Chapter 4

CHAPTER FOUR

“They’ll be here shortly,” Gideon said as he took Alana Catherine back from Charlie.

“They?” I asked.

“Cecily and Abaddon,” he replied, sniffing our baby’s bottom and wincing. “She pooped.”

“I got it,” Jennifer said, scooping a giggling Alana Catherine out of Gideon’s arms and kissing her nose. “You guys can keep discussing all your sparkly friends. We’ll be right back!”

My baby giggled all the way up the stairs as Jennifer sang a song about how everybody poops. I giggled, too. My dogs were right on Jennifer’s heels, with their tails wagging a mile a minute. When she got to the part about how when Candy Vargo poops her pants, they fall on the floor because she doesn’t wear underpants , even the Keeper of Fate threw back her head and laughed.

It was the little things I was living for right now. Laughing about poop might be on the humor level of a second-grade boy, but I’d take it. My daughter’s giggle was the most gorgeous sound in the Universe. I was made whole by my child’s laugh.

“I’d suggest we go over the discussion we had at Cecily’s home in California before she visited the Higher Power,” Tim announced, pulling out a notebook and pen from the pocket of his mail uniform. “There was much valuable information shared. Our situation is different, but knowledge is power.”

Tim was correct. Before Cecily had embarked on that journey, Gideon, Candy Vargo, Charlie, Tim, Heather and I went to meet with her. I wasn’t very useful, but my friends and family had been. Heather wasn’t here now, but between the rest of us, we could piece it together. It would save time in the long run. If I was going to deal with the Higher Power, it was beneficial to know as much as possible.

“Darlings!” Dirk said, popping his head in where the front door used to be. “We’ve spotted nothing unusual yet! How’s it going in here? Have the ones who should be in the Light come back?”

“No, not yet,” I told him, glancing around just in case I was wrong. Honestly, I didn’t know if we would see them again at all. Steve’s words were forefront in my mind—'You have only days to discover the riddle and solve it. Start with the ending you desire and work your way back. It’s the only way. Remember, nothing is impossible… you just have to believe.’

“Alrightyroo! Back to work!” Dirk blew kisses and returned to his post in the yard with the other queens.

I did believe, and I would continue to believe. But believing blindly wasn’t something I was going to do. Getting armed with an much info as possible was my plan. “Should we just talk through what we recall?” I asked.

“How about we watch it?” Charlie suggested.

I looked at him warily. If he was suggesting we go back in time and relive it, I was going to let him have it. Yep, he was the Immortal Enforcer and could end me with a blink of his eyes, but I was never turning time back again. I’d done it once and almost hadn’t lived to tell. “And how exactly would we do that?”

Charlie chuckled. He’d clearly read my mind or, more likely, my expression. “On the big screen TV.”

“Are you messing with me?” I asked, still cautious.

“Not at all, Daisy,” he assured me as he approached the TV and snapped his fingers.

“I just love it when Charlie gives us a show.” Tim clasped his hands together. “He so rarely does!”

“That’s because giving the past the BlockBuster Video treatment takes a fuckload of magic, and the fucker is useless for a few hours afterward,” Candy Vargo reminded Tim.

“Be kind and rewind a minute,” I said to Charlie, taking the BlockBuster metaphor and running with it. “I don’t want you to harm yourself. I might need you.”

The Enforcer glanced over his shoulder and gave me a kind, fatherly smile. “Daisy, this journey isn’t mine to make, but if you need me, the power drain won’t last long. I’ll be right as rain and back to full power in an hour or two. Besides, this is the clearest and most concise way to get the information you need. Watching what happened when Cecily came up against the Higher Power will be far more productive than trying to piece it together from a game of telephone with our memories. A lot has happened since the meeting, and perception colors the past.”

A lot was an understatement. The Enforcer was offering a gift of clarity, and I was going to accept. “Thank you, Charlie. Please show us.”

The images on the television were snowy for a moment, but Charlie twirled his fingers, moved his arms like he was signaling a jet to land, and then clapped his hands. Immediately, the picture became crystal clear with Candy Vargo’s mug front and center.

