“Do you want any wine?” I ask her.
“Can we get it from the wine cellar? I want to go down there. With a sleeping bag and my pillow. And move in.”
I laugh. “You know I’d love you here, and this house is big enough we could easily not even run into each other for like a day or two.”
“I don’t think Lucas would be too happy about that, though,” Kristy laughs and puts a few pieces of turkey on a plate and puts it in the microwave.
“We’ve had kind of a full house lately,” I say. “Though not a full house that’s this big. My old house could fit inside the foyer.”
Kristy laughs. “Good thing Eliza just left then, right?”
“Right, though Lucas does like having her around, and I do too. I need someone to keep me humble with not-so-sarcastic insults.” I take two wine glasses from the cabinet and fill mine with water. Yawning, I get the rest of the food out of the fridge.
“Tired?” Kristy asks.
“I’ve been tired pretty much since conception. But it’s normal, don’t worry.
“Yeah, for someone who’s human,” Kristy says with a frown and takes the lid off another Tupperware of food. Once everything is heated and served, we dash downstairs to the wine cellar so Kristy can pick out a bottle of wine.
Lucas joins us, sitting next to me at the breakfast table, as we eat. Our conversation is stilted, and it’s obvious Lucas is trying to distract and take my mind off how Bael is slaughtering innocent people to try and get to me.
“Do you want to talk a walk?” Kristy asks, watching me push my mashed potatoes around on my plate. “Scarlet could use the exercise, right?”
“Yeah, she could,” I say, so thankful for my best friend right now. Next to Lucas, Kristy knows me better than anyone, and right now she knows that I need some space. We can talk and plan for Christmas until I’m blue in the face, but it doesn’t change how I feel, and right now I’m feeling more than a little shitty that the common denominator in so many murders has been me.
Lucas says he’ll clean up the kitchen and sends me off with a kiss. Instead of my go-to combat boots, I put on a pair of knee-high leather boots instead, helping to keep me warm on this chilly evening.
“You alright?” Kristy asks when we get a few feet from the house, frosted grass crunching under our feet.
“Yeah,” I say right away.
“You don’t have to put on a brave face,” she reminds me.
“I know,” I sigh. “I wish there was a way to stop all of this, and honestly, I don’t even know what’s right anymore. We have to keep my heritage a secret or I risk having Heaven’s top-notch SWAT team sent after me. But on the other hand, demons are mowing through lists of people who could potentially be me, ultimately killing them in their search.
“I can’t even imagine how you feel.” Kristy loops her arm through mine and rests her head on my shoulder. “Just know we love you.”
“I love you, too.”
Scarlet runs ahead, going around the house and into the clearing of the old horse pasture.
“I need to make a path,” I start, motioning to a natural parting for the trees. “To get to the Covenstead, I mean. One was worn in the dirt from all the years spent walking back and forth from my old house to the door.”
“You’ll make a new path,” she assures me, and gives my arm a gentle squeeze. All of a sudden, something feels wrong and I stop dead in my tracks. The air becomes thick and heavy around us, and the smell of sulfur is so strong it burns my nose.
“Run,” I tell Kristy, feeling my skin prickle. “Get back to the house as fast as you can.”
But it’s too late. Bael emerges from the forest, and this time there’s no mistaking it. It’s not his astral projection. It’s him, here in physical form.Chapter 39My heart hammers in my chest and fear prickles down along my spine. Scarlet barks, and I grab Kristy’s hand.
“Get behind me,” I whisper, lips parting as fear threatens to take over. Bael is here, in front of us, and the energy he’s putting off is heavy and oppressive, making me sick. I fight against it and step forward, putting myself in front of Kristy. I hold out my hands, magic sizzling along my fingers.
Bael’s eyes flash yellow, and he looks at the energy buzzing around me hungrily. He’s holding a jar of what has to be Carla’s heart, ready to use it against me and bind my angelic powers.
He knows who I am and is ready to use me to take over Hell.
Scarlet bounds forward, gnashing her fangs in the air. Everything happens so fast yet so slow at the same time. Bael flashes out of the way, moving just before Scarlet collides with him. She lands hard on the ground, hitting the dirt and crashing against a tree. She lets out a yelp and I raise my hands, gathering all the energy I can and send it after Bael.