my voice. Gabriel had taught me to hate the archangels down to my very core.
Michael’s fingers flexed on the door frame. “Well. I can’t speak for my brothers, but I can promise you I’ll do whatever I can. Tascius is my brother-in-arms. I can’t let him go alone, but I don’t want to… uh… encroach.”
I couldn’t help but smile. He was trying so hard, and the whole time he’d been helping us, training Tascius to accept what he was now, I’d been pushing him away as one of them.
“It’s fine. Really. If Raphael is as good as you say, then he deserves to be found. Heaven’s going to need both of you if it ever wants to be a place worth fighting for.” I looked away, not wanting to say what I really thought.
That I feared he’d take Tascius with him. Hell was no place for an archangel.
Michael nodded slowly. “Okay. Good. Fine. By the way- the spell is to deflect any sword. Your friend knows her work.”
I looked back up at him. He was gazing around her room with curiosity, taking in all the pink and glitter with an expression of bemusement.
“She’s a very happy, sparkly person,” I said defensively.
Michael gave me a skeptical look. “As long as you don’t let her dress me.”
I followed him out, giving Vyra’s room one last, wistful look. We’re coming, my beautiful best fucking friend.
“There’s the problem,” I told Michael, grabbing my Spear from my room as we made our way to the armory. “She’s not really going to give you a choice.”
Azazel met us in a swirl of smoke, looking far less peaky than he’d looked when I found him earlier.
In fact, he was absolutely vibrant, his violet eyes gleaming.
A faint suspicion occurred to me, but I kicked it away. I knew what he was. I knew, and I’d made my choice. I couldn’t change him any more than I could change myself.
“I made a back-up plan for us,” he said, holding out his hand to reveal four silver amulets, each inscribed with harsh markings. “The quick way out, if you will. These will open a portal right into the heart of Blackchapel, but with a catch- they won’t work in the Between. Only in Irkalla.”
Belial and I each picked up our own amulets, and Azazel raised an eyebrow. “I only made enough for the four of us,” he said, glancing at Haru and Michael. “If you’re coming, you’ll need to stay with one of us at all times.”
Haru shrugged. “I’m not going anywhere without her, amulet or not. I don’t need a safety net.”
He was looking more feral by the minute, his tails flicking with agitation, nails lengthened into claws.
Michael scratched his nose. “I’m good.” The archangel was clutching an unopened bottle of whiskey. Belial narrowed his eyes at him, but Michael was studiously looking in another direction.
“That’s what you’re bringing instead of armor?” I demanded.
He winked. “Just as good as a weapon in a pinch, sister.”
God help us.
Azazel gave the last amulet to Tascius. “Put these around your necks and repeat after me. Do not say it while the amulet is in your hand.” For some reason, he fixed Belial with a slit-eyed look when he said this. Belial put the necklace on, looking as innocent as possible. “A’kaza sothoth Dis.”
We all repeated it obediently until we had it memorized.
“Once the portals open, you have five seconds until they close. Do not use them unless you have no other choice, or once we have Vyra and Lucifer. Seriously, Melisande.” It was my turn to be pinned by his sharp stare. “Leave Satan behind if you have to. They’re the most important ones.”
I nodded. Like Hell I would waste an opportunity to escape if I got my hands on either one of them.
We were ready. There was nothing else to do but put off the inevitable, and I was done wasting time.
“Will Dis be okay with both of you gone?” I asked Belial. He was bristling with weapons, and helped me buckle a harness around my chest, rigging it to hold the Spear on my back. Then he knelt down, sliding thin boot knives into place on me, strapping them to my thighs, and sliding one into my belt.
He rose up to his full height and kissed me deeply, his lips soft and warm. “They’ll be fine.”
Days was better than weeks, but still, Dis was in a fragile state as it was. “You sure?”
“Lucifuge Rofocale was elected Prime Minister only hours