Ava fetched me all the contents that had been inside my pants pocket before they were stolen, including my phone. I made a call to Lumi, who was more than ecstatic to hear my voice. I didn’t say two words to the girl and she hung up, portaling her way to me immediately. That happy smile on her face faded once she arrived and noticed Ava, someone she told me wouldn’t be accepted before the House of Samael.

I reassured her that Ava was one of the good ones. She was trustworthy. To be fair, I wasn’t a hundred percent on that, but the girl did sacrifice herself to set me free. If that was a ploy, it was pretty damn convincing. For some reason, Ava was on our side, a god loving woman of the church supporting a flock of demons.

Yeah, that was weird…

With no idea what her angle was, I needed to keep my eyes on her. I’d promised to keep my girls safe, and I intended on keeping that promise.

“Well, you leveled up quickly,” Trista said with a sly smile. After Lumi portaled us back to my place, all four of us sat in my living room while Ava stayed in the den and Wren in the bathroom. Lumi gave her a blood bath so she could recover, and Trista insisted Ava stayed in the den, so we could have a family meeting. “From being killed by a fate demon, and taking your first drink off a human, to fighting a fallen angel from the deadliest demon hunter guilds out there. Kudos to you, Isaac.” She winked.

I snorted. “Trust me, I wasn’t looking to get in the ring with an angel tonight. On the upside, I think I found a priestess who may be willing to help Sasha…” I turned to Ruby, who pulled out a magazine from her round tush on the sofa. She was deeply engrossed in my latest edition of Busty Asian Lovelies, the raven haired vixen unashamed as she flipped through the pages.

She must have sensed everyone was looking at her, Ruby picking her head up and darting her eyes back and forth across the room. “What? I’m paying attention.”

I scratched the back of my head sheepishly. “That’s so embarrassing…”

She broke out in a cute giggle. “Don’t be shy, delicious! Your girlfriend is just enjoying one of your favorite pastimes.”

“Okay, but did you have to break out the porn in front of me? That’s usually a private activity.”

“It doesn’t have to be with me,” she cooed, blowing me a kiss.

“Can we stick to the topic and address the elephant in the room?” Trista said.

Ruby jumped excitedly. “You mean, right now?!”

Trista deadpanned her, crossing her arms over her chest. “No, I’m not talking about the elephant in Isaac’s pants.”

Ruby pouted.

“We have to decide what we are going to do with Ava.” She turned to me. “It wasn’t a good idea bringing her here. Now she knows where you live. Nothing is stopping her from bringing Founder’s Grace to your doorstep.”

“Founder’s Grace?”

“It’s an angelic guild sworn to seeking revenge against god by means of awakening the embodiment of true darkness, a behemoth by the name of Jorbius.”

“What the hell?”

“It’s true, master!” Lumi blurted. “These fallen angels are angry! They want to punish their god by awakening a creature more evil than your father! More evil than The Underworld itself! I thought Jorbius was a myth but he is very real. And if he touches this Earth, everything in it is done for.”

“Jorbius is awakened by gathering a collection of demonic souls and proceeding with his summoning ritual. These angels use people in a congregation as followers, and they lure demons to their deaths. Angels have no problems extracting demons out of vessels, and saving them for harvest.”

Well, that sure explained a lot. “So, what you’re saying is that these fallen angels who went rogue are worse than demonic factions and regular angels?”

“That’s correct.”

“If that’s the case, then I don’t think Ava is associated with them in the way that we think.”

“How do you figure?”

“It’s the way she first approached me… to the way she tried to break me free from an Enochian dungeon cell. She told me that it was some type of angel magic. If she was on their side, then I would have been made a sacrifice to this Jorbuis guy.”

“Maybe it’s all a set up,” Ruby said. “Angels are pretty clever. I assume priestesses aren’t too far from being geniuses themselves when it comes to deceiving demons.”

“Sounds like there’s too many steps for a straightforward approach.”

“Not to sound like Wren, but she could be using your trust to get to us,” Trista added.

“We are all here, aren’t we? Why hasn’t she called the bat signal? Like I said, I strongly believe that Ava is on our side. She probably doesn’t want this darkness swallowing us whole. The good and the bad. To be honest, I feel like she might just be the only sane person in that forsaken church. Ava is smart enough to know that awakening this beast won’t yield any promising results. I doubt he can be tamed.”

“You’re right in that regard.”

“Something that is as bad as it sounds shouldn’t be fucking messed with.”

“Try telling that to those fallen angels. Their hate for heaven runs deep.”

“Whatever the case, what makes you so sure that she’d help us?” Ruby asked. “Especially after knowing what we are? Sure, she could hate the idea of summoning the beast, but that doesn’t exactly mean she has to be on board with demons. A woman of the Holy Order is still dangerous to our kind. She’ll serve only as a threat to us the longer she stays here.”

I got up off my seat. “Let me talk to her. See what she’s about. I agree with Ruby. She must have a better reason to be so open to being around demons, and willing to trust us. There has to be a motive, and I’ll figure it out.”