Page 52 of The Morning Star
“Bad man,” Lux insisted.
“Yes. Very bad man,” I agreed.
Thirty Lows were ready and able in my guest house, but since none of them could teleport, I’d need to transport my entire army myself. I could do that. And then I’d end up with an army of puking, dizzy Lows. Not exactly an impressive statement for the Iblis to make. Doriel had made her allegiances clear. Tasma? Eek. He’d have the same issue, appearing with a puking Low army of his own, only his would be dressed in onesies and clutching teddy bears. I could get Nils, but I needed more than one Fallen to help me. Harkel? I could leverage his relationship with Amber and Irix, but there was no guarantee he’d be willing to face down Samael and his army.
Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck. I could call on Dar, but if something happened to him, Asta would flay me alive. I got the feeling the same fate would be in my future if I asked Leethu to fight by my side.
And in reality, what were the chances of me showing up and fighting through an army of demons, with or without the Iblis sword, then facing Samael one-on-one and actually winning against him? Slim to motherfucking none, that’s what.
Sword. I summoned it and it appeared beside me on the couch, strangely obedient. Lux cooed and stroked the surface as I frowned at the weapon. It was a sword, not a pool noodle, not a barrette, not a stick covered in poison ivy. And lately, every time I’d wanted it there, it was snug in my hand practically before the thought formed in my head.
Maybe I was the Iblis. Maybe I could do this. I never thought I’d be actively plotting the murder of my beloved’s brother, but I’d do anything to keep him from the pain of seeing what Samael had become. I’d do anything to pull Hel together under my control, to make the future I’d envisioned a reality for the angels and the demons, for Gregory and his siblings, for me. For Lux.
“Toy. Play.” Lux told me, trying to haul the sword closer. I was a bit amazed that the weapon immediately transformed into a foam sword, covered in glitter and dancing lights. The angel oohed and aahed as he gripped it tight in his fist and swung it around, whacking me in the head on the reverse.
“That’s not an appropriate toy for a young Angel of Order,” a deep voice scolded. I’d felt the burn of his energy the moment he’d arrived, felt the thrum of my spirit-self responding to his. Resisting the urge to toss the kid to the floor and jump into his arms, I instead glanced at the television, ensuring he wouldn’t see his brother ripping vital organs out of humans on-screen.
“Then give him yours to play with,” I told Gregory, dismissing my sword and holding Lux up to him. He took the kid, an absolutely sappy expression coming over his face.
“Someday you’ll have my sword. You’ll lead the angels back into Aaru—both Angels of Order and of Chaos—and restore the rightful balance of our kind.”
His words sent a chill through me. It was as if he’d seen his death in the near future and was preparing for a transition of power. Although with angels, “near future” could be another billion years. Besides, Lux was too young and inexperienced to lead anyone, let alone several choirs of angels. And although Gregory claimed the little angel was brilliant and powerful, he wasn’t created from an archangel, just a mid-level angel and a somewhat psychotic powerful Ancient. I didn’t know what Lux would grow to be, but part of me hoped it wasn’t the leader Gregory wanted him to be. That was my beloved’s job. And it was a job I wouldn’t wish on anyone, not even this pain-in-the-ass infant angel I’d been saddled with.
“The kid’s not Moses,” I told him. “He’s not leading the angels back into the promised land.”
“No, he’s not Moses.” Gregory bounced Lux in his arms. “Moses lost his temper and as punishment had to remain behind while everyone else got to enter the holy land. Lux is an Angel of Order. He’ll remain centered and balanced in his energy and resist sin. He’ll lead the angels in to Aaru.”
I rolled my eyes. “Have you met this kid? Because he’s not as sin-free as you seem to think he is.”
Lux turned his head and blew some particularly wet raspberries at me. I eyed the television, noting that the screen was now filled with a bunch of muted talking heads and no footage of Samael threatening all life on the planet.
“We’ll handle it.” Gregory’s arm came around my shoulders.
“You can’t leave the other gates unattended. There’s no saying those Ancients who failed won’t try again.”
“We need to engage these demons immediately, to keep them contained while we formulate a larger plan to go in and clear the area. The other gates will hold. I’ve got enforcers dealing with the situation in Bogota. This is a spillover from Seattle. I hadn’t realized they’d gotten this far south, though. Or that there were so many demons that came through.”
“What happened?” I kept an eye on the television, wanting to see what was going on, but paranoid about them showing Samael.
“The Ancients who came through those two gates were stronger and had a larger force behind them.” Gregory’s arm tightened around me. “The gate guardians and two enforcers were killed at those two gates. We regained control of Bogota early on and managed to kill the Ancient. Two hundred demons managed to get through and scatter into the town, but my choir are hunting them down right now.”
“And Seattle?” I snuck a peek at the TV, imagining the worst.
“All my Grigori there died.” His voice was low and harsh. “I’m estimating ten thousand demons came through there, and immediately started seizing lands. Both north and south. I’ve let Rafi and Ahia know. The pair of them have mobilized the shifters and are planning to head south to block the demons’ northern advance. I’m sending Grigori to try to hold the demons advancing to the south, but I’m afraid they’ve taken most of the West Coast.”
All this had gone down as I’d been making breakfast and drinking coffee? I turned to Gregory, feeling somewhat hurt. “Why didn’t you let me know? I found this out on the TV, but you’ve known about it for how long? Hours?”
His hand caressed my shoulder. “Less than an hour, Cockroach. It happened so fast, that all I could do was react and try to handle the situation. I would have told you as soon as I could.”
He’d told Rafi and Ahia. He’d mobilized his Grigori. Heck, Uri was probably hemming the demons in from moving east. But not me. The only sop to my pride was that Gabe was still upstairs with Nyalla.
“There wasn’t much you could do anyway,” he said, totally rubbing salt into the wound.
“I’m going to handle this,” I told him. “You and the others make sure these guys don’t expand any farther than they already have, while I go in and talk to the Ancient in charge of this whole thing.”
“With an army of Lows?”
Yeah, that incredulous tone wasn’t helping either.
