by Emma Dean
Audrey shoved away from Mika with a blush. “I love you too, sis. Everyone else make it?”
“Almost. We lost two ravens. Malachi was injured but not as badly as you. The rest made it out okay thanks to their shifter healing.” Not unscathed, but still…better than she could have hoped.
“And that…that was your brother?” Audrey asked, grabbing her shirt from the small dresser.
“In the flesh.” Until she’d removed his heart. She wondered what had happened to his body. Malachi had been smart to remove his head. With Death willing to do whatever it took to win, she wouldn’t put it past him to cheat.
“And I thought my family was bad.” Audrey sighed. “I’m sorry Mika.”
Did she know how he died? Mika glanced at Dagon, who kept his mouth shut. She knew her secrets were safe with him, but the ‘why’ was still a bit mind boggling. Why a hellhound gave a flying fuck about her was still a mystery.
“It doesn’t matter. You’re my family now.” Mika shrugged and gave Audrey a half-smile. “I need to take a shower. Will you come with me to meet with everyone in a few hours?”
“Of course.” Audrey slid her arm around Mika’s waist and squeezed. “Thank you again for healing me.”
“Of course, you’re my sister.” Mika stopped at the door and looked up at Dagon. “What are your plans?”
“Where are the books and the proof?”
Her heart fluttered at that. Why did this hellhound try so hard?
“Hunter has a copy of everything, and Kenzie will have the proof.”
Dagon smiled slightly and then nodded before he disappeared into thin air.
“Exactly how many boyfriends are you planning on collecting?” Audrey asked, tugging Mika along.
“Look, it’s hard to say no when I think they’re hot, nice, and you know…loyal. I’d be an idiot to turn down someone who helps me feel complete.” Mika shrugged. “But if I’m being honest? I can’t handle any more. I’ll have to let them know Dagon is the last, and to stop encouraging guys they like.”
Audrey laughed. “Why is dating women so much harder?”
“Because men are stupid?” So many fucking stairs. “I couldn’t tell you.”
“I’m just looking for a few girls to rock their world and then cuddle after while watching anime.”
“Sounds perfect.”
Someone was waiting for them at the top of the stairs. A raven if her nose was right.
“Can I help you?”
Audrey stayed close, and Mika appreciated it even if she was pretty sure everything would be fine. She hadn’t really been able to talk to any of the ravens outside the Heads. Things had been too crazy. All she she’d been trying to do was get settled, and shit had hit the fan pretty fucking fast.
“You’re the Morrigan.” He looked at her almost accusatorily.
“I am.”
Then the raven glanced at Audrey and then settled his gaze on Mika. “I wasn’t sure someone who was raised in the outside world could be one of us,” he admitted. “But you killed your brother to protect ravens. The Commander and Emily were right about you.”
The assassin gave Mika a nod and then disappeared down the hall without another word.
Audrey raised an eyebrow in question. “You killed your brother?”
“I did.” Mika started walking toward her room again, finally getting used to the twists and turns in the eyrie just in time to leave. “Azrael turned him into a powerful demon witch. He wanted to challenge me for the position of Witch Queen, and become the first King. I didn’t wait for a proper time and place to be scheduled this time.”
Audrey followed into the common room, shaking her head. “Remind me not to fuck with you.”
“Hopefully that’s the message my father gets too, but I assume it won’t get through his thick skull in time to save his ass.” Mika ripped her hair out of the nasty ponytail and tried to shake it out, grimacing when she realized there was blood caked in the strands. “Azrael is trying to secure footholds legally in our world. I’m sure he won’t be playing by the rules for much longer.”
“If that was playing by the rules…” Audrey crossed her arms over her chest. “Hopefully someone has an actual solution.”
“Me too.” Mika kissed Audrey’s cheek and then slipped into her room to get ready for a shower.
Having Morgana Island wasn’t a solution, but it was a good starting point.
