Cipher (Demonica Underworld #8) - Larissa Ione Page 0,43
the fallen angels’ sons had been able to enter. They’d had to take the males while they were fucking around in other regions of Sheoul.
“When can Cipher do this?” Azagoth asked.
“I don’t know. I’ve tried contacting him, but he’s not replying.”
There was a tap at the door, and Z’s voice boomed from behind the thick wood. “I just got word that Reaver and Revenant are on their way.”
Before Z even stopped talking, Azagoth’s bones vibrated like a tuning fork, and a blast of nuclear energy slammed into him. They were here. Fuck. He wasn’t in the mood. He was never in the mood when it came to dealing with those douchebags.
“I’ll go.” Hawkyn beelined for the door, anxious to either miss Reaver and Revenant, or to get away from Azagoth before he told him to kill Cipher again. Maybe both. “I’ll let you know if I hear from Ciph.”
He whipped open the door, and lo and behold, the Prince of Heaven and the King of Hell were standing right there in the doorway.
They exchanged brief nods, and then Reaver and Revenant strode inside.
“Well, well,” Azagoth said. “If it isn’t the Wonder Twins.”
“The what?” Revenant asked.
“A brother sister superhero team from Saturday morning cartoons,” Reaver explained. “Back when I was Unfallen, Wraith made me watch a lot of those things.”
“That’s cool,” Revenant said. “We didn’t have fun shit like cartoons in the part of Hell where I grew up.”
Reaver shot his brother a look of exasperation. “You just can’t let that go, can you?”
Revenant shrugged in his black leather duster. “It’s still a sore spot.” He plopped down in the overstuffed chair by the fire.
“That’s my seat,” Azagoth said. “Move.”
“Whatever, Sheldon.” Holding up his hands, Revenant scooted to the couch. At Reaver’s quizzical expression, Rev shrugged again. “I like sitcoms. Sue me.”
“Are you two done?” Azagoth asked. Talk about exasperation. “Maybe you could tell me why you’re here?”
Reaver turned to him, his body taut, his expression serious. “I’m here to warn you not to push the boundaries of your limits, which were agreed upon in the Sheoul-gra Accord.”
“What he said.” Revenant kicked his booted feet up on the coffee table, as relaxed as Reaver was strung tight.
“This must be serious if Heaven is sending its most powerful angel and Sheoul’s overlord.”
Revenant barked out a laugh. “Heaven doesn’t send me anywhere, Soul Man. I’m here because this concerns my realm too.”
The fire in the hearth snapped and hissed as Reaver waved his palm over the flames. Did he notice that the fire burned hot? It had been cold for months, its flames pale blue, reflecting Azagoth’s heart while Lilliana had been gone.
He hated that his environment was so connected to his moods, that he could be so easily read by those with an observant eye or half a brain.
Reaver turned away from the fire. “You released souls into Sheoul,” he said, getting right to it. “The Angelic Council is apoplectic. So we’re here to tell you to knock it the hell off.”
“Fuck the council,” Azagoth growled. “Bael has been killing my children. I have the right to defend my family.”
“Only within the confines of Sheoul-gra.”
Azagoth gave a bitter laugh. He’d been stupid to agree to such restrictive rules. “What would you do, Reaver? What would you do if Bael killed Limos? Or Logan? Or any of your children or grandchildren? Would you sit around in Heaven and do nothing, simply because you signed a piece of parchment? You, who haven’t followed a rule...ever?”
“There’s not a rule I wouldn’t break for my family,” Reaver said.
“But you can’t be all blatant about it,” Revenant broke in. “If you’re going to do the revenge thing, use your griminions. No one would know. But man, you release souls, and it sets off seismic alarms.”
“I don’t really give a shit about the souls.” Reaver shoved Revenant’s feet aside and sat on the opposite end of the couch. “The Angelic Council needs to chill out. But Bael...he can’t die.”
“Oh, he can die,” Azagoth promised. He would die. Soon.
“I mean that he needs to stay alive.”
As if that was going to happen. Still, he should probably know the reasoning behind Reaver’s ridiculous announcement. “I give. Why should Bael keep breathing?”
Reaver looked troubled. “I don’t know.”
“You don’t know?” Azagoth stared at the angel. “Then why the fuck—”
“The Moirai summoned him,” Revenant announced in a bored tone, as if the Moirai, legendary angelic seers who weren’t allowed to speak to anyone except in the most dire of circumstances, had casually asked