Welcome to the Kali Sweet Chronicles. Sweet Malice is the fifth book in the Kali Sweet Urban Fantasy series. I release a chapter a week here in my Magic Bites Membership, and I look forward to reading your comments! Enjoy!
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Sweet Malice, Kali Sweet Urban Fantasy Series
©2025 Misty Evans
“Are you mad?” Dru demanded, halting the closest guard from unlocking them. “What is going on, Kali?”
“I’d like to know, too,” Damon bellowed. “Have you switched allegiances?”
Did no one trust me? “All in good time, gentlemen.” I gave each a pointed stare. “Everything will become clear soon.”
Dru’s attention shifted to Vicky with reluctance. “Do not test me, underling. I won’t hesitate to put you down.”
She curled a lip, revealing a fang—a clear act of rebellion. “You don’t scare me.”
“He should,” Damon snapped, easing down on the edge of his desk and crossing his arms. “We all should. You’re a powerful witch-vampire hybrid, but you’re no match for him.” He looked her over. “Or me.”
“Or me,” I added. “Which is why you should join us rather than fight us.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I’m not a fool.” She shook her hands and the heavy linked chain between them. “Get these off.”
I dipped my chin at the guard with the key. Although I was his queen, he slid a questioning peek at Dru.
Dru sighed in disgust. “Do it.”
The chain and iron manacles clanged to the floor. Vicky cracked her knuckles and took a seat on Damon’s sofa. “A drink, please. Something to eat, too.”
Damon grunted. “You’ll be lucky to—”
“I’ll ask Neve to bring up refreshments,” I interrupted, using Damon’s phone to call her.
We had to wait for Vicky to drink a quart of blood and eat a rare piece of meat before she’d do my bidding. While the guards kept an eye on her, Dru and Damon pulled me aside and began interrogating me.
“I can’t explain yet,” I insisted. “But know this—Lucifer, Michael, or even Lilith could yank me out of here at any moment. They could kill me. You have to be prepared to make some uncomfortable but strategic sacrifices if you’re to survive.”
“I’m not sacrificing you,” Damon said softly.
Dru ran a hand down my arm. “I refuse to, as well.”
Damon glanced over his shoulder at Vicky, who was polishing off her meal. “Does Lucifer know you’re here?” he murmured at me.
I shook my head. “He believes I’m going to betray him because the Fate said I would. That’s bullshit, but he believes her over me.”
“The Fate?” Dru queried.
“Faron is one of three,” I explained, “and she’s keeping an eye on all of us. She can read our intentions and predict outcomes.”
“Why would she lie about your intentions?” Dru asked.
“Because she has her own agenda,” Damon said, catching onto my theory.
I nodded. “What happens to her and the others like her—gods, goddesses, the whole works—if Lucifer succeeds? Will they be eradicated like demons? I mean, who needs fate if your destiny is to die peacefully in Paradise? No matter your choices, it’s all rainbows and puppy dogs. And what better way to ensure you aren’t expunged from this world than to sabotage him?”
Damon strode behind his desk and punched a button on his landline. “Neve, send Salmad to my office immediately.”
Setting aside her empty plate, Vicky downed the last of the blood and rubbed her hands together. Her eyes closed, and her short hair began to tremble, strands straightening and lifting as if on a breeze.
The hair on the back of my neck rose to attention.
“Why do we need the priest?” Dru asked Damon quietly.
My boss and I were on the same page. “Sal will have a theory about the Fate’s fate,” I told him, “but we can’t alert Faron to the fact we suspect she’s a plant.”
Damon sat in his chair. “Working for Michael or Lilith?”
I moved to stare out the window at Lake Michigan. As usual, it was more gray than blue, even though the sun shone on it. “Why not both? When Cole and I were at the carnival, it felt like several magics had been braided together. More than just Michael’s and Lilith’s. What if hers was the other one I felt?”
