Heir of Night by Emily Goodwin

Chapter 2

“Adeal,” Julian echoes. “No. Callie is not going to agree to give you her soul.”

Lucifer rolls his eyes. “Not that kind of deal. She’s family, remember. Family has each other’s backs.” He looks at me. “Call it an agreement. A favor, even.”

“What do you want me to do?” I ask.

“Before your power boost wears off, cast a cloaking spell on me.” Lucifer picks a piece of lint off his sleeve.

“A cloaking spell?” I ask, not following.

“Yes, a cloaking spell,” Lucifer repeats. “While I’m rather good at evading my siblings, I’d like to not be on the run for a while.”

“Okay,” I say and hold up my hand to keep Julian from protesting. “If it’s the only way out of here, what choice do I have?”

“Don’t make me sound like the bad guy,” Lucifer retorts.

“Then don’t make me make a deal in order to go home to my husband.”

Lucifer presses his lips together. “Fine, then let me ask this as a…a favor.” His eyes meet mine, and I know asking for help isn’t easy for him. “Will you please cast the cloaking spell on me? I’m tired,” he adds. “Tired of running, of feeling like the outcast. I would like a small amount of time to simply live.”

“I’ll do it,” I tell him, feeling a tug on my heart once again. “I can’t promise it will keep you totally hidden. I mean…if it were that easy, why didn’t anyone tell me to cast a cloaking spell on myself?”

“A cloaking spell hides you from sight,” Julian goes on, speaking slowly. “But it won’t hide the detection of your powers, which is what both the demons and the other angels are in search of.” His eyes widen, and he faces Lucifer. “You’re going to bind your powers.”

“What?” I gasp, instantly scared at the thought of Lucifer not having his powers. He’s swooped in and saved me multiple times now. “How?”

“You think you’re the only one with that nifty little power-binding potion?” He smirks. “I did provide the final ingredient, if my arrogant brother failed to mention.”

“Don’t talk about my dad like that,” I snap. “And yes, he did mention. Thank you for that as well. You’ve helped me a lot, and I want you to know how much I appreciate it.”

“Spare the emotions,” Lucifer huffs, but I can tell how much it means to him.

“I’m not normally this mushy,” I say. “Or this human. Honestly, I can’t wait until I’m not pregnant anymore, and it’s a relief to say that out loud.” I pat my stomach. “That’s not a dig at you, Elena. I just prefer to be a little less human and more badass.”

“You’ve named her?” Lucifer’s expression softens.

“We did.” I smile. “Lucas picked out the name. We haven’t picked a middle name yet.”

“I don’t suppose you’d consider Lucifer,” my uncle jokes.

“Hah, no. But Lucy is cute. Elena Lucy King.”

“Lucille,” Julian suggests. “Elena Lucille King.”

My smile widens. “I actually really like that.” Elena does a flip, painfully kicking my ribs. “I think she likes it too.”

“The spell to create a portal,” Julian starts. “Do you know it?”

“No,” I say with a shake of my head. “I know those types of spells are really complicated and you have to be extremely careful to get it right so you don’t step into a weird dimension and, uh, end up dead or all broken apart…which would lead to you ending up dead. You two might be fine.”

“I like your confidence,” Lucifer says sarcastically.

“Usually, I’m the first to toot my own horn,” I admit. “And I’ve never been shy to celebrate what I’m good at. But creating a portal to the human world from inside Hell…a little out of my area of expertise.”

“I know a little something about creating portals,” Lucifer tells me.

“You do?” Julian and I ask at the same time.

“Your mother,” Lucifer starts, and I suck in a breath, “was particularly good at opening them. It’s how we began our…our communications.”

“Right. Because she practiced dark magic.” I rub my forehead, wishing I could have some of that fancy cognac Lucifer offered me. My parents were in love, and I know Lucifer loved my mother as well. Whether she was in some sort of cosmic love triangle before getting knocked up, I don’t know.

“I know that isn’t what you wanted to hear,” Lucifer tells me. “But rest assured there was nothing dark about your mother. She knew what she needed to do and wasn’t afraid to go to the lengths necessary to achieve it.”

“Why did she start practicing dark magic?” The words tumble out of my mouth as the desperation to learn anything about her starts to take over.

“I’m going to assume you know of the Lancasters and don’t need a history lesson.”

