by Rae Foxx
"No Fallen would attack us," Luc said with conviction. "They're loyal, every last one of them."
Any other day I would've agreed with him. But too much strange shit had happened in the last few weeks. I didn't believe anything anymore.
"Let's continue," I said. "But be very wary."
The jungle foliage grew thicker and thicker as we moved. "Are you sure we're going in the right direction?" Gabe asked. "Not that I doubt you, but this is kinda nuts." He shot a blast of air in a sharp chopping motion to move a few vines full of leaves out of the faint path.
Between Luc, Michael, and Gabe, they made sure Mary and I had a fairly easy walk through the jungle, albeit very hot.
"Hang on," Mary whispered. "I feel it again."
We were in a small clearing, and I'd just noticed the most beautiful bird watching us. It’s captivating stare and dark presence locked me in place.
It watched a bit too closely. "Bird," I whispered. I was sure it was a demon, but it was odd, because I couldn't see its true form, and I always could before.
Suddenly, it spread its wings and launched into the air. I prepared to blast it with power when something slammed into my chest. I fell backward into Mary and we both tumbled into the ground.
Luc reached me first and grabbed the creature from my chest before I could react. If Mary hadn't been behind me, I could've tucked and rolled so as not to hit the ground like that, but we were a tangled heap of limbs.
I didn't see the creature clearly before Luc ripped its head off. I did see its black blood coming straight for my face, though. Lifting my hands, I shot hellfire out. It caught the blood and burned it up before it had a chance to reach me and Mary. Ugh.
"Gross," Mary whispered.
I hopped up and grabbed her hand. "Agreed. Was it the bird?"
"No," Michael said. "The bird was a lucky distraction for the demon."
"Come on." I pushed forward, irritated by the delays. "Do you think he's doing this on purpose?" I asked.
Mary shook her head. "No. Cecilio is a Brujo Blanco. He doesn't consort with demons. Doing this for you goes against his nature, and he will likely have to make amends to the magic, but he recognizes the necessity."
We continued forward again, but the farther we went, the thicker the air became. Breathing became more difficult and soon I realized we were at the mercy of a spell, not the natural weather patterns.
When I knew what to fight, it got easier because I waved my hand and created a bubble of clear air around us. The pressure dissipated.
"I think that spell was designed so we didn't feel it until it already had us pretty bogged down," Michael said. "Clever."
I nodded and we pressed on. We finally found the Brujo's house, but not before having to kill three more demons that attacked us viciously, if unsuccessfully. They were no match for even one of us unless they surprised us as the first one had.
None did. We were ready for them.
After about an hour of walking, we broke out into a clearing with a beautiful stone home built around a massive tree.
"Whoa," I whispered.
Mary's jaw dropped. "Whoa is right."
"This is the home of the witch?" Gabriel asked. "It's something out of a storybook."
The home was several stories high. It was difficult to tell how many because they weren't level. They were held up with stairs that ran the wrong way, all stone, and arches with intricate designs at the top.
There was no discernable way the bottom of the home held up the top and sides. "It sort of makes me dizzy," Lucifer said. "I love it."
The wooden front door opened, and a slender man with a wizened face stepped through the large archway. He wore jeans and an old t-shirt that said World's Fair 1982. "Good. You survived the journey in. Let's get started."
8
As we neared the building, I focused on the Brujo's aura and found it nearly as pure as Mary's. It was a soft green as if he had a deep connection with the earth and nature magic. He was intrinsically good, as Mary had described. He narrowed his eyes but sighed and stepped aside. "Come in, come in."
We filed in after Mary and looked around with wide eyes. The interior was as mysterious as the outside. It was simultaneously homey and threatening. "Did the demons give you much trouble?" His accent gave his voice a musical quality. Or maybe it was the magic in the air. It was hard to tell.
"A bit," Mary said. "We are in your debt for your assistance."
"Well, when we send los demonios back to infierno, it will be worth it, will it not?"
