by Lisa Olsen
“What if I tried to get Hecate to open the portal up here and we could try to fly through it?” I suggested, those caves looked awfully far away.
“No good. We have to add more blood to the ring, remember? No, it’s best to find a way to do it on solid ground. It’s hard enough to swing the portal anyway.”
“There Mistress, I see one,” Nelo pointed, holding fast to me with his other arm.
“I see it. I hope it’s big enough to hold all of us,” I replied, following Adam’s lead, tucking my wings closer to my body to shoot through the air fast enough to make my head spin. Trusting in my instincts to keep me alive, I focused on the small dark opening, not wanting to think about bugs on a windshield, should I miss my mark.
To my great relief, once I unfurled my wings again, it was easy to slow with plenty of time to sail through the opening, the tips of my wings brushing against the cave mouth. Adam was quick to join me, immediately turning to look back at the cloud of demons hot in pursuit.
“We don’t have very long, let’s get this show on the road,” he muttered, unceremoniously dumping Ben in a heap on the ground and digging into his pocket for the little vial of virgin’s blood. Keeping Nelo tucked against me, I pried open the jeweled cap of the ring, trying to hold my hand steady for him to pour it, my eyes on the horizon. Blood dripped over my fingers as there wasn’t time for finesse, but the ring didn’t seem to mind; the stone turning once more from green to ruby red at the addition. The ambient light at the mouth of the cave faded as the demons approached, blocking the view of Midian’s purple suns.
“Goddess Hecate, please, please open the gate to get back home. We need you now more than ever.” The tingling in my hand increased, but no red sparks came. Adam grabbed my hand, mingling his fingers in the spilled blood.
“Hecate, I implore you, open the gate. You wouldn’t want to see us die, would you?” he laughed nervously, eyes on the skies, heavy with the beating of a thousand dark wings.
“Hecate please! I beg of you. I’ll do anything you say, just open the gate!” I yelled to be heard over the growing din of the demon army, their unearthly shrieks splitting my ears. At once, the crack of red lightning appeared, splitting the air into a jagged tear, Sam’s living room visible on the other side.
“Let’s go!” Adam shoved me towards the gate, grabbing up Ben and diving through as the first winged creatures reached the mouth of the cave. I rolled out of the way as soon as I hit the other side, making room for Adam and Ben who came tumbling after me. The portal snapped closed with an impressive crack of lightning, made more so by the fact that it neatly severed a screeching demon in half.
Even half a demon was scary though, its clawed hands scrabbling against the hardwood floor as it dragged its torso in my direction, trailing black, goopy ichor in its wake. Fast as lighting, Adam towered above it, neatly lopping of its head and staking it to the floor through the heart. I fell back against the side of the wall, clutching Nelo to me as I fought to catch my breath, waiting to see what else popped out at us next.
“What did you do?” Adam whirled to face me, his face livid, and I recoiled from the fury there.
“What do you mean? I got the portal open.”
“You promised her you’d do anything she wanted. You don’t promise a capricious goddess like Hecate something open ended like that. What the hell is the matter with you?” he demanded.
“I didn’t know what else to do. I made a split second decision and I don’t regret it. We’re still alive, aren’t we?”
“I told you something like this would happen,” Adam glowered, pacing the length of the room like a caged animal.
Did I say I wanted to hear his I told you so’s before? I must have been delirious from the fall. “Something like this?” I kicked at the demon’s head which made a squishing noise against the floor. “Or like this?” I rustled my wings, giving them a little shake as I wondered how to tuck them away again.
“Don’t do that with me. You know perfectly well what I’m talking about. I told you we shouldn’t have split up. I could have handled those bozos quickly and quietly, and we could have left with no one being the wiser. But no, you had to go all independent on me and look what happened!”
