Curse of Night

by Emily Goodwin

  The animals are hacked to pieces, with various bones and organs missing.

  “There are no hearts,” Lucas says. “Does that mean anything?”

  “Nothing good. Demons often eat hearts, and I don’t know much about necromancy, but I assume you would use vital organs.”

  I carefully pick up a jar of herbs and look behind it. There’s not much to go on, and most of this is looking like basic supplies, not cluing us in on much.

  “Callie.”

  I turn, directing the energy ball to light up whatever Lucas is looking at.

  “Oh shit.” I still have Lucas’s phone, and I pull it from my pocket and take a picture of a sigil carved in the wood above the door. “That’s voodoo. I don’t remember what it means, but Evander will probably know.”

  “What do you want to do with everything in here?”

  I shake my head. “I don’t know,” I say, voice muffled from the makeshift mask on my face. “None of this stuff is that hard to come by or particularly dangerous. The blood is the only thing here from a human?”

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s take that so Ruth can’t come back and use it against Carly and Maria and leave everything else. If Evander can get council members out here before Ruth comes back and destroys all the evidence, it will help build a second case against her.”

  Lucas picks up the jars of blood, and we leave the shed. I lock and seal it back up with magic. I don’t take the mask off my face until we’re by the road.

  “Thanks again for this,” I tell Lucas. “It was pretty smart.”

  “I am smart,” he says seriously, smiling as he takes my hand. “And so are you for agreeing to marry me.”

  “Smartest thing I ever did,” I say with a roll of my eyes. I let out a sigh, looking forward to getting home and showering. The smell of death clings to our clothes. I think we’ll be riding home with the windows cracked.

  I call Evander again, just in case, and get his voicemail. Setting my phone down, I pick up the jar of blood from the cupholder.

  “This is how she did the conduit spell,” I say. “She could still have some sort of grip on them now, too. The chances of her showing up are probably slim, but I need to get to Evander as soon as we get home.”

  Lucas takes his eyes off the road to look at me for a second. “You’re going to astral project?”

  “Yes. If I wait until the morning and something happens to those girls…” I shake my head. “We don’t have time.” I put the jar back next to the other one and rest my hand on Lucas’s thigh. I let out a sigh and lean back, eyes falling shut.

  My mind is racing, but my body is begging to go to sleep. Soon enough, I’ll crawl under my heated blanket next to my vampire. Soon.

  We’re not too far from Thorne Hill, and Lucas and I talk about the house, purposely distracting ourselves from what’s going on. I greet my familiars, use the bathroom, and get a drink of water before going into the living room.

  Lucas has already moved the furniture and poured a circle of salt on the floor. Binx sits on my chest as soon as I lie down, protecting my empty body from spirits.

  “Oh, hang on a second.” I hold out my hand. “Can you draw that symbol on my palm? I need to show it to Evander.”

  Lucas speeds away and returns with a Sharpie. He looks at the photo on his phone and quickly draws it on my skin. Careful not to smudge the ink before it dries, I bring my hand to my side, close my eyes, and whisper the incantation. I feel myself slipping out of my body as the world spins around me. When everything stops spinning, I’m standing in Evander’s room.

  It’s dark in here, with the only light coming from the moonlight shining through the window. The buildings inside the Covenstead are over a century old, and while they’ve been updated for modern convenience, they still look—for the most part—as they did when they were first built. Back in the 1960s, someone thought it would be a good idea to redecorate, and half the coven was in an uproar over it.

  Everything went back to its gothic roots after that.

  “Evander,” I whisper. “Evander, wake up.”

  Evander opens his eyes, only to roll over.

  “Evander,” I say a little louder. “Get up.”

  He jerks up, blinking in the dark. “Seven devils, Callie!” He looks at the door, which is still closed and locked, and realizes I’m astral projecting. “What’s wrong?”

  “I’m in no immediate danger,” I rush out. “But I had a breakthrough with the whole Ruth thing, and I need your help.”

