He was mine now and for a dude that didn’t snuggle, he was an excellent big spoon.
Kujo bolted to a sitting position and woke us all up. It was light out, so we’d all gotten a full nights rest. I didn’t know if that was something he did. When he stayed in the room while I slept, I’d caught him fighting sleep until he couldn’t anymore, but he’d fallen asleep almost instantly last night.
“What is it?” Celix asked.
“Isawa crossroads. Street signs and everything, so I know where to go. I know it’s not a weird dream because I felt drawn there.”
“Itoldyou cuddling was therapeutic, ass face,” Nero said.
“Oh, fuck you. You aren’t wrong though. We need a team. Lilith definitely. Sorry, but I don’t trust any of the Fallen. Abaddon and Satan have been on our side this whole time, butLucifer only would have let people he trusted in his passages. He could have allowed Mammon, but Lilith doesn’tknowthat.”
Which was valid. I wanted it to be Mammon because I liked Satan and Abaddon, but that didn’t mean it was. There was just one problem.
“If we need an angel, you can’t count on me. I can throw a punch, but I’m really shitty at magic and if it comes down to it, I might blow everyone up.”
“You won’t blow up who you care about because you didn’t before. We don’t need an angel. It was a residential neighborhood, so a lot of collateral damage. We have Nero. He has much better aim than an angel.”
“I don’t want him to get in trouble.”
Because it was so fucking stupid. Nero was literally created to take down an angel. One of these fuckers killed my mother, my half brother, and kidnapped my father. If there wasanytime to whip an incubus out, it was now. I could see these prissy motherfuckers calling for his head even if he saved the King of Hell and took out the bad guy.
“I don’t know your dad, but we’ve met his friends,” Nero said. “Abaddon keeps my kind around in case he beasts out. Satan is married to a succubus, but he’s also told me more than once that this situation calls for my magic. I think your dad would protect me if it helped get him out of that cage.”
“If he doesn’t, I’m calling in a forty-six years of abandonment favor and getting him to issue a pardon or whatever flies for that in Hell.”
“He was technically kidnapped,” Celix said.
“I know. But I’m not above exploiting that if Nero is going to get hurt for being a hero.”
“It looked like a residential neighborhood and there haven’t been any alarms that demon magic was exposed to humans. So, he’s not being guarded by imps this time. It’s too risky and wouldbring exposure. I don’t know who would be guarding him this time, but it won’t be imps.”
Which was why it would have been easier if we could trust the rest of my father’s family. We could all handle ourselves in a fist fight, but there was magic involved. Satan and Wrathhog went into the cave without us in case there were Enochian booby traps. I could half assed converse in French because I took it in school, but I didn’t understand Enochian at all.
I was betting Lucifer taught Lilith, though. She gave me her phone number. She said to call with anything and this was basically everything. I’d barely finished getting out that Kujo had a vision when she just appeared in my bedroom. I’d get offended she didn’t use the damned door when we weren’t about to go rescue the King of Hell.
“Is this the rescue team?”
“Until we know who we can trust.”
“Well, then I’m honored Lucifer’s spawn trusts me enough to let me come.”
“Grab onto me. I know where we are going,” Kujo said.
Ididn’t know where we were going, but we appeared to be on a crossroads in a fairly affluent neighborhood full of very old houses. Based on the street signs, we were somewhere in France.
“This is all I saw. I don’t know what house he’s in, but I figure Sydney might be able to feel something Enochian.”
“She doesn’t need to feel anything,” Lilith growled. “That’smychateau just over there. I haven’t been back since the French Revolution, but I have several friends who vacation here. Severalangelsvacation here. I have it warded against angels, so you have to know where it is to find it. It wouldn’t be too hard for one of the fallen to find out about it from someone I’ve allowed here. I’m going to castrate whoever used my house for this.”
She waspissed.And she probably had a spell to castrate someone without breaking a nail.
And oh, fuck, I was about to meet my father.
Iwas ready to charge in there and end this. I didn’tseewho was guarding the cage, but it didn’t matter. Sydney might not have control over her magic yet, but Nero and I did. Furies and incubi couldn’t be further apart on the hierarchy, but we were some of the strongest demons in Hell and both of us were built to take down an angel.
Lilith slammed an arm across my chest when I went to charge inside. Damn. She was strong.
“Not so fast, cowboy. My chateau wasn’t chosen for the location. There are powerful magicks woven into the foundation and walls. I’m shocked you even managed to see the street sign. I’ve been around a very long time, but so has whoever did this. I knowmyboobytraps, but I don’t know theirs.”
