When I returned to the love-seat in the den, I was in my own little world, wanting to ignore the conversation going on in the room around me. And Roman's eyes. Watching me closely. Accessing me for damage.
I would not be drawn to him. I would be steadfast in my desire to one day be with My Dark Angel.
To keep my self from getting swallowed-up by thoughts of Roman and Bane, I allowed myself to be absorbed in the conversation that was taking place in the den.
"I really do want to talk to you about that, Isabelle. And again, I am so, very sorry that I tricked you that way. But it wasn't my idea. I had to do it. Devine would have definitely punished me if I hadn't done it. And done it exactly the way she instructed me to. They cannot find out that I'm here. I don't ever want to go back to them. I want out of that madness. I just don't know how to do it."
"We'll figure it out, Aine. We will. Don't you worry, ok?" Izzy assured her. But Aine didn't look so convinced. "There is nothing more powerful than the Lord, Aine. If you have Him on your side, all will be well."
"Back to the conversation at hand," Roman said, sounding impatient. His eyes flicked over at me, briefly continuing their examination of me, before he fixed his gaze on Aine.
"Right. Well, Divine could care less about summoning or controlling or anything like that. She only wants to please her mother, Queen Aradia. Aradia is the Messiah of the witches. Aradia has always been disappointed in her daughter, which is why I think the queen, in a way, exiled her daughter from Italy's Coven, to keep the embarrassment far away from her. Devine has always been recklessly attempting to please Aradia. It never works, though. Actually, it always backfires on Devine. Kind of like tonight. Who knows what kind of damage has been done to Devine, but whatever it is, she'll believe it was worth the attention she will be getting from her mother. The point is, Divine's plans will revolve around whatever will please Aradia. So we have a little time, anyway, to figure out what's going on and what to do about it. Especially since it looks like Devine will be bed-ridden for a while, probably for eternity. I've only heard of this happening before. I've never seen it, though. I don't know what's going to happen to Devine. But I know Bane messed her up pretty good. And I do know for certain that the queen will be coming here to Sleepy Hallow. And soon. As for how many more will come, I can't say. For something this unprecedented, the entire coven will probably end up coming to Sleepy Hallow. My Grandmother, Demeter, will for sure be on her way. She is the Divine Mother. Lilith is already in town," Aine's eyes fluttered over to Roman and Roman grinned mischievously, like they shared a little secret. I wondered what that was all about. And beneath my wonder, I felt a little stir of jealous about aine and Roman sharing a secret.
"I have no idea what they are going to be planning, but I do know that they will more than likely be escorting Bane's brothers, Vodou, Rune and Hex, here. They won't just leave the demons behind. I don't think they'd want to even if they could. They would want them here. Vodou is already here, since Lilith is here. She doesn't go anywhere without him."
"What about Luna being the last Lanchester? What do you think they are going to do about that? Their number one priority is to gain control over the Sons. They can't do that if they sacrifice Luna," Izzy said.
"This is exactly how Devine made this backfire on her again. Boy, is Aradia going to be mad that Divine was so reckless!" Aine giggled. Then her smile fell and her voice lowered an octave. "Aradia isn't going to be the only one mad. Lilith is not happy, either. But it's Isis' brother Osiris who I think you guys need to worry about the most! Well, him and Bane's brothers."
"Osiris? I never knew Isis had a brother," Izzy said. "Osiris must have been kept a secret, or I would have heard about him."
"Lilith isn't Isis's real mother. Her real mother gave birth to quadruplets. Isis has two twin brothers, Set and Osiris. Set doesn't give a hoot about Isis," Aine looked me dead in the eyes. "But Osiris gives more than a hoot. He will exact his revenge on you, Luna. It was because of you why Bane killed Isis. The Coven already knows this. Soon, Osiris will know this too. Bane will be punished, but Osiris will see to it that you will be, too."
"Of course." I shrugged my shoulders and rolled my eyes. "What's one more demon after me?"
"I have no idea what they are going to do about Luna being the last Lanchester." Aine said. She looked at me. It was as if she was able to tell me what she was thinking without saying it out loud where everyone else could hear. Like she planted her thoughts right into my head. Or maybe, somehow, I had plucked them out of her thoughts.
The Coven will want you to have an heir so that you are not the last Lanchester. How else will they be able to sacrifice you and not set the demons free? There has to be an heir. There's just no other way.
I swiped the whiskey bottle off the table and took a long, sloppy swig. And who cares if I looked like a nervous wreck in front of everyone present, cuz, hay, I certainly earned the right to look a little nervous!
Then I thought about something Roman had told me earlier, about the copout stuff. This was no different. I glanced at Roman, who happened to be looking right at me, disapprovingly. I set the bottle back down on the coffee table. Then he smiled, approvingly.
Roman was right. I was stronger than this. And I was wrong. I certainly earned the right to look a little warrior-like. I survived my life thus far. And I would survive years more. The only person, or thing, I was going to allow to take my life, was me. If I was going to die, it would be by my hand alone.
I'd have to practice the face. And I was definitely not going to take lessons from Izzy Gordon.
"Ashmodai told me that there would come a day when I would lead a small army into battle," Izzy said. "He said I'd know when the time came, and that when it did, I would know how to fight." She looked at each of us in turn. "The time has come. And I know how to fight. Ephesians, Chapter Six, verses eleven through seventeen say; Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places. Wherefor take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore, having your loins girt about the truth, and having on the breastplate of righteousness; And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace; Above all, taking the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God."
"I got the whole armour! I'm with you, Sister," Roman said.
"I'm with you, too. Well, as much as I can be, anyway, with out getting myself burned at a stake or something," Aine said.
"Well, I suppose I'm a given, right? Since I sort of started all of this stuff?" I said.
Izzy's giggle combined with Roman's smile did something to me just then. A little piece of that very same happy-hum that had woven itself through the congregation at church Wednesday night was right here in the den of my house, just barely within my grasp. And suddenly I wanted to live again. Suddenly I wanted to divest myself of all that was old and slip into something new.
I remembered when Izzy and I were in the coffee shop, after we had happened upon Isis' body. It was the day I realized just how important leading The Coven of Hallows to the Lord was to Izzy. And now, I knew how I could help her. I knew that I, too, would stand by her side and wave my sword, too. I knew that I would have a sword. I knew now how to acquire a sword. Heck, I knew I would even one day believe in what we would be fighting for.
And I believed in me.
"Good. So can we go kick some evil butts now?" I asked, ready to get up off the love-seat and go fight something.
Anything.
It didn't matter what.
Despite the pending doom that loomed over me, I really was anxious, excited even, about the battle that inevitably was coming our way. Sure it was
a little scary, knowing Lucifer's angelic immortals were virtually indestructible and whatnot --ok, so maybe a lot scary-- and that this massive coven was freaking powerful and stuff, but hay, I, Luna Lanchester, come from a powerful line of warriors.
And I would kick some evil butt!
At least, that was my plan, anyway.
****
Chapter Fifty-Seven
Sean