I wallow in Eva's dorm room for the next few days. She'd been an actual saint when I'd shown up at her door, a mess and crying like I'd just gotten broken up with, and ushered me in while tucking me into her small twin bed while I babbled on about everything to her.I couldn't hold back while I spilled everything—confessing every morsel of information I'd been withholding from her over the past few weeks because I didn't want her to judge me. My heart ached, remembering Sol's devastated expression as I'd turned around and left him wailing after me like a dog left behind by its owner. And even that, too, I told her about.The sound wouldn't leave my ears, even in my dreams it haunted me. She'd been quiet for a long while, petting me gently to sleep while murmuring we were going to figure it out together. But how? How could I let a demon invade my life so thoroughly and leave me feeling so devastated afterwards? It didn't seem fair. I knew he'd be leaving and
Daelic peers around me to where Eva is rooted to her spot in the doorway. Her robe is wrapped tightly around her body with her hair folded up in a towel on top of her head. Her face is red from the heat of the shower but there's a growing spotchiness crawling up her neck the longer she stares at us.I try to consider what she sees, me with a demon and a glowing portal to Hell behind us. It pulsates inside of the room steadily like a beating drum. Thrumming through my chest and spending a chill down my spine from the dark magic emitting from it.For all intents and purposes, this is an actual nightmare in the making."Eva," I clasp my hands together. Stepping between them both, I use my body as a shield until I vaguely realize he's much taller than me. "This is Daelic. One of Sol's—""Why is there a demon in my dorm, Narine?!"Quickly shuffling across the room, I grab her arm and haul her inside before shutting the door behind her. Having an R.A. overhearing her
My heart hammers in my chest the moment I hear Sol's voice. I want to cry, I want to laugh, I want to get up and go over to him and punch him square in the face. There's so many emotions brimming to the surface it's hard to decide on which one to act on first.When I go to lift my head, Somner's hand tightens its hold on my hair, forcing me to remain flat on my back. His hard cock presses into my leg uncomfortably, trapping me in a weirdly sexual position. "Get out of here, man." Somner calls across the small clearing. "Go find your own witch to bang."My hands press up against his shoulder in order to shake him off of me. He's going to get himself killed if he keeps talking to my demon like that. Sol lets out a dark laugh. "I think you're mistaken. You have my witch."A shiver rolls through me. Embarrassingly, my core heats at his words. My body craves for him to rip me out from under Somner and throw me onto my stomach so he can claim me for himself. It's s
Belial's body shudders around the blade's edge, the point of it skewering him through his sternum in a sickening way. More blood drips down onto the ground, coating the front of his plate armor with thin rivets. I stare in horror as blood bubbles out of his mouth, his teeth clenching together in anger.He rips himself off of Sol's sword, stumbling towards me with purposed steps. I kick at the ground, trying to move away from the sharp end of that blade rearing at me but the branches only hold me tighter in place. My eyes screw shut as I wait for the blow to bring me into oblivion. I can't believe I'm going to die this way. Held down and covered in vines that leave me as a sitting duck for a Hell prince to come kill me. It figures, honestly. My karma has finally caught up to me and is now serving me my final killing shot because I've been stupid enough to fraternize with a damn demon.What surprises me more is the sword never severs my head but actually ends up sinking i
Over the next few days, I stay by Sol's side 24/7. He comes in and out of sleep quite a few times, coherent enough to understand where he is but not enough it keeps him awake for any amount of time long enough to talk to him. It worries me the longer he stays under but it's obvious him sleeping so much is helping. Eva and I are round the clock on taking care of his wounds and redressing the bandages like we're some kind of two-person medical team. I'm honestly so impressed with her I could cry and kiss the shit out of her. I'm sure once I have a minute to breathe and Sol's finally awake for good I'll do just that because she's been a fucking angel.Around the morning of the third day, Daelic surprises us both with a visit and a duffle full of supplies from Hell. "How is he?" I wipe my hands on one of the only remaining clean hand towels I have left in my house and slide off the edge of my bed. Eva and I had ended up carrying him all the way from the woods t
Six Months Later…"Welcome Brightvale graduates!" the headmaster's voice booms over the crowd. "Today we celebrate the graduation of our top fourteen students! Allow me to introduce them to you all."I feel Eva's hand grasp mine in a tight grip as we both straighten. I smile at the crowd of current students, past graduates, parents, and other attendees. Their faces blur together in a sea of excitement that brims within me. I can't believe I'm finally here, standing in front of everyone like this. It feels like a reality that I never thought could be possible. I search the crowd for the familiar faces of my parents, spotting them tucked in the middle of the second row of bleachers. They're dressed in their usual uniforms, both of them must have just been arriving back from the Embassy. I hadn't gotten a chance to greet them before coming up on stage, but I can tell that they're excited to see me standing up here.I'd told them very little about my strugg
"When Lucifer Fell,He did not do so alone.And from this perverse covenant sprang forth LegionAnd all of Heaven Wept."~ The Book of Lost DaysLilith 1:1 "Forgive me, Father, for I have sinned. It has been one week since my last confession—!"The confessional booth in Our Mother's Merciful Tears was cramped at best. I had to contort myself in a manner most unnaturally and painfully to continue servicing Father Jacobs, as per requisite as a freshly ordained Magdalena under the Order of the Knights Templar, Iscariot division. I did so with the tact one might expect of a demon hunter in my position, but that didn't mean I enjoyed it.For one, the demon was taking far too long.And second, it was the day of my sister's wedding, which was reason enough to be sore.As the eldest of seven daughters, it was considered…improper to not be married at the ripe old age of twenty-nine, and definitely a subject to be pitied according to the women around me. The fact that, my
"In bellis gerimus, pugnas vincimus.In victoria surgemus, pro pace defendimus.Sanguine ligamur, in familiis ligamur.Sicut lupi in iumentis, simul equitamus." "In the wars, we wadge are the battles we win.In victory, we rise for the peace we defend.In blood we are bound, in families, we are tied.Like wolves in the pack, together we ride."~ The Lovell Family MottoWritten on the Crest of Wolves located on the Family Manor,Sleepy Hallow, NY "Jonathan, can you hear me?"My brother-in-law's pale brown eye's dilated, which was a good sign. That meant the hypnotic suggestion was working. Father Jacobs had given me a wide berth of space once I'd dealt with the demon, so I knew the man wouldn't really object to this necessary step in the witness process.Especially not when he had his hands full with a hysterical Mr. and Mrs. Lyle.I'd been reduced to wearing some leftover clean clothes from the lost and found while the Sisters of Our Mother's Merciful Tears we