Welcome to the Kali Sweet Chronicles. Sweet Malice is the fifth book in the Kali Sweet Urban Fantasy series and will be released to retailers in February 2025. I’ll release a chapter twice a month here in my Magic Bites Membership, and I look forward to reading your comments! *Please note that these are UNEDITED and some story elements may change before the official book release in February. Enjoy!
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Sweet Malice, Kali Sweet Urban Fantasy Series
©2024 Misty Evans
After an hour, we stopped for gas. I considered offloading the artifacts in the dumpster behind the station, but with my luck, some innocent human would find them and start Armageddon.
After that, we went through a drive-through and loaded up on burgers, fries, and shakes. Food in hand, I sent Rad west to the apartment Lucifer had provided me, and I had yet to see.
For most of the way, everyone was silent. I connected my phone to the Land Rover’s Bluetooth and played my favorite heavy metal playlist. Frank complained; I ignored him. Music always helped me think.
As the miles passed, the traffic leaving Chicago grew thinner. The darkness of open fields soothed me, broken up here and there by headlights traveling in the opposite direction.
Because of our driver’s lead foot, we made it to the apartment in an hour. It was in a decent part of a small town, but nothing fancy. The population was less than any of the Chicago burbs. Lawns were mowed, and their main street was lit by solar lights that were decorated with old-world flair. The shops were a mix of empty storefronts and small businesses.
The apartment complex itself was plain and nondescript, with a weedy parking lot behind the building that it shared with a small convenience store next door.
Never trust the devil. It was something Damon had once said to me. As I stood looking at the entrance to the apartment building, it flitted through my head again. “Where’s Zayfeer?” I muttered.
“Who?” Rad asked.
The others joined us on the sidewalk, Cole watching our backs. “Lucifer’s bitch.”
Rad frowned, still confused. I tapped the side of the waste can. “He was watching us with an eagle eye when we were on the hunt for the Fallen, but now he’s nowhere to be seen. Amy mentioned Lucifer is more sullen than usual.”
Rad shrugged. “And?”
I hauled out my phone and hit redial.
Amy answered on the first ring. “I gave him the message,” she said. “He left.”
“Any idea where he went?”
“I thought to see you. He didn’t show up?”
“Where’s your angel nanny?”
“I have no idea.”
Crap. “Is there anywhere Zayfeer would go to hide from Lucifer?”
She paused. “Why would he need to hide?”
This was all my fault. I didn’t like the angel, but I didn’t want Lucifer to snuff him out because he thought Zayfeer was the mole. “Think, Amy. Where would Zayfeer go?”
“I’m right here, demon.” The angel in question appeared on the lawn, dressed in a biker outfit. He eyed me with suspicion. “Thought you’d get me fired, did you?”
“Never mind,” I told Amy. “I found him.”
“Luc?”
“Zayfeer.”
“Is Luc with him?”
“No.” I switched subjects. “Do you believe Michael will protect Azaria, even if she’s the key to reuniting you and Lucifer with Heaven and creating a new paradise on Earth?”
Her pause was heavy and laced with a combination of annoyance and suspicion. “Do you know something I don’t? Is he going to hurt my daughter?”
A couple strolled down the sidewalk. When they saw our group, especially Zayfeer, they turned around and hurried away.
Amy trusted Lucifer with everything. She and their daughter were the only leverage I had. While I didn’t like scaring her for no good reason, I couldn’t honestly reassure her that her daughter was safe with Michael. “Do what you have to do to protect her. I’ll get back to you.”
I cut off her questions and pocketed the phone. “Where is Lucifer?” I asked Zayfeer.
“He’s in a meeting.”
“With…?”
“None of your business.” A cop car crept down the street, its headlights throwing weak illumination toward us. “I suggest we take this upstairs.”
“Who is that?” Frank murmured to me as we headed for the building. “I don’t recall any angel named Zayfeer.”
