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
We added Rad to the packed room. As he raced in, he stopped short and, seeing me with Azaria and Michael’s flaming sword, said, “What the fuck?”
My thought exactly.
Lucifer shot out a hand, and his angelic power reached for his daughter. I felt Azaria tug on my earth magic, and instantly, a shield formed in front of us, deflecting it.
“That wasn’t me,” I told him as his face went all kinds of shades of red. “She did that.”
“Give her back,” Amy demanded, holding out her hands. “Whatever you’re doing, Kali, knock it off. This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not doing anything!” I could feel the baby sucking up more of my magic and funneling it into the shield. Not only mine—she was also using the sword’s and Damon’s. My tether to him gave her a channel to it. “Earlier, when I held her, I couldn’t feel any magic in her. Now I know why. She’s a siphon. Maybe an amplifier. Possibly both.”
“A siphon?” Amy turned her alarmed face to Lucifer. “What’s that?”
“I will roast you on a spit in the deepest gorge of Hell for eternity,” Lucifer spat, “if you harm one hair on her head.”
“I have no intention of harming her!” The sword handle warmed in my palm. Michael, you cunning, porca miseria. He’d tricked me. Tricked all of us. And it was no revelation what he expected me to do now that I held his sword and the babe.
Kill, the flames whispered.
“A siphon is exactly what it sounds like,” Damon said. His archdemon was putting out some serious evil mojo. Our connection, however, was keeping me anchored, as it was supposed to, even with Azaria sucking on it. “She’s extracting Kali’s magic to use it for herself.”
“Why?” Dru asked.
“Because she doesn’t have her own yet,” Frank said.
“But,” I argued, “she must have powers of some sort.”
He waggled a finger. “Not necessarily. If she can draw on the strongest magics that exist on this plane, she doesn’t need her own.”
I thought of the Lilith-Michael-possibly-Faron combo that Cole and I had encountered at the carnival grounds. “She can create her personal brand of magic by mixing that of others.”
“She’s a baby,” Amy stated. “How would she even know how to do that or be able to handle it?”
“She’s a powerhouse,” Frank countered, “so she can manage and control immense amounts of power and direct it as she wills.”
Rad narrowed his eyes at the girl. “Why use Kali’s? Why not her father’s?”
A damn good question. “Yeah, why me?” I asked.
Frank shifted, looking uncomfortable. “It would make sense for her to be drawn to the most potent magic available.”
I chanced a peek at Lucifer’s grim face, masking any surprise or troubling emotions that revelation brought. If he wouldn’t ask the question, then I would. “How is it possible that I have more potent magic than an archangel?”
Frank scratched the back of his head. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but you are bloodbonded to one. You’re also a vitium halfbreed who’s shared blood with a master vampire.”
“Your heritage contributes as well,” Lucifer added. “Your ties to Mary Magdalene and Jesus create even more supremacy.”
Dru gave me an appraising smile—the bastard was enjoying this. Sal groaned and pushed himself up to a sitting position. Frank dropped to the couch next to Vicky, sweating like we were already in the fires of Hell.
Rad looked shell-shocked. Neve murmured prayers under her breath, holding onto her crucifix pendant for dear life.
Behind me, Damon prowled the edges of the shield, attempting to communicate through our channel. Only intermittent words came through. How…I…help?
How could he help? Hell, if I knew. “Everybody, take a deep breath. I’m not going to hurt the child.”
“Return her to us immediately,” Lucifer ordered.
I glanced down at Azaria. She was chewing on one of her fists. “You need to go see your mom and dad now.” I moved toward them, but her body went rigid, and the shield blocked me. I glanced at Amy and Lucifer. “She won’t let me near you.”
Amy wrung her hands. “Azaria? What’s wrong? Why are you doing this?”
The girl lifted her gaze to mine, the blue fire blazing in her irises. Did she not realize she was in danger from me and the sword?
Her sticky hand reached out and tapped my cheek. She gurgled, and my mind went blank—until she filled it with another vision.
I felt a quickening in my lower belly—a quickening I’d never experienced before. Didn’t matter—I had no doubt what it signified.
“No,” I said through gritted teeth. “No, no, no, no.”
But the vision continued to play out, leaving me frozen and stupefied. I tore my eyes from her gaze, meeting Rad’s.
He looked as sick as I felt, but when our eyes met, he covered his horror and gave me a reassuring nod.
The matrix.
How do we break free?
By killing the girl? The one chance that humanity had of surviving the wages of sin?
Her tiny nails dug into my cheek, forcing my attention back to her. This time, in her gaze, I saw the future of the world—the first vision—play out again, but from a different perspective.
In it, I knelt on the scorched, barren earth. Lucifer held her limp body and the flaming sword, his intent to strike me clear. As my view swung in an arc, however, I saw who was behind me, guarding the gates of Paradise.
Michael.
He would never allow Lucifer to enter. Would not save humanity. Azaria pushed the truth into my mind.
