“Try not to be angry with him until you know what this feels like.” Those sad champagne eyes finally met mine. “Your Everest knows better than anyone how much danger your life is in simply because your soul is bound to his. Give him this grace. Being Lilith’s son cannot be easy on his heart.”

Tears burned the backs of my eyes. I swallowed through the hot lump in my throat and nodded. “Thank you, Hunter. I’m trying.”

Tegan’s eyes sparkled. “Now tell me about this potion you saw for him.”

“Help me make it and I’ll tell you anything.”

She grinned. “Let’s get started.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

EVEREST

The only part of being Lilith’s son that I was thankful for was the ability to travel through shadow and smoke. As I rushed back to Sweyn’s side, I was reminded of this. Not that I was going to suddenly change my allegiance or voice my gratitude for this gift. Acknowledging to myself was gift enough. I stepped out of my own shadow and saw the famous neon sign that read ‘PUBLIC MARKET CENTER’. Sweyn’s evil plan for Seattle was already enacted. The Pike Place Market had admittedly been my idea, but that was part of the game I played. I had to be morally grey in order to win the long game. I had to do bad things to help Heaven win the war.

The market was closed since it was late at night, which meant it was the perfect place for Sweyn to lure witches into so she could turn them. Magic ticklings, as she called them. My turning Braison started the fire for this, but Francelina’s presence in Avolire set her goals aflame. I knew she had her fill of humans for now, she’d turned more than I had been willing to count in New Orleans, and I knew she’d raided other cities closer to Avolire for more that she hadn’t told me about. She thought I didn’t know. She had always been quite foolish in that regard, but by the time she learned that, it would be too late. I longed for that moment.

Braison stumbled out of the market looking red in the face, like he was one second away from snapping. His red and green eyes scanned the street, then landed on me. Braison was the only person who could spot me in my own shadows—aside from my own soulmate, yet she could not see me in the dark, she merely felt me. Braison’s gifts with the Hanged Man Card had made him a friend of the dark, and those innocent looking eyes were far from it. His face smoothed a little when he saw me. He darted across the street and to my side in the blink of an eye.

“Breathe, Braison⁠—”