Chapter 10
Chapter
Ten
CALEB
“You’re holding out on us. You seraphim are notorious liars via omission. Worse than demonkind ever has been.” Pan’s bitterness couldn’t have been more clear if he’d spat poison at Evander.
“That’s where you’re wrong. Respecting the concept of free will without interference is not omission.
Demons are too selfish to appreciate the nuanced nature of the notion.
” The angel’s cool dismissal was completely on par with his unbothered persona.
It was only our second time meeting him, but he’d certainly made an impression on this group of hotheads.
The less emotional his reactions, the more it seemed to fire up the shifters, demons, Vikings, fae, and, well, frankly, pretty much everyone in the room.
“How can you be so nonchalant about this?” Asher asked. “The rest of us are chalant as fuck over here. Because, you know, the world is ending and you aren’t helping.”
Evander stood, eyes blazing bright with the threat of a low-boiling temper. It would seem the angel had a button to push after all.
I slammed my palms on the table between us. “That’s quite enough of that from you three.”
A few guilty glances cut my way, along with a few appraising ones.
“Are we boring you, padre?” Asher asked.
“We’ve been in here for over a fecking hour and still haven’t gotten to the main point of our meeting.”
“This is why I suggested an agenda,” Moira stage whispered to Kiki. “It’s the only way to keep these guys on task.”
“I don’t know if that even works anymore. There are a lot of cocks in the hen house these days.”
“Too many, if you ask me. Lilith was right; we need more feminine energy in the Hades Society.”
Lilith smirked but didn’t say anything in response to the witch.
“As Miss Belladonna has so kindly pointed out, there is an agenda we need to be following. Where are we with the—”
“Look at him over there with his slutty little glasses on like he needs them,” Kingston muttered under his breath to Alek.
“What was that, Kingston?” I snapped, taking off the glasses I’d forgotten I was wearing and folding them up before slipping them in my pocket.
“We all know you have perfect eyesight. You were only wearing those because Sunday likes them. No need to rub it in.”
“Well, we know what he was doing prior to the meeting,” Kiki said with a snort. “Get it, preacher man.”
My neck prickled with embarrassment, but only because I’d been so caught up in my time with Sunday I’d forgotten to remove them. I’d wear anything she wanted if it made her come the way she had earlier.
“I assure you, I got it. And I’ll be getting it again as soon as we’re done here.”
“Showoff,” Kingston grumbled.
“I don’t know why you’re complaining. You snuck your way into our date night again just the other day,” Thorne pointed out.
“And mine,” Alek said with a pointed lift of his brow.
Kingston smirked. “My girl’s pregnant with my pup. I can’t help it if she needs me.”
Thorne, Alek, and I all rolled our eyes. The alpha had been absolutely insufferable now that Sunday was starting to show.
“Anyway,” he continued, holding out his fist, “wankmates for life, right, buddy?”
“Fuck off,” Thorne growled. “I never should have agreed with you. You’ve been lording it over me ever since.”
I sighed. “Kingston, before you interrupted me, I was going to ask for an update on the demon raids. Do you think you could put your cock away and stop measuring it against Thorne’s for a moment and bring us up to speed?”
“Wasn’t he measuring it against yours?” Crombie asked, gesturing to me.
When we all turned to look at the fae, he shrugged.
“I’m just trying to follow along with this little soap opera you insist on playing out in front of us.
But by all means, please do go on wasting our valuable time.
It’s not like the world is ending or anything. ”
Lilith placed her palm on his knee, her lips quirking with laughter.
“It’s no contest,” I said, holding his gaze for several heartbeats before looking back to Kingston. “Report.”
Kingston snapped to his feet and saluted me. “Sir, yes, sir.”
Alek grabbed him by the bottom of his flannel shirt and tugged him back down. “Sit the fuck down.” As Kingston settled in his chair, Alek stood to his full, considerable height.
“Why do you get to st—”
Thorne covered the wolf’s mouth, but he continued on, mumbling behind the vampire’s hand.
“We should always use that function,” Moira said. “Sunday told me I can’t use my mute button on him anymore. It’s a real shame. It would make these meetings so much faster.”
“Y’all are the ones who picked him to be here. His rambling is as much your fault as his,” Hades chimed in.
“For the love of God,” I sighed, pinching the bridge of my nose. “Alek, can you please just give us the fecking update so this misery will come to an end?”
