“Honey, I’m so sorry about this,” he said, and then the motherfucker cuffed the other side of the handcuffs to the wrought-iron banister.
Eva stared in utter astonishment, unable to believe her own father had handcuffed her to a staircase so he could continue trying to murder her boyfriend.
“What are you doing?” she bellowed at the top of her lungs. “What the hell is wrong with you!” A roaring filled her ears, a dark wrath springing to life at the center of her being.
“I’m so sorry, honey. I’ll be right back, I promise.” His eyes were full of regret.
She was way too pissed off to care. Especially as he turned to Ash and said, “I’m going to go deal with your friends, Asmodeus, and then I’ll be back for you.”
And then he turned and ran out of the house amidst Eva’s furious screams and Ash’s rageful roars.
Jacqui stared at Belial. “Angels?”
“Well, fallen angels, to be precise.”
“They’re called Grigori,” Raum supplied. “Or Watchers.”
“Horny angels,” Meph called out from the other room, which made no sense whatsoever.
“I’m sorry,” Jacqui said, “I’m really not following.”
“Grigori are fallen angels who came to Earth to get involved in the drama and mate with humans.” Belial straightened from the grimoire that lay open on the desk in front of him, lip curling in distaste. “They consider themselves protectors of humanity.”
“Okay, so these Grigori wrote that book? But how does that prove anything about Dan?”
“Only a Grigori would be in possession of it or have the knowledge to draw these tracking sigils. If your husband has it, that means he’s a Grigori.”
“Dan?” A hysterical laugh burst out of her. “My husband is a lot of things, but an angel isn’t one of them.”
“Technically, he’s fallen,” Belial said, but that didn’t make it any less ridiculous.
“And if he’s a Grigori,” Raum added, “that means your daughter is a Nephilim.”
“Which means we have a serious fucking problem.”
“What is a Nephilim?” Jacqui screeched. “What is wrong with my daughter?”
“Nephilim are the kids of the horny angels, and they’re hunted for their magical blood,” Meph called out from the other room again.
“Look, we don’t have time to talk about this,” Belial interjected. “Your husband was trying to track us. We need to get Asmodeus and get out of here now.”
“But what if Eva’s a Nephilim?” Raum asked him.
“Then we help her out by the getting the fuck out of here even faster before I’m forced to kill her dad.”
Jacqui choked.
“Ash won’t like that,” Raum said.
“Asmodeus will do whatever keeps her safe.”
“What is a Nephilim?” Jacqui asked again, barely following at this point.
“There’s no time to explain now,” Belial said, already moving toward the door. “But you can ask your husband. If he really is a Grigori, he’ll have all the answers you seek. If he’s not, then you have no need to know anyway.”
Bel left Dan’s office and crossed the open studio space, Raum and Jacqui following behind.
“Check it!” Meph exclaimed as they approached, stepping back from the vulture statue with a grin. He flung a tattooed arm toward the sculpture.
