Heir of Night by Emily Goodwin

Chapter 41

The book closes with a thud, and I straighten up. My lower back is killing me from sitting at the desk in the library for so long. It’s been three days since Julian’s funeral, and we’ve all been hyper-focused on research.

We learned about the Egyptian gods at the Academy. Nons would call it mythology, but we know the truth behind it. Though, like the Greek gods and goddesses, the spirits who were worshipped lost power when humans turned their attention elsewhere. What happened to them remains a mystery, though I think we’re onto figuring it out.

And if we can figure it out, then we send the fucking Horsemen packing, and I can go after Paimon, killing him once and for all. The thought of watching his body burn, swallowed by hellfire, brings me more joy than I want to admit.

It will be a slow death.

The flames will start at his feet, charring the flesh right off his body. Then the smoke will get to him, choking on it as the heat creeps up. The hot air will burn his lungs from the inside out, and then finally, after grueling moments of complete agony, he’ll succumb to the flames.

“Taking a break?” Lucas’s voice startles me. He’s fast and quiet, and I didn’t hear him come into the library. My mind was on Paimon’s screams as he burns to death before my eyes, distracting me.

“Yeah. Evander should be here soon with more books.”

“You’re going to get lunch with him.” It’s more of a question than a statement, and Lucas works to keep his face neutral. He’s wrestling with me going into Thorne Hill with Evander. He’s worried, of course, but also wants me to do something other than plot murderous revenge.

“Maybe we’ll grab takeout and bring it back here.” I look out the window. “It’s a nice day to sit on the porch and eat.” I roll my neck. “Did you come in here because you had good news?”

“No. It was another hollow lead, though I did get the name of someone who worked for the American Research Center in Egypt back in the nineties who might be able to give me the name of someone else who possibly saw the missing piece of the scroll.” He makes a face and crosses the room, scooting my chair out for me. I get to my feet, hooking my hands around his neck, and lean back, trying to crack my spine.

“Is it worth pursuing?” I ask, and Lucas runs his hands down my back, gently pushing on a pressure point and relieving some of my pain. We officially decided on Juliet Elena King for our daughter’s name, and I thought it would be weird to make the name switch since I’ve been calling her Elena for months now, but it felt right.

And it seems like Juliet dropped overnight, which could mean she’s going to be born soon, or it could mean I still have a month to go. My urge to nest turned into desperation to plot the perfect murder, which is totally normal, right?

“It’s a few phone calls, so yes. I’ll see where it takes me from there,” he says, meaning he’s not leaving me. We have no idea when I’m going to go into labor, and we have no idea when Paimon is going to strike again.

Lucas and I go into the family room, sitting on that couch together since it’s bigger and much more comfortable than the one in the library. I shove a pillow under my back and put my feet up, feeling some relief.

“She’s moving,” I tell Lucas. “Ugghhh.” I grit my teeth and toss my head back. “Fuck, that hurts. Her head is in my crotch, like, literally.”

Lucas’s eyes light up. “I don’t take joy in your discomfort, you know that.”

“Of course.”

“I am taking this as a sign you’re getting closer to going into labor.”

“Not until the rest of my shit arrives at least.” I’m still cringing from Juliet’s head ramming into my cervix. We undoubtably have to have a home birth. I can’t be treated in a hospital, and if Juliet’s blood raises red flags, it will be even harder to get out without unwanted attention.

I need to talk to my dad, but I still haven’t heard from him, which is worrisome on its own. Right now, I’d really like to know how he pulled off switching me with Nancy’s biological daughter, who was born sleeping. I was treated as a normal human, and no one flagged me as a biological anomaly until William sent me to the research lab to be tested.

“It will be here in a day or two. As anxious as I am to meet my daughter, the longer she stays put, the better it will be.”

I rub the side of my stomach, trying to get her to move. “I know. Do you think I should have ordered an extra tarp?”

