunted. It freaks them out.”

“Wait, wait, wait…” Karro said. “There’s a place that demons won’t go because they think it’s haunted and you want us to go there ?”

“You got any better ideas?” he asked. And not only did none of us have any better ideas, we heard more of the enemy clamoring down the corridor. We’d literally run out of time to decide.

“Shit or get off the pot,” I murmured, closing my eyes as I wrapped us all, including an immobilized Kimaris, in my manifestation bubble. Haunted, abandoned outpost in Antarctica, here we come. I chanted the location in my head over and over again.

We disappeared right as the first demon to enter the room with us yelled, “What the hell?”

Understatement.

And the next thing I knew, we popped up inside a dark room. It looked like some kind of old station with a very dated sofa, chairs, a couple of tables—one for coffee and one for dining—then as whoever had designed it had designed a very open-concept space, to the back of the room sat a full kitchen. The room might’ve been dark, but waning daylight streamed in through the windows, giving me enough of a torch-like effect to see what we were dealing with.

That was when I remembered the demon along for the ride. I remembered because he began stirring. The arrangement worked for now, but I’d have to keep diligent by watching him like a hawk to make sure he didn’t recover enough to become a problem for us. To get anything done, we needed a different method of keeping him inactive and ineffective for the axis of evil. There were some things even I couldn’t do, like creating wards. I had no problem breaking them—well, the ones to confine or keep out witches and demons. I’d yet to encounter a ward geared toward the Lilium. To get demon wards, you needed a demon—strike that, you needed a powerful demon to create them for you. I figured the Western Australian Coven had contacted Belphegor or one of his upper management. The problem with asking a demon for a favor came in the form of repayment. I’d absorbed that knowledge back in the witches’ archives. That seemed like a million years ago. It made me wonder what the Western Coven might have offered up or agreed to pay to get said wards.

“What are we going to do with him?” Connor asked, pointing to the unconscious Kimaris.

“We need wards,” I replied. “We can’t plan or try to make contact with anyone if we’re constantly trying to keep him out. We need Luc.”

“We don’t know where he is right now,” he countered. No. We definitely didn’t. But I could manifest myself to wherever he was. Luc loved me. More than that, he and Connor were best friends. He’d make me the wards and probably without demanding payment.

“Can she manifest to him?” Shafira asked. The woman paid attention.

“I suppose we could go. I’m just worried about this guy,” Connor said.

I shook my head. “You’re staying here.”

He shot a death glare at me. “What are you smoking? You’re not going alone. I go with you.”

The man could be so thick sometimes. Of course, I wanted him to go, but I needed him here. “Connor, babe, I need you here to help keep Kimaris subdued until I get back. Shafira is a powerful witch, but her area of expertise is as a kitchen witch. And Karro is stronger than he realizes, but he’s never kept a demon occupied?—”

“Oh, I’ve kept a demon occupied ,” he said, cutting me off.

I shot him my ‘ really? ’ face. “With magic, not sex.”

“He might be open to?—”

“As far as I know, Kamaris wouldn’t be,” Connor stated with the authority of a man who knew. And given our connection, he knew exactly what I wanted to ask and went on, “Kimaris has a mate. A woman. He can’t get with anyone else.”

“Demons have mates?” Shafira asked and Connor nodded.

“All supernatural beings have a mate out there. They just have to connect. Once you do, that’s all she wrote,” he said. I smiled. “You’re stuck,” he finished. I frowned.

“‘Stuck’?” I raised an eyebrow at the infuriating man. “You really want to go with that?”

He grabbed my hand, pulling me into his arms, and tried to kiss me. I turned my head and he got my cheek.

“Baby…”

“Don’t baby me, you jackass,” I said, but I let him kiss me for real this time and he whispered something Shafira and Karro didn’t need to hear in my ear. I giggled under my breath, letting him off the hook for the time being. “My point still stands. I can manifest myself to Luc. You need to stay here and keep Kimaris under control.”

“I’ll go with you for backup,” Shafira said. “I might not be as strong with shooting off spells as you or Karro, but I can be of use.”

“I don’t like it,” Connor grumbled.

“I never thought you would,” I told him, “but this is what we’ve got to work with, so deal with it or don’t, dear .”

He grumbled again and I knew he was giving in. I wrapped Shafira in a manifestation bubble with me and shot us off to Lilith-knew-where. I just kept repeating: Take us to Lucifer . Over and over in my head: Take us to Lucifer .