I stared at the television screen as the recent past came to life like an episode of Big Brother .

“Thank fucking God for that,” on-screen Candy grunted, while standing in the middle of what I recognized as Cecily’s bungalow living room in Venice, California.

On-screen Gideon, Tim, Charlie, and Heather, along with myself, were in the Dark Goddess’s living room along with Cecily’s mom, Lilith, and Cecily’s agent, an Angel named Cher.

“Fascinating,” Tim said, standing behind the couch, ready to take notes. “Charlie, you really are a marvel.”

“Mind-blowing,” I agreed.

The Immortal Enforcer’s shoulders lifted and back straightened at the compliment.

“Anyone got popcorn?” Lura Belle asked, as she and her sisters sat on the loveseat to watch the show.

Gram and Mr. Jackson floated in the air near Charlie’s head, and Gideon stood by me next to the couch. Jennifer hadn’t yet returned with Alanna Catherine, but the baby Death Counselor’s poops could be almost supernaturally toxic, so I assumed she was going through a box of booty wipes.

Leaning forward, I focused on the TV screen.

“I look hot up on that fuckin’ TV,” Candy said. “Right?”

There was only one answer to that question that wouldn’t end in bloodshed. “Very hot,” I agreed. “Now, be quiet and watch.”

“Speaking of,” Cecily said, turning to the assembled group in her home. “Explain to me how the Higher Power isn’t God.”

Neither Cecily nor I were well-versed with the Bible. I remembered being glad she asked the question instead of me. I’d taken far too much crap for not having read the book yet. I half expected someone to make a comment about it right now, but when I glanced around, everyone was glued to the screen.

In this episode of This Is My Crazy Midlife , Tim entered Cecily’s cozy living room with one of his casseroles. The Dark Goddess’s eyes grew huge when she caught a whiff, but she had better manners than me and didn’t gag.

In the next scene, everyone was seated, except Gideon and Lilith weren’t there. This was when Gideon, who was Lilith’s brother, had taken the ex-goddess out of the room for a mental health break after Lilith had revealed some past unsavory behavior that had been relevant to Pandora’s path to evil. Her actions hadn’t necessarily been the cause of Pandora turning wicked, but it had definitely been a gateway. The revelation had been a shocker, especially for Cecily.

The rest of us watched with a small amount of horror as the only people who ate Tim’s slop casserole were Candy Vargo and Tim. Everyone else had politely passed.

“While we wait for Gideon and Lilith to come back in, tell me about the Higher Power, please,” Cecily repeated. “Explain to me how It’s different from God.”

On the tv, Candy Vargo pushed her clean plate aside, burped and popped a toothpick into her mouth.

“God’s a human thing,” the Keeper of Fate explained.

“So, the Bible isn’t true?” Cecily asked.

I watched as past-me leaned forward, elbows on the table, as I perked with interest. I remember thinking that the Demon Goddess had read my mind and had asked for answers to the same theological mysteries that had stumped me since my life as the Death Counselor had begun.

“You wanna take this one, Angel?” Candy asked Cher.

Cher was Cecily’s talent agent who happened to be an ancient Angel. The tiny woman was very heavy-handed with the makeup but lovely in an over-the-top way. She and Candy Vargo were friends who went waaaaaaay back.

“You betcha,” Cher replied, taking a swig off her wine cooler then dabbing at her mouth with a Versace hanky. “Plenty of truth in it. Plenty of untruths. You know when you play telephone?”

Everyone nodded.

“Well, that’s kinda how it came to be. Short version, in my opinion, is this—stories got told and passed on repeatedly over the years—some got embellished, some got forgotten. Then they decided to write it all down in what would be recognized as a dead language today,” Cher explained.

Watching our past come to life on a TV from Charlie’s magic was surreal. Even so, I didn’t know what any of this had to do with our current situation, but I also trusted that Charlie wouldn’t be showing this to me if it wasn’t somehow important. At least, some of it. I reminded myself to be patient, something I didn’t have a lot of. Some of the information was bound to be extraneous, and while I wished the Immortals around me would learn how to use bullet points, that wasn’t the way it worked. The important parts would be revealed when the time was right. I felt it in my gut.

