Page 87 of The Darkest Night

Mae clenched her fists. “Neither did I.”

If Calvarro was a fiend, she was doing a damn good job of hiding her aura.

“She is not a demon,”Brimstone said.“But sheisfrom Hell.”

Violet and Miles exchanged a startled look.

“It could be someone working with one of the others,” Violet murmured.

Miles grimaced and rubbed the back of his head. “And angel blood might mean one ofthem.”

Nikolai’s lips pinched together. “Who are you talking about?”

“Remember we said there are demons who are working against Satanael?” Violet reminded them. “Calvarro may very well be one of their people.”

“There were humans gifted with the powers of an archangel, a long time ago,” Miles explained. “Their descendants look like ordinary men and women, but they possess supernatural abilities.”

A flush of adrenaline sent tingles through Mae’s body.

“Are these the allies you referred to before?”

“Yes.” Violet faltered. “We didn’t want to tell you this earlier, but they’re the reason we came to New York. One of them—you could say their leader—warned us what was going to happen.”

Mae’s stomach grew hard.Someone else foresaw my awakening?!

For a reason she couldn’t fathom, she didn’t sense much surprise from Brimstone and Hellreaver.

“Is that person a seer?” Nikolai asked sharply.

Violet’s face grew guarded. “Yes. But she’s not just any seer. She’s been tasked with gathering everyone we’re going to need.”

Mae traded a mystified look with Nikolai and Vlad.

“Everyone we’re going to need for what?” the incubus said carefully.

“Everyone who will stand with Heaven’s army and protect mankind at the End of Days.”

Deafening silence befell them in the aftermath of Violet’s bombshell revelation.

“You’re not joking, are you?” Vlad asked the cousins in a somber voice.

Mae had never seen the incubus look more serious. Violet and Miles shook their heads.

Hope burst into life inside Mae, making her breath catch. “Can they help us? If this seer can see things, maybe she’ll know where—”

“No.” Violet’s face turned hard. “They can’t.”

Nikolai’s knuckles whitened on the table. “Why not? If they want us as allies, then surely they’d want to—”

“Because this is our trial to overcome,” Violet said quietly. “The people I’m telling you about? And those with the divine beasts I spoke of before? They’ve all suffered hardships and conquered challenges you can’t even begin to imagine. This is ours.” She met Miles’s resolute gaze. “A test to see if we deserve to stand with Heaven’s warriors.”

Mae’s heart sank. She knew the witch meant what she’d just said too.

“She is right.”

Mae’s pulse raced as she looked into Brimstone’s wise gaze.

“Azazel spoke of it while we were in Hell. Of Uriel and Michael and the others who wanted to give mankind a fighting chance against the armies of Hell.”

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