PROLOGUE
Joriel
Four Years Ago
Nothing I’d facedin my roughly two hundred years had prepared me for this. I was born into the seventh order of angels—the messengers of Heaven. I’d lived a life split between Heaven and Earth. Even after being recruited by the secret order a few decades ago, I had never had cause to visit Hell before.
I stared around the throne room. Black chandeliers hung from a ceiling so dark it looked like a void above my head. Dark columns were spaced along equally dark walls. The floor was polished wood that shone in the silvery light from the chandeliers.
At one end of the hall, a man who looked younger than I did—late teens or early twenties—lounged in an armchair. One of his hands was buried in the black fur of a hound with glowing red eyes.
Between you and me, he wasn’t what I was expecting. He was incredibly light for a man called the Prince of Darkness, with golden hair and sapphire-blue eyes. His face was the very definition of the face of an angel, all chiseled features and innocent beauty. He was shirtless and barefoot, dressed in only a pair of well-worn jeans.
I’m not sure what Iwasexpecting from Lucifer, but this wasn’t it.
He was speaking in a low voice about the crimes someone had committed in life and fitting punishments while a demon scribbled furiously on a scroll.
When he finished, the demon gave a small bow and backed away from the dais.
Lucifer turned his gaze on me. “An angel of the seventh order,” he said in a relaxed, easygoing tone. It was like he’d already forgotten about the human he’d just judged. “What could possibly bring you here?”
“I’m here on behalf of a friend,” I answered.
Before Lucifer ruled Hell, he used to be an angel; one of the original Fallen, now the grand princes of Hell. He was the prince of darkness, pride, and rebellion. There was a possibility he’d sympathize with Nathaniel’s story if I told him I was here for a friend who’d knocked up his human girlfriend. Nathaniel had been sent to Earth to be her guardian, but he’d fallen in love and put Sierra above all the rules that bound him. However, I didn’t trust the Devil with that information.
“A messenger to the very core.” Lucifer smirked. “Go on, angel. I’m listening.”
I hadn’t been a messenger of the seventh order in a long time, but Lucifer didn’t need to know about the secret order or the kind of training I really had.
“I’m here to ask you to withdraw your protection of Duke Dantalion.”
“And why would I want to do that?”
“A couple of months ago, a human girl killed Valac. An angel was sent to be her guardian and protect her from any demons who might come after her. Dantalion wants his revenge. He won’t stop until he’s killed her.”
Lucifer leaned back in his chair, stroking his hand over the hellhound beside him. “If Dantalion attacks this angel or his human, he voids my protection anyway.”
I shook my head. “Nate’s life is tied to a human who cannot protect herself.” It felt oddly like a betrayal of Sierra to say that. I’d seen her train with Nathaniel. She was far from a helpless human. But that was how Lucifer would see her, and it was the easiest way to explain things. “He won’t wait for an outright attack.”
“You mean to tell me that an angel of the light, one of God’s perfect warriors, would put his own life before what is best for the world? That he would risk war between Heaven and Hell?”
“Not his life. But the life of the woman he loves? Yes, I believe wholeheartedly that he will choose war.”
“Hm.”
I was starting to lose patience. Compared to my brothers in the secret order, I was the calm, responsible one who didn’t have a quick temper. But there was a reason I was recruited to join Heaven’s league of spies and assassins. I wasn’t suited to being a messenger.
I wanted to scream at Lucifer that he was wasting time. I’d just told him Nathaniel would start a war, and all he could say washm?
“What would you offer me that would make it worth losing one of my dukes?”
I didn’t hesitate. “Anything if it is in my power.”
Lucifer blinked. It appeared I’d managed to surprise the Prince of Darkness. Then his lips curved up in a slow smile, eyes sparkling with challenge and amusement. “What about your soul?”
“Yes.” I didn’t particularly want to sell my soul to the Devil, but I’d do it. I’d do anything to stop a war between Heaven and Hell. And I’d give anything to keep Sierra and her unborn Nephilim away from Dantalion.
Lucifer’s eyes narrowed, and he leaned forward, hands gripping the arms of his chair. For a long second, he stared at me as if waiting for me to crack. “Very well, messenger. You have yourself a deal.”