“There’s your problem,” Vicky said. We all turned to her, and she flipped open her eyes. “The original wards that you put on the place”—she pointed at Damon—“formed the initial barrier, and the amount of angel energy inside the Institute has been weakening it in spots. There’s too much divine power building up under your demonic layers. Angelic forces outside the Institute are battering the spell I placed on top of it.” She used her hands to mimic two forces smacking against each other. “It’s a powder keg. All the pressure inside and out is causing cracks and allowing Michael’s power to seep into the structure and foundation.”
“Can you fix it?” I asked.
She made a face as her keen eyes shifted to mine. “When I look at your energy, it’s translucent and filmy. You’re more spirit than flesh and blood. You carry a coating of other dimensions—Hell and others that reek of angels but aren’t Heaven.”
“Can you fix the wards?” Damon demanded, bringing her back on point.
She rolled her eyes. “Your best bet would be to remove the angels from here. They’re weakening your wards simply by being inside these walls.”
A knock sounded. Salmad entered with Frank on his heels. “May I be of assistance?”
I jutted my chin at the principality. “What’s he doing here?”
Frank pushed up his glasses and showed me my father’s book. “There’s more that I think you should be made aware of.”
The door was still open, and Rad barreled in, nearly knocking both men over. “You’re back.”
In his eyes, I could see his concern, mixed with irritation that I hadn’t come to him. “I am. Can you do me a favor?”
He marched forward and kissed me, leaving me breathless. “You know I would do anything for you.”
I ran my hand down his cheek. “I need Volante and Cole, but I need you to be sneaky about it. Lucifer can’t know I’m here.”
This seemed to relieve his annoyance. He glanced at Vicky. She had closed her eyes again and was murmuring snippets of a spell under her breath. I hoped it had to do with the wards and not that she was cursing me. Rad faced Dru. “Do I know what the two of you are doing here?”
I placed a hand on his arm. “Helping us save demondom.”
He quirked a brow. “New word?”
“New word for a New World order.”
He released me reluctantly, and I could feel the tug-of-war inside him. The room was packed with powerful supernatural males, a vampire-witch hybrid, a priest, and an angel. He didn’t trust any of them. He only trusted me.
Score one for Team Kali. “I’ll be back,” he said.
Something about what Vicky had said tickled my mind. “Victoria,” I said, “does my ability to dimension hop make it easier for Michael and Lilith to yank me out of the Institute?”
She cracked open an eye. “Of course. Like them, you can now travel through time and space without recourse.”
“Can you put an additional ward over her to prevent her from being snatched from this room?” Damon asked.
“I need to anchor her to a living entity, not a room.”
Damon and I exchanged a glance. In my head, he asked permission. I granted it. He nodded at Vicky. “Anchor her to me.”
A tickling, prickling sensation raced over my skin, and an intimate ward meant only for me snapped into place. Body armor. A shield.
My inner demon purred at the feeling of being connected to Damon’s archdemon’s power. She latched onto him and sank her claws into his dominance and supremacy.
He grunted as he felt it, too, and his dark eyes glittered like stars in a midnight sky. He internally grabbed my demon around the neck and forced her to her knees.
She rebelled, and I did, too, coming to my physical feet. “What…the…hell…” I wheezed, clawing at my throat.
“What are you doing to her?” Dru demanded, reaching out to me.
Damon released his grip, and the vice around my neck vanished. “Should you try to overpower me or force me to do anything I wish not to, you’ll find yourself in an even worse position,” he warned.
I assured Dru I was fine, then gave Damon a saucy wink even though I raged inside. “Aww, that’s cute. Be careful, archdemon. You are one powerful SOB, but I have angelic mojo running in my veins.”
“Don’t get cocky,” he warned. “Being bloodbound to Michael only makes you weak.”
We’d see about that. Clearing my throat, I snatched the book from Frank. “Prove to me you’re on our side.”
He made a flustered noise and glanced at Salmad, Damon, and back to me. “I don’t know what you’re asking. I’m translating your father’s book for you. Why would I do that if I wasn’t?”
