All the avian familiars were getting sick. They were all brought to the Medical Bay where Doctor Dougal diagnosed them with West Nile Virus. Nadia’s familiar was one of the infected and was quarantined in the Medical Bay. Goblins could heal faster than regular animals but they weren’t immortal.
A few of the familiars had already succumbed to the virus. Nadia was distraught as the days went by and her familiar wasn’t getting any better. Magic could only do so much and even witch doctors couldn’t find a cure. Nadia’s familiar was going to die and there was nothing they could do about it.Callie came along as Nadia and Aubrey visited the Medical Bay. The golden parakeet was asleep in its cage. It looked small and pathetic. Nadia couldn’t touch the bird as she could become a carrier for the virus and infect the other familiars so she just watched the bird sleep."Tiya’s going to be okay." Aubrey wrapped her arm around Nadia and le"Callie! Wait up!"She stopped and turned around to see Enoch running towards her, his familiar pulling him forward on his leash. They stopped in front of her. Enoch took a moment to catch his breath and she let him. She was in no rush to get to her Herbal Magic class and brave the cold."I’ve been looking for you everywhere," he said, still winded. "You’re a hard one to track down."She tried her best to be."Thank you." He grinned. "I just wanted to say thank you for what did for the familiars."She froze and her heart started beating faster as she began to inwardly panic. "What are you talking about?""You helped cure them.""What makes you think I had anything to do with it?"He tapped his temple with a finger. "Seer, remember?"Her heart beat even faster as she tried to think about what to do next. Her fight or flight instincts kicked in. How much did he see? What did he know?"What did you see?" she demanded.
The next day, Callie was determined to get the sugar cookies to Enoch. She wasn’t going to be deterred. He would be walking back from the Greenhouses soon and she could catch him alone in the woods. She sneaked out of her Magical Zoology class and sat under a tree to wait for Enoch’s class to end.She carefully took out the pink box from her backpack and placed it on the ground. She opened the lid and looked over the cookies. The crushed cyanide she’d sprinkled over them looked like powdered sugar. Enoch wouldn’t suspect a thing.Guilt wasn’t a foreign feeling to her. She had nothing against Enoch but he could be dangerous to her. Her anonymity was her biggest advantage in reaching her goals and she didn’t know how much he’d seen in visions. He was a liability.A growl made her look up. A large dog that looked like a Doberman stepped out from behind a bush. The red eyes and the forked tail told her it was more than an ordinary
Callie had to stay in the Medical Bay for two days as Doctor Crane fussed over her injuries. Not many doctors had dealt with a Hellhound attack before so she excused the woman’s dithering about infection. A real bite from a Hellhound could take weeks to heal but she didn’t have that problem. She had some bruising but that would fade.The police were investigating the attack and she gave her statement to Officer Oliveira. Nadia’s father had a good poker face and she couldn’t get a grasp on what he was thinking. He seemed sympathetic but she couldn’t discount if he thought the attack had anything to do with what happened on Samhain. Fortunately, Doctor Crane ordered him out as Callie needed to rest and the officer hopefully didn’t return with more questions.Aubrey and Nadia brought over her homework along with a small blueberry cheesecake. Callie smiled brightly and helped herself to the dessert as the two girls kept her briefed on the go
After spending the long weekend being counterproductive, Callie was eager to get back to Shipton. She had less than two weeks before the Council’s Winter Ball and her anticipation was growing with each day. She woke up one morning to Aubrey jumping on her bed and shaking her. She opened one eye blearily as her roommate pointed to the window.Aubrey exclaimed in excitement, "It’s finally snowing!"Callie sat up and stared at the snow outside before deciding she was uninterested. She lied back down and pulled her comforter over her head. Aubrey tried to shake her again. Her roommate tried to plead with her, "Let’s build a snowman."Callie muttered through the comforter. "You’re too old to be playing in the snow, Aubrey.""I’m sixteen, not sixty. I’m not that old.""You’re not six which is the only appropriate age for this nonsense."She couldn’t see her roommate pouting but she knew Aubrey definitely was.
Out of the list of things Callie could guess she would walk into after class, her roommate and Matthias kissing passionately on the bed wasn’t one of them. She would later think she should’ve seen it coming. They had been dancing around each other for weeks. Enoch’s little nudge did the trick to finally get them to acknowledge their feelings and they were expressing them with enthusiasm.They didn’t notice her at first as they were so caught up with each other. She could leave and let them do their thing but before she could decide on that Matthias finally noticed her. He leapt off Aubrey and fell off the bed landing on the carpet with a hard thud. Aubrey was wide-eyed and looked mortified."Callie!" she said. "What are you doing here?""I live here."Matthias shot up to his feet. "I should go."Aubrey looked dismayed. "You don’t have to-""I need to go." He dipped down and gave her a quick peck. "I’ll see you later."