“Oh yes!” Tim said. “It was eventually translated by men into Latin then later into other languages.”

“Men who might or might not have had different agendas,” Charlie explained. “Basically, the game of telephone continued.”

“Women were not involved,” Heather added, pointedly. “Therefore, Immortals tend to look at the Bible as a collection of stories that make an attempt to lead humankind to do good.”

“But them fuckers have taken the bits and the pieces that support their own beliefs. Bottom line is that God is love. Period. If all the fuckbuckets in the world would just abide by that they’d be a whole lot better off,” Candy said flatly.

“Charlie, pause that shit for a hot sec,” Candy yelled.

Charlie obliged.

“I come off really fuckin’ smart!” Candy Vargo announced proudly.

“You’d come off a lot smarter without all them F-bombs,” Gram commented.

Jolly Sue cleared her throat. “Normally, I’d agree that an individual who uses profanity as much as Candy Vargo is a bawdy, crook-plated hussy. However, in Candy’s case I shall excuse her and simply call her a pribbling lewdster.”

Dimple punched Jolly Sue in the head. Not much damage happened since they were ghosts. “I wouldn’t go that far. I believe Candy Vargo is a gleeting canker-blossom. Much milder,” Dimple said.

Lura Belle was annoyed. “I am TRYING to watch TV,” she hissed at her dead posse. “You are both haggard fat-kidneyed, nut-hooks. Time is wasting. We must focus on how to save the day. It’s unclear how much time we have left.”

Both Jolly Sue and Dimple hung their heads.

“Charlie,” Lura Belle called out. “Please do your voodoo so we can glean the knowledge. The beslubbering hedge pigs will not interrupt again.”

“Correct,” Dimple chimed in. “However, I’d like to end the conversation by informing everyone that Lura Belle is a cockered, weedy strumpet.”

The three dead dummies jumped each other and went to town. The punches weren’t exactly landing, but the turn-of-the-century insults sure were. Their ghostly fists went right through their targets. When I tried to break up the fight, I got called currish, lumpish, humper-mugger. I was done. Picking them up since I could physically touch the dead, I tossed them out into the front yard.

“Boys,” I called out to the queens. “Do you mind refereeing a smackdown?”

“Would luuurve it, girlfriend,” Fred assured me, galloping over on his steed. “What seems to be the problem?”

“No problem,” I told him. “Just normal Lura Belle-Jolly Sue-Dimple behavior. I’ve found it best to let them get it out of their systems. Just make sure if they lose any appendages, they hang onto them so I can glue them back together.”

“Will do, Sugar Pants,” Wally squealed. He was always down for a little violence.

With a wave to the queens, I walked back into the house and sat back down. “Charlie, can we resume?’

“Absolutely,” he said. Charlie clapped his hands and the scene continued.

“So, God is real?” Cecily pressed, clearly confused.

The Keeper of Fate shrugged. “Depends on what you wanna believe, Badass. Many bloody wars amongst the humans have been fought in the name of religion. Some ain’t never gonna end. Not real fucking sure if that’s what God would have intended.”

“Not helping,” Cecily said to Candy.

She shrugged. “Not trying to. Some questions have no answers. Some have millions of answers. Faith is a choice.”

“Moving on,” Cecily stated. “The Higher Power. Explain.”

Abaddon, Cecily’s handsome Demon mate, joined the discussion. “The Higher Power is more of an entity than a being—an elusive light. Smoke and mirrors—danger, love and wickedness personified. Not something to be questioned or called on. The Universe is neither black nor white. It’s gray. The Higher Power could also be considered gray.”

Cecily squinted at him. “There’s a problem.”

He raised a brow and waited.

“I’m about to call on It. And I have a lot of questions. You just said that’s a no-no.”

Abaddon held up a hand. “You’re not calling on It to come to you. You’re going to It. You’re not questioning the existence of It. You’re demanding specific answers to a specific situation. Words are made to be interpreted in many ways. Keep that in mind.”