Mika didn’t sit in her designated chair, even if she was kind of the Collective’s Morrigan. She felt like there was some ceremony or test she should have to take to prove her position other than being the only one qualified, but there hadn’t been an actual schedule given to her or anything.
At the moment everyone was just trying to figure out what the hell was going on, herself included.
Not only that, Mika didn’t want to look down on her family. That wasn’t her job. If she had to rule…then there would be no ‘head.’ She would simply have veto power, and the power to bring those who fell out of line to heel.
She also had the potential to make people’s lives better.
They just had to get through this first.
“Why does Lucifer always have to be fashionably late?” Finnick asked loudly enough for everyone gathered to hear.
Kenzie’s hiss of reprimand made Mika smile and she turned to face the wall so the foxes couldn’t see it.
“That tapestry is nearly three thousand years old,” Emily told her. “Woven at our flock’s inception – before this place even existed. ”
“Does each flock have one?” Mika asked, tapping her fingers on her arm.
“Yes. It’s like a crest, in a way, and represents our Collective – Storm Ridge.” Emily shrugged. “A flock is a lot like a family.”
Mika wished she had time to read and learn more about ravens from actual ravens. There was an entire library available to her and Armad had promised to help her find anything she needed, but she just hadn’t had the time.
A small snarl echoed in the room and Mika closed her eyes, wishing for more patience.
Lucifer needed to hurry the fuck up before there was a fight.
Normally she wouldn’t worry about something like that with ravens, but the raccoons and the foxes liked to rile each other up for fun, and now they had the coyotes to poke fun at. If Lucifer and Jess didn’t make it soon, Finnick and Ash were going to piss off Gunner’s Third from the look on the coyote’s face.
There was a commotion as someone appeared, but it wasn’t the prince of hell.
“Helle.” Mika pushed past Audrey and Malachi to reach the Morrigan’s raven. “Is everything okay?”
“I’m here to bridge the gap between you and the Morrigan,” Helle murmured. “She’s not as strong as she once was.” The way the immortal raven looked at her, Mika knew why.
She’d given so much to Mika. Had she given too much?
What would it cost the goddess in the long run? What would happen when she found Azrael?
Mika wasn’t sure if she’d do the smart thing and come back to report, or if she’d try to take on the Angel of Death herself. If she did that…
The Morrigan may be immortal, but she could still die.
“How’s the search?” Mika asked, glancing back to see Dagon appear with Corbin, Lucien, and Ethan.
Relief suffused every part of her body and it took everything she had not to run to them.
“There are many realities, and it is time consuming to search through them, but they’re able to abandon the ones that don’t match the blood dream, thanks to you.”
Mika nodded and squeezed Helle’s hand. “I’m glad you’re here.”
“I heard from my love that you found your raven form.” Helle grinned at her, and for a second she reminded Mika of Emily.
She wouldn’t ask how the Morrigan knew – she was a goddess after all.
“Where’s Mika?” Lucifer demanded, suddenly appearing.
Shit, was she in trouble?
Jess popped into existen
ce a moment later and searched the crowd. When she found Mika, she strode right toward her. Everyone got out of her way as quickly as possible, and Mika didn’t blame them with the way that hellfire burned in her eyes. The strange black, leather armor made the demon witch just this side of terrifying too.
It looked a lot like what Dagon had worn.
“Are you okay?” Jess gripped Mika’s shoulder and rested her other hand on Mika’s neck. “Jacob passed through hell and we saw his final memories.” The demon witch eyed her from head to toe, no doubt searching for bandages, the scent of blood or a hint of pain.
But there was nothing.
Mika lifted up her sweater. “I’m fine. I promise.”
Then Lucifer was there, gripping her chin and staring into her eyes.
Mika gulped as she took in the brimstone blue in his eyes burning like a flame so hot it was cold. What did he see that most would miss?
Would he see what the Morrigan had given her?
For some reason she doubted Mor had told him about that. The goddess liked doing as she pleased. Asking for permission was beneath her.
