Page 101 of A Witch-ish Guide to Protectors and Pendulums

Luc led us through the safehouse which was seriously nicer than any house I’d ever lived in, to a room off the back parlor. A lab. On one wall, he had shelves of crystals in clear bins and beakers, vials, microscopes, Bunsen burners—the whole shebang.

“Luc, you’re a man of science?” I asked.

“Are you serious?” he asked me, then he turned to Shafira. “Is she serious?”

“She sounds serious,” Shafira answered.

“Do you not read? Why do you think I got cast out of heaven?”

“I don’t know—something about wanting to be as loved by God as the humans.”

He sighed. “We really do need better PR. People always turn shit around. I wanted the angels to have the same rights as humans. I wanted us to have the right to discover all that science and nature had to offer. I got tired of the blindly following‘because I said so’ mentality.Because I said sowasn’t enough. We weren’t exactly unionized, so when I voiced my concerns with management, I ended up down here.”

“That’s rough… and why you allow demons to have unions. I get it.”

“She can be taught,” he murmured.

“Hey, now, don’t be mean. Your side of things is pretty new to me.”

Luc gave a slight shrug as he stepped to the far side of the room to a wall filled with bins that contained crystals and stones. I saw onyx glass in a ceramic bowl and next to it, M&M’s open and dumped into another bowl.

“M&M’s, Luc? What are you, five?”

“I get hungry when I’m working. Sometimes I want a snack. Sue me.”

“I don’t think there’s anything wrong with a man enjoying some candy,” Shafira said, snickering. “It’s cute.

“Don’t encourage him,” I replied. “Can we get on with this?”

He looked at Shafira. “Every party has a pooper.”

“Hey—that’smyline. You can’t use it against me.”

“I’m Lucifer. I can do anything I want—andit’s fun to see you fume.”

Okay, so he might’ve had a point. About doing anything he wants. Seeing me fume? Oh, if we had more time, the man would suffer. “Can we focus? Connor and my cousin Karro are with Kimaris right now.”

That sobered him right up. Luc picked up several different crystals in the shapes of like those batons that runners used in relay events, but they had sharp points at each end. He carefully considered each one, picking two white stones, a pinkish-colored stone, and a gray stone. He brought them to one of the tables, where he picked up bottles that had what looked like oils in them and wiped the oils from each bottle over each crystal.Lastly, he held each crystal in his hand. Power flowed from the center of Luc’s chest down into his hand. His body lit up like a beacon. I gasped. The awe-inspiring sight was something that would stay with me forever. How many people got to see an angel imbue power into a ward in their lifetime?

Shafira took a step closer. Since she did, I did too because I couldn’t be showed up by her. He carefully imbued each crystal with his magic. The glow faded as soon as he set the last one down.

“That was amazing,” Shafira said through a very heavy breath. Luc looked up at her, smiling. Then he winked and she blushed. Luc had that effect on women.

“These should work,” he said. “Kamaris is a powerful guy, so I picked out powerful crystals. The oils help to amplify and set the Luc magic into each one.”

“I’m so glad you’re on our side,” I replied.

“You really are,” he teased, or I think he teased. Luc had a big head, so it was a toss-up. “Is there food or anything at this place?”

“I have no idea. It’s abandoned.”

“Right.” He tossed me the wards as he passed me to walk out of the lab. Shafira and I scrambled after him. He grabbed a bag from a pantry and started filling it with food, handing the bag off to Shafira and she set it down by her feet. Then he started filling jugs with water. He set those by her feet, too. Lastly, he left us for a minute and came back with an eight-pack of toilet paper. Luc understood the assignment.

Once the three of us stood close together, I manifested a bubble around us and the food and water, and I magicked us the hell out of there, locking in on my mate-GPS. In a blink, we set down back inside the outpost.

“Thank the gods,” Karro said. He looked pretty tired. “My zaps don’t pack as much heat as yours do. He just keeps waking up—oh,hello, sexiest man I’ve ever seen in my life.”

Luc snickered. The man certainly had prideful down.

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