On the way to their first class, Nadia grabbed both Callie and Aubrey’s arms and stopped them from walking. They both turned to her in confusion as she told her familiar, Tiya, to fly through the hallway first. When nothing happened, Nadia looked relieved and encouraged them to move forward. This continued on until they were outside the Potions classroom."Any reason why you’re acting weird?" Aubrey asked as she opened the classroom door for them to enter."Enchanted mistletoe. It’s a prank by some devious Second Years," Nadia answered as they made their way to their usual seats. "The professors have gotten rid of most of it but there are still a few around causing havoc."Ah, it explained why Nadia was using her familiar as a canary in a mine. Aubrey bit back a smile. "I heard about them."Callie questioned, "What do they do exactly?""You get caught under the mistletoe and you’re stuck until somebody gives you a kiss," the oth
The weekend before exams Aubrey and Nadia insisted they needed a reprieve and opted for a girls’ night to unwind. Finnegan decided to make himself scarce again as Nettie decided she didn’t trust him around her kittens. Aubrey was wearing her favorite purple cat onesie while Nadia was wearing a yellow bird onesie that looked like her familiar. Callie blinked at the box Aubrey handed over to her."Open it." Aubrey pushed the box closer towards her. "I decided to give you your Christmas present early."She hadn’t received a nice present since she was ten and those things she either lost or discarded due to bad memories associated with them. Those presents had been from her father whose gifts could range from knives and books on warfare to dolls and tea sets. She never knew what to expect with him. She had to be always grateful as he didn’t like it either when he thought she wasn't being appreciative.She absentmindedly rubbed her right wrist when
Exams were a nuisance. Callie was irritable and exhausted as she finished with her last exam. Everyone was going home for winter break the next day and she needed to pack all of her belongings. She made her way to the dining hall for lunch when there was a commotion at another table.A First Year girl fell from her chair and was convulsing on the floor. Her friends surrounded her concerned as the professors rushed over. Doctor Crane was checking over her as the girl continued to writhe on the ground. The girl sat up with a big gasping breathe, making everyone step back from her.She turned and stared directly at Callie with eyes completely black. Demon eyes. "Mother!" the girl shouted in a voice several octaves deeper than her own. The girl got to her feet and ran towards her, arms stretched to reach for her. Callie could barely think about running away or fighting before Nadia folded her hands together and pushed a blast of energy at the girl. It knocked back
Lucifer’s Cage was located in the deepest part of Hell where there was only darkness and the cold. The cage was a solid metal box wrapped in chains that no one could see in. The Four Horsemen visited him whenever they could. They informed him about all that occurred in the realms. While he could hear them, they could not hear him through the cage. It was part of his punishment. To never be seen or heard. It had been a very long time since anyone had seen Lucifer’s face.Asmodeus tried to remember Lucifer’s face but wasn’t sure if he was confusing him with another’s. Even a demon’s memory wasn’t infallible. He remembered when he was first met the Morningstar. He had taken a human form to mock God’s newest creation, Adam.He had been the most brilliant thing Asmodeus had ever seen. Like the Pied Piper, he led his fellow angelic brethren to fall from Heaven. They were banished to Hell where they would start building their
Callie didn’t know what would happen to her once they left Hell. She expected to be thrown back into prison or she would have to disappear into the world and never return. She hadn’t counted on Frederick Wood to be her protector. The uncle she’d never known defended her against the Council and the police. She had been a minor arrested and acquitted without trial. They never contacted her legal guardian which should’ve been him. All her actions were made under duress after years of abuse and trauma. It was a case the Magical World had never seen before and it would’ve become bigger than what it was if Head Warlock Castillo didn’t want to keep things quiet.He had a lifetime of secrets he did not want to get out to the public. Frederick did not hesitate to use this leverage to his advantage. Callie could admit she was lucky she got off on probation and half a year in house arrest. Maybe all those years of terrible luck were finally turnin
The dust clouds dissipated. Callie couldn’t look away from the pile of ashes that used to be Finnegan. It was difficult to process that he was truly gone and she could never have him back. It was a new kind of pain she hadn’t felt before. It threatened to overwhelm her.Nicholas touched her shoulder gently and asked, "Are you going to be okay?"She wanted to scream from the cocktail of emotions running through her. The loudest was anger. It beat like war drums in her mind, wanting to be unleashed. She felt restless."His death wasn’t your fault.""Don’t lie to me," she snapped. "He wouldn’t have been here if it wasn’t for me.""He made a choice and he knew the risks. We all did."She shook her head. "I’m not worth the risks. None of you should’ve come here.""You don’t get to decide that," he countered. "Only we can and we all decided that saving you is worth any danger.""You really believ
