The librarian let us stay in the secure archive overnight after a little convincing by Sam and Uncle Luc. Nancy and Jezze slept on the two biggest couches while Sam and I curled up on the floor with cushions from a couple of the chairs. Uncle Luc didn’t sleep. He didn’t have to. Neither would I, one day. I only had a few more centuries before my demonic powers fully matured and I evolved beyond such annoying mortal limitations like eating, sleeping, or… breathing.

He sneered at that last one so I figured that was his biggest complaint. Me? I couldn’t imagine not eating. There were just too many tasty things in the world. Even if I one day grew beyond the need for nutrients, I would still chow down. Give up chocolate? Never!

In the morning, I went upstairs to raid the cafeteria, hunting for coffee and anything edible. My wolf was so hungry, she wasn’t even super picky. Okay, picky enough to pass over the junk food in the vending machine, but otherwise, she didn’t care. I thought about asking Sam to make a supply run, but I knew it was too dangerous. Our best bet for keeping Nancy safe was keeping her secure in the archive room.

And hoping Lucia hadn’t tracked us yet.

Fuck it. I raided the vending machine, gathering an armful of cupcakes, cheesy crunchy thingies, chips, and candy bars. Plus I found some leftover Chinese food in the fridge. Probably some library employee’s lunch. I added that to my pile of goodies, hoping the previous owner wouldn’t get too pissy it’d disappeared.

Then again, Satan’s niece, did she care? No, no I did not.

I headed down the hall and crossed the main lobby, carrying my armful of goodies as I made my way back to the basement stairs. I split my attention between where I was headed and the food in my hands. I wondered if I could eat that one cupcake before I got back to the gang. Mainly because if I didn’t eat it now I’d lose it because the pregnant chick seriously loved…

I stuttered to a stop, barely stopping before I slipped in a trail of blood that stretched across the lobby floor.

“Shit,” I muttered and dropped all the food. I reached back and pulled a sword from its sheath. I hadn’t taken a step without a sharp length of steel nearby ever since this crap started.

The trail began in the center of the room and then went down the hallway… that led to the basement. I hurried along the hall, back near the wall and attention dancing from in front of me to the back, searching for danger nearby. The library was dark and quiet, too early for the place to be open to the public. All was silent, no sign of any employees around.

I silently descended the steps, the blood still leading me onward.

When I came within sight of the basement door, I found the source of that blood. A man lay on the floor a few feet from the door, arm stretched out like he’d been reaching for it when he’d collapsed. Based on the smeared blood trail, it looked like he’d dragged himself all the way from the lobby and finally passed out when he ran out of energy.

I jogged forward, blade ready to cut into shit if whatever attacked the man showed up again. I didn’t see any sign of a threat, though. There was no indication of a fight anywhere in the library. No shelves knocked over, no damage to the structure, and no sign of any weapons. It didn’t make sense.

I stood over the downed man and nudged him with the toe of my boot, looking for any signs of life. I crouched at his side, grasped his shoulder, and pushed until he rolled to his back. I stared at that face, the chiseled perfection, the utter beauty in one of On High’s creatures.

Because he was. Gabriel.

His eyes fluttered open and he reached for me, his movement slow and weak.

“Ania,” he whispered the word.

“What?” I frowned, dropping my sword and checking his wound. It looked fatal—deep and vicious. He’d already lost a lot of blood and I was surprised he’d held on this long.

I pulled at his shirt and the chain links of his armor, trying to get a better look at his injury. He simply grabbed my hand and pulled it away. “Don’t bother. I can’t die here. My spirit will return to On High, but I won’t be able to come back for some time. Until my spirit recovers.”

“Oh. Right.” It was one of those things about dems and gels that tended to slip my mind. They couldn’t die in the tween. Killing their bodies just sent them back to their homes. There, they’d need months, if not years, before they could recover enough to manifest in the tween again. The only way to truly, permanently kill such a creature was within their home plane. Which was harder than it sounded since dems were a lot more powerful in Hell and gels a great deal stronger when they were shacking up with On High.

“Why did you come here? Who attacked you? Lucia?”

He gave a weak nod. “Her people. They’re after Ania. You must help her.”

“Who’s Ania?”

Gabriel coughed, blood splattering his chin. “The other fated mother. The one who bears the gel child.”

“Shit.” If Lucia already had the power of the other baby, it would make her that much more dangerous. But maybe it wasn’t too late. “Where is she?”

“Austin.”

“Austin,” I repeated dumbly. “As in, Texas?”

He nodded, the pure blue light in his eyes dimming. “Go to her. No time.”

I shook my head. “I can’t fly and Austin is a two or three-day drive. I’ll never get there in time.”

I could run fast, faster than anything mortal in my wolf form, but not fast enough to save this woman in Texas. Not if her attackers were there. Uncle Luc could do it, he was powerful enough, but he was selfish enough not to leave Nancy just to go protect the other mother. Not for the mother of a gel child.

Gabriel slowly reached into his coat and pulled out a white feather stained red with blood. “Give this to Samkiel. He will know.”

