“Trinity—”
“Got to go. Going to be very busy,” I rushed on. “Stay safe!” I hung up, barely resisting the urge to throw the phone across the room. Instead, I silenced it and placed it facedown on the counter before Nicolai could call back, because if I couldn’t see that he was calling me, then I could pretend that he wasn’t.
“That went well,” Roth commented.
I turned to him. “How long would it take for us to know if we jump-started the apocalypse?”
His brows rose as he scrunched his hand through his hair. “Hard to say. I doubt there’s an exact time limit, but we’ll know if it happens.”
“Do I even want to know how we’ll know?”
He snorted. “You know you do.”
I sighed. I did.
“If we’ve kicked off the big end times, you’ll know because they’ll show up.”
A shiver tiptoed down my spine. “And who exactly is ‘they’?”
“The Horsemen.” Roth smiled tightly. “They’ll ride. That’s how you know.”
“Oh.” I almost sat down on the floor. “Okay. I’ll keep an eye out for some dude on a white horse.”
“Actually, what you’ll be keeping an eye out for is the opening of the Seven Seals. War isn’t riding the white horse. He comes with the second Seal. Then Famine with the third. The fourth Seal is the real fun one,” he explained. “That brings out Pestilence and Death. A two-for-one special. Then things really get fun.”
I stared at him.
“We’re talking judgments, mark of the beast, tribulations, fiery pits and general chaos.”
I blinked slowly.
“Then, you know, God will be like ‘Daddy’s home,’ and kick ass or something.” Roth shrugged. “Or so they say.”
“Well, this has made me feel so much better about things. Thanks for that.”
“You’re welcome.” Roth looked over his shoulder, into the sunroom. “I’m glad they’re talking.”
“So am I,” I agreed softly. “For a moment there, when you first showed up, I thought you would go at Zayne.”
“I didn’t know what he’d become. He didn’t feel right.” Roth faced me. “Now I know.”
“Now I know why you made your snarky little comments about Wardens,” I said.
A quick grin appeared. “I haven’t seen an angel Fall. Ever. And the only ones I ever knew were the ones who’d already been stripped of their wings, and sure as Hell didn’t have their grace.” A certain sense of knowing filled his amber gaze. “How was he when he first came back?”
I exhaled raggedly as my attention returned to the darkened sunroom. “Not particularly good.”
“Sounds like there’s a story there.”
“There is. Maybe I’ll tell you about it once we find Lucifer,” I told him. “What do you think he’s doing out there?”
Roth bent, picking up what look like a dog toy shaped like a fudge bar. “Knowing Lucifer? He’s probably looking for the oldest nearby church and currently terrifying hapless priests while simultaneously causing the One up there to lose His mind.”
I considered that. “Well, I guess he could be up to worse things, right?”
“Right.” Roth pushed on the center of the bar, and the toy squeaked.
“We need to get out there and find him.” I dragged a hand over my face. “Especially before he decides to get more creative with his time.”
Without any warning, Layla’s fox shot across the counter, snatching the toy out of Roth’s hands. Robin jumped to the floor and took off, the toy in his mouth, squeaking away as he rushed into the living room.
“I really want to pet him,” I said.
“I wouldn’t recommend it. He’s a bit nippy. What were you—?”
Focused on Roth, I didn’t see Layla coming until she plowed into me. I squeaked, sounding like Robin’s toy as she wrapped her arms around me, pinning my arms to my sides.
“Thank you,” she said. “Thank you.”
“For what?” My wide-eyed gaze swept through the room, meeting Zayne’s.
He smiled.
“You know what.” She squeezed harder.
“I don’t,” Roth observed.
“Trinity brought Zayne back after he Fell. She used the Sword of Michael on him, and brought him back,” Layla said, pulling back. She clasped my arms. “I’m sorry for being so standoffish when we first met. I was being a bitch, but Zayne’s important to me. He’s always been, even when he didn’t want anything to do with me, and I didn’t know you and—”
“It’s okay. I wasn’t exactly friendly myself,” I admitted. “And you really don’t need to thank me. Zayne did the hard work with the whole getting his Glory back and then Falling thing.”
“I know what you did couldn’t be easy.” Layla shook me. “I can’t even think about what I would’ve done if it had been me who had to do that. You had to be terrified, and the fact you still did it says a lot about you.” Her pretty face started to crumple again, and the next second, she had her arms around me. “Thank you.”
Zayne started forward, catching Roth’s gaze. The demon prince grinned as he came around the counter. “Come on, shortie.” Placing his hands on her shoulders, he tugged her back. “I think she knows how grateful you are without you squeezing out her insides.”
Zayne came to my side, curling his arm around my shoulders. He dipped his head and kissed my cheek. “You look so comfortable with hugs,” he murmured.
“Shut up.”
He chuckled, kissing my temple. “Sounded like you called Nic. How’d he take the news?”
“Oh, you know, amazingly well. Very level response—”
A knock from the front of the house interrupted me. I glanced to Roth. “Could we get lucky and that’s Lucifer?”
Roth snorted. “Doubtful.”
“I’ll get it!” Cayman’s voice carried from somewhere in the house.
“He’s been here the whole time?” I asked.
“He’s been upstairs, soaking in the tub,” Layla said, leaning into Roth. “It’s Tuesday. ‘Me time’ always happens on Tuesday evening.”
I shook my head. “You’d think he’d make an exception.”