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“You nervous?” Nikolai Stanisic glanced at Mae Jin as they passed Goose Island.

She ignored the fluttery feeling that had been lodged in her stomach since they reached Chicago and met the sorcerer’s gaze steadily.

“More curious than nervous. You?”

“These guys are descended from angels and demons.” Wariness crept into Nikolai’s voice as he took the next exit. “I’d be a total idiot if I said I wasn’t worried about meeting them and those beasts.”

It’s alright, my witch , Brimstone huffed where he lay coiled like a pretzel in Mae’s lap. We’ll protect you. He burped gently.

She wrinkled her nose at the smell of tacos. They’d had to make a pit stop an hour ago. It was either that or face a hunger-crazed fox familiar and demonic weapon.

Yeah, Hellreaver hummed on her chest with a faint whiff of burritos. You and your sex fiend of a boyfriend .

Mae pursed her lips.

Nikolai directed a suspicious look at the fox and the weapon.

“One of them just said something insulting, didn’t they?”

“Hell called you a sex fiend.” Mae’s cheeks grew warm. “I mean, he’s not completely wrong.”

Alastair blushed on the center console. Brimstone rolled his eyes hard.

Nikolai’s expression turned smoldering. He checked the sat nav.

“There are some woods not far from here. Should we pull into them and have ourselves a little?—?”

“We’ll be late for the party,” Mae said hastily.

The lustful glow in the sorcerer’s heated gaze abated. He sighed.

“Let’s hope our guest quarters are in a quiet part of the house.”

That damn sorcerer knows we’ll be in the room with you, right? Brimstone said frostily.

Mae ignored the fox.

“I’m sure Violet mentioned there’ll be kids at this thing,” she told Nikolai with a grimace. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to take a raincheck until we get back to New York.”

His expression fell so comically she found herself swallowing a snort.

In truth, the way he relished fulfilling his nighttime duties as her consort made her stupidly happy.

And not just his nighttime duties. Having Nikolai in her life was like finding a piece of a puzzle she didn’t even know had been missing from her life.

Mae’s heart twinged as she recalled her trip to South Ridgewood the day before. She hadn’t told Nikolai she’d gone to visit Rose Blake’s grave.

Though the headstone where she’d laid a bouquet of her best friend’s favorite flowers stood above an empty coffin, it was still the final resting place of the woman she had long considered a sister.

Memories of Rose’s true fate and her final ending on Brooklyn Bridge still haunted Mae’s darkest hours. She hoped and prayed that she would get to see her best friend again, someday soon.

They drove through a residential area. A park soon appeared on the left. Nikolai slowed and took the turn after it.

A bright winter sun bathed the landscape around them as they drove up the private road leading to Artemus Steele’s mansion, the light reflecting off the banks of snow lining the grass.

It was Christmas Eve.

Though Mae would have preferred spending the festive holidays with Nikolai and her family in New York, she could hardly refuse the invitation that had arrived on her doorstep a few weeks ago.

Two months had passed since the epic battle that had seen her defeat the Sorcerer King and take her rightful place as the Witch Queen prophesied to lead the world of magic in the ultimate battle against the forces of Hell.

Which meant it was finally time to meet the allies who would fight by her side in the war that would decide mankind’s fate at the End of Days.

Though Mae had already learned of their identities and powers from Violet and Miles Nolan, today’s meeting would hopefully answer all her and Nikolai’s burning questions, especially about the woman who had sent the Nolan cousins and Serena Blake to Chicago to help them in their fight against the Sorcerer King.

A pair of majestic, wrought iron gates appeared beneath the trees crowding the perimeter wall of the estate they were approaching. A gargoyle was perched atop each of the stone pillars bracing them.

Nikolai rolled to a stop in front of the entrance.

“That’s strange. I thought Serena said there was some kind of access panel to call the house.”

Brimstone and Alastair hopped out after them as they alighted from the SUV. They looked around.

Mae’s gaze landed on something half hidden under a bush. She narrowed her eyes.

“I think I found the access panel.”

The mangled remains of a metal post lay forlornly in the grass. The marks on it looked fresh.

Brimstone padded over and sniffed it curiously.

Something fluttered down and landed beside him.

It was a chewed up piece of electrical wiring.

They looked up.

Nikolai startled. “What the?—?!”

Another piece of wiring fell from the jaws of the closest gargoyle.

Brimstone’s hackles rose.

My witch , the demon fox growled. Those are no ordinary gargoyles.

Hellreaver transformed and hovered protectively in front of Mae.

The gargoyles flinched.

Stone creaked. Gargoyle Number One leaned sideways a fraction of an inch.

“ Aren’t they the ones Lennie told us to watch out for ?” he hissed in a guttural sotto voce.

