Standing a few feet away, below the security light at the backdoor of the building, were Sam and B. Noticing their arrival, B flicked his cigarette onto the pavement, crushing it with his boot. “Nice of you guys to finally show.”
Luc saluted his two friends. “Been waiting long? Never know how long those trips will take.”
Sam smiled and shook his head. “Nah, fifteen minutes or so. B’s just being a dick, as usual.”
“Can’t let y’all down,” B said flippantly.
Rolling his eyes, Luc motioned Katia and Amir forward. “Smartass. Ready to head up for a cozy little chat with our witchy friend?”
They followed Katia through the back door of the building, letting it slam shut behind them. Nobody noticed the set of glowing red eyes watching from the shadows down the alley.
When they reached Sergei’s door, Luc reached out to knock, but Katia stayed his hand. Reaching down, she pulled the spare key out from under the Welcome mat. Inserting the key and turning it quietly, Katia turned the knob and opened the door. Katia wanted the element of surprise for this meeting, fully planning to rip Sergei a new one for lying to her as soon as they were face to face. As they stepped inside, thumps and bumps could be heard coming from the living room. They rushed forward in Katia’s wake, emerging into a living room littered with books surrounding a pentagram drawn in chalk on the hardwood floor, candles lit at each point of the star. Sergei looked up from the book he had been frantically flipping through.
“Katia, what the fuck?!” Sergei dropped the book and rushed forward, grabbing her up in a bone-crushing hug. “Where have you been? I’ve been losing my mind!” Noticing Luc, Sergei released Katia and charged forward, throwing a punch that Luc easily dodged. He was grabbed and held back by Sam and B. “You! What the fuck are you doing here?” Sergei screamed at Luc.
Stepping between Sergei and Luc, Katia motioned for peace. “Calm down Sergei. I’m fine. You, on the other hand, have some explaining to do.”
As Sergei stopped struggling against his captors, Katia could see the realization come over his face at the state of his living room — the pentagram on the floor, the candles. Sergei sighed and visibly sagged. Sam and B released their hold on him. Rubbing his hands over his face in exhaustion, Sergei moved over to the couch and sat as all the fight in him vanished. Elbows resting on his knees, he dropped his head into his hands. Some of Katia’s anger slipped away; he looked so defeated, it made her heart clench.
Looking up at Luc, Sergei shook his head and sighed again. “I knew there was something about you in the café.” Turning back to Katia he continued. “I put a protection spell on you years ago. I wanted to make sure nothing would hurt you. Spells leave a connection, like a thread between us. I could feel it vibrating tonight at the café. I knew something was coming — that’s why I wanted us to leave.”
Nodding, Katia made her way over to the couch and sat down beside him. “So you’ve been trying to protect me. Thank you for that. But, have you always known I was different?”
Taking a deep breath and expelling it slowly, Sergei nodded. “You give off energy, like electricity. It’s actually stronger now than it was earlier. You haven't aged in the past decade...”
“What right did you have not to tell me?” Katia jumped in, twisting her hands in her lap.
Sergei slumped down further in his seat. “You already felt different enough, I didn’t want to make it worse. It was pretty obvious that you had no idea. I’ve been trying to put the pieces of what you are together. I’ve been going through all the grimoires at my disposal, talking to my contacts. I’m so sorry, Katia. I just didn’t want to hurt you...but it seems like I managed to anyhow.”
Nodding, Katia looked down at the pentagram drawn on the floor. Her purse and keys rested in the middle of the diagram. Frowning, she motioned toward them and raised her eyebrows at Sergei in question.
“I was doing a locator spell to try and find you.” He said. “Something was blocking me. I couldn’t get a read on you.”
“She was in Outer-Sheol.” Luc said, stepping forward. “Your type of magic is only useful in the human realm.”
Sergei sat bolt upright. “You took her to hell? Why the fuck did you do that?”
“Long story,” Luc said calmly. “Look, we came here because we need your help.”
“With what?”
“We’re trying to get Katia out of a nasty situation. To do that, we need information we can’t get from our side of the playing field. The chance of discovery is too high if we go through demonic channels.”
“Let me get this straight. You need me to summon help from the light to help a bunch of demons save my friend,” Sergei said doubtfully.
Katia shook her head. “Not demons, Sergei, angels. Well, fallen angels anyway.”
Looking at his visitors incredulously, realization suddenly dawned on him. “You want me to summon angels...” The men nodded soberly.
Sighing, Sergei motioned toward the books strewn across every flat surface of his living room. “If you want me to do this, you’ll need to give me a hand finding the Grand Grimoire. Look for the title Le Dragon Rouge. Angels are not fans of being summoned, so you’d all better have my back when they show up, they'll be pissed off.”
The group launched into action, everyone riflling through the disorder Sergei had left in his wake. Kneeling down on the floor, Katia drew a stack of books toward herself. The bindings were all leather, well-worn, and looked centuries old. Most were hand inscribed, with finely detailed artwork. These collected works