“I don’t think you needed to order any.” He slides his hand down my stomach. “Turning the bedroom into Dexter’s kill room isn’t an environment you want to give birth in, my love.”

“You’re the one who showed me that video. Birth is messy.”

Lucas chuckles and kisses me. “Evander pulled in the driveway. I’ll let him in. Stay here and keep your feet up.”

“Thanks,” I tell him. By “letting him in,” Lucas means he’ll open the door and move out of the way of the sunlight. A moment later, he and Evander rejoin me in the family room, and Evander sets a large book about Ancient Egyptian magic on the coffee table.

“Any luck finding the scroll about the Oracle?” Evander asks, taking a seat on the couch at the opposite side of me. The Oracle supposedly can get you passage through the gate, but that’s all we know. It’s a bit of a stretch, I know. Julian had the amulet I put back together with magic, and now that he’s gone, I can’t ask where he hid it.

“Nope.” I sigh. “Please tell me you have had better luck.”

“I have.” His eyes light up. “You know I’ve been studying the dark magic Paimon used to root you to the earth so he could take your divinity.” He pulls a broken piece of one of the white gemstones from his pocket. “I’ve been slowly reversing the spell in just this particle. The magic is still there.”

“Is that bad?” Lucas asks.

“Quite the opposite. We can use these as a trap.” Evander waves his hand over the piece of gemstone, and it glows yellow, sending my mind spiraling back to that night. All the air gets sucked out of my chest, and anger rises inside me. I ball my fingers into my palm to keep from summoning hellfire. “These are spelled to take power from whoever is standing inside the circle. They used your own powers against you, Callie. Now, it won’t hold the Horsemen for long, but it will ground them by pulling from whatever dark magic flows through them, keeping them in, trapped for a few minutes at best, but enough time to get away.”

It’s not quite the exciting breakthrough I’d hoped for, but it’s promising. If we can trap them, even temporarily, maybe we can kill them.

“Where do we set the traps?” I ask.

Evander raises his eyebrows and sighs. “That’s the million-dollar question, though if I was killing to bet, I’d set them around you. We know Paimon made a bargain with the Horsemen. Help him get you, they get unlimited hell on earth.”

“The front yard?” I suggest, looking out the window. The guys are here working on the pool, and I’ve been waiting for someone to stumble upon a body for days now.

“It’s the largest clear area around us,” Lucas agrees. “How soon can the traps be ready?”

“It’s going to take us some time to pull the spell from each fragment. We have to break them apart in order to have enough. I have several professors working on it, and we’re bringing in another high priest to expedite the process.”

“How soon?” Lucas repeats.

“A week at best. More likely a week and a half,” Evander tells him. “Rushing the process could damage the spell structure. One thing we can’t figure out is where the gemstones came from in the first place. Normally, you can trace a spell’s origin,” he tells Lucas. “In this case, we can’t.”

Lucas nods. “One week.”

“We can make it,” I tell him, though I don’t believe anything I’m saying. My stomach grumbles loud enough for Evander to hear it. “You know plotting and planning revenge and murder is very much my jam, but do you want to get lunch now? I’m really hungry.”

“As am I. I got so into my research, I forgot to eat breakfast,” Evander says. Lucas helps me up, and I get a little dizzy when I stand. Blinking it away, I get a drink before heading out the door and into Evander’s car.

“Want to pick the music?” Evander asks, pulling onto the country road.

“You’re letting me pick the music?” I arch my eyebrows. “You never let me pick the music.”

“That’s because you have horrible taste.”

“No, you have horrible taste in music. I have great taste. You listen to the same playlist you did when we were teenagers.”

“Yeah,” he replies seriously. “I had good taste then and still do now.”

“Then I’m picking Spice Girls.” I plug in my phone and open up what used to be my workout playlist. I haven’t listened to this in a long time.

“If you weren’t super pregnant, I’d refuse.” Evander lets out a dramatic sigh and shakes his head. “This reminds me of the first time Mom let us go into town while she was at the Covenstead.”