Gargoyle Number Two dropped the remains of the mangled cable in his mouth and took on a worried air.

“ You mean, the wicked weapon inhabited by the souls of a thousand fiendish demons ?—”

Hellreaver froze before vibrating smugly.

“— the formidable demon fox with the nine tails ?—”

Brimstone stopped growling and puffed out his chest.

“— the powerful, brooding, doe-eyed sorcerer ?—”

“Doe— doe-eyed ?!” Nikolai choked.

“You do have doe-like eyes,” Mae admitted grudgingly.

“— and the crazy witch lady who rules over them all ?”

Mae scowled at the gargoyles. “Why, I ought to come up there and teach you guys a lesson!”

“ Oh-oh ,” Gargoyle Number One mumbled uneasily. “ Crazy witch is about to go on a rampage .”

Hellreaver snickered. Brimstone started wheezing.

“What’s going on here?”

They turned.

A Jeep Cherokee had stopped next to their vehicle.

A pretty brunette and a young man with dark hair and curious blue eyes climbed out of it.

“Hi, Mila,” Mae greeted.

Nikolai dipped his head.

Mila Jackson’s expression cleared. “Hey, it’s great to see you guys again. Why are you—?” She froze at the sight of the gargoyles atop the pillars. Her face turned weary. “Gerry, Larry, what did we tell you about loitering on Artemus’s gates?”

“ You said not to do it ,” Gargoyle Number Two replied sullenly.

Nikolai’s lip curled. “Gerry and Larry?”

The guy with Mila grinned. “Man, Artemus is gonna have a cow when he finds out about this.” He took his cellphone out and started texting someone.

Gargoyle Number One looked at him with mounting dread.

“And why did we say not to do it, Gerry?” Mila asked patiently.

“ Because Artemus will go apeshit, shift into his angel mode, and rain down terror upon all and sundry with his heavenly blade ,” came the low sullen mumble.

Mila shuddered. “We all know how that ended last time, so how about you guys be good gargoyles and return to Hell? FYI, I’m sure Astarte will be thrilled when she finds out you sneaked inside the portal after her.”

“ The Goddess is not here ,” Larry confessed. “ Vozgan let us through .”

Brimstone brightened. Vozgan is here?

Hellreaver hummed happily.

They’d become friends with the helldragon after meeting him in the underworld a few months back.

Mila frowned. “That overgrown lizard is going to get his tail whipped by Artemus if he’s not careful.”

This Artemus guy sounds like he has a short fuse, my witch, Brimstone said skeptically.

Yeah. Hellreaver sniffed. We already have one unhinged witch in our lives. We don’t need any more lunatics.

Mae’s mouth pressed to a thin line.

“What’d they say this time?” Nikolai asked warily.

The guy with the cellphone spoke before Mae could reply.

“Serena has a message for you two,” he told the gargoyles with a grin. “You have sixty seconds to scram before she comes down here and kick your ass.”

Larry and Gerry traded a troubled glance. They turned with a torturous creak of stone of stone and climbed down the pillars into the estate.

“ Come, Gerry. Let’s go say hello to Martha ,” Larry rumbled.

“Who’s Martha?” Mae asked carefully.

“One of the angel statues in the graveyard.” Mila grimaced. “They have a crush on her, so they gave her a name.”

Nikolai stared. “This place has a graveyard?”

“It’s the home of the LeBlancs, one of Chicago’s founding families,” Mila explained. She made introductions. “Mae, Nikolai, this is my brother Caspian.” She directed a warning look at her brother. “Don’t hit on Mae.”

“Why would you assume I’d hit on her?” Caspian said innocently.

“Because you’re like a dog in heat most days and Mae is pretty,” Mila said curtly. “I’m telling you right now, Nikolai will gut you if you try to cop a feel.” She paused. “Hellreaver might too.”

Caspian studied the sorcerer and the weapon nonchalantly.

“I’m an Immortal. They can gut me all they like.” He shrugged. “I’ll just keep coming back.”

Nikolai’s eyes glittered with a dangerous light. “A little bird told me you guys struggle with decapitation.”

Caspian’s face fell. “Dude, that’s cold.”

“Violet is such a tattletale,” Mila muttered.

“It was Bryony, actually,” Mae admitted.

Bryony Cross was the High Priestess of the New York coven and technically Mae’s highest ranked subordinate.

Not that she acted like a subordinate most days.

Mae swallowed a sigh at the thought of the piles of paperwork that would be waiting for her upon her return to New York.

Running the world of magic was no easy task.

If it wasn’t for Bryony and Abraham, I would have ditched that job a month ago.

The gates rumbled open presently.

They climbed back in the SUV and followed Mila and Caspian’s Cherokee.