The Coven of Bones Series
by Harper L Woods
Witches in this series belong to one of six houses, based on the power that is in their blood.
Crystal Witches (White Witches) channel the power of crystals and stones
Cosmic Witches (Purple Witches) connect with celestial energies
Earth Witches (Green Witches) channel from plants and the earth
Air Witches (Gray Witches) channel the power of the air
Water Witches (Blue Witches) use water to channel
Fire Witches (Yellow Witches) channel from fire
Life Witches (Red Witches) use the power of carnal desire
Death Witches (Black Witches) use the power of the dead
The Tribunal: the leaders of the Coven, including the witch that is the Head of their family line.
The Covenant: The head of the Coven, which is supposed to work with the vessels.
The Coven: all of the witches in Crystal Hollow, including all of the students at Hollows Grove Academy, the Tribunal, and the Covenant who leads them.
Follow Harper L Woods on Instagram @harperlwoodsauthor
All the spoilers ahead. Alaric Grayson Thorne, known to most as Thorne but by those closest to him as Gray, is a Vessel. A creature created by Charlotte Hecate as part of a deal made with the devil himself that gave her, and others, access to magic and to become witches. Vessels are bodies that house demons from Hell. The Vessel will live forever, but they are trapped in the same body for all that time, and they cannot be killed by anyone except another Hecate witch. Difficult, since the line died out a few decades ago. The Tribunal, which includes Susannah Madizza (an earth witch) and George Collins (a fire witch), tell him that they have decided to reopen the university. For two generations, ever since the massacre, witches outside of Crystal Hollow have had to teach themselves their craft, and now the university will accept twelve new students: one from each extant line. They’ve already personally selected the new students. This will allow new blood into the school, to mix with the students who live in Crystal Hollow and for the Vessels to feed on (another part of the agreement of Charlotte Hecate). Willow Madizza’s mother dies, which means that the Coven will soon be coming for her. While her mother was alive, they were able to hide that Willow existed. Her mother had gone to Crystal Hollow but faked her own death and left before the massacre, when a bunch of the students at the school were killed. But now that she’s really dead, the witches will be able to feel that Willow is alive and she will be forced to join them - in order to protect her little brother, the actual youngest person in the Madizza line. Willow will join them and convince them that she is the last Madizza. Otherwise, they will force her little brother Ash to make a decision: either he can keep his magic, or he can one day have a family and children of his own. To prevent witches from inheriting magic from two different lineages, male witches are only allowed to procreate if they relinquish their magical abilities. And Willow doesn’t want Ash to have to decide that yet. After the funeral, she and Ash go back to her house and get a call from Willow’s father. He chastises her for still being at their house and says it’s imperative that she follow through with their plan! He is going to use his daughter to avenge his sister’s death. Her father has a secret. His sister was the last Hecate descendant as far as anyone knows, his family had kept him a secret, so he also didn’t have to choose to give up his magic. When he sired Willow, she was born with the Green powers of the Madizza line and the Black powers of the Hecate line. And although he always hoped for it, Willow is the heir to the Hecate power, so it has to be her who avenges her aunt’s death. She hangs up, assuring her father that the plan is already moving forward. Willow has arranged for Ash’s father to pick him up at the bus station. Willow has waited too long to get Ash to safety. Gray has already arrived to escort her to the school. She needs to hide Ash’s existence from anybody with ties to the witches. When Gray asks her to accompany him, she declines. Gray then tries to compel his way into the house, but she is protected from his compulsion by the amulet she wears. Even so, Ash comes to help his sister, and Gray realizes who he is. Now Willow really needs to move. She takes Ash to the basement where she and her mother had created a group of tunnels protected by tree roots. She takes Ash as far into the woods as she can before they go back to the surface. Willow commands Ash to run to the bus stop, where his father will meet him. She runs in the opposite direction to keep Gray’s focus on her. But Gray did not come alone, he pursues her (and eventually catches her, biting her neck and taking a small amount of blood from her when he does) while his two cronies go after Ash. Gray shows Willow that they have caught Ash, and she begs him to let Ash go. Gray is somehow swayed, and allows Ash to go, but Ash doesn’t want to leave without Willow. Gray compels Ash to go to his father, who is waiting for him near the bus… and to never look for Willow again. He tells Willow that now she owes him a favor and he can ask for anything at all, she will give it to him. He commands the two other Vessels to say nothing about Ash, they agree without question. They take her to Crystal Hollow to attend Hollow’s Grove University for witches. She meets the Tribunal when she gets there. She’s already heard about their existence, but it’s still jarring to see to two reanimated skeletons in charge of a bunch of witches. Susannah Madizza is the head of the Madizza line, while George is the brother to the head of the Collins line. And by “the head of” I mean the lines originated from them, centuries ago. They were both hanged for witchcraft and their skeletons reflect the injuries that caused their deaths. It quickly becomes apparent that Willow is not the meek witch that they were hoping for, she does not want to be at Hollow Grove and believes there is a reason that her mother faked her own death. She will not make this transition easy for anyone. The Tribunal asks Iban to escort Willow to her rooms, she will start classes with the other witches the next day. Iban is from the other Green line (the Brays) but gave up his magic to be able to start a family one day. He doesn’t waste any time, it seems that he likes the looks of Willow. But she already has her sites set on Gray. It’s all part of the plan she has with her dad: 1. Find a Vessel (check) 2. Seduce said Vessel 3. Find out what they know 4. Get the bones. In order for a Hecate witch to be able to fully access their powers, they have to have the bones of Charlotte Hecate. Most witches channel through their magic’s gift. Green witches use plants and the earth. Blue witches use water. Black witches use death through the bones of their founder. But those bones have been hidden since the death of Loralei, Willow’s aunt who was killed in the massacre, her father’s sister. On the way to Willow’s room, she and Iban pass a courtyard full of dead plants and Willow stops. Iban explains that the magic is not as potent as it used to be, but Willow is still confused, it should take a minimal amount of magic to keep these plants alive. She goes out into the courtyard. Iban explains further, telling Willow that offerings have been forbidden by the Coven and this astounds Willow. She was trained by her mother in the old ways. They channel their magic through a specific element, but that element needs an offering in return to remain strong. This courtyard is dead because the witches have taken and taken but have not offered anything back. She allows some of the plants to come to her and to take what is needed from her. They wrap around her arms and take her blood. She replenishes the courtyard, and it springs back to life, lush. But even though the courtyard plants only took what they needed, the loss of blood was so great that it makes Willow weak and lightheaded. Iban starts to help her to her room and Willow berates the witches, telling them they’ve become so corrupt and selfish that they don’t even teach the old ways to the students anymore. Iban tells her that although it was forbidden, what she did was beautiful. She makes him wish he hadn’t given his own magic up. The two of them don’t make it far before Gray (officially Headmaster Thorne since he owns the school) finds them. He offers to have Willow feed from him, which would replenish her and make her strong again, but she refuses. Instead, he carries her to her room. She feels distracted when he holds her, not good when Vessels have no feelings and she’s supposed to be seducing him, not the other way around. He puts her in her room and leaves her to rest. That night, Gray decides to check on Willow. He sneaks into her room, where she’s sleeping on the bed in the clothes she wore all day. He helps her get a little more comfortable by taking off her shoes and pants (inappropriate, Headmaster), but then he leaves. She will likely assume she undressed herself and just doesn’t remember because of her fatigue. But it seems the seduction is going well because he definitely wants her, he just wants her to be awake too. What an upstanding dude. That night Willow has a dream. Not uncommon for a Hecate witch but what is strange is that when she sees her mother, who is dead in the dream, her mother touches her. That is not supposed to happen. Her touch is so cold that it fills Willow with pain. Her mother tells her that Ash may be safe, but Willow is not. The next morning, Willow starts classes. She’s collected by three other students: Della Tethys (Blue witch), Nova Aurai (Gray witch), and Margot Erotes (Red witch). They run into Iban on the way. He and Willow talk for a moment, and she flirts a bit with Iban where Gray can see them, but Iban makes something clear to her. He knows that she’s playing, but he’s not. One day she will realize that the Vessel is not a real possibility. Actually, maybe he is playing, but he is playing to win. It's time for history, which the headmaster teaches (who better to teach history than someone who saw it firsthand?) but Willow thinks this is a strange choice since Gray hates the Coven. After class when Willow questions him, Gray points out that everyone has a bias and would need to recognize that in order to teach, and although he doesn’t like the Coven, it is beneficial to him to keep witches around. They have a moment when they taunt and flirt with each other and Susannah, the walking skeleton, comes in and interrupts. She doesn’t like Gray sniffing around her descendant, even if she doesn’t particularly like that descendant. When Willow leaves, Gray invokes dominium, which is his right as written into the Covenant (the agreement between the witches and the Vessels). Dominium will make sure that no one except him may use Willow to feed from. He may use other witches, but no one else can visit her. A Vessel may only invoke dominium one time ever during their existence. When Susannah questions this (Why her? Why now after all this time?) he tells her that he likes the way Willow tastes, simple as that. Oh, one last thing. He tells Susannah to keep the dominium a secret. He will tell her when he’s ready. A few days pass and Willow is no closer to finding Charlotte’s bones, but she knows they’re somewhere around here because she can feel them waiting for her. She does some research on Charlotte in the library. Charlotte made a deal with the devil and made Vessels for his demons so they wouldn’t have to be bothered by possessing people, who adopted new names when they started using their Vessels. No one knows their true identities, whether they are one of the seven demon lords or a lesser demon. No one knows why the devil agreed to this deal, what plan he had put into place. Gray comes to Willow and offers her a truce. He points out that there is no need for them to be on opposing sides, especially since she has no desire to truly join the Coven. They are both feared by their peers, him by the other Vessels and her by the rest of the Coven. He pulls out her record, the research they did on her before picking her up. Her mother dead, her father absent, she often had bruises when she came to school but insisted there was no abuse. He wonders what she was fighting, and she answers honestly: anybody who was willing. No clubs or hobbies (she had no time when she was training with her father to exact his revenge on the Coven). Willow points out that she doesn’t know any of Gray’s secrets, yet he seems to know all of hers. He tells her that there is only one person whose life matters to him, and he will guard her with his life from anyone seeking to harm her. He cannot feel love, but Vessels can become obsessed by something they consider theirs. He points out that they both know that the Coven is going down the wrong path, they are not following the ways that were given to them. As his part of the truce, he will make sure Susannah cannot marry her off and get her with child as soon as feasibly possible, to ensure the Madizza line continues, although he does not reveal how he plans to protect Willow. He will also make sure they don’t kill her. She will help them make the Coven strong again and restore the old ways. He pricks his thumb, and she takes a little bit of his blood, and for his portion, he kisses her and pricks her lip, taking her blood that way. They have themselves a deal. In Susannah’s class about magic, they discuss where magic comes from - from the elements of nature all around them. The number of Houses that exist was dictated by the elements, not the other way around. That includes the Reds – the House of Desire. More so, the Houses balance each other out. Water and fire, air and earth, life and death (Red and Black witches). Susannah also talks about the tragedy it was when they lost the last Hecate, Loralei. Without a Black witch, they cannot keep the Vessels in line. Even if you burn them to ash, they will repair given time. The only way to hurt them is to deprive them of a witch’s blood. Once they are weak, you can entrap them in the earth, and they will slowly fade into nothingness as they continue to be deprived of sustenance. Having the Vessel unmade by a Hecate is so much faster. Gray is brought some news while in his office - and it is not good. A witch was killed, in the same courtyard that Willow brought back to life. One of the students that had been brought in from outside of Crystal Hollow has been killed. George, the