by Aileen Erin
When Raphael came back from Costa Rica, I figured he was okay. I hadn’t even given him or what he’d gone through a second thought. He’d seemed fine, and I didn’t want to pry.
I was a shit cousin. “I’m sorry. I—”
“Don’t apologize. I didn’t want to bring it up.” His tone was sharp enough to cut, but it wasn’t meant for me. It wasn’t me he was glaring at. It was Claudia.
I didn’t know what had happened between them, but it was bad.
“Muraco saw that something was bothering me and he was trying to help. I felt like I had a shadow of evil and negativity hanging over me that I couldn’t shake.” He licked his lips, and I knew whatever he was going to say, it wasn’t good. The sorrow and guilt was pouring off of him. “When I told him that, Muraco said his mate was a witch and he could do a spell to make sure that the magic that brought Daniel back from the dead wasn’t still affecting me. But the spell went wrong. Astaroth came and I was thrown from the circle. I tried to get help, but everything happened so quickly and…”
Oh my God. This was making so much more sense.
He squeezed his eyes shut. “It was my fault. I did this. I’m the reason he came after you next, and you almost died. I—”
“Stop it!” Claudia snapped. “No one blames you.”
“I do.” His tone was knife-sharp, but he didn’t mean to hurt anyone, except himself. “I blame myself.” He met my gaze. “And you should, too.” His chair screeched against the floor as he stood and strode out the door.
“I don’t blame him.” I’d been shocked at what he said and stayed quiet too long. He was already gone when I’d spoken, but he was wrong. This wasn’t his fault.
Claudia started to get up, but Lucas grabbed her hand as the door slammed shut behind Raphael. “Let your brother go. He’s angry with himself and he keeps taking it out on you. He needs time. Just let him be.”
“It’s just hard to see him suffering, and—”
“I know.” Lucas cut Claudia off. “You’re kind and caring and generous, so it makes sense that of anyone, you’d want to help your twin through this. But he needs time. He’s got to figure this one out on his own.”
The room was quiet as Lucas pulled Claudia into him. I figured they were still talking, so I didn’t say anything for a bit. I was glad Claudia had someone by her side, making sure she didn’t take too much on herself. Lucas was good for her.
“Well, shit,” I said after a while, breaking the silence that had spread over us. “That wasn’t what I expected.”
“Me either.” Claudia tugged nervously at her braid before flipping it over her shoulder. “When Dastien called me while you were under Astaroth’s hold, I already had one of his minions in my circle. That’s how I was able to help you. I used his power and connection to Astaroth along with your bond to Dastien to get you free. But the magic Luciana used on you and me and my brother? It’s lingering. We’re tied to Astaroth.”
“I know we’re tied.”
“You know?”
“Yeah. You haven’t checked your voicemail.” It wasn’t a question, because I’d for sure told her about the tie multiple times on there.
Claudia shook her head. “No.”
“Okay. So this is what I know.” I filled her in on what had happened from my perspective while I was in Astaroth’s black abyss and what Eli said about the Seven, the fey, the seal, and Astaroth’s plan. “Please tell me you brought some crystals back.” I wanted to believe there was an easy fix to this, and that the crystals would be it.
Claudia took a second too long to answer, which meant that she hadn’t.
Nope. No. We needed them. “Can you go back and get them? Or have someone overnight them or something?”
“Even if I had any crystals—which I don’t—they won’t work. Not on a demonic tie. Otherwise Raphael wouldn’t have one.”
Right. That made sense. “But they might still come in handy. Maybe we can use them in a potion to—”
“They’re gone.”
“Gone?” I prayed I’d somehow misunderstood her.
“Yes. I went back, but the crystals were dead. All of them. I think some of those evil monks must’ve found the mine and—”
“Shit.” So that was a bust. I wanted to scream and cry and throw the table across the room, but that wouldn’t solve any of our problems. “I can’t believe Luciana’s magic is still fucking us over. It’s unreal.”