I nod. “Yes, we’re taught about them, and I know Michael was the one who gave Marie Lancaster the power to defeat the vampires in the War of Light and Dark.”

“Good. Then you know the Lancasters consider themselves to be one of the oldest and purest bloodlines of witches and warlocks.”

“Yes.”

“Your mother was to be wed in an arranged marriage. I’ll spare you the details of her betrothed, though know he’ll have one of those special places here in due time. A binding spell was cast on them to ensure they each stayed pure until the marriage.”

“Their powers were bound?” I question.

“No. They were bound to each other, and if either strayed, harm would befall their family. In this case, it was your mother’s younger sister. If she broke her vows, her sister would die.”

“Fuck,” I whisper.

“Your mother sought a way to break free without harming anyone. I gave her the power to do so, that is all.”

“Really?”

“No,” Lucifer admits. “Once you get a taste of power, you know it can be hard to give it up. Just like it was hard for me to…” He trails off, but I can imagine his last words.

It was hard for me to give her up.

“Did she find a way to break the spell?” I ask.

“Yes, but it cost her.”

“She was excommunicated from her coven and family,” I say, remember what Tabatha told me.

“Right, and it set her down a dark path until…until my brother intervened.”

“He was sent to save her,” Julian states. “And he did.”

“He did,” Lucifer chides ruefully. “Now…this spell. Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Yeah, as sure as ever. The sooner we get out of here, the sooner I can figure out how to kill the Horsemen. Unless you’re attached to them and want them back in their cage,” I add when Lucifer shoots me a look.

“They’re not feral cats I feed and let sleep in my garage on cold nights.” Lucifer’s brows go up. “I kept them to use as a weapon, not as pets.”

“After they destroyed the world, what was your plan?” Julian asks, gripping his dagger tight in his hand.

Lucifer shrugs. “I hadn’t gotten that far ahead. I was hurt and angry. All I could think about was inflicting the same kind of pain on others, no matter the cost.” His eyes go to the throne. “That was then. I don’t want to destroy the world anymore. I want to live in it, as do you. We all know time is of the essence here.”

“Yes,” Julian and I say at the same time, and I look at my cousin out of the corner of my eye. He usually looks solemn but looks more so now than ever.

“Who are the Horsemen?” I start following Lucifer. He walks right through the circle of hellfire with no hesitation. I stick my hand out, feeling the flames before quickly passing through it. My dress doesn’t catch on fire, thankfully. “They’re Death, War, Famine, and Pestilence, right?”

“Bingo.” Lucifer takes several strides forward before realizing Julian couldn’t pass through the hellfire. He turns, waves his hand, and the flames part. Maybe walking through it is an archangel thing? Julian can’t summon and hold hellfire like I can, even though he’s full angel with no traces of human blood.

“The names are self-explanatory, but can you clarify exactly what we’re up against?” I ask. “War starts wars? Famine fucks with food? That sort of thing?”

“Yes, but not as obvious, and they’ll work together. A highly contagious virus could sweep through a nation, spread to another, and political tensions could run high as leaders blame one another. Or maybe a plague of insects causes mass destruction to much of the world’s crops. A drastic reduction in food would cause panic and humans turning on each other when everyone is out to fend for themselves.”

“That…that all sounds so realistic,” I say, brows pinching together. “It makes sense, of course, but part of me was thinking it would happen more like the zombie apocalypse.”

“No, kiddo,” Lucifer says softly. “The world will slowly unravel before anyone even realizes it. And then it will be too late. War, Pestilence, and Famine will make their way first, and Death will follow, picking off whatever is left.”

We follow him out of the throne room and into a narrow corridor. It’s dimly lit, with black lanterns hanging every ten or so feet, glowing with a single flame of red hellfire. Lucifer stops before a large wooden door. There are several archangel sigils carved into the door, and all but one has what looks like claw marks through it.

I pull the flower crown out of my hair and push my curls back over my shoulder as I wait for Lucifer to open the door. He puts his hand over the sigil and whispers something I can’t hear. Red light glows under his hand, illuminating the sigil. A loud creak echoes through the hall as the door opens, leading us into a pitch-black room.

