Chapter 11

Chapter 11 Kalea wound up sleeping the rest of the day, and didn’t awaken until near ten o’clock that night. When she did, just as everyone had suspected, the first thing she wondered was why she was in the hospital. Eddie started from the beginning, explaining that after their initial encounter with Lucifer the night before, they had gone to bed without much thought of her dream. But when Eddie woke up in the morning, he told her how she was freezing to the touch, shivering uncontrollably, and severely lethargic, which prompted him to whisk her straight to the pack hospital. “Did they figure out what was wrong with me?” Kalea asked, her voice raspy from sleep as she adjusted to the soft glow of the room's nightlights. “The doctors didn’t, but Lucifer stopped by again,” Eddie told her. “He did? Why?” “To inform us that Radcliffe’s hell loop is intact. While he was here, he did a spiritual scan on you, and he determined that the reason why you became so lethargic and cold was that a ghost tried to possess you,” Eddie told her. “What? Seriously!?” Kalea exclaimed, sitting up slightly, completely unable to believe what she had just heard. “Dead serious,” Eddie said, sitting on the edge of the bed and gently taking her hands. “Apparently, ghosts can’t possess supernaturals. Even though Empress is gone, your wolf DNA repelled it—but the energy it took to fight it off drained your body completely.” Kalea’s brow furrowed as her fingers instinctively reached up to brush against the unfamiliar gold chain resting around her neck. “And this? What is this tacky thing around my neck?” “That’s a gift from Lucifer, darling,” Renee answered. “He said it was a charm that would ward off evil spirits who tried to possess you again.” “And you believed him at his word!?” “Of course not, sweetheart. What kind of mother do you think I am?” Renee questioned, mock-offended by Kalea’s insinuation. “I had your Nana scan it before I put it on you. She said it’s made entirely with good magic, and when I put it on you, your body immediately began to heal itself.” “The King of Hell gave me a charm made with good magic?” Kalea asked, the statement sounding foreign and comical, even to her. “Trust me, hearing Amelia say it didn’t make it sound any less insane,” Eddie muttered, folding his arms as a tight smile tugged at his lips. “I half-expected it to burst into flames the second your mom touched it.” “He was terribly dramatic about the whole thing, of course,” Renee added, rolling her eyes with a dramatic sigh. “Rolled up his sleeves, put on a grand show of scanning your aura, and basically implied we should be tossing flowers at his feet for gracing us with his presence.” “He’s a self-entitled narcissist, Mom. Of course he acts like that—why do you think he got kicked out of Heaven in the first place?” Kalea replied, finding Lucifer’s unbearable behavior anything but surprising. Renee snorted, letting out a bright, genuine laugh that instantly broke the remaining tension in the room. “Fair point, darling. His ego certainly takes up the entire postal code.” “I’m just glad he’s narcissistic enough to leave behind a cure instead of just taking credit for the diagnosis,” Eddie chuckled, leaning over to gently kiss the top of Kalea’s head. “But still, Kalea has a point, Edward,” Renee solemnly stated. “The necklace buys us time, but it’s not a permanent solution, which now, in retrospect, makes sense. Leave it to the devil to give us something temporary,” Renee spat and rolled her eyes. “He’s the absolute master of the fine-print trap,” Eddie agreed, his fingers tightening around Kalea’s hand as his jaw set in a hard line. “Give us just enough of a shield to keep her breathing, but leave us reliant on him to keep the door locked.” “I think you guys should give him more credit,” Kalea told them. Renee and Eddie looked at Kalea, completely stunned. “What? Surprised that I’m playing the literal Devil’s advocate?” Kalea asked, a faint smirk playing on her lips as the irony hit the room. “A little, yeah,” Eddie replied. “Look, I hate his smug, theatrical attitude as much as the next person,” Kalea said, adjusting herself against the pillows. “But think about it logically. If Lucifer wanted to play mind games or lock us into some binding devilish deal, he’d have manipulated you guys, and you never would have seen it coming. He wouldn’t hand over an amulet made of good magic, something we can easily vet, if he were trying to pull a fast one.” Eddie and Renee swapped a long, bewildered look before turning their gaze back to Kalea. For someone who had been practically frozen, solid, and unresponsive just a few hours ago, she certainly had a chip on her shoulder—enough of one to side with Lucifer, of all deities. Renee stared at her daughter for a long beat, caught entirely off guard by the sheer, unyielding logic in Kalea’s voice. “That’s... terrifyingly accurate,” Renee admitted softly, exchanging another stunned look with Eddie. “And horrifyingly insightful for someone unconscious three hours ago.” “Painful truths are his favorite weapon,” Kalea continued, leaning her head back against the crisp hospital pillows. “He doesn’t need to lie to us to get what he wants. He hands us the ugly reality and lets us squirm under its weight. He told us a ghost tried to possess me because it was the truth, and you two instantly panicked, yes?” “Well, of course we panicked, sweetheart,” Renee replied, her response to the terrifying diagnosis completely natural