other skeleton, believes they should close the school now. This is how the massacre started last time, could history repeat itself? But Susannah fights back. It must be a copycat, someone trying to scare the witches. Willow comes into the courtyard and asks the vines encircling the dead witch to let her go. The Bray elder is suspicious, he’s also a Green but the vines wouldn’t listen to him. Willow reveals that she made an offering to the courtyard when she first arrived. Once the vines have backed away, they see the dead witch has a hole in her chest and her heart has been removed, just like with the original massacre. They can’t find the heart anywhere. The Bray elder blames Willow, but Willow points out that she wouldn’t be so stupid as to leave a body lying around in the courtyard that she just resurrected, not to mention she didn’t even know this witch. Why would she kill her? The Bray man points out that Iban was pretty close to this witch before Willow showed up, could it be a crime of passion? That is quickly discounted, by Willow and by everyone else. Willow has another dream. She watches another woman, someone who holds a piece of onyx in her hand as she runs through the halls, and Charlotte’s bones are in a bag at her hip. It’s Willow’s aunt, Loralei. She turns and tells her pursuer that she doesn’t have what they’re looking for. Willow calls out her name in fear. Loralei hears her, looks right at her, and yells at Willow to run. As Loralei is attacked, she commands Willow to wake up! Wake up! When Willow does wake, she sees slash marks on her back - just where Loralei was scratched. What is happening?! Gray comes in right then. He can tell she’s bleeding, and he continues asking about it until she tells him she got sliced up in a dream. He sees the marks, already healed over somehow, and tells her it is called “the devil’s eye” which enables the actual devil to watch you closely. They have another hate/flirting moment, and he takes in a little of her blood again. And he leaves her wanting. Now that she’s drunk his blood too, he can compel her regardless of her amulet. He tells her that no one, not even herself, will satisfy her needs from this point on except for him. Not until he releases her from this compulsion. And he won’t release her until she tells him what exactly the devil wants with her. They go to the dead witch’s funeral. When Willow’s mother died, they had her buried like the human laws dictate but Willow’s father later went and dug up her body, reburying it directly in the ground to be reabsorbed by the earth magic. It is the last offering a witch makes. The other Houses should do the same, but Willow sees that they intend to bury this witch in a casket, not laid on a bed of sacred stones and allowed to be absorbed into the source as a White witch should be. Willow realizes that the Coven has not been following even this ancient rite. She continues to say that this is wrong but even Gray asks her to wait to talk about it, this is not the time. She sees the wisdom in this, so she waits until after the funeral and then storms in to see Susannah and George. Susannah asks George to leave and give her a moment with Willow alone. She tells Willow that what they’re doing, everything they are doing, is for the good of the Coven. It may not seem like it, but systematically weakening their own witches is for the best. Weakening the witches weakens the Vessels as well. Vessels are forbidden from feeding on the living members of the Tribunal - one witch sits on the council for each of the House legacies. Legacies are the original families that started each house (i.e. one seat on the council for the Bray family, one for the Madizza family, as the two original Green families). Those members of the Tribunal still practice the old ways and keep themselves strong. As time goes on and the other witches continue to weaken, they will eventually have no magic. Which means the Vessels will have no one to feed from. Then the Tribunal can get rid of them all and start anew. Besides, Willow is the last of the Madizzas, she’ll be fine – she has a seat on the Tribunal simply from there being no other options. Susannah explains that the Coven is more important than one life, or many lives as it happens. When Willow argues back, Susannah grabs her and starts to choke her. She needs Willow alive, but she doesn’t need her awake. She could keep her asleep and just get some offspring from her that way, ensuring the Madizza line survives before killing Willow outright. Gray comes in just then and tells Susannah not to touch Willow ever again. George went to get him. George doesn’t seem so bad. Gray tells Susannah that if she touches Willow again, she will have violated his right and he will make the consequences rain down on her. Gray takes Willow to his room where she drinks some of his blood to speed along the healing of the internal injuries she’s sustained from Susannah. Now she’s terrified of sleeping, since Susannah threatened that she wouldn’t wake up, but Gray tells her that she’s safe with him and she sleeps in his room that night. The Reaping approaches, when the Vessels are allowed to feed from the witches. Gray makes sure that all the Vessels know that Willow is off limits to every one of them except him, but he warns them not to tell the witches. Since these Vessels are assigned to the school, they do not leave and must feed from the students, although the underage students are off limits. If a Vessel plans to visit a witch during the Reaping, the witch will find a red mark on their door after classes. If they’re not chosen, they must remain in their rooms that night. Willow is obviously chosen; Della helps her prepare. Della explains that they will not know who feeds on them, it helps prevent bonds from forming between the Vessels and the witches. Vessels used to choose a witch for the full year, that no longer happens. Every week a Vessel will come to feed, but it will be a different Vessel each time and the witch will not be aware of who it is. Della points out the two nightgowns that were left on the bed. A simple floor length one for just feeding, and a lacy short one if you’re open to doing more while the Vessel feeds. Della tells Willow she has two options, either on the bed or standing, but she will have to be restrained. Willow chooses standing and Della puts leather cuffs on her and chains her with her arms above her head so she can remain standing. Then Della blindfolds her. This really bothers Willow, whose father used to put her in a dark, confined place as a punishment (a small human sized rectangle in the ground, the entrance/exit at her feed). Now she hates not being able to see. When Gray gets there to feed from her, he doesn’t tell her who he is but he does realize how afraid she is, and he makes a vow to find out why - and to make that person pay. He releases Willow from her chains when he is done but is quick to exit before she can see him. She unlocks her cuffs with the key that was left for her and reaches into her dresser drawer where she is cut by something. She pulls out a silver mirror in a frame made of human bone. When she looks in the mirror, she sees someone moving behind her. Someone decaying but only on half of her body, someone with lilac eyes, like Willow. Charlotte Hecate. Charlotte tells Willow to look at her, but before she can say more, Willow drops the mirror and breaks it. No worries though, the mirror reconstructs by itself. Willow is in the bath when she hears someone calling her name, all low and like a moan. It doesn’t sound like anything she wants to answer. Before she can even get out of the bath, Gray storms in and checks if she’s been hurt. There’s been another murder. She gets dressed and he takes her to the spot where she had been sparring earlier in the day, where she had bled while sparring. The word “two” is written next to the body, whose throat was cut. She asks what the word two means, Susannah tells her that Charlotte Hecate had seen a prophecy before her body had been torn apart and her bones scattered. A prophecy of the daughter of two, born of two bloodlines, who would restore “what had been lost to time” – whatever that means. It’s the reason that the male witches are now forced to choose: their magic or a family, so that the daughter of two could not be born. When Willow leaves, Della stops her. She heard someone calling for Willow too, she’s afraid that Willow is next. Della isn’t the only witch that heard Willow’s name being called. Willow is stopped in the hallway by a group of the witches who were brought in from outside Crystal Hollow. They believe that it should have been Willow that died this time, instead of their friend. They beat the crap out of her, and she does not fight back. Afterward, she crawls to Gray’s room. She drinks some of his blood to heal, she’s in rough shape right now, and he asks who did this to her. She won’t tell him. He helps her get cleaned up and puts her in bed. She realizes that she went to Gray when she was hurt, when she needed help. Not Good. Maybe she’s not been seducing him as much as falling for someone who is incapable of loving her back, per his own admission. She asks him why the pair bonds between Vessels and witches were ended and he explains that a Vessel can become addicted to a witch, but also because if a Vessel feeds on the same witch enough times that it is only that witch’s blood that flows in the Vessel’s veins, they get a little bit of the magic that the witch has. The Vessel won’t be strong, but they’ll be able to control it a little. This is also forbidden to talk about, so only a few know that this phenomenon happens. He reveals that he visited her during the Reaping, and he hasn’t fed on anyone else. He can feel her magic and he knows exactly who she is, who her ancestors are. All of them. But then, he’s known for a while now. This is directly after he helped her shower, so they’re both wearing very little. The next logical step is hate sex. But there’s one catch, Willow is a virgin. He doesn’t realize this, and she doesn’t tell him until it’s too late to hide the fact. Her father made sure that she couldn’t lose her virginity to someone else, she had to give it to the Vessel that she chose to seduce. Gray stops and explains to her that when a witch turns sixteen, they choose someone to lose their virginity to. There is already potent magic in blood and in sex (there’s a whole House devoted to bodily pleasures), witches do not choose a Vessel for their first time because that is blood that can only be given once and it forms a bond with the Vessel, an obsession on the part of the Vessel. This is something Willow’s father did not reveal to her. Now, Willow will never be rid of Gray. They finish what they started, but in an easier, slower way. He feeds from her, too. The next day, Gray asks another Vessel, Kairos, to watch over Willow as he goes to town. But don’t let Willow see him keeping an eye on her, she won’t like that. Kairos asks if Willow has the bones yet, so clearly, it’s not just Gray who knows the truth. Gray tells him no, not yet. He also reveals to Kairos that someone hurt Willow the day before, Juliet is figuring out who did it. Willow thinks about the Coven, how it isn’t all corrupt and terrible. The corruption is certainly there but there are also people like Della, like Iban, who deserve more than the Coven is providing to them. Susannah approaches her. She’s figured it out, finally. Susannah says she has known since she met Willow that something was off, that she looked familiar but not in a way that screamed Madizza, and Susannah has realized why. She looks like Loralei. She doesn’t want to kill Willow (last of the Madizza bloodline and all that) so Susannah encourages her to leave and never return. Ward herself so that not even the Covenant – or Gray – can find her. Willow asks Susannah where Charlotte’s bones are but Susannah just laughs. Gray has had them all alone. Willow tells Susannah that Gray already knows that she is a Hecate and would have given her the bones if he had them, Susannah gets very worried. Everything Susannah has done is to make sure Gray did not get his hands on Willow. There was another bargain made, one that prevents Susannah telling Willow exactly what will happen, only that she will unleash something terrible if she uses those bones. Rose bushes wrap around Susannah and pull her into the ground, but Susannah doesn’t fight back, she just keeps urging Willow to run. Her destiny is to destroy them all. Run! Willow runs. She knows that Gray is in town, but she doesn’t know that Kairos alerted Gray as soon as Susannah started talking to her. She runs into the woods, where there are ancient creatures that even the Vessels don’t like to tangle with, and she is attacked. Just before one of the beasts kills her, Gray grabs it and rips it apart. He never even made it to town. He’s angry, she could have been killed! She asks what the beasts are, and he tells her they are the Cursed. Cursed by Charlotte Hecate. When Charlotte first received her magic from the devil, she did not know how to control it. Men from the village chased her, hunting her down so she could be executed – they had already decided she was a witch; she figured if she was going to die for it, she might as well be guilty. That is what caused her to make the deal in the first place and she cursed those men and turned them into the creatures in the woods. He asks her why she was running, and she tells him that Susannah knows the truth about her. He takes her back to his office so they can talk without interruption. He asks Willow what Susannah told her, telling her he was so afraid for her safety when he found out she had gone into the woods. She recounts parts of her conversation with Susannah: how she looks like her aunt, how she should leave Hollow’s Grove forever. She didn’t want to be here in the first place, so Willow took the chance to leave. Something is not adding up for Gray. Then Kairos comes in and tells Gray that Susannah has not been seen since her talk with Willow. She never left the gardens. Gray commands Kairos to search the dirt in the gardens. He tells Willow that he has something for her, but he hadn’t wanted to give them to her yet so it would be less traumatic for her. He opens a biometric safe, hidden behind a giant portrait of Lucifer falling from the heavens after having his wings cut off, and pulls out a small bag. She can feel the bones inside. He orders Willow to sit and hands the