“I’m sorry about Jacob,” he finally said. “I know you were holding out hope.”
Mika shoved his arm away and hid her shock that she could down deep.
“It doesn’t matter.” She walked toward the Heads sitting at their fancy table and then turned to face the rest of them.
It wasn’t just her friends and family and the coyotes. Ravens filled the room and spilled outside the double doors into the hall. She could feel more perching in the rafters and on the various stands, she hadn’t even realized were there until glowing red eyes blinked at her.
It wasn’t the entire Collective, but it was a lot more than she’d anticipated.
“Azrael gifted my brother, Jacob, the powers of a demon witch and then some,” she explained, figuring she should start from the beginning. “He then ordered my brother to challenge me for the position of Witch Queen. My brother didn’t live to see the challenge.”
Glowing eyes met hers, and there were enough smirks of satisfaction Mika knew she’d done the right thing, even if she hated herself for it.
“The Angel of Death has twenty thousand demons and is planning to wipe out every child of death that isn’t his, including their mothers and fathers.” Mika looked at Lucifer then, not sure if he knew, but as the ruler over the hell realm he would need to be prepared.
“Not only that, demons are almost impossible to kill, they can teleport, and if they can’t teleport Azrael is gifting demon witches the power to create portals. They can infiltrate any place at any time. Even here – up in the sky.”
Too many ravens shifted uncomfortably at that, clearly not prepared to be attacked in the one place that hadn’t been breached for thousands of years.
“After I ripped out Jacob’s heart, Dagon took me to see the Morrigan. She is the reason I’m still breathing.” Technically that wasn’t a lie. Too many shifters—they would know if she was lying in a heartbeat. “Then I went to Morgana Island. It is technically owned by the Marshall clan, even now. It was once a sanctuary, and I want it to be again.”
Mika glanced at Lucifer then. “The dean gave me the island, and since it has a portal to hell on it, my ally and true brother – the prince of hell can come and go. I will lift the spell that prevents him from stepping foot on the island.”
One could hear a pin drop as she paused to take a breath, trying not to make her nervous swallow obvious.
She looked at Audrey and held out her hand. The other witch tossed the small staff to her, and Mika caught it, pressing her thumb to the rune as she spun it around her body. Slamming the end on the floor she enjoyed the echo, smiling slightly.
“A demon can be killed with a true scythe. They can also be killed with a crystal blade imbued with power and inscribed with the right spell. There is another spell that can banish them to hell for Lucifer and Jessica James to take care of.”
So many eyes landed on the infernal pair, and Mika gave her cousin and brother a slight shrug. She wasn’t going to be the only one working her ass off if she had anything to say about it.
“I can ward the island so no one and nothing can enter – even a god. For Azrael to break that kind of protection…it can be done, but it will take a lot of his power and weaken him enough he’d be an idiot to try.”
Hunter had left a stack of blood spells on her nightstand for her to find after her shower, and this time Mika planned to take his advice from the very beginning.
“We can take over the university tomorrow night. I’m hoping some of the witches and hunters will stay. Either way, I’ll be recruiting every witch I can to give up neutrality and help us enchant enough demon glass to take down an army of demons.”
The silence after she finished speaking was long—too long. But Mika didn’t give in to her anxiety and slipped her hands in her pockets, finding Hunter in the crowd. What did her favorite psycho think?
“Who is allowed on the island?” Kenzie asked.
“Everyone who understands what coming to my island means. There is no more being neutral. You’re on my side, or Azrael’s.”
Hunter smirked.
What would you do, Mika Marshall, if the world tried to take away what you loved most? What would you do with all that power?
She would fight for them until her last breath.
“So, we can bring our own people?” Gunner asked.
The coyote’s eyes were that spectral blue and she considered him, his Second, and his Third. “Your entire pack is welcome. Whoever can help will be asked to do so.”