We all chuckled. "It will, indeed," Luc said. He stepped forward and held out his hand. "I will not forget your help, Blanco."
I didn't speak much Spanish, so I wasn't sure if calling Cecilio Blanco was appropriate, but he seemed to accept it. Cecilio looked Lucifer up and down. "You are he?"
Luc nodded. "Don't believe half of what you've heard about me."
Cecilio grunted. "I see your aura. I know what and who you are."
My mouth dropped, but I stayed silent. I wanted to see what else he had to say. But I was shocked because I'd never heard of anyone but me being able to read Luc's aura. No other angel could, as far as I knew. Certainly none of the demons.
I squinted at Cecilio and read his aura more closely. Damn, he was a good man. I couldn't find any evidence of malice or hatred in him. And very powerful.
If I wasn't mistaken, he was an offspring of a Nephilim. Not a descendant. A son.
"Who are your parents?" I asked before I stopped myself.
He whirled around and looked closely at me for the first time. He blinked and studied me as hard as I did him. "You're an interesting one," he murmured.
Then, he seemed to snap out of it. "My parents are none of your concern, Queen." He kept his voice respectful, and while he didn't bow, his chin inclined ever so slightly in acknowledgment of my position. That was surprising. It was difficult to read my own aura, and I didn't do it often. I wondered what he saw.
"I have everything set up here. I've adjusted a spell to capture powers from another and bind them to work oppositely. If it doesn't work, there is little danger to you. You can't lose your powers twice, and you should be hard to kill, are you not?" He raised his eyebrows as he opened a small stone arched door. This one had several stairs behind it. We climbed the stairs and came out on a balcony under the trees. I looked around, and though we hadn't walked far from the front door, I would've sworn this balcony hadn't been visible from the front, where we'd arrived.
Yet, based on where we'd walked, it should've been.
This house was a total trip.
A wrought iron table in the middle of the balcony held implements for spell casting.
"Now, I'm going to have to ask all of you to help," he said. "There's a considerable amount of power in this room and we should be able to use it to rip the power from whoever took it."
"We know who took it, if that helps," Gabe said. He peered down at the ingredients on the table. I smiled at his curiosity. His blond hair fell from behind his ears and blocked his face.
"No, the power will find its way home from the link to Lucifer, if I'm not mistaken," he said. "Now. The old stories about more power at a certain time of day are a bunch of mitos y leyendas."
I had no idea what that meant. Michael saw the confusion on my face. "Myths and legends," he whispered.
Cecilio chuckled. "Yes. Magic is magic and power is power. There are some truths to locations lending more magic. My home is built on an ancient ley line. This was the site of the Fall."
Lucifer started and looked around. His jaw dropped. "Are you sure?"
Cecilio's eyebrows raised. "You don't remember?"
Luc shook his head. "No. It was a very confusing time. I blinked around the Earth several times before gathering my bearings and creating Abaddon. I never knew the exact spot."
"It is here. Below this table. Under this balcony, the spot is carefully preserved. Magical energy pours from the location like a small spring
of the freshest, clearest water. I built the balcony over it to be able to tap into the power and as a protection for the sacred spot."
I'd had no idea, either. It had been a tumultuous time, and Luc and I had gotten separated quickly. We found each other, but not here. "If it's the spot of the creation of Fallen angels, how is it a source of magic for you, a White Witch?" I asked.
"Magic is not white or black," Mary interceded. "Magic is magic. How it is used, the intent of the spell, that is what matters. Cecilio is a White Witch because of his intentions, not because of his magic."
I nodded. I'd known all that, of course. But the way humans used magic was a far cry different from how we did. They borrowed it, wrangled it. The Nephilim descendants had inherent power, some more than others. But much of the magic they used came from their surroundings.
"Join hands. Open yourselves up to me." He took Lucifer and stood him in the center of the circle, near the small table. "Lucifer, you must be as open and accommodating as you can be. Do not fight me. I will not violate your mind. I only need to tap into the part of you that should contain your magic."