The bubble popped, landing us in a posh living room. I dropped into a cushioned chair covered in black fur. I hoped not real fur. Shafira dropped on a black, leather sofa, one of those massive sectionals. I had no idea where we were, but there was no Lucifer in sight. Well, until the door opened at the end of the room and the gorgeous, blond man walked in. He stopped short at the sight of us, pressing the palms of his hands to his eyes before dropping them and openly gaping.

“Nope. Not seeing things,” I said.

“Oh my god, Simone—are you okay? Where’s Connor?” He turned his head from side to side, scanning the room.

“He’s not here. This is my friend—” I didn’t even get her name out when Luc jerked his head back to face us, like he’d just now noticed her in the room, gaping like an idiot before he pulled himself together.

“Shit,” he said, turning on the Luc charm. “I’m Lucifer. You are?”

“Not interested in blond fallen angels,” she replied. Go Shafira.

“I bet I can change your mind.”

I snapped my fingers to gain his attention. “Focus, Luc. She’s my friend, not your newest booty call.”

Luc bit his bottom lip in such a sexy way that even a mated woman got hot and bothered. And I meant me. I was that woman. “She could be both.” He never took his eyes from Shafira. “The ladies love it when I do this—” He gyrated his hips and looking at that, I knew from the depths of my soul that the ladies loved it.

“Luc, this is Shafira. Please, we’re here because we need demon wards.”

That sobered him right up. “Demon wards? Where are you? Where’s Connor?”

“We’re hiding out, but we have to find out what Kimaris knows and so we need to box him in.”

“ Kimaris ?” he shouted. “Why in all of Hades would you be anywhere close to Kimaris? He works directly for Satan.”

“He captured Connor and tried to kill him with black salt. We rescued him, Shafira healed him with a powerful tea, and now Connor and Karro, a Lilium cousin of mine, are keeping him subdued until I get back with wards. Please, we don’t have time for this.”

Opposite his normally fun, sexy demeanor, Luc’s face hardened, turning very serious. “I’ll make the wards, but you have to take me with you.”

“Where are we?” Shafira asked.

“It’s one of my safehouses.” He tilted his head, smiling and revealed a dimple at the corner of his mouth, quickly shifting back to the flirty Luc I knew and loved. “Why? Do you like it?”

“It’s a little gaudy for my taste,” she answered and he scoffed.

“‘Gaudy’?” he asked indignantly.

I laughed. “Ouch. I think someone hurt his pride.”

He shot me a death glare. “I was going to do it for free for you and my boy Connor. Now, you want wards I get a date”—he pointed to Shafira—“with her.”

“You’re not dating my friend.” I couldn’t believe that with everything going on he’d let his pride get in the way of helping us.

“We are in a battle to save the world,” Shafira countered. She spoke with confidence, but the twinkle in her eyes had dimmed considerably.

“It won’t last forever. And when we win…” He let that trail off.

“Shafira, you don’t have to agree to anything. I’m calling his bluff.”

“Then I’m out.” He turned to leave.

“I’ll go out with you,” she called to his retreating back. He stopped, turned back to us, and smiled. I never wanted to kick a man in the shins so badly in my life.

Here was the thing about Luc—his smiles could be as lascivious as they were sexy. “Shake on it,” he said. Shake on it. Binding. She shook on it, she had to go through with it. This was the payment.

Shafira held her hand out. Luc grabbed it, brought it up to his mouth to kiss the underside of her wrist, and then they shook hands.

“Just so you know, I’d have still done it for free. Simone here knows me too well. I’m so glad you don’t.”

I saw the moment her stomach dropped.

“But you will,” he finished and I took it upon myself to use my electric fingers on the man, pressing them deep into the exposed skin of his neck for maximum contact and maximum effect. He dropped to his knees and I still found that so satisfying to witness.

“Stop—” Shafira shot her hand out in front of her. “You’re hurting him.” She was seriously too nice. But alas, I pulled my hand away.

He grumbled as he stood, rubbing his neck. “You can’t do that, can you?” he asked Shafira.

“No.”

“Good. Clearly, Simone here needs a round of slap and tickle with Connor. She’s only nice after a round of slap and tickle.”

“I’m only nice to Connor,” I warned.

“Right,” he said, shivering. He got me. “Let’s get you those wards.”

He started for the door again and as we followed him Shafira said, “I cannot believe you dropped the creator of hell. Who does that?”

I smiled. “ Me . Being the granddaughter of Lilith has its perks.”

Luc led us through the safehouse which was seriously nicer than any house I’d ever lived in, to a room off the back parlor. A lab. On one wall, he had shelves of crystals in clear bins and beakers, vials, microscopes, Bunsen burners—the whole shebang.

“Luc, you’re a man of science?” I asked.

