Chapter 23
Chapter
Twenty-Three
CALEB
My lips moved near silently as I repeated the words of the prayer, my fingers drifting over the well-worn wooden beads of my rosary.
“Hail Mary, full of grace, the Lord is with thee.” The words were all but swallowed up by the noise of the room, but I’d claimed a space for myself in the corner of the main living area, needing something to do to calm my mind while we waited for the others to return.
“Blessed art thou among women.”
It may have been decades since I served as a priest, but the words and the ritual never failed to ground me and offer peace.
“And blessed is the fruit of thy womb, Jesus.”
The sound of footsteps approaching was impossible to ignore, as was the shadow that passed across my eyelids, but I did my best.
“Holy Mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners.”
There was a snicker, followed by a voice that immediately set me on edge. “I do believe this is what one might refer to as ironic.”
“Now and at the hour of our death. Amen.”
I opened my eyes to find Lucifer smirking down at me.
“Amen,” he said, the lone word filled with irreverent glee.
“What do you want?”
I tucked the rosary away and stood to my full height, bringing the two of us eye-to-eye. The devil was not intimidated, but I didn’t expect him to be.
“Why are you praying to Him? You know he’s not there. We’ve all told you as much.”
“I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
He cocked his head, studied me with shrewd eyes. “Why not?”
“Faith is something I doubt you’re familiar with.”
“You still put your faith in Him? After all He’s put you through?”
“It wouldn’t be faith if it was so easily swayed.”
Lucifer shook his head. “Humans.”
There was no arguing with someone like him. He couldn’t understand my faith because he’d never had to believe in something he couldn’t see. He’d seen God’s face, spoken to Him. That wasn’t faith; it was firsthand knowledge.
“You proved my point. I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”
“I prefer to put my belief in people who don’t have a habit of disappointing me.”
“Belief is not necessarily the same as faith. Faith is believing anyway.”
Lucifer chuckled. “It’s been a long time since I’ve bothered debating the finer points of religion with a believer. I think I’ve missed it.”
I shook my head at the absurd turn my life had taken.
It shouldn’t surprise me anymore after all that I’d been through, including resurrection, but somehow here I was chatting with the devil about God.
If anything, having him standing in front of me along with the angels proved everything.
I hadn’t misplaced my faith or put myself on a futile path when I’d become a priest. All of it was for a higher purpose.
The realization was a comforting one. It only strengthened my belief that we would win.
Before Lucifer could say anything else, the four enormous men who’d gone on the hunt for War’s weapon literally tumbled into the middle of the room in a pile of limbs and flowing locks.
“Oh, my,” Lucifer muttered.
“Help us,” Chaos said, changing the tone in the room instantly as he laid a seizing Pan out on the floor, rolling him on his side while the purple demon twitched and foamed at the mouth.
“Pan!” Malice shouted, running over to the horseman and his son.
Despite the concern for Pan roiling in my gut, my attention snapped to the twins. Tor struggled to stand along with Alek, who was awkwardly stiff as a board in his brother’s grasp. Alek looked perfectly healthy aside from the fact that he hadn’t moved a muscle. Not even a blink.
“Somebody get Sunday,” I snapped, my vampiric speed moving me from one side of the room to the other near instantly. I dropped to my knees between Tor and Chaos. “What happened?”
Tor’s body trembled as he fought against the instinctive rage threatening to consume him. “Pan was bitten by a spider. Alek . . .” He seemed to struggle with his words before shaking his head and saying, “A spirit passed through his body and now this.”
I’d already bitten deep into my wrist and was pouring my blood over Pan’s lips while Tor spoke. I had no idea if my blood would counteract the venom, but it healed most things, so it was worth a shot. Then I did the same for Alek, just in case.
Pan’s seizure stopped almost instantly, and he gasped as he came back to himself. But Alek didn’t move. He remained frozen, staring at nothing.
“What’s wrong with him?” Tor asked, voice low and urgent.
“Alek?” Sunday called, running into the room with Moira, Kingston, and Thorne on her heels. A heartbeat later, Asher and Rosie followed.
“Pan?” Rosie echoed.
A crowd had gathered around us, effectively blocking the newcomers from being able to easily see or reach the injured.
“Move!” I bellowed.
The crowd parted enough that Sunday and Rosie could get to their mates.
“Where are you injured?” Malice asked his son, looking over him as he tried to get to his feet. Pan was healing, but wasn’t fully recovered quite yet.
“I’m fine,” he grumbled, waving away his father’s attempt to help him up, but when his legs gave out on his second try, both Rosie, and Malice were there for support.
“You’re not,” Rosie said. “I smell blood. Yours. What happened to you?”
“It was just a spider bite.”
“A giant spider with fangs the size of a sapling,” Chaos corrected. The dry cast of his voice belied the concern still etched on his face. The horseman had been truly scared.
That told me everything I needed to know about their outing. As did the saber still clasped in his hand. They’d been successful, but at great cost.
Rosie inspected his thigh, finding the injury already closed. Then her eyes lifted to mine, “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
Pan’s eyes briefly met mine. “What she said.”
I gave him a slight nod before Malice and Rosie ushered Pan away, leaving Tor, Sunday, and me all knelt around Alek, the others hovering over us.
Moira peered down at him with a frown. “You said a ghost did this?”
Tor nodded grimly. “It charged him.”
“So he’s possessed?” Kingston asked.
“No. It passed through and vanished.”