Luc took in a deep, shaky breath, but he nodded. "Okay, let's do it."
We closed the circle around my first husband. He looked at me with worried eyes, but I gave him a reassuring smile. He was so rarely vulnerable. "It's okay," I whispered.
"Cállate," Cecilio said with closed eyes. I didn't know what it meant, but his intention was clear. He wanted me to shut my mouth.
I winked at Luc and closed my eyes, focusing on letting myself be open to having my magic used. Cecilio came through and grabbed hold gently, taking my magic like it was a flower to be plucked and smelled. His light touch made it easy to give up control.
I heard him moving around, mixing ingredients and lighting them, but kept my eyes closed and my focus on my power and letting it flow to him. It had to be hard for him to manipulate this much power. He wasn't using even a fraction of my full potential, but the son of Nephilim he might've been, he was still part human. They couldn't hold much, and he had Michael and Gabriel's as well. And Mary. And his own.
"Drink this," he said. I cracked my eyes to peek at Lucifer drinking from a chalice. He grimaced and made a hissing sound. It must've tasted horrible. I refocused my attention on the magic and flow of energy.
Screams and yells, low guttural grunts, and insane babbling pulled me from my focus. Without warning, the woods around the property exploded with demons. I threw up a ward as fast as I could and only a few made it to the house. "I warded us!" I yelled over the cacophony.
Michael and Gabriel dispatched the few demons racing toward the balcony easily enough, but more and more began to pound against the ward I'd thrown up. It wasn't difficult to keep them out, not as it had been in Abaddon. "What happened?" I yelled.
"Something went wrong with the spell," Luc said.
"Instead of calling your powers, we called your demons!" Cecilio looked at the animalistic and humanoid demons throwing themselves against my ward with wide eyes. "What do we do?"
I grinned. "What we do best."
Lucifer sighed and walked to the balcony fence. He leaned against it. "I wish I could help."
"If you could help," I said as I began throwing balls of energy at the crowd. "We could send them all back and lock them in."
He sighed and watched forlornly as Michael, Gabriel, and I destroyed whole groups of demons at once.
But something changed. The goblet on the table clattered to the floor. I whirled to see what the noise was and found Mary and Cecilio staring at it with shocked eyes. "Who did that?" I asked.
They both shook their heads. "Nobody," Luc said. "It fell on it—" He stopped talking and grabbed his throat. "Luc!" I screamed.
It was all I could do to keep up the ward as I rushed to Lucifer's side. Fear threatened to make me give up the attempt at keeping the demons at bay. "Don't let go of that ward, Lilith!" Michael said. "You're the best one at making them!"
“Cecilio is good too,” I quipped back.
"I'm good, but I need to figure out how to fix him," Cecilio said. He and Mary knelt beside me and put their hands on Luc. I put my palm to his head and ignored the demons, focusing only on saving him and keeping the ward up.
"He's being drained," I said. "The spell. You've got to break it."
Cecilio shook his head. "It's not that easy. It's designed to run its course. When the liquid in the goblet is done inside him, the spell will be done. That's all we can do. We wait."
"There has to be something more," I said. "A reversal."
He shook his head. "All we can do is wait."
I split my power and shoved it into Lucifer. "Use this," I urged, but he was unconscious. Every few minutes, his body would twitch or jerk and make me want to scream in frustration.
"How's it going with the demons?" Cecilio called to Michael and Gabriel.
"They're not getting through, but it's like more and more are being called," Gabe said. "For every one we kill, three more appear."
"At least this will help pull some of them from the rest of the world," I muttered. "We can't even call the angels to help because of all your wards."
Cecilio grimaced. "This is why I usually refuse to interfere with the workings of angels."
"Call your dad," I said. "Or mom. Whichever is the angel. Can they get in here easily?"
Cecilio shot me a dark look and Mary tsked at me. "No," Cecilio said. "They have a harder time than most.”