“Are you serious?” he asked me, then he turned to Shafira. “Is she serious?”

“She sounds serious,” Shafira answered.

“Do you not read? Why do you think I got cast out of heaven?”

“I don’t know—something about wanting to be as loved by God as the humans.”

He sighed. “We really do need better PR. People always turn shit around. I wanted the angels to have the same rights as humans. I wanted us to have the right to discover all that science and nature had to offer. I got tired of the blindly following ‘because I said so’ mentality. Because I said so wasn’t enough. We weren’t exactly unionized, so when I voiced my concerns with management, I ended up down here.”

“That’s rough… and why you allow demons to have unions. I get it.”

“She can be taught,” he murmured.

“Hey, now, don’t be mean. Your side of things is pretty new to me.”

Luc gave a slight shrug as he stepped to the far side of the room to a wall filled with bins that contained crystals and stones. I saw onyx glass in a ceramic bowl and next to it, M&M’s open and dumped into another bowl.

“M&M’s, Luc? What are you, five?”

“I get hungry when I’m working. Sometimes I want a snack. Sue me.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a man enjoying some candy,” Shafira said, snickering. “It’s cute.

“Don’t encourage him,” I replied. “Can we get on with this?”

He looked at Shafira. “Every party has a pooper.”

“Hey—that’s my line. You can’t use it against me.”

“I’m Lucifer. I can do anything I want— and it’s fun to see you fume.”

Okay, so he might’ve had a point. About doing anything he wants. Seeing me fume? Oh, if we had more time, the man would suffer. “Can we focus? Connor and my cousin Karro are with Kimaris right now.”

That sobered him right up. Luc picked up several different crystals in the shapes of like those batons that runners used in relay events, but they had sharp points at each end. He carefully considered each one, picking two white stones, a pinkish-colored stone, and a gray stone. He brought them to one of the tables, where he picked up bottles that had what looked like oils in them and wiped the oils from each bottle over each crystal. Lastly, he held each crystal in his hand. Power flowed from the center of Luc’s chest down into his hand. His body lit up like a beacon. I gasped. The awe-inspiring sight was something that would stay with me forever. How many people got to see an angel imbue power into a ward in their lifetime?

Shafira took a step closer. Since she did, I did too because I couldn’t be showed up by her. He carefully imbued each crystal with his magic. The glow faded as soon as he set the last one down.

“That was amazing,” Shafira said through a very heavy breath. Luc looked up at her, smiling. Then he winked and she blushed. Luc had that effect on women.

“These should work,” he said. “Kamaris is a powerful guy, so I picked out powerful crystals. The oils help to amplify and set the Luc magic into each one.”

“I’m so glad you’re on our side,” I replied.

“You really are,” he teased, or I think he teased. Luc had a big head, so it was a toss-up. “Is there food or anything at this place?”

“I have no idea. It’s abandoned.”

“Right.” He tossed me the wards as he passed me to walk out of the lab. Shafira and I scrambled after him. He grabbed a bag from a pantry and started filling it with food, handing the bag off to Shafira and she set it down by her feet. Then he started filling jugs with water. He set those by her feet, too. Lastly, he left us for a minute and came back with an eight-pack of toilet paper. Luc understood the assignment.

Once the three of us stood close together, I manifested a bubble around us and the food and water, and I magicked us the hell out of there, locking in on my mate-GPS. In a blink, we set down back inside the outpost.

“Thank the gods,” Karro said. He looked pretty tired. “My zaps don’t pack as much heat as yours do. He just keeps waking up—oh, hello , sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Luc snickered. The man certainly had prideful down.

“This is Luc, known better as Lucifer,” I said, snickering in anticipation of his coming. My cousin didn’t disappoint.

Karro started coughing. “Lucifer—like the Lucifer?”

Luc threw out one of those smarmy, used car salesman smiles. “I see you’ve heard of me.” I half expected him to cluck his tongue and shoot a finger pistol at the man.

“Luc, brother, leave him alone,” Connor said. Luc turned a ‘ sit your ass down ’ look on my mate. Shaking his head he replied, “Everyone has heard of you.” Luc’s looks didn’t appear to bother Connor one bit.

“You always ruin my fun.”

“I’ll tell you what, you can have fun antagonizing Kimaris if you get the wards set before he wakes up again.”

Luc rolled his eyes at my mate but grabbed a white crystal from my hand, ramming the point into the floorboards. Next he did the same with the pinkish one, followed by the gray crystal, ending with the second white one that was diagonal from the first white one, forming a square.

“That’s it?” I asked.

