32. Gabe
S hem and Hecate returned to the table with ice buckets filled with bottles of liquor and mix.
Thankfully, the male witch Shem had been flirting with didn’t follow.
However, my mood darkened further when he intentionally took a seat on the opposite couch, as far away from me as he could possibly get.
“Luna should be here soon, then we can discuss,” Hec said, but I barely heard her.
I was staring directly at Shem, rage coursing through my body as he continued to diligently ignore me.
I knew he could feel my gaze burning a hole into the side of his head, but he lounged casually back in his seat, looking at everyone but me.
Tossing a casual ankle over his knee, he accepted the drink Hecate handed him and took a deep pull, smirking at her in thanks.
“This place is fucking epic ,” he crooned, his green eyes scanning the dance floor in a predatory way. I watched him pick through the writhing, dancing bodies as if deciding which of the witches he wanted for himself.
“Shemhazai,” I growled, and he flicked his gaze to meet mine, raising a dark, condescending eyebrow.
“What?” he asked, the corner of his mouth tilting up in amusement .
“A word?”
He rolled his eyes, shaking his head.
“Loosen up, little bird. It’s a party,” he dismissed me, and I bit the inside of my cheek so hard I tasted blood.
“Hayyyyyyy!” A chipper voice interrupted, and I glanced up to find Luna approaching us, her long purple skirt shimmering with golden moons and stars. Her waist-length multicolored hair had a mess of random braids in it, and her cheeks were dusted with glitter.
“Luna!” Hecate cried happily, launching herself into her friend’s arms, as Luna peered at Shemhazai and me curiously.
“What’s up? Who are these guys?” she asked, and Hecate pulled back, giving her a sheepish smile.
“Uhm, long story. Why don’t you have a seat? Where’s Willow?”
Luna’s expression darkened as she took a seat next to Hecate on the opposite side of Shem.
“She’s at that creepy church again. She’s been acting… weird,” Luna explained, and I glanced at Shemhazai, whose eyes shuddered with that cold look of terror again. My fingers clenched tighter around my glass, but the look was gone as quickly as it came, and he slipped back behind his usual smirk.
Hecate seemed concerned, and she exchanged a look with her guardians, both of whom growled ominously.
Luna was glancing around the table at all of us, looking confused.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?” she asked, her tone turning more serious.
“Have a drink. You’re going to need it,” Hecate said, giving her friend an apologetic look.
“Okayyyyy…” Luna said, leaning forward to fix herself a cocktail.
“Now, I’m going to need you to keep an open mind…” Hecate said, and Luna eyed her friend with a frown.
“Harp, I’m a lesbian. My mind is about as open as it gets.” Hecate let out a throaty laugh before diving in and telling her friend the truth about everything.
I had to hand it to Luna. She took everything relatively in stride.
She immediately believed Hecate, and I supposed, considering she was a true witch, she had been raised to believe creatures like Shemhazai and I existed.
That was why witches warded their houses against malevolent beings, after all.
“So… our entire friendship wasn’t real? It’s just all… fabricated?” she asked Hec. This seemed to be the only part of the story that really upset her. “It feels so real…” she whispered, and Hecate squeezed her fingers tightly.
“It is real. We are friends… our friendship is just newer than it feels like it is.” Hecate’s silver eyes were burning with a ferocity that told me she loved this witch with her whole heart.
Luna’s pain was Hecate’s pain, and the power of their bond was so strong I could nearly see it twisting between them like a shimmering golden chain.
Luna smiled at Hecate and nodded. “Okay, good. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Now that I’ve met you, the feeling is mutual,” Hecate promised.
“Well, now all that’s out of the way,” Shemhazai drawled, taking a sip out of what was now his third drink, “can we get the planning done so we can do something more interesting?”
Luna frowned at Shemhazai, and Hecate waved her hand at him dismissively.
“Don’t mind him. He’s kind of a dick.”
Shem chuckled and gestured to himself lazily.
“Demon, remember? Being a dick is kind of my brand.”
Fenrir snickered, and Shem grinned at him.
“Tell me more about Willow. What do you mean she’s been acting weird?”
“Ever since she started going to that church with those two dish rags, it’s like she’s a completely different person.