  Evander flicks on the light, and I peer into his bed. “Darn. I was hoping to see Kristy in there with you.”

  Evander gives me a look and sits, swinging his feet over the side of the bed. “She warned me about your shipping, sister.”

  “A girl can dream.” I shrug and take a few steps to the side and sit on the edge of Evander’s bed. It takes great concentration to actually sit on anything in astral form since I’m not really here. I can just go through everything.

  “What did you find out about Ruth?”

  “Betty called me,” I start and then catch Evander up to speed. “We left everything as-is at the cabin but took the jars of blood. I’ll pour them down the drain later.”

  Evander nods. “Good thinking. I’ll alert the council and will send notice to the Grand Coven.”

  I let out a breath of relief. “What about the girls?”

  “I’ll have them watched over right away. If Ruth sets foot in the hospital, we have enough to take her in and question her.”

  “And if you do catch her…”

  “I’ll let you know.”

  “She needs to be stopped,” I say.

  Evander meets my eyes. “She will be.”

  “Oh, and this,” I say, holding up my hand. “It was carved above the door in the shed.”

  Evander narrows his eyes and picks his phone up off the nightstand. He takes a photo. “It’s voodoo and is familiar. I think…I think it’s a warding sigil. I’ll look into it and will let you know what it means.” He looks at the clock. “Have you been up all night?”

  “Yes,” I say with a sigh. “It’s been a long fucking night.”

  “I can imagine. Go back to your body and get some sleep, sister. You need it.”

  “I know,” I agree, feeling the lull of sleep nag at me. “The sooner this ends, the better, though. Then I can actually move on, go to Disney World, and die happy.”

  “Poor choice of words.” Evander purses his lips.

  “You know what I mean.”

  “I’m starting to wonder.” He puts his phone down. “Now go, Callie, before I banish you.”

  “You’re such a buzzkill. Fine. I’m going. Love you, Evander.”

  “Love you, too, sister.”

  I close my eyes and go back into my body, eyes opening and body jolting. Lucas is kneeling on the floor, right where he was when I left my body.

  “Did you talk to Evander?” he asks as I sit up, keeping Binx in my lap.

  “I did, and he’s going to send someone to the hospital and to the cabin to check things out.”

  “Good.” Lucas gets up and holds out his hand. I take it and slowly get up. I step over the circle of salt and put my arms around Lucas’s neck. “And now it’s time to get you to bed.”

  “I’m exhausted.”

  “It’s four a.m. I can only imagine.” He scoops me up, holding me tight to his chest. My lips curve into a half-smile, and I rest my head against his chest. He takes a few steps out of the living room toward the stairs when something suddenly feels strange.

  “Wait,” I say, lifting my head up. “Do you feel—” Before I can get my question out, a bright blue light flashes outside like lightning. Lucas sets me down, and we both rush to the living room window, looking outside.

  I can feel him before I see him, and I know right away that something is wrong. Slowly, he rises to his feet, hand clamped to his stomach. Blood drips down his middle, and the air vibrates once again.

&n
bsp; “Oh my god,” I say, fingers trembling. “It’s Julian.”

  Chapter 31

  I break away from Lucas and rush out the door. Binx shadows out of the house, immediately on the defense. If something can hurt an angel, we’re all in danger.

  “Julian!” I drop to my knees next to him. There’s a dagger lodged in his stomach, and his skin around it is sizzling and burning. “Oh my god.” I reach for the dagger to pull it out. Angels heal, right? He’ll be fine once I get the dagger out.

  “No,” he grunts and pushes my hand away. “The blade is made to hurt angels. You’re half angel.” He pitches forward, and I catch his shoulders, looking at Lucas.

  “I got it,” he tells me and takes over, holding Julian up with one hand. He wraps his fingers around the hilt of the dagger and pulls it out. The blade is serrated, and the unmistakable sound of flesh ripping echoes through the night.

  “We need to get him inside.”

  Lucas hooks Julian’s arm over his shoulder and stands, easily lifting Julian and shouldering most of his weight. He holds the dagger in his other hand, keeping the blade away from both me and Julian.