bag to her, but all of a sudden, she does not want them. This doesn’t feel good, something bad is going to happen. She’s forced to take the bag. What she wants doesn’t matter, the bones have chosen her. She knows this is true, her father always hoped to be chosen and exact his revenge himself, but the bones chose Willow instead. Gray opens the bag for her, and she is flooded with power. The bones leave the bag of their own accord and reshape themselves as a necklace around Willow’s neck. Gray tells her that she will be the last of the Hecate line, for real. This magic will die with her, the bones know that, and they will never leave her. When Kairos walks in to tell Gray that they’ve found Susannah and freed her, not without a struggle, Willow reaches out and touches his neck. She turns him into a pile of dirt on the floor, Unmade without even a word. But she cannot Unmake Gray, he has too much of her blood in his veins. The magic now recognizes him as an extension of her. He carries her out of the room and yells for Juliet to have Susannah and the missing pieces brought to the Tribunal room. Willow is absolutely furious that Gray has used her (that was her plan!) but she’s happy that Susannah ruined his plans. No, no, not ruined, they’re just on an expedited timeline now. And he’s mad, because he’s pretty sure that Willow will hate him for what’s about to happen. He was hoping to avoid that. When they get to the Tribunal room, George stands up, but Gray touches the bones of Charlotte and forces George back down. He’s able to use her powers somehow, but of course he can! Her blood is in his veins, and where do you think Charlotte got her powers in the first place? From Hell. He bends down and removes a tile in the floor, revealing a mirror that reflects the ceiling and a sculpture of a woman’s face. Willow’s face. They bring Susannah in – still putting herself back together – and Juliet throws a couple body parts down next to the mirror. The heart of the first murder victim and the liver of the second. Gray was the killer all along. They bring in the other new students, including the ones that jumped Willow, and one by one Gray kills them and removes an organ from each. He reveals that he also killed Loralei, to protect Willow’s father. He needed Willow’s dad to make Willow before the Coven found out about him. Then, Gray brings in Willow’s father, who is holding Ash at knifepoint. They need Willow to follow their orders and if she does, Ash won’t be hurt. She spits that she will kill her father for this, but he just laughs, she won’t live long enough for that. Dad of the year over here. Gray tells Willow to make bodies for the Tribunal, then Gray rips them apart. The floor is covered in their blood and their bodies are turned to dust, finally dead after centuries. He looks at Willow and tells her that he’s sorry, but it will be over soon. Gray stabs her in the stomach and pulls out a rib. From the blood of the Tribunal and the organs of the other students, from the bone of Willow, Charlotte is reborn. Now Willow’s dad is irate. Gray told him he’d bring back Loralei! Serves him right, the jerk. Charlotte isn’t having this. She tells him only the worst kind of man would hurt his own daughter, she nearly suffocates him, but then she throws him in a hole that has open up in the floor. She wants to know how he likes living in the darkness, like how he used to punish Willow. She closes him up in the hole and repairs the tiles on top. He won’t be bothering them anymore. Ash runs to Willow’s side. Charlotte approaches Ash and tells him that it’s time for him to go back to his dad. She reassures Willow that it’s just for now, not forever, but it’s not safe for Ash here until they’re done. Juliet takes Ash. Willow is confused, was her job not bringing Charlotte back? Charlotte tells her no. She’s just a gift from Willow’s husband to help her survive the next part. Husband?! Apparently, the devil claimed her as his wife when he gave Willow the mark on her back. Willow has so many questions. Where did that rib come from? It wasn’t one of hers, Gray explains that Charlotte had given it to him to ensure she would always be with Willow, he’d put it there the night she was born. Charlotte explains further that Willow is what Charlotte bargained for. The Vessels were the price she had to pay to get her power from the devil, but only Willow can open the seal. She presses Willow’s hand into the glass of the mirror on the floor and tells her not to let go until Charlotte says so, otherwise she will die. And Willow must live, to fix all that Charlotte had wrought. The glass disappears and a staircase takes its place. Willow watches as Beelzebub pulls himself into the room, followed by Satanus. When Leviathan comes out, he’s carrying a cot behind him, Belphegor at the other end. On top of the cot is the unmoving body of Lucifer. Charlotte explains that Lucifer is so still because his soul is not in that body, it was already here. Gray watches as Mammon and Asmodeus also arrive. When Willow looks at him after talking to Charlotte, he asks if she is ready to hear his true name. She’d asked for it once before, but he refused to give it to her then. Charlotte tells Willow to close the gate, but she doesn’t know how. Charlotte starts to evaporate, her job here is finished, but she tells Willow that she will always be with her as she lifts her hands from Willow’s, she fades completely. Still Willow cannot let go, her hands are frozen to the seal. Gray picks her up around her waist and tears her away, the glass then reforms. She screams that she will never forgive Gray for what has happened, but he thinks that she will. He takes Willow’s hand and guides her toward Lucifer’s body. Surrounded by the other archdemons, Gray asks her to put him back into his body. She says no, but he doesn’t mind killing a few more people to get his way. He will not stop until she puts him back in his body. He tells her, he cannot love her as a Vessel, but he wants to. Put him back into his true body and allow him to love her like she deserves to be loved. She’s all out of fight. Gray collapses to the ground and Lucifer opens his eyes.
Click reveal, if you're prepared... Fifty years ago, before Willow was born, Gray/Lucifer stalked Loralei Hecate. It’s nothing personal, and he doesn’t want Loralei to suffer, but she must die to bring around the future that he needs. As he stalks her, another woman enters, and Gray knows right away that this new woman is meant for him. Not to kill him, to be his partner. Loralei also sees the other woman, first calling her Charlotte before then calling her Willow and telling her to run. Gray kills Loralei and years later, Willow will dream of this moment. In present day, Willow has resurrected Gray in his body as Lucifer. Doing so has left a red burn in the shape of her hand on his chest. When everything is done and the seal to Hell is closed again, Willow makes it clear that she doesn’t want to be there, so Beelzebub steps up behind her and snaps her neck. She’s dead before Gray’s scream of “no” can stop Beelzebub. Gray catches Willow’s body and cradles her to him, sinking his nails into the devil’s mark he cut into her shoulder before. He pierces his own vein with a dagger and forces his blood into Willow’s mouth. It will be painful, and she will not like it, but he will bring her back without losing any of her soul in the process. Willow wakes up with a black mark in the middle of her chest. Gray encourages her to go back to sleep; she needs the rest. When she wakes up again, Willow is alone in Gray’s rooms and takes the chance to escape out the window. She doesn’t make it far before she runs into Beelzebub. He apologizes for killing her, explaining that it had been the original plan, and he hadn’t realized that Gray had made some changes to it. Regardless of whether or not he was meant to kill her, Beelzebub’s not real impressed with Willow. Gray and Willow get into an argument, one where Willow points out that his plan had always been to kill her and where he retorts that the plan was made before he had seen her the night that he killed Loralei. She wants to leave, not just him but the whole school, but Gray can’t let her do that - not with the gift he just gave her. Not having her life back, but her magic. He pulls the magic from her and Willow feels empty, she doesn’t know who she is without her magic and begs for him to return it. He makes her a deal; he wants to consummate their marriage using this body. His real body. He gives Willow her magic back and tells her to run. If she makes it to the end of the forest, she’s free to leave him with her magic intact. If he catches her, he will take her right there and they’ll do what they do best: pretend not to like it. She makes an addendum to his deal: he will never take her magic again, ever. They agree to the terms, and she takes off running. Gray wants her to almost get to the edge, to taste freedom before he catches her. He wants her angry, not weak. He wants her to know that he will always be with her, that she can take comfort in him - in only him. He never would’ve taken her magic, he knows it’s too important to her. But Willow is able to trick him, and she almost makes it out of the forest before Gray catches her. When he does and he takes her in the forest, their marital bond snaps into place. He lets Willow take charge for a bit and as she uses her hands on his chest for balance, she brands him and marks him as her own without realizing it, a maze now burned into his chest. When they’re done, he calls her by her married name: Willow Morningstar. Gray explains that when he gave her his blood to resurrect her, he had to give her a lot of blood and it has given her some additional gifts. He wants the two of them to work together to create a world where the vessels and the witches do not have as much animosity towards each other, possibly learning to co-exist as they did before the Covenant destroyed that truce. He also explains to her about her necromancer power and how to give back to the source when she uses it. They catch one of the Cursed and Willow transforms him back into a man using her Hecate magic. Gray didn’t even realize that was possible. She asks for the man’s name (Jonathan), and she informs him that his debt is not yet paid even after years of being a beast. He responds that it can never be paid - I have to agree, he chased a woman through the woods trying to catch and burn her as a witch (which she had not yet become). Willow changes his shape again, this time to a cat. Jonathan the cat bites her once and becomes her familiar, a complication Gray did not see coming and does not appreciate. Now Willow is exhausted, and Gray carries her back to the school, back to his bed so she can rest. Willow dreams of the Hecate witches that came before her, the twelve witches between Charlotte - the first witch, and Willow - the last witch, all lined up. They encourage her to join them before Gray can make her into something she’s not, but she’s not ready to die. When Willow wakes up, Gray is gone, and Leviathan is keeping watch over her from the other room. She blames Gray for everything that has gone wrong in her life. For stabbing her and removing the extra rib, for killing her aunt, for whispering plans of vengeance into her father’s ear. For making her something extra - she’s faster now, stronger than she was. Leviathan asks her to stay in the room, per Gray’s orders, but he has to block the door when Willow tries to leave anyway. She tries to unmake him like she would a vessel, but the magic doesn’t work on him. Then she loses control of the death magic before it’s reined in by the necklace. Leviathan explains that some people in the Coven, those who were not there when the seal was opened and did not see what happened, believe that Willow helped Gray purposefully. They have sworn revenge on both Gray and Willow. Gray is asking that she stay here to keep her safe. Gray comes by shortly, followed by Willow’s roommates wondering where she is and if she’s okay. It seems Della is sleeping with Juliet (the vessel), who is escorting them and stays in the room when Gray and Leviathan give them some privacy. Willow tells the other witches what happened, how she is also a Hecate witch, and now the Devil’s wife. Nova explains that the houses are turning on each other for power and trying to kill the archdemons, which is only getting the witches killed instead. She tells Willow to step up as the Coven’s leader and bring the witches back into line but also fight back when it comes to Gray and try to find a way to get rid of the archdemons. Beelzebub has taken a liking to Margot, although he has been respectful of her need for space. Margot doesn’t like being touched and although she hasn’t said as much, Willow believes Margot was assaulted sometime in the past and Willow wants revenge for Margot, even if Margot can’t be the harbinger of that revenge. Margot reveals her biggest secret: that it was Itar Bray, the head of House Bray, who assaulted her when she was only fourteen. Willow swears Juliet to secrecy. If Gray finds out, he will make Itar pay for this crime, and Willow wants that honor for herself. After Juliet escorts Willow’s friends back to their rooms, she returns to find Gray waiting for her and Willow already asleep. Juliet explains that Willow has always been a protector, never the protected, and she feels responsible for the lives Gray took to open the seal. She believes she should have seen it coming. Juliet councils Gray - if he wants Willow to love him back (and he does, it’s all he wants) then he needs to get to know her. Really get to know her, not just the her that’s on paper. And let her know him as well. Willow wakes up in the morning and makes a decision. She’s going to make Gray believe that she is in love with him - so she can kill him herself. It will start with seduction, apparently all her plans start that way. But while she seduces him, she spills a lot of her own secrets. That her dad used to put her in cage fights so she would learn to fight and to not lose. If she did lose, she was locked in a casket buried in the ground, a steel door at the foot of the casket that opened to the basement the only way in and out. When she was eighteen, her dad stopped betting money on if she would win, he bet sexual favors from her instead. She couldn’t lose her virginity (they needed it as part of their plan to eliminate the vessels), but there’s a lot you can do without giving that