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

Chapter 27

Chapter

Twenty-Seven

I t felt like forever before Agatha texted back. Agonizing minutes passed where I wondered if my friend was safe or not. At least Victoria had gotten the witches out before they’d hit the latest coven.

ME: Where are you?

HER: …

HER: …

HER: Been hiding. Large demon presence. It’s bad, Simone. Been in hiding.

ME: Can you get to MBS?

HER: Don’t know… People going crazy… It’s like The Purge out there.

My mouth literally dropped open. “Connor, are you reading this?”

“Fuck! We need to stick to the plan, get to the archives.”

I text back to Agatha: Going to try something I haven’t before. Bringing you to me.

“Won’t that drain you?” Connor asked.

“Do I have a choice? Agatha can help me. Then I can get us up to the Orkneys.”

ME: Where are you, exactly?

HER: Farmstead outside of Reese.

ME: Get ready.

I closed my eyes to concentrate without distraction on Agatha at her farmstead outside Reese. I’d manifested us to different locations a hundred times by now, but this would be the first time I manifested someone to me. It took different energy. It took more energy to make sure I got the right person, no hangers-on. Just Agatha. And yes, I’d been too scared to try this exact thing on Sim and Madigan, but if this worked, then that would open so much up for us. Please, Universe, let this work.

Taking two long breaths in and out to clear my head, I focused on bringing my friend to me. Sweat dripped down my brow. Connor cleared his throat, momentarily breaking my concentration. I had no choice but to shake it off, hoping that I brought all of Agatha to me.

“ Holy… ” I heard Connor mumble and I opened my eyes to see a very intact Agatha standing in front of us.

“You did it,” she said, and yeah, you could call astonished an understatement.

I smiled so big and stupid, letting out the longest sigh of relief, and laughing from getting to release all that pent-up tension. Then I hugged my friend.

“You’re here,” I said into her ear.

“I must admit, I was worried about getting here in one piece. I should’ve never doubted you. Your abilities are beyond anything I’ve ever seen.”

“There’s so much to fill you in on, but we have to get to the witches’ archives. It’s the safest place for us right now.”

She blinked. “Excuse me? The witches’ archives? You want to bring me there?”

I nodded. “It’s so cool. It’ll totally blow your mind.”

“Simone’s powers lie more with magic and manifestation than healing arts. Bringing you here took a lot out of her,” Connor said and I realized I’d sagged against him, letting his body weight prop me up. “Can you brew her something? Lily Joy’s cupboards are full. You’ll find what you need here.”

“‘Lily Joy’?” Agatha asked.

“My cousin. I’ll explain everything. You’ll meet her soon.”

Connor slid my backpack off his arm, slipping it up my arms. Then he scooped me up to carry me downstairs to the living room, where he set me on the sofa. He walked Agatha into the kitchen to show her the pantry and Lily Joy’s stash of every herb imaginable.

Seeing as she and Connor, who acted as her assistant, stayed in the kitchen, I hefted myself up, using all the spares to walk my butt into the kitchen too, plopping down in the closest chair surrounding the table. My body felt so heavy—like the Earth’s gravitational pull quadrupled around me alone.

“Babe, you’re too weak,” Connor scolded.

“I don’t like being left out. You know this.”

“She really doesn’t,” he replied to Agatha, who laughed at me.

“Do you have strength to talk? Can you fill me in?” she asked.

“Girl… do I have the tea to spill.”

Agatha stopped abruptly in the midst of scooping a measured tablespoon of some herb, holding it hovering above the jar. “You’re a Lilium, aren’t you?”

“She’s not just any Lilium,” Connor answered for me.

“What does that mean?”

“It means I’m out of time. Lilith is my grandmother—like my mother’s mother, not distant in any way.”

The tablespoon clanked against the counter, herbs scattering across the countertop. She collected herself quickly, cleaning up the mess and measuring out another spoonful. “It has to be exact measurements and we can’t risk something else, a particle from the countertop, getting in the brew.”

Made sense to me. From what I’d heard, changing an herb ratio even that minusculely could alter the desired result. I didn’t need to end up as a mermaid because Lily Joy had a rogue fish scale on her counter or something. And that was in no way demeaning Lily Joy’s housekeeping skills. I saw no fish scales, for the record.

“I’ve been finding my cousins—other Lilium—and witches. When Lilith left Adam, she took the magic of the garden with her. Outside the garden, small pockets of magic began to form. I don’t know if Lilith inadvertently did this being outside the garden, or if the universe gifted others because of Lilith’s caring, but I do know that Lilium are directly related to Lilith, whereas witches come from those who’d been granted less powerful magic. But it all stems from Lilith leaving the garden.”

