Page 2 of The Morning Star
“It is,” Coapt crowed, feeling the fire lick through his chest with excitement. “You’re thinking he’s a faker trying to get street cred for scaring off a mighty Grigori enforcer, aren’t you? You’re wondering if you should flee and risk the humiliation of being a coward, or stay and possibly meet your death. Doesn’t matter what you do, pretty boy. You’re dead. And your wings are gonna be nailed to someone’s wall in Hel.”
The angel winced at the last statement, but otherwise ignored the demon, his attention completely on the Ancient who was slowly approaching. The demon cackled, knowing the angel was feeling the grip tightening around him, that this angel knew the end was near, that there was no escape, no way he could flee the Ancient before him.
The Ancient smiled. “It’s been a long time, Humiel. Still working for my brother, I see.”
The angel’s face registered shock and disbelief, then fear. “Samael…we thought you were dead. No one has heard from you in two-and-a-half-million years.”
Coapt shifted to the side as the others flanked the angel, surrounding him and edging in closer. The demon’s lungs burned with fire, his heart beat fast with excitement. This was better than lust, better than killing a bunch of humans, better than watching that other gate guardian be torn to shreds. He was going to see Samael, the Ancient he’d vowed fealty to, destroy an angel—not just any angel, but a Grigori enforcer.
Samael stepped closer and sneered. “Heard from me? You all banished me as well as the other Angels of Chaos. You all sent us to Hel without hope of ever returning to Aaru again. Did you really expect me to write? Send the occasional holiday card? I’ve been too busy nursing a grudge and waiting for the right moment. Happily, the right moment is now.”
“I didn’t have anything to do with the banishment,” the angel protested. “Many of us weren’t in agreement with that. It was Michael. How were we supposed to oppose him? How were we supposed to go against him?”
“Maybe get a fucking backbone?” Samael stepped closer, his black wings brushing the ground as he walked. The others edged in, the air vibrating with anticipation. “Maybe stand up for half of the angelic host? No one said a word. Not one of you stuck your neck out for us.”
“I wanted to. I really wanted to, but—”
Samael was suddenly before him, his hand lightning fast as it rose to grip the angel’s throat. “Kneel and acknowledge me as your lord and master.”
The angel swallowed hard. “No,” he croaked out.
Samael shrugged. “Doesn’t matter. The end result would have been the same, although a bit of groveling might have extended your life by a few seconds.” His grip tightened and the angel screamed as he slowly dissolved into a pile of sand.
Staring down at what once was an angel, Samael dusted off his hands, then looked up at the silent demons that surrounded him, the demons that stared at him with worshipful eyes. “Well, don’t just stand there. Go fetch me another.”
Chapter 1
“No. Absolutely not.” Gabe scowled at me.
“I’m afraid I cannot support you in this, Cockroach,” Gregory warned me.
“Asshole.” I glared at him. “You’ve been okay with Infernal Mates. You’ve been allowing an increase in demon travel across the gates—”
“Only of your household,” he corrected with a quick warning glance my way.
I rolled my eyes. In truth, he’d been turning a blind eye to a whole lot more. In truth, he’d put in place several unofficial policies among the gate guardians and other Grigori, but that was between us and not meant for the rest of the Ruling Council to hear about. Well, they were about to hear about it because I was pissed, and a pissed-off imp wasn’t good at keeping secrets.
“Bullshit. I’m the Iblis. Technically they’re all in my household. And you know as well as I do that the gate guardians are using their own judgement about who ‘sneaks’ through and who they toss back in. The unspoken rule is that each demon gets a lecture about what is and isn’t allowed in order to safeguard their immunity, and what punishment occurs if they violate those rules.”
“What? That has never been discussed or agreed upon.” Gabriel glared at his eldest brother who in turn glared at me. “Are your Grigori establishing unauthorized policies and procedures behind your back, or have you been party to some deception, brother? Perhaps you should be better in control of the angels that are supposed to be reporting to you.”
I grimaced, feeling the sudden heat of Gregory’s power. Normally it was me exchanging insults with Gabe and eventually brawling with him. Today’s Ruling Council meeting might prove to be more of a deviation from the script than I’d thought.
“Gate Guardians have always had some latitude in how they enforce the rules as well as the letter versus the intent of the law,” Raphael chimed in helpfully. “I don’t see a problem in this expansion.”
“No, of course you wouldn’t.” Gabe turned his glare Raphael’s way. “They are not supposed to be interpreting the rules, only following and enforcing them. The fact that Gate Guardians have already strayed so far is proof of a history of lax management and control that should never have been tolerated.”
“I changed the policy,” Gregory admitted. I wasn’t sure if he was unwilling to throw his staff under the bus for this one, or he couldn’t stand the accusations that his Grigori were running around making up their own rules.
“You changed the policy?” Gabriel snarled.
Yeah, there was going to be a fight. And at the end of it, Gregory was going to tear me a new one for letting our little secret out of the bag.
“Yes, I changed the policy. We cannot continue to regard the residents of Hel as mortal enemies. We need to hold them accountable for their actions, yes, but we should not be assuming every demon who wants to cross plans to massacre humans. Or angels. We need to put our prejudice aside as a step toward a peaceful future between angels and demons.”
Hey, that was my argument. Although it sounded better coming from an archangel.
“They’re demons,” Gabe snapped. “There are reasons they’re not allowed here. And there are reasons they are supposed to be killed if they trespass. The Grigori need to return to the previous policy. Immediately.”
