Wicked Souls by Misty Evans

and Luc exchanged a look. Luc said, “Is
the spell broken?”
    Gabriel closed his eyes, then squeezed them
shut, his face straining. After a second, he opened them and hung
his head. “I’m doomed to walk the earth for eternity.”
    The drama was enough to make me scream. Seemed like I was the only one who was going to pay the price for
that. Having Gabriel on Earth so far hadn’t exactly been a picnic
and if I couldn’t get rid of Eve, how was I going to keep Adam? But
Gabriel’s dilemma also gave me an idea. “Between all of us,” I
pointed at Keisha, Emilia, Luc and myself, “we can break the spell. But I want your half of my soul back first in a show of good
faith.”
    Liddy drew a surprised breath. “You’re going
to break your Witches Anonymous oath?”
    Not if I could help it. I checked the clock
on the back wall. Yes! I had officially made the six month mark. My
freewill seemed to be returning. I chanced a glance at Luc. He
didn’t look sad or angry or seem any different, so maybe not.
    Gabriel lifted his head and eyed me
suspiciously. After thinking it over for a few seconds, he
countered. “Break the spell first and I will give you back your
soul.”
    My magic squirmed and the hollow inside my
chest ached. Risky business, making a deal with a bipolar
archangel. But it wasn’t like I’d ever played things safe before. I
held out my hand to shake on it. “Deal.”
    Gabriel sneered, rippled his wings and shook
one of my fingers, disgust on his face. “Once our deal is complete,
I will call Cephiel.”
    Wait, Ceph was my guardian angel, right? What had he said about asking for his help? I looked up at the
vaulted ceiling overhead. “Cephiel,” I called. “Help me.”
    Poof . He appeared in front of me,
looking slightly startled. Before anyone could move, I grabbed
Gabriel by one wrist and Cephiel by the other, bridging angelic
power to angelic power. The energy cracked along my veins with
freezing intensity, but I shouted the words logic told me to loud
and clear. “Whatever higher power exists, give me proof you care
about my soul. Give me control of it again.”
    A loud crack split the air above me. The
ground rumbled under my feet. The magic inside my chest tugged and
rebelled painfully, as I hung onto both angels as if my life
depended on it. Cephiel jerked hard, trying to get away, but my
supernatural strength kept him in place. Gabriel, in turn, tugged
me his way, and I see-sawed between them. Like the angels, though,
I didn’t fall down.
    A second later, a white light rivaling
Gabriel’s punched through the nave, accompanied by a high pitched
screeching noise. The stained glass windows broke, glass flying
into the nave as wind rushed into it. Everyone dove for
cover—Keisha throwing herself over the cake—except me and the
angels.
    As fast as that happened, it all went quiet. No wind, no flying glass, no scream. The light in the nave returned
to normal. The ground under my feet steadied.
    Gripping tight to both angels, my body
sagged from the sudden loss of energy and my knees hit the floor. Cephiel and Gabriel stood steady and unyielding, and yet their
bodies trembled under my hands. Whatever had happened had affected
them. Maybe God, or whatever higher power had just answered my
plea, did love humans more than angels.
    Lucifer pried my frozen fingertips from the
clench I had around Gabriel and Cephiel’s wrists. I lifted my head
and searched his eyes. “Did it work?”
    “You tell me.”
    His magic rose around me, pulsing and
pervasive, tingling over and through my body in that old, familiar
way. My magic purred in response. It did not, however, break
through the bars containing it. I closed my eyes and told it to
stop purring and it did. Reluctantly, but I’d take it.
    I left it to pout and opened my eyes. “Hot
damn.”
    Cephiel rolled his eyes. Gabriel rippled his
wings. Luc looked pale but patted me on the arm and helped me
stand.
    Keisha straightened up and brushed glass