for any mother who had just watched her daughter freeze from the inside out. “Exactly. He wants to help—which is why he gave us this horrid thing around my neck—but he also tells the truth because he likes instant gratification,” Kalea reasoned, holding up the clunky gold charm between two fingers with a wry smirk. “Lies take upkeep. You have to track them, layer them, and wait for the payoff. Telling the painful truth gives him an immediate reaction.” Eddie chuckled despite himself, shaking his head as he pulled a chair up closer to the bedside. “So what you’re saying is the Lord of Hell is basically just too lazy to maintain a long-term lie when the truth causes twice as much chaos right out of the gate.” “I always believed that people told the truth so that they didn’t hurt people,” Renee said, the logic suddenly not making sense and making her head spin. “It depends on the person. It’s also a form of reverse psychology on Lucifer’s part,” Kalea shrugged ever nonchalantly. “Well, it doesn’t matter anymore, baby. You’re awake, you’re fine, and despite how we feel about Satan, he gave us something that will protect you while we try and figure out—” “Finish planning the wedding!” Renee shouted excitedly. “Uh… That wasn’t what I was going to say,” Eddie stated. “Yes, it was, because there is no way in hell—no pun intended, of course—that we are going to postpone this wedding any longer! You two have made far too many excuses, and I refuse to allow whatever is going on with this ghost to force you to push it off anymore. Now, we have a solution, however temporary it may be, we have one. It will last long enough to use this time as it was intended—planning this wedding,” Renee said, her tone unwavering. Eddie sighed heavily, wanting to argue, but Kalea squeezed his hand. He looked over at her, and she subtly shook her head, indicating that Renee had been looking forward to this for well over a year. Forcing them to delay things yet again wouldn’t just be sad; it would be downright disrespectful. Eddie let out a long breath, his rigid posture relaxing just a fraction as he met Kalea’s gentle, persistent gaze. “Alright,” he relented, turning back to Renee with a defeated smirk. “Fine.” “Splendid, my darlings!” Renee squealed. Eddie looked at Kalea, who mouthed the words ‘thank you’ with the utmost sincerity behind her eyes. As much as Kalea didn’t care when she and Eddie were getting married, it obviously meant the world to her mother, and Kalea knew that better than anyone. Being Renee’s only pup, and having had to give Kalea up for adoption when she was born, made it so that Renee missed every milestone of her daughter’s life—her first sounds, her first word, her first steps, her first day of school, her birthdays, holidays, and every other milestone in a child’s life that a parent looks forward to. She had only been able to witness Kalea’s Luna ceremony, her royal coronation as the werewolf princess, and now she had Kalea’s wedding to look forward to. Compared to what she had missed, what she was actually there for wasn't even comparable. Eddie’s heart softened completely as he watched the radiant joy on Renee’s face. The frustration he’d felt seconds ago vanished, replaced by a quiet, profound understanding. He squeezed Kalea’s hand in response, sending her a subtle nod that silently promised he would play along with whatever wedding plans her mother threw at them. While things at the Hounds of the Night Pack once again settled down after thirty-six hours of drama, Lucifer sat on his throne in Hell, pondering what ghost would be reckless enough to attempt possessing a werewolf, Princess. When he returned to the Underworld, his first stop was Radcliffe’s hell loop. On the surface, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Yet, despite the familiar sight of torturous repetition, something felt subtler, darker, and entirely off. It wasn't enough to tickle Lucifer’s sharp sixth sense, so he dismissed the faint itch of unease as simple paranoia. In reality, what Lucifer was failing to catch was spiritual rather than physical. He had become so thoroughly encompassed with mingling among mortals and supernaturals on the surface world that he had neglected his core duties as the Keeper of Hell. And Radcliffe, a stickler for repetitiveness and details, noticed that oversight. Over thousands of years of enduring his endless torment, Radcliffe had studied the warden. He had watched the devil’s patterns, learning every rhythm of his absence, every crack in his focus, and every blind spot born of his supreme arrogance. High above the subterranean void, Lucifer sat back on his throne and rested his chin against his knuckles. He swirled a goblet of dark liquid, completely unaware that the hell loop he was so confident in had been fraying for eons without him ever noticing. Regardless, though, Lucifer’s mind remained occupied with why a spirit had targeted a werewolf—especially one now turned human. It wasn’t abnormal for souls with unfinished business to haunt the living, nor was it unheard of for them to latch onto dying mortals, using a failing body as a temporary catalyst to cling to existence. But spirits were inherently opportunistic and survival-driven. They targeted ordinary humans because mortals lacked the innate ambient armor of the supernatural world. Every spirit knew that trying to hijack a creature of magic was tantamount to throwing oneself into a blazing furnace. Yet, this one had tried anyway. But why? And who?