“But we’re fine, we made it. You’re okay, aren’t you, Nelo?” I asked the little guy, who still huddled close to my body. Nelo nodded slowly, and I set him down on his own two feet where he stared up at my wings in wonder. “I know, right?” I grinned at him, more than a little taken with them myself. Did I qualify as an actual angel now? And how come they were white when his were black? The look on Adam’s face kept me from asking. Besides, he probably had no idea either.
“I’m perfectly fine,” Azazael called out cheerfully, still thankfully bound to Ben’s body.
“You could have died,” Adam maintained, ignoring Azazael and the glory that was my wings equally.
“But I’m fine,” I stepped into his path, reaching for his hands. “Better than fine even. We won. We got Ben out, and now we can finally put things right.”
“And what makes you think Raum won’t send his army into the world to pay us back for that?”
That brought me up short. “He wouldn’t… can he do something like that?” Somehow that seemed against the rules. Otherwise, why weren’t there demons walking around openly all the time? The only ones I’d seen were the ones who could pass for human.
“He’s not supposed to, but he’s done it before. Granted, it’s been about three thousand years since he allowed a full scale incursion, but I’d say we’re about due,” Adam replied sourly, going back to pacing again.
“But God won’t let that happen, will he? He’ll have to respond if Raum breaches the rules so badly.”
“He will.” Adam’s jaw tightened, his expression bleak. “His armies will fill the skies to re-establish the balance between good and evil. And when that happens… God save us all.”
“That’s being a bit pessimistic, don’t you think?” Azazael snorted, trying to push himself up to a standing position awkwardly. “Raum won’t risk out and out war, he knows he’s outmatched. Unless Lucifer throws in with his lot and we all know that won’t happen.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure of that. Lucifer knows an opportunity when he sees one. He might very well pledge his support to Raum and use the diversion to try and get back into Heaven. Or take a larger slice of the pie up here, you never can tell what his agenda is,” Adam pointed out.
“Lucifer?” My eyes widened a little, I’d forgotten about him, but here they were, talking about him as if he was a real person. Of course they’d both know him, they were brothers of sorts. “We have to worry about him too?” I sat down on the arm of one of Sam’s easy chairs, the strength suddenly going out of my legs as the adrenaline wore off.
“Mercy?” Adam immediately sank to his knees before me, worried as he searched my face. “Are you alright?”
“Do you really think I started a war?” I whispered, hating the tremor in my voice.
“No,” he blew it off as if we hadn’t been talking about that very thing only moments before, his voice soothing. “It’s not that big of a deal. You’re right, Raum’s too smart to risk an all out war.”
“But he will attempt retribution, you can be certain of that,” Azazael added, smiling to himself once he’d gained his feet, only to topple over again when Adam kicked him squarely in the chest.
“Hey! Don’t do that to Ben,” I scowled. “Besides, he’s right. Raum will definitely come after us again, your deal with him has got to be null and void after this. Oh, poor Raziel… I hope he doesn’t take it out on him! Maybe we should…”
“Not a chance,” Adam thundered. “We are not going back there, I don’t care if they’ve got Mother Theresa, Ghandi and Justin Bieber strung up by their thumbs. We’re staying out of Midian. Period.”
“That sounds like the beginning of a great joke,” Azazael cackled to himself.
“You are the only joke we have to con
cern ourselves with here,” Adam muttered, leaving me to loom over Ben’s body. “Are you going to cooperate until we get the witches here, or do I have to render you unconscious again?” his eyes glittered dangerously.
“I’m fairly certain you’ll want me in full possession of my faculties for the procedure,” Azazael responded sullenly.
“That’s a chance I’m willing to take. I can always heal you in a pinch if necessary, but I’m more than happy to knock you out until then if need be.”
“Mercy, are you going to let him bully me in this fashion?” he pouted and I hauled myself to my feet, the shakes having thankfully passed.
“After everything you’ve done? Be thankful he doesn’t turn you over to me,” I laughed. “I think we’d better get a move on though, the solstice is coming up fast. I’ll give the witches a call, Adam, you get Sam back here. Nelo, do you think you could do something about that?” I nodded in the direction of the still oozing demon corpse. The smell was starting to turn my stomach. With some hard work and a little luck, we’d have Ben back and in shape to return to work before the week was out.
