Present day

Selah

My head hurts. I don’t know where I am. The room they’ve got me in is small—comfortable, but tiny. It reminds me of the dorms I stayed in during college. I haven’t seen anyone since they took me, but I’m sure someone is nearby. I feel them.

“She’s not even that pretty. Why does he want her?” A female voice with a lilting Irish accent floats under the door, making me sit up too quickly. The room spins, and my nausea returns with a vengeance.

“Izzy, stop. You know she’s his. There’s nothing to be done about it.”

“Hmph. We could kill her.”

My heart rate increases dramatically at that statement. These can’t be the angels.

“He’d only spend the rest of eternity hunting us and searching for her. You’d be better off setting your sights on another.”

Izzy whines. “But he’s…beautiful.”

“She’s awake,” the other one says, and I stiffen. Shit.

The door bursts open, revealing two tiny women, one the fair haired beauty who took me, the other dark. But strangely, they both have startling copper-colored eyes.

“Where is Sariel?” I ask, my voice cracking as I try to push the words out of my dry throat.

The brunette shrugs. “How should I know? Izzy took you, warded you against them, and now you’re ours to play with until Sariel needs us. We haven’t been together in far too long. We’re not giving up this opportunity for vengeance.”

“Sariel sent you?” Disbelief colors my tone. I can’t believe he’d send anyone for me. If he knew where I was, he’d come find me.

Izzy heaves a sigh. “Sort of. Consider yourself leverage. We made a bargain. You’re his soul mate, destined for him, blah, blah. He’ll come for you once Helena makes it known we have you. Unless…Lucifer kills him. Which is a distinct possibility.”

My gut clenches at the thought. “Who are you?”

She drops a curtsey, which would be charming if she wasn’t holding me captive. “Isolt. This is Gwen.”

“Are you…Watchers?”

Isolt laughs. “Oh no. Definitely not. We’re witches.”

Witches. Motherfucker. How the hell had my life gotten so turned on its ass? Only a few months ago, I’d been walking around, blissfully unaware of Watchers, vampires, demons, and now…witches.

“Technically, we’re more than just witches, Izzy,” Gwen says.

“You can’t kill me.” I get to my feet, trying to fight the sickness in my gut. “Sariel will—”

Isolt waves a hand to stop me. “Yes, yes, we know. He’ll take vengeance. We know all about you.”

“Your child is destined to do great things. We can’t stop it.” Gwen offers me a soft smile. She’s eerie, but I think I like her.

“Great…or terrible?” I ask, fearing the latter.

“Why would you think Sariel’s child would do terrible things?”

My chest burns as her words sink in. Sariel’s child. Sorrow grips me as I shake my head. “Sariel can’t be the father.”

“Oh yes, he can, and he is.”

“No. He can’t have children. Besides, not that it’s your business, but we hadn’t been together by the time this child was conceived.”

Gwen laughs and cups my cheek. “He’s an incubus, darling girl. Don’t you know anything about them?”

Frowning, I shake my head again.

“The fallen feed from sex. They use dreams as a way into their partners’ minds and bodies. Tell me, did Sariel visit your dreams?”

Heat rushes to my cheeks as flashes of our trysts in my dreams replay. “Yes.” I distinctly recall the remnants of his pleasure on my thigh after I woke. “That was real?”

She giggles. “It was, and by the color in your cheeks, it was good.”

“Lucky bitch,” Isolt grumbles.

My hand drifts to my lower belly, and suddenly I’m overwhelmed by emotion. A sob rises in my throat, tears prick my eyes, and I can’t stop it. I’m crying in front of two witches who may or may not dispose of me if Sariel doesn’t do what they want.

“Oh, bloody hell. She’s crying, Gwen. Stop her. I swear to the goddess, I don’t know what the angel sees in her.”

“She’s his fated—” Gwen begins.

“Aye, I understand. Stop rubbing it in.”

It doesn’t take long for me to pull myself together. I know I can’t stay here with these insane witches.

“You’re wrong about me,” I say, fighting the rolling of my stomach.

Gwen frowns. “Pardon?”

“He doesn’t love me. He loves the idea of me. Once he realizes where I am, I doubt he’ll come for me.”

“If you think that, you don’t deserve him.” Isolt’s anger bleeds through in her words. “We’ve known him for centuries, seen him as he searched for you, watched as he finally gave in and went dormant. Everything he’s done has been for you. And now you say he doesn’t love you?”

Her eyes flare, and with one flick of her hand, she’s immobilized me. Panic claws at my throat as I realize my entire body is paralyzed. My lungs won’t expand.

“You’ll kill her. Sariel won’t be pleased if you kill his woman and his child.” Gwen’s voice breaks through the haze of gray threatening to cover my vision.

“He’ll be better off without her.”

Oh God, she’s going to kill me. A vicious need to fight through her control takes hold, and I gather every ounce of will I have to push at her with my mind. I don’t stand a chance, but I can’t die like this. Not after everything.

As my heart slows and consciousness fades, I can only hope to find Sariel in the afterlife. But then the pressure is gone, and I’m drawing in deep lungful’s of cold air, coughing and retching as I fight the black spots in my vision. Only Gwen stands before me, Isolt lying in a crumpled heap on the floor, her chest rising and falling in the deep rhythm of sleep.

“What,” I manage to croak.

“She can be a little…unreasonable at times.”

I’d say that’s the understatement of the year, but I’m not entirely certain Guinevere herself is reasonable.

