21. Sydney
So, the Lilith in my head was rad, but in person, she was an utter badass. Seriously, why wasn’t she left in charge here? She might not be an angel, but she was clearly powerful if she could make demons and invent spells. And she wasn’t an uber dick or pushover like the rest of these nards.
“How do you want me?” I asked.
Getting wings was neat, and I wanted to learn how to fly, but I also wanted to be able to put them away and go outside.
I needed to find my father. I knew the lore about Lucifer’s child being the antichrist and bringing the apocalypse, but that was just Lucifer fan fiction written by people who claimed they weren’t fans.
It could actually happen if we didn’t find him.
“We’re going to want to get you in the courtyard because your wings are going to want to stretch and Satan feels strongly about his antiques,” Lilith said.
“And step back because I feel bad when I hit people when I don’t mean to.”
“What about when you mean to?” Kujo asked.
“Dude.”
“Maybe don’t grab women without their permission,” Nero said. “That goes for when they are clothed too.”
“I will admit I overreacted, but I’ve also had unpleasant experiences with human cops and I don’t have horns, fangs, or a tail,” Kujo said.
That was probably the best I was going to get in terms of an apology and he’d been less of a nugget lately. I didn’t want to hit him again, but my magic had done it twice. Down girl. If he was going to behave, I could too. Besides, there were loads more people here who deserved it more than him.
“Every time I’ve hit you outside of punching you in the dick or when we were sparring has been an accident, so maybe give us a wide birth.”
Lilith snorted.
“You punched a Fury in the dick? Good girl.”
“She snuck one in on Asmodeus when he got in her personal space. Don’t think I didn’t notice, Killer.”
“His dick ran into my fist. His dick ran into my fist ten times.”
“Let’s get you outside,” Satan said. “Be very careful moving through the house and make sure you don’t knock your wings on anything.”
Easier said than done. I still went to the local dojo to work out and frequently did so with weights strapped to various parts of my body.
I’d lay odds these wings weighed about fifteen pounds.
It wasn’t the weight, but the size that made them difficult to maneuver.
They had to be big enough to carry Sasquatch sized angels like Satan and Abaddon.
I had to turn sideways to go through doors. Nero and Celix flanked me on either side just in case because my magic didn’t seem to be mad at them. We made it to the courtyard with no incident and I just enjoyed the fresh air for a minute.
“I love that you brought that shirt to Hell with you,” Lilith said.
“Mammon didn’t think so.”
“That’s because he’s an insufferable twat. Nero, stand behind her and Celix, stand in front of her. If you’re filming, get close enough to get everything, but stand clear of her wings.”
“Um, my magic tends to be explosive. I’m not going to hurt anyone, am I?”
“We aren’t using your magic. We are using Celix and Nero’s. You just have to let them.”
“She seems to have a mind of her own. Any time my magic has come out has been just as much a surprise to me as it is to everyone else.”
“That’s what Nero is for. I’m guessing your magic came out when your emotions were high or you were threatened. Keep in mind, I created his kind to keep the Beast of Eden subdued. He can sense your emotions.”
“Knock my ass out if you sense me panicking.”
“I’m sure it won’t come to that.”
I mean, I knew Kujo’s family were abusive, purist, shit stains, and she tried to kill Kujo. I shouldn’t feel bad about killing them, but I’d never killed anyone before. I actually liked these people and didn’t want to hurt them. Still, I trusted them.
Nero stood behind me and Celix stood in front of me.
I knew Nero didn’t have to touch me for his magic to affect me, but I still asked because it would make me feel better.
It wasn’t the spell not working that scared me.
It was my magic freaking out again. Knowing Nero was nearby made me feel better.
Kujo and Wrathhog pointed their phones at Lilith. It was now or never. She preened a bit for the camera. Yeah, Lilith was a bit of a showboat. Honestly, if I looked like that, created demons, and was the original Fuck the Patriarchy poster child, I would too.
“Gather round, children. Mommy’s home. Apparently, a little bit of magic I left you has been forgotten. Lucifer’s daughter is also home, and she’s an early bloomer. Will you look at those wings? I’ve never seen bronze before, but it’s gorgeous.
“It doesn’t matter if you’re a demon, half angel, fae, dragon, or anything else with wings.
You aren’t born with them and they come out later.
They are extremely fragile for the first few weeks, which is why I created a spell for that.
It’s never been used on a half angel before, but I can assure you it works on anything with wings.
Sydney has volunteered to be the first Nephilim to do this spell, and do it on camera so the rest of you can learn the spell. ”
Forgotten was a nice word for deliberately hidden by some bitch pigeons on an ego trip. I was fine with saying that, but I could see where inciting a riot might not be a good thing with everything else going on.
“So, I’m not quite sure why my incubi and succubae were effectively neutered and are no longer allowed to defend themselves, but Nero here is going to help with Sydney’s consent and permission from Satan.
This spell is best done with someone you know and trust. Sydney knows and trusts both Nero and Celix, but she hasn’t known them very long, so Nero is going to help with that.
Celix, you need skin to skin contact, so touch her. ”
Celix looked like he was just going to put his hands on my shoulders and I decided absolutely not. They were mine, and I was keeping them. The idiotic hierarchy here said I shouldn’t be with them and I needed everyone to know how much I didn’t give a shit about that.
So, I just grabbed Celix and kissed him. He tensed at first and then he relaxed and started kissing me back.
“That is also an option and for the folks not in this courtyard, that is all Sydney and not the incubus behind her. He hasn’t started using his magic yet.”
I wrapped my arms around Celix and gave the cameras two enthusiastic thumbs up.
“All demons have the power to shapeshift and that’s what you’re going to want to tap into.
It’s basic cellular manipulation. Celix is going to call up his magic like he’s going to shapeshift, but he’s going to send it to Sydney instead of keeping it.
Now, she has to let him do this, but I don’t think that’s going to be a problem and we might not even need Nero. ”
I felt something pressing against my mind. It wasn’t invasive, and I didn’t feel like I was under attack. It felt different from Nero’s magic, so I knew it was Celix. I just relaxed and kept kissing him.
Celix’s magic rushed in and I felt it travel to my shoulder blades. I became more aware of my wings. They felt like they were a part of me instead of two giant things growing out of my back. They felt like they wanted to move.
My wings shot straight out and then I curled them around Celix so we could have a little privacy. I broke the kiss and cupped his cheek.
“Thank you. I needed this, but hopefully, it helps other demons too.”
“Any time. I’m not complaining, but why did you kiss me with all of Hell watching?”
“Because I’m keeping you as long as you’ll have me and I needed everyone to know that.”