up, and her dad would pimp her out when she lost in the cage. This shocks and infuriates Gray, Willow thought he already knew about this but it’s clear he did not. Her seduction is really backfiring, since Gray is being nice and wriggling his way into her heart. Later, Gray reminds Willow that he’s trying to keep her safe, the way that no one else ever did. Because he cares about her, whether she likes it or not. Gray presents Willow with a beautiful black gown and helps her get dressed, she’s to be presented to the Coven as the new Covenant. She doesn’t think the witches will accept her but there’s no one else who can act as the Covenant since the others do not follow the old traditions. Gray gives Willow a necklace and earrings to wear, and a gold and agate wedding ring. He slips a matching band on his own hand. He admits that his traditions are not hers and he wants to marry her in ways important to both of them, so they will wear their rings for now and soon enough they will summon the witches’ Goddess and have her bless their union. Willow doesn’t think the Goddess will them, she is nature and balance, why would she bless this union? Gray admits that the Goddess is his sister. He is not the only angel to be exiled from Heaven, merely the first. Willow asks what the Goddess did to get thrown out of Heaven, Gray responds that it was the same as his own act. He wanted all the humans to be able to enter Heaven and to meet the god who made them and loved them, he wanted to take free will away from them, but only so that they could not make choices that would deny them entrance. Willow asks if she is free to make her own decisions now and Gray responds that she can have anything she wants as long as she also chooses him. But Willow points out that she will never be able to choose him definitively - because he will never let her go long enough for her to make her own choice. Willow asks what he wants from her when they face the Coven, and he tells her that he’d like them to show a united front for now. He does not want to tell her what to do, he does not want a puppet for a wife - he could have chosen one if that was his goal. He wants Willow to push him and to widen his perspective. He wants the two of them to lead their people together as the Covenant was designed to do. And Willow should go in front of the witches and tell them the truth today: that Gray tricked her just as he tricked the rest of them. Willow decides to do just that, she will give the other witches the truth, something they haven’t heard in a long time. She walks into the Tribunal room and is verbally attacked by Itar upon entering, Itar assumes she’s wearing the bones of the witches who were killed when the seal was opened. Willow commands the bones of the Hecate throne and the plants of the Madizza throne to combine into one seat placed where the Covenant used to sit, making it clear exactly what she is, whose bones she’s wearing, and what her new role within the Coven will be. But she doesn’t stop there, she turns on Itan (the guy cannot keep his mouth shut) and wraps him with vines. He lashes out with a vine of his own, but Willow heals inordinately quickly, a power only the Covenant had in the past. She wraps a vine around Itar’s neck and orders him to tell the rest of the Coven what the old Covenant’s plans with the Tribunal were. And what he did to Margot. Iban steps forward to stop Willow, but then Margot comes forward and stands with her. Margot asks Willow to stop, Willow relaxes the vines around Itar so he can breathe again. Margot forces him to admit that he raped her. Afterward, she runs into the waiting arms of Beelzebub, who shields her from the others. Then Itan continues talking, telling the Coven that the Tribunal had been starving the source. Doing so made the witches weak and sometimes ill. It made the vessels that fed on them weak as well. The plan was to continue starving the source until the bloodlines weakened so much that the vessels were weak enough to eliminate. Only then would the Tribunal, who would still be powerful since they’d been secretly making offerings to the source, would restore the bloodlines. Since the vessels are forbidden to feed off the Tribunal members, no one would know what happened and the vessels would starve. Although the bloodlines would eventually be restored, it would cost the lives of all the witches in this room and however many future generations. Willow kills Itar as the rest of the Coven turns on the remaining Tribunal members and kills them as well. Then she turns and walks off to take care of an urgent issue. She locks the doors of the Tribunal room behind her as she leaves, believing that this is a task she must do alone. She runs into Leviathan on her way to the cemetery and Willow admits that she needs to release the witches there who were improperly buried. Leviathan goes to get Gray so she won’t have to do it by herself, but Willow continues to the graveyard, not believing that Gray will care about the dead witches. When she gets there, she sees the specter of her Aunt Loralei, who tells Willow that she’s not yet strong enough for this task. But when Gray shows up proclaiming that Willow doesn’t have to do everything alone anymore, he tells her that they can manage it together. He cuts her wrists and shows her how to put her hands into the dirt and call the witches up from the ground before he heals her with a taste of his own blood. Only afterward do they realize that something went wrong. She didn’t raise the dead to be committed to the source in whatever way is best (dependent on their craft), but she resurrected them instead. They did not account for the green magic that pulses next to the black magic in her veins. The other witches, who had made their own ways to the cemetery, see what Willow has done and bow down to her, recognizing her as Covenant. Willow gets excited for a minute, thinking that she can go to Vermont and resurrect her mother, until Gray reminds her that she must maintain the balance of the source. If she takes from the dead, she will have to kill someone else to replace them. She is distraught but is mollified somewhat when Loralei steps forward and asks her to put them all to rest in the correct way. Loralei takes Willow into the woods, where Willow is coached by her aunt on how to lay a Hecate witch to rest, adding Loralei’s finger bone to her belt afterward. She then lays the white witches on the crystals next to the cliffs, the purples lay out under the stars to return to their source, the greens are buried in the ground without a casket around them, the grays are turned to dust by the wind, the blues are taken by the sea, the yellows are set ablaze, the reds wrap each other in a hug under a willow tree as they return to the source. Afterward Willow walks back to Gray’s rooms to be comforted in private by him and Jonathan, the cat. The next morning, Willow decides to call in reinforcements. It’s become clear that she likes Gray too much (not to mention whatever is going on with Margot and Beelzebub) and she will not have the strength to open the seal and push him, the archdemons, and all the vessels into it when it comes time. So, she tells Della, Nova, and Iban what she wants to do. Iban tells her about a secret section in the library that only the Covenant had access to, there may be some answers there on how to make her plan happen. When asked how Iban knows about this area, he admits that he did some work there for Susannah in exchange for allowing Iban first dibs at Willow when she came to Crystal Hollow. It’s the reason none of the other Brays ever made a pass at her. Iban figured if they didn’t like each other, he’d release his claim to her, but he never did because after meeting Willow and seeing her vitality, he was transfixed. He thought he could wait out her fascination with Gray and maybe they would end up together. Plus, he figured it granted her some freedom from the other men in his family. The four of them make their way to the secret library, where Iban shows them the entrance. Willow finds one of Charlotte’s journals inside, which she decides to keep and read later, but Iban knows what exactly what he’s looking for. And it’s not a way to open the seal, it’s a dagger capable of killing Lucifer. Iban shows them an illustration of the dagger in a book before pulling a box off a shelf and opening it to reveal the dagger itself. She is not okay with this; she didn’t want to kill the demons, just return them from whence they came. And this dagger feels wrong in a way she can’t explain, even Jonathan the cat hisses at it. Iban is disgusted that Willow may actually have feelings for Gray (the only possible reason she wouldn’t want Gray dead) and insists that she is the only person that could close enough to him to stab him. Willow doesn’t want to do this but every day she spends with Gray she falls a little deeper for him, she grabs the dagger and takes it with her. Willow leaves the library after Della and Nova, followed closely by Iban. Willow is upset that she will never really be accepted by the Coven unless she does this awful thing - when she deserves to have someone love her regardless of the different facets of who she is, the way that Gray loves her. Iban mansplains to her that she doesn’t actually care about Gray, she’s just being manipulated by him. Iban offers to hold on to the dagger for now. They can’t use it until it is spelled by all the lines of the witches’ power, and he’d hate to have Gray find it before they can do that. As he grabs the dagger from Willow’s bag, Iban leans in close and kisses her. She lets him, to see for herself if Gray’s compulsion is off of her or if that is why she is still so attracted to Gray, but the kiss with Iban does not feel right. At least, not right for her. Iban seems very moved by it. When she wipes his kiss off her mouth and turns to leave, he tells her that Gray does not deserve her loyalty. She points out that neither does Iban as she goes down the spiral stairs. Gray saw the whole exchange and waits for Willow to leave before confronting Iban. He doesn’t plan to hurt Iban, Willow’s rejection will hurt him more than anything Gray can do anyway. At least, it wasn’t the plan to hurt Iban until Iban points out that Gray will get Willow killed one day if he doesn’t let her go. Someone will attack Willow to hurt Gray, and while the others don’t realize what she means to Gray (yet), Iban knows that Gray really cares for Willow - though he doesn’t believe that Gray is capable of love. This worries Gray since someone hurting Willow to get to him would hurt him more than just emotionally, the two are tied in ways the others don’t yet understand. To make sure this information doesn’t get out, he pushes Iban over the railing of the stairwell, sending him plummeting to the bottom of the spiral staircase. Willow isn’t quite out of the stairwell when she hears Iban scream. She is able to save his life (barely) before walking to Gray’s rooms to confront him about pushing Iban. She assumes this is all because of the kiss, but Gray corrects her while also revealing that he can no longer place a compulsion on her after resurrecting her with his own blood. If she didn’t like Iban’s kiss, it’s because she doesn’t want Iban. He kisses Willow, pushing her against the wall, but she pushes his chest, and a gust of air moves him away from her. It’s then that Willow realizes what else he gave her when he gave her his blood. A small amount of magic from all the other bloodlines. When they have sex that night, she admits that she is his and they claim each other. The next morning she meets Iban outside of one of his classes and asks him to arrange the others to spell the dagger. She may have claimed Gray, but she won’t stray from her decision. Iban tells Willow to meet them in the library in an hour. She then goes to see Gray. She realizes that she’s falling in love with him and that she doesn’t want to hurt him, but she must for the good of the world as a whole. If she feels this strongly about him after such a short time, how strong will her attachment be after years. She needs to kill him soon, that night if she can, but she hopes he won’t see it coming. She hopes he won’t feel any pain. She meets the others in the secret library, one witch from each concentration of power. When Willow enters, she sees the form of a man watching her from the side, but she passes it off as just a vision, which is part of her Hecate power. They pass the blade to each person, who cuts their hand with the knife, imbibing it with their own power. When they are done, Willow takes the dagger. She goes right up to her rooms, where she immediately distracts Gray with sex. While in the act, she apologizes to him and stabs him in the heart with the dagger. She believes that once he is dead, the archdemons will kill her too, and all of Gray’s magic that is out in the world will then be gone. She apologizes again as she twists the knife and pulls it out of his chest. Gray asks her why she would do this, why she would try to kill him. Only then does she realize that his wound has already stopped bleeding. It’s closed completely. She has failed. She thinks Gray will kill her but instead, he asks her why killing him is preferable to admitting that she loves him. She screams that she broke him, and he just laughs, she was broken already when he met her. He hurt her before, yes, but he is fighting everything and everyone to never hurt her again. She would rather kill the person who is getting close to her than allow the walls surrounding her heart to come down. Willow retorts that she cares about a lot of people, and he points out that she can’t even say that she loves her friends. He tells her where she went wrong. Bringing her back bound the two of them together. If she really wants him dead, she needs to stab herself in the heart. He gives the knife back to her and makes no move to stop her, if that’s what she intends to do. He says that the other witches were willing to sacrifice her to save themselves, and Willow realizes that Gray is speaking the truth. That he is giving her the free will she requested - he is not going to stop her if she tries to kill them both now. She drops the knife, apologizing again, and he wraps her in his arms. Later, he locks the knife up in his biometric safe. They go to the Tribunal room together, where Willow calls the Coven to her. When the witches arrive and Gray reveals their foiled plan, the purple witch who helped spell the dagger yells