  Binx shadows back, letting me know he didn’t sense anything sinister lurking about. What the hell attacked my cousin…and why is he finally here after weeks of begging him to show the fuck up?

  Lucas takes Julian to the couch, and I close the front door, sealing it up with an extra protection spell. Then I fly into the living room, eyes wide and heart racing.

  Julian is leaning back with his hand on his stomach. I get hit with a wave of panic, feeling like history is repeating itself, but this time, it’s Julian and not Lucas in front of me with a fatal wound.

  And my sister isn’t around to save the day.

  “I’m fine,” Julian says gruffly and moves his hand, frowning at the tear in his shirt. He’s not bleeding, and his skin isn’t burning anymore. There’s not even a wound. “This was my only shirt.”

  “How do you even get clothes—never mind.” I shake my head and let out a breath, feeling like I might pass out. I swear I have PTSD already from seeing Lucas almost die in front of me. “What happened?”

  “This may come as a shock,” he starts, brows pushing together. He’s starting to look more like himself, as if Lucas didn’t just pull a seven-inch dagger from his stomach only a minute ago. “The demon Bael is in search of the Nephilim child.”

  “Oh.” I sit on the edge of the coffee table. “Yeah. I kind of figured that.”

  “You did?” Julian starts to get up but stops, wincing.

  “Are you okay?” I ask, holding out my hand.

  “I will be fine. The poison has to work its way out of my system.”

  “Poison?” Lucas echoes, looking at the dagger he put on the fireplace mantle.

  “Yes.” Julian leans back. “That blade, it was forged in hellfire and made from demonic origin. It’s the opposite of what we are,” he tells me, and I think back to when my blood dripped on the root-monsters and it burned them.

  I look at him for a few seconds, blinking and trying to make sense of everything. I haven’t seen or heard from Julian or my father in weeks, and now he’s here, showing up all dramatically with a demon-made dagger sticking out of his abdomen.

  “But…but you’ll be okay?” I ask, needing to be sure. My hands are shaking. I press them against my thighs and suck in a slow breath.

  “I will, and I came here to make sure you were, too.”

  “Because of Bael?”

  “Yes. The rumor circulating Hell that you are still alive is gaining validity. Unfortunately, killing Varrador proved just how powerful you are. High-ranking demons aren’t easy to kill.”

  “Only someone with equally high powers could kill them. Not ordinary witches,” Lucas finishes.

  “Yes.” Julian gives a curt nod.

  “If Bael is trapped in some sort of vessel, how did he hear about Callie?”

  “The ‘vessel’ you speak of was a human body,” Julian explains, and I grimace. “The body has since deteriorated, and Bael is free to roam about the demonic prison he was cast into.”

  “Which is in Hell?” I ask, head buzzing with even more questions.

  “Yes. The prison is—”

  “Wait,” Lucas interrupts, eyes narrowing ever so slightly. “You were able to get into this prison and then come out?”

  “Yes. The prison is a one-way street for demons but not for angels. Well, it’s supposed to be a one-way street.”

  “That’s not ominous or anything.” Lucas slips his arm around my waist.

  “Someone on Earth was trying to open a door. There was a small rift when I got there, nothing big enough to let him out, but enough—”

  “For him to astral project down here and summon up some sort of monsters from tree roots to attack me?” I cut him off.

  “I suppose.” Julian tips his head slightly. “You’re not talking hypothetically, are you?”

  “No. A little over a week ago, he attacked us. The only thing that killed the root-monsters was my blood smeared on a blade.”

  “You said something, too,” Lucas reminds me. “In Enochian.”

  I nod, closing my eyes, thinking back. “The blade glowed for a second, and then we were able to chop them down. And then I realized Bael was standing in the woods, just watching.”

  “He was testing you to see if you were who you were rumored to be. And if your blood killed anything demonic…” Julian lets out a breath, looking tense.

  “What?” Lucas asks.

  “Then he knows you are half archangel. Only archangel blood can kill demons like that.”