“You’ll see. He’s stirring now.” Luc dropped on the sofa, man-spreading his legs to get comfortable and draping his arms over the back of it. He gestured with his head for Shafira to sit next to him. She walked over to him but put a bit of space between them and she took up as little space as possible. It was actually pretty funny to watch. I got it. She was in the presence of greatness. And he knew it.

Karro raised his hands, ready to throw down if necessary. As Kimaris roused, he lunged for Karro but hit the invisible shield, cracking his face—well, his whole body—and throwing him backward onto the floor.

“The fuck?” Kimaris raged, and Luc, looking completely bored, sighed heavily for Kimaris to hear him.

Luc never looked up from picking the imaginary dirt from under his fingernails. “Calm your tits. You’re not getting out unless I let you out.”

Kimaris snapped his head around to look at Luc and I kind of had to feel bad for the guy. He turned green before our eyes and I got it. One really didn’t want the fury of Lucifer coming down on them. “ Lucifer ,” he whispered.

“Kimaris… tut, tut, tut… you’ve been bad. Everyone in Hades knows that Connor here is my righthand man, and you tried to kill him with black salt?”

“I didn’t—” he started, but Luc raised his hand to stop him.

“Don’t embarrass yourself. We all know what you did. Now I need to know why . What’s Satan’s endgame? Why is he attacking the witch covens? What’s his beef with Connor and his mate?”

“Satan has no beef,” he replied and that was so the wrong thing to say. I was used to the loveable Luc. Kimaris’s lie released the power of Lucifer.

As he rose from the sofa, I’d swear in a court of law he grew by like a foot or more. He loomed over us. A red glow engulfed his skin and his eyes turned to fire. “Do not lie to me.”

This version of Luc, the fallen angel, the creator of Hell, scared me enough that I was on the brink of spilling every secret I’d ever kept to the man. Kimaris cowered like a sniveling rat. “We need the Lilium. Word has it she possesses power to rival even yours.” He used his head to gesture to me. “And there are two.”

“Why is he starting shit now?” Connor asked, well, demanded.

“It’s been in the works for some time. I don’t know why. I only know that I’ll be handsomely rewarded for my compliance.”

“Or…” Luc paused for dramatic effect—the man was such a diva. “You can die and we’ll go on with our lives as if you never existed.” Kimaris swallowed, looking about a second and a half from getting sick all over the floor. But when Luc raised his arm, Kimaris shot his hands out in front of him.

“ Please , don’t —” he begged.

“Then tell me what I want to know .” A pissed-off Luc got me a little hot and bothered. Damn, I was a mated woman. He seriously needed to dial back the pheromones or whatever he used on the ladies because if Connor knew the thoughts going through my head right now, he’d go ballistic. “What is Satan up to?”

“It’s not Satan. I swear.”

Luc, not being a demon, had no trouble reaching through the wards. He lifted Kimaris up by his shirt collar until the usually intimidating man’s feet dangled off the floor.

“Who is behind this?” Luc spat, giving Kimaris a shake for good measure.

“I don’t know. I received an envelope with instructions—I swear. There’s a liaison, a man—Cain—he contacts me. He promised that if I helped, I’d be handsomely rewarded. I was told that it was in my best interest not to tell Satan about this or I’d bring revenge down on his entire quadrant.”

“And you accepted?” Connor asked.

“I’m a demon. Who’s going to turn down an offer like that? I keep my boss safe and get a big payday? I’m evil, not stupid.”

In a weird way, I respected his answer. “Who is this Cain?” I asked. “Where can we find him?”

“I don’t know. He seeks me out when he has a job for me.”

“What does he look like?” Shafira asked.

“Big, burly man. A real attitude on him. He’s a human with the balls of a demon. Dark hair. Dark, angry eyes. A neck like a bull. I don’t like him, but I have mad respect for a human who thinks he can go toe to toe with one of us.”

“A big, burly man with a thick neck? That’s all you’ve got?” I asked. “That describes like a half a billion people.”

“He’s tan—more like her…” He pointed to Shafira. “No, more like you,” he said to me. I had a natural tan a few shades lighter than Shafira’s skin tone.

“Can I kill him?” I asked Luc. “Let me kill him.”

We went through all this trouble to capture him and all we got was ‘a big man with tan skin’? I cracked my neck, ready to take him out until Connor snuck behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist.

“Enough,” he whispered in my ear.

“He tried to kill you and the only reason I kept him alive was to get answers, which he’s not giving. Don’t tell me enough .”

“Simone, baby… We still have to get the grimoire, find Lily Joy, and meet up with Sim and Maddi to join the jewel with the hilt of the dagger.”

“Not to mention stopping demons from wiping out more covens,” Karro unhelpfully put in.

