Chapter 3
CHAPTER THREE
Anal analogies for every occasion.
Ihanded the angel of death a can of cold soda and raised a brow at my uncle in question.
“Do you have peppermint tea?”
Will wonders never cease?
The two archangels tracked my movements while I prepared Lucifer’s tea and grabbed a glass of orange juice for myself. They eyed my wings, but neither of them were brave enough to comment.
My back ached as I perched on the sofa. Bella slunk between Abbadon’s legs and launched herself onto Lucifer’s lap, kneading it before settling with a contented purr.
Abbadon sighed. “Update us on what happened.”
The angel of death wasn’t big on manners or pleasantries. “Donn took me to his home, and we discussed Eloise.”
“We couldn’t locate you,” Lucifer noted.
“How unfortunate that you couldn’t control me for an hour.”
Abbadon’s brow pinched. “Don’t deflect what is important for emotional outbursts. I brought you up better than that.”
I snorted. “You didn’t bring me up at all.
” He opened his mouth, and I slashed my hand through the air, causing the words to die on his tongue.
“I don’t have time to list all the reasons an absent father affected me.
Why are you here?” Abaddon’s lips pressed together, but he resisted needling me further.
“His lair must be on a different plane,” Lucifer concluded.
“I agree, but we didn’t discuss that,” I told them.
“You must have made a deal,” Abaddon said.
“One you aren’t privy to.”
“Don’t play this game, daughter.”
I lifted my arms in the air, and my giant wings shuddered, following the motion. “But it’s acceptable when you bend the truth? Double standards, Father.”
Abaddon leaned forward, and his nostrils flared as his gaze dropped to my hand. “You sealed something in blood.”
I fought the urge to tuck it behind my back. “I did what I needed to escape and return to what is important—this war. I don’t have time for the petty drama occurring in Heaven and Hell, so unless you are here to help, Ieave.”
“Your grandfather is concerned,” Abaddon declared.
My spine snapped straight at the mention of God. “Is he lending us the weight of his angelic army?”
Abaddon shook his head. “No, the rules of the universe still hold. We can’t interfere on that scale. The free will afforded mankind is what holds the fabric of your world together. Unpicking a thread here and there would unravel centuries of history.”
“Then I repeat, why are you here?”
“I have no such restrictions,” Lucifer interjected.
I scoffed. “An army of demons? The sheer power it would take to make them a reality on Earth is unfathomable.”
Lucifer grinned, all teeth. It was unsettling to have the devil smiling at you. “I don’t need an army.”
“You’ve already tried murdering my grandmother and failed.”
“Which brings us full circle. Did you convince Donn to remove his power from Eloise?”
“Yes.” Careful, Cora. “But it will happen little by little. I suggest you keep testing until you are successful.”
Lucifer tilted his head. “That’s a poor strategy. Every time I attempt it, I reveal and then close off another way of accessing her. We need to save it for when she’s weak.”
“Don’t mistake Eloise Roberts for a weak elemental when stripped of her god power,” I pointed out. “It will be your downfall.”
“Indeed, the manipulator of a blood curse strengthened in each generation is to be respected,” Abaddon muttered.
The Roberts’ curse. It isn’t the sort of thing that fizzles with a quick spell—it digs in its claws and keeps on taking.
It started with Helen, the powerful woman who fell for a liar already claimed by two wives.
Fearing her wrath, he tried to leave them for Helen, but they banded together and struck back.
They cursed a pregnant Helen so that every Roberts woman who truly gave her heart away would be bound to the will of the man she loved.
If he chose, he could strip her of every ounce of power.
Louise, Helen’s daughter, fell for Eric, a cruel man, and he drained her dry while she carried his child.
As a result, the baby, Eunice, was born powerless.
So Eunice spent her life trying to undo the curse.
She never succeeded in breaking it, but she managed to twist it.
She found the strongest elemental she could, used his life force to create a child—my grandmother—and when that baby drew her first breath, he breathed his last.
That little “fix” bound the curse even tighter. Now, in every generation, the firstborn Roberts daughter inherits both the burden and the reversed curse running in her blood. I’m the firstborn.
The mating bond with Hudson is different than if I’d fallen for an elemental. A shifter bond wouldn’t allow him to hurt me or me hurt him, but it did, however, make him act stupidly.
I twisted my hand over and stared at the wound. What ramifications would it have with an ancient god? Could I use it? The more pertinent question was, if Eloise had made blood pacts with Donn, could we use that to destroy her?
I squeezed my fist and lifted my head, meeting the curious gazes of my father and uncle. I needed time and a visit to the vaults. Alone.
“Is there anything else I can help you with? I have a war to prevent.”
Lucifer’s lips twitched. It seemed my uncle was amused by my problems. “The war is already here,” he replied.
“Every hour that goes by, the more souls are torn from their rest to walk the earth,” Abaddon added.
The remnants were poltergeist equivalents, but not sentient in the way Harry was.
“That they are coming from the realms you are responsible for makes it your problem.”
Lucifer shook his head while stroking Bella, who was glaring at me. “The moment they walk the earth, they are part of the laws laid down by Father.”
“Then stop letting them escape,” I snapped. “I can only fight this on so many fronts.”
Lucifer pointed at me. “I’m already bending the rules by recruiting more reapers to drag mine back to Hell.”
I blinked. “What?”
He grimaced as if he’d said too much. I’d never even met a reaper.
“The veil cannot fall, Cora,” Abaddon said.
Ice skittered down my spine. “I’m aware.”
“The more souls that wander the earth, the weaker it becomes,” my father said.
“If that happens, remnants will be the least of our problems,” Lucifer muttered.
Abaddon glared at him, and I stiffened as they conducted an entire silent conversation in the space of a few heartbeats.
“What does that mean?” I asked.
