13.
Galilee
Gali’s nervous system was about to short out—facing the princes of Hell and their inhuman malevolence had been more stressful than she’d expected. She kept replaying the flat judgment in their eyes, the naked contempt, and as soon as she was out of that room, all she wanted was to get even farther away. Leviathan was the worst of the lot, the way helookedat her. It made her feel small and furious at the same time, like she wanted to crawl away, like she wanted to slice that look off his face. If she’d met him under any other circumstance, she might have been bowled over by his looks and the way power seemed to vibrate off him, taut and choked, nothing like Lucifer’s free sprawl, but Leviathan looked at her only with naked death in his face, which was an incredible turnoff. Although, Gali did wonder if the blatant threat was better than the avoidant half reassurances Lucifer was giving her. One, at least, was brutally honest.
The Devil was still on the other side of the door, so Gali laced her hands behind her head and paced the foyer, counting in deep breaths and exhaling them slowly, waiting for her heart to settle down. Her family’s imminent arrival crept under her skin like whispering vines, small and immediate prophecies winding through her capillaries. Gali knewthat without Lucifer’s orders, the princes would cut her family down without a second thought. Humans were nothing to them, less than ants, but whatever Gali was, the Kincaids werehers. Nana Darling had said so a million times, and Gali was theirs. She was Collette’s daughter, blood of her blood, andno onewas going to hurt her family.
A stray thought stopped her in her steps. If her touch could burn Lucifer, what effect could it have on the princes? Could she burn Leviathan as well, or that other one, Belial? Maybe she should have brushed against one of them, as if by accident, just to find out. Gali huffed and dropped her arms—it would’ve been seen as an attack if she’d hurt anyone in the parlor, and she didn’t think even Lucifer could call off his team in that case. He was loyal to them, after all, while she was supposed to be proving that she wasn’t a threat.
Still, there was tactical possibility there. If the princes didn’t fall back like Lucifer had ordered, if they tried to hurt any of the Kincaids, then Gali would direct everything she had in their direction, consequences be damned. Lucifer might kill her himself then, but what did he expect her to do? He was protecting his family, and she had to protect hers. The thought of going up against him made her feel slightly ill, but Gali knew she wouldn’t falter if it came down to it.
The floor of the foyer was old dark hardwood, smooth on the soles of her feet and slightly warm. Gali stopped to trace a whorl in the wood with her big toe when the first wave of power hit her. It was a rush of static and blurred images in her head, loud and chaotic and searching. She winced, her hands clutched to her temples, and the wave immediately retreated, drawing back the hurt as it pulled away. Gali knew that feeling.
“Celestial?” she called out.
The wave returned, but softly this time, sending out small tendrils in Gali’s mind. They smelled damp and earthy, like the soil on the banks of the creeks Celestial loved. Gali glanced at the parlor door anxiously. There was no way she was going to knock and interrupt whatever wasgoing on in there, but it was clear that the Kincaids were close, close enough for Celestial to cast into her mind. Her cousin was also casting stronger than usual, which meant that her family had primed themselves for this confrontation, this misguided rescue. She had to get to them, convince them that she was fine, and get them to go home before they did anything foolish.
Gali smoothed her hands over the tunic she was wearing, and the scent of smoke and pungent spice rose from it. She smelled like Lucifer, even beyond the fabric, all the way into her skin. Nana Darling would hate that. Celestial would take it as evidence that he’d had his way with her, and Gali blushed because it was technically true—she probably should’ve showered first. Her family would never imagine that she’d had her way with Lucifer too; in their minds, she was already a victim, too weak to have any agency. It bothered Gali that they had good reasons for thinking that: Lucifer had broken into her home and abducted her, after all. He’d taken her to a second undisclosed location, and there wasn’t anything she could have done to stop him then, because she hadn’t known that she could burn him yet. Maybe if she’d asked him politely? He probably would’ve acquiesced, but somehow, she didn’t think that option was going to impress her family. It didn’t matter anyway. Gali wasn’t helplessnow, and that was what mattered.
