Page 6 of Witch's Dawn
3
ASHTAROTH
We all knewthe moment we sawher.
Each of our connections with her was slightly different, but we all definitely felt it. Mine felt like a cooling salve applied to a burn, then a gentle whisper against myskin.
"That was her." Sal was the first to voice it. His green eyes were wide and wild. "Fuck me. She's reallyback."
"Are you sure?" Raum, always joking, looked up from his tattoo. "I don't know, that warm breeze through my feathers could have been anythingelse."
"I have zero doubt," Sal said excitedly, nearly giddy as a child. He rolled his eyes up to the massive goat head mounted on the wall we leaned on. "Thank you, Lord, for leading ushere."
The goat did not reply, but the three of us in unison felt a heating in our skin. Hidden beneath our clothing, our tattoos of Lucifer's sigil glowed like a hot iron and would burn the flesh off any human who dared to touch it. But for us, it emitted a pleasant warmth with the approval of ourLord.
He had been just as sorrowful as we were. The ruler of Hell kept extremely busy, but he mourned her loss with us for centuries. Before he and I fell, he was preoccupied with his rebellion and paid no attention to her while she was onearth.
No, it was me that she captured the first day I sawher.
I rebelled for her, a human woman. I didn't fall from heaven, I flew down when the earth split open and took her withme.
It was in the early days of Hell that her charms and beauty won Lucifer over. Sometimes I sensed jealousy from him like he wished he had her first. He may have led the rebellion and earned the right to rule over Hell, but he could not have done it without Beelzebub and I. The three of us were equals. An unholy trinity. He knew she was mine, and anyone else she claimed would be herchoice.
But because I stole one of God's creations, I had to pay a terrible price. We alldid.
She was stolen not only from us, but from humanity that adored, cherished, and listened to her. We stopped her from being killed but after nearly a thousand years without her, it felt remarkably like she was back from the dead. The pieces of her, fleeting glimpses we saw in women throughout history, barely held a candle to her original wit andbeauty.
And because of Lucifer's affection for her, he vowed to lead us straight to her when she became whole again. Raum saw it in his visions, and I could hardly believe that she was finallyhere.
"Something's wrong, though," I said, ever the serious one. "I saw her aura and felt our bond but did everything else seem stunted to youtwo?"
"She is stunted," Raum said calmly as he handed a wad of cash to the tattoo artist. "Her powers have been blocked. She may not even realize she hasthem."
"Blocked by what?" Salsnarled.
"Really, Sal?" Raum chided. "What do youthink?"
"So what's our next move?" I asked, folding my arms. This was a delicate matter we couldn't rush. We could not afford to fuck this up and live another thousand years of painful, lonelymisery.
"Oh, she's getting some valuable insight right now," Raum grinned. "The gears upstairs will definitely be turning. And she will have some clarity very soon. But," he paused. "It will be up to us to do therest."
"So we wait," I stated, raising my drink to my lips. "We get close slowly to make absolutely sure. And most importantly, we pretend like we're meeting her for the firsttime."
4
DEJA
"Well that was insightful,"I muttered as I left the tiny tarot alcove to rejoin the party. "I'll never get those five minutes of my lifeback."
I had thanked the woman for her time, gave her a tip and walked out of there as fast as I could with Nona on my heels. It was high time for adrink.
I ordered a mint julep from the bar and fought the overwhelming urge to turnaround.
Those three guys were still there, hanging out underneath the goat's head. I didn't allow myself to look at them but I could feel their presence as if all three were breathing down the back of myneck.
It was unmistakable. And eerie how much it affected me. I couldn't ignore that I felt the same sensitive heat when I saw that Devil card. Why did they pop into my mind the moment I saw thatimagery?
Whatever, it didn't matter. Tarot was a load of bunkanyway.