“Then this is a psychic wound. It makes sense why your blood didn’t work on him,” Moira said. “I’ve never seen one before in person. But we lost a coven member when I was little to this. She stayed in a petrified state for years until she finally wasted away. No one could reach her.”
“I guess we shouldn’t make fun of his fear of ghosts anymore, huh?” Kingston asked under his breath.
Thorne put a hand on his shoulder. “Probably not.”
Tor cast a beseeching glance at Moira. “Is there anything you can do for him?”
“I can’t, but Asher might be able to.”
Asher’s head snapped toward us. “Me?”
“Yeah, angel-boy. You.”
He blinked and slowly shook his head. “I’ve only ever healed Remi. I don’t think—”
“Please, Asher,” Sunday begged. “Will you just try?”
The pain in my mate’s voice had me fisting my hands over my thighs. I’d do anything in my power to take it from her. It killed me that I hadn’t been able to save him for her. Nothing was worse than watching the woman you loved suffer.
“Okay. I’ll do my best.” Asher rubbed his hands together and knelt next to Alek.
Hesitantly, he laid his palms on Alek’s chest before taking a long breath and closing his eyes. His brows pulled together, and his expression changed from calm to one of deep concentration as we all waited for something to happen.
“Are we supposed to see something?” Kingston whispered.
“Shut up, Kingston,” Thorne hissed.
“This is delightfully intense,” Lucifer said. “A Nephilim, a demigod, and an ex-priest.”
“This isn’t a joke,” I said tersely.
“No, it just sounds like one.”
“Can you shut up? I’m trying to concentrate,” Asher snapped.
A soft violet glow appeared underneath his palms, the light getting brighter as the seconds ticked by.
“There we are,” Lucifer said. “That’s the ticket.”
Soon the light wasn’t just coming from Asher’s hands. A luminous lavender began to radiate from underneath Alek’s skin, shining out of his eyes, and finally burst from his fingertips in bright beams. Just as quickly as it had happened, the light receded until it was completely gone.
Alek’s eyes fluttered open.
“Alek!” Sunday cried in relief, her lips landing on his and making him chuckle.
“Kaerasta,” he murmured, weaving one of his hands in her hair as he gently pulled away. “What’s all this for? Not that I’m complaining,” he murmured, brushing a couple of tears from her cheek.
“You were petrified,” Kingston helpfully supplied. Sunday nodded in confirmation.
Alek finally seemed to take stock of his surroundings, his eyes darting from all of us until they settled on his twin. Then they shot wide, and he jolted up into a seated position. “The ghost.”
Tor nodded grimly.
Alek pressed a shaking hand to his chest. “Freja’s pendulous breasts.”
Sunday snorted in shock, which sent the rest of us off into our own bouts of laughter.
“No more ghosts?” he asked, glancing around. “It didn’t attach to me, did it?”
Moira shook her head. “I don’t see it, but if you want, we can ask Dahlia to check just to make sure.”
“I saw it vanish before we left the town.” Tor’s voice was strong and confident.
“He’s right. The spirits there can’t leave. They’re cursed to guard Khan’s body.” Chaos rejoined us as he pulled out the weapon. “With or without his blade.”
With the crisis averted, the reminder of what we were up against sat heavy on us all.
“At least we were successful,” Alek muttered.
“Was there ever any doubt?” Sunday asked.
The Viking gave our mate a warm grin. “If we didn’t have to figure out how to attune this thing, I’d carry you out of here and show you how much your faith in me means.”
Sunday blushed. Lucifer, meanwhile, chose that moment to look at me and drawl, “See? Faith in people who deserve it.”
“What’s he going on about?” Thorne asked.
“Nothing of relevance.”
“I disagree. Faith is very relevant. But it’s all a matter of where you place it.”
“I’m sure you’d be happiest if we all placed ours in you,” Moira sniped.
“I mean . . . I do deserve it. I’m a devil of my word, after all.” Lucifer’s gaze found mine once more. “Unlike other entities.”
“Pretty sure you already have a church for that,” Kingston said. “Last I checked, the Church of Satan was a real organization.”
“And yet, they give me nothing. No tithes. No souls. Most of them don’t even believe in me.”
“Sounds like you’ve got an image problem. Maybe you need a PR person,” Moira quipped.
“Are you volunteering, witch?” Lucifer asked.
“No way. Do you know what happened to my sisters the last time they got involved with you?”
“That was hardly my fault.”
“Maybe not, but you didn’t exactly put a stop to it, did you?”
“Am I responsible for all mortal wrongdoing?”
“According to the Bible.”
I had to bite back a smile at the snarl of outrage that caused. There was something endlessly satisfying about watching the devil spiral.
“This is the problem. It’s all free will this, and free will that, until someone has to take accountability for their actions. Then it’s suddenly my fault. Utter hypocrisy.”
“Well, maybe if you gave people a reason not to blame you, that would change,” I said.
“And I plan to. Once we kill the horsewomen. Then I can slough off the mantle of evil that has been cast upon me and return to the title I deserve.”
“Oh yeah? What’s that?” Moira asked.
“The Lightbringer, obviously.”
Kingston raised his hand but didn’t wait for acknowledgment, and I braced for a stupid question. “Is that like . . . a literal thing? Or do you mean it more metaphorically?”
Lucifer bared his teeth in what I assumed was supposed to be a smile. “I suppose you’ll just have to wait and see.”
“Brilliant,” Lilith said, striding into the room and breaking up our rapidly devolving conversation. “You’re all here, that means you can stop whatever this is, and we can focus on the matter of attunement.”