“Oh yeah. You’d just gotten your license.”

“And you threw a fit because I wasn’t allowed to drive Kristy, and I put on this damn song to try and cheer you up.”

“Oh, right. You could only drive family then. I was already pretending be your sister. I thought we could pretend Kristy was family too.”

Evander turns, lips pulling into a half-smile. “There was nothing pretend about you being my sister back then. I was hoping for a brother, and then my mom shows up with a crying little girl.” He laughs. “As soon as I heard your story, I promised to protect you.”

“You’re going to make me cry.” My eyes are already getting watery.

“Well, it didn’t take long for me to realize you could magically kick anyone’s ass.”

“You never resented me for it?” I ask. “You were the headmaster’s kid, and I was this noob who came in and performed spells witches years older than me couldn’t.”

“No,” he says, and I believe him. “Anyone else, yeah. I probably would have. But not you. Not my sister.”

“Fuck,” I mumble, wiping my eyes.

“When did you become such a sap?” He playfully nudges me.

“It’s your goddaughter’s fault,” I chide and want to bring up what I’d talked to Kristy about before. My death seems all the more possible now that Julian died before my eyes. The words burn on my tongue, but I can’t bring myself to say them.

“It’s Juliet now?”

“Yeah.” I put my hands on my stomach, mentally promising her I’ll do whatever it takes to keep her safe.

“He’s looking down at you smiling, you know.”

“Yeah,” I say again, looking out the window to hide my tears. If Julian was right, he’s not looking down on me at all. He’s just gone.

“It’s soweird to see people carrying on like normal.” I pull my sunglasses from my purse and put them on. We just left Maria’s, and there are lots of people out and about in downtown Thorne Hill. It’s a nice day, with a cloudless sky letting the sun warm everything up.

“They have no idea what happened several days ago.”

“But people are missing. Mrs. Bishop in particular.”

“Not all the people who died were from Thorne Hill. We didn’t go into detail before, but we did check IDs and try to get the names of the missing.”

“Oh, well, that’s not good in any way.” I sigh. “It explains why people aren’t freaked out.”

“These nons would find some rational explanation for it all anyway.”

“True.” We cross the street, and I slow, looking at a church on the next block over.

“What is it?” Evander follows my line of sight.

“Nothing.” I shake my head. “It’s stupid.”

“Tell me.”

“I thought maybe it would give me a better chance of getting ahold of my dad or finding out if Julian is…is…” I shake my head again. “See? Stupid.”

“It’s not stupid, and that’s Michael the Archangel on the stained-glass window.”

“Really?” I look at him, surprised he even knows that.

“Really. Come on, let’s go to church.”

Evander hooks his arm through mine, and we cross the street together. It’s not Sunday, but a few people are inside, sitting in the pews praying. It’s cold and quiet in here and smells like frankincense.

“Want me to come with you?” Evander asks softly.

“If you want.”

We walk toward the altar, and Evander hangs back two pews behind me, giving me space. I sit on the edge of the wooden bench, leaning forward with my hands folded.

Dad?

I wait and get nothing.

Dad, if you can hear me, give me a sign. Sorry, I sound like I’m summoning a spirit.

Again, nothing.

Lucifer? I might be the only one praying to you in a church, but I need you too.

I open my eyes, hoping so badly I’ll see both my dad and my uncle sitting in the church with me.

I’m sorry, Julian. I wish you were still here with us. But you’re not, and I need to know you’re okay…that you’re at peace.

Letting out a breath, I get up, shaking my head at Evander, and we start to walk back out together. A lady in a pink pantsuit speed-walks out of a little office.

“Hi,” she says in a chipper voice. “You two are new here. Are you just checking out the place?”

“Yes, just getting a feel for it,” Evander replies, and the lady doesn’t move.

“When are you due?” She brings a hand to her chest, as if seeing a super-pregnant lady is as cute as a fucking puppy.