Charlie waved his hand in a circular motion and the images sped up. “This next part is irrelevant.”

“Wait!” Candy griped. “Ain’t this the part where Tim tells Cecily to pinch her weenus and she thinks he means penis?”

I chuckled despite myself. The weenus-penis convo had been undeniably funny.

“So embarrassing,” Tim lamented, blushing.

“It was fuckin’ hilarious,” she insisted.

Charlie gave Candy the side eye. That shut her up fast. No one wanted to piss off Charlie. “It is, and we’re skipping it. It has no pertinent intel on the Higher Power and Cecily could arrive any moment. I’d suggest we only watch what’s necessary.

“I agree,” I said, trying not to snicker. “Everyone, zip it and watch.

Cecily glanced around the room. “Has anyone actually seen It?”

“With our eyes?” Charlie asked.

“Yep. Eyes,” she confirmed.

“That ain’t how you see the Higher Power,” Candy Vargo volunteered.

Abaddon, who seemed to sense that Cecily’s patience was wearing thin, spoke up. “Think of it like an immersive experience.”

“Like one of those water tanks where you get all weightless and shit,” Cher chimed in.

“Not really,” Abaddon said. “It’s a state of mind. Sort of.”

Cher clapped excitedly. “Like wearing those fancy VD goggles the kids love these days.”

“Are their goggles for venereal diseases?” Tim asked with a horrified expression.

Candy flicked a toothpick at him. “She means VR goggles. Virtual reality, not a sexually transmitted disease.” She sniffed. “It ain’t a half-bad notion.”

Cher preened at her buddy’s compliment, her green and red lips smacking as she grinned.

Cecily shook her head. “Unless someone actually has goggles that will get me where I need to go, this is really unhelpful. Okay. Let me try again. Where is the Higher Power?”

“On a different plane,” Tim said. “Similar to the Darkness and the Light, but different.”

“Do we transport there?” she asked.

No one spoke.

Cecily tried again. “Like to the different plane? Do we transport?”

Silence.

“Let’s break this down.” Cecily began to pace the room. “Either no one knows the answers, or you’re not allowed to share. However, I have Pandora inside of me, and I want her out. If there’s another way to do that, I’m all ears. If that’s not the case, then I have to get to the Higher Power, and I would seriously appreciate some layman’s instructions.”

Lilith, Cecily’s mother and the former Goddess of the Darkness, walked back into the scene with Gideon beside her. She joined the conversation. “You will be able to commune with the Higher Power as the Goddess of the Darkness.”

“Wait. Hold up.” Cecily’s hands doubled into fists at her sides, but she kept her tone calm and reasonable. “Is the Higher Power actually a person? Someone or thing that’s tangible? All of you guys keep saying It’s an entity… you can’t see It with your eyes. Bottom line, I’m fucking confused. How can you talk to something that’s been described to me as an elusive light?”

Candy Vargo blew a loud raspberry from her mouth. “Shit’s hard to comprehend,” she admitted. “Don’t help all that fuckin’ much that you’re only forty years old.”

“I’m also forty,” I’d reminded everyone. “I stand with Cecily on this line of questioning. She and I have accepted a lot in a short amount of time. The Higher Power is difficult to swallow. Not to mention, Cecily has to deal with It. Soon. Enough of the vague bullshit. If no one here knows what they’re talking about, admit it. Give the Bitch Goddess Cecily the respect she’s due. All of you are old enough, and I do mean old enough, to acknowledge if you have no clue how to explain this.”

The room went silent. Glances were exchanged.

Gideon was the one to speak first. Bowing his head in respect to both Cecily and me, he smiled apologetically. “As usual, the Angel of Mercy speaks with common sense that us older people seem to have forgotten how to use. Sometimes to make clear what is muddy can verge on impossible.”

“Nothing is impossible,” I reminded the man I loved. “You just have to believe.”

“Great fucking monologue,” Candy Vargo said, clapping me on the back. “You come off as pretty smart yourself.”

Gram didn’t even yell at her for the foul language as she zipped around above. “That’s my girl,” she preened. “Always has been the smartest gol’darn person in the room.”

