Page 61 of Premonition of Peace

I raised my brows, almost chuckling internally. Considering the deal Ronan and I had, his concern for my well-being tickled me a bit.

“I can handle it. You both know what I’m capable of.”

“Nat,” Piper began, blowing out a breath as she considered her words. “Honor’s power is immense. She literally holds part of the source of magic itself. Not only is she a demon, but she’s damn near a god. The strain of channeling that will overload you. It would overload anyone. It’s not that we don’t trust you to not hurt Honor. It’s that we don’t trust her magic not to kill you. Even if she’s not the one using it, it doesn’t change its strength. You can channel her magic, fine. But who will protect you when it becomes too much?” Her voice was gentle but serious.

“I . . . then . . . I don’t know.” With a stuttering and uneven exhale, a tight ball of anxiety twisted in my gut. Hope drained out of me, and my fingertips felt numb as a result. The truth was I didn’t know what to do. I knew for certain I had the ability tochannelher magic, but if I didn’t have the strength to ground me through it, none of this mattered. I’d just end up dead and that helped no one. And gods forbid something did happen to Honor if I wasn’t able to ground myself.

“I’m so sorry,” Piper said, wrapping her arms around me. “If there was a way to stabilize you . . . It’s just?—”

“Perhaps I can offer my assistance,” Lucifer said, his voice steady and confident. Piper tensed around me, and I glanced at Ronan as she did the same. The devil strolled out from between shelving units in the shop, his hands in his pockets.

“No,” Ronan said gruffly, his jaw clenching.

Lucifer glanced at his brother, but ignored him, choosing to address me and, to an extent, Piper. “I’m your familiar, Nathalie. I can act as your anchor as you channel Honor’s power.”

Piper raised a brow, assessing him. “Can you?”

He lifted his shoulder in a slight shrug. “As the power channels through her, who better to take the brunt of it than an undead demon? It can’t hurt me.”

That little glimmer of hope reappeared, and I played out the scenarios in my head. Ann scrambled in my mind, doing the mental math, and calculating how to perform the spell in this way. While Piper and Ronan were no doubt having their own mental debate, I was figuring out the probability of success.

“It will work,” I whispered, nodding my head as Ann and I had come to the final conclusion. “He’s right. He has the strength to anchor me.”

Piper and Ronan exchanged another glance, silently weighing the proposal. Ronan’s nostrils flared at the idea his brother would be involved.

“You may be overestimating yourself, Nathalie,” Señora Rosara said, coming into view. My eyes shot toward the back room. She’d left him. He was alone. Not that he was conscious, but the thought still terrified me. My heart skipped a beat, and she rested her hand on my arm. “Nevertheless, his breathing has slowed, and his heartrate has begun to drop. You are out of time, child. The veil calls to him.”

“Lucifer will have no contact with Honor,” I said quickly, looking directly at Ronan. “The spell requires a three-looped salt sigil; one loop for each of us. Marcel in the middle. She wouldn’t even be near him. He can’t touch her magic. It’ll flow through us like a circuit breaker. Nothing more.” When I glanced at Lucifer, he held his hands up and raised his brows. “This is the only shot I have to save Marcel, you guys. I’ve got nothing else. Whatever shit is between brothers, this has nothing to do with it. Lucifer is my familiar. He knows how I feel about Piper. How I feel about the kids. He would never harm someone I love.”

A parent was protective, no matter if they were human or immortal. Even demons that were almost untouchable. Theylooked at each other, and Ronan’s shoulders lost some of their tension.

“Okay,” she said, dipping her chin. I could still sense their discomfort, but I also knew Piper and Ronan would never agree if they weren’t actually okay with it.

I threw my arms around her. “Thank you,” I breathed.

“If you plan on doing this, I would save the hugs for later,” Lucifer said, putting a hand on my shoulder and tilting his head toward Señora.

She squeezed my hand, turning and walking toward the back room, her skirts shuffling.

I shook my hands out, wishing I could make the anxiety leave my body. “Ronan, will you bring Marcel into my living room?”

He nodded, following the Señora.

Without another word, Piper turned to get the twins. We didn’t need to speak. She knew where we were going, and she knew how urgent this was.

I turned to look at Lucifer. “Bring August.”

After running up the stairs to my apartment, I left the door open as I quickly moved things out of the way, not giving a care about where I shoved things. August and Lucifer came in and didn’t question anything. They both jumped to action and moved what furniture was left while I grabbed my supplies. The middle of the living room floor was wide open, with the couch and chairs haphazardly shoved against the walls and windows. We’d done some version of this routine quite a few times now.

I hoped this would be the last.

Ronan appeared, cradling Marcel’s frail body, and Piper and the kids were right behind him.

“She’s ready,” Piper said, giving me the go-ahead as Honor gently waved at me. I wanted to save Marcel more than anything, but if Honor had said no, I never would have forced her.

I gave them a tight-lipped acknowledgment as I kept moving. With a deliberate process, I let salt flow from its box, drawing the sigil with three loops, all connecting at a common point. Each line was precise, each curve intentional. This symbol would serve as the foundation of our ritual and allow for a continual flow of magic between all of us.

Lucifer handed me my athame, and I carefully cleansed it, making sure it was purified for the new spell work. He snapped his fingers, and each candle flickered at once, the tiny flames dancing and creating shadows in the room. The blade gleamed under the dim light, and the weight of the athame in my hand was both comforting and daunting.

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