“What does that have to do with covens being attacked?” she asked.

“I don’t know yet. I know that somehow, Adam sent his son Cain through time. I’ve had a few run-ins with him. He’s unpleasant . We think Satan might be behind it, but we’re not sure why.”

She threw her hand to her chest. “Satan? As in Satan Satan?”

“Unfortunately,” Connor added.

Agatha appeared to collect herself and began brewing my healing tea. “It makes no sense. Why kill witches?” She handed me off a large mug of steaming liquid. I drank the herby concoction sweetened with honey. And this was why witches rarely had to see the doctor. I felt the healing begin immediately. I could see Big Pharma going after wi—hey, did Satan invest in Big Pharma? Could that be why? He certainly could control a lot of people that way. But still, bringing Cain forward didn’t fit into that equation.

“Okay, I’m feeling better. We need to get to the archives.” I held my hands out to Connor and Agatha. I must’ve been getting stronger because it took much less time for me to recover this time. Then I tried to stand, swaying infinitesimally, but still enough for quick-eyes Connor to see me struggle.

“Simone needs another cup,” he ordered Agatha. “Don’t argue,” he said to me.

I put my hands up. “Not arguing.”

Agatha quickly brewed me another large mug and I chugged it down without coming up for breath. I for sure knew I could get us there now. And with a witch by my side, it didn’t matter how much energy drained from my body, she could fix me up with one of her teas. Agatha was exactly what I’d been missing since parting ways with Shafira.

Right after closing my eyes, I pushed the thought of the three of us at the Knapp of Howar and as I opened them again, the crumbling stones greeted me. I felt rather proud of myself for accomplishing this every time, without fail, and turned my eyes to Connor. He flashed me a smoldering smile that screamed pride and… other things. If only.

When I turned to Agatha to ask if she was ready to go in, nothing short of awe shone on every bit of her face. I’d forgotten that she’d never been here before. “Ready?” I asked. Slowly, she nodded, her eyes roaming over every pebble, and reached her hand out to touch the remains of the Neolithic structure.

I spoke the words to open the archives and gestured for her to enter first. Smiling, she sighed and tentatively stepped inside the stairwell. Connor went next and then I ended the parade, making sure to lock the door behind me.

The archives came to life when we reached the bottom. Agatha gasped as the purple flames ignited in the hearth, crackling softly. Pots and kettles appeared along with plates and cups, as well as flatware. She ran her finger reverently along the table closest to her. I recognized that feeling of awe, the same one I’d had the first time Connor and I found ourselves here.

A comfortable, cushioned chair pulled out by itself for Agatha to sit in. She looked at me, I nodded once to tell her it was okay, and she sat. “What now?” she asked.

“It looks like the archives are preparing to feed us. So we’ll eat and wait.”

“I have to say, knowing about the archives and being here are on opposite ends of the believability spectrum. I’ll need a minute to adjust.”

“I get it. But you’re a powerful witch. The archives will show you things that it won’t show the less capable magic holders. So if there are things you think will help, just ask the room. It will provide what you need.”

Slowly, she shook her head, then said, “I need information on Cain, Adam’s son.” Three different ancient texts pushed forward from the back shelves. Agatha walked over, plucking up the tomes, cradling them reverently in her arms as she walked back to the cushioned chair. “I’m going to start reading. I think we need to know about Cain. There’s a reason Satan brought him here.”

“You okay?” Connor asked.

“I hate waiting.”

He snickered. “Take the reprieve. You’ll be dreaming about it soon enough.”

Too true. “Sit with me?” I asked. It hardly took any convincing. A cushy, two-person loveseat appeared against the wall opposite the hearth and we walked over, Connor holding my hand. He dropped on the loveseat first, pulling me down to rest half on him.

“I feel like I should be doing something, but I’m not sure what that is right now.”

“Simone, baby—swear to Hades,” Connor said in his irritated, ‘ Simone is being a pain in my ass again ’ way that I’ve grown to love. “you have to take the downtime when it comes your way. Company’ll start showing soon enough.”

