“Backup doesn’t sound bad.” Dez sounded confused.
“Oh, wait until you hear who it is,” Zayne replied. “And just so you know, I had nothing to do with it. This was when I was presumed dead.”
I shoved my elbow back, but Zayne easily avoided the blow with a laugh. “I don’t know what you think is so funny.”
“I’m starting to get concerned,” Nicolai remarked.
Zayne squeezed my shoulders. “Tell them.”
“I’m going to punch you,” I warned. “Later, when we’re not in front of people, so they don’t think I have an anger problem.”
“Looking forward to it,” he replied, thick lashes lowering halfway. “Later, when we’re alone, so no one thinks I’m perverse when I get turned on by you attempting to kick my ass.”
My eyes widened as a sweet hot flush moved through me—wait. Attempting to kick his ass?
“Just FYI,” Nicolai interrupted. “You’re not alone right now, so...”
Dragging my gaze from Zayne’s, I exhaled loudly. “Roth and Layla are currently trying to recruit Lucifer to help us fight Gabriel.”
The three Wardens stared at us in blank silence...or abject horror. One or the other.
Then Dez pushed off the wall. “You don’t mean the Lucifer. Right?”
“Is there another Lucifer I’m unaware of?” I asked, looking around the room. “Yes, the Lucifer.”
“You can’t be serious,” Danika whispered.
Dez stopped moving. “You’re totally serious.”
“She is,” Zayne confirmed.
“In my defense, Roth came up with this idea during the Zayne is dead phase of my life. Now whether or not that had anything to do with me agreeing with this potentially very bad idea is totally up for debate.” I lifted a hand when Nicolai lowered his head from the other side of the island. “And look, there is no way that Zayne and I can defeat an archangel—”
“Well, we don’t know that for sure,” Zayne cut in. “Since there’s never been a Fallen and a Trueborn teamed up against an archangel. But YOLO, right?”
My lips thinned.
“I am...actually speechless,” Dez said, shaking his head. “I honestly don’t know what to say. Roth and Layla are seriously trying to recruit Lucifer? The only thing in this entire world that I can think of that is worse than an archangel hell-bent on destroying mankind.”
For someone who didn’t know what to say, he sure had a lot to say.
Danika appeared to blink slowly. “I think I need to sit down.”
“You are sitting down.”
“Oh.” She swallowed thickly. “All right, then.”
Frowning slightly, I wondered if she was okay.
Nicolai finally found his voice, which led to the same questions Zayne had when he first learned of the plan to bring Lucifer into the mix. Were we out of our minds? Would this kick off the biblical end times? How could we control him? All valid questions.
“What will we even do with him once he’s topside?” Nicolai demanded.
“Ehh,” I said. “Haven’t gotten to that point yet.”
He stared at me.
“Mainly because we’re not even sure if he’s going to be game to play,” I reasoned. “And because I’ve been kind of busy with this one.” I jabbed a finger in Zayne’s direction. “So, I haven’t had a lot of time to really think the whole thing through.”
Zayne snorted from behind me. “Thinking things through would’ve come in handy, especially since Lucifer is also out looking for Trin. He sent Ghouls and an Upper Level demon after her.”
Dez came forward. “That’s who sent the Ghouls?”
I nodded. “What can I say? I’m popular.”
Zayne tugged gently on the bun. “That you are.”
“Why is Lucifer looking for you?” Nicolai demanded.
“Not sure,” I said. “Maybe he’s just looking to expand his friend circle?”
“I know I don’t have a whole lot of experience with demons,” Danika said. “But I cannot imagine having Lucifer looking for you is something good.”
I sighed. “Probably not, and I don’t know if those orders are recent, like coming after Roth and Layla had spoken to him, or if they were issued before. I’m hoping they came before.”
“But even if they came before Roth and Layla met with him, it’s still an issue.” Zayne’s hands returned to my shoulders. “That needs to be dealt with.”
“It’s been added to the ever-growing list,” I murmured.
Zayne squeezed my shoulders again. “I’m guessing we don’t know where Gabriel is hiding?”
Nicolai shook his head. “We’ve been keeping an eye out for Bael or any sign of Gabriel, but there’s been nothing since the night at the school.”
“There’s been no more Warden deaths?” Zayne asked.
“No,” answered Dez. “There’s also been very little demon activity.”
As they talked, my mind wandered as it often did, skipping from one thought to the next, starting with the horrible final moments under the school, when Zayne showed up and killed Sulien. My mind snagged on the other Trueborn. Had it been him who left the angelic weapon behind? Or Gabriel, since only archangels carried them? Either way, it was incredibly reckless of either of them, to the point it seemed impossible for either of them to have been responsible. The golden, luminous spikes were angel blades, capable of killing anything, including angels—
Holy crap.
I’d totally forgotten about the damn angel blades and the fact we had in our grasp a plan A and B this whole time.
And that was one of the strange, marvelous mysteries of a random brain. No joke. Sometimes all the random thoughts served a purpose and were connected. Sometimes they didn’t and just led me to do things that were quite impulsive or nonsensical to most.
“We need the angel blades,” I blurted out.
Nicolai’s head inclined. “Angel blades?”
“That’s what those golden spikes were.” I looked back at Zayne. “Remember when Roth saw the writing in the tunnels?”
Understanding washed across his expression and his gaze snapped to Nicolai’s. “They’re angelic weapons used by archangels, and they can kill anything with angelic blood, including an angel. We need them.”