I jerked up my chin and strode out.
Growls echoed loudly around the room. I’d quickly shared everything that’d gone down since Roxy and I left in search of Beelzebub, and my brothers were as furious as I knew they would be.
War crossed his arms. “We’ll fight, we’ll do whatever it takes to stop her, but you know this fallen better than us, what’s the play here, brother?”
“Should we send someone for Lucifer?” Relic asked.
I shook my head. “We can’t risk it. I have no idea how powerful she is. I’ve felt it, though, it flows from her like a constant current, ever growing. If she’s stronger than Lucifer, if she’s capable of taking him out, the chaos that would flow across the realms would be unimaginable. I think our best option is to get word to the angels, telling them what’s going down tonight and they need to come pick up their trash. They have to be searching for her.”
War nodded. “Agreed. Silas?”
“That’s what I’m thinking. He’s fallen, but he’ll have a way to make contact.”
“What can we do?” Willow said, striding into the room. The alpha’s mate was not one to sit idle when shit was about to hit the fan, and neither were Jagger’s and Relic’s mates. Fern and Sutton were standing with Wills, looking just as determined.
War shook his head, and both Jag and Relic looked far from happy.
“You need an army, and we have two powerful covens at our disposal,” Willow said.
“There are females and pups here that will need protecting if shit goes south. If this doesn’t go the way we want, you’re gonna have to ward the fuck out of this place and keep everyone safe.”
I nodded. “The fight alone, with someone as strong as Seraphina, will cause unrest. There’s no telling how a loss of balance, or even just a ripple, will affect the humans and demons in this city when she lets loose. This compound will need to be defended.”
Willow’s eyes were locked on her mate, as if they were silently communicating. She nodded. “I’ll call the family here, so we’re all in one place.”
“Can you have someone get Lenny and bring her here?” Jag said.
Kurgan’s female lived alone, and Jagger kept an eye on her.
“Of course.” Wills turned to me. “Where’s Rox?”
“Sera’s holding her.”
Willow frowned at my brothers when several of them growled at the mention of her name. “What’s the problem? Why does Rome look like he’s sucking a rotten egg?” She turned back to me. “Loth? What the hell’s going on?”
“Roxy’s my mate,” I said, because there would be no hiding it. “We mated a few days ago.”
Her eyes widened. “What? How is that possible?”
“She and Lucifer concealed the connection between us from me, a really long time ago. They wiped my memories.”
“They did what?” she snapped, fury burning in her eyes.
“If you can find a way to break the bond, I’d really fucking appreciate it.”
The fury in her eyes turned to pain. “Loth, no, there has to be a way for you both to?—”
“She lied to me, Wills. She and Lucifer for centuries. There is no coming back from that.”
She studied my face, then nodded. “I’ll see what I can find out.”
War strode over to her after that, for a private word, no doubt to tell her he was leaving with me. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her, and I turned away and caught sight of Relic doing the same with Fern, and Jag with Sutton. Seeing them like that, Roxy’s face immediately filled my head, and fuck, yeah, that was a knife to the chest.
I couldn’t think about that now. I couldn’t imagine myself with her that way, that was not our future.
“Relic, you go share our plan with the knights. Tell them everything, tell them to lock down their compound, and have Zenon call Silas,” I said.
He nodded, and after giving Fern one final kiss, he came to me. He gripped my shoulder, and for the first time, I recognized what was in his eyes, what was flowing from him. Relic loved me. My son loved me like a pup loved their sire. There was fear there as well, for me.