“I’ll catch you up later.” Behind the angel’s back, I gave Cole a sign we used for ambush when in the field. He nodded, his massive self disappearing around the side of the building instead of following us inside.
Rad watched all this and silently slipped a blade out of his jacket. Frank sensed danger and slowed to stay behind me.
We trudged up the stairs in silence and Zayfeer didn’t seem to notice we were one person short when he stopped outside the apartment door. Placing my hand on the frame, I sent magic into the room to check for enemies or traps.
Zayfeer gave me an aggrieved eye roll as if I were the stupidest demon ever to walk the earth.
The energy that zapped me made me drop my hand and take a giant step back. “What the…?” I faced him. “You said he was in a meeting.”
“Yeah, with you, idiot. Stop keeping him waiting.”
But it wasn’t only Lucifer’s energy I sensed beyond the door. It was similar, but more like Michael’s—aggressive, forceful, dynamic. Like a pitbull on a leash looking for a fight.
I didn’t bother lowering my voice because I knew they could hear me even if I did. “Who’s in there with him?”
Zayfeer slouched against the wall and brushed at nonexistent dust on his shiny black jacket. “Open up and find out.”
I glanced at Rad and Frank, swallowed, and braced myself. Using my magic, I opened the door, ready to haul ass in case I was about to be attacked.
Lucifer and another angel sat at a small kitchen table, completely overwhelming the two tiny wooden chairs on either side. They peered at me and then at each other with a knowing glance.
While Lucifer was dark and dangerous, the other angel favored Michael—blond hair, blue aura, and androgynous features. He wore a bland-colored shirt and khakis that looked straight from The Gap’s last closeout sale. “That’s her?” he asked.
Lucifer nodded.
The newcomer surveyed me again. “She took on Michael and tricked him into giving her his sword?” He laughed as if that were the most humorous thing he’d heard in a while. “Our brother must be losing his touch.”
The demon in me scratched at her cage, becoming the pit bull on a leash. “Who the Hell are you?”
Frank peaked around me. “Uh oh. Is that who I think it is?”
Cole came stomping up the steps. The gun was ready to fire. “Move.”
I stopped him with a hand and motioned the three of them to stay put. I didn’t care what Zayfeer did. Then I put on my don’t mess with this demon bitch face and swaggered inside.
“Michael isn’t losing his touch.” I thunked the waist can on the table between them. “His sabotage scheme with these artifacts was nothing but a ruse and a distraction. He now possesses his sword, and Damon’s infected with his angel essence.”
Lucifer kicked back, unconcerned. “We know,” he said.
I blinked. “You know?”
Zayfeer strolled to the tiny kitchen to help himself to a drink from the refrigerator. “I figured it out while you were off doing”—he glanced at Rad and Cole filling the doorway—“whatever.”
Rad marched to my side while Cole hung back, gun still poised to fire. I covertly motioned for him to lower it. He ignored me.
Facing the two angels again, I scanned the rest of the apartment that I could see. Nothing set off my magical warning system, but it was already on high alert because Lucifer was so close. He was the most perfect, most beautiful being I’d ever laid eyes on, and my vice and virtue warred with each other over how to react every time I came into contact with him. My demon alternated between hiding and throwing herself at her prison bars, wanting to bow at his feet.
Clearing my throat, I stepped back from his immense sexuality and power. “Who are you?” I asked the other angel.
He flicked his eyes to Lucifer again, seeming surprised and disappointed. “You didn’t tell her?”
Lucifer ran a hand over his face. Like before, he looked tired. Worn out. A young child could do that to you.
So could a brother who wanted you dead. “Kali, this is my brother Thelesis. The, this is Kali Sweet.”
“Thelesis!” Frank rushed to my other side. “You mean Archangel Raguel?” He held out a hand. “It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Frank Bahar.”
