The Sacrifice

Aram's gaze slid to me, making Bael's follow.

"A witch," he snapped, eyes turning to dancing flames. "You know, the only witch I've had the pleasure of knowing was one sent to me for betraying her coven during the Trials. Oh, how she screams," he added, lips curving up into the most evil smile I'd ever seen, making my stomach twist.

"Watch it," Ly demanded, body Changing.

I remember Lycus telling me that when they first came to the human plane, they had very little control over the Change.

As Bael's Change came over him in a blink, I guess it proved him right.

"Enough," Ace growled, voice taking on a tone I hadn't heard before, one that seemed to echo, like it was hollow, making Bael's change disappear as quickly as it had appeared.

"You're their leader?" Bael asked, looking at Ace.

"And seeing as I pull rank, it looks like I am your leader now, too."

"I don't want to be here," Bael insisted.

"Join the fucking club," Ace said, turning to walk away, looking at Seven as he waved toward the new demons. "They're on you. I don't have the patience to raise more puppies."

"Ace," Ly called, making him turn back. Lycus waved to me.

"Yeah," Ace agreed, nodding. "A deal is a deal."

With that, he was gone.

"So... women? Sucking?" Daemon asked, practically bouncing with excitement. "Oh, give a man a break. It's been all doom and gloom and shoving hot pokers into people for the last couple hundred years. I need a vacation," he said when everyone stood there staring at him, not sure what to make of him.

"We need to fill you in on how Earth is now," Seven reasoned.

"Yeah yeah, boring school shit," Daemon agreed. "I get it. What's with the cute little matching uniforms?" he asked, gesturing toward the demons' MC cuts. "Hey, Bael, do you want a little matching uniform too? I rather like it."

"Shut the fuck up," Bael responded, seething.

"He's always like this," Daemon said, shaking his head.

"Yes, Daemon. When you trap us on the human plane for all of motherfucking eternity, I do get like this."

"He is desperately in need of the aforementioned sucking as well. Clearly," he added with a smirk, getting a rough smack to the back of the head from his brother.

"Okay," Seven said, patience wearing thin. "Let's all get back to the house. We can talk about shit there," he went on. "Ly, Lenore... when you're done, I think Ace expects you back as well."

The original plan was our freedom, since all the others save for Minos would be gone.

But with the new developments, I understood the change to the plan.

With that, they all trudged off, leaving us alone in the woods.

"We can wait," I said, still feeling a tingle of power inside me, perhaps weaker than before, but still there, still usable.

"We had a deal," Ly insisted.

"But the other witches..." I said, thinking of my coven.

"You won't even know the next one. It will be years before we find another hell mouth. And, besides, if you are around, you can oversee her treatment," he suggested, eyes understanding. "If we don't do the spell, you won't be here for that," he added.

That was true.

Taking a deep breath, I handed Ly the paper to hold out for me to read as I arranged the supplies Ace had given me.

"It's all ready," I declared a few moments later.

"It's going to be okay," Lycus assured me, even though we both knew he couldn't make me that promise. "Or you can wait," he added, and I swear his wings slumped at the very suggestion.

"No. No. I don't want to wait. I'm sure about this," I told him, feeling that string in my chest pull tighter. "I've never been so sure of anything before."

With that, I took a deep breath, lit the bundle of herbs, and started the chant, feeling the magic left in me stir. But this time, it didn't go toward my hands. No, it went to some place just below my ribcage.

The chant was repeated four times, making the magic sing stronger inside me, and a chill move over my skin, like the good part in me was fighting against the heat I was inviting inside, the hellfire that went against my nature.

With my free hand, I flicked off the top of the vial of Lycus's blood, my gaze finding his.

"Forever," he told me, pulling that string tighter still.

I gave him a nod, unable to speak outside of the spell, lifted the vial, and emptied it into my mouth before my stomach and taste buds could roil with the idea of drinking his blood.

This time, when the chant came from me for the final time, my voice was louder, stronger, almost foreign to my own ears.

The blood moved downward, seeking the magic, finding it, mingling together, then flowing through me.