The world around me froze. Time stopped in that instant—as I stared at the pale down feather. I knew where this feather had come from.

It was Sam’s.

Dear On High and to the depths of Hell, it was Sam’s.

Two years ago, he’d given this feather to Momma R. It’d been his promise to me. Angels could step from one end of the world to the other in an instant. I’d seen Gabriel do it the other day. Sam had once had that ability, but giving his feather to Momma R had changed everything. It had anchored him to the tween. He couldn’t return to On High. He was stuck—happily—with me.

Except after our battles, after I’d rescued Bryony from the psychopath about to sacrifice him the way he’d sacrificed the rest of the brownie clan, Sam had left… me.

He’d murdered a man to save my life and that sin sent him spiraling. He’d fallen completely. And when I’d gone to Momma R, asked her to use the feather to bring him to me, she’d told me the feather was gone. We’d never learned what had happened to it.

Now I knew.

Someone from On High had taken it, but they hadn’t returned it to Sam. Not before now. The gels, I figured, must not have trusted someone from the tween with an angel’s feather. Especially tweeners who associated with someone like me. Yet they hadn’t wanted to return it to Sam either. Because keeping it from him kept him bound to the tween—part of his punishment.

“This is what you and Sam were arguing about. You wanted to give this back.” I stared at my mate’s ticket home. And away from me.

“He refused. He didn’t want to abandon you,” Gabriel wheezed the last word, drawing the syllable out.

“You son of a bitch. Now you come here, telling us there’s an innocent woman in danger and the only way for Sam to save her is to take his fucking feather back, you conniving, manipulative motherfucker.”

I wanted to hurt him—burn him—destroy him. I wanted to drag this piece of shit gel into the depths of Hell and let the damned have at him. I wanted… I wanted this moment to not be. I wanted it to just… not.

Gabriel coughed again, his eyes closing, his color fading. “You think it unfair, but it is Samkiel’s duty. His purpose. He was created to be a warrior for the divine.”

“And he fucking chose free will over that asshole!” I shouted. I couldn’t contain my rage, my anger, my heartache as I felt as if I was being split in two. I knew what the outcome to this would be. There was no fighting a certainty. But I wasn’t going to give in quietly. “He fucking chose…”

Me.

“He still has free will.” Gabriel’s eyes fully closed. “He can choose.”

That was a lie. Sam would never choose the selfish path. That was something I’d do. He was too good for that. He’d choose to save the woman, no matter the consequences to him. He wouldn’t have been the man I loved if he did otherwise.

If it’d been up to me, I was so sure what I’d do in his place. Sure, I fought to protect people. Sometimes. But a lot of the time I didn’t do it out of self-righteous sense of duty. I did it because when someone invaded my territory and fucked things up, I took it personally. No one trashed my town without answering for it. The demon in my heart claimed Orlando. Touch it at your own peril.

Gabriel let out his final breath, the air holding a scent so pure it burned my nose. His body shimmered and then faded, leaving behind motes of light lazily floating. Then there truly was nothing. Even his blood vanished from the floor.

“Fuck,” I muttered and rolled to my feet, opening my hand. The feather was clean now, Gabriel’s blood gone. And I… knew I didn’t have a choice. Ania had to be saved. Not that I’d lose sleep if Lucia killed some woman I’d never met. Well, maybe I would. But I also knew I couldn’t afford to let Lucia get away with her scheme. I couldn’t let her grow more powerful by sacrificing the baby and absorbing its life force.

I moved on, returning to the archive, knowing there was only one choice to make. When the others saw me walk in with my sword in hand, they shot to their feet.

Sam was the first to reach me. “What happened?”

Instead of saying anything, I held up his feather. I didn’t know what else to say—how to spill out my feelings and beg… for any answer other than what had to happen next.

He reached for it, fingers stopping just short of touching the downy feather. “What… how…?”

“Gabriel said you’d know,” I shoved the words past my dry lips, pushing air through my tight throat.

Sam touched the feather with the tip of a single finger, understanding dawning in his eyes. “I see,” he drew the words out slowly. “We don’t have much time.”

“Time for what?” Jezze stepped closer.

“No time to explain.” This was happening. This was it. There was no other choice to make. “The other mother is in danger. Sam and I are going to her.”

“This is ridiculous,” Uncle Luc stalked toward me and pointed at the ground. “You must stay here. Nancy needs protection.”

“You and Jezze can keep her safe until we get back.”

“Not good enough.” The Devil’s eyes swirled, a red so pure it nearly seared my vision now dancing in those ageless orbs. This wasn’t my uncle, this was Satan, Lucifer, Beelzebub. Evil incarnate and he was giving me a fucking order.

And fuck me sideways, I wanted to listen. But the choice was made, the die was cast. Sam had taken his feather and was doing this with or without me.

I sure as hell wasn’t going to let him do it alone.

“Not up to you, Uncle.” I laid a hand on Sam’s arm.

My mate looked me in the eye and nodded once. Then a flare of light enveloped us and the library… vanished.