“I feel like I need to be active,” I replied on a yawn and felt my eyes droop. Now? I couldn’t help feel like Lilith had something to do with this. What did she have in store for me now? Because I didn’t sleep. I floated above my body, watching as Connor bent in to kiss the top of my head. The door appeared again, opening, allowing me to move through it. On the other side, I found Luc, Shafira, and Karro. A beautiful bronze-skinned man in a linen suit sat at a table—more like lounged, half-slumped with his arm over the back of the chair. As I took him in, I noticed his stunningly deep-brown eyes and hair so brown, it could almost pass as black, feathered back from his face. New guy had that cocky-hot vibe going on. That popular jock guy who knew all the girls were hot for him—yeah, that. In truth, it made him less attractive. But the more I took him in, I realized he wasn’t a man. He was a demon. A powerful one. I felt his power radiating off him in waves—and I found it interesting that Luc stood between him and Shafira.

Karro practically drooled. Who was this guy?

“So you’re with us?” Luc asked. With us ? Which us? The ‘take over the world’ us or the ‘save the world’ us? What were you trying to pull? If you picked the first option and had the mind to bring my friends down with you, Lilith as my witness, I’d cut off your balls.

“Listen, I don’t know what’s going on out there, but I’m a lover, not a fighter. When people die or are forced into servitude, I can’t partake in my favorite pastime. You know me, Luc. I’m a total grump when I don’t get my fill.”

“I’ll help you get your fill,” Karro offered and the man turned a twinkling smile at my cousin. He eyed him and blew a kiss. I swore Karro started drifting over to the man until Shafira quickly reached out to grab his wrist, yanking him back by her.

“Aren’t you in love?” she asked him.

“Am now,” he replied dreamily.

The gorgeous man chuckled. “Love.” He sighed as if bored. “The bane of my existence.”

“I’m not in love,” Shafira said, but Luc held tight.

“Can you tone it down?” Luc asked the man and I watched the glow around him dim significantly. It hit me. A demon with his power. Love the bane of his existence. Asmodeus. It had to be. Oh, wow. Asmodeus. That man was everything I’d ever heard about him. From the top of his head, down down to the bottom of those cool, suede leather loafers he wore without socks, he oozed sexuality.

Given how I watched him play with my friends' emotions without a second thought, I couldn’t have been happier to turn my nose up at his supreme hotness. The demon of Lust didn’t hold a candle to my hellhound.

“I’ll talk to Bel,” Asmodeus said. “You know he’s not a part of this. We’ll hunt down Mon. There’s no way this crap would be good for business. He can’t be involved. I’ll contact you as soon as I know anything.”

“Thanks, man.” Luc held his hand out. Asmodeus gripped it, pulling Luc in close, giving him a hug and back pat.

“You know, I’ve been wanting to try you out forever. If you want to thank me…” He let his words trail off. I bit back my laughter.

“Sorry, man,” said Luc. “I keep clear of workplace entanglements.”

That was a diplomatic answer.

Asmodeus shrugged. “If you ever change your mind, we can bring in your chick there.” He gestured with his chin to Shafira. Her cheeks pinked. I’d like to note, Luc didn’t deny anything . Interesting. “You know I’m down for anything.”

Luc shot him a regal, angelic glare, the one that committed him to nothing. “Just let me know about Bel and Mon.”

Asmodeus nodded, blew a kiss to the room, and blinked out.

“I can’t believe they’ve been using your quadrant to hold these meetings,” Karro said.

Luc’s normal smile dropped into a frown. “I’ve been so busy helping Simone and Connor that I had no idea.” Anger rolled off the man in waves.

“It’s not their fault,” Shafira countered, defending us.

“Of course not. Connor’s my boy and Simone is cool. She’s a friend and a powerful ally. I’m glad to have her on the team. I’ve worked hard to create a space where humans can feel safe to be themselves and give them knowledge of how the world works. The last thing I need is a demon on a power trip trying to hack away at my baby.”

“‘Baby’?” Karro asked.

“The world,” Luc replied. “The world—this world—full of math and science, an inquisitive zest for learning, is what got me kicked out of heaven. I stand by the choices I’ve made and won’t let anyone ruin it.”

Luc wouldn’t let anyone ruin it. I wanted to kiss him but thought better of it. For one, a kiss without him knowing I was here might give the man a heart attack. Secondly, Connor would blow a gasket if he found out and we all knew that Luc would absolutely kiss and tell.

So checking that impulse, I manifested them to see me. Shafira gasped. Karro shouted, “What the fuck?!”

Luc simply smiled at me. “I thought I felt a presence here. Did you hear what you needed to hear?”

“Hey—the evidence against you was pretty damning. You can’t blame me for not announcing my appearance here today. But it’s good to know we still have you.”

