Chapter 1 #2
“Well, there’s a time for everything. I’ll catch you later?” Maren said, waving at me.
“Sure. I’ll let you know when I’ve had the chance to meet with Hecate. Bye, Maren,” I replied.
Sephy:
Bitch, you okay? I haven’t heard from you yet today.
Your car wasn’t in front of your house this morning.
Poe:
Yeah, for real. You’re always home . Did you finally get laid?
Daedalus:
Y’all. It’s too early for this shit.
Daela, let these twats know when you get home. I need to go sleep for a decade.
Me:
Shit, sorry guys. I just woke up in someone else’s bed ? I’m in The Grove, but I’m on my way back. I’ll be home in 20.
I hopped into my car seat, not paying a damned bit of attention to anything around me.
Adjusting myself in the seat, I let out a relieved sigh that my old ass didn’t drive my car home last night.
I started to put my seatbelt on, but leaned back against the car seat and just took a few breaths instead, trying to remember what happened last night.
My house was my happy place. It was the one place in all the universes where I could tear my mask off and be myself without the weight of responsibilities on my shoulders.
I spent as much of my free time here as I could, which admittedly wasn’t a lot.
I wasn’t always a people person. I much preferred to lay around my house in the solitude I’d built for myself over the years.
Nestled in a tiny village just outside of the city, it was the unofficial land of the Catervae Pax.
Everyone who lived in the neighborhood was part of the leadership of the Pax’s factions at one point.
Much like the rest of the city, each house was brick with red clay tile roofing.
The homes appeared as if they were built from the forest. It reminded me of home—a place I was no longer able to go back to without repercussions. We called it The Sanctuary.
Maniacal laughter coming from my neighbor and best friend Poe’s house changed my course.
It was still too early for her to be awake.
She was sitting on her front porch with a coffee in hand, wrangling her son Michael into a headlock.
Somehow, she never even spilled a drop. Laughing, I shouted over, “What are you two doing?”
Poe huffed while struggling to keep Michael pinned under her arm.
“This little turd decided that today was the day he would try flying for the first time. His wings haven’t come in yet, so color me surprised when I woke up to a vision of my son—” she stared pointedly at the twelve-year-old “—on the roof as if he could fall and find his wings.”
Michael’s face reddened, sheepish. He was growing like a weed. “I was just trying to understand aerodynamics. I wasn’t actually going to jump,” he complained.
I snorted, “Sure, dude. I believe in you. Let’s be a little more careful for now, yeah?”
Michael nodded before meandering off. Turning back to Poe, I pursed my lips, “He’s growing like a weed.”
Poe replied with a quiet, “Yeah.”
She was continually surprised by her wild child. Michael was a good kid, if not a little bit mischievous, and he was always testing everything with a curiosity that rivaled a cat. She definitely had her hands full with that one.
Atropos hadn’t even known why she was the one to birth him, the reincarnated Archangel.
Likely because it was by her hand that he left before his time.
Poe was short for Atropos. She was one third of the Moirai, or the Fates.
Michael and Poe weren’t even part of the same pantheon.
The Great War was hard on us all, but the punishments Fate dealt to Atropos had been astronomical.
She loved Michael with her entire being, though.
I figured that was what Fate had been trying to do—find the heart inside someone whose sole responsibility was to cut the strings of life when it was time.
We sat quietly for a few moments, both lost in our thoughts. Slapping her knees to stand up, Poe nodded back toward my house. She was practically vibrating at the chance to corner me about last night. I rolled my eyes and beckoned her over to my place.
“I know you already have coffee, but if you’d like some more, I can make you a latte,” I said as we made our way onto my porch.
My house was small on the outside, but thanks to my world-building magic, the vast expanse of my living room came into view as I opened the door.
It was a veritable book lover’s paradise with wall-to-wall built in bookshelves.
My friends liked to call it “True Blood chic,” much to my chagrin.
I liked to think of it as my version of dark academia for old-ass adults, but what did I know?
I was a former Unseelie Fae princess. It just made sense to me.
“You know I’ll never turn down coffee. I woke up at the ass crack of dawn to the vision of Michael and I’m hung over, too.
I took a rideshare back home. And by rideshare, I mean those two cute guys I met at the bar last night, if you know what I mean.
” She nudged my shoulder, and I chuckled again.