that Willow knew what would happen (that she would probably die) when she took the dagger. Willow realizes that if their roles had been reversed, she would never have been okay with someone else dying to protect her, though this purple and the others were more than willing to send her to her death to get what they wanted. Iban steps up, saying that he is disappointed in Willow. Being with Gray will end her lines since Gray can’t give her children. I’m not sure why Iban thinks this is going to have any effect on Willow, she has thought her whole life that she would die before having children, but regardless, Gray questions why he and Willow wouldn’t be able to have kids? Vessels cannot procreate, but he is no longer a vessel. They can have children if they choose, although he admits that he doesn’t know if the children would be angel or witch. Regardless, he made the witches, he could bestow the power on new lines if he so chose. He tells the witches what he wants: he wants the Coven to accept Willow as their Covenant and when the time comes, Willow will open the seal permanently and allow their people free transit between the two realms. Iban says that the girl he knew would never stand with Gray at her side, but Willow snaps that the girl Iban knew was never real. He made a version of her up in his head, one that he was willing to claim before even meeting, that person was never really her. Gray asks Willow who her co-conspirators are (Willow has already bartered for Nova and Della’s lives in private and they have been moved to a safe space), but Willow doesn’t know their names. Instead, Iban is taken. He will give Gray their names. Iban is taken to a different room where he is barely tortured before giving the names of the other witches. Gray admits to Iban that he will allow Della and Nova to live, he believes that they believed they were doing what Willow wanted but will also follow her to unite the witches and vessels if that is what Willow would prefer to do. The others acted in their own interests to get rid of Gray - and for that they will be punished. But he will not kill Iban either, Willow has bartered for his life as well. And Gray already knew the names of the other witches involved, he could feel them on the dagger. He just wanted to show Iban how self-serving he was, and how willing he was to give up the others to save himself. Gray leaves Iban with the archdemons in the other room while he rejoins Willow with the rest of the Coven. He calls the four people forward and takes their magic - giving it to Willow - before killing them. Willow announces that Lucifer has exacted his vengeance, and the issue is now resolved. However, should the vessels overreach and hurt any of the witches, Willow’s justice would be just as swift. Michael the archangel visits Willow in her dream that night. Michael, Lucifer’s twin, who looks the same as Gray in every way but is still ensconced in Heaven. He gives Willow a message: the big guy upstairs wants her to reopen the seal to Hell and trap Gray, his cronies, AND all the witches down there. When Willow points out that the witches were born on earth and have every right to be there, Michael calls her (all the witches) an abomination that will never be welcomed into Heaven. Well then, that makes Willow’s decision easy. She pushes him out of her dream. The next morning, she and Gray have a conversation about the possibility of children. She didn’t know he could father a child, but Gray already knew she was taking precautions and didn’t think it necessary to discuss it yet, considering how complicated their relationship has already been. He wasn’t trying to trick her, and he doesn’t mind that she’s taking the tonic to prevent pregnancy. He does want kids, wants them very much, but he would never force them on her if she did not. She alone would be enough for him. Willow never thought she would live long enough for the idea of children to be a real possibility. She’s never given any thought to whether she would want them or not. Willow goes to the woods where she touches every aspect of the source at once, simply to feel what it is like. As she is connected to the source so fully, the eleven remaining Cursed come out and show her deference, as if they know what she did with Jonathan and are asking for their own freedom. She touches one, intent on freeing him, but the source has a plan of its own and causes a hedge to burst out of him. Hedges bridge the areas between the Cursed as each of the Cursed’s bodies turn into a pillar with a stone bust depicting their head at the top. The whole thing forms a maze - a maze that matches the one she burned into Gray’s chest with her hands – a maze that she is forced to enter. When she gets to the center, she realizes that she is within the source itself and is greeted by Charlotte. Charlotte explains to Willow that they both gave themselves freely to the source, allowing them to meet here even though Charlotte is dead, and Willow is not. Charlotte’s purpose was to strike a deal with the devil to create the witches, Willow’s is much bigger than that. She explains that God was also once connected to the source, earned its trust, and used that power to make his creations. He has since turned from the source, but only after taking some of its power - which he and the angels continue to use. Willow’s task is to return the witches to the traditions that will make them strong and empower them to one day face God’s army. Charlotte points to the triple goddess and speaks of three women destined to change everything. She was one, Willow is another, and Willow’s daughter will be the third - the one to tear God out of Heaven itself. Willow isn’t pregnant yet, the source can wait however long is needed, but her daughter will eventually be the one to lead them to victory. Even Lucifer does not know of this. Charlotte leaves and Willow runs out of the maze, the hedges now shaking. When she makes it out, the maze and the Cursed have completely disappeared and she falls back into her body, as if the maze was only ever in her mind. She realizes that she is surrounded by six witches who have been beating her while she was connected to the source. Willow quickly uses her magic so that the branches they were using to beat her turn on them instead. The witches decide to fight Willow physically instead of with magic. Willow beats them handily that way as well. Then she calls the dead from the ground and walks away as the dead kill her witch attackers. Willow goes to the Tribunal room, intent on calling the Coven and being done with this division once and for all. If what Charlotte said is true, they’re going to have to work together. She is met by Michael, and this is no dream. She turns to flee but is caught by Iban behind her, who stabs her with the dagger they had spelled for Gray. Michael had been able to retrieve it from Gray’s safe. She realizes that Iban never meant the dagger for Gray in truth, he knew that Willow would fail to kill Gray - his plan was always to use it on Willow. That it was Michael that she saw in the vision in the library. Iban explains that he chose to give up his magic for a family and has never sullied the source, so he can still repent and enter Heaven. He twists the knife in Willow’s stomach and forces her bloody hands to the seal to Hell, which opens before her. Gray feels when Willow is stabbed, then his own stomach starts bleeding. He sends Leviathan to gather the other demons as Beelzebub helps Gray find Willow. Gray sends the source to Willow to keep her alive, keeping none of it for himself. He sends Beelzebub to the Tribunal room before him, just hoping that Willow can hold on that long. Michael brings Margot out of a side room, tied up and unable to get free. He uses Willow’s blood to call for the rest of the Coven, who he will throw into the pit when they arrive. When Beelzebub shows up, he’s torn between fighting for Margot or fighting for Gray and Willow, but Willow nods at him, telling Beelzebub it’s okay to help Margot. But when Beelzebub attacks Michael, Michael throws Margot into the pit. Beelzebub flies after her, catching her and twisting before hitting the ground, taking the impact himself. When Gray arrives next, he’s not alone. Jonathan comes streaking into the room and shifts into his Cursed form. She asks Jonathan to get to Margot, so Jonathan jumps into the pit and fights demons on his way to Beelzebub and Margot. Gray fights Michael as best as he can as Iban tries to pull the knife out of Willow. Satanus and Mammon enter the room. Beelzebub and Margot start moving, Willow sees them and breathes a sigh of relief that they are still alive, but then Michael creates a tornado of wind that sends Satanus and Mammon into the pit as well. Gray is losing his fight and yells at Willow; she removes the dagger from her stomach herself. In doing so, she makes it clear that she chooses Gray, their magic starts to strengthen as she heals and she kills Iban with the dagger, throwing his dead body into the pit. Gray fights Michael off (who disappears) just as the seal closes, trapping Margot, Beelzebub, and Jonathan inside (along with Satanus and Mammon). The only thing that was keeping the seal open had been Willow bleeding out. Willow is desperate to get to Margot, but Gray stops her. Beelzebub will not let anything happen to her; they will get them back as soon as they can. For now, they both need to heal. Willow explains to him and Leviathan, who just showed back up, about what Charlotte had said. How Charlotte is the crone, Willow will be the mother, and her daughter the maiden - the three faces to the goddess who will tear God from the Heavens now that Lucifer has left Hell, maintaining the balance that the source requires. Gray says this information changes nothing, they won’t have kids if Willow doesn’t want to, but Willow knows it changes everything. The Coven starts to convene, Willow and Gray leave Leviathan to deal with the witches. Tonight, they mourn for their fallen friends, tomorrow they find a way to move forward. The next day, they gather the Coven with their newly elected Tribunal members. Gray stands with Leviathan and Asmodeus, Nova and Della stand with Willow. Gray brings Willow a surprise and Ash steps into the room (she won’t be separated from her brother again). They get married with the blessing of the Coven and the goddess, who visits them and gives her blessing in person.
Get ready... Beelzebub cannot believe how cold it is here at Hollow’s Grove University, how everything seems specifically designed to annoy him. Not to mention that Lucifer has taken a wife, which none of the archdemons expected, and is now shirking his duties which leaves Beelzebub to pick up the slack. And he disagrees with Lucifer about the witches; while Lucifer believes them to be wayward children who need to be shown the right path, Beelzebub believes in more of a burned earth approach… kill them all. But when Beelzebub hears a witch singing one evening, he is drawn towards her and does not understand the reaction he has to her. She’s gloriously beautiful with a lovely voice. He wants to know who she is. When the witch jumps away from him in fear of being touched - even on the arm - he wants to know who made her afraid. When he asks her name, the witch only says that he will forget about her soon enough and leaves without giving it. Margot sits in a class specifically for red witches like her. In fact, she is the eldest daughter of Fritha Erotes and niece to the current Erotes Tribunal - next in line for the seat since her aunt has no children of her own. The divide between the Erotes and Peabody Reds is tangible, an actual divide through the center of the students. Margot is unable to pay attention to the lesson since her mind keeps wandering to the night before when she accidentally lured Beelzebub with her song. She needed to sing to release some of the tension and the magic collecting inside of her. Ever since Lucifer arrived, it seems like both are running high. But she’s usually more careful than that. Her magic doesn’t work like the other Reds’; Margot has never really had control of it. While the other Reds have to consciously try to attract others with their songs, Margot’s magic seeps into everything she does. But even when called on, she can supply the answer to her mother’s question quickly (a cone of power is when a Red witch accumulates all the magic from her and her partner’s desire during sex to release at climax, with clear intentions) because the lessons have been drilled into her since childhood. That and the fact that she must be perfect at all times as she is a reflection on the rest of her family. When her mother asks her to stay after class and tells her she looks terrible, she asks if Margot is having nightmares again. Because that is what her mother wrote it off as when Margot would tell her that another Tribunal member would sneak into her room as a child and rape her. A “nightmare”. Her mother didn’t believe her and she didn’t stop it. Margot doesn’t correct her mother but tells her what happened with Beelzebub the night before. Instead of being upset, her mom is delighted. She should continue to ensnare Beelzebub, and the other Reds will be encouraged to do the same to other archdemons. Margot is disgusted - she does not want to take away someone’s free will or bodily autonomy. She knows exactly how that feels. When she leaves the classroom, Margot runs up four flights of stairs to the library. Her trauma makes her feel numb, so pushing her body to the limits is one of the only ways she knows how to make herself feel something. When she reaches the top, Beelzebub is waiting for her - resplendent in wings and glowing tattoos. With one push, the archdemon could send Margot tumbling down the stairs to her death. Not that she cares if she dies. She sidesteps him as Beelzebub asks why she’s not singing (she doesn’t feel like it). He also notices that she didn’t seem to care about her own safety (she refrains from answering). He asks how long the song spell will last on him (a couple weeks as long as she doesn’t renew it by singing or touching him), but that shouldn’t be a problem since he’s noticed she doesn’t want him to touch her at all. Not even while brushing past each other. She says not to get too egotistical, it’s not because she’s afraid of him. She just doesn’t like to be touched. He demands to know who made her that way, but she tells him, offended, that he doesn’t get to ask her that. Besides, it’s better if they don’t know anything about each other, it will only reinforce the spell. Beelzebub disagrees. He’s already thinking about Margot all the time. He may as well have some information to fill those thoughts. Especially when she seems incredibly interesting. Margot is called to the Tribunal room along with everyone else, a very rare event. She sees Della, who cautiously takes her hand and asks if she’s okay. Della has heard about the situation with Beelzebub (who Margot can’t stop looking at and who returns her gaze with a hateful one of his own. Very different from his almost playful attitude in the library.). Della asks if Margot is sure about what she’s getting into. 1. That’s rich considering Della is in an actual relationship with Juliet, a vessel for a demon – although not an archdemon. 