“This is incredible,” Beatrice uttered as she took in her surroundings. “I had no idea there was anything like this in the demon realm.”
“Only fallen angels can come here,” I explained.
“I’m here, and I’m not a fallen angel,” she pointed out.
“I wasn’t sure you’d be able to pass the barrier, but I’d hoped you’d be able to. I wanted to share this with you.”
“Thank you,” she said softly as she wrapped her arms around my waist.
I hugged her back, allowing my fingers to trail along her wings. They felt incredibly real. No one would ever guess they weren’t her own.
“What does it feel like when I touch them?” I asked.
She pulled back slightly to smile at me. “Are you trying to figure out if I get turned on like you do when I’m touching your wings?” she asked.
“Yes,” I admitted. “Do you?”
“No,” she replied thoughtfully. “It feels like you’re touching my magic but not a part of my body.”
“That makes sense,” I said as I continued to stroke the feathers on her wings. Her magic vibrated against my fingertips, moving up my arms. It was an amazing sensation. Soon, her power moved along my body, stroking and caressing me. My own power wanted to reach out to hers, but I held it in check. Where hers was bright, mine was dark.
“I like the way it feels when you touch my magic,” she admitted in a breathy voice. “I want to touch yours.”
“Not yet,” I insisted.
“Why?” she asked, looking hurt by my response. “I’ve felt it before, but you always pull away from me.”
“I want you to touch my magic,” I began. “You have no idea how much I want to allow my power to slide along yours. It’s just that I don’t want to scare you off.”
“You think you’ll scare me off because you’re an evil fallen angel?” she asked with a teasing twinkle in her eyes.
“I am not a good man,” I confessed. “I have done horrible things. I will probably do more horrible things. My only regret is that you might leave me over them.” I took a deep breath and confessed the thing I feared most. “I’m afraid of losing you. Not only am I worried your brother will get to you, I’m also afraid you’ll realize who I truly am and decide you can’t be with someone like me.”
Chapter 72
Beatrice
The vulnerability in Lucifer’s voice caught me off-guard. I’d never in a million years have guessed I could make such a powerful man feel this way. I wanted to comfort him—a strange reaction for me. I’ve always wanted to comfort familiars but rarely people. With Lucifer, I wanted to make him feel better and tell him I’d never leave him over something like that. To do so would be a lie. Since I hadn’t seen his dark side, I had no way of knowing if it would be too much.
“I wouldn’t run from you, but you might be right about waiting,” I admitted. “We should probably get to know each other better before we take that step.”
He nodded, and his hands fell away from my wings. After taking two steps back to put some distance between us, he looked toward another mountain off in the distance.
“Is that it?” I asked. “Is that Heaven?”
“No,” Lucifer replied. “We still call that one Olympus.”
“Really?” I asked. “That’s where the Greek gods live?”
“Technically, they’re all fallen angels,” he corrected me.
“I know, but they were considered gods by humans,” I reminded him. “I used to love reading their stories as a child.”
“They are still famous, and they will never let you forget that,” he added with a laugh. “That’s where all except Hades live. He was never welcome there. Even short visits are still frowned upon.”
“Poor Hades,” I said on a sigh. “He’s always been excluded from the others on Olympus, hasn’t he?”
“Hades prefers it that way,” he assured me. “The others spent far too much time trying to pretend they were good and just gods. That used to piss Hades off.”
“I’m glad Hades isn’t completely delusional,” I remarked.
“He’s been moving in that direction for a very long time,” Lucifer added. “I will admit that he seems to be doing better lately. At least, he’s trying to do better. Of all the things I thought might improve his sanity, a woman named Persephone wasn’t on that list. I always assumed that, by the time he found the right Persephone, his mind would be too far gone. Before he met your friend, I was certain I’d need to end his existence soon. Not only was he getting too dangerous, it was beginning to seem like the kindest thing to do. And then, he met your roommate.”
“My friend is something else,” I mused before looking off in the distance. “Do you ever miss it?”
“Miss what?” he asked.
“Heaven,” I replied as I met his gaze. “Do you miss being there?”
He shook his head. “No. I was never happy there for the same reason Hades couldn’t be happy on Mount Olympus. The other angels all want to believe they’re good and noble, but they do horrible things. They’re still in Heaven because they didn’t start a rebellion or form their own pantheon. They’ve interfered in wars among humans and witches. I’ve even heard rumors that angel blood was used to make the first vampires. There are reasons we’re forbidden from creating a new species. The vampires could have wiped out the human population. Luckily, they were smart enough to realize they needed to limit their numbers.”
“Angel blood?” I practically gasped. “Vampires are descended from angels?”
“It would be a stretch to say they were descended from angels, and those rumors have never been confirmed,” he explained. “If an angel was involved with their creation, he or she wouldn’t want anyone to find out. They would be cast out of Heaven.”
“Have you considered that it could have been a fallen angel?” I asked.