He nodded. “Of course. Then we will come with you. I can protect them only so much on our own territory. We don’t have the kind of magic at our disposal that you do, and I’m not willing to take the risk Azrael doesn’t know you were meeting with us.”
“I apologize for that.”
The coyote shrugged. “It’s better if we start this now, than when he’s already infested this world and is too strong to fight. We are not children of death, but I don’t trust anyone who’s not a lesser shifter. Except perhaps…you.”
Her heart skipped a beat and Mika tried not to freak out. She was the first witch in however long to gain the trust of lesser shifters, and not just the ones people could stomach – she had the trust of scavengers.
Scavengers would eat their own if they were starving without blinking an eye.
Mika couldn’t decide if she was ecstatic or terrified.
“I’ll come,” Kenzie told her. “But I’m bringing Edith and Selene.”
Mika nodded. She needed to text Matthew to get his ass to the island too. “What did Selene say about talking to Samuel?”
Kenzie gave her a feral grin. “It’s already done.”
Whatever that meant, Mika wasn’t sure, but she’d talk to Selene before meeting with the Council.
It was time to take her oath and become the official Head Witch.
“This Collective will come with you,” Torin said, standing from his seat.
Mika turned to study each of the members of the Administration up there, wishing she could read them better. There was no doubt in her mind that they’d follow Torin. Would they resent this change though?
“What about the other flocks?”
“We’ll just have to tell them, and hope they’ll come to their senses.” Torin shrugged and waved a hand at Edgar and Vera. “The Guardian and the Spymaster will help you gather the weapons we need. The Diplomat will speak to the other eyries and ensure we have what we need on the island.”
Mika didn’t think there would be enough room even with all the new dorms Samuel had built. She needed something else.
“So, what do you have to offer?” Mika asked Lucifer.
She was no one’s pawn any more.
“I can provide the true scythes dipped in the river Kokytos.” Lucifer crossed his arms over his chest. “I can also reassign a hundred hellhounds, and a hundred reapers to earth
. I’ll leave it to you to explain their presence to the Council. If more are needed and hell is secure, I will send them.”
“The Guardian will tell you how many scythes we’ll need,” Mika told him, glad her hands were in her pockets so no one could see them shaking.
Talking to the prince of hell like this was stressing her out. It was one more thing proving just how much she’d changed, and Mika wasn’t sure she liked it.
“I will dispatch a thousand demons to the location in hell where Morgana’s seal to hell is located,” Jess told her. “I want to make sure that if I need to bring an army to earth, they won’t be slaughtered by hunters. That’s on you too, cuz.”
So, they were stepping up.
Mika was so relieved her knees nearly buckled.
“And I will pledge my own demons,” an unfamiliar voice said, appearing with Eisheth beside him. “Hello, Lucifer.”
“Samael.”
The Jewish devil was just as beautiful as Lucifer, but instead of blond, he had black hair. Then Samael turned to Mika and studied her from head to toe. “So, you are the product of my husband’s infidelity.”
Lucifer stepped in front of her with a growl that shook the chamber walls at the same time Jess strode forward. She had her hand around Samael’s throat so quickly it was like she’d simply appeared in front of him.
Jess lifted Samael off his feet and held him by his throat, baring her teeth at him. “Don’t you dare threaten Eisheth.”
Her demon father rolled his eyes, but his cheeks were pink as if he were embarrassed. “Jess, love, please put him down.”
“I will not let him bully you anymore,” she roared, her voice resonating through Mika’s bones.
She looked from Jess to Lucifer then, eyes going wide as she realized how similar they sounded.
“We broke up,” Eisheth told Jess, imploring her to listen with a gentle hand on her arm. “He’s just a little bit salty.”
“I’d rather he be a little bit dead.” But Jess put Samael down. “The only reason you’re still alive is because I need your demons.”
Samael adjusted his tie and cleared his throat, clearly trying to hide just how shaken he was. “Of course, Jessica. I’ve already bent the knee. My personal life will not affect our business.”