  Silence falls over the room, and I can hear the ticking of the clock that’s hanging on the wall behind me.

  “So he had help from Earth?” I ask, voice a little thin. Julian nods. “I think I know who. There’s a witch that’s kind of dead set on revenge. A few months ago, she accused me of striking some sort of deal with Lucifer, and that’s how I was able to get out alive after facing a high-level demon. She tried to blackmail me into summoning him and having him grant her the same powers. I got her arrested, tried, and kicked off the Grand Coven. Now she’s turned to necromancy to seek her revenge.”

  “If Bael knows you are half archangel, would Ruth?” Lucas asks.

  I slowly shake my head and look at Julian. “This Ruth,” he starts. “She wants to use you to grant her more power?”

  “Yes. And it’s kind of funny now.” I let out a snort and roll my eyes. “I do have a connection to Lucifer. Just through my lineage, that’s all.”

  “If Bael has indeed figured out you are in fact the daughter of one of the archangels, I don’t think that’s information he’d willingly share,” Julian tells us. “Especially with a human who could grant him no favors beyond opening the door.” His eyes meet mine. “You know how demons are. They lie. Cheat. Do whatever they can to benefit themselves. The only reason Bael would have responded to Ruth’s summonings is because he thought he’d be able to gain something.”

  “And that something is Callie,” Lucas says, and his words send a chill through me.

  “Yes. As you can imagine, no one wants to be imprisoned. But being imprisoned while knowing the offspring of an archangel freely walks around…” His brows furrow. “It would be maddening. From a demon’s perspective, of course.”

  “Yeah,” I agree and feel like the room is spinning. “Here I am, living my best life and just trying not to die.”

  “Bael didn’t escape,” Lucas states, but I hear the question in his voice.

  “No, he did not. I sealed the rift just in time, both from keeping him out and from keeping the angel Vehuiah from coming to investigate. She has been assigned to that particular level of Hell and reports directly to Metatron.”

  “Metatron?” I ask.

  “Another archangel, I believe,” Lucas says, and Julian nods. A knot starts to form in my stomach, and my throat feels tight when I swallow.

  “Another uncle,
” I say quietly.

  “Technically, yes. He is Michael’s brother,” Julian goes on. “And is one who’s made it known he is very against Nephilim being allowed to live. He’s voiced his concerns many times that he thinks it’s too risky.”

  Silence falls over us again, and my heart pounds against my chest, which is feeling too tight and constricting right now. I suck in air only to feel like I can’t breathe, and anger suddenly boils inside me, my mind unable to stop playing a highlight reel of the worst moment of my life.

  “Lucas almost died,” I spit. “And I prayed so hard for you or my father to come help me. But you didn’t answer. You didn’t come. I felt so alone.” Tears well in my eyes, and I furiously blink them away.

  “I am sorry,” Julian tells me, and I know he means it. “I’ve been following leads, killing demons who have even uttered the word ‘Nephilim.’ And I cannot hear prayers when I am in Hell. Only Lucifer can hear the cries of mortals from below.”

  My eyes widen. What? I mean…I heard him, but…what?

  “You were killing demons in Hell?”

  “Yes, under your father’s orders. He has been, too. We hoped we could eliminate the rumors about you still being alive, but it seems they have spread too far.”

  “You did that for me?”

  “Of course.” Julian reaches forward and takes my hand. “Everything your father has done has been for you. I know it’s hard with him not being here, but he cares, Callie. He cares a lot.”

  The tears I was wrestling with fall down my cheeks. Dammit.

  Lucas sits next to me on the couch and puts his arm around my waist, instantly comforting me.

  “So we all agree Ruth tried summoning a demon to try to get to Callie.”

  “Yes,” Julian and I say at the same time.

  “But what does Bael want with her?” Lucas asks.

  “I imagine he wants what the other demons want: to make Callie the new ruler of Hell.”

  “What?” I lean back, sure I misheard. “A new ruler?”

  “That is what they want with you.”