Page 111 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

“It’s great,” Connor replied. “Thanks.”

“Victoria will be in touch when the test results are in.”

“That’ll work,” I said, yawning.

“Well, that’s my cue…” she said, turning to leave us. As she shut the door, I kicked off my shoes.

Seriously, my eyes fell shut as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next thing I knew, my consciousness roused to the feeling of someone shaking me. My eyes cracked open. “Need sleepy,” I whined.

“The two hours you got is what you’re gonna get. Up. Let’s go.”

I narrowed my eyes on him. “I know twenty ways to kill a man without lifting a finger.”

He laughed at me, tugging me up. I stretched then slipped my Converse back on. Rather than hit the elevators again, Connor turned us in the direction of Victoria’s office. He gave one knock and opened the door.

“I’m sorry I had to wake you,” Victoria said. “I wanted to let you sleep a bit longer, but this seemed very important.”

That caught my attention. “Important?” I asked.

“Please, have a seat.” She flipped her monitor around for us to see the screen. “This is you.” She pointed to the line that represented me, the one she’d shown me before. “Now, this”—she pointed to a second line—“is the results from the blood on the vent.”

What in the…?I leaned in, trying to reconcile what I was looking at with some shred of reality.

“What exactly are we looking at?” Connor asked.

“He’s above me,” I replied. “Not below.”

Victoria nodded. “That’s exactly right.”

“What does that mean?”

She pointed out more lines. “This line here means that he—and yes, the DNA is male—he and Simone are related, but only through one line. In my opinion, you’re looking at the DNA of your half-uncle.”

“The fuck,” Connor spat, but I had a different reaction.

“Cain.”

“What?” Victoria asked.

“Cain,” I repeated. “Cain was my mother’s younger half-brother through Adam and his second wife, Eve. Hell, I suppose he could be Abel, but if history is at all accurate, Abel was a decent guy who was killed by his brother. Were there any others?”

Victoria shrugged her shoulders, shaking her head. “I’m a witch. We didn’t spend much time in church.”

Connor outright laughed. “I’m a hellhound.We hung out with Luc and his demons.”

“Well you know I was brought up in foster homes. I’m surprised I know as much as I do.”

“So, just to be clear, given our collective lack of biblical knowledge, we’re thinking Cain is in our time?” Connor asked.

“If it’s him, he’s definitely out of time, like you, Simone,” Victoria said. “But he holds no magic. We checked for markers and there was nothing. He’s completely human. Not one drop of super.”

“I feel it in my gut, we’re dealing with Cain, and neither Adam nor Eve held magic. That was why Adam wanted my mom to get with his son, to get the magic back in his family. But Lilith brought me forward. Only she’d have the power to do that and she’d never have.Never.”

“Lilith and demons,” Connor replied. Victoria gasped and I whipped my head towards him fast enough to cause whiplash.

“Demons can do that?”

“The kings can. And angels.”

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