Page 81 of Eclipse Born

Taking a deep breath, I pushed myself out of bed. The floor was cool beneath my bare feet, grounding me somewhat in reality. I grabbed fresh clothes from the duffle I'd brought over and headed for the shower. I needed to be clear-headed. We had a war meeting to attend, and I couldn't afford to be distracted by nightmares or the strange sensation that had taken up residence in my chest since my soul had been returned.

As the hot water pounded against my back, I tried to piece together what I knew. My soul was back where it belonged. That should have been a good thing. So why did I feel so... contaminated? Like there was a stain spreading through me that no amount of scrubbing could remove?

I shut off the water with more force than necessary, the pipes groaning in protest. No time for existential crises. There was a job to do.

I had a war to prepare for.

I steppedinto Sean's makeshift war room, my hair still damp from the shower. The space was cluttered with maps, ancient tomes, and weapons spread across a large table that dominated the center. Everyone was already there—Sean leaning against the wall, arms crossed; Sterling in a chair at the head of the table, nursing what looked like whiskey despite the early hour; Hawkexamining some papers, Skye bent over their laptop, fingers flying over the keys, and Cassiel was sitting with Roxie on his lap.

All conversation stopped as I entered. Five pairs of eyes turned to me, and I felt uncomfortably exposed, like they could see right through me to the shadows writhing beneath my skin.

Sean was at my side in an instant, moving with that fluid grace that always made me a little envious. “You good?” he asked, voice low, eyes searching my face with barely concealed worry.

I nodded, not trusting my voice. I wasn't—not by a long shot—but I didn't want to talk about it now, not with everyone watching. Clearing my throat, I asked, “What's going on?”

Sean hesitated, his hand twitching like he wanted to touch me but thought better of it. Finally, he said, “Hawk may have found the last seal.”

That got my full attention. “Where?”

Sterling leaned back in his chair, the wood creaking ominously. He looked tired, the kind of bone-deep weariness that comes from too many battles and not enough victories. His cap was pulled low over his eyes, but I could still feel his sharp gaze assessing me.

“Before we get into that,” he said gruffly, “where's the angel? Figure he'd want to be in on this, considering he's been breathing down our necks about these seals for months.”

Hawk straightened in his chair, eyes sharpening. “So where is the angel Sterling mentioned.”

Sean sighed deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose in a gesture I recognized as his 'I already regret everything about this conversation' face. Then he tilted his head back slightly and called out, “Cassiel.”

The air in the room shifted, a subtle change in pressure that made my ears pop. In an instant, Cassiel was there, appearingbetween the weapon-strewn table and the wall of arcane texts. His trench coat was as rumpled as ever, his tie askew, but his eyes were sharp and alert.

Hawk nearly tipped his chair over, scrambling backward with a string of colorful curses. “What the fuck,” he managed when he'd regained his balance. “A little warning next time?”

“My apologies,” Cassiel said, though his tone suggested he wasn't particularly sorry. His gaze found me immediately, and I felt a strange pull in my chest, like the mark was responding to his presence.

“Now that the gang's all here,” Sterling drawled, “maybe we can get down to business.”

Hawk, still eyeing Cassiel warily, spread a map across the table. “Right. So like Sean said, I think I found the last seal.” He pointed to a location marked in red. “It's here in New York, in an old subway station that's been abandoned since the 60s. It's deep underground, beneath what used to be a holding facility for supernatural entities. Place has been sealed off for decades, but I've been tracking some weird energy readings around it. Plus, there's been a spike in demonic omens in the area—cattle deaths, electrical storms, the whole nine yards.”

“You sure it's the seal and not just regular demon activity?” Sean asked, leaning over to study the map.

Hawk shrugged. “As sure as I can be without walking in there myself. Which, given what happened to the last team that tried, I'm not eager to do.”

“What happened to them?” I asked, a sense of dread pooling in my stomach.

“They went in, never came out,” Hawk said simply. “Communications just... stopped. That was three days ago.”

Skye, who had been quiet until now, tapped away at their laptop. “I can track the energy signature, see if it matches whatwe know about the other seals. But it's not instant. I'll need time to run the algorithms.”

Sean nodded sharply. “Start now. We don't have time to waste.”

I opened my mouth to ask another question when Cassiel suddenly tensed beside me. His head tilted, as if he was listening to something the rest of us couldn't hear. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

“We have a problem,” he said, voice tight.

Everyone froze, the tension in the room ratcheting up several notches.

“What kind of problem?” Sean asked, hand already moving to the gun at his waistband.

Cassiel's expression was grim. “There are demons. They're gathering in Purgatory.”

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