“I know.” Her voice was so quiet, but I could still hear the pain in it. Dealing with the fallout from Luciana’s magic had to be just as hard on her as it was on me. If not harder.
I thought back to what I knew and what I didn’t know. “A few hours after Muraco was killed, I was pulled into the abyss. I’m assuming that Astaroth needed the power boost from Muraco to take me, and he’s going to need another one before trying again. Do you think that’s accurate?”
“Abyss? Is that what you’re calling it?” Claudia asked.
“Yes.” My heart started beating too fast. “Don’t say it.” I didn’t actually go to Hell. I wasn’t sure there was any coming back from that and my body had stayed with Dastien. But my soul had been somewhere close.
Claudia pursed her lips together. “I think you’re right. Astaroth will need more power if he’s going to make another grab for you or try to enter this realm. But it gets worse…”
I wasn’t sure how much worse it could get, and I also wasn’t sure I wanted to find out.
I closed my eyes, and tried to prepare for what she was going to say next.
Whatever it is, we will handle it, Dastien said. I don’t know how, but we’ll figure something out.
The way he was talking, I wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince more—me or him. I know. I just don’t know how it got this messed up so quickly.
It’s been brewing. We just didn’t know about it, but we do now. So, we’ll deal with it.
We will. We’ll deal with it. I blinked my eyes open. “Tell me what you know.” I was on the edge of my seat as I waited for her answer. Dastien was trying to be calm on the surface, but I could feel his rising fear. We were both still shaken up, and from how this discussion was going, there wasn’t going to be an easy way to get rid of Astaroth.
“I don’t think I should call another circle,” Claudia said. “I’m pretty sure Astaroth can cross any circle we try to close. And I’m not sure any of my magic can be trusted. And I definitely don’t think you should do any either. Especially force a vision.”
That was basically tying our wrists behind our backs. “If we can’t call a circle or do any magic or use my visions, then how are we going to fight this demon and win?” I laughed, but only because we were so ridiculously outmatched and she was nixing just about every advantage we had. “I know that werewolves are strong and all, but we’re talking about one of the evil mother fucking trinity here. We’re not that strong. Not even together. So what do we do?”
Claudia shook her head slowly. “I don’t know. If we somehow could fight and win, that would be the end of it. But I agree. I don’t think we’d win. With the Seven down so many members and the fey courts gone and us tied to Astaroth, I’m not sure there’s enough magic in the world to stop the demon from getting what he wants.”
“No.” I refused to believe that. “He can’t get to me. If he does, he’ll use my power to open a portal and start the apocalypse. Eli said if we found the right solution, that he’d help, but…” If he helped me, I could be trading my tie from Astaroth to him. And maybe that was better, but—
No. I don’t want you tied to anyone but me and the pack.
I don’t disagree. But it might have to happen.
“Forming a tie with someone isn’t a little thing. You should be very, very careful,” Lucas said.
“We’re in agreement there.”
“What do we even know about an archon anyway?” Adrian asked. The guys had been so quiet as Claudia and I talked, I almost forgot they were there. “He seemed to be on
our side, but I don’t know what we should trust anyone at this point.”
“No one knows anything about them,” Lucas said.
“What do you mean no one knows?” Chris asked.
“I’ve only seen one once before. It was a long, long time ago, but he stayed away from the battle. Just watching. I did some research after that. They’re mentioned in a few different texts, but there’s not any information on them. And I’ve never personally known anyone who’s spoken to one.”
He wasn’t making me feel any better about my run-in with Eli. Dastien grabbed my hand and squeezed, letting me know that he was there with me. “Except for me.”
“Yes. Except for you.”
“What else do you know?” I asked. “Anything could help.”