“So, I sat on the porch and waited for Michael to get up to his shenanigans instead of going back to sleep.”
“Only you, Poe. I’m still glad you got home safe.
I feel like a shit friend for telling y’all I would drive, and I think I got more wasted than all of you combined.
Either someone spiked my drinks, or I must be getting close to a new power level.
My tolerance for booze and everything else sort of falls to the wayside when this shit happens.
” I threw my keys onto the hook by my front door and pulled my shoes off.
“Bitch, don’t even worry about it. I saw you talking with Vada Livinicus last night. Is that who you went home with?” she asked.
“According to Maren, yes. I’ve never seen her before.
How do you know her?” I walked toward the kitchen, intent on getting some caffeine in my system, though it didn’t really do anything for me.
I just liked the taste. “Does she have dark brown hair, a body to die for, and takes in wasted strays?” I asked Poe.
Poe wrinkled her brows, “Sounds like her. You know she used to go by Lilith, right? That was before Hashem stripped her of everything, including a name.”
I sputtered, almost dropping the portafilter I had just filled with ground espresso, “You mean the Lilith?”
Poe nodded.
I stood there for a moment, astonished. Lilith was exiled to Hell.
She was the first human woman, and when Hashem granted free will to his creations, he was stunned when she’d rebelled against the rule of men.
I had admired her since I’d learned of her story.
There was something about her ability to speak her truth, to her own detriment, that I found admirable.
We seemed to have similar starts in life. I’d have loved to pick her brain.
“How did I not know that was who she was?” I was starting to panic a little bit. Or was I fangirling? I didn’t know.
Poe smiled sardonically, “Honestly, Adaela, I have no fucking idea. You’re the queen of research and vetting, so I don’t know how Vada slipped past you.
She’s likely pissed off Asmodaeus again.
If she were a threat, I would have made you and the rest of the council aware.
I think it’s a good thing she’s here. Speaking of, how did last night go? ”
I groaned, “I honestly don’t remember much. I’m going to go take a quick shower and chug this coffee, then we can talk.”
Poe snickered before heading back toward the front door. “Text me when you’re ready. I’m going to make sure Michael didn’t burn the house down.”
The only thing I planned on doing today was going back to bed.
I drank my coffee as I picked clothes from the walk-in closet, then headed into my bathroom.
Much like the rest of my house, it had dark tiles with deep hues of phthalo green and gold scattered throughout.
It reminded me of the Dark Wood in Underhill, my original home.
I thought back to last night. After we left Dogtown, we’d gone to my favorite bar in The Grove.
It was a mix between a high-end cocktail lounge and a dive bar.
I’d had a few drinks with Daedalus and Loki while we played our favorite game: people watching.
We liked to decide what kind of lives people led based on their level of inebriation and how they dressed.
I couldn’t remember how many cocktails I had at that point, but I remembered getting up and heading to the bathrooms. As I slunk past the crowd, I went to move past a woman who caught my eye.
She was taller than me. I would’ve guessed she was about five foot ten, but in the heels she was wearing, I came up to just underneath her breasts, so she had to have been over six feet in heels.
Her eyes drew me in. They were a deep umber color, contrasted by the teal colors of her smoky eye.
She had sharp cheekbones and the most amazing lips. I never focused on people’s lips.
As I ran conditioner through my long, unruly red locks, I tried to remember anything past that point, but I kept running into a wall.
I didn’t usually drink enough to black out after that time in the ‘60s with Poe and Franci. Come to think of it, that was right around the last time my power spiked. Groan. If it hadn’t been for that spike, I likely wouldn’t have had the strength it took to help create the Pax.
It wasn’t like I’d see Vada again anytime soon.
I rarely saw the folks from the Demon faction because they lived completely different lifestyles than I.
It was a one-night stand, for fuck’s sake.
I needed to catch up with Daedalus and Loki to see what we wound up doing last night, or if I’d lost them past that point.
I hopped out of the shower and toweled off, quickly changing into the sweats I’d set aside.
Once I was dressed, I stepped out into the kitchen to go meet up with Poe.
We had a lot to talk about. Unfortunately, my phone rang, and it was the Pax.
I threw my head back toward the ceiling, groaning.
I was like that Ben Affleck meme of him smoking a cigarette. I just needed a single day to myself.