I’ll admit it felt good, making Gram proud.

“There’s more to watch,” Charlie said, unpausing the shitshow of our past with a wave of his hand.

On-screen Gideon chuckled. “Fine,” he said to on-screen me. “The Higher Power is whatever or whomever you see It as.”

Cecily rolled her eyes. I didn’t blame her. “Soooooo, if I want Tim to be the Higher Power because he’s really nice then he becomes the Higher Power?”

Tim giggled. “Oh my! What a lovely compliment, Bitch Goddess Cecily! But alas, no. It doesn’t work that way.”

“Lemme give it a shot,” Candy Vargo said.

“Be my guest, friend,” Tim told her.

“Alrighty then,” she said, splaying her hands out in front of her. She began to shimmer and her knotted hair floated around her head. It was a scary look coupled with her mismatched sweats and sandals. “Pretend you’re on the Higher Power’s plane.”

“How did I get there?” Cecily asked.

Candy hissed at her. “That don’t matter right yet.”

Cecily took a healthy step back. “Got it.”

“Just envision what I’m fuckin’ sayin’, Badass,” she instructed. “You’re just fuckin’ walking along and minding your own business, and then BAM! You feel It. Your blood runs cold, and you sneeze like a motherfucker. All of a sudden, the wind kicks up and the trees uproot—screamin’ in agony as they break in half like they were twigs. The animals begin to screech, and the air smells of death. You close your eyes, and all of a sudden Mr. Fucking Rogers is standing there with Mr. McFeely. You’re pretty sure that Pee-wee Herman is nearby since his bike is hanging from one of the trees.”

“Oh my God. STOP,” Heather snapped. She was glowing, and her magical tattoos raced along her arms and neck. “With all due respect, what in the actual fuck are you talking about? Not real sure this is helping.”

Candy raised her hands to electrocute Heather. Heather was ready to go back at the Keeper of Fate with her hands held high. Abaddon stepped between the women and growled.

“Stand down,” he ground out. “Violence is not what is needed. Do you understand or shall we take this outside so I can help you understand?”

Both women dropped their arms. The entire room heaved a sigh of relief.

Lilith began to laugh. It sounded unhinged, but it was definitely laughter. “Hang on, please. I have to disagree with Heather. Candy Vargo has made a fine point—rather bizarre, but not unhelpful.”

Everyone stared at Lilith.

“Keep talking,” Cecily told her mother.

“Open the door in your mind and let Pandora join the conversation,” she instructed. “But give her a warning that the door can be bolted shut again as easily as it was unbolted.”

We couldn’t hear Pandora, not then or now, since in the scene she was trapped inside of Cecily’s mind. Unfortunately, from the pained wince on Cecily’s face she could hear the evil goddess loud and clear.

“You are not in charge, Pandora. I am. If you want to be released, then I’d highly suggest you swallow the bile in your foul mouth and participate in a reasonably polite manner.”

Cecily was silent as she listened to the crazed woman she was housing inside her against her will.

“Dude,” Cecily snapped. “You don’t even have a freaking body at the moment. You are in no position to negotiate. I’ve locked you out once, and I can do it again. This time I’ll throw the key into the abyss. In other words, it’s my way or the highway.”

Even though we couldn’t hear Pandora, she could hear us. Cecily nodded to her mother to speak.

“Tell Cecily what you know of the Higher Power,” Lilith said.

Cecily was quiet as she listened to Pandora’s answer.

“She said the questions have to be more specific,” Cecily told us, then immediately jumped back in and questioned Pandora herself. “How do I get to the Higher Power?” She paused and listened to the voice only she could hear. “She says, to get to the Higher Power, I have to be in a dream state.”

“Interesting,” Tim said. “Makes sense.”

“It does,” Lilith agreed, shaking her head in wonder. “I’d never thought of it like that.”

“Sounds random,” Cecily said. “I mean, is it like the freaking Wizard of Oz where I need to get caught in a tornado or Alice in Wonderland and fall through a hole?”

