Page 193 of Wicked Believer

I almost start hyperventilating, but then I take a few slow, deliberate breaths, visualizing the calm, collected woman I want to be.

“You got this, Charlotte,” I mutter as I touch the glittering bit of stardust Mimi selected for me.

A sudden force pulls me forward by a sharp tug at my navel until I feel like I’m being torn apart and then sewn back together again. A few pieces of the mosaic stained glass of my dress cut into me.

Note to self: Do not wear glass statement pieces during divine travel.

This is so much worse when I’m the one in charge of it.

But before I realize that my celestial roller coaster ride is basically over, my feet abruptly slam into the ground, and one of my heels cracks beneath me.

Jesus, I better learn to teleport in heels or next time wear tennis shoes,I think as I take in the scene before me.

Oh shit.

I so havenotgot this.

Chapter Sixty-Seven

Charlotte

Like the celestial rookie I am, I expected to find Ian and Jax alone, since there was no indication he was acting as anythingotherthan a free agent. But I know I’ve made a major mistake the moment I see Ian standing there, intimidated and shaking, terrified by the sight of my Mother-in-Law.

Honestly, I know the feeling.

Lilith advances on him like she couldn’t care less about the blade in his hand, one of her turning into three as she surrounds him.

Even if it’s the real Holy Lance, it probably won’t work on her anyway.

I hunker down where I stand in the top row of the pews. We’re inside my father’s old megachurch, Victory in His Name, and thankfully, the stadium seating is completely empty, but I’m still far enough away that neither of them is likely to see me.

And I know this place like the back of my hand.

I practically grew up here.

Before my father transformed it into the Righteous stronghold it is now.

Not that it was any betterbeforeits Christian nationalism days.

A cult is still a cult by any other name.

Ian’s head swivels back and forth between the three Liliths, and Jax starts to scream, the sound muffled by the gag Ian’s shoved into her mouth.

I stay low, trying to get a read on what’s happening without alerting Jax or anyone else that I’m here. My Mother-in-Law wants grandbabies, so even if I got between her and Ian, she wouldn’t hurt me, right?

But then Michael steps forth from the shadows, and any chance I might have had of getting both Jax and me out of this safely is gone.

What the hell ishedoing here?

Michael’s eyes immediately fall to the blade in Ian’s hand, his gaze narrowing like he’s insanely pissed that Ian has a hold of it, and I finally put two and two together.

Whoever possesses it is said to win any battle,Lucifer’s voice echoes inside my head.

That’s why Michael is approaching so slowly.

Why he hasn’t just lunged at Ian and taken it.

Which means . . .