Luc waggled his eyebrows. “Oh, Simone… you can have me.”

“Shut it,” I warned and he laughed at me. “I need these two now.”

“Anything I can help with?”

“I have to bring them to the witches’ archives. But the archives won’t let you in.”

“If you’ve got them, then I have to bust some heads in my quadrant. We’ll meet up when I’m done.”

Then he popped out. Gone.

“I’ve never manifested people while in this spirit form before, but I’ve done money, so I’m fairly confident I can get you there safely.” Lies—all lies. I had no idea if I could get them to the archives safely.

Karro blanched. “Was it a lot of money?”

“Not necessarily.” I felt so stupid admitting that. But if I could manifest them to the archives now, then I could bring Sim and Madigan there, too, if necessary. And this boys and girls, is how I use my cousin and my friend as guinea pigs to make sure I don’t kill my brother and sister-in-law. Horrible person—party of one, your table’s ready. But with Luc gone, what choice did I have?

“I trust you, Simone,” Shafira said. “I’m ready to join you.”

“Karro?” I asked and he nodded.

“Grandma trusts you—I do too.”

“Grab on to Shafira.” Closing my eyes, I shot off a quick prayer to my grandmother. Lilith, help me make this happen. The pair held hands as I began chanting, “Bring Karro and Shafira to the witches archives.” Over and over, I kept the chant going until the floating door opened up sucking me back through.

My consciousness hit my body right as Agatha said, “Someone’s here.” She placed her book on the table to jog up the steps, walking back down moments later with Shafira and my cousin in tow. “They said you brought them here?”

Thank you, Lilith!

“I did.” I started to get up, but both Karro and Shafira walked over to hug me, so I kept my butt planted next to Connor, who acted as the most comfortable body pillow ever invented. I reached up to hug them back.

“Connor, good to see you,” Shafira said.

“ Very good ,” Karro said.

It appeared my mate resolved himself to the fact that when you married, you got more than a wife, you got her family too because he simply shook his head. For my part, I found myself able to check the rip-his-head-off-for-flirting-with-my-mate impulses, so wins all around.

“Luc left to go crack heads,” I told him, taking in his strong profile and feeling grateful that I was surrounded by or made contact with the people I cared about most. “It looks like someone informed him of what we saw at Monnie’s.”

“Asmodeus showed. He’s pissed, too,” Karro put in. “He said this crap is bad for business.”

“Asmodeus is with us?” Connor asked. “Brilliant. He’s a good ally to have.”

“He’s taking meetings with Bel and Mon,” Shafira said. “Though he didn’t elaborate, I feel as if he meant Belphegor and Mammon.” And we had Leviathan.

“We’re already pretty sure Belphegor is on our side,” I put in. “Remember Australia?”

“Right. But I think it’ll be good to get confirmation.”

She wasn’t wrong. Four of the seven leaders of Hell on our side were far from bad odds. If they gave confirmation, we could work on an alternate plan where demons got involved. Lilium, witches, and demons. Earth might not fall, after all.

From that point on, A never-ending stream of witches and new Lilium started to show. Things got a bit crazy for a while. When Lily Joy arrived I felt a huge sense of relief. After surviving losing someone I cared about once already, I couldn’t go through that again.

The door to the archives opened, tearing me from my somber thoughts while allowing more witches to enter. The room didn’t look big enough to accommodate us all but somehow did. It expanded as we needed it to. Victoria Rivers understood the assignment and had done her job. Witches kept showing. We needed all of them we could get.

When I sensed the next new Lilium arrive, I started feeling even more confident about this war. Witches held power, but Lilium held power.

“Hello?” the voice called out in a distinctly Southern accent as they descended the stairs.

I smiled so big at the bottom waiting to greet her. “Hi. I’m Simone. Welcome to the witches’ archives.” I slowly waved my hand out like a gameshow model presenting a new car.

A woman appeared from the staircase. Big, bleach-blonde hair pulled back in a ponytail, but she had almost a pompadour poof in front. I immediately thought: Texas. Then I dropped my eyes to her Cowboys T-shirt, confirming my suspicions.

“Simone? Simone Lamia?” she asked.

“The one and only,” I replied, standing a little taller. Proud of what we’d been able to accomplish so far. Yes, we still had a monumental challenge ahead of us so I’d be a fool to get too confident, but we deserved to take a moment to pat ourselves on the back for getting this far.

