“Get your fucking hands off me.”
Ramiel stared into his eyes. “Are you calm?”
“Go fuck yourself.”
Ramiel chuckled and glanced at his fellow archangels. “He’s angry, but he’s got a hold on it now.”
Michael and Ramiel stepped back but kept themselves between him and the hell prince who was about to meet extinction.
“I love these little get-togethers,” Belle murmured.
Lucifer’s gaze met his over Raphael’s muscled shoulder. “I didn’t take her, brother. I vow it.”
“Tell him who did.” Raphael kept his focus on Wrath.
“Ashe.” Lucifer’s jaw tightened, his characteristic insouciance missing. “He was one of mine, but this was not under my instruction. Fucker went rogue, and I haven’t seen him in months.”
Wrath’s temper lashed its tail within him, and Shade tightened the grip on his shoulder. “I don’t believe you.”
“I’m aware.” Lucifer raised an eyebrow. “But think, Satanus. What reason would I have for kidnapping your daughter?” He pressed a hand to his chest. “My niece.”
“Like you give a fuck about that.”
Lucifer smirked. “Strangely enough, I do.” He flicked his fingers between them. “Whatever issues I have with you, do not extend to Edme.”
Shade snarled. “Get her name out of your mouth.”
“This is why Nephilim should not be allowed.” Gabriel pursed her lips.
“Shut up,” Raphael snapped at her. “Go back to alphabetizing your Spotify playlist.”
Gabriel’s pinched expression tightened. “Raguel has already taken care of that for me.”
“I agree with Raphael.” Michael glared at her. “Shut the fuck up.”
Moving closer to Lucifer, his wary gaze still on Wrath, Raphael said, “Tell them what you’ve found out.”
“I’ve been looking for Ashe, tracking the hordes of missing demons.” Lucifer snapped the cuffs of his priggish shirt. “As we’re all aware, the horde is made up of demons from all of our hordes.” His dark eyes swept all the hell princes. “And as anomalous as that is, they seem to be cooperating. I suspect we have a rebellion on our hands, and they’re powerful, united, and using Nephilim power to increase their strength.” He met Wrath’s gaze. “That’s what I suspect they are doing with the amulets. We have all noticed they are more powerful than they should be.”
His words clanged like a dropped anvil into the destroyed greenroom.
Gabriel recovered her composure first. “That’s impossible.”
“As much as it pains me, I have to agree with you. It shouldn’t be possible.” Lucifer stepped into the greenroom. “But impossible or not, it’s happening.” He looked at Wrath. “Ashe betrayed me. No doubt about it, the duplicitous fucker is with them, and given his powers, I would not be surprised to find out he’s the one leading them.”
Wrath had heard Lucifer spout some crap in his life, but this took the cake. “You’re lying.”
“I don’t think he is.” Raphael came to Lucifer’s defense. “After Lucifer and I spoke, I did some sleuthing of my own. I can confirm that Ashe is no longer a member of Lucifer’s horde. I can also confirm that there seems to be a high level of cooperation and organization amongst this rebel horde.” He shrugged. “You have experienced the power drain through the amulet. That has to be happening for a reason.”
“You’ve been to my palace.” Lucifer risked a step closer to Wrath. “You know the place is just about abandoned. I’ve lost almost my entire horde, and from what my spies tell me, Shade is no better.”
“A rebel demon horde?” Michael shook his head. “They must be exterminated.”
For once, Wrath agreed with the meathead.
“There’s simply no precedent for this,” Gabriel muttered, her fingers flying over her tablet. “This is not a possibility we accounted for.”
“And not your biggest problem.” Daniel entered the room. He looked about at the wreckage and shook his head. “You need to clean this up before Dee sees it.” He turned to address the assembled beings. “I requested this gathering, and I went to a lot of trouble keeping it from my superiors, because quite frankly, I believe they’ll make a bad situation worse.” He took a deep breath. “The horsemen are awakening.”
The room exploded into denials and expletives, and Wrath even forgot his mission to kill his twin as the news sunk in. The only being who didn’t react was Ramiel. Had he already known and not shared the information with the rest of them? They all hated the gatherings, and cooperation was anathema to them, but withholding this was tantamount to courting creation’s destruction.
“It makes perfect sense.” Lucifer’s voice rose against the uproar. “And provides one of the missing pieces to this puzzle.”
It took a while for the room to quiet enough for him to continue.
Lucifer paced as he spoke, his loafers squishing and crunching through the debris on the floor. “It’s the one thing I couldn’t figure out. Why would these demons band together like they are when they know the chaos will weaken the seals?”
“Because you treat them like shit?” Michael scoffed.
“They’re demons.” Lucifer gave him a look of scrotum withering scorn. “Do you really think offering them daycare and a pension plan would keep them in line?”
Despite himself, Wrath wanted to laugh. He despised his twin, but the fuckwaffle had a way with words.
“We’re tough on them because we need to be,” Lucifer said. “Their entire purpose is chaos, and we were given the job of keeping that chaos contained.”
“Angels are difficult to contain as well,” Ramiel groused.
And speaking of angels, Wrath still didn’t see Haziel. Now that he’d calmed out of his homicidal rage, he didn’t sense her near either. She’d promised to wait until he returned, and Haziel did not lie. The only thing that could have compelled her to break that promise was a direct instruction from her archangel.
