Page 80 of Sacrifice

Lucien had changed her, taken over her waking hours with an obsession for him. She’d been consumed with desire and at the last he’d sucked the life force from her to leave her dying.

The truth was crushing.

“I don’t understand. Why is Lucien being held captive? Who the fuck are you?”

“I am the Archangel Michael, Overseer of the Third Dominion and Sentinel of the Celestial Council. I am Protector of the Meek and Just and Warden of the Damned.”

Eve raised an eyebrow at him. “You forgot a Detective in the Met.”

Michaels had the good grace to allow a sheepish smile.

Eve squeezed her eyes tight shut for a moment. She didn’t need any more input. “I just don’t understand how this all started.”

“He plucked you from the river and discovered what you were. Lucky chance or fated to find you? I don’t know. My gut says his first intention was to abuse you for the night and discard your body in the morning, as dead as you would have been had he not intervened.”

“It wasn’t like that. He didn’t kill me. He barely touched me.”That wasn’t strictly true.Eve remembered the tingling lines he’d drown over her skin.

“Physical pleasure has always been his weakness and his weapon,” Michaels confirmed, as if reading her thoughts.

Eve’s mind ran over what she could remember of that night. Their naked bodies pressed together. The energy pulsing from his fingertips to warm her. The energy. She’d felt that sensation again and again in their time together. She’d come to recognize it as the flow of magic, of power. Lucien had drawn symbols on her skin that night to hide her for his own gain, rather than her protection.

“The story of Ishtar and Elham is one we all know. Lucien particularly has always identified with it, given his own sorry story.”

“Which is what?”

Michaels sighed. “He is a fallen angel, Eve. Punished by the Council for crimes against the celestial command. Lucien was cast down to earth for the same crime as Ishtar. He fell in love with a mortal and created a child in their union.”

Shamash drummed his fingers on his throne. “Not even the gods are permitted. A lowly angel would be lucky to escape with their life for such an act.”

Eve screwed up her face. “But didn’t you say that I-”

“Yes, yes. But you’refamily.”Shamash waved her objection away.

It was clear what was good for the gods didn’t translate to the angels.

“The council does not negotiate with angels,” Michaels confirmed. “There is no free will. Lucien’s lover was cast into the underworld, the child destroyed. Lucien was banished to earth to purge demons from the worst of mankind for eternity. Such is his fate. It is mine to ensure that he does it.”

Eve blinked hard at him, processing what she’d heard.

“So, his crime is love,” she said at last.

Michaels looked uncomfortable.

Shamash continued in his stead. “His crime is disloyalty. He jeopardized the fabric of existence by diluting the bloodline of man with celestial essence. Power must be absolute or anarchy prevails. A god may pay a penance. Ishtar foregoes her right to visit earth for absolution. An angel?” He curled his mouth down in a frown.

“He would never have broken the bonds of servitude alone,” Michaels continued, “But in chancing upon you, a conduit ofthe sun, he saw his chance. You had to take part willingly and I expect he used every charm in his arsenal to make you do it.”

Eve remembered their last act, how she’d begged him to take her. If only she’d understood what that meant.

“So, am I dead?” This place seemed like it could be heaven and, after all, she was in the presence of not just an angel, but also a god.

Shamash chuckled to himself and tipped his head from side to side. “There are perks to being my great, great niece, or whatever it is.” He flicked a dismissive hand at her and the star in her chest burned brightly.

“I am the divine judge of entrants to the underworld. My realm spans night and day, dreams and waking. You are my conduit, and I give you freely of my light.”

Energy buzzed at Eve’s core. It ran up her spine and arched her body. It felt like fire running through her veins yet controlled and contained.

“Besides,” Shamash concluded, “I do love a quest for revenge. You have some vengeance to wreak. Keep me informed.”

---