Risen (Haunted Series Book 22)

walked into a courtyard encircled by an open first-floor balcony.  Seated in the center of a line of regal beings was Lucifer.  Mia quickly looked down and walked forward until a steadying hand made of wood reached out and stopped her.
“I shouldn’t be surprised you’re here.  I figured you’d be gracing our world again, but I didn’t expect to have you drop into the Pit of Despair.  Tell me, how did you find it?”
“Telling.”
“Look at me, Mia, when you speak.”
“Telling,” Mia repeated as she raised her head and looked at Lucifer.
“Care to expand on this?”
Mia cleared her voice.  “If legend is correct, the Pit of Despair shows you what you despair of the most and makes you endure it until the keepers feel that you have learned your lesson.”
“What did you learn?” Lucifer asked wryly.
“That I hate pink, insecure males, and taking care of insecure males,” she blurted out.
“You do seem to collect them,” Lucifer commented.  “But you weren’t in the pit alone were you?”
“No, sir.  I brought a demon with me.”
“Why?”
“I’m sure you’ve heard why?”
“I’ve heard it related to me from many sources.  I want to hear it from you.”
“My cousin by adoption, Sabine Norwood, called me.  She was on a treasure hunt with two of my associates.  She was experiencing an attack of evil from the island where her boat was anchored.  She asked for my advice and for me to speak to Angelo for her.”
“Angelo Michaels?” Lucifer asked.
“Yes, Angelo Michaels.  He has looked after Sabine since she was a child.”
“Did you?”
“Yes.  I related the information, and he suggested I go down there.  I was hoping he would have one of his flock check up on her, but he didn’t.  Not long after that I was approached by Whitney Martin.  He is an agent for the federal government specializing in the paranormal.  He tried to strong arm me and my husband, Ted, into joining him and investigating this island.  I declined.”
“Then why were you there?”
“I sought out counsel from Judge Roumain, and he directed me to Sabine’s father who was one of the successful few who had ever escaped the island.  The tale he told me sent up fireworks.  Sorry, it alarmed me.  From what I heard, I came to the assumption that Sabine, because she is a super vessel, was in danger from the island.  The demon-with-no-name, in particular, was indeed a concern, although Lamia was also a threat.”
“What did you do?”
“I enlisted the help of my mentor Nicholai to help me transport my husband Ted, Burt Hicks, and Stephen Murphy to the Azure.  Nicholai then returned immediately with Sabine to our farm in Illinois.  I stayed briefly, masquerading as my cousin – we have similar coloring – to fool the Feds who had arrived around the same time.  I realized I should have left but…”  Mia stopped.
“Go on,” Lucifer instructed.
“I was worried that the Feds were in danger.  Also, there were two ghosts still left on the island when I arrived.  I didn’t feel as if I could fly there and pick them up.”
“Wait. Fly?”
“I’m sorry, I thought you knew.”
“No, this is news to me,” Lucifer said, his head turned.
Mia saw he was looking at Altair.
“Go on.”
“In our paranormal world, it’s rather odd to see flying people.  But in the world of these Coast Guardsmen, I feared it would have been harrowing.  In short, I didn’t want to get shot out of the sky, so I waited for morning and went by boat.”  Mia went on to describe the events of the lost landing parties who were investigating the lost sixty passengers and crew of the cruise ship.  She stopped and ordered her thoughts before speaking.  “It wasn’t until I felt the demon-with-no-name trying to press into my mind, that I got the idea of how to stop him.  I was going to send him down here for you guys to deal with while I tried to appease Lamia.”
“Why?”
Mia described her attack on Lamia.  She explained, “I was worried that I jumped the gun, and she wasn’t intending to attack us at all, and then I took out an eye before she threw me far away into the sea.  After that, she dug herself in, and the storm approached.”
“You admit to being hasty in dealing with Lamia, but not coming down here.”
“Yes.  When I remembered that the spell doesn’t work unless you have a name to use, I knew I would be traveling with the demon-with-no-name.  It was the quickest solution to the problem.  I was dealing with a hurricane up there, missing federal agents, and a demon that eats brains faster than popcorn at a movie, and he was going to find a way off that island.  If it wasn’t me, it would have been some other sensitive that whomever he’s been dealing with on the other islands set up.  He was strong enough, he was ready, and I was afraid.”
“So, you broke him out of a prison that has held him there for hundreds of years,” Lucifer clarified.
“Apparently so,” Mia snapped.  “Some prison.  You condone him feeding on innocents.  Sixty in the last month, hundreds of thousands over the years he’s been there.  I’ve seen the piles of bones.  After all, they’re just humans.  Food for the gods.  Well, fuck that!”
“Mia!” Sticks exclaimed.  “Calm down.”
Mia looked up at him and closed her eyes.  “I’m sorry, I forgot myself.”
“Don’t apologize to me,” Stick said, pointing to the fallen sitting in judgement.
Mia turned and said, “I’m sorry for losing my temper.”
Lucifer smiled.
“I thought if he was Hell’s problem to begin with, then Hell would know how to stop him.  Yes, if there wasn’t a hurricane bearing down on us, I would have sought out a way to speak with someone here first.  But I