“Who’s powerful enough to manage that?” Kai asked.
“There’s only one being powerful enough to hide an angel’s grace from his own kind.”
“Lucifer,” I whispered. I could’ve kicked myself for not putting it together sooner, but I had a lot on at the moment. Pregnant mate, looming demon attacks, apocalypse.
“Correct,” Evander said.
“And what of the horsemen?”
Hades cleared his throat before flicking his gaze to Kiki, who stood in the portal to the underworld.
“Oh, me? Thank God. I’ve been waiting for my turn for-fucking-ever,” the ghostly woman said, tossing her long hair over one shoulder. “So, my initial investigation turned up pretty much nothing, unless you count the ghosts telling me they haven’t seen or heard a peep from Mr. Death in weeks. That seems important, right?” She cocked her head, sending her hair flying in the other direction. “I’m pretty sure that’s weird.”
“It’s strange,” Hades agreed. “Death is always looming. He can’t help himself.”
“It isn’t strange. Not if he and his brothers are trying to keep Merri shielded from sight.” Crombie inspected his nails as though he were fully nonplussed.
Lilith nodded her agreement. “It’s very likely they are warded in a similar manner to Gabriel.”
“So we’re fucked then, is that what you’re saying? Gabriel’s untraceable, and the horsemen might as well be ghosts. Oh wait, ghosts would be easier because at least then we have a chance at contacting them,” Asher spat, sitting back and crossing his arms over his chest.
“Perhaps not,” Lilith said, voice musing. “I have a way to pass on a message to the horsemenifwe can determine their location.” As she spoke, she turned her gaze to Moira. It was too pointed a look not to relay some sort of silent message.
“And how are we supposed to do that?” Kingston blurted.
“I can get my coven behind doing a spell. Remember how we found Alek? It’s more complex than a basic locator spell, butpowerful enough to find him in another realm.” Moira’s eyes were bright with excitement at the possible solution.
“Why the bloody hell didn’t we try that from the start?” Thorne asked.
“Because you don’t break out the big guns when something less dramatic will do. It calls way too much attention, for starters, and could be an unnecessary power drain. There’s nothing worse than blowing your load early and then being at a disadvantage when said power could have been the difference between a W or the Big L.”
“Premature Bazooka,” Kingston said with a knowing nod.
“Precisely.” Lilith smirked. “We didn’t realize the extent of the protections keeping them from us. Gabriel pops in and out all the time, and he’s not exactly a trained dog who runs to us on recall. The horsemen... They’re serving a purpose. Until now, searching for them would have put that mission at risk. Things are different now.”
“Tell us, Ms. Belladonna, what do you need to perform this spell?” I asked.
“Well, it’s not as simple as just having something that belongs to one of them. Yes, I need that, but this magic requires a celestial event. The next one is in three nights.”
“Okay, oracle of the stars, how do you know that?” Asher asked, sarcasm thick in his tone.
Moria shot him a deadly look. “Have you been paying attention? Every time a Prince is released, there’s a shift in the universe. They’ve been coming once every week like clockwork. Like the angel just said, the final one is due.”
Evander nodded. “The witch is correct.”
“Thanks, angel daddy.”
He gave her a strange look, but remained silent. If I had to hazard a guess, I don’t think he fully understood the nickname. He still had much to learn about the ways of mortals.
“So you need something of Gabriel’s and something of the horsemen’s?” Kingston asked.
“Yep. Since the guys are all together, one of their possessions should do the trick if their magic is trackable. I can’t guarantee anything, but this is a spell so powerful we were able to pull Tor out of Novasgard.”
“How the fuck are we supposed to get our hands on a possession from any of them? It’s not like they leave items lying around.” Pan’s jaw ticked as he waited for an answer.
Between one breath and the next, Evander disappeared from his chair and returned, this time standing before Moira with a silver-tipped feather in his outstretched hand. “Will this do?”
Moira blinked as she accepted the offering. “Is this one of Gabriel’s feathers?”
