Page 34

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

FRANKIE

The room erupted into cheers and applause. For a few moments, there was merely celebration. Several people crossed the room to give him a high-five, and I loved the sparkle in his eyes at each one. Something told me my soulmate was also grappling with the reality of what he’d done after so long in his espionage.

Tenn cleared his throat. “All right, all right, simmer down now. We’re all thrilled Everest has come to our side finally, along with his crew, but I do think we have some things to discuss?—-”

“I have questions.” Tegan pulled the Book of Shadows out and flipped pages. “So many questions.”

Everest smirked. “I expect nothing less, High Priestess.”

“ As do I ,” I whispered.

His blue and white eyes met mine. “I know.”

“Okay, right, so . . . ” Tegan tapped her fingers on the open page, then eyed him. “Everest?—-”

“Also known as Winter Frost Mountain, ” Savannah said with a chuckle.

Everest's eyes widened and snapped in her direction. “What did you just call me?”

“Winter Frost Mountain.” She grinned. “I can’t take credit for that one. That’s what the angel Leyka called you in a note he sent to us.”

Saber snickered.

Everest grinned so wide his cheeks dimpled. I’d never seen him smile that wide. He scrubbed his face. “Oh, Leyka. I’m afraid he’s been calling me that for centuries now.”

“Which brings me to my first question.” Tegan waited until Everest looked to her, then asked, “How old are you exactly? Followed by how old is Sweyn? And then how did you end up in Avolire?—-”

“One at a time, Tegan.” Cooper huffed. “Damn.”

Everest stared into the distance for a long moment before he answered. “I was born in the year nine hundred.”

“WHAT?”

“NINE HUNDRED?”

“WAIT, SOMEONE DO THAT MATH?—-”

“ YOU’RE ONE THOUSAND-ONE-HUNDRED-NINETEEN YEARS OLD? ”

My pulse quickened. My whole body swayed. I shook my head. “ What? ”

Everest glanced around the room with a chuckle. “Do I lie, Lancaster?”

“No, you do not,” Jackson’s voice was barely a whisper.

“For your second question, Sweyn was born in the year nine-hundred-ninety-nine.” Everest nodded and waved his hand. “Go ahead. Freak out.”

They did. Loudly.

But I couldn’t hear them over the heavy thumping of my own heart.

“You’re older than Sweyn.” Tegan shut the Book of Shadows. “I did not see that coming.”

“And neither will she when she learns that detail,” Saber said with a cocky smirk. “A nice one-two-punch, if you will.”

Everest rolled his eyes at her. “What you have to understand is that Mother—- Lilith —has battle plans and strategies at the ready. Much like your own Queen of Darkness, she has contingency plans for her contingency plans.”

Tegan smirked. “I have mixed feelings about that comparison.”

“You shouldn’t. That devious brain of yours is going to be key to defeating her.”

Tegan grinned. Hunter groaned. Cooper cursed. Bentley snort-laughed. Em pulled a fire ball into her hands and snickered. Tenn looked like he was going to throw up.

“Sometimes Lilith’s plans got foiled by Covens-past so she immediately has new ideas lined up and ready to put into play.” Everest shrugged. “Sometimes she has multiple schemes running at once. Often, these villainous schemes happen because she saw an opening and pounced. Althea and Aurelia. Joseph. Sam’s father—-and no, I won’t speak of him yet.”

Everyone groaned and glanced around nervously.

Everest sat up straight. “It is imperative that you hear me when I say she will be looking for any opportunity she can get to infiltrate your mind and poison the well. And you may not know it has happened until it is too late. There are spirits who have not found peace because they realized only in death that Lilith manipulated them.”

I shuddered.

Everest nodded. “If any of you have grievances you allow to fester, even if the intention is well thought out, be sure to speak on them and find your peace. We need to ensure amends have been made on anyone slighted by The Coven, even unintentionally or unknowingly.”

“Like the people we rescued from the balefire?” Warner asked from the table while he cracked his knuckles.