“Of course. The demon riffraff seem to be growing in number. During our last patrol, two of our best fighters were nearly caught and taken prisoner, but luckily Kai was able to dispatch them with his dragon fire.”
The dragon in question offered a curt nod. “Aye, they got the drop on Devon and Lincoln. The two of them are fine, their injuries only minor and their fae blood accelerating their healing.”
“What kind of demons were they?” Pan asked, sitting forward and bracing his elbows on his knees.
“Lust demons,” Kai and Alek answered together. The two looked at each other, Kai gesturing for Alek to continue. “Sorry. You go ahead.”
Lilith made a soft musing sound. “You’re lucky you got them free. Lust demons are notoriously tricky. Most willingly allow themselves to be ensnared.”
“It was a challenge. The two of them are the most vulnerable sort—unmated males. Young and full of piss and vinegar.”
Lilith and Pan nodded, as if that was not at all surprising.
“Would you say the number of demon encounters has gone up?” I asked.
Alek nodded. “Exponentially. I think it’s safe to assume that more are coming through the hellmouth every day.”
“It will be even worse in a few days,” Hades said.
Evander caught his gaze and gave a sharp nod. “Sloth is coming. He and his ilk are rumored to be the worst of the lot.”
“How so?” Asher asked. “Shouldn’t they be too lazy to bother with us?”
“You would think so, but Sloth is a sadist. Cruel for cruelty’s sake. He was Lucifer’s prime torturer, skilled in extracting information as quickly and painfully as possible. Where most would assume he’s lazy, he’s actually quite adept at being efficient. He’s trained his Knights to be the same.”
“Then his name is a misnomer, don’t you think?” Kingston asked.
Alek, Thorne, and I all shot him a disbelieving look, but he simply shrugged.
“What? I’ve been using the Word a Day calendar Glinda got me for solstice last year. Thanks, witchy-poo.” He winked at Moira.
“More misleading than inaccurate,” Lilith mused. “Laziness can be an excellent motivator.”
“He’ll take his time flaying the skin off your bones after you’ve given him what he wants.
His methods will be efficient to accomplish his goal, and then long and drawn out afterward until you’re dead.
It’s not that he prefers to do nothing, it’s that he prefers to maximize the amount of time he spends doing what he loves. That’s why he’s called Sloth.”
A chill ran down my spine. For a vampire, that would mean an eternity of torture.
“How do you know all of this?” Thorne asked, and I could see my own fears echoed in his eyes.
“Because I’m one of the angels who hunted down the Princes and sealed them in their prisons.”
“Geeze, Lil. You didn’t mention we were in the company of celestial royalty,” Kingston said. His voice was light, but the awe on his face wasn’t feigned.
“I told you he was important.”
My brows lifted when Lilith didn’t correct Kingston for using a nickname. Normally, the succubus was quick to nip that in the bud.
“Yes, yes. Very impressive. But how many people did he take out with a single plague?” Pan asked, fussing with the cuff of his shirt. Apparently a line had been drawn in the sand between those two.
“Do we have the manpower to fight them?” I asked, bypassing Pan’s comment.
“For now,” Alek said, but his expression was grave. “They are powerful, but their armies are small enough to handle at the moment. If they grow, which we can only assume they will, we might be telling another story.”
A bleak silence filled the room.
“Great. I love an underdog story,” Asher muttered.
Since there was nothing more we could discuss on that front for the time being, I decided to switch to the next topic. “Where are we with locating Gabriel or the horsemen?”
“We’re exactly where we were the last time you asked, Caleb.” Lilith’s eyes narrowed as she focused on me.
“So nowhere.”
“Not exactly nowhere,” Evander offered. “Gabriel is fully hidden with no trace.”
“How is that not nowhere?”
“As one of his brothers, I should be able to find at least a trace of him. A whisper of his grace. But there is nothing. Not a hint. That means he’s being hidden, whether by choice or by force.”
“Who’s powerful enough to manage that?” Kai asked.
“There’s only one being powerful enough to hide an angel’s grace from his own kind.”
“Lucifer,” I whispered. I could’ve kicked myself for not putting it together sooner, but I had a lot on at the moment. Pregnant mate, looming demon attacks, apocalypse.
“Correct,” Evander said.
“And what of the horsemen?”
Hades cleared his throat before flicking his gaze to Kiki, who stood in the portal to the underworld.