Lucifer swung his gaze to me. “There are many things in the veil that have no business on earth.”
I threw my hands up in the air. “The time for cryptic warnings has passed. I need to know what the stakes are.”
“The stakes? Armageddon. Complete annihilation of the human race.”
I sank back against the sofa. It didn’t get any worse than that.
“More souls for me,” Indigo mused.
I pinched the bridge of my nose. I couldn’t deal with my soul-sucking split personality right now.
“So now you know the stakes, tell me, niece, what deal did you make?” Lucifer drawled.
“Nothing that affects the veil. All you need to know is I’m working on weakening Eloise.”
“I don’t like it,” Abaddon grumbled. “I don’t trust him.”
I snorted and folded my arms. “Don’t pretend to have parental concern for me now. You’re a few decades and school reports too short.”
Abaddon sipped his soda but had no comeback against the facts.
Lucifer opened his mouth to no doubt protest, but I sliced my hand in the air, cutting him off. “Don’t bother unless you’re willing to reveal the deal you made with my mate.”
My deal wasn’t a problem, and they would soon learn of it anyway. But while I had leverage of the unknown on my side, I needed everyone to stop hiding the hard to swallow shit from me.
I pointed my finger at the ceiling, then the floor. “If we are quite done, you can return to your respective homes so I can get on with my day.” I had research to do, and I needed my aunts.
Abaddon nodded at my wings. “Do you plan on walking around White Castle with those on show?”
“They will draw attention,” Lucifer added.
No shit. “I haven’t decided yet.”
Abaddon and Lucifer tilted their heads to the left at the same time. Creepy.
“She can’t retract them,” Lucifer decided.
“Do you need help?” Abaddon asked.
Probably. I could battle until I figured it out, but that might cost me precious time and increase my irritation. “Yes.”
The two angels leaned back like I’d slapped them with a wet kipper.
Was I that stubborn?
“Yes,” Indigo said.
Lucifer rubbed his hands together like Christmas had come early and ushered me to stand. Bella side-eyed me with a look of disdain. Judgemental feline. “Excellent. I’m an expert in wing management and mental blocks. It’s like training a badly behaved dog. Sit. Stay. Retract.”
I gave him a blank look. “You touch me, and I’ll clip your horns.”
“Rude. You know I don’t have horns,” he muttered.
Abaddon sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Focus inward. Picture the wings folding into your back. Imagine the muscles contracting, the energy dispersing.”
“That’s what I’ve been doing.” I flapped one experimentally, and a vase on a side table flew across the room. I winced in anticipation, but it froze midair and settled on the floor. Abaddon lowered his hand. Cool trick.
Lucifer snorted. “Let’s try that again. More daughter of death, less demented chicken.”
I pointed at him. “One more poultry joke, and I swear I’ll make you lay an egg in your bed every night for the next month.”
His grin widened. “Interesting. Not something I’ve witnessed before.”
“Don’t tempt me.”
Abaddon stood and circled behind me. “Hold still.” His hands hovered over my shoulders. “You’re tense.”
“Of course I’m tense. These ridiculous appendages are dragging my spine to the floor.”
“You’re doing it wrong,” Lucifer cut in. He leaned forward and jabbed a finger toward my scapula. Bella hissed and leaped off his lap. “It’s all about the release. Think of it like unclenching your buttocks.”
I blinked. “Excuse me?”
“Wings, buttocks—same principle. You don’t force them; you relax them. Watch.” He flexed his shoulders, and with a ripple of shadow, two massive leathery wings unfurled and then vanished again. “See? Like unclenching.”
“Your analogy is disgusting,” Abaddon muttered.
“It’s effective,” Lucifer volleyed.
I threw up my hands. “So I just… unclench?”
“Unclench everything,” Lucifer advised, sipping his tea like a smug life coach who just imparted the universe’s secrets.
I closed my eyes, inhaled, exhaled, and tried to relax. The right wing shivered, half-folded, then sprang out and smacked Lucifer across the face.
I bit my lip to avoid laughing. “Sorry.”
Abaddon massaged his temples. “Try again. Focus.”
I pictured my wings melting back into me, feathers dissolving into light. This time, both wings folded halfway before abruptly vanishing with a loud pop, like a champagne cork.
I stumbled forward, suddenly too light. Abaddon caught my elbow, steadying me.
“You did it,” he said.
I blinked, flexed my shoulders. Nothing but skin. “I did.”
Lucifer sniffed. “Clearly my analogy worked.”
“Clearly my self-control worked,” I shot back.
Abaddon released me with a curt nod. “You’ll get better with practice.”
Fatherly encouragement? The world really was ending.
“Watch out for them appearing when you’re stressed,” he added.
“Or surprised,” Lucifer added.
“They’ve done that before.”
“Before, you were only accepting the bare minimum of your true form,” Abaddon said.
“Now, you are unleashed,” Lucifer said. “I hope your mate has taken the time to understand what it means to be mated to a half angel.”
“I doubt it. There’s not exactly a handy guidebook available. But he’s managed just fine.”
Lucifer stood. “Before now, he was under the illusion he was the stronger of your pairing.”
“So was I.”
Lucifer shook his head, and a bemused smile graced his lips. “Then you both have a steep learning curve ahead. You know how to call me if you need some unclely advice.”
Relationship advice from the devil? More anal analogies? Hard pass.
Both archangels disappeared, leaving me with more questions and a feeling of unease in my gut. Maybe I was just hungry?
“Yes, for souls,” Indigo reminded me.
I glared at the ceiling and counted to ten. Nope, the need to consume was still there. In fact, it was worse. Time to plot a murder and a snack.
“We can combine the two.”
Lord help the world. People shouldn’t have to worry about what was happening beyond the veil. The biggest monster was already here. Me.