If I wasn't terrified this could kill Lucifer while he was already vulnerable with his magic, I would've been very interested to know who his parents were. But it wasn't important. Not now.
Luc gasped again, and I renewed my efforts to save him. He was still being tugged on somehow like something was eating at his life force.
And he burned from within. His skin was nearly too hot to touch. Of course, I ignored it, but a human would've been scalded. I was amazed to see Mary and Cecilio still touching him.
As fast as it began, it all stopped. The sounds of the demons quieted. I looked up at Michael and Gabriel. They were still shooting energy and magic toward the ward, but it wasn't so hard to hold it up. "Did you guys get most of them?"
"They've stopped coming," Gabe said. "The ones that were there are still trying, but there aren't new ones."
Lucifer stopped twitching, and the force killing him lessened a little bit. "I think it's burning out," Cecilio said. "This is good."
I felt it as well. Soon Lucifer changed from being unconscious to being asleep. The distinction was important. Asleep, he could heal. He was incredibly drained, though. I did what I could to give him a boost so he'd heal faster, then stood to see if I could help Michael and Gabriel.
The demons had stopped throwing themselves against my ward. As I watched, they backed away and melted into the jungle surrounding the house.
And then it was over. Except for my sleeping husband on the ground, everything seemed normal again.
"Let's get him inside," Cecilio said. "He can rest here for a while, and I'll try to figure out what went wrong."
Michael and Gabriel lifted Luc. They could've done it with magic, but I liked that they carried him themselves. It showed they cared.
"We can take him home," I said.
"No," Cecilio said. "Of course, you can if you'd like, but I recommend you let me keep him here and watch over him. You can stay too; I have plenty of bedrooms."
I exchanged a glance with Michael and Gabriel. "Okay, thank you. We appreciate the hospitality."
9
Cecilio led us back inside and through a labyrinth of rooms. I was glad I wasn't the one having to carry Lucifer. It took a while to get to our destination.
"Here you go," he said. "I understand the four of you are some sort of couple?" He arched one eyebrow, but that was the only judgment he gave.
I nodded. "It would be nice to be close to one another," I said.
"Well, that's why I brought you here. You'll find
it clean and stocked with linens. You can bathe or sleep, and there are two different bed chambers if you'd like to sleep separately."
He opened yet another arched stone door and stepped aside for us to enter. "Whoa," I breathed. The room was gorgeous. It had a skylight in the middle to provide light, and the jungle trees were visible through it. As we stood there, a monkey swung overhead, from one tree to another.
This place was paradise. "Thank you so much," Gabriel said. "We will find you if we need anything."
Cecilio nodded. "He should be fine." He touched Lucifer's head again. "He needs rest."
Mary put her hand on Lucifer's arm and a few seconds later nodded. "I agree. Let him sleep."
"Come, Mary," Cecilio said. "I have private quarters for you."
They left, and their voices carried down the hall as they walked away, bouncing off the stone walls.
I shut the door and turned to look around the room again. Three doors led off the sitting area. I checked the first while Gabe and Michael held Luc and waited. "Bathroom," I said.
And what a bathroom it was. An enormous tub set in the ground with spigots all around it for a bath or shower. I'd be taking advantage of that later. We needed to stay the night here and might as well take advantage of the amenities. They were certainly unexpected. It had a skylight, as well, so that one could lounge in the tub and watch the trees and sky above.
The other two doors were matching bedrooms with large beds. "Here," I called. "Put him in either room." The bed frames looked like they'd been grown from the jungle and transported into the bedrooms. I wasn't sure that they weren't still alive. They had branches for posts and actual leaves jutted out over the mattresses. Studying them, I was fairly sure they were living trees.
So cool.
They carried him to one of the beds and laid him where I pulled back the blankets, then Gabe stifled a yawn. "Bed looks comfy."
"You two go have a shower if you want one. I'm going to tuck him in and delve him as deeply and thoroughly as I can, then I'm having a bath. I'll be in the other room after that."