2. Margot didn’t do this on purpose! Soon, their conversation is quieted as Willow and Lucifer approach the Tribunal. This is the moment that Willow announces her true lineage. A Madizza, yes, but also a lost heir of the (presumed dead) Hecate line. (see our summary of The Coven and The Cursed which follows Willow’s story) Willow also lets it be known that she has destroyed the Covenant for a very good reason. Her biggest objector and Tribunal member, Itan Bray, dissents and Willow uses him as an example. She forces him to tell the coven of how the Tribunal and the Covenant conspired to make the familial lines so weak they could not procreate, consolidating the witches’ power in the Tribunal members to starve the vessels until the vessels died off and the coven could be recreated. Every person here who is not a Tribunal member was just going to be collateral damage. But more than that, she forces Itan to fess up to more personal crimes - with permission from Margot. Margot steps in front of him so the whole circle can see her as she demands that Itan admit what he did to her. Snuck into her room and raped her. At the words, she starts to sob but Beelzebub pulls her into his chest and shields her from view of the rest of the coven. But Margot hears as the coven makes the Tribunal pay for their crimes and kills them all. The next day, Beelzebub searches for Margot. After what happened with Itan, he wants to see for himself that she’s okay, but he has yet to locate her today. He finally finds her running on the grounds and interrupts her. He points out that running like this, to the point of exhaustion, is not healthy. She doesn’t really want his opinions. He doesn’t like the Margot the coven has made, preferring the confident Margot he saw yesterday as she confronted Itan - who she could become if given the chance. Problem is, he’s sure he isn’t the only one who liked Margot’s confidence yesterday and he doesn’t like how possessive he’s becoming. Margot has a run in with her (technically) betrothed: Keane Peabody of the Peabody Reds. They’ve been betrothed for years but Margot has no interest in marriage at all, let alone to him. Keane on the other hand believes he is in love with Margot, despite knowing nothing about her. When Keane tries to touch her face, she wrenches away from him and all of the words she’s been holding back come tumbling out. She doesn’t want to marry him, or anybody, and she will not be forced to make sacrifices for the Tribunal’s hubris and bad decisions. The second time Keane tries to touch her, Beelzebub is the one that stops him. She leaves the two of them alone to argue and goes to check on her mother, who is the new Erotes Tribunal member since her sister’s death in the massacre the previous day. As she approaches her mother’s classroom, Margot hears her mom talking to Uriah Peabody. He is concerned that Willow will use the Tribunal for her own ends and all their planning will go out the window. Margot’s mom is not worried. Her own daughter and heir is Willow’s friend and is bound to be chosen if Willow replaces the current Tribunal members. She recommends that the other House heads have their bound heirs make friends with Willow too, so their plans can stay in place. When Uriah storms out, Margot confronts her mother. It turns out, the Tribunal members had all chosen their eventual heirs. The Tribunal members then made a deal with Itan Bray. The Brays had ancient knowledge of binding knots that the others did not know, passed down through the generations of his family. They all chose a daughter to lead their lines and agreed that Itan would bind them. They did not know of his predilections until after the deal was made and at that point, they were under a blood oath not to interfere. Margot realizes several things at once. A. The seconds to the Tribunal leaders also knew of the plan to kill off most of the witches and starve the vessels. B. Her mother knew she was being raped and did nothing. C. There were other girls that were served to Itan on a silver platter. The other girls may not realize what happened to them though, since Itan gave them a sleeping draught before the binding ritual and they did not wake until morning and it was over. Margot was powerful even then and the draught was not as effective on her, causing her to wake up. The angrier she gets, the more Margot changes. Her nails lengthen, turn black. Her arms sprout scales. Her mother is thrilled. This is what the binding ritual was for! Tying a piece of the Source within each of the heirs so the magic would be trapped within them. The heirs cannot pull from the Source, nor can they return magic to it. It ties each of them to the darkest parts of their magic and makes them incredibly powerful, while cutting them off from the lighter parts. Margot storms away, intent on finding Willow as soon as possible. The binding must be reversable, they need to find out how. What the binding has done is unnatural, the witches are supposed to be the lighter side of Hell while the demons are the darker side. Sirens have not been seen since magic was originally given to witches by Lucifer, a gift he gave to the first Erotes and Peabody witches to help them reclaim themselves from men who demanded too much. But that gift was gone by the second generation and hasn’t been seen since… until now. Margot is so focused on finding Willow that she does not notice at first that someone waits in the hallway. At first, she thinks it’s Beelzebub, but when she actually looks up it’s someone who looks almost identical to Lucifer. Almost. As she realizes who it is, she’s knocked unconscious. Margot wakes up dizzy, bound, and gagged. Shortly after, she’s dragged into the Tribunal room by Michael (Lucifer’s twin and an archangel) where she sees Willow, hands frozen to the open seal to Hell and a dagger sticking out of her stomach - compliments of Iban Bray. Neither of them can do anything at the moment so they both play meek, waiting for their chance. Margot has already noticed that Michael guards his wings carefully, he must not like them to be touched. Suddenly, Beelzebub flies in, prepared to protect Willow until he sees Margot tucked next to Michael’s side. After a look from Willow, Beelzebub attacks Michael - who throws Margot away from him. She falls toward the open seal, sliding on Willow’s blood until she falls through. Beelzebub comes flying into Hell after her, wrapping her in his wings and taking the impact of their crash at the bottom. He keeps her wrapped up in his wings as they’re attacked by demons. He alerts Margot to the fact that they’re probably going to have to fight their way out, she nods agreement. He stands, unwraps her from his wings, undoes her bindings and gag, then lifts her into his arms as he fights the attacking demons, protecting Margot as best he can. He’s soon joined by Jonathan, Willow’s rescued Craven that can transform into a cat, but even with the help, Beelzebub cannot unfurl his wings long enough to fly them out. Two other archdemons join him and they’re still stuck at the bottom. Margot watches the seal above them as Lucifer and Michael battle. Jonathan gets hurt and jumps into Margot’s arms for protection, turning into a cat as he does so. Margot sees Willow hit Iban in the nose with the back of her head then tear her hands from the seal, removing the dagger from her stomach to round on Iban and sending Iban tumbling into Michael, which sends both Michael and Iban over the edge of the seal. Michael falls to the ground but Iban’s body disintegrates, a sacrifice made in order to save Willow’s life. Margot watches as the seal closes above her, blocking them from leaving Hell. The archdemons fight, even gaining help from some of the surrounding demons, but they can’t make any headway. Finally, Beelzebub tells Margot she’s going to have to help him out. A demon tears at one of his wings, hurting him and damaging his wing. Michael, missing the fingers on one hand, fights a red archdemon. Margot grabs Beelzebub’s neck and holds on tight, Jonathan tucked between them. Beelzebub takes off hard and flies, a little wonky die to his injury, toward a large building. He explains to her that they are in the first circle of Hell - Purgatory. The further away from the seal they get, the less populated it becomes, and the demons act less frantic and more aimless. Beelzebub lands in the building where a demon greets him. He tells the demon to give Jonathan stitches; he should be okay afterward. As for his wing, it will also need to be stitched up but he will have to do that himself right away so that it heals correctly. Unless Margot wants to do it for him. He certainly doesn’t want to ask another demon. If they don’t maim him on purpose, their assistance will be dependent on favors and deals. Beelzebub tells the other demon that Satanus and Asmodeus will be joining them shortly. Then Beelzebub takes Margot into a bedroom where he finds a needle and stitching thread. He calls her songbird. She doesn’t have the heart to tell him why she hates the nickname, simply because with her song she took his free will away from him and even if he isn’t harmed by it, it is still wrong. And she knows how it feels not to be able to act for yourself. Margot fully intended to stitch Beelzebub’s wing for him (despite not knowing how to do so). She understands what it feels like to have no one to rely on and he did get her protecting her, after all. But now, in this room with him, she’s confronted by all the ways that Beelzebub touched her while he protected her, and that they are alone in this room where he could do anything he wanted to her and no one would even try to stop him. He sees the look on her face and explains that he cannot guarantee her safety here. Hell is dangerous, but he will do his best to protect her (if for no other reason than she is important to Willow, who is important to Lucifer) and that may mean that he has to touch her when she does not give her consent. And he admits that he is dangerous… but not to her. He will not hurt her. And inside of this room, she is in charge. She agrees to sew his wing together and he sits on the bed to give her easy access. He is Lucifer’s second in command - in control of Hell during the time that Lucifer was trapped on land as a vessel. His tattoos were given to him, each as a reward from Lucifer, so that Beelzebub may have power of his own as not only be reliant on pulling from Lucifer’s. He was not made as an angel as Lucifer was but born fully grown in Hell. Yet he trembles when Margot holds his sensitive wing and stitches it back together for him. All the while, they both now that she could just heal him through desire if they had sex, yet he will not ask that of her. He sits on the bed through the pain (and pleasure) of her touching such a delicate part of his body. Margot starts to wonder what will happen now that Willow has freed Lucifer. She needs to tell them of the bindings on the Tribunal heirs. When asked what she’s thinking, she asks Beelzebub if he thinks she will ever get home again. He promises that he will make it happen, even if he already sounds tired with the effort of doing so and they haven’t even started. When she’s done stitching his wing, Margot encourages him to sleep, and Beelzebub tells her to be careful. They are in the home of the lord of the first circle; Beelzebub cannot guarantee her safety outside of this room. Once he’s asleep, she opens the door and sees said lord outside, watching the room. She closes the door again and pushes the dresser in front of it for good measure. She removes Beelzebub’s boots and covers him with a blanket, trying to make him more comfortable, as she sets herself up in an armchair to rest. She watches as Beelzebub turns over in his sleep, reaching out for her but only finding a pillow, before tucking the pillow into his side and cradling it gently, covering it with his wing. Beelzebub wakes to Margot’s whimpering as she has a nightmare. He hates witches, hates how Lucifer abandoned the demons for them, so much so that he intends to convince Lucifer to get rid of them all - though that will take time and Willow has really thrown a wrench in his plans. He decides to let Margot make her own way through her nightmare, but the spell’s compulsion doesn’t let him. Soon he’s tapping her shoulder trying to wake her, without touching her skin. If he touches her skin, her spell ensnares him deeper. He has to whisper in her ear with his own compulsion to finally get her to wake and she does so violently. She’s confused and screams, causing him to put his hand over her mouth - her voice was hurting him. She pushes him away as her hands turn to claws. He notices, wondering exactly what magic Lucifer gave to them, as she struggles to regain control. Once she does, he assures her that he will never touch her unless she wants it. Then he asks her to stop saying his name. It is entrancing - and he likes it. But he cannot like anything about her because the two of them will never work out. She agrees and asks what they have to do to get out of Hell. They’ll have to get to the ninth circle where they can contact Lucifer and make a plan. She tells him to get moving, pointing him toward the door. That’s not possible. Beelzebub needs to take Margot with him. It will take too long for him to get to the ninth circle and back, one of the demons will definitely have eaten her by then. Besides, the Lords of Hell know she’s there and will be expecting her to be weighed by each of the circles in turn. If she isn’t, they will come for her. Margot really doesn’t want to go into Lust (and it’s the second ring), but Beelzebub promises not to let her get stuck there. He leaves Margot to change into something