The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,196

that all the angels here have been recalled."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

Luke lifted his cup of coffee and took a sip. "Sounds like Michael - or someone speaking for him - has ordered everyone back to Angelis." He took another sip, then leaned forward to look at me. "Sia, most of that fraternity were angels. They were also students. All of them were registered at this university and had official IDs. That means photos, and those are being pulled by the police for the survivors to identify. Their cover's blown, and they're going to need entirely new identities made if they want to come back to Earth. Possibly new skins, too. Creating one or two? That's easy. Setting up over a hundred fake people with ancestral histories and property inheritance? Never mind that the accounts of these students are all going to be watched - if not frozen. Each of those angels probably has millions of dollars to their name, and the cops are going to wonder why."

"Oh fuck," I breathed. "The system y'all made to manage your wealth without looking immortal is going to be part of what brings them down?"

Bel grunted. "I'm not sure that bringing down is the right phrase. It will slow them down, but not stop them."

Nick was nodding in agreement. "That's why we decided to do things this way. Sia, we don't always have to rip the angels apart to win. Sometimes, taking away their toys will give us a better result. But it's not all good news. I don't think slaves were the only thing they were on Earth to get. I don't know what, but everything about this points to something bigger."

Which was when I remembered those words Gabriel said just before he'd pushed me off this plane. "Gates," I breathed. "Gabriel said they already have permanent gates to Earth."

"That's why he was so smug when he bumped into us in that store," Sam grumbled. "Shit, that makes so much sense."

"Where?" Luke asked.

I tossed up my hands. "I don't know. It was just something he said when we were trying to drain each other. I didn't exactly have the time to delve into the details. You think my dad would know?"

For a moment, no one answered. In confusion, I looked from one of them to the other, finding nothing but sparkling eyes and smothered smiles. I wasn't quite sure what they found so funny, so I shook my head and held both hands palm up in a silent request to be filled in.

"Dad," Nick said, finally letting his smile show. "You didn't call him Uriel, and you didn't even call him your father. You actually called him dad."

I hadn't even noticed. It came out so naturally that there’d been no thought at all behind it. I'd been thinking about the problem and had just honestly believed that my dad would help me, and that was the word my mind chose. It felt good, though. It actually kinda felt like everything I'd spent my entire life missing.

"I have a dad," I said softly. "And a mom, and a family. I also have a legion, which includes my…" My eyes jumped over to Luke. "Five boyfriends?"

He nodded slowly. "I told you five was a good number."

I just held out my middle finger in his direction. "Yeah, don't give me that shit." But I was grinning.

Ron rolled his eyes at us, then gestured back to the TV. "But what about this? What kind of effect is this going to have on the future of religion on this plane?"

I waved him down. "Cults have existed before, and they will exist again. This isn't even the worst of them. There were entire groups that moved into communes, created their own communities, and then killed themselves. The concept of religion has had many, many dark points over the years, but somehow, it never seems to falter."

"Maybe," Sam said as he curled around me, "one day they'll decide you aren't that bad. Who knows, maybe we can even work to make Nick and Luke look like heroes."

"The strangest thing is that I'm not sure we want them to," I admitted, glancing back to see his face. "If people don't think of us as something to fear, then why would they be scared of our punishment? Right now, we're monsters. The stories say that we're what goes bump in the night, right? If you're bad, we'll come and get you. Being sweet, or..." And I gestured to Nick. "Sexy?