Lucas leaned forward. “They were around during creation according to most sources, but have been quietly in the background since then. They pop up now and then, but mostly keep to themselves. There are supposed to be seven good and five evil archons. And I use good and evil liberally. Meaning the good ones will usually, but not always, favor on the side of light, depending on their purposes. The opposite is true of the evil. Iao, Seth, Saklas, David, Yaldabaoth, Eloiein, and Elilaios. Paraplex, Hekate, Ariouth, Typhon, and Iachtanabas. That’s where all of my knowledge ends.”
“Eli is Elilaois?” I asked.
“I think so, but besides that he’s on the lighter side of the gray area, I don’t know anything else about him.”
There had to be more. This couldn’t be everything that everyone knew. If there was no more information on archons, then how was I supposed to figure out how to make a deal with one?
I sent a look to Claudia begging for more, but she gave me one solitary shrug. “I don’t know anything about them.”
Okay. So that was horrible. “So Eli is what? A god?”
“No.” Lucas’s voice was so firm, I wondered if I’d offended him with the question. “Not God. Not an angel. Not a demon. But something in the middle of all of those things.”
“So, how do I get ahold of Eli?”
“He’s a watcher. If he’s spoken to you, then we—meaning everyone on this plane—are in grave danger. And he’ll show up and make the deal with you, but only if you meet his terms.”
“Perfect. I guess it’s too easy to assume he’ll break the tie.”
“No. Not if he said you had to do it,” Lucas said. “But I’m not an expert. I know next to nothing about archons.”
I almost laughed. The way he explained it, he was the only one who knew anything about them. “What do you think?”
Claudia glanced at her cup of tea on the table for a second before meeting my gaze again. “I wish I had an answer.”
“There’s always an answer,” Adrian said. “There has to be a way to break the tie. We’re just not thinking of it.”
“Yes. Exactly that.” Finally someone besides Dastien was on the same page as me. “We don’t have the crystals and they probably wouldn’t work anyway, but there’s got to be a way. I’m open to any suggestions, as long as it doesn’t involve me dying or selling off the rest of our souls. Once that’s done, we can focus on figuring out how to restore the Seven so that this doesn’t happen again.”
“Random question, y’all.” Adrian cleared his throat. “My demon bite is from one of Astaroth’s minions. That isn’t going to have the same effect—”
“No!” Claudia said. “Raphael was bitten by a zombie that was powered by Luciana’s magic—which was actually Astaroth.” She reached across the table to pat his hand. “You’re fine. There’s no tie.”
Adrian let out a breath. “Well, that’s one thing I don’t have to worry about.”
“Yes. You’re fine,” Claudia said. “The only reason I have one is because of the blood oath. Luciana was using me to amp her own power, and I knew she’d added something extra to my oath, but…” She let out a long sigh that was full of regret. “I thought Raphael was fine, but my best guess is that the demon saw a way in he could use later and took it. And Tessa—”
“The tie’s been there since I was stripped of my magic,” I said, and Dastien squeezed my hand tighter. “I just didn’t know it.”
“Shit,” Chris said. “I’m sorry.”
“Not your fault.” What are we going to do?
I don’t know, but Adrian is right. There’s always a way. I’m not about to give up.
Me either. “If Claudia and I can’t use magic to break it, then what are our options?” I asked, but all I got was silence. “Maybe Cosette could—”
“Nah. Not a good idea,” Chris said. For whatever reason, Chris always seemed to connect with Cosette. So, I trusted him when he said that it wasn’t a good idea, but from what Eli said, the fey had a big hand in this, too.
“Why not?” Adrian asked.
“Just don’t.” Chris’s voice was as firm as I’d ever heard, so I was taking him at his word.
“Okay.” But I might try messaging her on my own. “So what is a good idea? Who has power enough to break a tie to a demon? Do we know any demon experts? A witch. Some sort of Van Helsing person? Lucas, you’re old. You’ve got to have something.”
“I wish I did,” he said. “We asked everyone we could before we came here, and got a whole lot of speculation, but nothing helpful.”
I was starting to think that there was no good way out of this, and I couldn’t do that. There had to be a way. I just didn’t know what it was yet.
