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Intrigued, Naomi sat up straighter. “I take it this is about the clerics,” she said as the imp strode into the living area.

“Oh yeah.” Khloe plopped her butt on the other armchair, looking mighty pleased with herself.

“I found— Whoa , is that a brand?” She leaned forward to get a better look at Naomi’s throat.

“That’s, like, the furthest thing from subtle ever.

Luka’s demons don’t fuck around when it comes to making statements, do they? ”

“No, they don’t,” grumbled Tobe. “Back to the topic of the clerics . . .”

“We gotta wait for the others to arrive,” said the imp. “I gave Grams and Ciaran a heads-up that I have some juicy stuff to share. You should contact your mom and Alfie, Naomi; they’ll want to hear this.”

Naomi telepathed Tia. You and Alfie might want to head to my place. Khloe has news.

Her mother’s response came fast. We’ll be five minutes.

Refocusing on Khloe, she asked, “Did you and Keenan enjoy your weekend vacation?” The imp’s mate was an incubus who belonged to Knox and Harper’s lair.

“Totes. We were both supposed to have today off work so we could do stuff together, but Knox needs him for ‘sentinel business’. Keenan felt bad that we had to cancel our plans, but I told him it’s fine; I’ll just spend the day relaxing and then have a quiet night at home.”

Resettling on the sofa, Tobe snorted. “No way Keenan would ever think you’re having a quiet night in. He’s probably just choosing to believe it because it allows him to function better while away from you.”

Khloe crossed one leg over the other. “Did you know that he still makes me promise not to blow shit up when he’s gone? Like I can’t be trusted to make good decisions if left unsupervised.” She shook her head, incredulous.

“You really disagree with that assessment?” asked Naomi. She personally didn’t.

The brunette sniffed. “When I’m in the mood to be affronted, yes.”

Right then, Ciaran teleported Jolene and Beck into the living area.

It wasn’t long later that Tia and Alfie arrived.

Of course, everyone felt the need to make some comment about Naomi’s brand-spanking-new brand.

No one said anything negative about it, though—only Tobe had a real issue with it so far.

Once everyone had taken a seat, Naomi looked at Khloe and prompted, “So, you have intel.”

The imp grinned. “I sure do.”

“Let’s hear it,” urged Jolene, sitting on the sofa between Khloe and Tia.

“It turns out that the clerics are part of an old-time order called the Lemures ,” Khloe revealed. “It’s Latin for—”

“Ghosts. Specters. Phantoms,” finished Naomi.

Nodding, Khloe planted her hands on the armrests. “It’s alleged that—much like noncorporeal entities—these clerics move about unseen, undetected, and leave no traces of themselves behind.”

“Hence the name of their order,” Alfie mused, perched on a stool he’d taken from the breakfast bar.

“Uh-huh,” Khloe agreed. “It was founded by the first generation of Eliouds. It has a strict no-women-allowed rule, though the members aren’t celibate.

They believe in continuing the Elioud lines; they just have no real use for females.

Charming. They are devout followers of God and will do absolutely anything in his name, including kill.

They’ll target any supernatural creature they don’t consider holy if they decide it’s God’s will. ”

Naomi hummed. “Rather bloodthirsty for men of the cloth, aren’t they?”

“Indeed,” said Khloe, her tone prim. “They don’t see it as murder. In their view, they’re on holy missions. Their beliefs hold sprinkles of various religions—mostly Catholic. They consider themselves first and foremost to be tools of God.”

Jolene idly rubbed the pad of her thumb and forefinger together, her expression thoughtful. “So their beliefs are passed down from father to son.”

“Yup. Though they’re also suspected of abducting young boys and then fully indoctrinating them into the monkhood,” Khloe explained, her face tightening. “Presumably those boys are oblivious Eliouds who the clerics have managed to track down.”

Naomi bit out a curse. “And they dare consider themselves holy. There ain’t anything good and just about snatching and conditioning kids, no matter your reason.” It disgusted even her demon.

Khloe made a haughty mmm-hmm sound of agreement.

On the stool next to Alfie, Beck scratched at his sideburns. “Other than picking off whatever preternatural creature they deem fit, what else do they get up to?”

Khloe twirled her ankle. “There are whispers that over the years they’ve been responsible for the deaths of many people—like those who were attached to religious scandals, led Satanic cults, claimed to be Jesus reborn. Stuff like that.”

