“We’ve been finding bodies,” he finally said quietly. “Angels, mostly scouts and very small teams. Their wounds were cauterized all the way through and made by a large sword.” He lifted his eyes to mine. “Like an Archangel blade.”
My first reaction tumbled out of my mouth. “Impossible!”
“I can assure you, brother, it’s not.” Michael sighed and scrubbed his face with his hands. “I’ve seen the bodies myself. We’re searching for Azrael to confirm—he knows death better than any of us—but I fear he’s preoccupied enough as it is.”
Unlike Michael, I couldn’t sit still when presented with a problem. I pushed to my feet and started pacing in front of the couch. “So has Abaddon succeeded, then? Or… dammit. Michael, when was the last time anyone visited Eden’s Gate?”
His eyes widened. “You think something has happened to Uriel?”
“I hope not, but we can’t rule out the possibility that Abaddon took one of the Swords by force. We both have ours, so we need to at least make sure the last one is safe.” Dread filled my lungs at the idea of that asshole getting his hands on one of the Archangel Blades. “Either way, we need Hephaestus to accelerate his weapon plans. It looks like Abaddon is ready, whether we are or not.”
Michael stood, a distinct golden aura now humming around his body. “Then I’ll go to Eden myself. God willing, I’ll find nothing amiss.”
I curled my lip and scoffed. “God willing? If our Father was so concerned, He would’ve interfered by now. This isn’t some human war where free will is a factor; this is Heaven and Hell, and His precious humans are being targeted.”
“You know the rules—”
“Yeah, and I know He breaks them as He sees fit,” I replied harshly. “Ask the mortals who they think His so-called ‘son’ really was. Even they know He has the power to descend to this plane and make a difference.”
Michael shook his head and stepped toward me, surprising me with a hug. “I don’t wish to fight, brother. I’ll report back once I know something.”
“Oh, sorry, I should’ve knocked first.”
I spun toward the voice, my tense muscles releasing for the first time all day. Lexi stood at the top of the stairs, watching us with a small smile. The bronze dragon around her neck had managed to keep her power masked enough that I hadn’t sensed her approach, which didn’t normally happen. Unless she’d been using her power.
“Nonsense,” Michael said, opening his arms wide. “I hear this is your home now.”
Lexi took a step forward, then hesitated. Michael, not usually one for reading a room, swooped down on her and picked her up in a bear hug. She laughed as he spun her around once, then set her back down, glancing between us not-so-subtly and tapping his chest. Right over his heart. I scowled at his insinuation.
“I’ll take my leave, then. Have a wonderful evening, brother. Alexis.”
“It’s just Lex—”she started, but Michael vanished in a blink. Lexi frowned at the space where he’d been standing. “I hate it when you guys do that.”
A different kind of energy buzzed around her that had nothing to do with her magic. Her hair was wild, resembling liquid flame now even more than it had the first time I’d laid eyes on her. Amber-brown eyes glowed like the orange stone that the bronze dragon she wore played guardian to—a sign that the stone’s magic was working overtime to hide hers. My inner fire burst to life at the sight, deciding whatever she’d been doing tonight, I wanted it to happen more often if only to see her like this.
“Why are you staring at me like that?”
I blinked and found her watching me from the spot where Michael had set her down, a coy smile on her face. This fucking woman. Never had anyone held so much sway over me, and I’d never wished for such, but Lexi had come barreling into my world and flipped everything on its head. And she was entirely too far away from me at that moment.
It seemed I wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
With a few quick strides, Lexi was across the room and shoving me down on the couch. The part of me that used to demand dominance with any and all sexual partners remained blissfully silent as Lexi straddled my lap and claimed my mouth. I trailed my fingers up her thighs, over the curve of her hips, up, up, until I reached the chain that hung around her neck. A flick of my fingers and it fell, flooding the room with her presence, her wild energy.
Fucking gorgeous.
“Why do you always take that off?” She pressed me back into the cushions, nipping at my earlobe, down my throat. “Any particular reason or just a personal preference?”
I grabbed her ass with both hands and pulled her closer, my erection trapped between us under far too many clothes. “When I’m with you, I want to feel all of you. That includes the firestorm of power you have so much trouble containing. In this house, under these wards, don’t hide it from me.”
She pulled back, her eyes flashing a brilliant gold in the light from the kitchen. Her hands cradled my face, thumbs tracing my cheekbones, and the gesture was ridiculously, absurdly comforting. “I love you, Lucifer.”
My throat locked down on a reply; instead, I pulled her back in, thrusting my tongue between her lips. If she was disappointed, she didn’t show it, only fought back with every ounce of the energy I’d unleashed with the removal of her amulet. Lexi took over the kiss, prying my hands from her body to pin them against the back of the couch, fingers entwined with mine. She wanted control tonight, and I’d be a liar if I said I wouldn’t enjoy every fucking second of it.
Still, her words churned in my gut. It wasn’t the first time she’d said them, but I couldn’t give her the response she so clearly desired. Until recent weeks, I hadn't been sure I was even capable of the emotion. Attachment, sure. Love? That was a fool’s dream, and a dangerous one for me.
Or rather, for the person I felt it for.
To speak them out loud, to put those words out into the universe, would be inviting Father or any number of enemies to see out what happiness I’d managed to find and destroy it. My fall was a punishment; I wasn’t meant to find love in it. So, if that’s truly what this overwhelming feeling was, as Michael and Loki insisted, then it needed to remain unspoken. Even if I disappointed my fiery temptress.