“A Victoria Rivers contacted me. She said I had family—and I ain’t never had family, but she sounded serious. Next thing I know, I’m on a plane to Scotland. Victoria Rivers said you’re my family. What’s going on? Do you know how dangerous it is out there? Mine was the last flight out. They shut down the whole airport for security reasons. People are going crazy.”

Yet another ancestor of Lilith who’d grown up alone. Why? Why didn’t we deserve to have the love of a family in our formative years? What happened to make this our reality? Grandma and I needed to talk. It seemed she’d left out some information.

“What’s your name?” I asked.

“Alexis Smith.”

“It’s good to meet you, Alexis. Do you know what you are?”

Her head jerked. “What I am? Not you, too. I didn't fly across?—”

“So you’ve heard that a time or ten. I wasn’t insulting you. I was asking a legitimate question.”

“Do you know… you know, what I am?”

Smiling, I nodded. “You’re a Lilium. Like me. Like Lily Joy.” I pointed to Lily Joy conversing with one of the witches. “Like Karro.” I pointed him out, along with the two others he talked with. More were on the way. I felt it. I felt our connection.

“Lilium?” she asked. “What exactly is a Lilium?”

“A direct descendent of Lilith,” I replied. Alexis’s head jerked again. I loved this part. “Go join Karro. He volunteered to fill in all our new cousins who arrived. The two he’s talking to showed up maybe ten and thirty minutes ago, respectively.”

She let a tentative smile replace her shocked expression and slowly made her way over to Karro, who threw his arms out with a welcoming, “Girlie… let Uncle Karro take care of you.” He enveloped her in a hug. She melted against him and I felt okay to get back to my business.

Connor sidled up behind me, wrapping his arms around my waist as he rested his chin on my shoulder. “How’re you doing?” he asked.

I sighed. “I’m okay. Relieved Luc is working with us and not against us.”

“One of us said that would never happen. Can you remember who that was?”

“You have to admit it looked bad for a while.”

“So what’s next?”

“I like that subtle change of topic. Smooth, Baghest.”

He pressed a kiss to my neck. “I have my moments.”

“I’m waiting for more witches and Lilium to show and then I’ll address the room. Since I’m winging this, I have no idea if it’ll work or not.”

“Winging it, my ass. I hear the thoughts spinning in your head. You have a plan.”

“A tentative one, I guess. I studied business and finance at community college, not battle strategies and the art of war.”

“Babe, Lilith put you in charge for a reason. I like Sim, but he’s following your orders like the rest of us. Lilith put you in charge.”

“What if she made a mistake?”

“Don’t start second-guessing yourself now. My Simone is a strong, badass woman who knows she’s the shit and will kick any ass that gets in her way. Including mine.”

I chuckled. “I have other plans for your ass.”

“When we’re done with this, I’m keeping you naked for at least a week. I don’t care if your grandmother shows. She’ll get an eyeful because I won’t stop for anything.”

“It’s a date.” I meant it. I wanted that more than he knew. Me and Connor bumping uglies like couples should on their honeymoon. We’d earned a honeymoon. And when we came back, we’d throw the biggest reception anyone had ever seen. For me and Connor, for Sim and Madigan, and for anyone else who had a reason to celebrate. A smile crept over my face as I closed my eyes, picturing our life post-possible apocalypse— no . It was our job, it was my job to make sure this never reached apocalyptic proportions.

The hearth glowed purple from the flames as it expanded to allow more pots to appear and bubble over the fire. More loaves of bread magically widened the bread oven. Ramakins of butter materialized onto the tabletops along with condiments. The archives knew where our witches visited from. I saw diced raw onions, cilantro, fresh lime, and a few salsas on the table by the witches from Mexico. Then over by Shafira, who’d tracked down her sister and nieces—they’d be staying at one of Luc’s safehouses during the fight—the table produced sumac, dried limes, and a sauce that looked like a thick, spiced yogurt sauce, among other things.

I let the room of mostly women eat and settle in a bit before dropping the heavy on them. The door at the top of the stairs cracked against the wall. That unmistakable sound reverberated down to us, catching all our attention. Then throngs of witches and Lilium flooded into the archives, which just kept expanding to hold them. The door clicked shut again and a disheveled, very injured Victoria Rivers stumbled into view. Connor and I rushed to her.

“Weik was hit…” She stopped to catch her breath. “I don’t know… how they found us…”

Weik was hit? How? She’d had wards up all over the building to keep the undesirables out.

“Lily Joy, Shafira,” I shouted, but the women were already moving through the throngs of bodies to get to us. They, along with other witches, jumped in to assess the situation like a group of EMTs.