Out of habit, I conjure a ball of bright blue light, lighting up the cavernous room. Cool air surrounds us, making goosebumps break out along my arms. “Whoa,” I gasp when the light hits bookshelves, several stories tall. A narrow balcony winds around the room, with red velvet carpet and Dutch gothic–style, black, cast-iron railings. “Are these all spell books?” I toss the energy ball up, letting it hover above us, and hold out my hands so I can try to get a better read on the energy that’s coming off the books.

“In a sense,” Lucifer says. “The pages are filled with every dark spell a witch or warlock wrote in my honor.”

“He means Satanic spells,” Julian clarifies.

“It’s dark magic.” I lower my hands, fighting off another chill. Lucifer disappears in a rustle of feathers, and I turn, looking around the room. I have no idea how far up the shelves go, but it’s higher than what the light can reach. “Do you feel that?” I whisper to Julian. “That energy. It’s…oppressive.”

“Yes.” He steps in closer and puts his hand on my shoulder. “We shouldn’t stay here long.”

“Right.” I pull my arms in close to my body and look up, trying to find Lucifer. Another few seconds pass before he soundlessly lands in front of us, holding a black-and-white composition notebook.

“This was your mother’s.” He looks at the notebook and smiles softly. “I always appreciated the simplicity.” Extending the book, his eyes meet mine. “The spell to create the portal is in here.”

I get emotional as soon as the notebook is in my hands. Callista Lancaster, Starfall Academy, year 11 is written in loopy cursive letters on the front of the notebook. The ink is faded and a little smeared, but that’s it: her handwriting. Trying hard not to get annoyingly teary-eyed, I open the notebook and flip to the first page.

It’s full of notes about astral projection. So is the second page. And the page after that is about recharging crystals in the moonlight, which is first-year stuff, not eleventh year. I quickly flip to the middle of the notebook and find the whole thing is full of random notes ranging from the most basic of magical knowledge to incredibly complicated sacred geometry formulas.

“She used a concealment spell,” I muse. “Smart.”

“Your mother was always one step ahead.”

“What’s the key?” I look at a page about reading auras, not caring so much about what’s written but more how my handwriting is messy and loopy like my mother’s. There are random doodles throughout, with C+L written inside a heart. For a split second, I think it’s in reference to myself and Lucas, but there’s no way she would have known that. Not at this point. My mother was the “C,” and I only have one guess who “L” was.

“Her blood, which I don’t have. But you are her blood.”

“I am,” I echo and close the notebook to see Julian is holding up his dagger. Crusted demon blood has dried on the blade, and I’m in no mood for a staph infection. “What about a pin or something small and preferably sterile?”

“Check the binding,” Lucifer tells me, and I carefully run my finger along the black tape on the binding of this worn notebook. A sewing needle is hidden in the pages, and I pull it out. How many times did my mother do this? Lucifer said she had good intentions, and I know more than anything desperation can make you do things you’re not proud of.

Finding it annoying to have cuts on my fingertips, I prick my forearm and smear my finger over the little dot of blood pooling on the surface of my skin.

“Put it on the C of her name,” Lucifer tells me, and I do just that. Julian leans in, watching with wide eyes to see if my blood is strong enough to unlock my mother’s dark grimoire. The blood absorbs into the cover, and I can feel tendrils of magic swirling inside. Sucking in a breath, I open the notebook and exhale when we all see it worked.

Instead of notes and cheerful doodles, the pages are filled with spells, both successful and ones that have failed. There are notes about animal sacrifice and blood magic—dark shit that we’ve all been warned about.

“Where is the spell?” Julian asks, taking the notebook from me. He knows how hard it is for me not to let this taint the image of my mother.

“Toward the back. It took her several years to get it right,” Lucifer answers.

Julian gives a curt nod and flips through the pages. “Here.” He holds the book so we can all see the spell. It’s written in a combination of English and Latin, and I recognize some of the Latin words since they’re common ingredients in spellcasting, though the last one stumps me.

“What is anima?” I ask. “Please tell me it’s not one letter short of saying I need to sacrifice an animal. I hate sacrificial magic, and yes, I am talking from experience,” I add, seeing no need to pretend I didn’t sacrifice anything in my desperation to save Lucas.

“It’s not an animal sacrifice,” Julian says.

“Good,” I sigh. “What is it?” When he doesn’t answer, I take my eyes away from the notebook and find him looking at Lucifer.

Lucifer takes in a slow breath. “It’s a soul. A human soul.”