I nodded. “Yeah. We need to get this shit under control, and fast.” Art glanced up at me, his face serious.
“That’s why I came to find you. Lilith sent me; she says she has an idea.”
I let out a sigh of relief, grateful she was still being good and following orders. I was glad she had listened and asked Art to come find us instead of doing so herself. If she had walked in here and seen Mike’s severed head, I would have probably needed to spend the rest of the day consoling her.
“I don’t want Lilith finding out about this. She’ll be devastated.” Art and Shem nodded in agreement, both of them looking shaken up themselves.
“Get this cleaned up,” I ordered, speaking directly to Art. He didn’t hesitate. With a wave of his hand, Mike’s head disappeared, and he left to find what I hoped was a bucket and a mop for the inky sludge that still stained the floor.
Turning my attention to Gabriel, I spun the scepter deftly in my hand before misting it away for future inspection. “As grateful as I am for the scepter, you were fucking reckless involving a lesser angel like this.”
Gabriel narrowed his eyes on me, looking annoyed. “Yeah, well, I’m not thrilled he fucking had to die over this either. I was already feeling like shit about it, thanks for rubbing it in.”
I shrugged. “Nothing we can do about it now. Go back to Heaven and try not to get yourself unmade before the feast. Hazai and I will send for you if we need anything.” I dismissed the archangel. Shem shot Gabriel a considering look and pursed his lips.
“Be careful,” he warned darkly. “If He was willing to unmake Mike, it’s very possible He now has a taste for it. Don’t give Him a reason to turn a scepter on you until we can get you out of there.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened slightly, the only indication that Shem’s concern had affected him. “I didn’t know you cared, Shemhazai,” he murmured softly.
Shem shrugged. “We were all angels once, Gabriel,” he said. The truth of his words hung in the air as we left to find Lilith. He was right. We had all been angels once. We knew better than anyone what that meant.
Yahweh had always claimed we were the monsters, but never in the history of Hell had a demon been unmade. The fact that Yahweh had just made it clear He was willing to execute His own citizens for something as innocuous as petty theft left my chest feeling tight and my blood running cold.
If He was willing to do this to His own angels, there was no telling what He might do to Lilith if He ever got His hands on her.
Shem and I exchanged a glance that told me his thoughts had followed a similar path.
“We’ll protect her,” he assured, me and I nodded, though I couldn’t help but wonder if our protection would be enough.
“If you want to stop me, you’re going to have to fucking kill me.”
—RUTH LANGMORE, OZARK
Iwas anxious. My stomach roiled as I paced back and forth in our bedroom, waiting for Art to return with Ramel and Shem.
Wringing my hands before me, I found myself weighing our options with the other version of myself. We had a theory of how Yahweh had managed to manifest enough power to start picking off the other gods, and if we were right, we would be able to overthrow Him.
The only issue was it would put mankind at risk. Neither myself nor the ancient version of me was thrilled with the thought, but if it was our only chance, we couldn’t take it off the table.
Ramel and Shem blew into the room; both of them looked upset, and I frowned, stopping my pacing at the looks on their faces.
“What? What happened?” I asked, momentarily forgetting my internal debate. Shem’s face was white with worry, and Ramel’s jaw was so tight that it looked like he might crack a molar.
“Nothing,” Ramel replied. I narrowed my eyes on him, looking back and forth between him and Shem. Shem slipped into his usual mask of amusement, hiding away the worry I had seen. He slid his hands into his pockets and gaveme a cavalier grin.
“Everything’s just peachy, sweetheart. No need to worry your pretty little head.”
“Something happened,” I argued, and Ramel pinched the bridge of his nose, sighing.
“It’s nothing you need to worry about, deathtrap. Art told us you made a discovery. Why don’t you tell us what it is?”
I knew he was trying to distract me from asking more questions about whatever had happened in their secret little meeting, but I also knew there was no use pushing him if he had decided he wasn’t going to tell me.
Besides, I needed them to help me prove my theory, and the faster I could confirm my suspicions, the sooner we could take action.
“I need you to take me back to the graveyard,” I said, and both of their eyes widened in surprise.
“I wasn’t expecting you to say that.” Ramel cocked his head to the side. “Why? What’s at the graveyard?”
