Chapter 28

Chapter

Twenty-Eight

DASH

We tookJamie with us to the funeral home, and Keir took her upstairs while I went down to the mortuary. I tore open the door of the walk-in and stood there, unsure of what to do to get through the compressor screen.

Instead of making a fool of myself, I yelled. “Beelzebub! Get your ass here, now!”

Fuck getting Jay and Scotty. I wanted one of Lucifer’s biological sons. We already knew they weren’t going to help us fight Nyx, and as pissed as I’d been when Jay had told me, this was a whole different animal. Someone had kidnapped Lake, and I wanted to know who. We’d been sitting in that condo the whole time, and no human had come in to do it. It had to have been an other.

Suddenly, fire shot out of the compressor, making me jump back to keep from getting burned. A leather boot and a pair of riding pants came through first, followed by the rest of Brokorol, Beelzebub’s guard. Then, Er’on, Brok’s sidekick.

Next, a long walking stick came through, followed by a Nike-covered foot, then the leg of an ugly track suit. Once Beelzebub was out, Jay followed behind. I backed out through the door because it was getting crowded in there.

“Do you think all I have is time for your petty bullshit? Why have you summoned me? And it better be good. I was eating the best fucking haggis I’d ever tasted.”

“What the hell is that?” Demons were crazy, especially the princes, as I was coming to learn.

“You don’t wanna know. What’s going on?” Jay stepped closer, fists on his hips.

“Lake has been kidnapped, and it wasn’t by a human. Keir and I were at the condo when it happened, so it’s gotta be one of your people.” I pointed at each of them to emphasize my statement.

“Don’t point at Master.” Er’on was a bold little thing, stepping forward to put themselves between me and Brok, who was in front of Beelzebub.

Brok put his beefy hand on Er’on’s shoulder and pulled them back a little, whispering into their ear. “Oh, uh, sorry. I didn’t mean to be rude, but you were rude first.”

I sighed, feeling exhaustion seep into my soul. “I apologize. Where’s my child?”

Jay stepped around the three of them and put an arm around my shoulders. “Let’s calm down. It wasn’t a demon because we’d have known it. It has to be a white lighter.” He then turned to Beelzebub. “Can you reach out to Jo?”

“I’m here. What a mess you people are making of this. What’s going on with Lucifer commanding that the princes stay out of the fight? It’s for his kingdom, you know.”

Josephine, in all her little old woman glory, came over to stand by me. “Lake is safe, I promise. I’ve put her into hiding because there were rumblings that Nyx was going to kidnap Lake because of the baby she’s carrying. I won’t let that happen.”

I hugged Jo, knowing that the outside of her was womanly, but inside was a big angel with a whole lot of heart who was protecting my baby girl. I’d be eternally grateful for her quick action.

Jo turned to me. “Go upstairs and send Jamie to lie down in your room so we can take her to her momma before she gets scared. We will take care of the innocents, I promise. Once things calm down, they’ll be returned to the Human Realm and will remember only what I told them happened—they went on vacation to Monterey with Lucy and Lenny. That’s not where they’ll be, but that’s what they’ll think.”

“Does that mean the fight is now?” I held my breath. I hadn’t done any of the things I’d planned to do like get Lilith’s blood to have on hand, and...and...I guess that was all I’d really planned. A warrior I was not.

“Go upstairs and tell Keir about the baby. He has things to tell you as well. You two need to talk more.”

Jo disappeared. I glanced at the three others who were standing in front of me with perplexed expressions. “What just happened?”

Beelzebub appeared confused, leading me to believe that somehow, Jo had put them in a trance when she’d told me she’d been the one to take Lake and was there to get Jamie. I hated to admit it, but I didn’t trust them either.

“Bye.” I ran upstairs to find Keir in the kitchen with his phone. “Yes, two orders of General⁠—”

“Hang up. Where’s Jamie?”

I began tearing through the apartment, finding Jamie in the living room watching television. “Why don’t you go lie down in our room?” I took her hand and tucked the girl into our bed. Before I could leave, Jo appeared.

She was in her old woman personae, and she smiled at Jamie. “Wave goodbye to Dash. You’ll be back soon.” Jamie followed Jo’s instructions, and the two of them disappeared.

