of my chicken. It’s weird, I know. Thanks, baby. “What is a dark prophet?”
“A prophet who is evil.”
“That doesn’t help,” I say and eat my chicken tender and fry sandwich. It’s even better than I imagined. “Prophets see the future, right?”
“In a sense,” Julian explains. “They are humans who are able to hear divine messages. Sometimes they simply need to record them so the word can spread. Other times, it might come as a warning. Centuries ago, demons kidnapped six prophets from all over the world and sacrificed their souls to Lucifer in exchange for their powers and immortality. The demons possessed the prophets, and have remained inside the same vessels ever since, with the keen ability to detect anything in the cosmos.”
“Lovely.” I reach for my milkshake and take a drink. “So, these dark prophets were reading the energy, detected a surge, and then what's their plan?”
“To try and harness the surge,” Julian answers. “One thing is certain with all demons: they want more power and are willing to do anything to get it.”
“Like make me their child bride and kick my uncle off the throne.”
“You’re too old to be a child bride,” Eliza tells me. “And now you’re pregnant so you can’t even pretend to be a virgin bride.”
“That doesn’t matter to the demons,” Julian tells her, brows furrowing.
“She was joking,” I explain. Julian doesn’t always grasp sarcasm. He’s spent years studying humans from afar, but his actual interactions with them have been minimal, and it’s obvious. Endearing, but so fucking obvious. “How do I kill them? Will my little hand-trick work?”
“Hand-trick?” Julian asks.
I hold my hands out in front of me, curling my fingers in slightly toward my palm.
“Lucifer taught it to me, actually.”
“The devil taught you a trick to do with your hands?” Eliza purses her lips. “Oh, the jokes I could make with that one.”
I give her a look but go on. “It’s a spell, and the last time I used it on a demon, they went poof, like an instant exorcism. The body remained, unfortunately, but the demon was gone.”
“Lucifer taught you that?”
I nod and lower my hands, feeling a little full yet still starving at the same time. “Yeah. It’s, uh, the only way I would have survived when I was attacked by the demon the day before our wedding. It’s why he sent me Scarlet. He knew I’d need her.”
Julian gazes at me curiously, and I think back to the conversation I had with Lucifer. I asked him why he allows demons to attack me when he’s the King of Hell and can command them. He explained his hands are tied—literally—while he was bound to Hell. He had no way of stopping the demons on earth, which is why he sent a hellhound who is obedient to me and me alone.
“I suppose that spell will work,” Julian says. “They are demons, but much stronger than any you’ve encountered before.”
“I’ll decapitate them, you perform the exorcisms,” Lucas says, and I smile, wrinkling up my nose.
“We work so well together.” I rest my head on his shoulder and he kisses me. My heart flutters, and I’m reminded yet again how fucking grateful I am for this vampire…which makes me all the more terrified our future together is dark.
“Do you think he’s going to take our baby?” I ask, question tumbling out of my mouth. I need to hear him say no. Lucifer doesn’t want a baby. Then I can get back to my regularly scheduled programming of hiding bad things from my friends and fighting demons or evil witches who want to kill me.
“I don’t know,” Julian says apologetically, eyeing me from across the table. “It won’t come to that. We will protect you.”
“Told you,” Eliza mumbles, and Lucas puts his arm around my shoulders.
“Would it be possible for me to talk to my dad?” I ask, telling myself not to get my hopes up.
“Possible, yes. He’ll want to know what happened, and if Lucifer has taken any sort of interest in you, he will protect you himself. Your father loves you, Callie.”
And now I’m all teary-eyed again. Throat tight, I nod and go back to my food.
“I have to report back,” Julian says. “And I will find Michael. He will come if it’s safe.”
“Will you be back too?”
“Yes, when I can. I shouldn’t have stayed a long as I did, but I needed to warn you about the dark prophets.”
“I’ll be ready. If they can hold off attacking until after the Blood Moon,