Mammon towered over Callie at nearly seven feet tall. He was muscled and strong and he swung his sword like a hammer. Callie was lighter and faster and had to dodge his blows as they came right after another. He gave chase like an angry dog trying to take a big bite out of her.She wasn’t fast enough to dodge one blow and his golden sword sliced her in the side. She ignored the sting and the blood wetting her dress and dodged another blow. His next blow nearly got her in the head. He growled in frustration."Fight me properly!" he roared. "Stop dancing around!""Make me!"He growled and lunged at her and she sidestepped a blow that would’ve sliced her throat. He elbowed her in the side where she was wounded and the pain made her stop. It was a mistake as he swung at her and she had to twist away to avoid getting hit. She tripped and landed on the sand, the air knocked out of her.She tried to get to her feet quickly but Mammon kicked her and forc
They found a sack to put Belphegor’s head in from one of the rooms and they left it in alley on the opposite end of Fallen’s Nest. The more time the Demon Lord had to put himself back together the better it was for them. They had to rush back to get their friends. The ravens all circled over the Duke’s Mansion, slamming into the windows to get in and help their master. Ravens flew down and tried to peck and scratch at them. Nadia knocked a few back with her defensive magic, blasting the birds several feet into the air. They burned the more determined ones. The ravens did not relent the whole way back to Witch Village.They found Aubrey outside the house with three camels and helping Matthias unto one. He still looked pale and sickly but was at least conscious. Enoch was sitting on the steps of the house and talking to Helena. Aubrey ran to them and hugged them each, relieved they were okay. Morgan walked over and demanded, "Is he dead?""Yes,"
Callie was surprised that Morgan didn’t throw them out into the street empty(-)handed. The Great demon weighed the odds of them actually defeating Allocen and decided to assist with the bare minimum. The only weapon she had in the house was an old battle axe Baba Yaga stole from the time of the Vikings. Nicholas didn’t complain and picked up the axe which looked heavier than it actually was."Don’t fail," Morgan reminded, glancing to where Aubrey was fussing over Matthias. "The consequences could be dire."Callie didn’t miss the less than subtle threat and glared at her. "It could be dire for all of us."Morgan gave Nadia one of the knives from her collection. The blade was dipped in a potent poison of Morgan’s own recipe. She handed them a few more potions that might be useful for the fight before declaring them ready. Aubrey gave them hugs and wished them luck.Enoch didn’t get up from where he was seated on the couch. Helena
Demons used Hellhound venom for torture. While it couldn’t kill a demon, it took a while to heal and it was painful. Callie had firsthand experience and Matthias hadn't said a word despite being in excruciating pain. She didn’t know if it was a guy thing or a human thing to be that proud or stupid.Nicholas, Aubrey, and Nadia carried the unconscious Matthias into Morgan’s house. It looked like a Victorian style home with ivy growing on the walls outside. Callie had always thought Morgan purposely tried to make her house more appealing as if to hide the terrors from within. The house looked the same since the last time she’d been there except for the overwhelming powerful cloaking spell around it.As formidable as Morgan was, wards and invisibility spells weren’t her expertise. The answer came when Callie saw Batibat was sitting by the fireplace wearing a plain black dress and her dark hair in a severe bun. The Great demon followed them as they
Much to Callie’s relief, her friends followed her advice and stayed on the Blood Road. They didn’t run into more lost souls or demons as they continued on their journey. Their only concern were the ravens that followed them, circling above like an omen. Callie kept Lucifer’s Grace in hand lest one of the birds swooped down and tried to peck at them.The ravens flew away when they reached the edge of the city. Paradise was a small city with a population of more than fifty-thousand demons. It was the oldest city in Hell and was created by the Fallen when they were banished from Heaven. It started off as a small village and expanded over the years as more demons populated the realm.Callie could have gone unnoticed if she had been alone. She had enough demon blood for the city residents not to bother with her. Her human companions would be like fresh blood to a shiver of sharks. They would sniff them out within minutes.Callie borrowed the small knife A
The Blood Road wasn’t really a road. There was no pavement or stone. It was a trail of dried black blood that stained the ground. It was made from the blood of Lucifer after God had ripped his wings from him and he had been forced to walk through Hell to his cage. It had not faded over time. The black blood was still stark as the day Lucifer staggered then crawled through the realm. Demons had been known to kneel and pray to the Devil on the blood road. Lilith and the witches would light black candles on Samhain and walk on the blood road, following the path Lucifer had walked.They walked closely together in case of an attack. Nicholas tried to hide how vulnerable he felt without the Holy Lance but Callie could see through him. He still had the use of holy fire but the spear had been an ace that was difficult to lose. They only had one weapon to fight with and Lucifer’s Grace would attract more attention than they wanted.Callie clutched the blade closer