that is not her school uniform, giving her clothes from the guest room closet and to think about what she wants to do. Beelzebub sits with Raum, a noble demon who is not equal to an archdemon, but who worked his way to become Lord of Purgatory. Raum weighs souls as they are delivered into Hell and decides which circle they belong in. He also loves schedules and routines. At dinner time, he calls for Margot and Beelzebub goes to collect her. Raum offers his hand to Margot and she takes it, scared to anger a demon, and Raum kisses her hand before making himself scarce. Beelzebub sits with Margot as they eat, assuring her that the food will not harm her in any way. He tells her that going with him through the circles is not the fastest way through Hell, but it’s the best bet that she’ll make it through alive and be able to leave. They get in a bit of a tiff, and she storms back to her room alone. He follows her to the room while announcing that now she’s just being difficult just for the sake of it. She knows she has to traverse the circles, and she knows the safest way is to do it with him, but she just doesn’t want to. She can admit that’s true and before she can second guess her decision, tells him to lead the way to the next circle. They grab canteens on their way out as Raum waves at them. He gave his permission for Margot to leave when he kissed her hand. Margot trusts Beelzebub in as much as a demon can be trusted - at least he doesn’t pretend to be what he’s not and is pretty honest about any expectations. And she knows he will protect her as well as he can. But she’s not okay with the attraction she has towards him and how he seems to go from hot to cold in an instant. They walk together through Purgatory, the ground a scorching hot, soft sand that your feet sink into, difficult to walk through. She even lets Beelzebub hold her hand at one point. They get to an oasis which Beelzebub indicates is real but suggests that she not drink from the pool, there are demons there that would love to eat her. The oasis is also the entrance to the second circle: Lust. He explains that he has a plan to get Asmodeus to let her go through the circle quickly and asks that she follow along. She has to pick an apple from a tree, which they do together, and the world around them begins to spiral. They land in a garden that mirrors the one they just left but close by, Margot sees a pit surrounded by onlookers. Margot doesn’t look into the pit, but Beelzebub explains that in it are the souls that Asmodeus is torturing. They are completely nude and repeatedly dragged against the rocks that tear at their skin. But the ones surrounding the pit watching are not demons for the most part, but other souls that Asmodeus is not currently upset with. And up some stairs towards Asmodeus’ house are even more souls. Such as Margot’s ancestor Amelia, the original Erotes, who is a favorite of Asmodeus. The two Erotes women are introduced and it is explained why Margot is in Hell. Asmodeus insists that she join them for the party tonight, so Amelia takes Margot into the house and through an orgy to her room, after Beelzebub makes it clear that Margot is to be kept safe. When they get to Amelia’s room, she’s very gentle and tender with Margot. She does Margot’s hair and makeup as she explains her own origins. She seems to understand on some level what happened to Margot. For herself, the preacher in Amelia’s town wanted her to marry his son, but the son fell in love with another and married against his father’s wishes. So, then the preacher chose to take Amelia as his second wife. When she turned him down, he accused her of being a witch and she was thrown in jail to await trial. Two weeks later, Charlotte Hecate made her deal with Lucifer and rescued Amelia. When asked what power she wanted, Amelia chose to take what they had made into an insult, a weakness, something to hate, and turn it into her power. All the desire and lust that they felt toward her, she would use. But all magic has darkness and light in balance. Lust may be the darkest part of a Red witch’s magic but there is also love that they can help foster and grow. She sees the invisible bindings in Margot’s skin and asks if all the witches have them. When told it’s only the Tribunal heirs, Amelia responds that only the person who placed the binding can release them. If he is dead, as he is, it will take an immense amount of power to snap the bindings. Also, Margot needs to find a way to release her power. If she can’t bear to be touched by another, she could send someone visions with the smallest touch or she could pleasure herself. The magic within her will consume her if she doesn’t find a way to release it, it is building up. As Margot gets dressed, Amelia explains that there’s a second reason for finding a way to release the magic. Though Beelzebub is likely trying to talk Asmodeus into letting Margot through the second circle, Asmodeus is a stickler for the rules and will not do it unless Margot gives something to the magic. As predicted, Asmodeus refuses to give in - even for Lucifer’s sake or a favor from Beelzebub. He does bring up a different option; Beelzebub could claim dominion on Margot which would essentially ward off any other demons, and while Beelzebub wants her, he won’t do that to her. When Margot walks down the stairs, he notices that the whole orgy goes quiet to look at her. The circle is working its magic, lowering everyone’s inhibitions, and he knows that he wants her. But he won’t let her mistakenly give something to him that he hasn’t earned the right to take, and it shocks him that he wants to earn that right. And the increase of his heart rate and breathing, that’s just the spell - probably. When Margot reaches the bottom of the stairs and takes his arm, he raises his wing behind her to shield her from view there without impeding her own view. She thanks him for that. Beelzebub walks Margot outside and is struggling to tell her something. Asmodeus reveals that he’s trying to find a way to tell Margot that she won’t be allowed through the circle free of charge. She shoots back that not taking part at all IS controlling lust, but Asmodeus disagrees, that means she’s afraid of it. She gets upset at Beelzebub (for some reason) and storms back into the party as he follows her. She sings, calling women over to her. She tells the women to make sure that Beelzebub gets what he wants tonight while she takes another man upstairs to Amelia’s room. She can’t bring Beelzebub; she can’t stand the thought of him only wanting her because of her song - although the thought of him with other women makes her want to vomit too. Margot asks the man she brought upstairs if he wants her, and if she can get him off, which he seems very amenable too. Her plan is to tie him up so he can’t be a danger to her and then send him a vision instead of really doing anything herself, but she doesn’t have the chance. Beelzebub comes in and snaps the man’s neck. I’m not sure how you kill someone already dead but okay. He takes the man’s place in the chair. When he was downstairs, Beelzebub had fought the women off but not followed Margot. At least, not until Amelia spoke to him. Amelia criticizes Beelzebub, she thought he would protect Margot from making choices she would regret. Besides, he is an archdemon. The spells of witches do not work effectively on them (Amelia has been trying for years to lure one of them). If it did, then Beelzebub would be more affected by the magic of the circle in general. Amelia touches his chest and shows him the strings of love which Margot would not recognize, but Amelia does. If he is obsessed with Margot, it is because of his magic not hers. The desire to overindulge in something he loves. He is the Lord of Gluttony, after all. He recognizes the truth in this and storms upstairs, where he gets rid of the random man. Turns out I was right and you can’t kill someone that’s already did, the man will wake up again in a few hours. Beelzebub goads Margot into tying him up instead, clarifying that he is more than willing to let her do it. And pointing out that their attraction definitely goes both ways. He tells her that if what he feels is a spell, he hopes she never lets him go. He doesn’t tell her the truth or about how he feels, she’s not ready to hear that yet. Once he’s tied up, Margot heads toward the door but he stops her by laying out her options. She has three choices. The easiest choice is to use him - as he has already said he is very willing. Or they can stay in Lust for however long it takes. Forever or at least until the spell has definitely worn off and she can use him knowing his consent was given freely, but he thought she was in a hurry and that may take a while. Or three, she can pick someone else and he can kill that person too and anyone else she chooses, but he begs her not to make him watch her with someone else. He can’t stand that. She sees that he’s not lying and she climbs onto his lap, which she didn’t expect of herself. She kisses his neck, his jaw, his mouth eventually. She writhes on him and even tries to undo his pants, but he stops her. She doesn’t need to do that, he’s willing to come for her without it, and he doesn’t want her to regret doing it. So, she doesn’t undo his pants, and he does come without it and she does not, but she does feel all the built up tension. When she undoes Beelzebub’s bindings and climbs off, the pain in her abdomen is intense. She’s been warned that if she doesn’t find her own release, the magic will claim her instead and she will no longer be in control. Beelzebub recognizes what she needs and volunteers to bring her to completion, which she refuses. He tells her to do it herself then, which she also refuses and locks herself in the bathroom, yelling at him to leave. A few minutes later he does. Amelia finds Beelzebub downstairs and seems delighted… until she realizes that only half of the couple is sated. Amelia storms upstairs as Beelzebub follows, explaining that Margot is bound from the source. Because of that, she cannot feel love - at least not until the binding is broken. Even if Margot loves Beelzebub as he has discovered he loves her, she wouldn’t recognize it. This makes sense to him and even makes him feel a little better. But in addition, because Margot never releases her magic, Amelia is concerned that if she loses control that Margot will shift into her siren form and not be able to shift back. It’s the same concern that Margot has for the other heirs. The Tribunal members serve as conduits for the source for the rest of their family. If they’re cut off and cannot return magic, will they just collect it all and it will riot inside of them? When Amelia and Beelzebub find Margot in a cold shower, she is burning up. Beelzebub places Margot on the bed and sees that she has already begun shifting. Her nails are talons, her eyes are black, she has the hint of scales, and her face has become more gaunt. Amelia takes a dagger and cuts a line down Margot’s sternum, releasing some of the tension and allowing Margot to return to her normal state. Amelia touches some of the blood to Beelzebub’s arm and he feels the need that Margot feels all the time. Amelia tells him to figure out a way to have Margot release some magic, she’s going to lose control soon. Margot wakes the next morning ready to leave the circle. When she and Beelzebub go downstairs, Asmodeus thanks Margot. The small amount of blood Amelia brought downstairs from Margot Amelia shared with the party, the magic sending them into a lustful frenzy and leaving them with quite a hangover. The other half of the blood had been used on Beelzebub, but he stayed next to Margot, even with all the tumult inside of him. That gives Margot a moment of satisfaction knowing that he would have chosen her if she was willing but since she wasn’t, he hadn’t chosen anyone else. And he had not forced her. But Margot also recognizes she should feel something else. That something is missing in her, though she’s not sure what that is. Asmodeus tells Margot that they could make real use of her magic in the second circle. But Beelzebub guides her away toward the next circle, his own circle. Asmodeus comes out behind them, trying to convince Margot to stay. He tries to compel her to stay but Beelzebub pins Asmodeus against the tree and tells Margot to go through the border, he will follow after her. She realizes that Asmodeus’ magic is not affecting Beelzebub like it’s affecting her, making her want to stay and perform acts that she has refused to do otherwise. She realizes that Beelzebub is immune. He reminds Margot that she is more than just lust, more than the box everyone wants to put her into. When Asmodeus refuses to allow Margot to leave, she cuts her ties to him (which should be impossible) and walks through the border trusting that Beelzebub will find her. On the other side. She lands on the other side of the border, followed quickly by Beelzebub. Margot can still see Asmodeus seething as Beelzebub explains that the Lords are there to serve their circles and replenish the magic. The magic is not there to serve them - though Asmodeus seems to have forgotten that. And without Asmdodeus’ permission, they couldn’t use the portal between circles like they did in Purgatory, but the magic allowed them to leave anyway because she had proven not to be controlled by lust. They begin walking through Gluttony, Beelzebub’s circle, and Margot thanks him for not letting her go too far the night before and for believing in her, which gave her the strength to break free of Asmodeus. He kisses her again and she’s quickly swept away, knowing that he is attracted to her alone and not affected by her magic. It’s the first time she’s ever known it fully. But he stops before the kiss becomes anything more. He doesn’t want to be something she will later regret. He wants to be her everything. They continue towards Beelzebub’s manor, they pass tree after tree filled with tantalizing fruits, a test of the souls that wander there. If they eat any of it, they get sent to the mud pits that will trap them forever. As Margot walks, a hand grabs her from where it sticks through the dirt path. She nearly tries to free it but is stopped by Beelzebub, and by Jonathan who did not stay in Purgatory and has been waiting for them. The cat bites the hand before jumping into Margot’s arms. Closer to the gates of Beelzebub’s home, they see his dog Cerberus who greets both him and Margot affectionately. Margot sees souls