At this point, the smartest option for me was to step back out of the way and let them help. They knew how to heal. My natural inclination to manifest her better felt like it would hurt us all in the long run. I saw visions of me trying to use manifestation to heal people rather than focusing on the fight and becoming overwhelmed because everyone just expected me to take care of it. And I knew in an instant, even though I held that power, that I couldn’t.

Every witch or Lilium in this room had their part to play—a destiny to fulfill. I couldn’t go against the universe and deny them their destinies, as scary as it might be. I didn’t want to lose any of them, and they surely didn’t want to die, either. But who was I to play God?

“You can’t save them all, babe. I hear your thoughts. They know the danger witches face out there. You’ll tell them the risks. Some may opt out of fighting, but my guess, they’re here because they have people they love. People who need protection.”

Most of the witches and Lilium were either helping take care of the wounded, or pressed in close to those witches, waiting to help if necessary.

“How is she?” I asked, concerned about Victoria’s condition.

“Her injuries are bad, but she’s stable,” said a witch, a middle-aged woman who wore a shag-style haircut that flattered her face and made her icy-blue eyes the focus of her face. With her golden-blonde locks, she reminded me of the acting icon Farrah Fawcett. I didn’t know most of these witches, and truthfully, I lacked the headspace to bother with getting to know them, so for the time being, I’d think of her as Farrah.

As for Victoria, that wasn’t the best news—not as bad as it could’ve been, but I liked her. I wanted her to be okay. And truthfully, we needed her.

Given we were running out of time, I decided to address the witches and Lilium present and just fill in any new ones who showed up. I clapped my hands to get them to look at me. “I need your attention. Witches, I need you to break into groups. Raise your hand if you’re a kitchen witch.”

A bunch of hands shot up into the air.

“Great, you all congregate over by the woman in the blue boho blouse,” I ordered. The woman in the blue boho blouse waved her hand and the kitchen witches started moving over to her. “Crystals?” I asked. More hands shot up. A woman with bright-pink hair caught my eye. “Crystal witches head to the woman with the bright-pink hair.” And yes, I had to make that distinction, because we had witches with a rainbow assortment of hair colors. The crystal witches moved to stand by her. “The rest of you do spellwork?”

I got a bunch of nods and mumbles of “Yeah” or “Yup” or “Yes.”

“You guys stand next to the goth practitioner,” I directed next. The goth waved their hand to get the others to see them, though I found a goth look to be rather hard to miss. Lastly, I addressed the Lilium. “Lilium, now that you all know what you are, if you’re not already by Karro, then I need you up there.”

Most of the Lilium already stood in a huddle close to Karro. It’d been a shock for most of them to finally find out what we were. A few already knew, but for most of us, it was a big shock to the system. Most supers knew the legend of the Lilium, but no one had ever met a Lilium. So then to find out you were a Lilium—yeah, mind blown.

“Okay,” I called out. “You all know that this is literal life and death out there. I need the kitchen witches to start brewing up anything and everything for healing, for forgetting—anything that will aid us in the fight. Crystal witches, start using oils to anoint the crystals. We’ll make them into necklaces for everyone to wear for protection. Spellcasters, we need offensive and defensive spells that will stop humans without killing them if possible, maybe knock them out for a while, but do what you need to do to the demons. Lilium, do your thing, whatever that may be. You need to be able to use your magic, both offensively and defensively, as easy as Harry Potter flicked his wand and shouted, ‘ Expelliarmus .’ I got a lot of snickers from that, but they all got to work in their groups.

Karro’s group looked to him for input and he totally took to this new leadership role like he’d been born to do it. But then again, maybe he had been. What did I know?

I stayed next to Connor. He kissed the side of my temple. “How’re you feeling about all this?”

“I’m good at manifesting. I think I’ll be okay, but I don’t know if Sim has the hilt and his book yet. We need him here to join the dagger and those plants from the garden were given to him for a reason. I have to talk to him so I can manifest them here.”

“Babe, I know you want them here, but I think you need to give them the chance to do what they’ve got to do.”

“You want me to leave them out there with The Purge ?”

“No.”

“So then I have to.”

“He was bound for most of his life just like you. My gut tells me he needs this time to find out what he’s capable of.”

“But I need to know if he has the things yet.”

“Then talk to him—don’t just bring them here, not yet.”

