“You are well?” he asked. He made no move to touch me, and I felt bereft. But I understood why he didn’t.
“I know I’ve mentioned this before, but I am getting really sick of passing out. I’m starting to feel like Giles on Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” I said, and sat up. “And I’m getting a very bad suspicion about why I’m having these visions of Evangeline.”
Azazel turned at that, and his eyes were unreadable. Was he relieved that I was safe and healthy? Was he plotting the next move with his very valuable pawn—me? And why hadn’t he told Lucifer about my visions of Evangeline yet?
“I am glad that you are well, Daughter,” he said.
The question was on my lips, so I asked him. “Why haven’t you told Lucifer of my visions of Evangeline?”
Azazel paused, and I could see him weighing and discarding information in an instant. Apparently I was on a need-to-know basis. There seemed to be a lot of that going around.
“The Lost Mother is a very sensitive issue for Lord Lucifer. It is imperative that we not bring him this information until we are certain what it means.”
“I’ve got an idea what it means,” I said grimly. “I think Lucifer is my great-great-great-how-ever-many-freakingreats-it-is-granddad.”
I could see that I had shocked both of them. Azazel shook his head decisively, and I could read his face easily—No, it is impossible.
Gabriel said it. “That is impossible.”
“Why? Nobody knows what happened to Evangeline, right? And I’ve had a vision of her giving birth to Lucifer’s children, and those children were hidden by another angel.”
“Another angel?” Azazel asked. “Who?”
“Michael.”
“Michael. Of course. They were as brothers, once upon a time,” Azazel said, and there was wonder in his voice. “But Lord Lucifer would know if you were of his bloodline. You would be marked by his power, and he would be able to trace you and every other member of his line by this mark.”
“That’s the thing. I think I am marked by his power,” I said, and threw off the blanket so that I could pace restlessly around the room. I was less than thrilled by the idea that I might be related to Lucifer. I had more than my share of problems already. “In my vision, Evangeline destroyed her captors and the place where they held her with a starburst.”
Gabriel’s mouth fell open at that. It was comical to see him lose his ever-steady composure. “The same power that you used on Ramuell?”
I nodded.
Azazel moved toward me, and I could see he was thinking fast. Meteors streamed in rapid succession across the blackness of space in his eyes. He gripped my shoulders and held my gaze with his own burning one.
“Daughter, it is imperative, imperative, that you share this information with no one. If there is even a hint, a whisper, that you might be the descendant of Lucifer, then his enemies would fall upon you like the plagues of Egypt.”
“You mean the way your enemies have already descended on me?” I said, and knew that my eyes reflected his own. I was already sick to death of Azazel’s world.
Azazel’s eyes hardened. “Antares will be punished for harming you. He has broken the law of my court and he is an outcast.”
“But, my lord,” Gabriel said. “How could it be that she carries Lucifer’s power and yet is still unknown to him? This would mean that Katherine Black also came of his bloodline, and all her ancestry.”
This thought had clearly not occurred to Azazel yet, and it visibly disturbed him. I don’t know if it was the idea that my mother might have deliberately kept information from him, or simply that he had been the lover of Lucifer’s descendant. Either way, he didn’t look happy about it. I was going to tell about the infused-with-Michael’s-grace thing, but I suddenly recalled that I had other tasks to do that day.
“Wait a second,” I said. “What time is it?”
Gabriel glanced at the face of his cell phone. “Nine forty-two.”
“Holy crap! We have to go. I have an appointment with J.B. in an hour. And I’m supposed to get some souls today, but I can’t remember what time I was supposed to do it,” I said, rushing to Gabriel’s side. “Make that portal thing happen.”
“Wait a moment, Daughter.” Azazel’s eyes were narrowed. “I have not given you leave to depart.”
The hierarchy and formality of this court already made me insane, and I had been there for only a few hours. I didn’t have time to massage Azazel’s ego. I had things to do.
“I apologize, Father,” I said stiffly, resisting the nearly overwhelming urge to roll my eyes. “I have my responsibilities to attend.”
His face softened. “How like your mother you are. She, too, was always leaving me to tend to human souls. I wonder how Nathaniel will take it.”
He chuckled at this thought and I was very careful not to look at Gabriel.
“Do I have your permission to leave?” I asked, impatient to be off.
“Of course, my daughter. And I will see you fourteen days hence in this court. Although I am sure that you will be seeing Nathaniel much sooner.”
Azazel came to stand in front of me and he kissed both of my cheeks. “Go with the grace of the Morningstar.”
“See you in a couple of weeks,” I said awkwardly. “Can we make the portal here?”
“I think it is better, yes, that you do not return through the court. But first, I need to have a word with Gabriel.”