Chapter 32

As soon as we’re back, Rory starts throwing questions at us. “How’d it goes? Did you kick some demon butt?” I feel sorry for him sometimes. Sometimes, I think it’s unfair he’s left out of the action. And at other times I agree with Mom, fighting demons is no place for him. Not yet.
“Where’s Mom?” I ask, changing the subject.
“In the kitchen with Belinda. I’ve been sent away—again.” He plops down on the sofa and switches on the television. The news flashes up, and I leave the room. The news is always on lately. The deaths and disappearances are causing a panic around the world. People are scared, and so they should be.
I find Mom and Belinda sitting at the kitchen table drinking tea, looking rather solemn. When she sees me, Mom snatches up the envelope in front of her.
“What is that?” I demand.
“Oh, this? Nothing… nothing to worry about.” Her voice sounds uneasy, and I notice her hands trembling. Something is wrong.
“Let me see.” I hold my hand out. She clutches the envelope even tighter. I give Belinda a glance, and she looks at me uneasily. To me, she is like a snake. Sly. She wouldn’t give a second thought about using her own flesh and blood for her own selfish needs. She knows I know what she is planning. I can see the nervousness in her eyes. I won’t let her use Kayla, but now is not the time to worry about that. I need to focus on the problem at hand.
Belinda says, “Is it a letter from Lucifer? “Her gaze shifts to Mom and she gives her an expression that says sorry. She isn’t sorry. She would send me into the fires of hell to burn if it means her plan will go ahead without any problems.
Mom looks at me sadly. “Yes, but it’s bound to be a trap.” A trap. Then I guess he wants a trade of some sort.
“Let me see please, Mom?” She passes me the letter with a shaky hand. She is freighted, she has reason to be. The road ahead will be hard for us all.
I open the envelope slowly, remove the single sheet of paper from inside, and read aloud what it says.
Dear Michaels
I have some wonderful news for you all. I am happy to announce that you are invited to Kayla and Cole’s wedding. If you wish to attend, then be at Stony Front at 7pm sharp on January 18th.
Yours truly,
Lucifer
I break into a cold sweat. “Who is Cole?” I asked Misty and James who are now standing in the doorway and listening in. I have no idea how much they heard, but Misty’s wide eyes tell me they heard everything. Lucifer doesn’t want a trade. He has other plans. If we enter his realm, we will become easy targets. His army will easily overpower us. Unless we can get some witches on board to turn us invisible.
“Huh, I guess I am not invited to Kayla’s wedding. You know, she was my friend too,” Rory whines, pushing past my other two siblings.
With more than a hint of anger at his selfish remark, I snap, “Rory get lost.” Rory slinks out. Since Kayla has been gone, he has lost his humorous side. Kayla brought life to us in more ways than any of us would have ever thought.
I glance at Mom and shake the letter in her direction. “Right, who is this Cole character?”
She sighs heavily. “He’s Lucifer’s son. We tried our best to hide him from his father. But in the end, we couldn’t save him. Who knows what kind of boy he has turned out to be?”
“You tried to save him?”
She shakes her head, defeated. “His mother came to me a few years ago. She was afraid. Lucifer was hunting them, he wanted Cole back. He is his heir although he would never give up his throne, he wanted his power. Cole was a toy to him. I tried to help them. I had spells placed upon them so they couldn’t be tracked. It worked for a while. He found them. Cole is most likely Lucifer’s replica now. Why they want Kayla to marry him, I don’t know. However, there is always a reason behind each of his moves. I will not allow you to walk into your deaths.” Mom places her head in her hands.
“Okay, now let me make one thing fully understood. We will be attending this wedding,” I say with my head held high. “I won’t let her go through with it without us there.”
“But, Chris, it’s a trap.” Mom’s voice is small.
“I don’t care.”
Misty sides up to me. “I’m with Chris on this. We all need to go. After all, we’re all she’s got. Who knows what awful things she’s going through?”
My chest tightens, and I try not to let my mind stray down that route.
“We will bring her back,” James adds, giving Misty a nod of affirmation. His blue eyes shine with determination. Mom buries her head in her hands. I know she cares about Kayla and feels torn. She just doesn’t want anything to happen to us.
“It will be okay, Mom,” Misty says softly. “We’ve trained our whole lives for events like this. It is timewe put that training into action.”