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By this time, Callie has reached the bottom of the stairs. She takes a few cautious steps towards her sister, like she’s approaching a deadly wounded animal. When she manages to get close without injury, she crouches beside Elena and puts a hand on her shoulder.
“Lena, I’m still me. The problem is, you never saw that I wasn’t that sweet little kid anymore. I haven’t been her, not for a long, long time. I had to grow up and go through my teenage years losing almost my whole family, being kidnapped, being possessed by Lilith, helping you and your friends stop Hell from taking over the Earth, helping you exorcise Satan from my nephew … Nobody could go through all that and stay sweet. It doesn’t work like that.”
Elena leans into Callie’s touch, and My Love envelops her sister in a hug.
“Why’d you have to grow up, though?” Lena wails. “Why couldn’t you stay a kid a little longer?”
Callie sniffles, and I rush to join them. If she’s upset, I should be there for her, regardless of the potential risk to myself.
“Lena, sis, you can’t stop me from growing up. That’s life. Just be glad you were able to let me grow up on my own terms. Imagine if I’d been stuck in an adult body at thirteen! That would have been a nightmare. I’m grateful for all the help you’ve given me, Lena. Don’t ever think I’m not.”
She holds her sister while they sob together, and it’s clear from the expressions on My Sons’ faces that they’re not accustomed to seeing Elena in this state any more than I am. After a few minutes, Elena leans back to wipe her eyes, and her sobs fade into soft hiccups.
“I feel like I’m losing you, Cal. You’re the last family I have besides the kids. I need you.”
“Oh, Lena! You’ll always have me. I’m just a portal or plane shift away. I’ll always be there for you; I’m just a little farther from home right now.”
Elena perks up. “You said ‘right now’—Does that mean you’re coming back?”
Callie frowns and looks at me. “I don’t know yet, Lena. I like it here. I like it with Az. Despite your reservations, He’s been nothing but good to me.”
“You consider taking your virginity ‘good to you’? Callie—”
My Love shakes her head at Elena. “Don’t give me that crap, Lena. He gave me a choice. He would have rather died than make me do something I didn’t want to.”
“Died …?”
Callie launches into an explanation of Leviathan’s attack and my subsequent decline. Elena’s eyes go wide, and her anger returns, though thankfully not aimed at me this time.
“That envious bastard attacked you? Why didn’t you call me or come get me?”
“I handled it, Lena. And in the end, Az survived. I had to practically beg Him to let me help, but He survived.”
Elena stands with the help of Samsher and turns to me. It seems the sleepless night, combined with the expending of all that fireball energy, has weakened her. She’ll need some recovery time of her own tonight.
“You were going to let Yourself die just to protect her?”
I help Callie to her feet, though she doesn’t need assistance like her sister did. “Despite what you may think, Elena, I do not wish your sister harm. Quite the contrary.”
The young witch’s eyes focus on my arm around Callie, and a strange look passes over her face. “Okay. Fair enough. But I hope You have a plan for how to handle Leviathan, because that guy’s no joke. I’d hate to think I’m entrusting my sister’s safety to You only to have You fuck it up by not planning ahead.”
Callie leans into my touch and rests her head on my shoulder. “You have an idea, Lena?”
Elena snorts out a dry laugh. “When don’t I?”
Chapter 11
Callie
Lena’s plan, such as it is, involves the “fuck around and find out” method of sleuthing to determine Leviathan’s endgame in all this. The dude wants me, that much is clear, though the why of it is a little questionable. I’m just a human witch living in Hell; not much to see here, in my opinion, and not really anything to be envious of. He’s got it hard for me, though, and after we talk for a few hours on the matter, Lena leaves feeling much more secure in my safety.
Thanks to her suggestions, Az and I dispatch a few incubi and succubi to go lurk in Leviathan’s Domain and see what they can come up with in terms of intel. If we can maybe figure out what He finds so desirable about me that He’d risk attacking Asmodeus in, for lack of a better term, plain daylight, then maybe we can devise a plan of action.
Since incubi and succubi, by their very nature, are hard to miss, we don’t bother too much with subterfuge. Having Az’s Kids glamour themselves to look like envy demons won’t work, because the raw sexual energy they give off would be a dead giveaway. They just go in as-is, sneaking and hiding rather than trying to blend in. A few are caught, but because envy demons are apparently dumber than a box of rocks, they all manage to schmooze their way out of capture.
Convince an envy demon that you’ve got the hots for it, and it’s butter in your hands.
Much as I’d like to help, both Az and Lena agree that I shouldn’t be snooping around where Leviathan can find me.
