Page 36 of Midnight Witch

The rest of them traded confused glances.

“Who told you it was rare?” Mae said cautiously.

“The guy who sold me this.” Mrs. Son-Ha rose, shuffled over to the sink, and picked up an antique dragon bell from the windowsill. She brought it over to the kitchen table. “I got it from a shop in Hong Kong, years ago. The man who owned the place said it would create a divine barrier in the presence of a spiritual or demonic attack and would be of use to me in the future.” She grunted. “Of course, I just thought he was a charlatan at the time. But as my Shaman powers grew, I could tell this thing wasn’t normal.”

Mae’s pulse quickened as she stared at the object. She could feel an otherworldly power throbbing from it. It tasted similar to the shimmering, golden light Violet and Miles occasionally manifested.

From Nikolai’s surprised expression, he could sense it too.

“Hong Kong?” Violet repeated in a suspicious tone.

Miles startled as if he’d recalled something. He shot a shocked look at his cousin. “Isn’t that where Haruki’s brother got those prayer beads?!”

Violet’s mouth flattened into a thin line. “I’m pretty sure we were supposed to keep that under wraps, dumbass.”

Miles shifted guiltily under her accusing gaze.

Vlad furrowed his brow. “Who’s Haruki?”

Miles scratched his cheek. “Um, he’s one of the divine beasts we told you about before.”

Violet sighed. “He wields the Flaming Sword of Camael, a holy artifact.”

Brimstone raised his head from where he’d been lying by Mae’s chair.Camael?

Mae detected his surprise across their bond. “Do you know him?”

Brimstone huffed.Yes. He’s one of Azazel’s old companions.

“Really?” Mae said dubiously.

“What did he say?” Vlad asked.

“Apparently, Camael is an archangel and one of my father’s friends.”

Nikolai grimaced. “You’re saying an archangel set up a shop in Hong Kong?”

Violet shuddered. “You’d be surprised what those lunatics get up to.”

Mrs. Son-Ha squinted. “That guy looked like he needed a shave. And a bath.”

Cortes studied Violet and Miles with a leaden expression. “More to the point, you guys know archangels?”

Violet hesitated.

“The only ones we’ve officially met are Michael and Uriel,” she confessed reluctantly. “Although, technically, Otis is a seraph too.”

“Otis?” A memory danced through Mae. “Oh, you mean Mila’s boyfriend?”

Mila Jackson was an Immortal they’d met in Philadelphia, along with Madeleine Godard-Black. Both women were renowned scientists in their respective fields and had helped them identify Dietrich Farago’s abominable, parasitic creation: an artificial virus infused with Barquiel’s demonic DNA, black magic, and, eventually, Mae’s blood. It had allowed the ghouls Barquiel had recruited from Hell to possess the Philadelphia coven sorcerers and witches the Dark Council had kidnapped and enter theBook of Lightso as to turn it into its true form: a compass that could lead to theBook of Shadows.

Mae stared blindly at the table as the pieces of the puzzle started to fall in place.

If an archangel sold Mrs. Son-Ha that artifact years ago because he knew it would eventually help us, then everything’s connected.

Yes,Brimstone agreed.It is becoming clear that that is the case, my witch.

Her pulse quickened as she looked at Mrs. Son-Ha. “Did he tell you the name of this magic or how to counter it?”

---