Cecilio chuckled. "Yes. Magic is magic and power is power. There are some truths to locations lending more magic. My home is built on an ancient ley line. This was the site of the Fall."
Lucifer started and looked around. His jaw dropped. "Are you sure?"
Cecilio's eyebrows raised. "You don't remember?"
Luc shook his head. "No. It was a very confusing time. I blinked around the Earth several times before gathering my bearings and creating Abaddon. I never knew the exact spot."
"It is here. Below this table. Under this balcony, the spot is carefully preserved. Magical energy pours from the location like a small spring of the freshest, clearest water. I built the balcony over it to be able to tap into the power and as a protection for the sacred spot."
I'd had no idea, either. It had been a tumultuous time, and Luc and I had gotten separated quickly. We found each other, but not here. "If it's the spot of the creation of Fallen angels, how is it a source of magic for you, a White Witch?" I asked.
"Magic is not white or black," Mary interceded. "Magic is magic. How it is used, the intent of the spell, that is what matters. Cecilio is a White Witch because of his intentions, not because of his magic."
I nodded. I'd known all that, of course. But the way humans used magic was a far cry different from how we did. They borrowed it, wrangled it. The Nephilim descendants had inherent power, some more than others. But much of the magic they used came from their surroundings.
"Join hands. Open yourselves up to me." He took Lucifer and stood him in the center of the circle, near the small table. "Lucifer, you must be as open and accommodating as you can be. Do not fight me. I will not violate your mind. I only need to tap into the part of you that should contain your magic."
Luc took in a deep, shaky breath, but he nodded. "Okay, let's do it."
We closed the circle around my first husband. He looked at me with worried eyes, but I gave him a reassuring smile. He was so rarely vulnerable. "It's okay," I whispered.
"Cállate," Cecilio said with closed eyes. I didn't know what it meant, but his intention was clear. He wanted me to shut my mouth.
I winked at Luc and closed my eyes, focusing on letting myself be open to having my magic used. Cecilio came through and grabbed hold gently, taking my magic like it was a flower to be plucked and smelled. His light touch made it easy to give up control.
I heard him moving around, mixing ingredients and lighting them, but kept my eyes closed and my focus on my power and letting it flow to him. It had to be hard for him to manipulate this much power. He wasn't using even a fraction of my full potential, but the son of Nephilim he might've been, he was still part human. They couldn't hold much, and he had Michael and Gabriel's as well. And Mary. And his own.
"Drink this," he said. I cracked my eyes to peek at Lucifer drinking from a chalice. He grimaced and made a hissing sound. It must've tasted horrible. I refocused my attention on the magic and flow of energy.
Screams and yells, low guttural grunts, and insane babbling pulled me from my focus. Without warning, the woods around the property exploded with demons. I threw up a ward as fast as I could and only a few made it to the house. "I warded us!" I yelled over the cacophony.
Michael and Gabriel dispatched the few demons racing toward the balcony easily enough, but more and more began to pound against the ward I'd thrown up. It wasn't difficult to keep them out, not as it had been in Abaddon. "What happened?" I yelled.
"Something went wrong with the spell," Luc said.
"Instead of calling your powers, we called your demons!" Cecilio looked at the animalistic and humanoid demons throwing themselves against my ward with wide eyes. "What do we do?"
I grinned. "What we do best."
Lucifer sighed and walked to the balcony fence. He leaned against it. "I wish I could help."
"If you could help," I said as I began throwing balls of energy at the crowd. "We could send them all back and lock them in."
He sighed and watched forlornly as Michael, Gabriel, and I destroyed whole groups of demons at once.
But something changed. The goblet on the table clattered to the floor. I whirled to see what the noise was and found Mary and Cecilio staring at it with shocked eyes. "Who did that?" I asked.
They both shook their heads. "Nobody," Luc said. "It fell on it—" He stopped talking and grabbed his throat. "Luc!" I screamed.
It was all I could do to keep up the ward as I rushed to Lucifer's side. Fear threatened to make me give up the attempt at keeping the demons at bay. "Don't let go of that ward, Lilith!" Michael said. "You're the best one at making them!"
“Cecilio is good too,” I quipped back.
"I'm good, but I need to figure out how to fix him," Cecilio said. He and Mary knelt beside me and put their hands on Luc. I put my palm to his head and ignored the demons, focusing only on saving him and keeping the ward up.
"He's being drained," I said. "The spell. You've got to break it."
Cecilio shook his head. "It's not that easy. It's designed to run its course. When the liquid in the goblet is done inside him, the spell will be done. That's all we can do. We wait."
"There has to be something more," I said. "A reversal."
He shook his head. "All we can do is wait."
I split my power and shoved it into Lucifer. "Use this," I urged, but he was unconscious. Every few minutes, his body would twitch or jerk and make me want to scream in frustration.
"How's
