Sophia grimaced inwardly on his behalf. The chicken was as dry as old boot leather, and the parmesan a burned offering on top.

“That means demons are coming through.” Dee started and then wiped all expression off her face. “Not that it’s anything to do with me.”

Sophia hated to be the voice of doom at their cozy little dinner. “If demons are running amok on this plane, it’s all of our problem.”

“What about your lot?” Daniel chewed a mouthful of chicken and turned to Dee. “This is fantastic, Dee.”

Dee hid her pleased smile and scoffed.

He looked like he meant it as well, and Sophia nearly laughed. “What about my lot?” Sophia had a nasty suspicion she already knew what he was about to ask.

He turned back to her. “It seems to me that if the hell princes are needed at the seals, the archangels should be trying to do something about the demon infestation.”

Sophia couldn’t agree more. “They are trying not to get involved.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Dee dropped her fork on her plate with a clatter. “How can they stay out of this?”

“Archangels are…” Sophia tried to put it politely. “They see their role as staying neutral.”

Dee gaped at her.

Shaking his head, Daniel said, “I think the time for neutrality has come and gone. I have been watching the news, and it’s not looking good.”

“No.” Depression settled on Sophia’s chest. “And the other archangels are researching how to repair the seals. Since Eddie tried and was missing the heaven element to enact a full repair, we are trying to find something that might help.” It was little enough in the current spiraling situation. She had been watching the news as well, and humans were definitely reacting to the weakening seals. Combine that with a stronger demon presence on this plane, and things were only going to get worse.

Gabriel had sent her a not so polite request earlier today for her to return to the heavenly realm. Her fellow archangels saw no reason for her to linger here.

She’d sent an equally not so polite response. Shade was still on the plane, and that meant she was staying. Hiding out on the heavenly plane and pretending what was happening on earth and in hell wasn’t going to impact everyone was unmitigated stupidity. The weakening seals and busy demons on earth meant humanity was in trouble, and they were going to need all the supernatural help they could get. A spot of research was hardly a proportionate response. “I sent a message to Michael,” she said. “I stressed the importance of us getting involved.”

Dee cocked her head. “Why Michael?”

“He is not always in favor of Gabriel’s policy of wait and see.” She sipped her wine and was relieved that not needing to eat to sustain herself had saved her from Dee’s cooking.

Daniel held his plate up for more.

“Michael is more of a fighter than a politician or a archivist. If I can impress on him how serious the situation is getting on this plane, he’s the most likely to act,” she said.

“Good idea.” Daniel nodded and went at his second helping with gusto. “Have you heard from Shade?”

Dee stopped eating and stared at her intently.

“Not directly.” Sophia touched her temple. “But I can sense him on this plane. He went north and is continuing to travel in that direction.”

Dee’s bravado crumpled. “He has to find her.”

“He will.” Sophia took her hand and squeezed it. She prayed she was right. Eddie’s disappearance bothered her, and not only because it was gutting Shade, or that she liked Eddie, but more because it didn’t make a lot of sense. “I thought maybe an archangel might have taken her,” she said, voicing a fleeting suspicion. “But I checked with all of them, and there is no sign of them or their host having gone through any of the hell gates.”

“But a demon took her.” Dee frowned. “Ashe.”

“Yes.” And that was the part that made no sense to her. “But archangels can also be rather stubborn, and I wanted to cover that base. Eliminate the possibility.”

“Fuck.” Dee shook her head. “And we humans think archangels are the good guys.”

Shade parked his dusty pickup in front of his cheap motel room. With the hounds, he’d chosen not to fly and had glamoured his power signature down to almost human. The hounds lay in the covered back, concealed from nosy humans who would, no doubt, freak out if they saw them. Three days of traveling and nothing.

Wrath was in hell, and if there was any sign of Eddie there, he’d pick it up. Unfortunately, the hounds didn’t have their full power in the earth realm, but they were still the best option he had.

The hounds had him moving steadily north. Towns thinned out to smaller towns and finally just sparse outposts. He waited until there was nobody else around the quiet parking lot before opening the door to his room for the night and letting the hounds in. He hadn’t slept since he’d set out, and it was time to get some rest.

Wherever Eddie was being held, it was probably going to involve a fight to get her out. The angels swore blind she wasn’t in heaven, and as much as he didn’t trust those sanctimonious fucks, keeping her in heaven would make no sense. No, if the angels had taken her, they would have been far more likely to kill her.

On that cheery thought, he opened his bag of fast food and unpacked the contents.

Being on earth made him more susceptible to human needs. Although he didn’t need to eat and sleep as regularly as humans, he did still have those needs.

The hounds would need to feed soon, which meant he’d have to find some useless piece of human detritus and let them take its soul. Or a demon that was hanging out here when it shouldn’t be.

He made short work of his burger and fries and flipped the television channel to a news station.

Cronus and Xerxes sprawled on the other queen bed in the room, their huge bodies eating up the space. Both hounds had their eyes closed, but they weren’t sleeping. They were filtering out the input from their physical senses and letting their metaphysical senses take over.

Hounds fed on souls, which meant they could find souls, and they’d been hunting the ether constantly for signs of Eddie. Being bonded to her, they were particularly susceptible to the unique soul signature she gave off.

As much as he wanted to ask, he suppressed the desire. They would tell him as soon as they caught so much as a flicker of Eddie.

Shade concentrated on the news. If Eddie’s hell gate was unstable, it could mean the others weren’t faring much better, and the human news channels were his best source of information. Weak hell gates and missing demons didn’t need a physicist to piece together. If demons were escaping into this realm, they would bring havoc with them.

He read the ticker tape running along the bottom of the screen. An African dictator was making noise about reclaiming land from a neighboring country.

The news went from politics to crime. The news anchor was one of those interchangeable plastic looking faces with a trust-me expression and a weighty way of delivering their script.

The word rape caught Shade’s attention and he turned up the sound.

“…fifth rape and murder in as many days. London police are asking the public not to panic…”

Shade tuned the lacquered and painted anchor out.

Another article along the ticker tape caught his attention. This one about a famous artwork being stolen from a museum. Human news was always bad, and Shade didn’t know why they watched it. But there seemed to be more bad news than normal. A riot had broken out in a US city for no apparent reason, and a few people were dead, several more wounded. Negotiations had broken down between two large NATO allies, and the politicians were taking nasty swipes at each other over the media.

The effect of the breaking seals was most definitely leaking into the earth realm.

Chapter Eight

This bloody angel was going to be the death of Wrath, which might be a possibility for the first time in his eons-long life. Head held high, humming to herself, she marched their asses through the lush jungle like she was leading the heavenly host to Zion. Leaving him to tamely follow behind like he was carrying her fucking harp and trumpet.