I swallowed down a mouthful of the perfectly tender and delicious boar meat and cleared my throat. “I’m allowed to help this time, right?”
The last time, I’d only watched and helped with minor preparations, but my mom wouldn’t let me participate in the spell without knowing for sure whether it would work. A valid concern, but it left me feeling pretty useless. My training was only just getting started now that I was past the “accidental explosion” stage in my life—which, admittedly, was much longer than it should’ve been. I was gaining control I never thought I’d have over my power, and I wanted to use it to help.
“As a matter of fact,” my mom began, a smile on her lips, “we need you for this one. We’ll go over the spell in more detail over the next few days, but as large as this one will be, we’ll need every hand we can get.”
“The sooner, the better,” Loki added. “Demon attacks along the east coast are increasing in number and the mortals are in a media frenzy. We seem to be getting a lot of unexpected visitors as of late.” He pursed his lips and glanced at Lucifer, who shrugged it off.
Dinner was over too soon, and all the information shared at the table left me feeling restless. I wanted to get back out there and fight some demons, maybe at Lucifer’s side this time. Before I could ask, though, he turned to me. When his lips met mine, my toes curled and anticipation took hold. My hope quickly morphed from fighting demons together to spending some more quality time together.
That hope was dashed almost as soon as it was formed.
“I have something to take care of, but I won’t be long.” He slid his thumb across my cheek as if trying to soothe away the disappointment I didn’t try to hide. “I’ll see you later?”
I crossed my arms and sighed. I really didn’t want to bethat girl, but something was going on and it was starting to eat away at my patience. “Is it something I can help you with? You’ve been dealing with a lot on your own lately, maybe I can—”
“There’s nothing you can do for this,” he interrupted. Behind him, I caught my dad glaring at the back of his head before he turned away, and I wondered what exactly he was getting himself into. “This is an issue only I can solve, but if anything comes up later that you can help with, I promise I’ll let you know.”
Biting back a snarky reply, I nodded and watched him leave. Again. Frustration bubbled up in my chest, but I refused to sit around like a pet waiting for her master to come home. I slid my phone from my pocket and started tapping my thumbs on the screen.
Are you busy?
Loki sidled up behind me, peering over my shoulder as a reply came back quickly.
In Salem with Dad. You need help?
“Perfect,” I said, turning to my own father. “Can you take me? They’re close.”
He smiled and laid a hand on my shoulder. “It wouldn’t matter if they were on the other side of the country, I would take you if you asked.”
A tiny piece of the frustration melted away at his words, and then suddenly we were standing outside a small house surrounded by trees. He tipped his chin toward the building, and I turned to see two blondes walking out the door. Their size difference was almost comical, Apollo’s slender dancer’s figure to Nathan’s bulky muscular build. It only made me curious about his mother’s side of the family and what kind of genetics they had to produce the half-giant in front of me.
“Lexi, is everything okay?” Nathan asked as he approached, glancing worriedly over my shoulder where my father stood a few steps back.
I nodded quickly and held my hands up. “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I was just wondering if there’s anything I can help you with.”
He raised a golden eyebrow at me. “Well, we’re not doing anything special, really. Just setting up safe houses and places for our allies to stay when they’re here. Not everyone can teleport.”
“Oh no, that was all him,” I replied, indicating Loki with a jerk of my thumb. If anything, Nathan looked even more curious, so I deflected the best I could. “Are there any demons or anything you need to take care of?”
Apollo’s musical laughter filled the space around us, and something about it made me feel light on my feet. It was weird. “Too good for interior design, Ms. Sutton?”
My mouth opened, then closed again as I grasped for a response. “Sorry, I assumed you were just… I don’t know, making sure there was food and stuff. Did you say you were decorating?”
The red flush across Nathan’s cheeks answered my question as well as any words could have. “There’s a spot one of my people is watching now for an attack, but it’s all the way in North Carolina.”
“So can we go, or am I getting in the way of your bonding time?” I smiled mischievously, making his face even more red. Apollo chuckled and pushed him forward a step.
“I can finish things here,” he said, nodding to me. “Go and play with your friend.”
Nathan rolled his eyes, but the corner of his mouth twitched up. “Please don’t say it like that. I’m not a child.”
“Yes, you are,” Apollo and Loki said at the same time. I couldn’t help but laugh at the slump in Nathan’s shoulders. To them, we really were nothing more than babies. We were both in our twenties while they were up in their thousands.
I spun toward Loki, trying to keep a filter on my words so I didn’t slip up. “Do you mind taking us there and back again?”
“It would be my pleasure,” he replied with an exaggerated bow, then grabbed our hands.
Before Nathan could open his mouth to ask, the air changed and became slightly warmer, a salty breeze lifting my hair off my shoulders as a light rain fell on us. The ground shifted under my feet, where tufts of thin grass grew out of the damp, gritty sand.
