“Each crystal has been imbued with the energy of a missing witch.” She cleared away trash and placed another crystal. “They will pick up on that witch’s energy and act like a homing signal.”
If that even worked. Witches, in his experience, weren’t good for much. Other than rudely summoning unsuspecting hell princes. He’d like to go back in time and wipe from creation the first witch who’d figured out how to summon.
Bianca sat cross-legged in the circle of crystals and closed her eyes.
Since that first witch had stumbled on how to summon hell princes, every few decades another witch gave it a whirl.
I want to stay young and beautiful. Poof! Summon a hell prince.
I want more power. Poof! Summon a hell prince.
I want to live forever. Poof! Summon a hell prince.
All except Bianca. Yes, she’d summoned him, but not for herself. Still, she had stopped him from getting his first solid piece of information on Ashe, and he owed her for that bit of impertinence.
They always summoned him. He hadn’t considered that little ball-kicker when he’d allowed humans to consider him the king of hell.
Bianca’s magic stroked over his senses like a gentle breeze.
His power stirred in response. Well now, that was a welcome development. One he intended to keep to himself. With nothing to do but watch Bianca crystal sing, he explored the power trickle. The crystal in the amulet had cracked, and more of his power was leaking through. Like water against rock, his power was eroding the crystal and widening the gap.
Bianca was frowning as she hummed softly to the crystals.
Patience had never been a habit he practiced or desired. He paced closer. “Is it working?”
“Shhh!” She cracked one eyelid and glared.
Ugh! He went back to the view of daylight breaking over an uninspiring suburban street. A front door opened three doors down. A woman in natty exercise gear checked her watch as she approached the sidewalk. Then set off at a jaunty jog. Now that was more hell than anything he could conjure.
He itched to hurry Bianca along, but suspected that would earn him another hushing, which shouldn’t bother him. She was human, and a witch, and he was the hell prince guarding pride. He should march over there and let her know who was in charge.
A middle-aged man in a suit left his house with a large travel mug in one hand and his eyes glued to his phone.
Maybe he should get one of those cell phones. He liked the idea of having his horde instantly at his beck and call. His imagination conjured up tableaus of demonic Zoom meetings. Would he be able to convey enough menace virtually? Then again, his horde was pretty much at his beck and call anyway. Until recently, that was. Still, he liked human technology and the gadgets they created.
A soft crystalline chime brought his attention back to Bianca.
One of the crystals glowed a muted mint green.
That had to mean something good.
Sweat beaded Bianca’s forehead as she continued to hum. Frown lines creased her brow.
A blue crystal flared, then stuttered, and lit up again. Much paler than the green crystal but still alight.
Bianca opened her eyes. “I’ve got something.”
Chapter Thirteen
Bianca gathered the crystals and tried not to give in to the despondence tightening her gut. Of the nine crystals she’d tried to activate, only two had worked. All nine should have connected with the corresponding witch, and she couldn’t bear to think about what it meant that they hadn’t.
“Let’s go.” Lucifer jiggled the car keys at her.
And Bianca nearly lost her shit. She was fast approaching the twenty-four-hour mark since she’d slept. An action packed twenty-four hours at that. She was exhausted, hungry, and worried about her missing witches and what the inactive crystals meant, and this dickhead was jiggling car keys at her.
Snatching the keys, she said, “I’m going home.”
“What?” Lucifer looked dumbfounded before a scowl rearranged his features. “We need to follow those activated crystals.”
“And we will.” She marched into daylight and stalked to her car. “Once I’ve eaten and had a few hours’ sleep.”
Lucifer growled. “Humans.”
“Yup.” She wasn’t going to argue her point or apologize for being human. “Which means that right now I have physical needs, and I’m going to see to them.” She unlocked her car.
“Give me the keys.” Lucifer came around to the driver’s side. “I’ll drive and you can sleep.”
“I’m hungry,” she snapped.
“And we will feed you.” He plucked the keys from her hand. “But we don’t have time to waste.” Then he played the winning hand. “Every minute we delay is another minute your missing coven members are in danger.”
Too hangry to find the words to fight back, she stomped around the car and flung herself into the passenger seat.
Lucifer started the car and floored the accelerator.
Bianca jerked back in her seat. “Easy there, speed racer.”
