“Luna and Willow will lead a circle a few blocks away. They’ll draw enough energy to fill in the parts of me that are vacant from the mother and the crone. I only need to strike him once with the scepter; then, he won’t stand a chance. His essence will be drawn into it, and Gabe will have everything he needs to take out Raziel.”
“So… will the scepter suck up Raziel too, then?” Shem wondered, but Luna shook her head.
“No, the material will likely return to a push state once it’s flooded with Ares’ essence. He’s a walking weapon. The scepter will take on theproperties of his magic and make it even more powerful than it already is,” she explained.
I bit my lip. A scepter fortified with the energy of the god of war would be a formidable weapon, but still… he would need to get close enough to the seraphim to use it. A seraphim that had an army of human incubators growing fucked up angel hybrids inside them.
“What about all of your people that are currently growing his army? Surely the plan isn’t to just kill them all?” I wondered out loud, and Willow stepped forward, holding her family’s grimoire.
“When I was possessed, that thing used my body to attend his masses,” she said, pushing her glasses up her freckled nose as she frowned down at her grimoire. “He went on and on about how he was their messiah and that without him, the angels wouldn’t survive. He was pretty adamant that he needed to be protected if they were to‘live’and molt out of their human bodies. I think that if we unmake him, the angels he planted will wither and die. It won’t be a violent exorcism if we do it that way. We can give everyone healing and cleansing potions, and in time, the evil that was planted in them will fade away.”
“They’ll feel sick for a bit, but they should recover.”
Gabe nodded.
“Alright. Hec will take out Ares and impregnate my scepter with his power, and then I’ll use it to take out Raz. Once he’s out of the way, Hec’s coven will start administering healing potions to the townsfolk that were affected.”
He looked at me, grinning. “Then, we can go back to Hell.” He glanced at Hec. “You should come with us, even if it’s just to visit. Lilith talks about you all the time. She’s been dying to meet you.”
Hec gaped at Gabe. “No fucking way. The goddess ofdeathwants to meetme?”She looked at Luna and squealed. “I’m fangirling so fucking hard right now!”
“Can mortals come? I want to meet her, too!” Luna explained, and Gabe laughed, his citrine eyes alight with amusement.
“I’ll see what I can do.”
“What about me?” I asked abruptly. Everyone seemed to have a role, but I’d conveniently been left out.
Everyone fell silent for a moment, and Hec exchanged a glance with Gabe that made me bristle.
“We think you should sit this one out, Hazai,” Hec said gently. Gabe eyed me warily as I scowled at them.
“Absolutely fuckingnot,”I snarled.
“I told you he wouldn’t like it,” Gabe sighed to Hec, which just pissed me off even more.
“Don’t talk about me like I’m not fucking here,” I snapped. “I’m not sitting around while you all go to fucking war.”
“Baby…” Gabe said softly, and I hissed at him. My cat ears bloomed from my skull without my permission and flattened against my head.
“Can you give us a second?” he asked Hec, and she nodded, grabbing the scepter off the table.
“Come on, guys, let’s start getting into position.” She looked back at Gabe. “I’ll see you at the cemetery?”
He nodded, and the witches filed out of the house, following Hecate into the night.
“I’m not staying behind,” I snapped once they were gone.
“Baby… I need you to think about this logically. You can’t come with us. You have a freeze response when it comes to Raziel. You lock up. When we went to the church, you couldn’t even let him see you.”
“You’re making me sound like some weak little bitch. I’m stronger than you. I’m borderline stronger than Hec when she’s at full power,” I growled.
Gabe nodded, reaching out to pull me into him, but I jerked away.
He sighed again, letting me go.
“Nobody thinks you’re weak, Shemhazai. After what he did to you, I think you’re the strongest person I’ve ever met, just for the fact that you’re still standing here before me now. Your response to him is justified, and if I went through what you had, I can’t say that I would even be alive right now.”
My heart was slamming against my chest at his words. He was looking at me with so much tender understanding that my anger wavered. I believed him when he said he didn’t think I was weak, but it still didn’t sit right with me to let him go into this alone.
