Page 46 of Malice
Oh, Grim wasn’t going to like that one bit.
“Show us the video,” Grim ordered. “If Hades sent it, we need to see it.”
“Okay, but I’ll warn you now, this is long. These guys like to ramble.”
As soon as he pressed play, I felt Merri stiffen at my side.
A bedraggled man appeared on screen, ash raining down around him as he ran through the forest.“Well, folks, shit has officially hit the fan.”
She only grew more tense as he continued speaking. “What’s wrong?” I whispered.
“I recognize him.”
“The guy on the screen?”
She nodded.
“From where? Blackwood?”
“No,” Merri whispered, her freckles a stark contrast to her pale skin. “In my dream.”
“Shh,” Malice chastised. “Pay attention.”
I gave Merri a long-suffering look that made her smile as we settled in to watch the rest of the video play out. As Malice had warned, it was long and filled with some familiar and not-so-familiar faces. I was sure all of us had a similar reaction when Lilith appeared on the screen. If she was there, that meant we truly needed to be paying attention.
“I know some of them,” Merri whispered. “And Auntie Lilith is there. I’m so glad she’s safe.”
“Keep watching, hellcat. There’s more.” Malice’s words were gentler than we typically got from him.
“It’s not enough. We were able to make contact with the horsemen, but it’s unclear if they’re going to stand with us.
“Wereallyhope that they do. They are uniquely suited to the task before us and could be the difference between the survival of the human race and utter extinction. Especially since Gabriel is still missing, the vessel hasn’t been located—so far as we know anyway—and the world is literally crumbling under our feet. It won’t be long now, a couple of weeks at most, before all of this comes to a head.”
Malice stopped the video before tucking his phone away. “That’s the most important part. The rest we don’t need to bother with.”
“Gabriel is missing,” Chaos muttered. “That can’t be good.”
“Why not? Who is he?” Merri asked.
“The Messenger of God.” Grim broke off from the group, walking to the window and opening the curtain. The storm had turned the sky dark as night now, even in the middle of the day. “Someone is trying to weaken heaven’s army.”
“Lucifer,” Chaos answered. “It’s got to be him.”
“That’s my guess as well,” Malice said.
Chaos let out a derisive snort. “A couple of fae warriors and a bunch of supernaturals? I can’t believe they are the army that’ssupposed to defeat him. There’s no chance they’ll make it out of a war with hell alive.”
“Isn’t that what we’re for?” I asked.
Chaos shook his head. “The four of us are powerful, but no match for the entirety of hell’s legion. No. If we’re meant to win, we’ll need heaven’s ranks on our side. Which brings me back to Gabriel. Without him in play, I bet the celestial realm has no clue what’s happening.”
“You don’t think they know what’s happening?” Merri asked. “Surely heaven pays attention.”
The bark of laughter that escaped Malice made Merri jump. “They’re a bunch of snobs. Think of them like the first-class passengers on the Titanic. They knew they’d be fine, so they did as little as needed to ensure they survived and fuck the rest of the peasants below deck.”
Merri grimaced. “Oh.”
I scrubbed a hand over my face, letting out a breath I’d been holding. “Gabriel is forced to interact with the humans, which means he’s the most empathetic to their cause. Without him around to act as a go-between, there’s no one to plead their case. Heaven will be fine no matter what happens. It’s the earthly plane that will suffer.”