Taking a fortifying breath, she strode to the front door and hauled it open, the hinges groaning as the pitted wooden door swung open. Gali closed her eyes and opened her mind to Celestial’s cast, which was tugging at her eagerly now, excited that she was following it. They had all played this game as children many times, with Gali and Zélie and Leah walking unseeing through the woods while Celestial led them, often straight into the water, where they’d splash and play for hours until someone from the big house came to get them. Now, Gali walked through the grounds of the house Lucifer had brought her to, feeling only the pebbles and grass under her feet, the winding route, the play of fading light across her face through the trees as the day began to expireinto dusk. She turned a corner, and the connection exhaled in a gust of wind that brought petals flurrying around her face. Gali opened her eyes, and she was in a garden bordered by willow trees, their breathy branches whispering through the air. Celestial was running toward her, wearing white overalls, her feet flying over the grass in a blur.
“Gali!” Her cousin collided with her, knocking them both down, and planted feathered kisses over Gali’s face. Cowries from her plaits brushed coolly against Gali’s skin. “You’re okay, you’re okay, you’re okay,” Celestial chanted.
“I’m fine,” Gali grumbled, shoving her cousin off her.
Celestial crouched next to her on the grass, her nose scrunched up. “You smell unlike,” she said. “Not like you at all.”
Gali brushed some grass off Lucifer’s tunic and stood up, reaching her hand down to Celestial. “A lot has happened.”
Celestial took her hand and let Gali pull her up. “You better talk fast,” she said. “Calvary rode the fuck out.”
Gali looked over her cousin’s shoulder and drew in a sharp breath. Zélie and Leah were already hurrying toward her, but Nana Darling stood behind them in white slacks and a white button-down shirt, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her seed necklace hung around her neck, and her silver hair was cornrowed straight back. She held a scythe casually in her left hand, and the rest of the aunts and cousins were gathered around her, all in white and armed to the teeth. Gali sucked in a breath at the same time her mother let out a teary sigh, Collette’s hold on her shotgun slackening. Shirley gently took it out of her hands.
“Baby,” Collette said, and held out her arms. “Come here.”
Gali swallowed a knot welling in her throat and went obediently, pausing to touch foreheads with her cousins before she was in her mother’s arms.
“I’m okay, Ma,” she said, but Collette clutched at her fiercely and sniffled in her hair.
“I’m so sorry, baby. We let you down... we didn’t protect you. Ishould’ve never let you leave the house.” She pulled back and patted Gali’s face, checking for injuries. “I can’t imagine the things he did to you.”
An utterly inappropriate chuckle nearly spilled out of Gali, and she fought to keep a straight face while thinking of Lucifer with his forked tongue, Lucifer naked with his wings as Leviathan looked at them, Lucifer coaxing his name out of her in screams. Truly, Collette wouldn’t be able to imagine it, and Gali was fairly sure she never wanted her mother to try.
“Nothing happened, Ma.”
Nana Darling scoffed and turned Gali to face her. “Don’t go lying to your mother, child.”
Gali shuffled her feet, feeling very much like she was ten and had been caught doing something naughty again. “It’s not like you think, Nana Darling. He—”
“Not now.” Nana Darling shook her head, her eyes sharp. “We have outside business to discuss first.”
Anything outside was something beyond the Kincaids and their kingdom in the country. “What happened?” Gali asked.
“Well...” Celestial slid over and grinned darkly at her cousin. “First, we made a detour by your apartment, and guess what we found there?”
Gali grabbed her arm, her stomach dropping. “You didn’t. Tell me you didn’t.” She wasn’t ready for Bonbon and Oriak? to be dropped in the middle of all this; it was precisely why she’d left them there in the first place.
Zélie frowned, coming up next to them. “They were frozen in time, Gali. Of course we had to release them.”
