Chapter 20
CHAPTER 20
S itting back and watching quietly while Haven summoned a demon that had burned the fuck out of him and wanted to drag her to a different dimension for some unknown reason was not as terrifying as watching her die had been.
But only by a little bit.
He couldn’t read auras like Haven could, but he could tell her family was feeling every bit as terrified as he was. The tension and fear building outside the bomb shelter was so thick you could slice it, plate it, and serve it with afternoon tea.
It most assuredly was not a feeling the most powerful supernatural beings on the planet were used to. He sure as hell wasn’t.
“OK,” Haven said, brow furrowed as she concentrated on the summoning spell, dropping the last of the necessary herbs in the salt circle on the floor. “One more phrase and that should be it.”
Roan took a deep breath and rolled his head around on his shoulders. “Ready when you are.”
She bit her lower lip. “You trust me?”
“With my life,” he said without hesitation.
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” she muttered.
They both jumped when Carl popped up out of nowhere between them. He put his hands on his hips and gave Roan the sternest frown he’d ever had directed at him in his life. “Are you kidding me right now?”
“Hi, Carl!” Haven said excitedly.
Carl ignored her, focusing the full force of his disappointment on Roan. “You’re actually going to let her do this? You’re going to let her summon the demon that nearly burned you— you , who are almost fireproof—alive, here?”
Roan frowned at him. “You saw all that and didn’t do anything to help, but show up now? What the fuck, man?”
Carl straightened to his full height and tried to brush a wrinkle off his muddy brown suit jacket. “As the keeper of this child’s destiny, I’m not to interfere. But this…” He gestured to the summoning circle. “…is insanity. You’ve given me no choice but to step in.”
Haven snapped her fingers to snag the grumpy angel’s attention. “Hello? I’m over here. This was my idea, Carl. You can talk to me, not him.”
Carl’s brow furrowed. “I’ve tried talking to you . It’s my sincere hope that he’ll listen to me, because you certainly don’t.”
“I’m with her, man,” Roan said. “Whatever she decides, that’s what we’re doing.”
He shook his head, once again full of disappointment. Roan had once disappointed his own father so badly that the old bastard locked him in a cell and had him tortured for a year. And still, his father hadn’t given him a look as powerful as the one Carl was giving him. “You’re with her,” he scoffed. “Even if it gets you both killed?”
“I trust that it won’t come to that. But, yes.”
Carl’s chin hit his chest, and he rubbed his brow. “And then I’ll end up in the pit with Lucifer. Fantastic,” he grumbled.
Haven laid a hand on his shoulder. “Carl, as keeper of my destiny, did you ever think that maybe my destiny—or at least part of it—is to figure out what this demon wants with me and come to some, I don’t know… resolution ?”
“Why would this creature have anything to do with your destiny?” he asked, still frowning.
She threw her hands wide. “I don’t know. But my point is: neither do you. How about you let me do my thing and watch like you’re supposed to? Or, if you really wanted to help, you could ward the room so that nothing in it—me and Roan especially—can get melted.”
He straightened and gave her a look that clearly said he hadn’t considered actually helping her. “I’m not supposed to,” he murmured.
“You aren’t supposed to be talking to us now, either,” Roan reminded him. “But here you are.” He shrugged. “Maybe your intervention is part of her destiny, too.”
He pondered that for a long moment. But eventually, determination lit his eyes and he gave them a terse nod. With a wave of his hand, Enochian letters suddenly covered every bit of the basement. “There,” he said when he was done. “As long as the two of you are in this room, this demon will not have the power to burn you.”
She threw her arms around him and gave him a bear hug that he pretended to hate. But they both knew better. At the end of the day, Carl was just a big old softy.
He gave her back an awkward pat before pulling back, pointing a finger in her face, and saying, “If you die today, even from the pit, I will make your afterlife miserable. Know that, and know it well.”
“Understood,” she replied, giving him a two-finger salute.
His expression slowly morphed into something dangerously close to fondness. “You are a born leader, Haven Hall,” he said quietly. “I am… proud to be of service to you.”
Then he was gone.
“I had no idea Carl was such a solid dude ,” Haven told him. Then her eyes widened and she blurted, “You don’t think he watches us have sex, do you?”
They gave that possibility a few moments of silence.