Dancing With The Devil, Witches Anonymous Step 5(42)

Right. The baby. I pointed a finger at the sky. “This isn’t over, Michael. You and I have unfinished business. One of these days, I’ll be back.”

A crashing noise came from the forest. Another creature out to scare me. The adrenaline pumping in my veins wouldn’t be tamed. I grabbed Zayfeer’s sword and stomped toward the noise. “Show me what you’ve got, Axeman, or whoever the hell you are.”

“Amy,” Lucifer warned.

I held up a hand to shush him. Raised the sword as the crashing grew nearer.

I was done running from monsters. Done running from the past.

A second later, Nikita burst from the trees, tongue lolling. She stopped short at the sight of the sword and my fighting stance. Her dark eyes darted around. “You’ve spruced things up while I was gone.”

Cephiel emerged next, also looking over my purgatory with a critical eye. “Thought you said this place was a dump, Nikita.”

“It was. Now it’s…healthier. No wonder the forest is such a bitch to get through. All that green.” She shivered. “Blech.”

I lowered the sword. “What are you two doing here?”

Cephiel pointed at the dog. “Nikita dragged me here.”

She panted. “He’s just mad because I interrupted him and his girlfriend. Good thing I did, too. Yeesh. Talk about immaculate conception.”

So didn’t need that mental image in my head. “Why are you here?” I repeated.

“Well, duh. To save you.”

Cephiel eyed Lucifer in his naked state, then frowned at me. “Please tell me you didn’t sell your soul again.”

I looked at Luc. “He doesn’t know, does he?”

“He knows,” Zayfeer said. “He’s just playing dumb.”

My guardian angel’s eyes widened. “You touched the Tree?”

“It was a little more than a touch, but yeah. I know everything. Most everything. I know the real reason God wants to keep me away from Lucifer and why you were tasked with the job.”

“And you’re not going to go along with that plan, are you?”

“I’m the one who can control Luc’s dark side. He needs me.”

Ceph took a step forward, determination written on his face. “Heaven needs you.”

“I’m going to find all the lost angels and bring them to sanctuary. Then, and only then, can we talk about Heaven and my role in it.”

His lips thinned, his jaw worked.

“So.” Zayfeer rubbed his hands together and stepped between us. “About getting out of here.”

Luc sidled next to me and took my hand. To Z, he said, “You’re not coming.”

“I kept your lady safe, Lucifer. You owe me.” Before Luc could answer, Zayfeer turned to me with a pleading look. “With the baby and all, you’re going to need a nanny.”

Nikita and Cephiel exchanged a mortified look. “Baby?” they said in unison.

A strong wind picked up, lashing the branches of the trees and kicking up dirt devils at my feet. Waves crashed along the city’s outer perimeter, rivers forming between the marble outcroppings and running toward us. A pink light glowed around us.

I felt an urging from the angels stuck in the marble. Go. Take Zayfeer. Come back when it’s time.

With one hand holding Lucifer’s, I reached out my other and grabbed Zayfeer’s. Low in my abdomen, the baby fluttered her angel wings. Zayfeer as a nanny. After the day I’d had, it seemed almost…normal. “Arial approves.”

Luc gave me a you’ve got be kidding look, but shook his head at my shoulder shrug and wrapped us in his magic.

I love you, I mentally told him.

I love you, too, came his reply.

A heartbeat later, the three of us, along with Zayfeer, left Nikita and Cephiel standing in stunned silence.





Chapter Thirty – Happy New Year





Somewhere, a clock chimed midnight.

My forehead was cold and heavy. Freezing, in fact. I lay on a hard floor, another cold weight crushing my chest right over my heart.

“Amy.” Keisha’s voice cut through the buzzing in my ears. Music thumped in the background, but softly. “Are you back? Open your eyes.”

I did…and wished I hadn’t.

Gabriel, all seven foot of him, crouched over me. One of his giant hands pressed on my chest, the other on my head. “She lives.”

I knocked his hands away. Took a deep breath. I was lying where I’d fallen when Adam and Eve had grabbed me earlier. “Where’s Luc? Where’s Zayfeer?”

Keisha stood behind Gabe. Adam and Eve were next to her. Emilia and Mikayla loomed over me, too, and Keisha shooed Gabriel out of the way. She helped me sit up. “Are you okay?”