“Yes, that is a perfect example. You did not know they were trapped there but that wouldn’t stop Lilith from twisting the truth, as she did to Joseph’s crew.” Everest turned to Jackson. “Your family is also a concern of mine. That is why your father and his queen are not here with you now. He is tending to your family. He knows better than anyone what future awaits us when Lilith returns.”

Everyone shuddered and cursed.

Tim looked to Constance, then back. “Connie and I can help work on that effort. We need Haven and Tegan on the battlefront.”

“Let me know where I can lend my assistance?” When he nodded, Everest turned back to Tegan. “To answer your other question, Mother had other plans for me when I was first born. Plans that I . . . don’t wish yet to speak on. Plans that I enacted as a child when I was too young to understand the depths of her evil . . .”

“That’s when you knew,” I said softly. “Whatever it is she made you do as a child . . . that’s when you decided which side of the war you were on.”

His gaze drank me in for a moment and I felt the emotion in his eyes. “Yes.”

I cringed and squeezed his hand. “I’m sorry she did that to you, that you had to suffer as much as you did to make you decide that.”

He squeezed my hand back, his gaze distant and dark. “I came to your realm, to Earth, for the first time when I was eighteen years old.”

“ Don’t ask him about before that, ” Bentley whispered.

“Mother sent me here to learn the way of the land, to grow accustomed to life here, so that when Sweyn was born I could help to control her. I did do that, but I did so in the shelter of the angels. They took me in. They trusted me, befriended me, and . . . well, they were my co-conspirators. That was the start of my long running friendship and alliance with Heaven. Once Sweyn was born, in 999, I kept close watch from a distance, yet never face-to-face. She was raised by the Nephilim who later betrayed the world. Twenty years after the turn of the millennia, I went to Sweyn, pretending to be an eighteen-year-old half-breed like herself that was alone in the world in need of shelter.”

“So Sweyn thinks she’s older than you and that she took you in.” I spun my crystal ring around my finger nervously. “When really you have been playing her from the start.”

He nodded. “Two centuries later the war started.”

“Which war was that again?” Thiago scowled and scratched his head. “I’ve lost track of the years and such. Was that the One Hundred Years’—-”

“No. The One Hundred Years’ War started a century later. First we had the war of Heaven against the Nephilim, vampires, and Unseelie.” Everest’s eyes darkened. “We lost a lot in that war.”

Saber squeezed his shoulder tight enough for her knuckles to turn white.

My chest tightened. There was history between them. I just needed to know the details. Ignorance was not bliss if I couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Braison strolled back in to sit on the floor by Willow so Albert could crawl into his lap. “Now that we’re free . . . How long have you been on his crew, Saber?”

“Forever,” she said softly without looking at anyone or taking her hand off my soulmate’s shoulder. Her mouth quirked like she was trying to fight a smile. “I was a wee little tickling when Everest found me. I’ve been by his side since.”

Braison nodded. “And how long is that now?”

“Saber has been with me for a few decades, though her residency at Avolire is a little more than a single decade.” Everest smiled up at her. “And now look at us.”

“ I know! ” She giggled. “We have the first witch-turned-vampire?—-”

“Wait, I’m the first?”

“Yes, Braison, you are.” Everest nodded. “Sweyn never dared to attempt such a thing before. She is smart enough to know how to stay under The Coven’s radar.”

Tenn narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest. “So why did she turn Braison now? We weren’t even looking at her. I mean, yeah, we knew she attacked us in October, but that was not a problem on our immediate agenda?—-”

“I turned Braison,” Everest said with a sad smile. He looked down to the witch in question. “Sweyn had all but killed him. I stopped her, then gave him the choice.”

“And I don’t yet regret it.” Braison pulled another piece of chicken from the tub. “But hey, maybe gimme a century or so.”

Everest chuckled and leaned back against the lounge chair again.

Savannah raised her hand. “Are there any other vampires on your side?”