Lucifer quirked a brow. I shrugged. “Meet your newest Fallen,” I told him and patted Frank on the back. He looked like he might pee himself, fangirling over the newcomer. “Frank, in case you missed it, this is Lucifer Morningstar.”
The smile fell from his face. His body locked up like he’d been stunned with a taser. “Lucifer… You… He…”
His eyes rolled up in his head, and he fainted.
“Why do you have that effect on my friends?” I asked and saw the corner of Lucifer’s mouth quirk in what for him was a smile. I glanced at his brother. “One of the other vitiums did the same thing when he saw him at the Vatican, and the timing couldn’t have been worse.” Salmad and I had been escaping the Pope’s private quarters, and the only way down was to jump to the courtyard from a high balcony. Half of Rome had been watching, and the Swiss Guard, along with a bunch of Noctifacters, had been closing in. I’d had to pick Sal up and jump off that balcony with his dead weight over my shoulder.
Thelesis stood, rising to his full height, and I planted my feet. He’d been acting calm and friendly. Now, the pit bull returned. “I’ve heard a lot about you, demon.”
“You have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know you.” Rad’s Chaos magic made the ends of my hair rise. “So which is it,” I asked. “Thelesis or Raguel?”
“This,” Lucifer said, eyeing his brother, “is your angelic counterpart.”
My trip through the tunnels under Rome to sneak into Vatican City came rushing back. It was the first time I’d learned about him. “The angel of vengeance.” The words came out breathy. I smacked myself before I started doing a Frank-at-a-Swift-concert impression. “But…”—I ricocheted between him and Lucifer—“It’s not a good idea for us to be in the same place simultaneously. Amy told me it would cause a karma-something-or-other. An unbalancing.”
Thelesis smiled with dark delight. “And I believe you once suggested I was…what was it? Ah yes, ‘chickenshit’ to meet you. Wasn’t that how you put it?”
Only mentally. “You read my mind?”
He stretched out his arms and his power grated against my skin. “Angel, here, duh. You may call me Thelesis.” Glancing at this audience, he made a satisfied face. “No karma-clysmic event, but there is an unbalancing effect if we’re together too long, so let’s make this quick. As you may remember, I’m the sheriff in this realm, keeping Fallen and demons in check. At times, I must step outside my given jurisdiction”—he gestured at those of us gathered—“and rein in an archangel. Michael is out of hand.”
“Which is why you stole his sword and gave it to Amy,” I said, “to aid us in stopping the Horsemen.”
“And now, thanks to you, he has it back. He’s creating an unbalance between Heaven and Earth yet again.”
“He’s raising his own army,” Lucifer added. “He can’t raise a hand against my daughter, but he can wage war on the Fallen.”
Michael was no kind, loving soul, that was for sure. If all of us banded against him… “What happens to the prophecy if he succeeds in destroying the Fallen?” I asked. “Can you still be united with Heaven?”
“The idea is to bring everyone back into the fold,” Thelesis explained in a tone suggesting I had the IQ of a snail. “Not only Lucifer but all those who left. That is the point.”
I tried to swallow my sarcasm. It didn’t work. “Is it? I thought the point was getting rid of sin and allowing humans to live in paradise.”
He waved one giant hand through the air, brushing that away. “That’s a result of reuniting the angelic kingdom.”
Now, we were getting to the truth. “So all of this has been a smokescreen. You don’t care what happens to humans—it’s all about the angels.”
The brothers exchanged another of their subtle, cunning glances. Thelesis gave me a wormy smile. Behind it, I saw him considering several responses. “Lucifer said you love humans. How unusual for a demon. Then again, without them, who would you have to torment?”
I looked at the king of Hell’s expression. His steady gaze didn’t waver a bit. “Why is Thelesis really here?” I asked him.
He pushed to standing. “Kali, meet your new partner in our battle against my brother.”
The pit bull held out a hand, his smile turning cold and vicious. “It’s time we raised a little Hell, don’t you think, demon?”
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How do you think Kali feels about this latest development?