‘It feels awful, like I’m touching slimy wet food in the sink,’ Sera griped.

‘How do you know what wet food feels like?’

‘I just do.’

Weird. I’d never understand how Sera sensed all this stuff.

I burst out of the office and nearly collided with Michael. He looked stressed, with black soot smeared over his face, and a bleeding gash above his eye.

Steadying myself against the wall, I took him in. “Oh, Michael. Are you okay?”

He looked down at Sera, and the blackness that covered her. “May I walk with you?”

‘Yes,’ Sera answered seductively.

I ignored my infinity weapon, focusing on the archangel. “Sure.”

As we stepped away from the office, Michael stopped and faced me. “I actually wanted to talk to you about something.”

Nerves clawed at my gut as I ceased walking, and faced the archangel. “Okay. What is it?”

He paused for a moment, just looking at me. “We’re all so proud of what you’ve accomplished in your time at the academy,” he finally answered.

Oh God.

“What’s wrong? Am I getting kicked out?”

Michael’s head jerked back. “No, no. I just… Raphael would never tell you, but I think you can handle it.”

Is my mom dying? My brother? What the hell’s going on? “Tell me,” I pressed.

A heavy sigh left him. “Tonight, the archangels and I are making an evacuation plan. We simply can’t sustain this level of security night after night.”

“Oh.” Suddenly, I knew what he meant. “Unless I can take Lucifer out.”

Michael nodded. “He’s creating hundreds of demons a day. If you could fulfill the prophecy… we’d certainly have better odds.”

Angel City and all of its inhabitants were counting on me. Some chick with powers she didn’t fully understand. Still, I had to believe I had the power to do this. I trusted Raphael, and he believed in me. All the archangels believe in me.

Reaching out, I squeezed Michael’s shoulder. “I won’t let you down. Give me a week.”

He grinned. “You got it.

After he turned to head back to the office, I put the conversation out of my head, and strode across campus to meet up with Mikey. I hadn’t seen much of my little brother since he came to Fallen Academy, considering I was either stuck in Hell or he was off with his ‘pack.’ We’d all just come to accept that his life would be different from now on, and counted our blessings when he was on campus.

I’d told him, and my mother, about what my dad said when I saw him in Heaven, and it brought a sense of peace over our family. My mother had burst into tears when I’d told her my dad totally approved of her dating, and just wanted her to be happy. Now, Mikey and I were having a brother-sister picnic lunch, something I’d just started with him, and hoped to continue monthly. I never wanted to get too busy for family.

Looking up, I saw my brother sitting on a little blanket on the school field, with two sub sandwiches wrapped and uneaten. His hulking form was bigger each time I saw him, and it felt weird to call him my little brother considering how big he was physically.

“Are you sure one sandwich is enough for you? Maybe get a small cow to go with it?” I teased.

He turned, grinning. “Yeah, I ate before I came.”

Chuckling, I lay Sera in the grass before giving him a hug.

He glanced down at my blade, and the dark magic that crawled along it. “No luck?”

A sigh escaped me as I took a seat on the blanket, grabbing one of the sandwiches. “They said no. Trying to teach me some lesson or something.” He snickered and I punched his arm. “You like when I’m mad!” I accused playfully.

Taking a big bite of his sub, he nodded. “I really do.”

“How’s the pack?” We didn’t talk about his second life very much, but I wanted him to know I was there for him no matter what.

He shrugged. “Mostly good.”

A frown pulled at my lips. “Mostly?”

“When I’m a wolf, I want to be a human, and when I’m human… I feel like an imposter, like I was born to be a wolf.”

My stomach sank. It was hard to watch loved ones go through their own problems. I wanted to fix everything for him, but I couldn’t, and it pained me.

“I’m sorry you have to deal with that.” I took another bite, thinking of what else I could say.

He shrugged. “Better than being tasked with killing the Devil.”

I scoffed. “I wasn’t tasked with it.”

“Prophesized. Whatever.” He gave me a long side look, one that was less jovial and more solemn. “But seriously, how are you going to do that?”

I was regretting this lunch already. “I don’t know… but I have to.”

“Why? Why can’t you just fight the demons he creates like everyone else? If the archangels can’t kill him, then maybe you can’t either.”

That was a very real fear I had as well, but I couldn’t let it get to me. I had to believe in what I’d been hearing for almost four years now, that I did have what it took to bring him down, that I was his only equal for some weird reason.

“The war will only grow, Mikey. It’ll only get worse unless I end him. Angel City will fall, and Mom and everyone else we love will die. Life as we know it will cease to exist.”

We sat there for a long moment, until finally Mikey reached out and squeezed my hand. “Well, if you’re planning some crazy suicide mission, then I want to be by your side.”

No way. I could never let my mother lose both of us.

“Mikey, I really appreciate that, and it’s so sweet that you want to help me, but I could never let you do that.”

Mikey growled animalistically—in warning. “Have you seen me in battle? I can rip a demon’s head off in seconds. The Fallen Army has already promoted me to lieutenant.”

Lincoln had mentioned that, and he’d told me that my brother was proving instrumental in the raids in the war zones but… it was Mikey.

“I’ll think about it,” was all I could offer.

There was no way I would allow it. Not my baby brother.

He scoffed and was probably about to retort when I heard Lincoln call my name. Maybe it was the fact that Lincoln was supposed to be on duty, or maybe it was the high-pitched panic in his voice, but even before I turned to face him, my stomach was in knots.

Getting up quickly, I rushed over to him. He was in his Fallen Army uniform, black soot and blood covering his skin.

“What happened?”

If Shea or anyone I cared about was hurt, I would lose it. We’d made it this far….

“We need all hands on deck. The demons are executing all humans who live in Demon City and won’t sign a slave contract.”

Bile rose in my throat.

“What!” The world spun on its axis for a second as I processed his words.

“I made the mistake of leaving you behind before, and I won’t do that again. This could be another ploy to lure the army away from the school.”

I nodded. “We should leave a good number behind on campus in case it’s exactly that.”

“We’ll definitely help you,” Mikey told Lincoln. His voice was gruff, and I looked over to see patches of fur crawling up my brother’s arms. The wolf was close.