Chris shrugged. “I’m just here for moral support. This demon and magic stuff has always been so far from my area of expertise. But Cosette isn’t going to be able to help.”
Not the crystals. Not Cosette or any of the fey. Not magic. What else was left? What was I missing?
“There is someone else who maybe could help us,” Claudia said, interrupting my thoughts. “The thing is, I don’t know if she will. Or even how much she could help. I don’t—”
“No. No! Don’t backtrack now,” I said. If Claudia was bringing it up, then I had to believe it was a plausible solution. “I can convince her. Or I can make Dastien do it. He’s got the good abs. Just tell me where to point him. He’ll say something in French. Take off his shirt. It’ll work.”
What are you dragging me into, chérie? He was laughing, but only on the inside.
I’m sure it won’t come to that. I’ll try to protect your virtue as long as I can. I let go of his hand and leaned across the table. I was desperate not to get sucked into Astaroth’s realm again. I had to stop his plan from ever coming to pass. “Who do we need to see?”
“Her name is Samantha Lopez. She’s kind of a cousin. Sort of. And she lives in LA, but—”
I shook my head. “A cousin in LA and I never met her? No way.” I didn’t have any relatives in LA.
“She’s from my father’s side. A second cousin once removed or something.”
Okay. That made more sense. Our mothers were sisters. So, if it was her father’s side, then I wasn’t related to her and maybe my mom didn’t know about her. “She’s a witch?”
“Not exactly.”
“So, how can she help?” Adrian asked.
“She’s got a unique ability. She deals exclusively in hauntings, but she does have some experience with demons.”
“This girl sounds awesome,” Chris said. “But we’ve been ass-deep in demons for a while now. If she has specific knowledge about them, why are we just now hearing about her?”
“Well…” Claudia looked at Lucas and I knew they were talking, but whatever was said, it needed to be aloud.
“What is it?” This girl—whoever she was—sounded perfect. “You haven’t brought her up until now. So, what’s her deal?”
Claudia sighed. “She’s a couple years younger than me, so she’s your age. Maybe not yet eighteen? Anyway, she visited a couple times before my parents took off, but I hated to drag her into Luciana’s evil world. Plus, she’s had enough stuff on her plate to deal with. The last time I spoke to her, she’d
been looking into ways to bind her abilities. When everything with Luciana started to get worse a few years ago, I stopped emailing her back. She needed a friend, and I turned my back on her.”
Claudia wasn’t the type to do that kind of thing and not feel one hundred percent guilty about it.
“At first, when everything went wrong with Raphael, I thought about calling her but it seemed like a long shot. Especially if she’d managed to get rid of her gifts like she wanted. And she wasn’t super good with demons last I heard.” Claudia glanced to her mate, who gave her a reassuring nod. “Muraco was so sure that Peru was where I needed to go, so I went there. But after everything in Santa Fe, I did some digging. With Luciana gone, I wanted to see how Samantha was doing and explain. I’ve been emailing her for weeks, but she hasn’t answered me. But from what I’ve found out, I don’t think she was able to bind her abilities. In fact, I think she’s gone the opposite direction.”
I had questions—like what kind of things this girl could do and what she was exactly—but I kept it zipped. None of that mattered. All I needed was help, and at this point, I couldn’t afford to be picky.
“I feel bad asking her after all this time, but Samantha’s the only other person I can think of,” Claudia said finally.
“Let’s give it a shot. Worst thing she could do is say no.” And if she was open to it and could maybe cut the tie between Astaroth and myself, then it was worth it.
“I second that. Let’s call her,” Chris said.
“Actually, I think it’s best if we go see her,” Claudia said. “I haven’t gotten her to take my calls or emails. But we’re a little harder to ignore if we’re on her front porch.”
“And if it doesn’t work out?” I asked.
“Then we come back here and do more research. We find another way and we try that. Because I’m not giving up. Are you?” Claudia asked.
