“We don’t.” Chris took Sophia’s hand and held it. “The horsemen will get stronger and stronger in a power spiral that will end everything.”
“I don’t accept that,” Eddie whispered. She looked at Shade, silently begging him for reassurance. “There has to be a way to stop them.”
“We’re sure as fuck going to try.” Shade tightened his hold on Eddie. He looked at Sophia over her head. “How close are the archangels to finding answers to repairing the seals?”
“Why the seals?” Eddie stared at her too.
“The deterioration of the seals is signaling the end of days.” Sophia had come into being with this knowledge, but she’d never thought it would become a reality. “If we can repair the seals, maybe the horsemen will return to rest.”
“It’s a long shot.” Chris grimaced. “From all I’ve read, once the horsemen wake, they won’t rest again until they’ve fulfilled their purpose.”
“Which is the end of all of us?” Eddie’s face reflected the fear they all felt.
“Long shot or not, it’s all we’ve got,” Shade said. “Sophia? Any progress on the seal repairs?”
“Michael has something.” Sophia drew comfort from Chris’s clasp on her hand.
Shade’s mouth tightened in a stern line. “Repairing those seals is our best hope.”
“Right.” Sophia gathered her scattered thoughts. “I’ll contact him.”
Shade stroked Eddie’s spine as he spoke to her. “Can you get hold of Wrath?”
Eddie nodded.
“He’ll have felt it already,” Shade said. “As will the other hell princes, but we need everyone on this. Now.”
“What has Michael found out?” Eddie looked at her.
“He was looking for any mention of the seals.” Sophia needed to pull herself together. Panicking wouldn’t help. “He found a passage that spoke about how they could be repaired.”
“Fuck.” Shade glared at her. “And you’re only telling us about this now?”
“Don’t speak to her like that.” Chris stood and faced Shade. “None of this is her fault. In fact, if we’re looking to cast blame, then Ramiel needs to take responsibility for sending Haziel to the horsemen’s resting place. The power they drained from her could very well have sped up their waking.”
“It’s fine.” Sophia rose and put her hand on his arm. “I understand Shade’s frustration. None of us are very good at working together.”
Taking a deep breath, Eddie squared her shoulders. “We’re going to have to learn how to be, and quickly.”
“Quite right.” Chris gave Eddie an approving nod. He turned back to Sophia, eyes kind. “Do you know anything more about what Michael found?”
“He’s being very cagey about it.” And wasn’t that part of the problem with them all learning to work together. “He needs to verify his findings, but Nephilim are the key.”
Eddie scoffed. “Oh, so now we’re useful.”
She raised an excellent point, as archangels and hell princes had been systematically destroying any and all Nephilim they discovered. “Michael says he’s found references to angelically sired Nephilim.” She ignored the incredulous look on Shade’s face. He wouldn’t stay quiet long with the bomb she’d dropped. “When Eddie repaired Wrath’s seal, you said the missing element was heaven. Michael believes that angelic Nephilim are the missing piece to repair the seals.”
“Angelic Nephilim.” Shade raised a brow. “As far as we’ve been led to believe, they don’t exist.”
Sophia tried to play it cool. “That may not be entirely true, but Michael is still verifying.”
“May not?” Shade’s stare could have stripped paint from the walls.
“As in probably isn’t the truth.” She’d come this far, she may as well finish her bomb drop. “There is evidence that there are, indeed, angelic Nephilim.”
“Meaning?” Eddie glanced between them.
“Meaning.” Shade gloated. “Archangels have been getting freaky with humans and covering it up.” He took Eddie’s hand and led her out of the greenroom. “Let’s contact Wrath.”
As much as Shade’s smugness annoyed her, Sophia had to acknowledge he had just cause. Archangels had spent millennia lording their moral superiority over hell princes.
The archangel’s recent response to Wrath siring Eddie had been exactly the reaction she’d expected from the heaven contingent. She wasn’t surprised Michael had been tight lipped about his latest discovery.
Sophia heaved a sigh. Secrets and evasions were only aggravating the situation. She was well aware that if there were angelic Nephilim, they didn’t belong to her, and that’s about all she could say for sure.
“That’s a big sigh,” Chris said.
Not wanting to get into the political maneuvering between archangels and hell princes, she shifted the conversation to a personal concern. “I think I should withdraw from acting.”
“Why?” Chris looked genuinely confused as he spread his arm over the back of the sofa.
It didn’t need a genius to put this together. “Because there is a creation ending crisis happening. My energy and efforts are required elsewhere.”
Cocking his head, Chris studied her. “Where?”
“The horsemen.” She didn’t think it necessary to spell this out for him.
“Both your people and my people are monitoring them closely,” Chris said. “And the last time an angel got near them…” He raised an eyebrow.
Sophia didn’t need him to finish that sentence. The archangel Ramiel had sent Haziel, a seraph and his second, to check on the horsemen. They’d locked on her power and used it to speed up their rising.
“As I see it,” Chris said. “Until we know how to get near them without feeding them, the best thing we can do is monitor them from a distance.”
He had a point. “Someone should track Pestilence’s movements.”
“Agreed.” Chris nodded. “I’ve got my people on it.”
“That’s dangerous.” Wherever Pestilence went, they would spread disease. All humans were susceptible.
Chris smirked. “We have a few tricks up our sleeves to keep our people safe.” He shrugged. “If any of you or the hell princes get near them, they’re only going to use you as a massive turbo boost.”
“It seems wrong to be doing nothing.” And even worse to be indulging her whim and newest passion.
“You are doing something,” Chris said. “You’re here to protect those baby witches.” His face darkened. “If the rebels get their hands on them, they’re only going to kill them making more amulets.”
Raphael had brought them the news of all those dead witches.
“And giving the rebels access to power is as much an option as feeding the horsemen.” Chris stood and straightened his slacks.