picnicking on the lawn and is awed by the beautiful building and gardens. He’s glad she likes it. She’s welcome to stay here, with him, if they can’t return her home. Inside, Beelzebub is greeted by Moloch - who is surprised but happy to see Beelzebub - on his way to a meeting of the Order of Flies which rule Gluttony in Beelzebub’s stead, and Moloch seems to both disapprove of and dismiss Margot. Soon, a woman comes out and greets Beelzebub as well. In fact, she makes it clear that she has laid claim to Beelzebub, but Beelzebub makes it equally as clear that he chooses Margot. This makes the woman, Proserpina, turn mean instead of just territorial. Margot feels a wave of jealousy over Beelzebub and pins Proserpina to the wall by her throat, shifting into a partial siren in the process. She tells Proserpina that if she touches Beelzebub again, it will not go well for her, as Beelzebub tells Moloch that if anyone touches Margot, they won’t have hands anymore. Then Beelzebub leads Margot upstairs to his room where he explains that she was being affected by Gluttony, causing her to be aggressive toward Proserpina. Her favorite treat (him) was being infringed upon. Then he leaves her to rest as he takes a shower, pretty happy with what just happened. They only stay for the night before Beelzebub, giving her permission to leave, takes Margot to the next portal located in the cellar. They walk through a tunnel until they find a pile of gold, Margot chooses a piece that has flaming feathers on it. The coins, depending on which is chosen, will take you to a room in Mammon’s manor where you will be prepared by others to enter his court. Margot is again transported through a portal and lands in a net, where three identical women pull her down and start to clean her up. They do her hair but are surprised to see that Margot isn’t already wearing any makeup. She scoffs; she doesn’t want to be enticing to men when all they do is take and display her like a trophy. The three women understand this sentiment but also explain to Margot that she can either lie under the scorn and shame of the way men look at her, or she can reclaim it as her own and use it against them. Let the makeup distract them while Margot sharpens her claws. This really has an effect on her. They bring out a gown for her to wear; Margot thinks it feels a bit like armor too. Beelzebub is at the masquerade looking for Margot, forced to wear a shirt - which he rarely does on account of his wings. He sees Mephistopheles first, who acts for Mammon while Mammon is top side with Lucifer. When Beelzebub sees Margot, they dance together. Everyone else at the ball wants to possess her, and is greedy to have her, but he just wants her to fly. Something is different tonight, she is more at ease in her skin and he’s happy to see it, he wants her to feel like that all the time. That evening he takes her upstairs, convinces her to change and remove her makeup, and puts her into bed. But she refuses to let him leave her, so he holds her as she sleeps. The next morning, she wakes up alone and goes to find him, she hears him talking to another person. That person notices how cozy Beelzebub was with Margot the night before, but Beelzebub brushes it off - she’s just a distraction until he can leave Hell. Margot is stunned, so upset that her body goes numb like it did when she would disassociate. She goes back to her room which Beelzebub quickly returns to. He’s feeling upbeat but notices that something is wrong. She changes from pajamas into something more substantial - in the same room as him but with her back turned toward him. It’s the first time she’s ever been able to change in front of him. He sees white scars striping her back, but she doesn’t explain where she got them. She nearly refuses to speak to him at all, even when he asks what he’s done wrong. She tells him to leave her alone and storms past him, and he finally gets angry too. He lets her know the next portal is a half mile to the south - she can head there since she’s so determined to be alone. Beelzebub watches as Margot marches away from him, torn. Does he go after her against her wishes, possibly making her angrier as they prepare to enter Wrath? Does he cut his losses and fly directly to the ninth circle to explain to Lucifer that he tried his best, but Margot was too stubborn to be saved? Does he let her go, proving to Mephistopheles that she is not important to him? Mephistopheles’ greed shows itself best in a way that allows him to identify what is important for others and collect that (items, people, whatever) for himself. And he already identified Margot. Suddenly, Beelzebub realizes that Margot heard him as he tried to throw Mephistopheles off her scent and Beelzebub kicks himself, running after her. He hears Mephistopheles behind him. He only hopes that Margot makes it through the portal before Mephistopheles can revoke his permission, or else she will have to prove to the magic itself that she is not greedy - though she may have already done that when she left Beelzebub behind. He flies past the people pushing gold boulders up mountains as their eternal punishment and makes it to the portal. He sees a trident is already missing and guesses that Margot made it to the portal and grabbed the trident as she went through. He grabs a dagger and pulls his scythe necklace as the world around him spins. The necklace turns into his actual scythe. In Wrath, the souls fight constantly, Beelzebub walks directly into a battlefield. He locates Margot as quickly as possible and shoots right to her, but she’s already being injured and pulled down by the souls surrounding her. He lays waste to the souls around her but he’s also being overtaken. Her throat has been hurt, but when Beelzebub’s throat is cut, Margot begins to sing. It’s the last thing he hears before he loses consciousness. She holds Beelzebub’s neck where the blood pumps from it and Satanus, Lord of Wrath, appears. It’s no good, Satanus tells her, she can’t save Beelzebub that way. She begins to identify the strange new feeling she’s been having. She’s falling in love with Beelzebub. Margot notices that Satanus doesn’t seem to care one way or the other if Beelzebub dies, but she begs Satanus to save him. She promises that she’ll give Satanus anything he wants. Satanus tastes her blood, then puts a clawed hand on her shoulder. He squeezes until her bindings are broken and the light side of the source comes shrieking back to her. Margot is then transported, still holding Beelzebub’s neck, to Satanus’ manor. Margot demands that Satanus do more to help Beelzebub, but Satanus insists that he has helped by giving Beelzebub a safe place to heal. Anything more is up to her. She’s angry but she does what she must to save Beelzebub, thinking of the night she was on his lap in lust. She is in the middle of masturbating when she opens her eyes and sees Beelzebub watching her. She stops touching herself when she notices Beelzebub watching, but he asks her to keep going. Besides, he’s not dead but he’s certainly not healed completely. She surprises both of them by asking him to touch himself too, and she climaxes for the first time ever without anyone but herself - which Beelzebub thinks is very important for her to find her own power. Once they’re changed and cleaned up, Beelzebub doesn’t want to linger before moving to the next circle. That’s when he notices his scythe is missing and he can’t remember how they got here. Margot reveals that Satanus has it, he brought them to the manor. Beelzebub asks if she made a deal with Satanus but instead of telling him the truth, Margot brings up what Beelzebub said to Mephistopheles - she’s still angry. He explains why he said it. Mephistopheles would have locked her up never to be seen again if he’d known that Beelzebub is in love with her. This isn’t easy to hear, and Margot demands that he take it back, but he can’t. He loves her to her very bones. Then he leads her out to go find his scythe, explaining that she doesn’t need to say anything back. Even so, she definitely thinks she’s falling. They get the scythe from Satanus, who gives Margot his permission to continue through the portal. The portal is located in a cemetery this time, guarded by a stone demon. The demon looks exactly like Beelzebub but with three eyes, he’s even holding a matching scythe. Inside the cemetery, they find all the witches who had been improperly buried and cut off from returning to the source. They’ve been relegated to the sixth circle, Heresy. This includes Susannah, who is part of the reason everyone else was sent to Heresy at all being part of the Covenant who decided to deprive the witches from the source. She also knew about Itan. Margot tells Susannah she’s happy that Susannah is a prisoner in Heresy before she and Beelzebub move past her. Beelzebub is welcomed into Belphegor’s opulent manor (surprisingly, Margot can spot attributes that she would have considered belonging to the other circles in the decor) as Beelzebub explains. Though Lucifer is the closest thing the archdemons have to a father, making them brothers of a sort, Belphegor was created the same day, so he and Beelzebub consider each other brothers. Beelzebub’s magic had been waiting years to be called forth, and when Lucifer did, the source saw fit to make two demons. No one knows why. They are not identical, Belphegor is slightly shorter and less built, plus there’s the third eye, but he also is not an archdemon like Beelzebub is. Belphegor is more susceptible to the other circles so he rarely leaves his own, and he will never leave Hell. He carried Lucifer’s cot to the surface but chose to return to Hell right away. When Belphegor comes out, his and Beelzebub’s relationship is much different than Beelzebub’s relationship with the other archdemons. They are affectionate and teasing. When Belphegor and Margot are introduced, he welcomes her to the family and invites her to play cards. During the game (which Margot wins), Belphegor gets a little testy about the source. Although he no longer seems to resent Beelzebub about not being made into an archdemon as well, Belphegor is still angry. Then Beelzebub gives him the news that they have to leave the next day. Belphegor doesn’t want to leave Heresy and Margot can’t live in Hell, so the brothers are doomed to be separated again. On the way to their room, Margot is honest about the bindings that Satanus broke and Beelzebub tells her the truth about why so many archdemons left Hell. They had planned to get rid of the witches, but when Lucifer met Willow, all their plans changed. Beelzebub and Margot go to the portal the next day. There is no demon in charge of the seventh ring, Violence, meaning that Margot will have to appease the magic of Heresy and not just be allowed through by Belphegor. She must cut her hand and drop blood onto an altar. When the world spins, the portal separates Margot and Beelzebub. She arrives alone in Violence with a bad feeling. She makes her way to a large mirror that looks much like the seal to Hell itself. Inside the mirror, a younger Margot waits - not yet hurt by Itan. The younger Margot inflicts wounds on the present Margot as she berates her for allowing the younger version to be hurt. Margot swears she is not like Itan. She’s been warned that the magic will overpower her without release, but she plans to kill herself before that happens. The younger version hands Margot a shard of glass. Better kill herself now then. Margot almost does but at the last second, she puts the glass down. She won’t let Itan have that too. The memories and visions fade away. Beelzebub was there the whole time. He was forced to watch Margot battle her inner demons alone, helping would have doomed her to the seventh circle forever. When she passed out, he took Margot to the manor to sleep (his own memory in the seventh circle is of Satanus). Beelzebub is so proud of Margot, of everything she’s overcome, and he tells her that when she wakes up. About how strong she is to have kept going. She tells him she’s done just existing - she’s ready to live again. They leave Violence for Fraud, where they throw themselves off a cliff and tell the wind a lie. They land on a beautiful sand covered beach and head toward a lovely manor and the lady demon Legion who is in charge of Fraud. Beelzebub asks if he may be able to offer his own truth to Legion so that Margot will be spared but if anything, this offer only makes Legion more interested in Margot. She forces a truth out of Margot, that Margot loves Beelzebub, and then forces Margot to reveal the truth in full herself… out loud. No one leaves Fraud a liar so she can either tell Beelzebub or Legion will make the truth null, destroying the love and the bonds between Margot and Beelzebub. Margot tells Beelzebub that she wants a future and she wants it with him. Beelzebub is relieved and delighted, but he’d been prepared to allow her to make the choice for their relationship and not push her into telling him anything she wasn’t ready for. Afterward, they go to a bedroom where they can rest. Or whatever. They do not sleep. Instead, they have sex for the first time. Beelzebub gives Margot a sleeping tonic that evening and dresses her in warm clothes as she sleeps. He carries her from Fraud into Treachery, a frozen wasteland that is Lucifer’s home circle - currently ruled by Zepar in Lucifer’s stead. To get through the portal, you must either betray or be betrayed, and Beelzebub has done just that. He is going to betray Margot, which fulfills the requisite for them both. He leaves the sleeping Margot in his room and heads down to the lake to speak to Lucifer without her. Though Margot will undoubtedly consider this a betrayal, the lake is dangerous for her human body and besides, he’s not sure if there’s still a world for Margot to go back to. Margot is woken by Satanus, who says that Beelzebub has gone to the lake and there is currently a revolt happening to keep the gate closed inside of Hell. Beelzebub sent him to take Margot to Gluttony. This feels wrong, she knows that Beelzebub would trust Satanus least of all the archdemons, so she fights to get away from Satanus. But he reminds her of her bargain to give him anything and her body stops fighting. Satanus explains that he doesn’t want her body (which she assumed would be his asking price), she’s more use to him dead than alive. He stabs her in the stomach with a dagger the pulls the blade out again. But they aren’t done yet, death is just the beginning.