We were running out of time but as I kept finding new achievements to unlock, I had to assume Connor’s point held merit. A lot of merit. Of course, I’d never tell him that. We didn’t need him thinking I’d ever let him win an argument.

He looked around the room and then said, “We need a private room, something quiet.”

The archives answered right away, with a door shimmering purple into appearance at the far end of the room. We started weaving our way around the throngs of bodies to get to it. The door opened for us without even a push or twist of the handle.

When we stepped inside, the smaller room held drinks on low-lying tables set next to these huge, beanbag-style chairs. I dropped on a lavender one, sinking into the cushiony softness. Connor dropped onto the second black one. Assigned seating. The room had a reason for this—I just didn’t know that reason yet.

“Okay, let me see my brother, Simeon, and his mate, Madigan,” I said, manifesting the hell out of this. The air between our seats swirled and then a picture showed, like watching television without the TV.

It was dark there. I manifested letting them talk to Connor and me, and to hear our responses. I hoped this worked. “Sim,” I whispered, in case he wasn’t safe. Simeon twisted his head from side to side, probably to see where my voice came from. “Sim, straight ahead. Up.”

He tipped his head up, looking straight ahead. “Simone? Where are you?”

“The witches’ archives. We need you here. You, Madigan, your book and hilt.”

“We’re trying to get home. It’s crazy out there.”

“Okay, where are you?”

“Right now, we’re in Bay City. We broke into the State Theater. I have to get to Corunna. That’s where I live. It’s where my things are.”

“Hold on to Madigan. I’m going to try to manifest you home. Once you get there, get your things.”

“You can do that?”

“I can now. New abilities keep popping up.”

“Same here. Each new thing that pops up, I’m like, where have you been all my life?”

“He’s amazing,” Madigan said.

My brother leaned in to kiss her cheek. “Thanks, babe.”

“If you’re anything like Simone, you can do whatever you set your mind to,” Connor replied.

Simeon chuckled. “I hope that’s true because I wish I had the kind of power she does.”

“You have great powers, Sim,” Madigan countered.

“Guys— focus .” I snapped my fingers to get their attention. “I’m manifesting now.”

I watched Simeon wrap his arms around Madigan’s waist and then I closed my eyes. “Get Simeon and Madigan to Simeon’s home in Corunna,” I began chanting over and over. Please let this work. We needed this to work. The manifestation pummeled my insides. Maybe because I’d done it too many times today. But moving people from their location, and not physically being in the room with them, to a different location kind of sucked. My body bruised from the inside out. I couldn’t stop. I just kept chanting over and over, no matter how much it hurt. How hard I breathed because the magic knocked the wind out of me.

The pair disappeared from view, the TV went black, and they appeared in front of a cute, well-landscaped house. The door had been kicked in. Someone knew about his book. I hoped it remained where he’d left it. Madigan pushed in front of my brother and I saw the look on his face when she did that. No way was he comfortable with his woman going in first, even if she could shift at the drop of a hat and had been mated to him for this exact purpose.

“Back bedroom,” he whispered. She nodded once and started for the hallway. The woman knew exactly where to go, which meant she’d gotten to spend a little time there before they’d gone on the run. I mean… good for her. And my brother.

Exactly as they’d done with mine, demons—or Cain—had trashed his place. Sim and Madigan walked into what must’ve been the master bedroom. The mattress lay half on the frame and half on the floor. Everything he’d ever owned was smashed or strewn over the carpeting. He walked over to the bed, popping up the bed platform. It had a false bottom. Connor and I watched him pick up the small botanical book and the hilt from inside the nook the false bottom created. He ran to the closet and pulled junk from the floor, throwing it over his shoulder to get to what he needed: a leather satchel with a crossbody strap. He shoved the book and hilt into the satchel, zipped the top, and secured the over-flap with the buckles.

Then he held his hand out to Madigan, who grabbed hold. “Ready,” he said to me.

I cleared my throat, closed my eyes, and started chanting. Like with Agatha, it took more effort to get them to me. Instead of an instantaneous movement, they zipped through the air at lightning speed. I started sweating and my mouth went dry. Pain throbbed in my head like someone continuously beat me with a sledgehammer, but I couldn’t let myself lose focus. The room started to spin and I felt a second and a half from passing out.

Why was this so much more difficult than bringing Shafira and Karro to us? I heard an answer to my question in Lilith’s voice: “Angel magic.” Angel magic boosted my magic? Good to know. I pushed her voice out of my head to keep myself on task.

“Baby,” Connor said, falling down by my side. He pressed his hand to my forehead. “Clammy. You’ve got to stop.”

