“That...I, ah, well I haven’t figured that part out yet,” I admitted. “All I know is that things can’t keep going on as they have been. Something drastically needs to change or the world just isn’t going to survive. The demons are destroying it. If we trap them inthere...”
“That’s something to figure out when we make it back through the portal,” Lilith said. “As it is, we’re the ones trapped in a foreignrealm.”
I didn’t point out that Lilith wasn’t anything of the sort. This was her home, but I knew that wasn’t how she felt. Home to her was where she’d made it: back onearth.
“Wait.” Lizzie clutched my shirt’s thin material and pulled me close so that she could whisper into my ear. “There’s someone up there, in between the buildings. Two of them. One of them I’ve never seen before, but I swear the other looked familiar, even though I only saw the back of hishead.”
My heart trembled, and I held my body still as I gazed in the direction Lizzie pointed. Two towering buildings sat side by side, only a thin strip of land between them. An alley, much like those found in human cities, but a strange aura emanated from the depths of it. There was someone—or something—in therealright.
“Ramiel?” I asked, voice hitching on the last syllable. As annoyed as I was with him right now, he was still theboss.
“Let’s check it out,” he said slowly. “They might know where we can find theportal.”
Lilith snorted. “If they do, they’re unlikely to tell a group of fallen angels. Leave this one to me. Rourke? You should come with. I can use you as bait if needbe.”
“Bait?” His voice sounded strangled and small, a strange sound coming from such a large, intimidating tank of a man. He might talk big, and he might have volunteered to come with us on this crazy mission, but he was still shitting his pants. Figuratively. Fornow.
“Come on,” Lilith said, grabbing his arm and dragging him toward the alley half a block down theroad.
Now, this was the kind of situation where my typical Erela-ness has a tendency to cause problems. I didn’t want to just sit and wait for Lilith and her human boyfriend to find out what was what. I think I’ve made it clear more than once that I kind of just plow forward into situations without really thinking things through. Waiting quietly while others put their lives on the line? Puretorture.
So, that was how I found myself following Lilith and her beau despite the angry whispered shouts that followedme.
But I couldn’t help myself. Lizzie had said one of the forms she’d seen was familiar. It was someone she knew, which meant that it was someone I knew, too. Not to mention the aura felt familiar. It whispered against my soul and my heart, drawing me closer and closer to that alley. It was different than the sensation that poured through the portal on either side. This was something else. Somethingmore.
And when I peeked my head around the edge of the wall, I knew exactlywhy.
My father washere.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Erela
For a moment,I was frozen. My brain couldn’t make sense of what I was seeing. My father, the infamous, glorious Archangel named Michael. One of the very first angels that ever existed was standing in an abandoned alley having a chat with a male demon whose skin was the color of clouds and eyes were the color of blood. So many emotions churned through me. Shock, fear, anger, andconfusion.
What was he doing here? How had he even gotten here? Did he know what had happened to me? Why hadn’t he come for me? Why had he kept so many secrets hidden fromme?
Lizzie was beside me in an instant, pulling me back from the wall, as if she’d sensed the truth. Her eyes were wild as she spun me to face her, her skin blanched white. She shook her head and pressed a finger to her lips. She wanted me to stay back. She didn’t want me to confront him. But every cell in my body wanted to storm around that corner and demand for him to tell me what the hell was goingon.
I wanted to make him explaineverything.
“Ah.” I heard the surprise in Lilith’s voice as it drifted toward me from the alley. “I have to admit I didn’t expect to find an Archangel in Irkalla. Come here often,Michael?”
She raised her voice on the last word, clearly attempting to speak loud enough for me to hear her. My heart, which had gone numb at seeing my father, thawed. Good oldLilith.
Obviously, she could recognize him, even if she’d never met him before. He had the same glowing skin and dark hair I did. Despite the fact that half of my heritage was apparently demonic in nature, I looked a lot like myfather.
“You best leave now and not speak of this to anyone,” my father’s musical yet stern voice was so commanding that I had the sudden urge to fall to my knees and bow my head. That was the power of the Archangels at work. Their magic, their aura. It was how they were able to command so many, able to take charge of all the armies. It was almost impossible to resist him. When Michael spoke, angels were forced tolisten.
Except...Lilith wasn’t an angel. And neither wasRourke.
“You know this guy?” Rourke asked, and I could justhearthe narrowed eyes and frown, as well as his unspoken question:how well do you know thisguy?
“No, we’ve never met, but everyone knows who Michael is,” Lilith said with a sniff. “Esteemed Archangel who commands the armies of the Order of the Seraphim, in order to rid the realms of demonic influence. The perfect, incorruptible Michael, who would never consort with a demon, no matter how alluring she might be. No matter howfiery.”
I held my breath in my throat. She’d practically flat-out told my father that she knew about his sordid history, and I expected him to explode into a fiery rage at the suggestion. But his words were far worse thanthat.
“You know, that’s what I thought,” he said before raising his voice. “Erela, come on out. I know you’re there. I can sense you and yourfriends.”
