Page 12 of Battle of Witches
Gabriel’s eyes started watering, andof course,my twin would give birth to an angel. Balthazar moved so Gabriel could get closer to his son. The baby wrapped his hand around Gabriel’s finger and sighed.
“He’s perfect,” Lucifer whispered. “His feathers will come in as he gets older. If you let me, I can teach him to hide his wings and fly. The other angels won’t mess with him considering one of his other daddies is a primordial. What’s his name?”
“Michael Alonso Bell. We all picked names just in case. Michael is for my grandfather, who was an amazing man. Alonso is for Ripley’s dad. Of course, we’d be honored for you to teach him. I love our visits.”
And my sister’s last name. She hadn’t been hand fasted to her coven yet, but it was standard for them to take her last name. Some didn’t in modern times and wanted their kids to have their last names, but witches considered that an insult. We were the ones who carried the babies and gave birth to them. I’m glad Gabriel acknowledged that.
“I can’t believe I birthed an entire kid,” Ripley groaned.
“That was badass, Ripley. You grew a whole angel,” Balthazar said.
“You were magnificent,” Bram said.
“Do I get to call this one my grandbaby, anyway?” Bram’s mom asked.
That was a big yes. My mom and dad should have been here, too, but they were a few hours away, and no one was expecting this to happen this soon. Reyson could have gotten them, and I’m sure Loki could have managed to explain appearing in their living room without my parents trying to magically kick his ass to bring them, but there was just so much going on tonight.
Ripley felt it, too, and now that the baby was here, she wanted our mom. We didn’t get to see our parents as often as we would like because of the distance. She didn’t even have to say anything. I whipped out my phone to call my parents and warn them that a god was about to crash their living room to bring them to their first grandson.
Chapter10
Sleipnir
This was the first time I felt normal since we stepped out of that pocket dimension. They didn’t deliver babies like this back in my day, but it was always a blessing when one arrived into this world safely. I had a wonderful night with Ravyn, and I got to see a baby angel being born.
I wasn’t all that familiar with angels and had never met one before. From what I knew about them, I mostly felt sorry for them. Most gods did their creations, hung around long enough to teach them to survive, and made sure they multiplied, then left them to their business.
I knew Lilith had some of her creations in Hell and Death had his in his realm, but they all had reasons. Lilith was keeping her creations safe from the angels, and we all knew why Death kept his domain separate. He cared about his reapers, and it was harder for them to bring souls to the Aether if they got attached.
The angels were different. They could only ever leave when they had permission, and their lives were micromanaged in every single way. I’d visited plenty of realms, and there were a ton out there that I still wanted to see, but that one just seemed like it wouldn’t be fun.
I’d heard of Lucifer and that he was supposed to be quite frightening. Some Midgardians were terrified of him and blamed him for everything. Itreallypissed Odin off when they said Odin’s followers were really worshipping Lucifer. He seemed like a big teddy bear who was really happy about this baby. People were silly sometimes.
I had never feared Lucifer, but Iwasnervous about meeting Ravyn’s parents. That was a big thing, even back in my day. If their father hadn’t been killed in battle, it generally meant he was a fierce warrior. On the other hand, if his daughter weren’t a shieldmaiden and capable of beating your ass herself, a grizzled, old Viking would adore starting a fight if he didn’t like how you were looking at his daughter.
Things tended to be less violent in this century, and we kept getting told we couldn’t kill Valentine, whoclearlydeserved it, but something told me fathers hadn’t changed at all. Mothers, too, for that matter. I was guessing Ravyn’s mother was just as fierce as she was, and I really didn’t want my bits cursed when I just got to use them again.
I guess I didn’t really need to worry with an adorable, little baby in the room. As soon as Reyson showed up with her parents, they went straight to Michael and Ripley as they should. Babies were a blessing, even if they weren’t the first angel born here in a very long time.
Ravyn’s parents had already met Ripley’s men and Killian, apparently. They must have made a trip back home before all of this started. So, that left Loki, Bjorn, and I. I almost forgot Lilith and Lucifer were in the room until her parents noticed.
We mostly stayed in Asgard until we had to flee to Earth, but I’d carried Odin there plenty of times. Sometimes, he went because he needed to, and other times, he just wanted people to kiss his ass. Honestly, half of the time, he could have sent Huginn and Muninn to report back, but helikedit.
Freya wasn’t super fond of it, so I wasn’t massively shocked she was pretending to be a witch. Loki didn’t really give a shit if you loved him or hated him. Reyson didn’t seem to pull the God card very much. Lilith looked wholly uncomfortable when Ravyn’s parents started groveling at her feet.
“Get up, please. We’re all friends here, and your daughters are amazing witches. Lucifer wasn’t the first angel to break the rules about loving someone other than his creator, but they were forgiven as long as they left their children behind and returned home.
“If the child was an angel, they were stolen from their mothers and brought back. If they were not, they just forgot about them, but they’ve been here this entire time, passing down the possibility of an angel in the family. So many families have forgotten, but Lucifer’s wife was a proud witch who took his name, even when my witches rarely do that. The family kept the name going, so they knew their heritage, as far as I know.
“It’s not just Michael. My familiars have never been given bodies and the ability to have children before. Sleipnir is the only one of his kind ever to exist, and so is Bjorn. I didn’t create seers. Seers in Hell are intuitive demons who put themselves in a trance with an herb and are astute at piecing together what they see. Needless to say, I’mverycurious what kind of children Ripley and Ravyn will have, and theywillhave my protection.”
I didn’t really process what Lilith said about my future children because I looked straight at Bjorn. When this was over, I knew my friend was hoping to visit other seers in Hell, but it sounded like they weren’t like him, either. I was okay with being the only one of my kind, but once I figured out how to shift and run, I knew how my magic worked. Bjorn was still trying to figure out how to hone his visions and get them when he needed them.
“Didno oneelse make real seers?” Loki asked. “Did you all just give your creations herbs to get high off of and hope they were dedicated enough to figure out what everything meant?”
“No offense, but I didn’t do it because I was worried seeing the future without the option to control it would drive someone insane. Only you’re crazy enough to try and hope for the best.”
“I knew what I was doing. Bjorn is perfect.”