“Careful there, girlie,” Candy Vargo warned, looking nervous which was rare for her. “Words got too much power in our world. My experience with the Higher Power looked like it did because I watch too many fuckin’ horror movies along with kids’ shows.”

Cecily looked alarmed. Hell, we were all alarmed. “Who here has actually been in the presence of the Higher Power? Raise your hands, please.”

As expected, Candy Vargo and Lilith raised their hands.

Gideon was the only other Immortal in the room to raise his hand.

“Welp, I kind of know how to get there in a roundabout and ambiguous way,” Cecily said. “Moving on. Pandora, what does the Higher Power look like… to you?”

Again, Cecily listened. Her brow was wrinkled in thought as Pandora spoke to her.

“What did she say?” Charlie asked.

“True beauty,” Cecily repeated. “Apparently, it’s a combo of Brad Pitt, Warren Beatty, Dolly Parton, Clark Gable and I think the last one was Jennifer Aniston.”

“Jesus,” Candy muttered. “That’s a lot tamer than my version.”

“Word,” Cecily replied. “Lilith, tell me your version, please.”

“Nirvana,” she replied. “Wildly colored flowers, vines and trees—nature at its’ explosive finest. Absolute peace and tranquility.”

“What the fuck?” Candy griped. “Not what I saw.”

Cecily ignored Candy and focused on her mom. “That’s what the Higher Power looks like to you?” she questioned.

Lilith shook her head. “I can’t say I’ve seen the Higher Power in any kind of form with my eyes. For me, it’s the place where the Higher Power resides. My communication was through nature. No words were necessary.”

And the information kept getting more bewildering.

“Gideon,” Cecily said, sounding a little desperate at this point. “What about you?”

“More like what Candy Vargo experienced.”

“You saw Pee-wee Herman?” Candy demanded.

“No,” he said, flatly. “It was full of devastation and death. Very dark, rigged with land mines and not a place I’d like to revisit.”

“Seems to me, it’s the state of mind the person is in as to what they see,” Charlie observed as Heather nodded her agreement.

“I concur,” Heather said. “Cecily, as random as this advice might seem, stay positive. Don’t let your mind go to any dark depths.”

She nodded her agreement. “Next. Is it possible to die in a dream state?”

“Excellent question,” the Grim Reaper said. “And the answer is no. You can be killed but you won’t die. Although, that means anything you kill in the dream state isn’t dead either. Keep that in mind. If you kill an enemy there, you will have to end your enemy multiple times.”

“Am I going to have to kill shit there? Will there be things on the Higher Power’s plane that want me dead?” Cecily asked.

“Up to you,” Candy Vargo explained. “It’s your fuckin’ dream state, Badass.”

“Got it. Another question, how do I get back from the dream state?”

“Click your heels three times,” Candy suggested.

Heather zapped her. Candy zapped her back.

As I watched, I remembered thinking that Cecily didn’t need the two Immortals going after each other, not when so much was at stake. So, I’d put myself between them and had given them a withering look that made both of them blanch.

“Do not make me have to put either of you in time out,” on-screen me warned, eyeing them steadily. “You will not enjoy it.”

“Sorry,” Heather said, pulling Candy back to her feet. “Knee-jerk reaction to Candy being an idiot.”

The Keeper of Fate chuckled. “Might be an idiot, but that’s how I got back.”

“Seriously?” Cecily asked. “Like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz?”

Candy nodded.

“Mom? Gideon?” Cecily asked. “What about you guys?”

“For me, it wasn’t conscious,” Lilith admitted. “My body came back to this plane when the time was right.”

Gideon pressed the bridge of his nose and sighed. “I certainly hope this doesn’t apply to you, Bitch Goddess Cecily, but I came back once I’d slayed the monster.”

“Fuck,” she muttered and then was silent for a long moment. Clearly Pandora was speaking again. “Pandora said that while I can’t die in the dream state, I could get stuck there.”

Lilith nodded slowly. “I’ve always understood that to be true. It’s the reason I’ve only gone to the plane of the Higher Power a few times in my millions of years.”

Cecily wasn’t done. “Is there a time limit? A tangible one of how long I can stay without getting trapped there?”