I returned to the kitchen, grabbed a beer, and chugged it. It had been quite a fucking day, and it was only five in the evening.

Stepping to the cabinet, I pulled a wine glass out before reaching to the wine rack on top of the fridge and grabbing the Shiraz that was Keir’s favorite. I quickly uncorked it and placed it on the counter while I pulled out the aerator from the China hutch in the dining room.

“What’s going on? I need to get Jamie something to eat.” Keir stared at me, just as I expected.

“Jamie’s going to be fine. She’s with Lake. We need to talk.”

I poured the wine through the glass contraption that did something I didn’t understand to red wine, and then I opened the spigot at the bottom and poured some wine into Keir’s glass.

Fishing around the snack cabinet, I found a box of cheese crackers. It wasn’t a fancy charcuterie board like I knew my husband loved, but it suited my purposes for now.

“Sit.” Keir sat next to me with a bewildered expression on his handsome face.

“Where are Jamie and Lake?”

“Jo has them somewhere safe. Tell me what you know about Nyx. Jo was here, and she said we need to talk more, so go.”

“I know why Nyx is trying to take over the Human Realm. She had a thing for Lucifer, and he didn’t return her affections. She’s pissed about it, and she wants to show him she’s boss.” Keir then took a sip of his wine.

“The bet makes more sense now. Lucifer said that if she won the battle for the Human Realm, he wouldn’t put up a fight, which is why he’s commanded the princes not to participate. We can’t count on them.” I grabbed a handful of crackers from the box and shoved them into my mouth while I went to get another beer.

“There’s a bet? Damn! Nyx provided the magic to the witch who cursed the males in my family. We’ll never be at peace until the curse is broken. That scroll explains everything, but it’s missing the bottom part. We need to find it.”

That was interesting. “I know you don’t want to know, but this seems important. Our first born is a little girl.”

Keir’s eyes filled with tears and he put his wine glass on the coffee table in front of the couch. I put down my beer bottle and braced myself for the robust hug I knew was coming my way.

He stepped into my body, and sobbed, though I wasn’t sure why. I couldn’t help but cry with him. Memories of that little girl I’d seen in my vision filled my mind, and I couldn’t wait to meet her. I decided, though, that I wouldn’t tell him about the boy. That could be a surprise for another day.

I pulled Keir to sit on my lap on the couch. “You okay?”

Keir reached into the back pocket of his jeans and pulled out a handkerchief, drying my eyes and then his own. “There hasn’t been a female born into the Dearly family for centuries. This has to be significant, Dash. This has to mean something.”

I nodded. “I was sure any child of ours would be special, but this just seals the deal for me. Our daughter will do great things.”

Keir smiled. “Of course she will. She’s a Clegg-Dearly.”

The next morning,I went out to dead-head the spent roses. As I glanced around, I noticed several silver-haired men nearby. Two of them were cutting the neighbor’s grass. I then saw two guys on a tandem bike slowly pedaling down the street. Obviously, Lilith’s offspring weren’t the brightest bulbs in the lamp.

“Subtle, guys.” They all gave me a wave and went on about their business.

Adonis came around the corner of the funeral home and joined me in the garden. “Mother said you needed to see me?”

“Yes. Can you get in touch with Dr. Carl? We have a scroll we need him to decipher for us.”

Adon’s face lit up as he retrieved his phone and stepped away. A few moments later, Adon returned to my side and began helping me with my task. “Carl will be here shortly.”

The rust bucket Dr. Carl drove pulled into the funeral home’s parking lot, so Adon went to greet him. The two of them returned to me, both with big grins.

Keir came out of the apartment and down the stairs. “Hi, Adon. Dr. Carl.”

I turned toward Dr. Carl. “Lilith told me you’re able to read ancient languages. We’ve got a scroll we’d like you to look at if you’ve got a minute.”

“Gladly. How’ve you been?” Dr. Carl followed Adon up the stairs as we went into the apartment.

“Anyone want coffee?” Keir directed us to the table while I went to get the scroll that was on our dresser. When I returned, Keir had all of us set up with coffee and produced a box of donuts he’d been holding out on me.

I put the scroll on the table and used the candlesticks to hold the metal handle at one end while I held the bottom so Dr. Carl could get a good look at the parchment with the funny letters.