“Yes, just not vocally,” Aunt Shi-Shi answered immediately, speaking up for the first time. “Many of us loathe Sweyn and her actions. We just did not know The Coven would believe us. Nor did we know Everest was against her as well.”

Saber nodded. “There are more on Heaven’s side than you would think, but it is going to take a lot to get them to leave Avolire, simply out of fear.”

Everest sighed. “In due time. Right now, Sweyn and Mother are going to be on high alert.”

Two faces flashed in my mind. I frowned. “What about Sam and Pierce?”

Saber grimaced. “Pierce . . . He’s terrified. I suspect he’ll be the next to abandon ship the second he sees a chance.”

Braison tossed the empty Tupperware onto the coffee table. “But he’s smart, so he won’t jump without seeing a landing.”

Saber and Malik nodded, their expressions grim.

I cleared my throat. “And Sam? She’s risked herself a lot to help us.”

Tegan sighed. “Oh, Sam . . .” I did not like the way her face scrunched up.

Thiago raised his hand. “We’re sure she’s on our side, yes?”

“Yes,” Tegan said without hesitation. “She made an oath to Heaven. She gave her word.”

Tenn’s eyes widened. “An actual oath?”

“The official one, yes.” Tegan wrapped her arms around herself. “Frankie almost got her out but the Prince interfered.”

“I was so close.” I groaned.

“I tried to get her out with us last night,” Everest spoke softly, his gaze far away. “She insisted on remaining to be our spy.”

I squeezed his hand. “What aren’t you saying, Everest?”

His gaze dropped to my hand in his. He licked his lips. “I fear . . . I fear she intends to be the speed bump on my mother’s path to kill Tennessee.”

Silence. Everyone looked to Tenn, then back to Everest.

“ Say what? ” I whispered.

Everest glanced around the group. “Sam is aware, as are Sweyn and Lilith, that Haven—-I apologize, Tennessee—-must be the one to deliver the killing blow. He, and only he, can use Michael’s sword to rid the universe of Lilith permanently. Mother intends to prevent him from living long enough to get the chance.”

Silence.

The air in the room turned ice-cold and prickly.

Tegan shivered and gagged. She patted the sofa beside her. “Tenn, the lust is gone. Get back over here.”

Tenn hurried over to sit next to her, then pulled her into his lap. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her back against his chest. “I don’t like the sound of that any more than you all do.”

Everest nodded. “But this is not news to you two.”

They shook their heads and held on to each other tighter.

I squeezed his hand to get his attention. “So, Sam . . . speed bump?”

He shrugged. “I was going for a modern metaphor.”

Saber snorted. “Wasn’t your best work.”

He grinned and chuckled a little. I hated the jealousy that exploded inside of me.

But then he sobered. “I need you all, specifically Tegan and Tenn—-and Bettina once she wakes—-to understand that Sam and I . . . One of you must kill us.”

I flinched and sat up straight. A cold chill slid down my spine. “ Excuse me ?”

“If Lilith gets her hands on me or Sam, she will drag us into her realm where she will torture us for eternity.” He paused while we all gagged and shuddered. “And to clarify, that means dead or alive. If we are killed, she will grab our souls before they ever reach the Strait of the Dead, before Lucifer can grab ahold of us.”

“What . . . what . . . what . . .” I closed my eyes and shivered. “What are you saying?”

“Obviously, I’m only speaking on if Lilith is alive. But if she is, and we are killed, there will be no end to our torture. The only way to prevent this is if we are killed by a weapon of Heaven.”

“Wait, I don’t?—-”

His gaze locked on mine. He squeezed my hand. “If there comes a time where survival is impossible and death is our last prayer for mercy, we must be killed by a weapon of Heaven.”

I clenched my teeth as bile shot up my throat.

Tim moved closer and held his sword out. “Does this count?”

Everest frowned and looked over at it. His eyes widened. “That is quite an honor, Timothy. I hope you know that. And yes, that would work.”