“Oh, me? Thank God. I’ve been waiting for my turn for-fucking-ever,” the ghostly woman said, tossing her long hair over one shoulder.
“So, my initial investigation turned up pretty much nothing, unless you count the ghosts telling me they haven’t seen or heard a peep from Mr. Death in weeks.
That seems important, right?” She cocked her head, sending her hair flying in the other direction. “I’m pretty sure that’s weird.”
“It’s strange,” Hades agreed. “Death is always looming. He can’t help himself.”
“It isn’t strange. Not if he and his brothers are trying to keep Merri shielded from sight.” Crombie inspected his nails as though he were fully nonplussed.
Lilith nodded her agreement. “It’s very likely they are warded in a similar manner to Gabriel.”
“So we’re fucked then, is that what you’re saying? Gabriel’s untraceable, and the horsemen might as well be ghosts. Oh wait, ghosts would be easier because at least then we have a chance at contacting them,” Asher spat, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Perhaps not,” Lilith said, voice musing. “I have a way to pass on a message to the horsemen if we can determine their location.” As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Moira. It was too pointed a look not to relay some sort of silent message.
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Kingston blurted.
“I can get my coven behind doing a spell. Remember how we found Alek? It’s more complex than a basic locator spell, but powerful enough to find him in another realm.” Moira’s eyes were bright with excitement at the possible solution.
“Why the bloody hell didn’t we try that from the start?” Thorne asked.
“Because you don’t break out the big guns when something less dramatic will do.
It calls way too much attention, for starters, and could be an unnecessary power drain.
There’s nothing worse than blowing your load early and then being at a disadvantage when said power could have been the difference between a W or the Big L. ”
“Premature Bazooka,” Kingston said with a knowing nod.
“Precisely.” Lilith smirked. “We didn’t realize the extent of the protections keeping them from us.
Gabriel pops in and out all the time, and he’s not exactly a trained dog who runs to us on recall.
The horsemen . . . They’re serving a purpose.
Until now, searching for them would have put that mission at risk. Things are different now.”
“Tell us, Ms. Belladonna, what do you need to perform this spell?” I asked.
“Well, it’s not as simple as just having something that belongs to one of them. Yes, I need that, but this magic requires a celestial event. The next one is in three nights.”
“Okay, oracle of the stars, how do you know that?” Asher asked, sarcasm thick in his tone.
Moria shot him a deadly look. “Have you been paying attention? Every time a Prince is released, there’s a shift in the universe. They’ve been coming once every week like clockwork. Like the angel just said, the final one is due.”
Evander nodded. “The witch is correct.”
“Thanks, angel daddy.”
He gave her a strange look, but remained silent. If I had to hazard a guess, I don’t think he fully understood the nickname. He still had much to learn about the ways of mortals.
“So you need something of Gabriel’s and something of the horsemen’s?” Kingston asked.
“Yep. Since the guys are all together, one of their possessions should do the trick if their magic is trackable. I can’t guarantee anything, but this is a spell so powerful we were able to pull Tor out of Novasgard.”
“How the fuck are we supposed to get our hands on a possession from any of them? It’s not like they leave items lying around.” Pan’s jaw ticked as he waited for an answer.
Between one breath and the next, Evander disappeared from his chair and returned, this time standing before Moira with a silver-tipped feather in his outstretched hand. “Will this do?”
Moira blinked as she accepted the offering. “Is this one of Gabriel’s feathers?”
Evander dipped his chin in the barest hint of a nod.
“But he doesn’t have wings. Lucifer took them decades ago.”
“Every angel submits one feather to the registry upon induction into the ranks.”
“Like some kind of celestial AFIS situation?” Asher asked.
Evander narrowed his eyes in confusion and continued with his explanation. “Strictly speaking, I’m not supposed to remove this from the files, but the greater good is more important.”
“Ask for forgiveness instead of permission,” Kai murmured.
“Exactly.”
“Well, that solves the Gabriel issue. What about the horsemen?” Alek asked.
Hades cleared his throat. “I might be able to assist with that.”
I shot a glance at the god of the underworld. “How’s that?”
“I need to take a little trip on the River Styx. Give me a day, and I’ll have what you require.”
“Lovely. Are we done here?” Crombie asked, glancing around the room. When no one immediately spoke, he slapped his hands on his thighs and stood. “Perfect. Come on, Lilypad. We have a date.”