Dancing With The Devil, Witches Anonymous Step 5(18)

She was lovely. Long, brown hair flowing over her shoulders and down her back. Luminous brown eyes staring up at the angel with admiration and affection. Her skin reflected the light coming off him, making it glow a pretty peach color. A blush rose on her cheeks as he spoke to her.

This had to be another trick. “Who is that angel and what is he saying to her?”

“Just watch.”

My mouth went dry as the angel gathered my mother in an embrace. Her gaze dropped to his full lips and her own lips parted in response. He continued to speak, and after a minute, she nodded her head. The painting shifted and they were both naked in a breath-taking garden. Their embrace turned intimate. Too intimate for me. I looked away, tears burning my eyes.

“Your real father was an angel, not that human who left your mom before she even gave birth to you. But your true father wasn’t just any angel. He was…”

I didn’t want to hear this. It was too preposterous and I was tired, mentally and physically. “How do I get out of here, Zayfeer?”

Z’s face took on a look of strained patience. One I’d seen many times on Cephiel’s. “I told you. You have two options. Slay the dragon or survive Michael’s purge of your vices and swear to the Big Guy you’ll send Lucifer packing if He allows you to return to Earth.”

“That simple, huh?”

One shoulder shrugged as he scanned the other life-like movies playing around us. “I’ve been in purgatory for a hundred millenniums fighting off every kind of monster you can imagine. Seems like a picnic to me.”

“And what happens if I don’t break it off with Lucifer once I get topside?”

There was no drama in Z’s voice, no impatience, just fact. “Michael will take care of you.”

My lower abdomen twinged. I pressed a hand against it. “Screw Michael,” I said and headed for the church’s entrance.





Chapter Thirteen – Psycho Stalks Witch…Details at Eleven





The wooden doors of the church refused to budge. I pushed and shoved but they held firm.

Magic flowed from my hands to the heavy iron door handles. Open.

The next second, they flew apart and I stumbled out onto the steps.

Hey, this was purgatory. My Witches Anonymous oath was null and void here. At least that’s what I told myself.

Standing on the church steps, what met my eyes sent a shiver down my spine.

Downtown Eden had transformed into a forest. A dark, intimidating forest with a thousand trees. Their branches hung toward the ground and dense undergrowth rose up to meet them, obliterating all light. Things skittered and hissed in the darkness.

Michael the Archangel might have been the enforcer, but I was sure it was Michael Myers, the horror classic, who haunted those woods.

“Enough,” I said out loud, and then I called, “Luc! Where are you? I need help.”

Several seconds passed without a response. This time, I repeated the call mentally. Lucifer. I need you.

A minute passed.

Zayfeer exited the church and stood behind me. “Lucifer doesn’t like purgatory, remember?”

Fog rolled in from the edges of the woods, beckoning at me like it had done in the alley. “Tough shit. Luc!”

“He doesn’t possess the power to bring you back to life, I’m afraid. Only God can do that.”

The truth rang in my ears. I didn’t care. “I’ve died before and it wasn’t God who brought me back.”

“Are you sure about that?”

Forget Michael Myers. Dorothy of Wizard fame hadn’t needed the great and powerful Oz to send her back to Kansas. She only needed to believe in herself. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

I closed my eyes and summoned my magic. A solid wave of heat washed over me from head to toe. It hummed in my nerve endings, buzzed along my hairline.

Raising my hands, I drove tendrils of magic out from the tips of my fingers and welcomed the slithering fog that connected with them. A solid burst of power shot through my limbs and electrified the ends of my hair.

I wasn’t sure how to direct myself back to the land of the living, so I simply cleared my mind and let the magic do the work. I kinda dug the whole single word directives.

Return.

The burn of magic inside me came to an abrupt stop. A hollow sensation took hold in my stomach and spread to my arms and legs. Chills raced over my skin. The fog thickened, covering the woods and the sky grew dark as night.

“Nice try,” Zayfeer said, strolling down the steps to stand beside me. “I told you it wouldn’t…”

Return, dammit!

A sucking sensation lifted me off my feet and threw me backwards. The impression of traveling through a tunnel returned, intense pressure bearing down on me from all sides. By the time the pinpricks of pain hit, I knew what was happening. I didn’t struggle against the pain or paralysis. Instead, I welcomed it.