My stomach was rolling. I wrapped both arms around myself. “Didn’t Tegan make Tenn’s black sword a holy weapon?”

Tegan shook her head. “I just sent Heavenly power in her direction. Bettina performed the spell to transform it.”

Tenn grinned and held his hand out. The air pulsed, then his long black sword flew through the air and smacked into his palm. “Is that what she did?”

Everest held his hand out. “May I see?”

“Sure.” Tenn held it over for him.

Everest took the sword in his hands and ran his fingers along the blade, then the hilt. A slow smile spread across his face. “Yes, she did indeed. Impressive gift your sister has. Ruth would be proud.”

Tenn straightened. “Did you know my mother?”

His smile turned sad. “Yes, she was incredible. But you two are even more so. I’m sure she is unbearably annoying to the rest of the afterlife at how proud of you two she is.”

Tim snort-laughed and nodded.

“Wait, okay, hold on.” I took a deep breath, then put my hand on his leg. “So then we need Bettina to wake up so that she can give you and Sam a Heavenly weapon so you can take yourselves out if you must.”

Everest’s wide eyes locked on me and just stared.

“Lilith torturing you for an eternity is not an option.” I shook my head and squeezed his leg just to confirm he was really there. “So either we get you a Heavenly weapon so you can save yourself or I will have to go in there after you and finish the deed myself.”

He paled. “You will not enter Lilith’s realm.” His voice was low and dangerous.

“I’ve told you before, no darkness will keep me from you. I am not her bloodline, eventually her torture would kill me and my soul will be untouchable. If I can’t be willing to die to save my soulmate, then you shouldn’t have revealed the truth to me.”

His face was unreadable. He just stared at me.

Saber gripped his shoulder and gave him a little shake. “That is a good idea. No one wants you or Sam to meet that end, or not end, should I say. It’s best if you have the ability to save yourself. I fear if it comes to that, you won’t have anyone else around.”

Tegan was already nodding, her fingers gripping the Book of Shadows. “Agreed. I will get you two a weapon blessed by Heaven in some form, one that will provide an express pass to Heaven where she could never touch you. I just need time to figure that out, or to get Bettina awake.”

“Good. Because I will go in after him.”

“Please, stop. Do not speak of that or I shall never rest.” Everest closed his eyes, but his shoulders were rising and falling fast.

“Everest.” Jackson scrubbed his face with his hands, then cursed. “What can you tell us about those injured in the Land of the Lore?”

Everest opened his eyes and scowled. “Zabkiel has not told you?”

I cocked my head to the side. “Which one is Zabkiel again?”

Everest smirked. “Riah.”

Tegan cursed and turned to face Bentley.

He shrugged. “I told you.”

“What?” I glanced back and forth. “ What? ”

Royce signed, “D on’t like that.”

“Excuse me, Mister Frost Mountain.” Savannah waved her hands wildly. “What didn’t Riah tell us? And why didn’t he ? ”

Everest steepled his hands in front of him. “Riah feels his gift gives him too much power, and for that he must always follow the rules. It is, of course, why he was gifted those abilities and not . . . let’s hypothetically say, his brother.”

The room chuckled but I missed the joke.

Everest continued, “Malachi is his father’s son. Even as Raziel he was never one to follow rules.”

Tenn cocked his head to the side. “Wait, did you know them as Zabkiel and Raziel?”

Everest seemed to hesitate. “Yes. They were close friends of mine before Sweyn was born and then they died. When they returned shortly thereafter as Malachi and Zachariah, they did not remember me, but that did not prevent them from taking a liking to me.”

“And where do you fall in the rule-breaking sphere?” Cooper grumbled.

“Depends on the rule.”

Jackson rolled his eyes. “Wanker.”

“I am not of this realm, young Lancaster. There is not an ounce of Earthling or Heaven in my veins. I do not belong here, and therefore, I am not bound in the same way anyone else is.”

