“Not a coincidence.” His breath tickled my nape. “Naamah loved him so much that she gave both her children names reminiscent of his.”
That seemed a bit obsessive. “What happened next?”
“Since Lucifer couldn’t—or rather, wouldn’t—force his favorite daughter to do anything, much less reject her lover and the father of her children, he went the other way.” A heavy pause. “He informed Heaven of Azrael’s illicit relationship and the fact he had sired progeny with a demon, which caused Azrael to fall.”
“Wait—they kicked him out?”
“Yes. He fell to Earth, and Lucifer claimed him.”
“Claimed?”
“When an angel falls, they don’t automatically become a demon and enter Hell. They plummet to Earth, their wings burned off, and unless a demon claims them for a territory in Hell, the fallen angel remains on Earth as a being neither angel nor demon. They retain some of their powers and can act for either good or evil. They have been called many names in different cultures, but the one that seems to have stuck is jinn.”
Oh, wow. “So, the claiming for Hell...how does that work? Does the jinn have a say?”
“Not really. Some would prefer to live out their now mortal lives as jinn on Earth rather than serve in Hell, and if they’re lucky, they can evade capture. But if the jinn is found, and caught, by a demon with the authority to claim them for their archdemon, the jinn has no choice but to follow the demon to Hell.”
“And become one themselves.”
“That’s how it works. Their wings will regrow once they are in Hell, their essence now bound to this realm.”
“So, Azrael…”
“Became a demon, and lived here with Naamah and the children she had borne him.”
“You and Azmodea.”
“One happy family,” he said, the darkness in his tone belying the literal meaning of the words.
“I take it that didn’t work out.”
The candles flickered in the silence that followed. I waited for him to pick up the story again, knowing he would.
“Naamah was overjoyed to have Azrael down here with her,” he finally continued, his voice quieter than before. His fingers played along my neck. “And for a time, it was well. The few good memories I have of them are from those years.”
I leaned back into his touch, my stomach knotting in anticipation of the momentous But that surely would follow.
“As time passed, Azrael became restless. He struggled with his new life in Hell, was never really able to cope with his changed identity. Naamah realized he was unhappy and tried to fill the growing chasm between them. She poured the riches of Hell onto him, twisted herself into knots to please him. But he longed too much for his old life in Heaven, for the grace of God, and in the end, her love wasn’t enough to hold him.” A kiss to my temple. “And he didn’t love her enough to stay.”
Or loved him enough… I sucked in a breath, noting the part Azazel left out—that his father cared so little for his own children that he could simply walk away.
My chest ached for him, the sting all the keener because I knew exactly how it felt to be abandoned this way.
I clasped his arm that was wrapped around my middle, my fingers interlacing with his. “What happened then?” I whispered.
“Behind Naamah’s back, Azrael petitioned Gabriel for a return to Heaven.”
“The archangel?”
“The very one. He has the power to grant pardons. From what I heard—” his voice dripped acid “—Azrael crawled before him, begging him to let him come home. It is a rare thing that a demon should be pardoned and welcomed back into Heaven. But for whatever reason, Gabriel relented, though not without conditions attached. For Azrael to be accepted back into the fold, he had to repudiate Naamah, disavow the children he had begotten with her, and reject any claim to his care. And as a reminder of his transgression, he would serve as angel of death for all eternity, ferrying souls to Heaven and marking the ones slated for Hell. Azrael accepted, and he ascended that same day.” A pause charged with so much tension, the flames of the candles crackled. “He left without a word to Naamah, or us.”
I squeezed his fingers, my heart twisting in sympathy. The callousness of that abandonment…
When he spoke again, his tone had dulled. “It wasn’t until days later that Naamah found out where he’d gone. She tried to reach Azrael, to no avail. He would not see her, or even acknowledge her existence. Once