Michael and Lucifer look at each other, and Lucifer frowns. “The Kiton is already ruined.” He disappears in a rustle of feathers. I stare out at the water, and the voices fade until they're gone. The buzz I felt from absorbing the remnants of hellfire and whatever it is Michael conjured is just a slight vibration in my whole body.
Only a moment later, Lucifer is back, standing in knee-deep water, holding up a teenage boy, who’s limp and unmoving.
“Hello, lifeguard,” Lucifer yells, taking one hand off the boy and waving. “You missed one!” He effortlessly lifts up the boy and brings him to the shore, laying him down on dry sand. The boy’s face is blue, and his chest isn’t rising and falling. Wide-eyed, I stare, too stunned to move. Michael kneels down over him, holding his hands over the boy’s chest.
Color starts to return to the boy’s face, and his eyes spring open. Then he sits up, coughing, spitting out water. Michael’s hand lands on the boy’s shoulder, and he stops coughing, completely healed. He inhales, looking up at Michael in awe.
“You…you saved me.” His hand goes to his chest, and he breathes in deeply again, needing to make sure he’s actually okay.
“No.” Michael stands and turns to me, smile on his lips. “She did.”
The boy locks eyes with me, and another shiver runs through me. Michael doesn’t need to explain it for me to know what just happened. I heard this boy’s prayers.
“Th-thank you,” the boy says and starts to stand up. A lifeguard and several beachgoers come running over.
“I’m fine,” the boy insists. Lucifer and Michael come back to me, and we get another look. I’m dressed for freezing weather, Lucifer’s suit is dripping wet with an obvious burn, exposing the skin of his chest, and Michael, who’s the most casual of us all, is still out of place for a sunny beach, since he’s wearing jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt.
“I didn’t know I could do that,” I breathe, shaking my head.
“Your angelic side is getting stronger,” Michael says proudly.
“Does that make me more at risk for the others to find me?” I ask, eyes falling shut.
“Yes,” he says honestly. “But hearing prayers, Callie, that’s a good thing.”
“And you know what’s not a good thing?” Lucifer interjects. “Remiel’s body in the woods. We should get back to Thorne Hill.”
Michael nods, looking around the beach once more. “It’s nice here.” He turns to me. “Isn’t it?”
“We can’t stay forever, brother,” Lucifer says gently.
“I guess avoiding problems runs in the family,” I say softly with a smile. My heart aches to be back next to my love, and I hate that Lucas is no doubt panicking. I disappeared, leaving him and Kristy alone in the woods with a dead archangel. Hearing the boy’s pleas and prayer gave me a momentary short reprieve from my harsh reality, but Lucifer is right: we can’t stay here on the beach and pretend things are okay.
They’re far from it.
My pulse quickens and my throat gets tight. What the hell are we supposed to do? Getting rid of Roger’s body caused me enough stress and anxiety, and no human will find it in Hell. But Remiel…there’s nowhere we can hide him where the other angels can’t go. I got away with murder once. There’s no way we’re going to get away with it again.
“We do need to go.” Michael holds out his hand and I reach for it, but right before my fingers touch his, a sharp, red-hot pain stabs me right in the chest, searing its way through me, right down to my stomach.
Chapter 2
I double over, hand landing on my abdomen. My entire middle feels like a rope is wrapped around me, and something is pulling it tight, squeezing me until I’m going to be cut in half. The pain intensifies, and I’m only half aware of Michael taking me to a shaded spot on the beach and helping me down onto the soft, warm sand.
“Breathe,” he tells me, making me aware that I’m holding my breath. My lips part and I let out a sigh, leaning back and resting on my elbows. Lucifer stands above me, brows furrowed with worry.
“What happened to her?” he asks my father.
“Her body isn’t used to using that much divinity.” Michael puts his hand on my forehead, and the pain starts to fade. “And her child is more human than she is.” He slowly shakes his head back and forth and glances up at Lucifer. He doesn’t say anything, but I know: he has no idea what to do. I’m the first ever offspring of a witch and an archangel, and I’m the only Nephilim to get knocked up myself. “Are you feeling better?” he asks me.
“Yeah,” I say, though I’m a little shaky. “Is my baby okay?”
Michael moves his hand down, hovering it over my stomach. “She’s strong, just like you.”
“She?” I let out another breath, and the pain subsides. “It’s a girl?”
“Biologically,” Michael says with a smile. “Yes.”
“I’m going to have a daughter,” I whisper to myself. I was under the assumption the baby was a girl, back when I thought I heard Michael tell me to do it for her, but Lucas and I couldn’t know for sure. I already felt bonded with my unborn child, but knowing that I’m going to have a daughter makes things seem even more real, and everything that happened weighs on me. “Can I go home now?”
“Yes,” Michael tells me and helps me to my feet. He pulls me into a one-armed hug, and I reach out for Lucifer’s hand.
“No one will see us disappear?” I ask when Lucifer takes my hand.
“They might,” my father says. “But they won’t remember it.” With that, he flies out of here, landing us right back where we were. Remiel’s body is still motionless on the ground, with dark red blood seeping out from the wound in his chest. I break away from Michael and look around the forest. Everything is silent and still—too still. It’s eerie, and the feeling of being watched creeps over me.
“Lucas?” I call, and my breath clouds around me. I shiver, having just come from the bright and sunny beach. “Kristy?” Frost-covered leaves crunch under my feet as I take several quick steps toward my house. “Lucas?” I call again a little louder. If he’s close, then he heard me.
A dog barks in the distance, and right as the glow of the back porch lights come into view, Lucas speeds through the woods, stopping right in front of me. His eyes are wide, and he runs his eyes up and down me, making sure I’m okay before pulling me into a tight hug.
“I’m sorry,” I breathe, wrapping my arms around his muscular body.
“It’s okay, my love.” Lucas kisses my forehead and runs his hand over my hair. Scarlet barks again as she plods over, followed by my familiars who stayed by Kristy as she ran from the house.
“You’re back,” my best friend pants, winded from running.
“I am,” I say, and Lucas loosens his hold on me but doesn’t let me go. I think he’s afraid Michael will fly me away if he does.
“Where did you go?” Kristy asks, stopping short when she sees Michael and Lucifer just yards behind me.
“A beach in Australia.”