“It seemed like a good idea at the time,” I confess with a laugh. “Which was pretty much my motto during all my years here.” I dip my biscuit into my bowl of steaming lemon-rice soup and take a bite. “I can’t believe I got a two-day suspension for that when I saved like a dozen kidnapped women.”
“It’s because you left school grounds,” Tabatha says, coming into the room. “And because it took four council members hours to change memories so no one knew the truth.” She smiles, brown eyes glimmering. I’ve always thought Tabatha was pretty, and I swear she’s only gotten prettier as she’s aged. “But you did save those women.”
“Overachiever,” Ruby retorts, looking at me with fake discontent, and we all laugh.
“Has your position been filled yet?” I ask. The school year is coming to a close, and she’ll be taking over Evander’s classes since he’ll be the new headmaster.
“Are you thinking of applying?” one of the other professors blurts, looking at me with concern.
“Hell no,” I rush out. “Teaching is not for me. Or holding a job with regular hours,” I add and then look at Lucas. “I’ve got an undead sugar daddy now, so I don’t have to work as long as the getting is good.”
The professor who was worried about me applying stares at me, not finding my odd sense of humor to her liking.
“And it is good.” Lucas smirks, eyeing me in such a way that lets me know he’s thinking about stripping me naked and having his way with me again.
“Really, though. I miss working at the bookstore.” I nudge Kristy’s foot under the table. “And bringing you coffee in the morning and telling you about the latest lower-level kill from the night before.”
“You’ve always hunted demons?” Marybeth, a witch on the council who also teaches a mental health awareness class, questions. She was in the gathering hall when Ruth attacked us and heard me foolishly brag about being the daughter of Michael, the Archangel.
“I have since I was like twelve and I accidentally came across one in the woods when Evander and I were exploring one summer.”
“That’s terrifying yet incredible. I have an eleven-year-old, and I can’t imagine,” she says to Tabatha.
“I couldn’t, either, though it became quite apparent Callie wasn’t an ordinary witch.”
“Mother, please,” Evander starts. “Just admit she was the favorite.”
“Like I’ve said before, I always wanted a daughter.” Tabatha winks, and we laugh again. It feels good to sit and talk like this. Before my life got flipped upside down, I came to the Covenstead only a few times a year for gatherings or other celebrations. It wasn’t until I was excommunicated that I appreciated it more, and that appreciation is still strong, even though I’m allowed back in.
Kristy and I talk about books and the store the rest of the time, and she, Evander, Ruby, and Tabatha stay in the lounge after the others leave.
“We never got to have that talk,” Evander begins. “You wanted me to join you for a reason, and that reason isn’t because you’re sharing exciting news.”
Lucas takes a seat next to me, hand landing on my thigh. Having him here gives me a confidence boost and reminds me that we can get through anything together.
Even though I’m having a hard time believing it right now.
“When the gates opened, demons got out.” I pick up my glass of water but don’t take a drink. “Lucifer didn’t think a ton did, but he did notice four specific ones weren’t in the cages he locked them in.” I close my eyes in a long blink and inhale. “They’re the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and were in Hell before Lucifer was sent there.”
Collective silence falls over the room.
“There…there were demons in Hell before Lucifer got there?” Kristy’s voice is thin. “I thought he created them all.”
“I did too.” I take a drink and set my water down. “Hell already existed. Lucifer isn’t a demon, he’s an archangel who made some really poor choices that led him to be kicked out of his house and sent to the worst place—that was already there.”
“That makes sense.” She cuts little slices off her piece of pie, nervously pushing them around her plate. “I always thought Lucifer and Hell went hand in hand, but it had to already be there for him to go there.”
“Who put the Horsemen in Hell the first time?” Ruby asks.
“I’m not sure,” I tell her. “Julian is finding out everything he can, though I suppose it doesn’t matter since I’m going to put them back in.”
“You and your baby bump are just going to capture the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse?” Evander raises his brows and stares at me. “On like, what, a weekend?”
“Ideally, as long as it’s not a holiday weekend,” I retort, unable to help myself when it comes to snide comebacks. “And I’d like it done before my due date. By Memorial Day at the latest and that’s still cutting it a little close.” I rest my elbows on the table and put my head in my hands. “I’m sorry to drop this bomb on you guys, but I couldn’t not tell you. I wanted to tell you right away, but things didn’t work out that way.”