“I’m not changing,” I said, and went into the hall.
Samiel and Jude waited there. Samiel had put on a gray suit that made him look very handsome. Jude was dressed like a Hell’s Angel as usual, so I felt better. Jude wasn’t going to give Lucifer an inch, either.
Zaniel led us down to the main hall. The room had double doors, like Amarantha’s castle and Azazel’s mansion. It was as if all the old creatures had used the same architect. I had a strange moment of déjà vu when the doors swung open as we reached them. I half expected to see Nathaniel standing there, golden and arrogant, as he was when I’d first met him. But Nathaniel stood at my side, his hand clasping mine, and we stepped into the room.
There were a lot of people. A lot. I did not recognize the majority of them, although Beezle started whispering in my ear as soon as we entered, pointing out dignitaries from the faerie world and various wolf packs and other assorted creatures. I heard none of it. Anyone who had caught sight of us was whispering and pointing, and the whispers followed us as we crossed the endless room. It was like Azazel’s ballroom all over again, and I lifted my chin. None of these gossiping immortals mattered to me.
Someone grabbed my elbow. “Maddy, thank goodness.”
I smiled up at J.B., who looked very handsome but as uncomfortable as could be in his suit. “Where’s your entourage?” I asked, looking behind him.
“I ditched them as soon as I saw you,” J.B. said. “I haven’t had a decent conversation for weeks. Faeries are so damned boring.”
“The one thing Maddy isn’t is boring,” Beezle said from his perch on my shoulder. “Wait until you hear about the giant squid that destroyed our street.”
“There was a squid?” J.B. asked, looking at me with a raised eyebrow.
“There was a squid,” I said.
“And you probably dispatched it with the maximum amount of mayhem,” J.B. said. “How many fire trucks showed up?”
Beezle chortled. “Does he know you, or does he know you?”
“It’s not my fault that burning is the most effective way to get rid of giant monsters,” I said. “If the giant monsters would just leave me alone, we wouldn’t have a problem.”
“Speaking of monsters, look who else is here,” J.B. said. He jerked his head toward the left, where a familiar set of horns rose above the crowd.
“Focalor?” I asked, surprised. “Why is he being treated like a guest? He was a key player in the uprising against Lucifer.”
J.B. shrugged. “I’d like to speculate on Lucifer’s motivations, but that way lies madness and migraines. And look there.”
He pointed at a tall man with golden hair and white wings. I could only see the back of the man’s head, but there was something familiar about him. Of course, all angels sort of looked the same, with the wings and the blond hair and the unearthly beauty.
“Another angel of the host?” I asked.
J.B. shook his head. “How about an archangel?”
“Michael?” I asked.
As I said his name he turned toward me, almost as if he had heard me speak. I was unable to suppress a little gasp. It was his eyes that took my breath away. Instead of the usual angelic jewel-brightness, his eyes were made of flame. For a moment it seemed like that flame rose up around him, that he was wreathed in it. Then he nodded at me, and turned back to whoever he was speaking to, and the moment passed.
“Anybody else in need of extra oxygen?” Beezle asked.
“So I wasn’t the only one who felt that?” I said.
Beezle shook his head. “In a room full of powerful people, he stands out. Kind of like you.”
We were about halfway through the room, standing in a little cluster—me, Nathaniel, Samiel, Jude, Beezle and J.B. It was comforting that all of us were together in this place, that the friends I’d trusted over and over to help me through the apocalypse were with me one more time. Especially since the apocalypse could rear up again at any moment. That tended to happen around me.
Lucifer and Evangeline were in one corner of the room, surrounded by fawning guests. We had not yet officially greeted the happy couple, and I was reluctant to head that way. Once I joined that group, there would be more pointing and whispering, more speculation about me and my abilities. I just wasn’t in the damned mood to deal with it right now.
The double doors at the end of the hall were thrown open, and a smartly dressed faerie marched in. “Presenting His Highness Puck, the High King of all Faerie.”
All of the fae in the room immediately dropped to one knee as Puck entered, a satisfied smirk on his face. The only fae who did not kneel was J.B. I could tell by the look on his face that he really wanted Puck to say something about it. I think we all wanted to have a go at Puck for one reason or another. The rage that surged up as soon as I saw him made me long for an outlet—like, say, beating the manipulative little so-and-so bloody.
Puck strolled through the throngs, heading toward the corner where Lucifer and Evangeline held court. He wore a suit that would not be out of place at a Hollywood club. I noticed he had a shiny silver birdcage in one hand.
His path, naturally, took him right past our group. Beezle’s claws dug into my shoulder, a warning against losing my temper. The darkness inside me had already awoken with my anger, and I was struggling to keep it under control.
Puck saw me looking at the birdcage and stopped in front of me with an impish smile. That smile made me want to knock his teeth out. My fists clenched at my side.