Gideon answered. “Not as far as I’m aware. However, get out as quickly as you can. Time runs differently on different planes.”

“Well, that’s certainly a neat trick,” a familiar voice said from behind us.

I whipped around and was shocked that none of us had noticed their entrance. That didn’t bode well for us being on top of our game. The Bitch Goddess Cecily had arrived. As expected, she was accompanied by Abaddon. What wasn’t expected and wasn’t welcome was the third person in the group.

Gideon growled. The sound came from deep in his throat and made goosebumps pop up on my arms. Charlie wasn’t pleased either, and his power began to fill the room. I took short, shallow breaths so I didn’t pass out. Giving my friend a pained glance, he nodded in apology and tamped back the magic. Tim walked across the room and placed himself next to me. Gram and Mr. Jackson joined Tim.

Only Candy Vargo seemed unsurprised by Pandora’s presence.

“Why is that disgusting waste of humanity here?” Gideon demanded in a tone so vicious everyone grew even more tense.

Cecily stepped in front of Pandora with a calm expression on her stunning face. “She’s changed.”

“Bullshit,” Gideon hissed as his eyes glowed bright red in fury. “With all due respect, you’ve been the Goddess of the Darkness for a month, Cecily. You have no concept of the vileness of the woman standing next to you.” His gaze landed on Pandora. If looks could kill she would have been dead.

Pandora moved out from behind Cecily and met Gideon’s menacing scowl. “I don’t blame you for your hatred, Grim Reaper,” she said in a flat tone. “And to be honest, while I might have changed a bit, I’m still the horrific person I’ve always been deep down. However, if you want to deal with the Higher Power, I’m the one to help.”

“I’d rather chew glass and swallow it than accept help from someone like you,” Gideon shot back. His eyes were now shooting sparks, and I prepared for his ebony black wings to explode from his back.

Jennifer started to come back down the stairs with Alana Catherine, took one look at the unfolding scene and promptly turned around and hightailed it back upstairs. My human buddy was smart.

Cecily joined the conversation. Abaddon stayed quiet. “Pandora is wrong about her character, but that’s neither here nor there,” she stated, giving the woman next to her a pointed glare. “We can apprise you of what happened on the Higher Power’s plane, but I’m on It’s hit list at the moment. If you need someone with recent experience, then Pandora is the person you’re searching for.”

None of that sounded like a good plan. Pandora was one of the most evil Immortals in existence. The trail of death and destruction she’d left behind was long and horrifying. She’d destroyed lives for millions of years. Gideon despised her. I didn’t know Cecily well enough to completely trust her, but right now it didn’t look like we had much of a choice.”

Shit.

Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, I decided to have an exploratory conversation-interrogation. My options were… hell, I didn’t know what my options were. All I knew was that I had to somehow fix a tear in the Light. How to do it was anyone’s guess. And since no one had a guess, I was going to deal with what I was given.

Double shit.

I didn’t know if this was a gift or a disaster waiting to happen. There was only one way to find out.

Pandora’s gaze roved over the room and landed on my plant table. Internally, I winced. Outwardly, I was blasé. It had been the beginnings of a new hobby that had failed miserably. Every single plant was brown, crunchy and dead. I’d been meaning to toss them, but my insane life had gotten in the way.

Pandora’s brow rose and she smirked. Her gaze moved to mine in challenge. “Why do you have houseplants if you kill them, Angel of Mercy?”

Challenge accepted. I smiled at her and winked. “To remind everyone what I’m capable of, Goddess of the Darkness.”

Her eyes grew wide along with everyone else’s in the room. If Pandora thought she could fuck around, she was about to find out. I played to win. If she could help me, so be it. If she couldn’t, she was out of here.

“Shall we get started?” I asked flatly.

“Hell to the fuckin’ yes!” Candy Vargo shouted. She ushered Cecily, Abaddon and Pandora to one side of the room, while directing the rest of us to the other. “It’s time to get this party started!”

Cecily frowned. “Hey, that’s my line.”

Candy gave her a sheepish grin.

Whatever. I wasn’t sure I’d call it a party, but it was definitely time to get started.