“That’s possible but less likely. We have more contact with your realm, and we’d rather not see it destroyed.” He sighed before continuing. “We should head back before it gets dark.”
“I can’t believe it was already getting dark when we came here,” I remarked as I looked around. “It seems like midday.”
“It always does on this mountain,” he explained. “We’ve actually stayed longer than we should have. I’m not comfortable with you flying in the dark. There are some nasty things that come out at night.”
“Dangerous demons?” I asked a little nervously.
He chuckled at my question. “All the nasty demons come out during the daylight hours as well as at night. I was actually referring to night hornets.”
“Night hornets?” I asked. “I’ve never heard of those.”
“They’re about the size of my fist and extremely aggressive. We don’t want to run into one. I’ve been stung. It hurts like a bitch.”
“You probably shouldn’t have told me about them,” I said with a shudder. “They don’t make the demon realm sound like someplace I’d like to live.”
“Don’t worry,” he assured me. “They’re only in one region, and I do my best to stay out of there after dark. Unfortunately, we have to pass through there to get back to my place, so we should go.”
I nodded and tested my wings again. “It’s probably best we leave. Holding this form is using up a lot of energy. I’m exhausted.”
“Does this mean you’ll want to go straight to bed when we get home?” he asked in a seductive voice.
“You’re insatiable,” I accused.
“Only with you,” he assured me.
“You’ll have to do all the work,” I told him. “I’m too tired.”
“My pleasure,” he murmured.
I was pretty sure it would be my pleasure.
Chapter 73
Lucifer
Only fucking witches would have the audacity to summon me to appear before their council. I shouldn’t be surprised. They were an arrogant group, and I’d been reasonable with them in the past. I should tell them to go fu
ck themselves, but I had to consider Beatrice. While she had very little involvement with the Council of Witches, she was still a witch. Angering the council could affect her career. They had the power to ban other witches in their region from hiring Beatrice.
“Fuck me,” I muttered.
“I’ll pass,” was Xavier’s dry reply. He’d been awaiting my response since he’d delivered the summons from the Council of Witches. “You’ve just figured out you have to go, haven’t you?”
“I have no interest in attending one of their ridiculous council meetings. This pisses me off.”
“You’re involved with a witch,” he reminded me, as if I needed the reminder. “She may not be a high-ranking witch, but she’s one of theirs. As I understand it, the council is still annoyed that her brother suddenly disappeared with no explanation, and then we told them he’s on the loose with a demon. You pissed them off, and you broke your own rules by keeping him here.”
“No,” I argued. “When he was imprisoned here, I was led to believe he’d stolen my car.”
“You found out he hadn’t,” Xavier pointed out.
“At the same time as I found out he’d tried to kill Beatrice,” I reminded him. She was mine. It was my right to punish anyone who harmed her.
“Yes, I know,” Xavier replied. “I’m not arguing that you did anything wrong. The uptight council pricks are likely to see it differently. When we find the little bastard, we need to kill him. Then, there won’t be any argument about who gets to punish him.”
“You’re right,” I agreed. “That’s not the main reason we need to kill him. As long as he lives, Desmond LaCroix is a danger to Beatrice.”
“Should I send the council a reply?” he asked.
“When do they want to meet?” I asked.
“Thursday at five,” he replied.
I considered my response carefully. It was Friday, so this couldn’t be that urgent. The council would meet today if they thought it was a life or death matter. I suspected they wanted to make sure every witch was notified of the meeting. This would be a big event for them. They’d likely have to refuse entrance to many at the meeting. Beatrice might not have drawn much attention before, but her involvement with me would fascinate the other witches, something she would hate.
“Tell them we can meet Monday at noon,” I replied. “Don’t deliver my response until tomorrow.”
Xavier chuckled. “That should piss them off.”
“It will also ensure there aren’t too many people gawking at Beatrice during the meeting,” I added.
“Good call,” Xavier agreed before heading out of the room. “Hello, Beatrice,” he called out as he passed her on her way into the room.
“Hi, Xavier,” she replied before waving at his back. “Bye Xavier. Why do you look like someone pissed in your Satyr milk?” she asked me.
I laughed at her question, grateful to her for improving my mood with such ease. “That would likely improve the flavor.”
“I’m definitely not interested in eating any ice cream made from that milk,” she added. “So, why are you so irritated?”
“We’ve been summoned by your council,” I explained.
She groaned. “I hate council meetings. I don’t even know where my stupid robe is. When we came here, I didn’t think to pack it. We need to go back to my place to look for my robe.”
“We’re not going back to your place,” was my firm response.
“But I don’t have a robe here,” she argued.
I shrugged. “Don’t wear one.”
“We’re required to wear our robes to council meetings,” she reminded me. “It’s a stupid rule designed to make sure no one forgets where they fall in the hierarchy.”
“You’re involved with me,” I pointed out. “That removes you from the witch hierarchy. You can wear whatever you damn well please to the meeting.”
