Page 19 of Having the Time of My Midlife

Jennifer started to come back down the stairs with Alana Catherine, took one look at the unfolding scene and promptly turned around and hightailed it back upstairs. My human buddy was smart.

Cecily joined the conversation. Abaddon stayed quiet. “Pandora is wrong about her character, but that’s neither here nor there,” she stated, giving the woman next to her a pointed glare. “We can apprise you of what happened on the Higher Power’s plane, but I’m on It’s hit list at the moment. If you need someone with recent experience, then Pandora is the person you’re searching for.”

None of that sounded like a good plan. Pandora was one of the most evil Immortals in existence. The trail of death and destruction she’d left behind was long and horrifying. She’d destroyed lives for millions of years. Gideon despised her. I didn’t know Cecily well enough to completely trust her, but right now it didn’t look like we had much of a choice.”

Shit.

Inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly, I decided to have an exploratory conversation-interrogation. My options were… hell, I didn’t know what my options were. All I knew was that I had to somehow fix a tear in the Light. How to do it was anyone’sguess. And since no one had a guess, I was going to deal with what I was given.

Double shit.

I didn’t know if this was a gift or a disaster waiting to happen. There was only one way to find out.

Pandora’s gaze roved over the room and landed on my plant table. Internally, I winced. Outwardly, I was blasé. It had been the beginnings of a new hobby that had failed miserably. Every single plant was brown, crunchy and dead. I’d been meaning to toss them, but my insane life had gotten in the way.

Pandora’s brow rose and she smirked. Her gaze moved to mine in challenge. “Why do you have houseplants if you kill them, Angel of Mercy?”

Challenge accepted. I smiled at her and winked. “To remind everyone what I’m capable of, Goddess of the Darkness.”

Her eyes grew wide along with everyone else’s in the room. If Pandora thought she could fuck around, she was about to find out. I played to win. If she could help me, so be it. If she couldn’t, she was out of here.

“Shall we get started?” I asked flatly.

“Hell to the fuckin’ yes!” Candy Vargo shouted. She ushered Cecily, Abaddon and Pandora to one side of the room, while directing the rest of us to the other. “It’s time to get this party started!”

Cecily frowned. “Hey, that’s my line.”

Candy gave her a sheepish grin.

Whatever. I wasn’t sure I’d call it a party, but it was definitely time to get started.

CHAPTER FIVE

I explainedto our guests what was going on. Cecily was disturbed by the story of the dead who had been in the Light coming back. What she and Abaddon were more disturbed about was the message from Agnes.

“Repeat what Agnes said, please,” Cecily insisted tightly.

I nodded gratefully when Tim handed me his notepad. While I recalled what my dead friend had said, I needed to be sure. Tim was the absolute best with his anal note-taking.

“She said,Fix the rift in the chain, Angel of Mercy. If unattended, evil from the Darkness will descend on the earth and tear it open for good. Death and destruction will rule.”

Cecily turned to Pandora. Her expression was pained but intense. I exchanged a quick look with Gideon, but his focus was on Pandora. His eyes still spit sparks but at least his wings hadn’t emerged. A fight between some of the most powerful people in existence wouldn’t end well. Right now, I was pissed that Cecily had brought Pandora. Nothing good could come of it. I had no intention of asking the Bitch Goddess Cecily to physically help us. All we wanted was information from her visit to the Higher Power’s plane.

“Do you know anything about this?” Cecily asked Pandora. Her voice was calm, but it was steely underneath. She wasn’t messing around.

Pandora had the gall to roll her eyes. I had to give it to her. No one in the room liked the Demon. Honestly, I wasn’t sure anyone in the world liked her. Every Immortal here could likely end her. She didn’t give a damn. Her tone was dripping in sarcasm. “Let’s see… I was stuck inside of you after you turned me into what basically amounted to a mist. Then I went along for the most horrific ride I’ve ever taken. You turned all of my people against me and now I’m on probation and haven’t been back to the Darkness. Not sure how you would surmise that I’m responsible for any of this.”

Cecily signed then nodded curtly. Pandora had made her point. This had nothing to do with her. However, none of this was pertinent to our cause.

“Moving on,” I said in a tone that meant business. “What did the Higher Power look like?”

Cecily made a face. “It was a four-foot-nothing red-headed chain-smoker named Phyllis with a wise-guy vocabulary—New Jersey accent and all. However, that’s not what you’ll see. At least, I don’t think it is.”

She was probably right. The Higher Power looked different to each person who saw It. In a moment of clarity, I realized this conversation was moot. Nothing that applied to Cecily would apply to me other than how to get there. I already knew how to get there—a dream state.

“Shit,” I muttered.

“I have thoughts,” Pandora said.

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