“Ah, Mercy? Before you get anybody over here, you’d better do something about those,” Adam gestured over my shoulders to the white wings that still hung down my back.
“Oh, right. Anybody know how to put these things away?”
“I’d be more than happy to show you,” Azazael popped up, only to get the threat of a backhand from Adam.
“I’ve got this one,” Adam tugged me away from him, Nelo already scurrying to find something to get rid of the demon’s body with. “The wings are a natural extension of you, even more than the sword is, you just need practice to make them come and go whenever you need them to.” He started to unbutton his shirt, more for the excuse to show off than for any real need, I suspected. Once his torso was bare, he turned to show me his back, and I watched in fascination as his glossy, dark wings sprouted and retracted a few times.
“I still don’t get how it works with the clothes,” I murmured, but a quick check showed there were no holes in his shirt.
“Call it a divine gift. Maybe the Big Guy didn’t want to get stuck with a lot of repair bills, who knows. All I know is, it works, so why question it?” he shrugged. “Now you try it.”
That was easier said than done though, I was still getting used to the idea that I could move the suckers on my own. I spent a few moments doing just that, extending them and tucking them close to my body, enjoying the soft rush of air at the movement.
“Anytime you’re done playing…” he prompted, and I closed my eyes, trying to shut him out so I could concentrate. Focusing on the pull of the new muscles in my back, I felt my way through the process of tucking them away. In a rush of air, the weight of the wings was gone, and popping my eyes open, I was both pleased and saddened to find them gone.
“I did it!” I grinned, reaching back to assure myself there were no holes in my clothes either. But could I bring them back? Short of tossing myself out a window, I wasn’t sure how else to provoke the reaction, but the instant I tried to extend the wings again they unfurled in a snowy drape of feathers. “That’s gotta come in handy,” I murmured, extending and retracting them a few times, to satisfy myself with how quickly I could do it.
“Great, now you’ve got a new hobby. Hey, remind me to try this again with you in the bedroom, I’m thinking we could work out a really interesting striptease…”
I knew Adam was trying to get a rise out of me, and instead of giving him that satisfaction, I extended my wings once more, drawing them around me protectively, almost coquettishly to obscure half my face like a lady with a fan. “We might have to do that…” I lowered my voice seductively, gratified to see him swallow in surprise.
Azazael let out a low whistle. “Lord help us all.”
*
Parker showed up with Luz about a half an hour later to get a feel for the place, and I could tell something was wrong the instant she stepped over the threshold.
“We can’t do the ritual here, this is all wrong,” Luz frowned, sniffing the air delicately.
“Well, this is where it’s gonna go down, so you’d better get used to it, sweetheart,” Adam drawled, not bothering to look up from the book spread open on his lap.
Luz barely spared him a glance, her heels clicking against the hard floor as she pointed to a dark smudge on the wood. “This is demon’s blood, no?”
“Ah, actually yes, it is.” How could she possibly tell that?
“We need the entire area to be completely free of all negative influences if you don’t want to wind up in deeper shit than you’re already in.”
“That leaves me out,” Azazael muttered from his corner of the room and Luz clicked over to study him carefully.
“Oh no, honey, you gonna be right up close and personal to the main attraction,” her lips curved into a sweet smile.
“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather not,” he shifted his seat a little, craning his neck to look up at her. “My God, but you’re stunning… I don’t suppose you’d fancy a change of sides? We could have a good time together, you and I.” Azazael’s charming smile was slightly marred by the growing bruise on the side of his borrowed face.
“Sorry, I don’t do cowards who steal other’s bodies to do their dirty work. I only like one man inside of me at a time,” her lips twisted into a wry grin. “Don’t worry, we gonna take good care of you, keep you safe for a long, long time.” Luz patted his cheek firmly.
