“Is this…?”
“Seems to be.” He looked at Kristof. “Thank you for the rescue.”
“But how?” I said, waving the book.
“Trsiel came to warn me that you’d uncovered my plot and might be annoyed with me.”
“When?” I answered my own question. “When you were ‘cleaning up’ your books.”
Trsiel nodded.
Kristof continued. “I was in session, so he left a message. When I got a message about oni and the Books of Moses, I realized that, in following my fake adventure, you’d stumbled into a real one. So I went after you.”
I didn’t ask how he’d found us. Ask Kris to teleport us to the beach, and we’d invariably end up in the desert. His sense of direction is hopeless… with one exception. Ask him to find me, and he can do it with the precision of a bloodhound.
“I arrived as you were fighting the hell-beast. You conquered it before I could be of any assistance, so while every creature in that place was tracking you two, I set out to find the book.”
“And they didn’t notice you stealing it?”
A lift of his brows. “Of course not. I was careful. And I replaced it with a spell that emitted a similar light long enough for us to escape.” He paused. “So, am I forgiven?”
“You brought me a secret spell book,” I said. “You are absolutely forgiven.”
Trsiel cleared his throat. “That grimoire…”
I sighed. “It may be a sacred text, which you must return to the Fates.”
“No, I think you can,” he said. “I have research to do. Just make sure you return it in a reasonably timely fashion.”
I grinned. “Thank you.”
We said our goodbyes, and Trsiel teleported back to the Great Library. I looked around. In the distance, something roared. Something very large.
“Where are we anyway?” I asked.
“I have no idea. But it does seem interesting.”
He pulled back a frond. The little simian from earlier was there, spying on us. Seeing Kristof, it raced off again. I laughed.
“While I’m very tempted to explore,” he said, “you do have that book on a limited loan.”
“Mmm…” I looked around. “I think we can do both. A little exploring. A little spellcasting.” I paused. “Unless you need to get back to court.”
“I wrangled a twenty-four-hour recess to pursue something very important.” He gestured to the jungle and then at the book. “Those look important.” He leaned over to kiss me. “That could be important, too.”
I grinned. “It could. All right then. Twenty-four hours alone together, in a prehistoric jungle, with a secret spell book. I do believe my boredom has officially been cured.”
“Good. So where shall we begin?”
The creature roared again.
“There,” I said. “I want to know what that is.”
He smiled. “Of course,” he said, and off we went.
Thirteen
Prologue
Typical guy. You fight through hell-literally, hacking through legions of beasts and zombies and demonspawn-to sneak home and spend a few stolen minutes with him… and he’s not there.
Eve grumbled as she paced around the tiny houseboat, multihued blood dripping from her sword. “Where the hell are you, Kris?”
Her angel partner, Trsiel, couldn’t cover for her much longer, and she’d really wanted to check in with Kristof. He’d been keeping an eye on the living world for her, watching as his sons and their daughter got caught up in this mess. There really wasn’t much a ghostly father could do to help, but the check-ins made them both feel better.
He wasn’t at the houseboat, though. Nor was he at the courthouse. Eve had gone there to find the justice building shut down. The guard on duty had muttered something about magical wards needing repair, just regular maintenance. Which was bullshit. Afterlife court was closed because the higher powers were racing around commandeering forces to put out fires both on earth and in the afterlife. But they weren’t telling the shades that their world was on the brink of war. No, that wouldn’t do at all. Just pretend everything is fine. And if you see a monstrous beast racing down Main Street, it most certainly is not a hellhound that escaped its dimension. Er, but you should probably notify demon control anyway.
Eve walked into the bedroom and looked around. Their bed was made, the sheets drawn drum tight. Kristof had grown up with maids and cooks and housekeepers, and though he’d happily shed all those trappings after his death, he kept his world here just as neat and orderly as if he still had staff.
Eve wiped her sword on the gazillion-count Egyptian cotton sheets. For a moment, they were smeared with a satisfying rainbow of blood. Then it evaporated into the white cotton. She sighed and sheathed her sword.
“Fine, I’ll leave a proper note.”
She conjured paper and a pen.
Dear Kris,
Heaven and hell are being torn asunder as angels and demons battle themselves and each other. In the living world, supernaturals continue to barrel toward a war between those who want to reveal themselves to humans and those who know such a revelation will destroy all we hold dear. The veil between the realms grows thinner with each passing moment as we plummet toward catastrophe.
Hope all is well with you.
Hugs and kisses,
Eve
She’d just finished when she heard a patter behind her and wheeled to see… nothing.
Another patter sounded on the polished hardwood floor and she looked down to see a white rabbit. It rose on its hind legs.
“Eve Levine,” the rabbit squeaked. “Mighty daughter of Balaam, lord of darkness and chaos. I prostrate myself before you.”
The rabbit attempted to bow gracefully, but its body wouldn’t quite complete the maneuver and it flopped onto its belly. When it looked up at her, its pink eyes glowed with an unearthly light. Eve concentrated hard and a second shape superimposed itself on the rabbit, that of a toadlike lump with jutting fangs and eyes on quivering stalks. She blinked and the bunny reappeared.
“Nice choice of form, imp,” she said.
“I considered a kitten, but that seemed unwise when meeting a dark witch.”
“Witches don’t kill cats. Especially not witches who’ve been recruited to angelhood.” She grasped her sword and lifted it. “Rabbits, however? Rodents. Vermin. Nothing in the manual against that.”
The rabbit backed up. “Please, my lady. Balaam has a legion of imps scouring every dimension for you. He is most eager to speak to you.”
“Is he? And what could my lord demon father want from me?” She gasped in feigned surprise. “Wait… Does it have something to do with this big reveal I’ve been hearing about?”
“Yes, yes!” The rabbit thumped a back leg with excitement. “You have heard of the glorious plan, then? After centuries of hiding, supernaturals have finally found the willpower to reveal themselves and take their rightful place as rulers of the human world.”
“About time.”
The rabbit leaped up. “I knew you would agree. You will help your father, yes? You will join the fight here and you will persuade your earthbound daughter to do the same.”
“Savannah?” Eve tried to keep her voice calm.
“Of course. She is a mighty spellcaster. Mighty indeed. And very well connected in the supernatural world. Lord Balaam has approached her himself, but she has refused his generous offer.”
“Balaam went near my-” Eve stopped short as her sword glowed blue, infused with her fury. But the rabbit-imp didn’t seem to notice. She took a deep, steadying breath. “Foolish girl. Of course I’ll speak to her. She listens to her mother. First, though, you’ll need to tell me everything you know about my father’s plans, so I can properly explain them to her.”