I dared not speak, pushing his hand away. I couldn’t let go of my focus. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the glass next to my beanbag chair start to glow. Connor noticed it too. That had to be why the room had given us different-colored chairs. He lifted it to my mouth and I drank the sparkling liquid down. The pain eased right away. My body temp started to regulate itself again. The sweats stopped.

The room knew exactly what I needed. When I tried to manifest them into this room, the energy of the archives zapped me. Apparently, they had to enter the same way everyone else did. I moved my destination to the Knapp of Howar. Two people really put a strain on my magic. I kept drinking the witchy beverage and when I reached the bottom of the glass, it refilled to allow me to keep drinking, which I did until I saw them land outside the crumbling monolith.

My brother and Madigan were here. I dropped the glass, spilling the rest of the drink, pushing up out of the chair to run. The door opened for us, letting me speed up rather than slow down to get to my brother. The hilt and amulet were so close to being joined.

Excited, I ran up the stairs and outside. I could’ve cried from happiness. But before I reached Sim, a demon lunged at me. A freaking demon? What? How’d demons know we were here? I had just enough sense to lock the archive doors behind me before taking a shot to my middle, knocking me to the ground.

I screamed, partly from pain, but given the adrenaline surging through my veins, mostly from anger. It took major gall for a demon to surprise attack me when I was about to hug my brother. I shot my hand out to grab for the demon when more started appearing. There was me, Sim, and Madigan, who dropped into her hound form.

And holy hell—Sim controlled plants. I watched as grass shot up around a demon’s foot, winding and twisting to keep him anchored to the spot. Madigan lunged and ripped his throat out. Black demon blood sprayed us. Vomiting would have to wait until we took care of these creeps.

Somewhere along the way, Connor had joined us, and he fought alongside his sister. As I cast out my hand to fire off some spell or other at a charging demon, I looked up for a split second to see a man standing off in the distance. Beetle. But Beetle wasn’t Satan. This was the man I’d talked to at Monnie’s what seemed like a lifetime ago. Same stature. Same style suit. Hair slicked back. Without thinking, I took off in a dead run. He wouldn’t get away from me. Not this time.

I became vaguely aware of Connor at my side, and as we ran, I manifested to bring Beetle down. I wanted that man trapped. But somehow, he deflected my shots. That shouldn’t have been possible. Rather than take more time, I reached over to touch Connor’s head and manifested us to him. We popped into the place where he’d been just a second before, but that coward was gone.

“No!” I shouted. This was our shot and I’d blown it. I dropped to the ground crying angry tears. How did Lilith expect me to save the world when I couldn’t catch the man trying to ruin it? I had one damn job—to defeat Beetle, and I let him get away.

Connor dropped his arms around me, holding on as tightly as he dared while I sobbed. “He wanted to see what you’ve got, babe. No doubt he’s reformulating his plan.”

“Because I screwed up.”

“How? You did exactly what you needed to do.”

“Then why did he get away?”

“Because he knew he was coming here. You didn’t.”

Well, it was an answer—maybe not a good one or one I liked, but it answered some questions.

“You ruined your clothes again,” I said dryly, waving my hand in the air to manifest him simple jeans, a T-shirt, and Converse. I didn’t have it in me to be more creative. As we made our way back to Sim and Madigan, we stepped in puddles of demon. Lucky us, we’d gotten there right before the bloody debris turned to ash, blowing away on the wind. I manifested joggers and a T-shirt for Madigan. They flitted to the ground next to my brother, who stood between us and Madi, blocking her naked form. He nodded his thanks in passing. Connor kept his head turned away, no doubt not wanting to see his sister au naturel .

When we reached the door, I unlocked it, letting us inside the archives. Madigan was the last to enter, pulling the door shut again, and I locked it.

“That’s a badass power you’ve got, brother,” I said to Sim.

He smiled. He looked like me when he smiled. “It’s been getting stronger.” Simeon flicked his hand in the air and the sound of thunder rumbling overhead filled the stone stairwell with us.

My eyes bugged. “You can control the weather?”

“At least we’ll always have good beach days,” he replied, shrugging. Shrugging, my ass. That was huge. He could control weather and plants. Somehow, we needed to use this to our advantage because Beetle had skipped out before seeing Sim’s biggest power-up.

“Achievement unlocked,” Connor teased.

“I’m thinking of planning a BBQ in January,” Madigan said while smirking. “Mom will trip.”

Connor threw his head back, laughing.