Page 87 of Cupcake

Gavin glanced at Dean then rolled his eyes. “You brought him into this. I blame you.”

Yet, it hadn’t been Dean who Stryker had been calling. “Appreciate the backup.”

“I’d be there in person…” Stryker motioned to his own body. “But human, you know.”

“It’s safer wherever you are.” Dean narrowed his eyes. “Where are you exactly.”

“Safe.” Stryker’s reply was expected.

“Make sure you stay that way,” Dean ordered. “I don’t want to have to rescue you again.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you need to worry about yourself. From what Gavin’s told me, this isn’t a good situation.”

Dean turned to look down at the town that held the remainder of his nightmare. “This has been a long time coming.” Too long. He’d run away because he thought that would be the end of his involvement, but he’d known better. Had considered what he’d have to do in order to finally have the safety and peacethat he craved. With a mate now, Dean wouldn’t be running this time.

“I can call my demons here. We can take care of this. You don’t even have to be involved.” Lucifer’s hand gripped his shoulder as he spoke.

“My circus. My monkeys,” Dean replied. Even though it was the last thing he wanted, Dean turned to Noah. “Stay with me. They can’t drain you because of our bond, but that doesn’t mean they won’t try.”

Noah cracked his knuckles before moving his head from side to side. “Let’s end this. We have a family to get back to.”

Family. Mate. Future.

Yes, they needed to stop the coven once and for all. It was time to start living and enjoying the life they’d made for themselves.

Dean turned and nodded to Lucifer. “Let’s do this.”

Lucifer’s magic swirled around them. He was powerful. Gifted by his father and the fates themselves as he’d been tasked with one of the most difficult jobs in existence.

“I can dampen their magic but not wipe it out completely. Not without stripping each member of the coven and I need to see them in that case.”

Just as Dean had suspected. “We need to draw them out. You and I will strip them of their magic. I need some place to put it though. I don’t want either of us absorbing any of the blood magic.”

Lucifer hummed. “Wherever we put it will need to be able to be destroyed.”

Dean shook his head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. I have no idea where the magic will go.”

“Would it return to the shifters that it was stolen from? Their land?”

“Normally. Stolen magic would. If it was even a small amount of blood magic like I’d taken before, I could return it to the land. What I feel here? It’s too much. I might be able to redirect it, but I need to do some research. Right now, we just need somewhere safe to store it.”

“And somewhere safe to keep it,” Lucifer said. “I don’t think the human realm is the place.”

Dean brightened. “Mal! Can he keep it at the core in the hell realm? Anyone there would know not to mess with it. And demons can’t wield mage magic.”

“That is a good idea. We’ll have Adam assign some demons to keep an eye on it just in case,” Lucifer stated.

He felt better having a plan to ensure the magic wouldn’t harm anyone else. Now where to put it?

“What about a box like you are keeping the book in,” Lucifer suggested.

“That will work.” Dean nodded. His magic throbbed before a similar box to the one he’d created to hold Lucifer’s book appeared in his hands.

“Door,” Noah mumbled as he placed his hand on the top. The door would allow them to stuff the magic inside.

They were ready.

“Noah, hold the box. It will be better if we have both hands to fight,” Dean told his familiar.

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