Beatrice’s expression was thoughtful. “You’re right. Another benefit of dating you.”
“We aren’t exactly dating,” I argued. For some reason, I didn’t like that term today. We weren’t simply dating. We were living together. While it might be to keep Beatrice safe now, even when the danger passed, I planned to keep her here with me.
“What are we doing?” she asked.
“Living together,” I replied. That had sounded good in my mind, but now, I didn’t like that term either. “We belong to each other.”
“I suppose your answer could have been worse,” she said with a sigh. “You could have said I belong to you.”
“I did,” I reminded her.
“You also said you belong to me,” she pointed out. “There’s a difference. Both are far too possessive at this stage in our relationship, but one implies we equally belong to each other. The other would have implied you own me as if I’m some sort of possession. That would have pissed me off and made me want to smack you.”
“I should have said that you belong to me,” I mused. “You could use that anger in your training this afternoon.”
As expected, Beatrice groaned in response. “We trained yesterday. Can’t we take this afternoon off?”
I shook my head. “No days off from training. If your brother gets anywhere near you, I want you ready to kick his scrawny ass.”
She walked over and hugged me. “Thank you.”
“For what?” I asked.
“For teaching me to defend myself rather than insisting you’ll take care of me,” she replied.
“I have faith in you, Beatrice,” I assured her. “If I thought you were a weak woman who needed my constant protection, we wouldn’t be here now. I’m drawn to your strength. You will do fine in training today.”
“Ugh!” she exclaimed. “I’ll train for a little while. After that, I want cake and a hot bath.”
“Your wish is my command,” I assured her.
“That’s good to know,” she said with a sweet smile. “After my bath, I have a few other things I need from you.”
I couldn’t wait to find out what she had in mind.
Chapter 74
Beatrice
There were few things in life I hated more than council meetings. I’d done my best to avoid having any involvement with the Council of Witches. I even sent their event emails to the junk folder in an email account I rarely checked. My phone number wasn’t listed with the council, and I’d failed to change my address with them when I’d moved in with Persephone. Had Lucifer not been summoned by the council, I might not have known they wanted to see me. Even knowing I could get in trouble for failing to appear when summoned, I still might skip the meeting if Lucifer wasn’t going with me. The last meeting I’d attended had been to question me about my brother. It hadn’t been a pleasant experience, and it had reminded me why I didn’t fit in among the other witches.
“You look like you’re being sent to your execution,” Lucifer remarked as he regarded me from the driver’s seat of his sleek black SUV. I had no clue what kind of SUV it was. I’d never seen one like it before I’d borrowed it.
“What make and model is this thing?” I asked, patting the dashboard.
“It was designed especially for me,” he replied. “I’m not sure they named it. Does your attempt to change the subject mean you don’t want to talk about this meeting?”
“I hate these things,” I grumbled. “It will be longer than it needs to be, and people will be rude to me.”
“They will not be rude to you,” he ground out.
I considered his words before responding. “You’re probably right. No one would dare be rude to me with you by my side.”
“Let’s get this over with,” he suggested.
“Fine,” I grumbled. “Let’s go waste the rest of our afternoon on stupid witch business.”
The Council of Witches had their local offices in Bishop Ranch. The compound also housed the witch training, testing, and licensing offices. One wing was devoted to medical care, where they also treated other members of the preternatural community. Tha
t section was only accessible from outside the grounds for security reasons. They didn’t want injured werewolves wandering around secure witch areas.
We were rushed through security surprisingly quickly. Last time, I’d had to wait over twenty minutes to enter because my witch identification had expired. Why that mattered, I had no clue. My picture still looked like me, and my information was in the computer. The need to renew our witch ID every decade had never made sense to me. We age incredibly slowly. I won’t look much different a hundred years from now.
“The warlocks at the front looked like they were going to pee their pants,” I said around a giggle.
“Yet another thing I can do for you,” he began with a grin. “I’m able to make trips to your witch compound more entertaining.”
“I’m surprised you don’t have an elevator that opens up somewhere in here,” I remarked as we stepped into an elevator. Several others were waiting, but no one joined us.
“I wanted one put in here,” he explained. “Your council didn’t like the idea. I hadn’t expected to use it myself, but I thought it would be convenient when Rainer or Xavier need to be here. They always get summoned at the most inconvenient times.”
“The council lives to inconvenience others,” I added. “I guess it makes sense that they wouldn’t want you to have a way to bypass their security.”
“I suggested putting it outside the secure area,” he added as we stepped out on the fourth floor.
“Then it was all about inconveniencing people,” I muttered.
“And esthetics,” he explained. “They thought it would look out of place.”
“The meeting room is just up ahead,” I told him. It was one of the larger meeting rooms, meaning they expected a big turnout. With Lucifer’s last-minute change of time, I doubted many would show up, but I could be wrong.
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