“Uh,” I start, not sure what to say since my due date is now dependent on how much of my angel powers the baby absorbs. “Soon-ish. She’ll get here when she gets here.”

“Going the natural route? I did too. It’s the best way, in my opinion. Natural births are the only real births, in my opinion.”

Evander side-eyes me, giving me the same look I no doubt give Lucas, because his face is telling me now is not the time for murder.

“It’s nice to see such a young interracial couple. We would love to have you here.” She looks at my oversized diamond ring on my left hand, no doubt wanting the “young interracial couple” to become members just to say the church is diverse. “How long have you two been married?”

“Oh, we’re not married.”

“She’s my sister,” Evander says. “Adopted, obviously. We’re not related.” He puts his arm around me. “Which makes our baby even more of a blessing.” He pats my stomach. “I hope she has your body but my eyes.”

“Uh-huh,” Nancy Martin 2.0 squeaks out. “I have to—I, uh, I—sinners,” she mutters under her breath and speeds away.

I let out the laughter I was holding back and look at Evader. “We are in a house of worship. I think it’s safe to say you’re going to Hell.”

He shrugs. “Good thing my sister-slash-baby mama can score me a get out of Hell free card.”

I laugh again, and Evander takes my hand, giving it a squeeze. “It’s good to see you smile again.”

“It feels good to smile again,” I say, not sure the last time I laughed.

“It’s what he’d want.” Evander leads me to the back pew, and we sit. “I didn’t know Julian the way you did, but I do know he would want you to be happy. He never doubted your right to live your life, and living your life to the best of your ability is the greatest way to honor his memory.”

My eyes get all misty. “You’re right. I don’t want his death to be in vain. He died so I could live.” I look at my stomach. “So we could live.” Tears run down my face. “I hate—” I cut off, sucking back a sob. “I hate that it’s over. That this is it and I have no idea if he’s at peace or…or…” I close my eyes, losing control of my tears. Evander puts his arms around me, and I rest my head on his shoulder, silently sobbing. “He told me there’s nothing for angels after they die. They just—just stop existing. Do you think that’s true?”

“I don’t know,” he replies honestly. “What happens after death is a mystery to most. We’re unique compared to the rest of the world to know some spirits linger and can be communicated with. But some don’t. Some souls leave no trace and cannot be summoned by even the most talented mediums. It’s still a mystery.” He slowly inhales. “This is probably the part where I tell you some bullshit line about how life has no meaning if there’s no death or something like that. I can’t fucking stand shit like that.”

“You shouldn’t say fuck in church.”

Evander snorts. “You just said fuck in church.”

I lift my head off his shoulder and smile. “Fuck, I did.”

Evander cocks an eyebrow. “Did you do that on purpose?”

“No.” I laugh. My emotions are all over the place, and I’m tired from being so freaking angry for days now. “And I can’t stand it, either. Of course life wouldn’t have meaning if we didn’t have death.”

“Being reminded of that doesn’t make losing someone any easier.”

I sniffle and wipe my eyes. “One time he tried to feed me a scented candle. He thought because it smelled good, I could eat it.”

“How oblivious he was to the human world was endearing.”

“It was.” I wipe my eyes and smile again. “We hung out that day. I took him to his first movie.”

“I feel in my entire heart that he is not gone.”

“I hope you’re right.”

Evander gets up and holds out his hand. “That’s typically all most people have: hope.”

“I’m trying.”

“I know you are.” He puts his arm around my shoulders when we walk past Pink Pantsuit’s office, making me laugh again. We step out of the church, blinking in the sunlight. A breeze comes in out of nowhere, blowing leaves around my feet. I go to step on them, wanting to hear the crunch, but stop, gasping when I see something else in the leaves.

Parting my legs so I could bend over without my stomach hitting my knees, I pick it up, losing my battle with tears all over again. To anyone else, this could be from a hawk, but I can feel the divinity coming off the large brown feather.

Julian is at peace.