“Isn’t she something?” Parker whispered by my side, and I realized I’d almost forgotten he was there.
“Yeah, I’m glad she’s on our side,” I agreed wholeheartedly. “So, um… back to the binding ritual. Isn’t there some way to purify the room? We have some time, right? The solstice isn’t for two days.”
“No, mira, it would take too much time for something like that. It’s not as simple as scrubbing the room down with bleach and burning some sage. We’ll have to work to purify any room we use, it’s better if we can start with less evil seeped into the bones.”
“What about the club?” Parker offered. “I’ve got plenty of space, and I can shut it down for one night, no big deal.”
“That’s really sweet of you to offer, but I don’t think that’s the best idea. It’s kinda public, and if something goes wrong…” I shook my head. “Besides, we need a place not too far from here. We’ll need to transport Ben wherever it is, and not only the cops are looking for him, but Raum’s thugs too.”
“I can handle the transport, no one will see a thing,” Adam replied confidently. “She’s right though, somewhere a little more private would be best. What about your place?”
“My place,” I repeated, not entirely happy with the notion, but it made sense. “We can do that. How much room do you need?”
“Enough to form a circle, and we’ll want cleared floor space just in case.”
I didn’t like the sound of that ‘just in case’, but I was well familiar with it lately. “Alright, how about we go back to my place then and you can check it out, see if it’ll work for your purposes, and if not, we’ll have to think of somewhere else. Adam, are you okay to stay here with… him?” I jerked my thumb towards Ben/Azazael.
“Yeah, I’m good. There are a few things I wanted to check on, so I’ll keep myself out of trouble.”
I considered asking him what he was looking through Sam’s old books for, but I had the feeling he might not tell me, and I didn’t want to risk that embarrassment in front of Parker and Luz. “I’ll call you later then and let you know where we’re having it for sure.”
“Remember, you owe me a striptease later,” his eyes flashed playfully.
“How could I forget?”
Chapter Sixteen
I have always considered myself to be a fairly open minded individual. Still, if you’d told me a year before that I’d be entertaining a room full of witches, I’d probably have laughed my ass off. Parker and Daphne were on ha
nd to help move furniture out of the way and generally help me keep my nerves under control as they arrived.
Sam was conspicuously absent, he wanted nothing to do with the ‘dark arts’, as expected. Nelo stayed tucked away out of sight as well, even though it was full on dark outside, not wanting to make himself known to so many humans with power.
In preparation, Luz had been burning sage to help purify the room, and drew an intricate circle on the floor using knotted string, with a smaller circle inside of it, large enough for one person. She could have drawn it with chalk if I didn’t have carpet, she explained, but the protection circle was necessary to keep Azazael trapped when they forced him out of Ben. My breakfast bar looked like a curio shop exploded all over it, literally covered with little bottles and jars of herbs and oils, candles, and incongruously, a pink plastic jewelry case.
There were seven witches in all, including Luz, obviously friendly with each other for the most part and I had to wonder if they were part of a witchy club. Did they regularly meet for potions and cookies? Was it business as usual for them, or was my fallen angel problem a rarity in the supernatural community?
I recognized the blonde from the pagan shop Daphne and I visited. What was her name…? Summer. Feeling a little guilty for having frozen her in the shop that day, I avoided all eye contact with her, and she seemed inclined to ignore me as well, looking away the one time our eyes inadvertently met. Daphne was less restrained, chatting easily with a few of them while Parker flirted with Luz.
I don’t think I’d ever felt more uncomfortable in my own apartment. Even Mimsy disappeared for parts unknown, possibly hiding under the bed, or in the closet for all I knew. For a brief moment, I wished I could join them until it was all over. All we needed was the guest of honor, but Adam hadn’t shown up with Ben yet.
A knock sounded at the door, and I let out a long sigh of relief when it immediately opened, expecting to see Adam with Ben slung over his shoulder. Instead, a familiar voice turned my insides to ice. “Hello? Merceline? I’m here, baby.”