“Hayyyyyyy!” A chipper voice interrupted, and I glanced up to find Luna approaching us, her long purple skirt shimmering with golden moons and stars. Her waist-length multicolored hair had a mess of random braids in it, and her cheeks were dusted with glitter.
“Luna!” Hecate cried happily, launching herself into her friend’s arms, as Luna peered at Shemhazai and me curiously.
“What’s up? Who are these guys?” she asked, and Hecate pulled back, giving her a sheepish smile.
“Uhm, long story. Why don’t you have a seat? Where’s Willow?”
Luna’s expression darkened as she took a seat next to Hecate on the opposite side of Shem.
“She’s at that creepy church again. She’s been acting… weird,” Luna explained, and I glanced at Shemhazai, whose eyes shuddered with that cold look of terror again. My fingers clenched tighter around my glass, but the look was gone as quickly as it came, and he slipped back behind his usual smirk.
Hecate seemed concerned, and she exchanged a look with her guardians, both of whom growled ominously.
Luna was glancing around the table at all of us, looking confused.
“Want to tell me what’s going on?” she asked, her tone turning more serious.
“Have a drink. You’re going to need it,” Hecate said, giving her friend an apologetic look.
“Okayyyyy…” Luna said, leaning forward to fix herself a cocktail.
“Now, I’m going to need you to keep an open mind…” Hecate said, and Luna eyed her friend with a frown.
“Harp, I’m a lesbian. My mind is about as open as it gets.” Hecate let out a throaty laugh before diving in and telling her friend the truth about everything.
I hadto hand it to Luna. She took everything relatively in stride. She immediately believed Hecate, and I supposed, considering she was a true witch, she had been raised to believe creatures like Shemhazai and I existed. That was why witches warded their houses against malevolent beings, after all.
“So… our entire friendship wasn’t real? It’s just all… fabricated?” she asked Hec. This seemed to be the only part of the story that really upset her. “It feels so real…” she whispered, and Hecate squeezed her fingers tightly.
“Itisreal. Wearefriends… our friendship is justnewerthan it feels like it is.” Hecate’s silver eyes were burning with a ferocity that told me she loved this witch with her whole heart. Luna’s pain was Hecate’s pain, and the power of their bond was so strong I could nearly see it twisting between them like a shimmering golden chain.
Luna smiled at Hecate and nodded. “Okay, good. I don’t know what I would do without you.”
“Now that I’ve met you, the feeling is mutual,” Hecate promised.
“Well, now all that’s out of the way,” Shemhazai drawled, taking a sip out of what was now his third drink, “can we get the planning done so we can do something more interesting?”
Luna frowned at Shemhazai, and Hecate waved her hand at him dismissively.
“Don’t mind him. He’s kind of a dick.”
Shem chuckled and gestured to himself lazily.
“Demon, remember? Being a dick is kind of my brand.”
Fenrir snickered, and Shem grinned at him.
“Tell me more about Willow. What do you mean she’s been acting weird?”
“Ever since she started going to that church with those two dish rags, it’s like she’s a completely different person. Almost… brainwashed? I don’t know. She keeps blowing me off, too. She told me that if I spent more time getting close with the Lord, she would be able to relate to me more. I thought she was kidding at first, but no, she was completely serious.”
Hecate’s mouth pursed in a thin line, and she glanced at her guardians.
“Well. It’s obvious Ares and Raziel are recruiting.”
Luna nodded. “She’s not the only one. I’ve noticed a huge drop in regulars at the shop, and barely anyone showed up to my mom’s circle last night. Apparently, they were all at mass in the Church of Seraphim.”
“I think we need to pay this church a visit,” Hecate said darkly, and Sköll and Fenrir nodded.