After a moment, he glanced up. “This is a dark magic spell.”

At least we were on the right track. “Can you translate it?”

“It’s written in a Gallo-Romance language. Sort of Latin, but more limited in scope. Uh, northern France, I think.” That tracked with what Amelie had said.

“I believe it’s a spell used to curse my family—well, the men in my family. We’ve been told there’s a possibility that Nyx provided the magic that supported the spell.” Keir glanced at me, and I winked. He seemed quite uneasy.

“Ah, it reads like a black magic spell. Anyway, I’m not going to say it out loud because I don’t need to attract black magic, but basically, it’s a spell to curse the men in the d-apostrophe-capital-E-r-l-i-e family. I’m guessing it’s a different way to spell Dearly?”

Keir nodded. “We were from Normandy originally. Once the spell was cast, my family changed the spelling of our name and scattered to other parts of France and the UK to try to outrun it, I guess. They weren’t very good at keeping up with each other, so I don’t know how other family members faired, but I know that only boys were born into the Dearly family for centuries after. No girls. Until now.”

Dr. Carl glanced between us and smiled. “Congratulations. The part missing from the scroll is how to break the spell. That’s no surprise, really. Whoever wrote the spell seems vengeful. There’s a lot of negative energy still vibrating from the ink. We’ll need to sage the place after you get rid of this thing.” He pointed toward the scroll.

“Why would we get rid of it? It’s been in my family for centuries.” Keir seemed uneasy about the idea, but if that scroll played any part in what his family had gone through, I was all for getting rid of the fucking thing.

Dr. Carl stared at my husband. “You don’t want to continue to attract black magic, do you?”

Oh! Holy shit!“Is that why there’s a portal to Hell in the mortuary walk-in?”

Adon clapped his hands. “That explains a lot. Whoever brought the scroll here brought the dark magic with it that allowed a portal to open in the mortuary. Damn, that makes so much sense!”

Keir’s face was pale.

“Dearly?” I stepped closer and took his hand. “Who knew that could happen, okay? Clearly, your dad didn’t know that by keeping the scroll, he was inviting dark energy here. Let’s just fix it.”

Dr. Carl gave a half smile. “I’ll need to do some research and contact my spirit guides to see if any of them know how we can close the portal. I’ll get back to you on that. Meanwhile, we need to find the rest of the scroll.”

I sighed. “How do we do that?” I sure as fuck didn’t want to go on a scavenger hunt. I wanted to make a safe home for my family.

“I’ll need to reach out to my spirit guides for that too. It will be necessary for me to go into seclusion so I’m not interrupted while I seek guidance. Can you help at the soup kitchen on Stockton Boulevard near the river? I’ve got staff who can cover for me at the health center, but we’ll need additional help at the soup kitchen.”

I spoke up. “How long will you be away?”

Dr. Carl closed his eyes. “I’ll need to go to South America and travel to the ancient sites. I’ll be gone a couple of months at least.”

Keir inhaled deeply. “What else can we do to help? My staff and I will happily help at the soup kitchen.”

“I’ll get the guys from the shop to help too. They’re available on weekends, and Georgia is a great cook, so that’ll be helpful.”

I leaned closer to Dr. Carl. “I can fund this adventure, so you’re not using your own money to help us.”

Dr. Carl extended his hand. “I appreciate it, but the Creator will provide. If you want to donate to my clinic, the money will go to help those in need much more than me.”

To find a selfless man in this day and age, was quite refreshing. The money Danny had left to me was dirty, in my opinion. Maybe using it for good would somehow help cleanse Danny’s soul? It was my hope, anyway.

No one could ever say life was boring in the Clegg-Dearly household. We had a lot of balls in the air at once, but one thing we didn’t have to worry about was our baby girl. She was being cared for by Lake, who would do everything she could to ensure our baby girl was safe inside her. Jamie was with Lake, so we wouldn’t have to worry about her.

Most importantly, the Ad Hoc General of the Order of Heaven was keeping all of them safe while we prepared for the fight for humanity. It was a heavy burden to carry, knowing that the fate of all humankind rested on our shoulders, but with Keir by my side, I was certain we would prevail.

With Keir by my side, I believed I could do anything.