Page 22 of Legacy of Chaos

Gabriel blinked at the unexpected question. He’d been sure this meeting would be about his trial, not about the Gaiaportal’s evil twin.

“I don’t know anything. Why don’t you ask whoever built it?” he asked, knowing full well who had constructed the thing.

The Throne didn’t seem to have caught Gabriel’s sarcasm. “Satan is locked up until Armageddon, so that’s a non-starter.”

“And I still don’t understand how I’m supposed to know anything about it.”

Zaphkiel swung slowly around to face Gabriel. “Azagoth used the same materials and methods as Satan used for the Gehennaportal to construct Sheoul-gra. Since you were involved in that project, surely you know something about the portal.”

No, he didn’t. Azagoth hadn’t offered up any info, and Gabriel hadn’t asked. The fine details of building a holding tank for demon souls hadn’t interested him in the least.

“I know Thrones were in charge at the time of both portals’ construction. How did you not work out a deal with Satan to give you its blueprints?” No wonder Thrones’ reigns were short. They couldn’t govern for shit, and most of the biggest disasters in the Earthly realm could be laid at their incompetent feet. “And why not just ask Azagoth what you need to know?”

“Because his realm is sealed off to us, and he doesn’t seem inclined to answer our summons.”

No, the Grim Reaper had never been eager to respond to Heavenly requests. It was why Gabriel had disguised himself as a lesser, disgruntled angel and communicated—secretly—with Azagoth for thousands of years. At first, it had been to keep an eye on him. But as Azagoth grew more powerful, Heaven had demanded more and more from him, while offering more and more restrictions. Gabriel’s self-imposed watcher role had gradually shifted as corruption began to rot the Celestial ranks.

“Why do you need this information, anyway?” Gabriel asked.

Zaphkiel turned away from the window. “It’s possible,” he began, “that when Harvester went through the Gaiaportal and activated it, she activated its Hell-based counterpart as well. And I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how bad that would be.”

It would beverybad. Out of fear of what Reaver’s twin, Revenant, the King of Hell, could do to Heaven, representatives from every Order had agreed to seal him inside Sheoul.

If he discovered that the Gehennaportal was open, he could escape and bring down the wrath of Hell inside Heaven itself.

Gabriel smiled as an opportunity beamed down on him like the Heavenly Father’s Grace. “I could talk to Azagoth for you,” he offered. “For a price.” He winked at Hutriel. “I’ll send Azagoth and Lilliana your best wishes while I’m there.”

Outrage lit up both angels but for different reasons.

“You aren’t in charge here,” Zaphkiel snapped. “You will help us because it’s the right thing to do.”

“Go Team Heaven?” Gabriel laughed. “The Heaven that wants me to endure a sham of an Ordeal because you need someone to blame for Sheoul-gra’s destruction? You want to humiliate me because you know I won’t be found guilty. I’ll be given a slap on the wrist, and the Thrones will look like fools.”

There was no proof that Gabriel had helped Azagoth. He had, of course, but he hadn’t known about Azagoth’s ultimate, destructive goal. Gabriel had only intended to help Azagoth prevent angels from breaching Sheoul-gra and destroying him.

Which, really, was bad enough.

“Will you help or not, Gabriel? We don’t need you so badly that we will agree to your blackmail. You’ll do it or not. If you help us, it’ll delay your Ordeal and might even create some goodwill in the eyes of the court.”

Gabriel had already figured that out. He’d hoped to extract more from the Throne, such as making the Ordeal go away, but since it probably wouldn’t be that big of a deal…sure, Gabrielwould help. He actuallywason Team Heaven, after all. The players might have changed, but the concept, the very existence of Heaven, would always stay true.

He opened his mouth to tell Zaph as much when a tremor shot up his body, rattling his bones and teeth.

Zaphkiel’s eyes shot wide, and he reached out to steady himself against the wall as the building shook. “What the—?”

“Evil,” Gabriel whispered. “That was a wave of malevolence. Something big just happened in Sheoul.”

“I know,” Zaph rasped, his face pale and expression panicked. “But what? What could have caused something so momentous that we felt it in Heaven’s very heart?”

A shiver spread across Gabriel’s skin. What, indeed.

Chapter 6

Stryke was horny as hell. Which meant he was pissed off and not in the mood for his first meeting with Cyan since she’d arrived on Tuesday. He hadn’t even seen her. Well, he’d seen her from afar, walking with her team. And laughing. Like, genuine laughter, not the sarcastic kind she’d thrown his way.

Dr. Dakarai must be real fucking charming. Same with the team’s weapons specialist and former SAS soldier, Parker McDavid. The muscle-bound werewolf seemed to hold her attention the most. Because of course.

Snarling, he refocused on the techmailed notes Cyan had sent a few minutes ago, probably hoping they’d suffice instead of a face-to-face meeting.

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