“Demons are accused of being selfish, and we are, but I haven’t met an angel yet who wasn’t also in the game for themselves. Did Michael kidnap you, or was that all a ruse? Are the other principalities in on it?”
My goal was to keep him off-center. It seemed to be working. “I didn’t even know this was going on,” he insisted. “I was minding my own business, and then you came along and screwed it up.”
“What did Lilith offer you to help Michael?”
He took off his glasses and chuckled dryly. “I have no idea what you’re talking about. I’m not working with Lilith, or Michael, or even Lucifer. All I’m trying to do is survive. I’ve been yanked into this daytime drama and given no options about what I want, so call me selfish if you want, but you’re the one who insists I take part in this war.”
I tapped the book on my leg and then tossed it on the desk to Damon. “I think this is propaganda. Michael handed it over far too freely. Whatever is written in there is meant to misdirect us.”
Frank returned his glasses to his nose, peering at me as if I were a few claws short of being a full demon. “That makes no sense from what I’ve translated so far. If anything, it supports you.”
Damon sat forward. “Demons, you mean?”
“Not demons,” Sal interrupted. “Kali.”
“How so?” Damon asked.
Sal frowned at Vicky and Dru as if he wished not to respond in their presence.
Vicky finished chanting, and I felt a firm snap of power lock in. “The best I can do at this point is to ward this office,” she said, reaching for her glass. “Can I get another shot of blood?”
“This office is warded from Michael and Lucifer?” I confirmed.
“And the Fate,” she added.
I glanced at my boss. “Shall we test it?”
He made a go-ahead gesture.
Rad and Cole burst in at that moment. Rad tossed Volante to me, and she wrapped around my arm of her own accord.
Damn, it was good to have her back, and yet I feared she was as much Michael’s handiwork as my father’s book. I would deal with that when the time came, however. Right now, it was time to see if Faron could pick up on my intentions.
“Perfect timing,” I said to Cole and Rad.
“What do you need?” Cole asked.
“Bring Bane here. Without Faron.”
He and Rad shared a look. Cole scratched his chin. “He’s unlikely to leave her voluntarily.”
“Do whatever it takes.”
Cole nodded.
Rad stood firm. “Why?”
“I can’t tell you yet. I need to know if she can read my mind and my intention for him while I’m inside this room.” I pointed at Damon’s phone. “We need everyone in the training center.”
Without hesitation, he hit the intercom button. “Neve, make an announcement that all demons, angels, and support staff are to gather in the training center in ten minutes.”
“Would you like assistance with this Bane character?” Dru asked Rad and Cole.
Cole waved him forward. “The more the merrier.”
The three males filed out.
“What are you planning?” Damon asked.
I swept my fingers through the air, causing the door to close. “I’m beheading him.”
Sal choked.“You’re what? That’s extreme, even for you. He’s part human, is he not? A Nephilim?”
Nephilim, hmm. “I’m not sure what his makeup is or exactly what he’s here for, but it doesn’t matter. He’s an unknown, and I suspect we’ll get more out of Faron once he’s out of the picture.”
“Can you not put him in the dungeons?” the priest asked. “Why kill him?”
I had to stick to what I’d said I would do. The slightest waver would belie my true intent, and Faron might pick up on this test. “I’m unsure of his powers or who might show up to release him if I throw him down there. I can’t take the chance. This is war, Sal. Concessions have to be made, even from you.”
Frank backed toward the exit. “I don’t want anything to do with all of this. I want to go home.”
I motioned at one of the vampire guards, and he cut off Frank’s escape.
“You know what I intend to do, which means you can’t leave this room. No one leaves until I know if Faron can get through Vicky’s ward.”
“She can’t,” the witch insisted.
“We’ll see,” I uttered. I held up the book to Frank. “What does this say about helping me specifically?”