“Yeah, and your point is?” I asked sarcastically.

“We might still be able to use him down the road. He’s not going anywhere with the wards in place.”

“Have you figured out why demons think this place is haunted?”

Kimaris’s eyes went huge.

“You aren’t afraid?” Connor asked. “A big, tough demon like you?” And he might have snickered. Oh, Connor Baghest was an evil man when he wanted to be. Was it wrong to be so turned on by that?

“I feel like we should split up to not draw attention to ourselves,” I said. “But I worry about Shafira and Karro alone. They’re powerful, but demons can be tricky sons of bitches and I don’t want them getting hurt in a surprise attack or something.”

“I can’t cloak them like you, but I can keep them safe.” Luc really didn’t deserve the bad press he got all the time. I loved the crap out of Luc—in a sisterly way, but, like, not a Cersei and Jamie Lannister sisterly way—although Luc was hot. But no… just no.

“So where will you head, then?” I asked.

He shrugged. “Since we don’t have to worry about this guy”—he thumbed over to Kimaris—“I’ll take Shafira and Karro with me. We’ll see if we’re able to hunt down the identity of Beetle.”

“Right. Then Connor and I will head back to our place to retrieve the grimoire. Hopefully, we’ll be able to contact my brother and Madigan again and find out about Lily Joy. This whole thing got old, like, last week.”

“Lily Joy is smart. She’s powerful. I’m sure she’s fine.” Luc was probably right. I certainly couldn’t let myself entertain any other ideas at the moment. I cared for her. Once upon a time, I’d thought that going from being completely alone to having this ever-expanding family was so cool, but now they were people I cared about who could be injured or killed if I didn’t stop this crap. Another thing to worry about. I’d probably end up with the digestive tract of an eighty-five-year-old by the time this ended.

“You’re not going to leave me here?” Kimaris asked.

Okay, so he made this part of the job fun again. “Ready?” I asked Luc. “I’ll take you, Shafira, and Karro back to the safehouse and you all can figure out where to go from there. Connor and I will head home.”

“Since it’s unlikely we’ll be able to meet back up for a while, anyone have a phone?” Karro asked.

“I do. Back at the safehouse,” Luc answered. “And yes, I have both Connor’s and Simone’s numbers.”

“Check in as often as you can, but we’ll set a time for… what?”

“3:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time tomorrow?”

I turned to Connor. “How’d you decide on that?”

“Shit tends to happen in the morning or at night. It’s the calm before the storm. You don’t like it, pick something else.”

“No. I’m good.” I looked to the rest of the group. “You all good with that?”

We got head bobs and “Yeah”s. With nothing for it, I grabbed Luc’s and Shafira’s hands, as they were the closest to me. Shafira grabbed Karro’s hand and I manifested us back to Luc’s safehouse.

This was it. I dropped their hands and hugged Luc. “Keep them safe,” I said into his ear. “You won’t be dead forever. They will.”

“With my life,” he replied.

Then I moved to Shafira. “Don’t let Luc’s fallen angel status or good looks intimidate you. You’re a powerful witch and I’m proud to call you an ally—but I’m more proud to call you my friend.”

She sucked in a sharp breath. “I am not crying. Badass witches do not cry.” Shafira wiped at her eyes when I released her to turn to Karro.

“Stay safe, okay? I want you coming over to the house for cookouts. You can even bring your demon lover boy.”

Karro’s face turned the cutest shade of pink. I thought that maybe it wasn’t just the man’s penis that Karro loved. I hugged him fiercely. “You have family now,” I whispered.

“Right,” Karro said, pushing me back. “Don’t you dare get yourself killed.”

“We won’t. Connor will be there to protect me. I’ll be there to protect Connor.” My time was up. I had to get back to the man, and so with one final wave, I manifested myself back to my mate.

Connor stood near the wards, taunting Kimaris. He turned the moment he sensed me and I rushed him. “I’m usually badass,” I mumbled through sniffles.

“They’ll be fine.”

“I know. It’s not them. I just want sex and we don’t have time.”

He chuckled. “Right, baby. It’s just the sex. Remind me, when was the last time horny made you cry?”

“Shut it,” I warned with my face pressed against his chest. “Or I’ll take the demon with me and leave your ass here.”

“That’s a great idea,” Kimaris said.

“Okay, I’m better,” I snapped.

“Not horny now?” my jerkface of a mate teased.

“You are so lucky that I can’t tease you about climbing Luc like a stripper pole thanks to this bond.”

Connor’s grip on my waist tightened. I pushed up on my toes kissing the underside of his jaw and then manifested us home.

What the hell happened here?