Heir of Night (The Thorne Hill)

“Toward the back. It took her several years to get it right,” Lucifer answers.

Julian gives a curt nod and flips through the pages. “Here.” He holds the book so we can all see the spell. It’s written in a combination of English and Latin, and I recognize some of the Latin words since they’re common ingredients in spellcasting, though the last one stumps me.

“What is anima?” I ask. “Please tell me it’s not one letter short of saying I need to sacrifice an animal. I hate sacrificial magic, and yes, I am talking from experience,” I add, seeing no need to pretend I didn’t sacrifice anything in my desperation to save Lucas.

“It’s not an animal sacrifice,” Julian says.

“Good,” I sigh. “What is it?” When he doesn’t answer, I take my eyes away from the notebook and find him looking at Lucifer.

Lucifer takes in a slow breath. “It’s a soul. A human soul.”

Chapter 3

“Okay,” I say, working to stay calm. “Where am I supposed to get one of those?”

“Good thing souls aren’t in short supply in Hell,” Lucifer quips. “And rest assured, you won’t be using a good one.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” I shift my gaze to Julian, sure he’d look just as shocked as I feel, but his face is set like usual. “I’m going to use a soul? I—I can’t, right? That’s…that’s wrong?”

Julian’s brows furrow. “Technically, you’ll be doing it a mercy. The soul is in Hell, after all, being eternally tortured. By using it to create a portal, you’ll be setting it free from pain.”

“In a sense,” Lucifer mumbles.

“What aren’t you telling us?” Julian looks back down at the notebook.

“The soul will be set free wherever the portal leads,” Lucifer finishes. “When we return to earth, the soul will come with us. But don’t worry.” He holds up his hand to keep me from protesting. “We can send it back to Hell, assuming we find it.”

“Let me get this straight.” I bring my hand to my forehead. “I’m going to use a soul that belonged to a person who did something bad enough to be sent to Hell and was supposed to remain here for all eternity, but I’ll be setting them free, and while I’m hunting down the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, I’ll pencil in also hunting down an escaped Hell-bound soul in between casting a cloaking spell on you so you can run away to Vegas or where-the-fuck-ever and have a playdate with humanity and my usual day-to-day survival from demons and angels alike.”

“I love the enthusiasm,” Lucifer exclaims, and I glare at him.

“Fine,” I huff. “I wouldn’t know who I was anymore if my life got any less complicated.”

“We can find another way out,” Julian says, but even I know he’s only saying that to make me feel better. We could find another way out, I’m sure of it, but not one as fast and safe as this route. “You don’t have to do this.”

“I want to go home,” I say. “What’s one more damaged soul back on earth compared to the damage the Horseman will create?”

“True,” Julian agrees. “As long as you’re sure.”

“I am. Let’s do this.”

“Come with me,” Lucifer says, going through the dark library. My heels click against the stone floor, and my dress swirls around my feet as I hurry after Lucifer. I really miss my usual black leggings and combat boots right now.

We exit the library through a secret door disguised as a shelf, stepping into yet another dark hall. There are no lights in here, and I flick my fingers, bringing the ball of bright blue light with me. We walk several paces down the hall and then go up a winding spiral staircase.

I’m out of breath when we finally get to the landing and slow as I continue to follow Lucifer. I knew this castle was big from looking at it on the outside, but it feels like we’ve been walking for miles. That, or I’m just way more human and out of shape than I’m used to.

I can’t really say I took being a Nephilim for granted, since I didn’t know I was one in the first place, but feeling more and more human as the days go on just plain sucks. We keep walking for what feels like another half mile.

“I’m afraid you won’t be able to come in,” Lucifer says when we finally stop in front of the threshold to another grand staircase. The same gothic architecture flows through the entire castle, but this room is different. Instead of gray stone floors, polished white marble gleams under bright light, streaming down from a gold chandelier. It’s not lit with fire, but I don’t think this place is exactly wired with electricity, yet something glows inside the bulbs.

“Oh, okay,” I say, still peering through the archway.

“You can come,” Lucifer says. “But the regular angel can’t. This is archangel territory. He won’t make it inside.”