All the blood drained from my face, and Lizzie’s grip on my arm tightened. We exchanged weighted glances, all my churning thoughts reflected on her face. As much as I wanted to confront my father and demand for him to explain, I wasn’t ready for it. Just as I wasn’t ready to accept the full power of my flames. If I heard the truth from his lips, it would make the whole thing that much more real. It would be confirmation that I hadn’t just randomly been blessed with theinferno.
It would be confirmation that there was something very wrong with me, that I could end up just like that demon we’d killed in thevillage.
“Come on,” she said in a fierce whisper. “You can do this. I’ll be right by your side every step of theway.”
I swallowed hard and nodded, taking a deep breath before I turned to gaze at the Order of the Fallen. They were all watching with expressions ranging from anger to shock to fear. And then I stepped around thecorner.
The first thing I saw was the body on the ground. It was the demon I’d spotted earlier, but now his eyes were open wide and blood poured from his ears. I swallowed hard and wet my lips, my skin buzzing from fear and worry. The next thing I saw was my father’s face, glowing and stern and severely beautiful. He didn’t look particularly surprised to see me, and neither did he seem happy. He stood in the center of the alley with his arms crossed over his armored chest and his dark wings flapping gently behind him. It almost blinded me to look at him, for where my skin glowed, his was practically as bright as thesun.
I averted my gaze and found myself bowing my head, all the years of habitual deference kicking in. “Father.”
“Erela.” A beat passed as he flicked his gaze up and down, frowning. “What are you wearing? You should not be in thisrealm.”
Irritation flickered through me, and I lifted my head to glare against the overwhelming glow of him. “Is that honestly what you want to say to me after everything that has happened? No, ‘hi, Erela, I’m so glad you’re safe’ or ‘sorry I didn’t come to extract you from the Lower Realm’ or, I don’t know, ‘sorry I’ve lied to you all your life, Erela?’” Tears filled my eyes. “Instead, you want to scold me for being in Irkalla? And for being forced to wear someone else’s clothes?Seriously?”
He let out an impatient sigh. “I could not extract you, particularly not when you chose to stay permanently. It is not what I wished for you, but you made yourdecision.”
“I was down on the goddamn earth for long enough before that. You could have done something,” I said, narrowing my eyes. “Not to mention Lizzie. And theothers.”
Lizzie and I hadn’t been the only victims of Asmodeus, and I doubted we’d be the last when all was said and done. He took pleasure in casting an angel from her (or his) rightful place. One day, another unsuspecting angel would choose the wrong day to cross him, and this would happen all over again. Unless we managed to stophim.
“You wronged Asmodeus. I could notinterfere.”
I just stared at him. All this time, I’d held a secret hope that he just hadn’t known what had happened to me. While I wanted to stay on earth now, that didn’t change the fact that I also wanted my father to care where I was. I wanted him to have tried. I wanted him to have fought against whatever stood between him and me. But my hope had been useless. He didn’t give a damn about me. I was his demon fire daughter, the one he wanted tohide.
“You’re glad that he sent me here.” I sniffed and took a step toward him, my fisted hands trembling by my sides. “He did what you couldn’t. He did what you’ve always wanted to do yourself. Got rid of thedemon.”
His eyes widened, and he glanced to the fallen angels behind me as if they held the answers to his sudden confusion. “How did you...how did you find out,Erela?”
“Don’t look to them like they’ve done something wrong. You want to know how I found out what’s wrong with me? My. Skin. Caught.Flames.”
My father stared at me for a long moment without saying a word, his forehead creasing between his eyes. After a long silent moment, he finally sighed. “I did not want you to find out that way. I would have told you. Eventually. It’s just...there was never a good time, Erela. You were days away from joining the Order of the Seraphim. You were going to be an incredible warrior. If I’d told you the truth about what you are, you never would have let yourselfjoin.”
I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up ahand.
“Tell me I’m wrong. Tell me you would have continued to believe that you were worthy.” He gave me a look so full of meaning that my heart clenched tight. Tears burned my eyes. Everything within me wanted to argue against what he said, but deep down I knew he was right. I’d spent the last few weeks fighting hard against the truth of what I was. I still didn’t want to believe it was true, let alone use those powers I’d been bornwith.
If I’d known, I would have run far, far away from the Seraphim. Because Iwouldn’thave felt worthy. And now I wasn’t sure I was worthy to fight in the Order of the Fallen, not after seeing what that other Nephilim coulddo.
“What are you even doing here?” I whispered, blinking back the tears. “Why are you inhell?”
He stiffened, and then glanced at the demon on the ground. “The portal between hell and earth has been reopened. That makes things unstable. I wanted to discover what plans are in place against Celestia. This male was myspy.”
I glanced at the ground, and my stomach squeezed tight. “Then, why did you killhim?”
“That isn’t important, Erela. What is important is getting you out of this realm.” He clucked his tongue and glanced at the Order of the Fallen who still stood silently behind me. “I assume you did not come here willingly?” His eyes darted towardLilith.
A flicker of irritation went through me, and I shifted forward, blocking Lilith from my father’s view. “Lilith has been helping us. She didn’t bring us here. Asmodeus did. You know, the demon I pissedoff.”
My father’s eyes glittered with barely-contained rage. It was something I’d never noticed about him until now. This expression. The hate. The anger. I’d always imagined him as cold and closed off, but there was something darker lurking below the surface. I didn’t know why I couldn’t see it before, but I sure as hell saw itnow.
“Asmodeus has seen you?” he asked, his wordsclipped.
“Yes,” I said, frowning. “We tracked down the portal, hoping to close it. He was waiting for us. Apparently, my stealing his rat was bad enough for him to shove all of us through theportal.”
“Isee.”
“Sir,” Ramiel said, clearing his throat and stepping forward. “My name is Ramiel, and I’m the leader of the Order of the Fallen. There’s been something I’ve been wanting to talk with you about for a long time now. Those of us who battle down on earth with the humans are in need of some assistance from Celestia. We could use more fighters, for one. More weapons. Now that the portal has been reopened, there are far moredemons—”
