Total pages in book: 85
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80563 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 403(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 269(@300wpm)
“So, now what?” Eliza asks.
“Um.” I look at Lucas, needing him to help guide me on this. “Her demonic name is Or’dreaxth. I don’t know anything about her, so I’ll need to go to the Academy for research.” I make a face, internally wincing before I say what I’m about to say. “We do have one advantage, something Drea doesn’t know about.” I inhale and look at Lucas for a quick glance. “The God of the Underworld.”
Chapter
Twenty
“Thanks for coming on short notice,” I tell my friends.
“You did say you were brining Gino’s East pizza,” Nicole says, picking up a piece from her plate. “Bribery helps.” We’re back in Thorne Hill and I called an emergency meeting with my friends.
“And you piqued my interest as soon as you said don’t tell my mother.” Evander pours red wine into his glass. “Also interested in that vampire Kristy told me about.”
“You two talked?” I wiggle my eyebrows, earning glares from them both. Someday they’ll wake up and realize they’re meant to be. “Anyway, I’ve got to catch you all up to speed.” Juliet—who’s with Lucas in the family room—starts crying. “Well, in a minute. Maybe?” I wait a beat, giving Lucas the chance to sooth her before getting up and going to my daughter. I never realized how hard it would be to ignore my maternal instincts. She’s perfectly fine with her father, and if she needed me, he would bring her to me.
“I’m kinda scared to be caught up,” Ruby says and pats a large book on the table in front of her. “Especially since you asked me to look up a demon in the encyclopedia.”
“And I feel like it’s been a hot minute since you were inches from death,” Naomi says and Kristy and I both laugh. The twins don’t know what happened just days ago.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be close to it again. Because I might have found a demon who will help me bust into Hell so I can kill Paimon once and for all.”
“You’re joking, right?” Nicole and Naomi reply at the same time.
“No. She came to me and was able to get past the first warding, so she doesn’t mean me harm. And I know, I know…demons lie. This one isn’t an exceptional do-good demon. She doesn’t want Paimon to rule for selfish reasons, and she wants me to promise her immunity basically. But there was a rift left from the portal Lucifer helped me create to get out of Hell a while ago, and demons were able to pry it open somehow. We need demon blood to get in.”
“And once you’re in?” Kristy’s brows are pushed together and she’s looking at me like I’m a crazy person. She went through hell with me only a few days ago. I probably am a crazy person to go to literal Hell now.
“Kidnap Paimon, drag him out of Hell, and hope he’s weakened by being here on earth so I can kill him. Drea—that’s what she calls herself—alluded to him being stronger in Hell.”
“Sounds like an easy thing to do on a Thursday evening,” Kristy says back, slowly shaking her head. “Callie, that plan is insane.”
“Which is why I think it might actually work. Because there’s one more thing I need to tell you about.”
Her blue eyes meet mine. “Osiris.”
“Yeah. He wants to form an official alliance.” I suck in air, waiting for everyone else to take it all in. They do as expected, and I’m met with incredulous stares.
“You go from trusting that guy to trusting a demon,” Ruby says, eyes narrowing as she thinks. “I don’t know the details about Osiris, but he’s powerful and old. Really flipping old.”
“I know,” I reply and push my hair back. “And I can’t explain it, but I do trust him. He’s not a bad guy, not anymore than Lucifer is. He seems to take his job seriously, and unlike Lucifer, he doesn’t mind being in the Underworld.” More than aware Lucas can hear us, I fold a piece of pizza in half and take a bite.
“What does that mean?” Naomi asks. “Form an official alliance?”
“It means,” Lucas says, zooming into the room with Juliet in his arms. “He wants to marry my wife.”
“Like strategically marry,” I interject. “So our families are connected or whatever they used to do in the olden days. And I haven’t quite agreed to it yet.” Though I did. I told him I would join forces and getting married was unnecessary.
“Now before anyone gets cut on this tension,” Evander goes on. “What the actual fuck, Cal?”
“Paimon kidnapped Juliet. He hurt Kristy and almost killed Eliza. If my father and Lucifer hadn’t shown up, we…we wouldn’t have made it.” The fear and trauma from that night finally crash down on me and I wrap my arms around myself, shivering. “They showed up, even though they shouldn’t have because my father has been watched by the others. They suspect him of helping Lucifer and they think Lucifer is my father. Uriel tracked them to the house and I knew I had to do something. That...that’s why I asked Osiris for help.”