Every single entity on earth was steeped in sin. If she united Heaven and Earth…
All would cease to exist.
All.
I gasped. Every entity—demon, human, Fallen.
Except for me and Lucifer.
Even she would die.
Why me? I asked. Why would I survive?
My belly pinched again.
Oh, hell no. I would not allow myself to be Michael’s baby mama.
The sword flared bright, and she switched the vision.
Michael and I were repopulating the globe with his children.
A New Earth.
I’m a demon, I insisted in a panic. He would never use me for that purpose. I’m full of sin.
She gurgled and grinned. He will save you. This is your destiny.
Damon’s voice forced its way past her shield. Sacrifice…yourself.
What did that mean? Give myself to the archangel? No way.
Sacrifice. Understanding nudged my brain.
I tore my eyes from Azaria and raised the sword.
But there was no way I could plunge it into myself when the girl laid her head on my chest, clinging to me to stop my plan.
Those in the room gasped, thinking I was about to spear her, and several magics hit me at once—Lucifer’s, Amy’s, Rad’s, and Damon’s.
Azaria and her shield sucked all of it up, her body going rigid in my hold. A cacophony of sound exploded in my skull, and I cried out, dropping to my knees. I released the sword, but it refused to fall, and she placed her hands on my temples. A new plan—hers—forced its way into my brain.
She was ordering me to save her family.
My legs obeyed of their own accord, and I rose to my feet. “The child controls me,” I said to the others, who had surged around us when I fell but were still unable to touch us. “She has a message and a strategy for what we’re going to do.”
“Tell us,” Damon demanded.
I looked at Lucifer. “There’s something I need to show you first. We need to show you.”
The archangel wasn’t used to being ordered around, being denied anything, or feeling a lack of control. I understood the emotions that flickered across his face and the fear that burned in his eyes. “Do it,” he growled.
“Don’t try to take her from me. If you do, she’ll resist.”
He nodded and stepped forward. Azaria allowed him to pass through her shield and join us inside the bubble.
She reached out a hand, and he kissed it so tenderly that it made my heart clench. He bowed slightly so she could slide it to his temple, and I closed my eyes as the scorched earth vision filled both of our minds. When it was done playing out, he drew back, frowning at me. “Why would you do that?”
“Me? You’re the one who’s going to burn it all to a crisp after Azaria…” I knew better than to say it out loud and panic Amy more than she already was. “After the merge doesn’t work and Paradise is not restored.”
“If I do it, why would you still be alive and not…?” He stopped himself, and we both glanced at the baby.
“Because of Michael. For whatever reason, he’s chosen me to help him”—I glanced at Rad and back to Lucifer, wincing at what I had to say—“repopulate the earth with his offspring.”
Rad turned livid green. “What?”
“It’s not going to happen,” I assured him. “Azaria and I are on the same page. It sucks, but we’re not going to allow Paradise to return. If we do, there will be no humans, or anyone else, to enjoy it.”
Confusion flooded the room. “I don’t understand,” Amy shouted over the others. “What is this vision she’s showing you?”
In the distance, we heard muffled screaming. “I wish I could explain,” I told her, “but we don’t have time. We have an uprising to put down.” I looked Lucifer square in the eye, knowing he wanted to burn me to a crisp right then and there, and it was only his daughter who kept him from doing so. “What you decide to do right now decides whether your family lives or dies. We either trust each other and stop Michael’s plans for good, or that vision you saw will play out. Choose carefully.”
There was a long pause, the background yelling and shouting growing closer and more intense.
He wasn’t one to be hurried, though. Even those in the room became agitated at his delayed response.
Something hit the wall outside, and I felt Damon’s magic put a barrier across the door so no one could enter.
Azaria kicked her feet against my body, staring at her father over her shoulder. The sword flared brighter, as did her eyes, flames shooting out toward him.
His black irises went blue, and I realized their communication was not only her sharing her intention but also demanding his acquiescence.
Not to save the world.
Not to save the Fallen.
To save the three of them.
Their family, who would be stuck on Earth forever and could never return to Heaven.
But they’d be alive and together.
The flames winked out of his eyes. A muscle ticked in his jaw. Nothing meant more to him than Amy and Azaria. The only way to save them was to call off his war. To concede to his brother, whom he had been fighting for eternity.
Azaria flopped against me, resting her head on my chest. I sensed her tuning into my heartbeat, her tiny human body tired. She sucked a thumb into her mouth and closed her eyes.
Lucifer raised his hands in frustration. “Why would Tabriss and the other Fallen rise against me?”
“Because Michael has convinced her to recruit them to his side. She wants nothing more than to return to Heaven to be with him, and that’s probably what he’s promised her if she does this. She doesn’t just plan to stop you—she plans to obliterate you.”
His jaw ticked again. “The only way to do that is with the sword you hold.”
“She thinks she can take it from me.”
The room vibrated with his anger. “Let’s go show her she’s wrong.”
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Kali’s about to kick some butt! Time for Tabriss to meet her match. Read about their showdown in the next episode.