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, and confusion.

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 from me?

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 going on.

I wanted to make him explain everything.

“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 old Lilith.

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 my father.

“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 to listen.

Except...Lilith wasn’t an angel. And neither was Rourke.

“You know this guy?” Rourke asked, and I could just hear the narrowed eyes and frown, as well as his unspoken question: how well do you know this guy?

“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 how fiery.”

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 than that.

“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 your friends.”

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 the inferno.

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 the village.

“Come on,” she said in a fierce whisper. “You can do this. I’ll be right by your side every step of the way.”

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 the corner.

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 the sun.

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 this realm.”

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 your decision.”

“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 the others.”

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 stop him.

“You wronged Asmodeus. I could not interfere.”

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 to hide.

“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 the demon.”

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 yourself join.”

I opened my mouth to argue, but he held up a hand.

“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 born with.

If I’d known, I would have run far, far away from the Seraphim. Because I wouldn’t have 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 could do.

“What are you even doing here?” I whispered, blinking back the tears. “Why are you in hell?”

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 my spy.”

I glanced at the ground, and my stomach squeezed tight. “Then, why did you kill him?”

“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 toward Lilith.

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 pissed off.”

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 it now.

“Asmodeus has seen you?” he asked, his words clipped.

“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 the portal.”

“I see.”

“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 more demons—”

My father held up his hand, and Ramiel fell silent.

“I understand your concerns. I will bring them to the other Archangels when I return to Celestia.”

Silence punctuated the alley.

“Thank you, sir,” Ramiel said.

“Now,” my father said, scanning his eyes across our group. “You shouldn’t be in this realm. However, getting you back isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. Come with me. I’ll take you to a safe house where we’ll make our plan. The portal is about five blocks away, but there’s an army of demons between here and there.”

“An army?” Lizzie asked. “How big of an army?”

My father pressed his lips together into a thin line. “There are hundreds of them.”