Almost… brainwashed? I don’t know. She keeps blowing me off, too.
She told me that if I spent more time getting close with the Lord, she would be able to relate to me more.
I thought she was kidding at first, but no, she was completely serious. ”
Hecate’s mouth pursed in a thin line, and she glanced at her guardians.
“Well. It’s obvious Ares and Raziel are recruiting.”
Luna nodded. “She’s not the only one. I’ve noticed a huge drop in regulars at the shop, and barely anyone showed up to my mom’s circle last night. Apparently, they were all at mass in the Church of Seraphim.”
“I think we need to pay this church a visit,” Hecate said darkly, and Skoll and Fenrir nodded.
“I think it’s safe to say that’s where they’re keeping the mother and the crone,” Fenrir agreed, but Shem interrupted.
“No,” he barked. We all glanced at him in surprise, and the second he realized how sharply he’d spoken, he smoothed himself back into his fake-ass relaxed posture.
I narrowed my eyes on him, but still, he ignored me.
“I just mean, if they are keeping the mother and the crone there, we can’t bring them the maiden on a silver platter. That’s just what they want.”
“I’ll go,” I offered, and finally, Shemhazai looked at me. If his cat ears had been out, they would have flattened against his head.
My lip twitched.
Finally. Got his attention.
“Problem?” I asked him. He kept that infuriating smirk plastered on his face but shook his head.
“No problem. If you want to go, by all means,” he lied, and I forced down the growl that built in my throat.
“Why don’t we all go?” Skoll offered, his gaze dancing back and forth between Shemhazai and me. He was clearly catching onto the tension between us, and I had a feeling he was intentionally playing into it.
“Skoll, Fenrir, Shemhazai, and I will check out the church while Hecate and Luna focus on gathering a coven strong enough to take them out if we need them to.”
“I love that idea!” Hecate squealed, clapping her hands together. I watched Shemhazai carefully to see how he would react. I knew he didn’t want to go to the church. His fear was a living thing. It coated my tongue in a thick film of ash, and I waited for him to make up another excuse.
However, I should have known better. Shemhazai wouldn’t out himself like that. Instead, he just leveled Skoll with a glare that promised violence, but he nodded .
“Sounds like a fucking plan,” he snapped before tossing back the rest of his drink and dropping his empty glass on the table.
“Now, if you’ll excuse me. I’m going to go find something to keep me busy until we need to visit that shit hole.”
“Fuck yeah!” Hecate agreed, either ignorant or completely unbothered by the fact that Shemhazai was clearly pissed that his hand had been forced.
“Luna, let’s dance,” Hecate beamed at her friend, and I watched as the two witches followed Shemhazai out onto the dance floor.
Before I could stop myself, I was following them too. I brushed past the giggling witches and grabbed Shemhazai by the arm, jerking him around to face me.
I was met with the coldest green eyes I’d ever seen. I’d witnessed this expression on his face before, just never directed at me. This was the look he’d had at Samhain when he’d condemned Art for telling Lilith that Mike had died.
Resisting the urge to reel back from the pain of having that look directed at me , I doubled down.
“Are you going to tell me what has you so fucked up?” I hissed, jerking him closer to me.
He looked down at my hand, which was gripping his arm so hard I knew I would leave bruises. But I didn’t let go.
“Take your hand off me,” he said, his voice low and dangerous.
“Shemhazai—”
He raised his gaze to meet mine, and the fury in them made my breath catch in my throat.
“Take. Your. Hand. Off. Me.” His voice was nearly a whisper, and after another long beat, I conceded, releasing him as he’d asked.
He straightened his crisp black shirt and gave me a disgusted look.
“Go home, Gabriel. Your incessant need to make everything into something more than it is has grown tiresome.”
“Shemhazai. Enough. You need to talk to me,” I snarled.
He narrowed his eyes.
“What I need is to find someone who knows when to back the fuck off. This game you keep insisting on playing is boring . ”
My heart cracked in my chest at his words, but I refused to let him see how much they hurt me. He already had enough power over me. I didn’t need to give him more.
“Go. Home, ” he growled before turning away and disappearing into the crowd.