“And they seem to believe in prophecies,” added Tia, “so when you think how many ancient ones didn’t come to pass, you have to wonder if the Lemures —or maybe similar orders—had something to do with it.”

Naomi leaned forward in her seat, her gaze on Khloe. “What about the prophecy that they’re currently so wound up over?”

“I found it in a dark corner of the web, but I’ve had no joy translating it.

” Khloe whipped out her phone, tapped the screen several times, and then handed it to Naomi.

“This is a snapshot of it that someone somewhere took. It was written by a seriously ancient seer who predicted many events—some of which came to fruition.”

Eager for answers, Naomi’s demon pressed against her skin as she studied the image on the screen. It was a crinkly yellowy-cream page on which a short paragraph had been scrawled. Beneath it was a symbol. She felt her belly clench. “That’s my birthmark.”

Tobe cursed. “What does it say?” he pushed, leaning into her.

Naomi read it aloud in English. “ ‘ In the days when angels retreat from the earth a time of change for the Lemures shall come. For she who bears the mark is the progeny of the devil and will join with a demon they call a legion. As one, in the city of sin and lights, they will destroy the Lemures and he who would lead them to darkness .’ ” Lowering the phone to her lap, she frowned.

“That’s . . . sort of accurate—at least to a point. ”

“Yeah,” said Ciaran, sitting on the floor with his legs bent at the knees. “Angels have returned to their own realm, and the city of sin and lights is obviously Vegas. Those details right there warned the clerics of when you’d need to be found and just where you would be.”

Naomi nodded, handing the phone back to Khloe. “I get now why they think that I – well, my Antichrist child—will lead a demonic army. They mistranslated the part that says ‘a demon they call a legion’.”

“The prophecy isn’t referring to an army, it’s referring to a single person,” said Ciaran, following her train of thought.

“Probably Luka. Because it stands to reason that if he finds out about the monkhood coming at you, he will want it stamped out—and you’d definitely want a hand in that, so you’d work together. ”

Beck twisted his mouth. “There really is truth in the prophecy after all, then.”

Tobe looked at Naomi, his expression none too happy.

“Can’t say I like that Belinsky might end up involved in all this, but I like this bullshit with the clerics a lot less.

Their determination to end you will be as much—if not more—about the prediction that the kid they believe you’ll birth will lead to the eradication of their precious order. ”

“Yes, they’re seeking to protect themselves,” said Tia. “As for ‘he who would lead them to darkness’, that’s obviously the dark practitioner.”

“He won’t have liked the part of the prophecy that predicts his death,” Jolene noted. “He’ll know that the first descendants of Nephilim spouted genuine premonitions; he’ll be sure to heed this one just to be on the safe side. I have no doubt that he fully supports the clerics in targeting Naomi.”

“Them coming at me is, ironically, what put them on my radar.” Naomi raised her shoulders. “I wouldn’t have even looked their way if they hadn’t.”

Jolene sighed. “Sometimes it seems like prophecies cause what they predict will happen. If the seer hadn’t written that, no cleric would ever have thought to come after you.”

Tia turned to Naomi. “Are you going to tell Luka about all this? I mean, the prophecy mentions him.”

Naomi balked at the idea of dragging him into this crap. Besides . . . “We don’t know for certain that he’s the legion in question. Though, yes, I’ll concede that he very probably is. He’s the only one of his kind who considers me under his protection.”

“It makes sense that he’d try to remove a threat to you,” Alfie agreed. “Do you even know any other legions?”

“No.” His kind were relatively rare. “I’d rather not involve him in this unless I have no choice.

It isn’t as if I can be one hundred percent honest with him about the situation.

I’d have to withhold some details and fudge others.

Luka is extremely astute; he’d sense that he didn’t have the full story.

” And he wasn’t likely to overlook that.

As such, he and Naomi would likely end up arguing—and possibly even walking away from each other. She wasn’t ready for the latter yet.

“Okay, I get why you’d hesitate to bring him into it,” said Ciaran. “But if he is the legion in that prophecy—and even you agree that he most likely is—he’s going to find out about it sooner or later.”

Naomi lifted a finger. “Not necessarily. Like Jolene said, such predictions seem to cause what they state will happen. If I told him now, it would be because of what that ancient paragraph says, not because I want to tell him. I’d be fulfilling a part of the prophecy all by myself.”

Ciaran inclined his head. “True.”