Pissed, he marched forward and ripped it from my grip. Flipping pages, he stopped and held a passage in front of my face. “Here, it says, and I quote, ‘God’s chief angel shall spear the Beast, and from their union a child shall be—”
“Stop.” I came off the desk, jerking the book away. The third vision Azaria had shown me flashed across my mind. I firmed my voice so it wouldn’t shake. “How does spearing the Beast create a union?”
“Spear, in this case, refers to, um…” He shuffled his feet uncomfortably. “You know.”
“His dick,” Vicky supplied. “It’s a euphemism. Michael and the Beast have sex and create a baby.” The snark in her tone doubled. “Didn’t anyone have the birds-and-the-bees talk with you, Kali?”
“Is this true?” Damon asked Frank, disbelief coloring his voice. “Michael and Kali…”
The door flew open. Dru materialized. He’d used his vampire speed to get back to us. “The male called Bane and the Fate he protects have disappeared. No one knows when they left or where they went.”
I turned on Vicky. “It didn’t work, Vicky. Try again.”
She shot to her feet. “It did, too! They probably left before I even cast it.”
Begrudgingly, I had to admit that was a possibility.
Dru fidgeted. “There’s more. Cole believes the Fallen are up to something. A coup.”
Salmad went white and eased around the vampire. “I shall go check.”
Neve wheeled in, blocking his way. “There you are,” she said to him. “Tabriss asked me to find you and give you a message. She says the timeline has been moved up, and she’s enacting purgatory… purgation…purgato…? Something like that.”
“Purgatio?” I barked. I didn’t know Greek, but I knew enough Latin for the term to make my stomach flip. Purgatio meant ‘purge.’ The second vision was coming true. “From disciple to betrayer.” I tsked and shook my head. “Here, I thought the most likely ones to go Judas on me were Tabriss or Frank. I guess I was fifty percent accurate. Salmad, I should have known.”
His solemn expression turned hard and unforgiving. “My loyalty lies with the angels, not you.”
“Sal?” Neve gave him a horrified look. “You betrayed Kali?”
Vicky cackled. Dru reached out and cold-cocked Sal. The priest’s eyes rolled up in his head, and he dropped to the floor.
Damon grabbed his phone’s handset and barked orders at whoever answered. “Lock it down, now. Yes, everything.”
I raised a silent brow. Vicky dropped to the sofa cushion and began chanting again. Dru used magic to pull Neve into the room before shutting the door.
Damon hung up. “Protocol Obstruct engaged. Most of the Fallen were unaware of Tabriss accelerating the timeline of her plan, and Cole was able to restrain them in the training center. Those who were not captured are loose inside our walls, but they can’t escape.”
“You suspected her all along, didn’t you?” I asked. “You sly archdemon! All that show about giving her more responsibility—you were just giving her rope to hang herself.”
A hint of satisfaction flashed across his face. “The fight between good and evil has been going on for a long time, and I’ve been there for a good deal of it. You’re not the only one who understands the imbalance of the situation we are in.”
Nor was I the only one who understood battle strategy. I gave a partial bow to his calculating mind. “What about Lucifer and Amy?”
As if I had summoned them, the door, and whatever magic Dru had put on it, splintered. It fell into the room, a piece of it barely missing Neve and her wheelchair. She squeaked, and the vampire master snatched her out of harm’s way before any damage was done.
Lucifer and Amy, with Azaria in her arms, marched inside. On their heels was Tabriss.
Lucifer Morningstar emitted enough raging power to blow back my hair. “What in the name of Heaven is going on?”
Without warning, Volante uncurled from my arm and morphed into sleek steel.
Angel steel.
A sword.
Michael’s sword, to be precise.
Its blue flames licked the air. The wind died. Amy clutched the baby to her chest.
But Azaria’s eyes were lit with the same blue light—a fire that blazed as they met mine.
In the next breath, the babe was in my arms, not Amy’s. I shifted, juggling her chubby body and nearly dropping her. “Okay,” I said as everyone gawked at me. “Didn’t see that one coming.”
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What is going on with Azaria? Find out in the next installment!