“That’s him.” I blink and gently run my finger over the page. “Bael,” I whisper the demon’s name. “He’s the demon from the woods.”
Lucas’s brows furrow, and he leans over the book. “You’re sure?”
“Positive. The crown is the same, and he even looked like this.” The text is written in Latin, which is no issue for Lucas. “Does it say how to kill him?”
“No, but Ruby was right about him being a high-level demon. This describes him as a subordinate to one of the Kings of Hell. He has the power of transformation and can appear in the form of man or beast.” Lucas pauses as he reads more of the page. “Here.” He taps the book and reads. “In 1351, after Bael and several other powerful demons destroyed villages across all of Europe, covens across the continent banded together to try and rid the world of the dark beings. Unable to vanquish the demons, the covens created a vessel in which they trapped the demons. The vessel was sealed and locked away in a supernatural prison, where, to this day, the demon Bael remains.”
Lucas moves his gaze from the book to me. I bring my hand to my face and rub my eyes. “Well, shit.”
“Could Ruth have summoned this demon?”
“Oh, totally, but from the sounds of it, she’d need a lot of power. Like a hell of a lot. Summoning demons and breaking them out of a magically sealed vessel are two vastly different things.”
“Who are the Kings of Hell?”
“Um…I’m not sure.” But I know someone who does. “There are three. I remember going over it briefly in a demonology class I took during my university studies.”
“Your friends, Nicole and Naomi, have connections to a demonologist, don’t they?”
“Their gran, yes. I could call and ask them for a crash course, but I can’t risk raising suspicions. The last I heard, their gran was hanging out with Albert, a Grand Master on the Grand Coven.” I bite my lip, thinking. Lucifer would be the perfect person to ask. He’s the literal ruler of Hell. He appointed those who govern the dark realms along with him.
And if one of the Dukes of Hell are watching me…Stop. I can’t go to Lucifer for help. I shouldn’t have before.
“Something doesn’t make sense,” I say, sliding the book over and looking over the words as if I can read them. “Ruth is using necromancy to go after us. We know that for sure, and it makes sense, considering her desperation for dark power. But a high-ranking demon like this…he wouldn’t answer to a simple necromancer. She’s too…too…trivial for him. I don’t know why he’d work with her.”
“Perhaps Ruth made a deal.”
“Maybe. I’m so tired of having one question being answered only to have it lead to even more questions.” I let out a sigh and close the book. “It would be really nice to have some help right now,” I say, tipping my head up. “Dad…Julian…I’m still here in case you forgot.” Lucas rests his hand on my back, and I lean against him, closing my eyes and finding solace in his cool skin. “Whatever. I’ll do what I’ve always done and figure things out on my own. Though maybe I really will go play in oncoming traffic. See if Dear old Dad cares enough to stop me from becoming nothing more than a smear on the pavement.”
“He cares,” Lucas says to try and make me feel better. “He risked a lot so you could live.”
“Yeah…I know. But still, it would be nice to ask someone about matters of Heaven and Hell from someone, you know, who’s been there.” I swallow and look up into Lucas’s blue eyes. “Though I think my uncle would answer me.” My heart beats a little faster, and I know Lucas can hear it. He doesn’t know I drank a sleeping potion so I could talk to Lucifer.
Only Eliza knows.
“Do you think you trust him?” Lucas asks.
“I do,” I admit. “Maybe I shouldn’t, but for some reason, I do. He is family, after all. And he’s all alone down there.” I shake my head, still having a hard time grasping that concept.
“Am I sensing sympathy for the devil?” Lucas’s lip curve into a smirk, but there is concern in his eyes.
“Maybe a little. But I know what he is. Who he is. He wouldn’t have been cast out of Heaven if there wasn’t a good reason, right?”
“Good and bad aren’t as black and white as some may think,” Lucas muses. “Terrible things have been done in the name of something good.”
“I know,” I say, feeling myself get even more conflicted. Lucas, having lived for so long, has a rather interesting and very different view on institutionalized religion and government. I suppose when you’ve lived for that long you see the bad in the good and the good in the bad.
“Let’s go get something to eat.” I pull the other ribbons out of the book, leaving only this one marking Bael’s page, and close the book. “I’m hungry, and I do my best murder plotting with an overpriced margarita.”
“All right, my love.” Lucas takes my hand, and we go outside. I seal the house with an extra protection spell, and we get into the Jeep to go into town.
The vampire crew is at the house tonight, working until three or four AM before leaving to make it home before sunrise. Lucas has gone over and spoken to them, but I’ve stayed away, doing my best to keep my identity as a witch hidden.
I text Evander and Kristy, letting them know I identified the demon. There’s no cell service in the Covenstead, but I wouldn’t be surprised if either of them stepped out to check for messages.
“Is there a way to know if the door to Hell has been opened?” Lucas asks as he parallel parks along the main street in downtown Thorne Hill.
“Like a specific spell?” I unbuckle. “If there is, I don’t know it. Though going off the last time the door opened when the demon came out looking for me, it made the Ley line all wonky.” I get out of the Jeep and move to the curb. I close my eyes and hold out my hands. “It feels normal to me.”
“Good.” Lucas takes my hand again. He’s acting cool and calm as always, but I know him well enough now to know he’s on edge, looking around for anything that might be a threat to me.
Thorne Hill is a small town, and while a lot of its population is made up of witches and warlocks, we have a lot of nons here, too. I’ve always kept to myself, but co-owning the only bookstore in town has allowed me to get to know a lot of the people in town…and let them recognize me.
I say hi to a few people on our way into the restaurant, and the waiter who seats us is the same guy who served me chips and salsa when I was here with Lucas and Julian. The guy smiles and nods, not remembering anything thanks to Julian’s little mind trick.
“If he only knew,” I say under my breath, and Lucas laughs. I order a large strawberry margarita and put extra salt on the chips. Sliding the bowl in front of me, I dip a chip in the salsa.
“So Bael—who I’m just going to call B from now on—is a high level demon. Years ago, he was trapped in a magical vessel and thrown into Hell. Powerful demons have the ability to go back and forth, as we know from my little friend who tied me to a tree and tried to burn me to death.”
“That demon,” Lucas starts, leaning forward. “He was looking for you because rumors were circulating Hell about the nephilim being alive after all.”
I take a bite of the chip but suddenly lose my appetite. “You think B is looking for me, too.”
“It makes sense,” Lucas says ruefully. “You said it was like he wasn’t there. Like he was watching. Testing you.”
I throw my head back dramatically. “Motherfucking demons.”
The waiter stops short, just a few feet from our table. I force a smile, knowing I’m going to have to ask Lucas to alter this kid’s memory—again—before we leave.
“Hi, I’m ready to order,” I blurt, cutting to the chase. “I’ll have combination number eleven tonight.”
“Nothing for me,” Lucas says when the waiter looks at him. The boy just nods and quickly walks away. “I get the feeling he doesn’t like vampires.”
“He’d probably like witches even less.” I eat another chip and take a sip of my margarita, needing to let the tequila dull my senses before diving back into the subject that another demon is looking for me.
Because if the rumors are circulating Hell…they’re bound to circulate Heaven, too.