Royce signed, “ What does that mean? ”

“What does that mean?” I closed my mouth and frowned. “Actually, I’m not sure where you’re going with that.”

Thiago shook his head. “It means the consequences and punishments for his actions do not follow the same rules as ours.”

“I have no interest in lying to anyone in this room. In this side of the war, I may omit things I must, for reasons I wouldn’t be able to explain. Just know if I can tell you, I will.” Everest turned to look at Jackson. “So do not ask me questions you do not want answers to, for I will tell you.”

Jackson stood and walked over to stand in front of Everest. “The not knowing is suffocating. Can you understand that?”

He glanced to me, then back. “I can. Ask if you must know, but you must voice the question.”

Jackson swallowed roughly. He balled his hands into fists at his side. His arms seemed to be shaking. “Am I going to lose her?”

Everest took a deep breath, then sat up straight. Slowly he climbed to his feet. It was the slowest I’d ever seen him move. I wondered why he was using the energy he didn’t have to do so. I realized the answer a split second before he said it. “The Land of the Lore is—- was —-a product of Unseelie magic. Those injured as a result of the Unseelie—-be it within the Land of the Lore or by their blade itself—-will not heal so long as the Unseelie can enter this realm.”

I felt the air get sucked right out of the room.

Everyone just stared at him in horror with pale faces.

“Everest . . .” My stomach rolled. “What does that mean exactly?”

Everest held his hand out and the tome we’d found in Seelie flew from Tegan’s leather jacket pocket. He held it up for everyone to see, turning to make sure he had everyone’s attention. “We must use this tome to permanently block the Unseelie from entering this realm. Or their injuries will never heal. Bentley’s arm will fester for the rest of his life, and it will grow worse and worse until it kills him. Willow will never be able to hear. Royce won’t speak. Emersyn will remain blind. Savannah’s hands will never work.” He paused to breathe, lowering the tome back to Tegan. “Esther, Deacon, Chutney, Kessler, and Bettina will die. Sooner rather than later.”

Jackson swayed on his feet, but Tenn was there to catch him before he fell. Tim hurried over and wrapped his arms around both boys. Mona sniffled and wiped tears from her cheek. Savannah and Emersyn leaned into each other. Hunter held one of Em’s hands tightly in his. Cooper and Bentley sat beside them, grabbing on to each other. Willow was rubbing her ears. Royce buried his face in Thiago’s shoulder. All around the room this new family of mine was grappling with the bomb Everest had just dropped.

Myrtle knows.

Everest reclaimed his seat, and I realized he’d stood up as a sign of respect and compassion for delivering horrific news. “Yes, she does.”

“I knew it.” I shivered as I remembered the looks on Esther’s parents’ faces. “She told Esther’s family. She must have. That’s why they looked the way they did. Dammit.”

“ What about Easton and Lily ?” Willow whispered, her big teary eyes watching my soulmate.

He shrugged. Everyone groaned.

Tenn exhaled a ragged breath and leaned into his uncle behind him. “Wait, we’ve been in the Land of the Lore before, and people were injured who then healed?—-”

“That was different. Those times, you ventured into the Land of the Lore while King Atzaran was alive. When he died, as beautiful as that moment was to watch, the doorway between the Unseelie realm and Earth opened as he’d tied that spell to his life. He intentionally made it so that if he was killed, Earth would suffer the consequences with the Unseelie. They are and have always been worse than the Seelie and the reason they had a civil war in the first place.”

Tenn swallowed roughly. “Did you know that would happen?”

Everest grimaced. “We suspected it. We simply thought we would have more time to prepare. That is why your Seelie friends have been busy elsewhere. Thorne, Sage, Saraphina, Ziva, and the angel brothers . . . they immediately went to work to try and buy you time. They’re still trying to buy you time.”

Katherine walked over and pressed her palm to Tim’s back. “So . . . if we don’t block the Unseelie from Earth permanently, the injured?—”

“Will die,” Everest said, his voice flat.

