“Scotty popped by to say you found the bottom part of the scroll. He said there’s an issue.”Issue?That was a fucking understatement!
“Yeah. It’s not that there’s never been a girl born into the Dearly family since Henri ghosted Maria back in the eleventh century. It’s that there’s never been a girl born alive. The live birth of a baby girl breaks the curse, but if none of them are born alive, then the curse is never broken. Dr. Carl said he believed it was a compromise between Heaven and Hell. I want to knowwho in the Celestial Realm approved this curse for use. Can you find out for me?”
“You think a Celestial worked with Nyx on this spell? No. I can tell you that didn’t happen. No Celestial would work with the goddess of the night. If Nyx establishes herself as the supreme ruler over humans, she’ll have a foothold into the upper ranks of Tenebris Angelis—the original fallen angels—and she’ll be able to turn Lucifer’s former supporters into hers, which would give her the power to overthrow him.” Jonas began to pace.
“Dr. Carl says the way the scroll is written, the method for breaking the spell was a compromise to allow the black magic to be used. Nyx supplied the black magic. Someone supplied the clause to get the agreement from the Celestial Realm. Who would that be?” My patience was thin. This was my child at risk, and I wanted answers.
“I’ll try to find out. We’ll be here at eight in the morning.”
Without waiting for me to answer, Jonas glanced around before he took to the sky and disappeared. I wished to hell we didn’t have Amelie and Trent’s wedding. I wanted this shit to come to a head.
Chapter Seven
Keir
It was Thanksgiving, but with everything we had on our plates, we didn’t worry about eating a fancy meal. I was, however, thankful for Dash, my husband, without whom I couldn’t survive.
I was walking a knife’s edge because of the newfound threat against our child, and without Dash, I wasn’t sure if I could keep my balance—or my sanity.
Dash was talking to Jonas outside, so I pulled my phone from my pocket and tried Mom for the second time. Thankfully, she answered on the first ring.
“Hello, son. How are you? I’m sorry I missed your earlier call, but Lenny and I were on the sixteenth hole, and I was putting. We just got home and are headed to a friend’s house for Thanksgiving dinner. I know you boys have the wedding, but let’s plan to get together for Christmas, okay? Is everything okay with the baby?”
My mom’s voice was comforting and brought back beautiful childhood memories of holidays as a family. I wished we were together right now, but life worked out that way sometimes.
“Things are fine with the baby. I’m calling with a question. Did Dad ever follow through with tracing the family tree?”
One of my father’s hobbies had been tracing his ancestry, which I assumed was how he knew about the shit with Henri the monk and Maria the witch. Maybe he didn’t know about that until he died? Did he learn anything else when he got to the other side?
“Oh, tracing his roots? He worked on it off and on over the years. Why?”
I heard voices in the background on Mom’s end, so I decided to cut to the chase. “I’d like to look at his research. You know, with a baby on the way, family is on my mind. Since Dad’s not alive to tell the stories, I’m trying to get ready to do it in his place.”
“Aw, that’s sweet, son. Uh, we’re leaving now, but tonight when I get home, I’ll find the login and password your father had on the cloud so you can see what he discovered and maybe add to it. As far as I know, he never printed anything off.” I could tell her attention was focused elsewhere.
“Sure. Can you maybe send me the login and passwords before you go to dinner? We’ve got a ride to San Francisco and a boring wedding weekend. You know, Mom, there’s only about twenty days until the baby comes. I want to be up to speed.”
Mom laughed. “You are just like your father. I’ll do it right now. Happy Thanksgiving, son. Call me on Sunday night after you return home. Love you.”
We ended the call, and a few seconds later, my phone pinged.
FamilyTree.com. Login: [email protected]. Password: DearOneKeir1982. Happy reading.
I sighed. I hoped to hell there was information my father had uncovered that would give me insight into how to protect our unborn child.
The doorbell rang at seven fifty-eight on Friday morning. Dash was loading the SUV with our shared suitcase and garment bag. The cooler with Lilith’s blood was in the SUV on my side so I could get the blood to Dash in an emergency. I prayed there wouldn’t be one.
I opened the door and smiled at Vale’s put-upon expression. “Here as ordered.” He bowed.
“Where’s your luggage?”
“Dash took it when I got out of the rideshare. You guys are evil for not letting me bring more. It’s a fancy San Francisco affair, and I might get discovered while I’m there. Now, I’ve had to leave my tennis whites, my horseback riding costume, and my fox hunting togs. I’m not going to have any fun at this wedding.” His pout was almost real.
“Why on earth would you need fox hunting togs or a horseback riding costume, as you call them? You realize tonight is the rehearsal dinner. The wedding is tomorrow. The reception is tomorrow night, and there’s a brunch on Sunday before we leave to come home. My day has twenty-four hours. How many are in yours?”
My voice was tight by the time I reached the end of my diatribe, but the stress I was feeling was almost too much to bear. “Where’s Jonas?”
“He’s insisting on meeting us there. I’ve got his suitcase with me too.” I nodded and let him inside.
