He’s still chewing on his lip as his one hand drops from my face, and when he opens his palm, there’s the smallest flicker of fire.
“I haven’t been able to do much with it yet, but I have a fucking gift,” he gushes excitedly. I grab his palm and inspect it with a massive smile on my face.
“You don’t need a fireball to light angel wings on fire. This is amazing, Judd.” I wrap my arms around his neck and squeeze. “How did you figure it out?”
“Toth was being a supreme dick, and I got so angry, the next thing I knew, I was lighting the mat beneath me on fire,” he explains.
“That’s amazing. I’m so proud of you,” I tell him, and he beams. Making Judd happy is so easy. I’m not sure I deserve someone who is so purely kind, but I don’t care. He’s mine, and I’ll share him with Elvor, but they both know who they truly belong to.
“Where are the others?” I ask.
“They’ll meet us for dinner,” he says.
“Go get washed up, and we’ll head to the manor.”
Judd leans down and gives me a quick kiss before running into the house. He isn’t afraid of being around my father anymore. In general, Judd isn’t afraid, and a very vain part of me thinks it’s all because of me. He just needed someone in his corner rooting for him.
It’s a huge relief knowing that he has a power and won’t be helpless on the battlefield from here on out.
Things have been quiet with the angels, but I know it won’t last long. I’m about to go in and change for dinner when I see Blair approaching the cottage.
“Hey,” I say first, and she gives me a tight smile. “What’s wrong?” I ask her.
“I need your help,” she says.
Words I never thought I would hear from my sister or anyone, at least not in a context of not murdering someone. Oh, well. Maybe Blair wants me to murder someone.
“What do you need?”
“Remember how you said you would help me get Stevie to Hell?”
“Of course,” I reply.
“I’ve found her. So how do I get her here without making her hate me?” Blair seems a little lost and hopeless. Old me would bask in it, but new me, the Mara who is a good sister, who loves people and feels things like guilt and compassion, does not.
“They’re still on the run from angels?” I ask her, and she nods her head. “We need her to kill an angel. It doesn’t matter if it’s self-defense or not. I can’t think of anything more hardcore than that to get you sent to Hell.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to pull that off?”
“She’s with other demons who want her forever?” I ask, and she nods again. “Use them to your advantage.”
Blair clicks her tongue. “I don’t know about Kas, but I can definitely get Asmo on my side.”
I pull out my dagger and hand it to Blair. “Give her this and tell her it’s to protect herself, nothing else.”
Blair takes the blade and looks back up at me. “Thank you,” she says softly.
“Where’s Dax?”
“Already inside, I’m sure Dad is chewing his ass out,” she says, shrugging her shoulders. “It’s what he gets for dating the Devil’s daughter.”
“I feel that,” Judd agrees when he struts outside. “We headed to dinner or what?” he questions tauntingly, and I shake my head.
“Let’s just get this over with.”
We each individually portal ourselves to the dining room.
* * *
