The Lure of the Devil (The Demons' Muse #4) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,87

that I'm complaining, but the truth is that none of us have any idea what happened, or why it did."

"Because she is the Ayala." It was the only answer I had. "For now, let's just accept that as the truth, ok? Sia was born of five worlds, with all the aether types and resonances that includes. It clearly makes her something new and very powerful. To me, that sounds like the Ayala. She breathes in aether. She's a vortex that sucks it up when she's not shielded to prevent that. Maybe all of that has combined with her alterations to make herself live forever to create something new. Hopefully, something as immortal as we are - although I'm not willing to test that theory."

He nodded. "Ok, and then what? The Ayala is supposed to destroy all five realms. Do you have any idea what that would do to her? She's too caring. Sia is not a destroyer!"

"Isn't she?" I countered. "Look at what she's done so far. She broke the rules. Destroyed them, you might say. She locked the demons on Daemin, sealing the veil. Destroying their way of life, one might say. She made the veil on Vesdar, destroying Michael's plan. No matter how you twist it, she's been destroying things since we met her."

"But in good ways!" Luke shot back. "She's not some terrifying creature to fear! She's the savior."

"One does not necessarily negate the other," I pointed out. "I'm sure the angels are pretty scared right now."

"Yeah," Luke said, dragging out the word. "About that. Um, it seems Michael is already working on a new plan."

"Thought he was locked away?"

Luke nodded. "I'm also not convinced the plan is from Michael, but the angels seem to think it is. It lacks all the layers he tends to put on things."

Then he proceeded to tell me about what he'd learned in their visit with Uriel. About the two seraphim, the assistant who was now speaking for Michael, who seemed to be the angel Sia had seen that looked like Ronwe. Combined, it was more than I could deal with right now, and yet it also wouldn't wait. Sia had been right. She'd said that something big was coming, and it sounded like the angels were already working on it.

And then Luke told me about the missing person poster they'd seen in the bar, and how it had been some guy Sia used to work with. He laid out his idea that since so many angels had already been embedded in that town, and with the large college there, that it would make the perfect harvesting ground. He also made it clear that this type of operation would only be carried out if the angels were truly that worried about Earth being locked away - or if they had a new leader calling the shots.

"So, what's her plan?" I asked.

Luke just shrugged. "She doesn't have one yet. Uriel's getting us information about the slaves on Angelis, and I'll have Ron start looking at how we can make a society on Fire Island, but this isn't going to be a simple thing, Nick. We can't just smash some angels, let Sia throw some sprites, and then call it a win. This is a big fucking operation that we're talking about. Something one legion can't do on their own."

"So we go to Vesdar and talk to Phanuel," I said, since it had been mentioned before.

"Bigger," Luke said.

The tone of his voice made me look up, finding his eyes waiting. That was when I understood. "You want to talk to the dragon?"

Slowly, he nodded. "Sia says the beast talked to her. If that dragon really is a Muse more powerful than Sia, then we're going to need her help. If nothing else, Sia will need the power, because not even she can hold enough to get all of this done without a break."

"Then we make a break," I told him. "We plan this so she can rest and refill in the middle."

"Like twenty times?" he asked. "Because that's what it's going to take, and the number of lives she'd need to reap to get there?"

"There's plenty on Earth," I reminded him.

"Not in one place!" he snapped. "Nick, you cannot make her - " And then his mouth shut as we both heard the front door of the house open.

Sam stepped into the yard and closed it behind him, smiling when he realized we were looking. He made it almost all the way over