Everyone whimpered and groaned.

Everest’s face fell. “I am sorry. I did not want to rob you of your hope?—-”

“No. I would rather know right now. I’m not going to sit by her bed—-” Jackson’s voice broke as his breath hitched. Tenn and Tim held him tight. “I’m not going to sit by her bed waiting on bated breath for her to wake up at any moment if you’re telling me she’s not going to wake up.”

Everest’s eyes were sad. “She will not wake until we perform the spell that is inside this tome.”

Jackson’s legs gave out, but Tim and Tenn gently sat him on the couch, then sat beside him. He took a shaky breath. “ Thank you for your honesty ,” he whispered.

Tegan shouted a violent curse and tugged on her mostly purple hair. “Okay, okay, fuck . Absolutely not. I am not losing—-we are not losing any of them. So, let’s all focus, push aside all of anything else and figure out how to remove the magical barrier on this.”

Everest tapped his fingers on the armrest. “They are on the move, moving to destroy all we’ll need to remove this. The Prince knows more than we do, so we must act quick.”

Tenn frowned. “Prince?”

Memories of him replayed in my mind. “You warned me to stay away from him.”

Everest’s eyes took a sharp, murderous turn. “The Unseelie Princess, daughter to the King, had two children. The younger one is Sweyn, fathered by a Nephilim, but the elder was fathered by a high-ranking Unseelie knight. That’s the Prince. He is Sweyn’s older, crueler sibling. And no, I do not know his name.”

Bentley looked up with wide eyes. “So that’s true, then?”

Everest nodded. “Yes. Knowing an Unseelie’s name allows you some power over them. Especially the royals, which is why no one has heard their names. Thorne and Sage don’t even know the son’s name and he’s older than me.”

Tegan ran her fingers over the Book of Shadows. “Should we fear the King’s arrival?”

“No. He is ancient. He was already ancient before Atzaran was born.”

Warner whistled.

“The Unseelie King is a siphon. He consumes from other life forms and takes their power for his own. He is able to spread this gift to whomever he chooses—-thus the creation of vampires, and much more recently, Joseph. This is why the civil war began in the first place. That was how he became King of Seelie in the first place. It wasn’t until Atzaran came along with his rebellion that he was dethroned and their kind banished from Seelie forever.”

“Was he weakened?” When we all turned to look at her, Savannah shrugged. “Sounds black magic-ish to me. To siphon magic and then power others with it must weaken him a little, no?”

Everest smirked. “Correct, Darkling. Though his own people do not realize this or they would have killed him by now. His grandson, the Prince, has most of the King’s magic at this point.”

There was lots of cursing at that point.

“If you see him, run. As fast as you can.” Everest pointed to our High Priestess. “Especially Tegan.”

Tegan’s face fell. “That was him .”

He nodded. “The Prince wanted to siphon the Aether Witch’s power so he attacked her when you fled Avolire. Tegan’s magic attacked back, which is what caused Sam to almost shift, which then caused Tegan to stop it?—-”

“Thus, Witch’s Shock and why it was different this time.” Tegan snarled.

Everest leaned forward to meet her gaze. “Do not face him, Tegan. The others are looking into how we can protect you from that, but we do not yet know the answer.”

Tegan nodded.

“Did you hear him, babe?” Tenn growled, his face pale. But it was the brokenness in his mismatched eyes that unnerved me. “Did you hear what he just said?”

She met her soulmate’s stare and pressed her right hand over her chest, lining the two crystals of their glyph together. “I will not face the Unseelie Prince or any Unseelie strong enough to siphon my magic.”

Tim pinched the bridge of his nose without releasing his grip on Jackson. “Yeah, let’s all avoid him.”

Everest nodded. “You must capitalize on the daylight.”

Warner threw his hand up. “Hey, Mountain Frost Man? Why can the demons come out in the daylight now? It’s not all the time but before we took down King fuckface, we were fighting demons in the sunlight. What’s up with that?”

