“Their power,” a man I didn’t recognize answered. He’d remained in the corner, a bit removed from the rest of the group. There was an aura about him that marked him as incredibly powerful, but I wasn’t familiar enough with it to identify what type of supernatural he was.
“Evander’s right,” Lilith said with a nod.
“They’d really do that? To their own children?” the woman behind the portal asked. At some point, she’d scooped Asshole up and was currently snuggling into him.
“You’re surprised?” Asher’s tone held nothing more than disdain.
“Their children weren’t created out of love. They are nothing more than a supply to them.” Sin’s voice was uncharacteristically cold.
“We’ve always been their pawns,” Asher added.
“Don’t take it too personally. They did the same thing to us,” Malice said with a bitter twist of his lips.
“They did?”
Grim’s energy turned violent before he spoke. “How else do you think they freed Lucifer and started this apocalypse?”
“It took us weeks to return to full strength,” Chaos grumbled.
“I’m sorry if this is a stupid question,” the woman behind the portal started.
“Usually those are reserved for me,” Kingston said with a snort.
“But what good is power if the world’s already ending? Didn’t they complete their mission?”
“Yeah. I thought this was Lucifer’s show.” Asher stood and began pacing.
“It is. The four of them are working with Lucifer to ensure their place at the top of the hierarchy once he claims his throne.” This from Gabriel, who looked exhausted.
“Well, why didn’t you say that?” Sin asked.
The expression on the Messenger’s face could only be described as barely concealed rage. “Father save them because I have not the strength,” he muttered, eyes to the ceiling.
“He gave up caring a long time ago,” Evander said.
“Clearly, or none of us would be sat here,” Thorne muttered.
“He’s leaving it up to us,” Caleb protested. “It always comes back to free will.”
“No matter which way you slice this shit sandwich, it’s all bullshit.” Moira rubbed at her temples.
“Oh, for the sake of all that is holy!” Gabriel shouted. “If you’d stop your infernal chattering and just let me finish, I could tell you exactly what is going on.”
Everyone shut up and stared at the fuming angel.
“Thank you.” He ran a hand through his hair and took a long breath. “The horsewomen are in league with Lucifer. The only way we will find our missing compatriots is to use our one connection to my fallen brother.” His attention zeroed in on me.
I’d never felt more like a bug trapped under a microscope than in this moment. “Me?”
“You just spent the last handful of days with him,” Lilith prompted. “Surely you picked up on something.”
My eyes darted from her to the others’ expectant gazes. I’d have wrung my hands together, but one was still intertwined with Malice’s. “Well, I mean, I tried...”
My gaze settled on Crombie who’d been completely silent to this point. Surprisingly, he was the only one in the roomnotstaring at me. His attention was wholly focused on Sin.
“His mind is a jumble. I’ve been inside it a handful of times and only once did I go beyond initial feelings. He’s complicated.”
Evander nodded. “Yes. He always was.”