I would tear my heart out of my own chest before I gave him reason to regret those words.
At that moment, I knew that I wouldn’t rest until Shemhazai could live the rest of his life in a world where he didn’t need to worry about the prying eyes of his abuser.
I would fight for the next hundred years… athousandyears, if that’s what it took to make him feel safe.
“I love you,” I whispered, kissing him again.
He smiled at me, and it was the most beautiful thing I’d ever seen.
Getting Willow up to speed was easier than I expected it would be. I guess having a deformed angel crawl out of your mouth was a pretty surefire way to prove that angels, demons, and gods were real.
Considering Willow was a Nurse, she had already been a believer. When I told her I was actually Hecate and not the human facade of Harper I had created, she took it in stride.
“I’m so glad you’re the mother of witches… If you weren’t, I would be dead, Harp—I mean, Hecate.”
“Well, I’m only one-third of myself right now. We need to get my golems back from the god of war before I can rise back to my full power.”
I tucked a wayward strand of curly hair behind Willow’s ear, frowning. “It wouldn’t have taken me so long to save you if I’d been whole.”
“I still think you’re a moron for separating yourself like that in the first place,” Shem grumbled. He was leaning against the wall, examining his fingernails as if the last fewhours had been a bore.
“It made sense at the time. I was trying to be crafty.” I pouted. “It kind of worked! You had no idea you only had part of me when you kidnapped me.”
Shem rolled his eyes, looking annoyed. “Well, it didn’t matter, did it? I got the part I wanted to fuck anyway. It’s not like I was jonesing to stick my dick in the crone.”
Gabe snorted, then covered his mouth and tried to act like he didn’t actually think what Shem said was funny.
“Shemhazai,” he chided, though his eyes were sparkling with amusement. “Don’t be rude to our friends.”
“You should be soluckyto stick your dick in the crone!” I snapped. “She hasexperience.”
Shem smirked and shrugged. “If you want me to fuck your other parts, just say so, sweetheart. That can be arranged.”
“For fuck’s sake, could you two stop bickering and pay attention?” Luna finally snapped.
She had Gabe’s scepter laid out on the kitchen table and was hovering her hands over it as if trying to connect with its energy.
The tip of her tongue was sticking out the side of her mouth, and she had an adorable little frown on her face as she concentrated.
“I think I have an idea,” she announced.
Shem raised a sharp brow and gave her a condescending look. “Oh. Luna has an idea.Dotell,” he drawled sarcastically.
Luna’s gaze snapped to him, and she smirked. “Listen, buddy. Unless you want me toactuallystick a cactus up your butt, you’ll listen to what I have to say without the attitude.”
Gabe looked like he was going to crack up again, but with one glare from Shem, he sobered, wrapping his arm around his partner’s waist and pulling him into his chest.
“Don’t do that.” He chuckled. “I like his butt intact.”
Luna’s lip quirked, but she turned her attention back to the scepter.
“Alright, so listen up witchy noobs. I’m going to give you a crash course on how energy works.”
The two demons fell silent and listened surprisingly attentively to what Luna had to say.
“All energy exists in either a push or pull state. It’s a big reason we follow the cycle of the moon so closely. A waxing moon draws energy in, while a waning moon pushes energy away. We usually align spellwork accordingly with consideration of the moon’s cycle.
“We’re currently moving toward a full moon, which is actually perfect for what I have planned.”
