“Luck is only potential skill,” he replied, grinning openly.
Heat hammered against my back as Lucifer released some of his power. Nathan’s eyes tracked to him and he bowed his head. “I’m sorry if I caused offense on our first meeting. Very few can conceal their power as you can and I didn’t know then who you were.”
“But, didn’t you see him in your vision of me?” I asked.
He shook his head. “Only his dragon form and another of the fallen. His human face was never revealed in my dreams.”
Heidi jumped up on the table to socialize as my mom took her seat on my other side. Around us, other coven members, many different gods, and even angels were taking their seats. until Lucifer was the only one left standing. “I’d like to start by thanking all of you for coming. I like to think Loki told most of you why you’re here, but I know Loki, so I’ll start with our objective and go from there.”
A breeze swept through the room as Oya leaned forward. “The spider has told me nothing,” she said in a heavy Yoruban accent. Murmurs of assent followed her statement.
Spider? My mind tried to follow that trail but Lucifer interrupted my thought process.
“The topic for this meeting is to begin planning for an invasion of Hell.”
The room went so quiet I could hear the ticking grandfather clock on the main floor of the shop. I glanced around at the shocked expressions. Apparently even they knew one does not simply walk into Hell. A lady with a cat head—Egyptian goddess, Bastet—cleared her throat.
“This is a joke, right?” she asked, her English much clearer than the African goddess. “You’re pulling a funny prank?”
“I’m afraid not, Bast.” Lucifer looked around the room. “I’m sure by now many of you have noticed the recent uptick in demon attacks around the globe.”
The young girl, who was now sitting beside the blonde guy that came in with Nathan, spoke up. “My Hunters and I have been taking out groups of them across southern Europe and Asia for months. My nephew has done the Sophiee here in this country.”
Holy shit. The Hunters of Artemis. She wastheArtemis. Then… that meant her nephew was Nathan. Which would make the guy sitting between them her brother, Apollo. Well, it explained his future sight. I knew he was something similar to me when we met, though nowhere near as strong, magically speaking.
“I’ve had spies tracking them across western Europe since they started appearing,” the Morrígan said. “They have been coordinating with Gwyn to hunt the demons. His Wild Hunt have been doing a fair job of wiping them out.”
Excitement crawled over my skin. Gwyn, as in Gwyn ap Nudd, the famous leader of the Wild Hunt. I clasped my hands together under the table, practically vibrating. Lucifer glanced sideways at me, his lips thinning as his eyes crinkled in amusement.
“I thought the Fey kept to themselves,” said Michael.
The Morrígan turned her dark eyes on him and gave a chilling smile that made even me cold. “Were some of our own not attacked in this manner, I assure you, it would remain so.” She turned back to Lucifer. “These incursions, the liberties your incompetent successor is encouraging, should not be allowed to go unchallenged, and the Hunt is always eager for a challenge.”
My brain was churning out letters in no discernible pattern as I linked names to legends. It took everything I had not to either flee from the sheer amount of ancient power or go and introduce myself and meet the people I’d studied in my books. My flight or fangirl instinct shorted out.
But I was no slouch, myself. The youngest, by far, but I was the daughter of Loki. They couldn’t know that for safety reasons—my dad would have a hell of a time protecting me if word of my existence got out—but at least some of them knew I’d earned his respect.
Lucifer cleared his throat. “With all that said, if anyone here has any reservations about joining me in this endeavor, you are free to leave. There’s a lot of power in this room, but Abaddon won’t make this easy and I expect he’ll have allies of his own.”
I looked around, but no one moved. We were getting all of them? How unexpected. I’d thought at least one person would pass, but I figured learning about them and knowing them were entirely different.
“So what’s with the babies in the room?” Persephone blinked innocently and smiled at me. “I mean no offense, of course, but they’re children.”
“My son has been fighting these demons for months, Seph,” Apollo replied, raising an eyebrow. “If he chooses to join us, he will not be a liability.”
Lucifer's hand landed on my shoulder, but before he could speak on my behalf, Heidi ran up and bumped her head to mine. I grinned and petted her, which for some reason shocked everyone in the room. Did they have something against treating cats so familiarly? Or was it because she was a witch’s familiar and I was treating her like a pet? Heidi turned and swished her tail, growling at everyone at the table.
I don’t care what anyone says, I have the best cat sister in the world.
She hopped into my mom’s lap, looking every bit as if she belonged at the table with us. I smirked and lifted my chin just a little.
Score one for Lexi. Though it’s a little weird that no one’s asking why Heidi’s in here to begin with.
“My father has spoken very highly of Alexis’s skills in battle,” Hela said.
“And so will I,” Lucifer added. “Now, if we’re done questioning the credentials of the people I’ve invited?”
Persephone shrugged and smiled. “I was just curious. I meant nothing by it.”