“She’s right, though,” Gwen continues. “You are delusional if you think Sariel doesn’t love you and only you.” Her long fingers brush my hair away from my face. “Your soul has lived two lives, but you can only see one. Shall we remedy that? I can remove the block on your memories. It’s only a simple incantation.”

My heart flips at the thought. But what if I lose who I am now to the memories of who I was? “I’m not… I don’t know.”

She ignores me and begins murmuring softly, her hand traveling across my collarbone to rest in the space where my neck and chest meet. Her eyes are closed as she continues her words, and I wonder whether she’s just toying with me. Until I’m hit with a blinding light and my past rushes to meet my present. A crushing weight settles over me as I finally comprehend the love between Sariel and me.

“So now you see,” she whispers.

I nod, tears brimming in my eyes.

Now I see.

* * *

Sariel

We stayed up throughout the night, planning our next moves until Galen and Reese began fighting sleep and Willow had to hide from the sun. I’ve not truly needed sleep since my humanity was lost, but now, I lie on my bed, begging Selah to pull me into her dreams.

She doesn’t.

The moment the sun sets, Willow bursts through the door to my room and stands next to me, arms crossed over her chest. “Let’s go. Devin is waiting.”

Galen paces the living room, his brow knitted and jaw tight as I descend the stairs with Willow on my heels. The man’s dark eyes find mine, and I almost flinch at the fear I see in there.

“So, you’re just going to, what? Magic us there?” Willow asks, her tiny body humming with anxious energy.

“Basically. The witches gave me Lucifer’s location. We just need to arrive without being noticed.” Mentioning Helena and her sisters sends a fresh wave of anger through me. I know exactly why they took Selah. Insurance. They need me to hold to my word. And, if I fail, they’ll go to Lucifer and offer her in exchange for protection. Damn it, but they’re smart.

“And how are we supposed to get in without them seeing? Even if it was just you and Galen, you two blend in about as well as a monkey in the Arctic.”

Galen scoffs. “What is she on about?”

I can’t help but give in to the slight grin tugging at my lips. “She thinks we’re not going to be able to blend in.”

“Of course we bloody well won’t. We’ll have to go in fighting.” He sheaths a blade at his hip and tucks two wooden stakes into the inner pockets of his leather jacket.

A smirk turns up one side of Willow’s mouth as she grips the hilt of the katana she’s got slung over one shoulder. “I can do that.”

With shaking hands, Reese slides a dagger into the sheath on her thigh before biting her lower lip and turning her deep blue eyes on me. “Are we ready? No point in dragging it out.”

After walking to the center of the room, I close my eyes and bow my head. With deep, slow breaths, I focus my grace until I can see it in my consciousness. Warmth covers me as the glow grows brighter and spreads from my chest and through my limbs. Spreading my arms, I tilt my head back. An audible reaction from the rest of the group tells me they’re seeing the manifestation of my angelic power as well.

“You’ll all need to be touching me,” I say through gritted teeth. With the level of control I need to make this happen, speaking isn’t easy.

As soon as two small palms grip my hands and Galen’s large one rests on my shoulder, I let go of my control and my grace surges forward. Each of them lets out a noise of alarm as the gravity of my true nature engulfs them. Galen’s fingers dig into my shoulder at the same time Reese and Willow crush my hands with theirs. In one long beat, the flare of power dims and the air around us changes from warm and clean to dank and chilled.

“Oh, good. You’re here. We thought you’d never arrive.” Lucifer’s relaxed tone hits me before I can open my eyes.

The scene before me makes my stomach curl. Willow lets out a strangled gasp even as I’m processing what my eyes are seeing. Devin hangs on an inverted mockery of a crucifix. His long hair, once blond, is now dark with blood, the ends brushing the cement floor.

“What did you do to him, you fucker?” Willow screams. Out of the corner of my eye, I see her reach for her blade, but I grab her before she lunges.

“No, Willow.”

Lucifer laughs as she struggles to pull free of my hold. “I’m disappointed. I’d hoped this would be a little more of a challenge.”

He stands at the top of a platform, all traces of Adam gone from his features. He’s taken his natural form. The most beautiful of the angels, he has led kings to their ruin with nothing more than a quirk of his full lips and a whisper of affirmation. Those large wings, once a vibrant white, now sit blackened by the darkness inside him. They’re tucked behind his broad-shouldered frame, but I can see the blood dripping from the tips of the feathers. It’s fresh.

A sneer curls his upper lip. “Nice to see you again, Willow. You look…well.”

“Fuck off and go back to Hell where you belong,” she snarls.

With a flick of his hand, Lucifer opens the skin along the underside of Devin’s arms. Blood slowly seeps along the gashes. “I don’t know how much blood a vampire can lose before he dies. Should we find out?”

Devin’s eyes open, a wild panic flashing across his face as he takes us in. “Willow, you need to get out of here.” His words are pained as he tries to shift his bound body.

“Oh, sweet Willow. You love him with all your little heart, don’t you? I can see it on your face. He’s spent every waking hour calling for you, begging me to leave you out of this, bargaining with the soul he’s only recently gotten back.”

“No!” she cries.

I echo Willow’s despair. Devin can’t have bartered his soul.

Lucifer rolls his eyes. “Oh, stop with the theatrics. Obviously, I didn’t take it. Who would want to be stuck with him for eternity?” Then, as though he’s realized his own joke, he chuckles. “Oh, that’s right. You do.”

A feral growl rips from her throat. “Would you rather have mine?”

His wicked grin spreads. “Why, yes. That’s exactly what I want.”

Fuck.