“Short answer? Mother has the ability to allow them into the sunlight, but it takes a lot of her energy to do, at least in her current form.” Everest rubbed his hands together. “And know that when she manages to return here in her physical form, the demons will be out in the light.”

Tenn tied his hair up in a man-bun. “What can you tell us about the fallen angels who’ve been summoned?”

“You’re aware of Asmodeus and Azazel, of course. But the new arrivals are Astaroth, Mammon, Soneillon, and most recently Reuelle.” Everest pushed his long white hair back. “Azazel was the Angel of Sin, fittingly. If he sets his sights on you, he’ll have you in his bed before you even have time to resist. He will make you want him so much you cannot breathe. Astaroth seduces by laziness. You’ll often see him near snakes as he has power over them. Mammon is the demon of greed. Where there is greed there will be Mammon. But one of our biggest issues will be with Soneillon. She has red eyes like Mother and red horns. Her body is covered in black demonic runes, but when she’s using her magic the runes glow red.”

“What’s her magic do?”

“Rage and hate.” He cracked his knuckles. “With just a look she can detonate enough rage within a person to make them do heinous things. We will need to eliminate her as a priority. Until then treat her like Medusa and avoid eye contact.”

“And I’ll work on something to shield us from her powers, as well as the others.” Tegan pressed her palm to the Book of Shadows.

“Sweyn has been itching to summon more fallen angels. I’ve been the only thing preventing it, so we should expect that to happen.” Then he shook his head. “Though, from the last war I can tell you . . . you do not want to initiate a fight with them. Not yet. We need to be on defense only with the angels until our angels have more answers for us. Understood?”

They nodded.

“And Asmodeus?” My voice felt hollow and raw. “The one I helped summon?”

“Unknowingly. You were not even conscious.” He reached forward and tucked my hair behind my ear. “But Asmodeus is the channel for demons. He controls them. Asmodeus you’ll never reach. He’s too smart. Killing him might not ever happen. You’ll want to pray his own motives are more important to him than killing you, or you’ll never survive.”

Tenn rubbed his chest. “Why did he let me survive?”

“You mean why did he let Nadia retrieve Lucifer’s dagger and then kill her?” He shrugged. “I do not know. I have spent a thousand years trying to understand what drives Asmodeus and I am still blank. But know, Little Michael, he wants you alive. For now. For reasons we may never understand.”

“And Reuelle?” Lennox spoke up for the first time. “Another female?”

“Asmodeus’ soulmate.” We all must’ve made faces because he grimaced and nodded. “I do not know much about her, but she deals in vengeance and justice. We likely won’t get to her because she will remain close to Asmodeus.”

“We have to kill some of them.” I pressed my fingers to my temples. “Where can we start? Couldn’t one of us seduce Azazel and kill him?”

Everest hissed. His knuckles popped from how hard he made fists with his hands.

But it was Braison who spoke up. “No one touches Azazel. No one goes near him. You do not allow yourself to be left alone with him. You don’t?—-”

Saber crouched down in front of him and squeezed his arm. “It’s okay.”

Braison looked like he was going to be sick. “I will never unsee the blood stains from cleaning his mess.”

We all shuddered.

Everest’s eyes met mine and held them. “Not. Azazel. Understood?”

I nodded.

He relaxed a little at that. But then he turned to the group. “You’re not going to like this, but I am going to insist you listen to what I say here . . . You will have to let some attacks happen without your interference. They will try to lure you out and pick you off one by one.”

Tenn took a deep breath. “What do you suggest we do?”

“Make sure your civilians are on lockdown an hour before sunset and an hour after sunrise. Establish safe evacuation locations for them to flee to if they’re in danger. You have knights, pages, and many others in leadership positions . . . Let them handle the attacks unless it is severe.” He pointed to Tegan. “That tome is our priority. You have the key and the cipher but unless we break the barrier they placed on it, we will never win . . . and people will die.”