strange trances and freaking me out.”
I gave him a tired pout. “I don’t mean to. It just kind of happens sometimes.”
“I think it’s time for bed.” He yawned again, looking at the clock. Then he got up and collected his phone and glass of water.
“I think I’m going to be up a little while longer.”
Mike nodded, leaned over and kissed me, and said, “Don’t stay up too late. You still have to work tomorrow.”
“I won’t.” I gave him a weak smile.
Waiting until he was in bed, I pulled out a DVD of some magicians evoking the Enochian watchtowers. Popping it into the player, I sat back and watched, making sure the volume was low as not to disturb Mike. The entire ritual was actually quite beautiful in its construct. The colors and imagery all held deep meaning. Even the intoned evocations in Enochian, harsh as they were, sounded beautiful. When it was over I shook my head, not sure what I’d hoped to find by watching it. Maybe some clue as to what the angels wanted. No luck. I turned the television off and got up. It was time for bed.
There was nothing but blackness. Not a murky, shadowy blackness. No. This was absolute darkness. I felt myself surrounded and I was terrified. My body shook. They didn’t say anything. I took a deep breath and sat there, naked to them. Vulnerable. They said nothing, just watched me. Their energy vibrated around me sending my senses and instincts into flight mode, but I forced myself to ignore it. I was helpless to them. Captive. I took my mind to a place where I could separate the fear I felt and look at these beings from an objective viewpoint. There, I found them curious, entranced by the mortal flesh that housed my immortal soul. Curious about what made me tick. Surely they knew. They were angels, after all. I could feel their minds probing mine, but they gave me very little to work with.
“Join us,” one of them hissed. Then I felt a release, as if they’d allowed me from their grasp. I found myself suddenly back in my body and I shot straight up in bed, so sudden that Mike woke up alongside me.
“What’s wrong?”
“Freaky dream.”
Weary, he looked over at the clock on the bedside table. “About?”
“I was just astral-napped by a rogue band of Enochian angels.”
He chuckled.
I was dead serious, but instead of saying anything, I settled back down into my pillow and tried to go back to sleep. It was no use. The experience shook me to my core, and when the alarm went off two hours later, I got out of bed and got ready for work as if nothing had happened at all.
When I arrived at the office I realized I hadn’t remembered the drive there. So entrapped in my own mind, it felt as if I was floating through. I went straight to Lamont’s small office downstairs. He was there talking to a few staff members who immediately cleared when I came in.
I closed the door before saying anything. “We need someone who knows the Enochian spirits far better than me.”
“Easy – Gavin Windeck.” He lifted an eyebrow. “You want to tell me why?”
“Last night I was astrally napped by some Enochian spirits.”
Lamont didn’t say anything at first, he just looked at me. Finally he said, “Gavin Windeck doesn’t like BMN, and my guess is he probably doesn’t like you.”
I frowned. Lamont was right. I wasn’t popular among the serious ceremonial crowd, and neither were the risk taking, experimental, and often eccentric magicians of the Black Magick Network. Mostly, I was here for the job and because I knew the people. Good people who took their art seriously. Of course in the world of magick, everyone thinks they have the one-true-way and that no one else is as authentic as them. While I’ve always had a live and let live philosophy, Gavin Windeck did not. He was pretty sure the rest of us were frauds and only he knew what the hell he was doing.
“Anyone else?” I asked. Gavin Windeck was becoming less and less of an option.
Lamont shrugged. “You could always ask Luke Martin. He’s a bit more open-minded and he could always approach some like Gavin without Gavin having to know you’re involved. Luke’s a friend of mine.”
“Yeah, can you maybe call Luke on this?”
“You got it.” Lamont smiled at me.
I could tell he wanted me to stay and give him more details, but I had a meeting in twenty minutes and to be honest, I hadn’t fully been able to process the experience yet. I needed more time.
I didn’t get to talk to Lamont the rest of the day and I headed home still wondering how I was going to help Lynn. The only solution I could think of came to me while I was sitting in the kitchen that evening making party favors for the ball, clay Belial sigil pendants. I’d have to invoke my allies in the angel world and ask them what to do about it. Just as I got up to go into the temple to do just that, my phone rang. It was Lamont.
