I nodded at the book. “Greek? God related?”
Lucifer snorted. “You think you are Persephone?”
“No, I think I am a descendant and that enough bread crumbs were dropped so that when the time came, I could reclaim the birthright.”
Lucifer reached across the table and reopened the book I’d slammed shut. The smoldering tree unfurled across the pages again, its branches twisting and glowing faintly in gold, silver, red, and black ink. He placed one finger on the center of the tree. The air thickened, the ground hummed, and my skin burned as magic coiled around us. “Let’s begin before you decide you’re an ancient Greek goddess.”
I crossed my arms. “It was a reasonable conclusion.”
“It was a ridiculous conclusion,” Dave retorted.
Lucifer drew a slow breath and tapped a symbol shaped like a feathered wing at the top of the page.
“The First Seal.” The symbol flared bright white. “The Angel Line. The seal of creation, life, and divine authority.” He looked up, eyes steady. “Your father’s blood.”
I frowned. “And yours. Go on, I’m following.”
His finger trailed across the top of the tree to a leafy branch curled around a flame. “The Second Seal.” Gold light spilled across the page. “The Elemental Line. The seal of earthbound magic, of will, of natural order.”
I glanced at Sophia, whose lips were pressed in a tight line.
I swallowed hard. “Seals to what?”
“We’ll get to that,” Lucifer said as he tapped a sigil shaped like two fangs. “The Third Seal.” Silver fire flared. “The Vampire Line. The seal of immortality, hunger, and the balance between life and death.”
That accounts for Aira.
He touched the last symbol, a claw mark across a moon. “The Fourth Seal.” Deep amber light pulsed. “The Shifter Line. The seal of instinct, chaos, and war.”
My breath caught as I stared at Dave. His stoic expression didn’t falter.
“Then why am I here?” I wondered as my butt dropped into the chair. “And what about Harry? Also, the seals to what?” A thousand thoughts clashed in my mind.
Lucifer sat back. “Let’s start with why you are here.”
“Okay.”
“The final mark at the bottom of the tree represents you.”
“At least I got that part right.”
Dave snorted. “True, but you couldn’t be further from the truth.”
“Spill it, then.”
Lucifer dragged in a breath. “You are the product of an elemental and an archangel. You have the blood of the first two seals in your veins.”
“Right.”
Aira shook her head. “Then you ingested Sebastian’s blood.”
I stiffened. “He saved my life?—”
“He wasn’t meant to. Not that way,” Aira murmured.
Lucifer didn’t soften the blow. “You were not supposed to carry the Third Seal.”
My pulse hammered, and a dizzy, sickening feeling hit my stomach. Gravity shifted, and my world tipped sideways as I willed them not to confirm what I already knew.