“Bad news,” he started.
I groaned. “Let me guess, your friend Luke refuses to help?”
“Actually, he’s in Switzerland for the next month, but he had a suggestion.”
“Yeah?”
“He suggested invoking one of the archangels and asking for help.”
I bit the inside of my cheek. “That’s not helpful. I was just going into the temple to do that. Uriel. I have a good working relationship with him, but... I have a bad feeling.”
“Maybe you’re just stressed with all this party planning. I’m going to make you an elixir to help you get through the holidays, girl.” He sighed deeply into the phone. “Good luck with Uriel and I hope we can tell Kim something afterward? She called me earlier a little stressed out. She’s really worried about Lynn.”
“Likewise,” I said. It was true, there wasn’t an hour that went by where I wasn’t thinking about Lynn. “My concern is she’s been in there for more than three days now. Humans can’t live three days without water.”
The other end of the line was silent.
“Lamont?”
“Sorry, just, yeah. I hadn’t considered the water thing. Do you think she’s dead?” Lamont sounded nervous now.
“I don’t know. I hope not.” Of course in my heart there was a spark of hope. Psychically, at least, I knew she was still alive, but the clock was ticking. “Lamont, I have to go.”
“All right. Call me when you’re done?”
“Okay.” I hung up. Mike was working late tonight so I had the house to myself, which was always a bonus for ritual work. While I didn’t mind doing it when he was here, it was a lot easier and more efficient when he wasn’t.
Our temple wasn’t nearly as enviable as others I’d had the privilege to see. It doubled as an office slash guest room. I couldn’t wait until we had a bigger house. I missed not having a dedicated ritual space. Something I could lock the door on when my parents came for a visit.
It only took me a few minutes to set up before I began my invocation to Uriel. The angel showed up promptly, this time in feminine form.
The angel didn’t say anything. Instead, she just stood there, her presence overwhelmingly warm and energetically bright. That was the Light of God for you.
“I need you to help me find out what happened to Lynn and help me find a way to bring her back. A human has no place in your realm.” I felt silly saying it, half expecting the angel to tell me to throw a twelve sided die.
Instead, Uriel unfolded her wings and stepped toward me. Then she opened her mouth and out from it came a loud melodic cry, her hot breath blasting my face. The angel then put her face next to mine, her gold eyes blazing into mine. I heard her speak in my mind’s eye. “Those who seek the angels set the trap. Lynn is in the trap.”
I forced myself to stay put and not move away. “How do I get her out? She can’t live without water!”
Uriel laughed at me. “Silly child. She’s in a state of stasis, she needs no water. Now go. Set the trap.”
With that, Uriel vanished before me and I was standing alone in the temple again.
I took a deep breath once I realized
I’d been holding it. A trap. A spirit trap?
Just what, exactly, had Kim and their coven been doing? I extinguished the candles in a hurry, and took up my phone, dialing Lamont.
“Liz!”
“Lamont! Call Kim and tell her I’m coming over. She and Kevin better be ready to tell me what the hell they were doing, because I wasn’t getting the whole story. Tell her I know about the trap.”
“The trap?”
I didn’t answer him. Instead, I ran through the house gathering up my things.
“Liz? What trap?”
“Just call her.” I hung up and called Mike, leaving a message telling him where I was going. I called Alyssa, too, who begged me to stop by and pick her up. She didn’t want me to go alone. Before I left, I checked to make sure everything was off and the house was locked, then I went out to the garage to grab some copper wire and a crystal. I wasn’t sure it would work, but I’d heard stories and I was willing to try anything.
I soon found myself heading toward Alyssa’s. She was outside waiting for me and jumped into the car. I started toward Kim’s.
“They were using a spirit trap to trap the angels, but angels aren’t stupid,” I said without waiting to catch her up. Instead, I continued with my rant…
“So the angels were like Fuck this, we’re going to teach you a lesson by taking one of your people. So they did. They took Lynn. Now if they do another ritual in that temple – the angels will keep taking people. So I have a plan. I’m going to first dismantle the spirit trap in the temple and promise them that the