Page 1 of In the Devil's Shadow

Prologue

Twenty-Two Years Ago, Heaven

I stood in front of an endless wooden door that was so tall, the blanket of dense, white clouds above me parted for it, like sheep for a wolf. The golden doorknob gleamed in the silvery moonlight.Why did I answer his summons?I’ve been disgraced for centuries now, no longer at his beck and call, yet here I was… Literally knocking on Heaven’s door at some ungodly hour at night for a secret meeting with the one man Ishouldhate more than anyone in existence. The man who ruined my life and made me a scapegoat for crimes I didn’t commit. Someone who was supposed to be my mentor and fucked me over instead. Why did I come back–to a place I was expressly forbidden from returning–to see him?

What does he want from me?Hopefully, it was worth possibly losing my wings over.Despite being disgraced, I was allowed to keep my wings and magic.Small victories, I suppose.Those hypocrites wouldloveto catch me and pluck out every single one of my feathers before ripping my bare wings from my back. Although I had trusted him in the past, I wouldn’t put it past him to betray me now; not after what he’d done.

I studied the grain in the wood while I waited for him to show up. The swirling patterns were too perfect, to the point of being unnatural. But that’s what Heaven was–perfection. Living to your fullest potential for ‘the greater good.’ We were just cogs in a machine, and as long as we all kept turning, who cared if we cracked under the pressure?

I waited seven minutes past the agreed upon time to meet. He was never late. This meetup was starting to seem more and more like a set-up. Just as I was about to fade back to my cabin off the grid, he appeared. His cream sweater and olive pants made him look relaxed. His ice blond hair and beard were neatly trimmed, not a hair out of place. They framed his square jaw, apple cheeks, and strikingly steel blue eyes well, like they always had. He smiled at me as if we were old friends. What a fucking joke.

“Azazel, thank you for meeting me. This is an urgent matter,” he said with a serious set to his jaw. He cleared the cloud and unlocked the door, gesturing for me to follow him in. I stood there, staring at him. “Come on, we have a limited amount of time.”

“Why would I go anywhere with you, Michael? I don’t trust you not to capture me and accuse me of crimes I didn’t commit,again. There could be soldiers behind that door waiting for me. What reassurance do I have that I’m safe? Because your word means nothing.” I tried to keep an even tone, but it was hard not to sound angry about what had happened, even if it happened centuries ago.

Being disgraced was life changing, in both positive and negative ways. But being betrayed by a man who had claimed to love me like a father–who touted himself as a beacon of justice–was what gutted me.

“Azazel, I tried my best to keep youalive. Guilty or not, your head was on the guillotine. They were out for your blood, and disgracement was the best-case scenario for you.” Michael’s gaze swept up and down me, and he raised a brow at my long hair and tattoos. I would have never been able to have them if I was still a graced angel. “I promise you, you’re safe. I’ll fade you directly to my chambers, but I can’t do that until you walk through the door into Heaven.”

I hesitated. Some instinct deep within me told me to trust him, but I wasn’t sure if I was being objective or nostalgic. He huffed, and strode toward me, taking my hand in his. An image of a baby in a bassinet made of clouds flickered through my mind, instantly putting me on high alert.It couldn’t be…

“The baby you prophesied is here. We don’t have a lot of time, as we have to get her home before her mother wakes up. But we need you to complete our plan to keep her safe,” he said as he squeezed my hand.

“We?” I asked, trying not to sound shocked. I knew she was coming, but was surprised they’d actually taken my prophecy seriously after they ousted me.

“Gabriel and Raphael are waiting for us in my chambers, son. We need four angels to complete the ceremony.” Hearing him call mesonmade an unwanted pang rip through my spine. He wasn’t the father-like figure I had always wanted anymore, but I couldn’t ignore his request. I had waited centuries for her to come. She was finally here, and that meant the world was going to change. Sooner rather than later.

I stepped through the door with him, and we immediately faded to his chambers as he had promised. They hadn’t changed a bit. White walls. Beige furniture. Everything had its place in the minimalistic space. Michael’s place looked just like an Ikea catalog–no clutter in sight. On the couch sat Raphael and Gabriel. Both of them smiled when they saw me, despite the part they’d played in my disgrace. Gabriel had the audacity to look me in the face after he’d cast the final vote that convicted me.Two-faced fuck.

“Good to see you, Azazel,” Raphael said, leaning forward so his forearms rested on his legs. He intently scanned me, noting the changes in my appearance. “I see Earth has treated you…well.”

“Anything is better than being betrayed by those I considered to be my family, so yeah. You could say it’s been a great experience so far,” I snarked.

Forget being nice. I couldn’t hold the anger in. At least Michael had visited me in secret to apologize and explain himself. He tried to contact me every now and then and keep tabs on me, despite my best efforts to block his communications. I hadn’t heard from these two in centuries.

“There was no way to save you from your fate, so why would I risk mine? It would have been political suicide to go against God’s ruling on this.” He started to defend himself, but when he saw the dry, unamused look on my face, he dropped his eyes to the floor, muttering, “You were disgraced, but you kept your life, wings, and magic. You got a good deal in the end.” He knew the outcome wasn’t fair, but he wouldn’t go against the grain on this. And that was what it was. No way to change the past now.

“We don’t have time to argue,” Michael reminded us. “We need to do the ceremony while she’s still asleep and get her back before someone in the house notices she’s gone.”

“What ceremony are we doing?” I asked. “And how could I possibly help? I’m barely an angel anymore.”

The room fell quiet as a member of Michael’s house staff brought out a baby, swaddled in clouds. She wore a little pink bonnet and white and pink polka dot pajamas. Her face was peacefully relaxed as she slept. To think, this little baby would grow up to one day save or destroy the world as we knew it. The world that many of us–upstairs and downstairs–had worked so hard to influence and shape.

“Azazel, you will be the child’s guardian angel, figuratively speaking. You know the most about the visions you had, and continue to have, about this girl.”How does he know I’ve had continued visions of her?“And you're already on Earth. You can keep an eye on her, guide her to stay on the right path.”

“I can’t be her guardian angel. You need a graced angel to fill that role, Michael. If you’re taking my visions seriously, you know how integral she is to the world’s fate. Every creature’s existence, human and supernatural alike, depends on her. Why isn’t she going to stay here in Heaven where you can train her? What aren’t you telling me?” Something wasn’t adding up. He may be an Archangel full oflight and truth, but Michael had a conniving side. I’d experienced it firsthand.

“Please, Azazel. I wouldn’t ask you if it wasn’t life or death. She needs guidance, someone to protect her. You’re the best man for the job.” He gazed down at the baby, as a tear fell from his eye. Raphael and Gabriel’s eyes bounced between us, and they fidgeted in their seats.

“How would I become her guardian angel? How would you bond us?” I needed to know the details before I agreed to this.

“A soulbond. It gives you all the same powers and benefits a guardian angel would have,” Raphael answered. “You’ll still be able to track her, know how she’s feeling, and fade directly to her, no matter where she is. The only difference is–”

“It’s permanent.” I interrupted, finishing his sentence for him. Usually, guardian angels were reassigned after their wards either overcame the crossroads in their lives, were no longer in need of their services, or if they died. If I soulbonded with her, there would be no coming back from it. We would be bonded for the rest of our lives, regardless of how we felt about each other, or how the world’s fate unfolded.

Do I want to be bonded to this girl for life? Will I be able to guide her and keep her on the right path to achieve her destiny?

“What’s her name?” I inquired, stepping closer to Michael to get a better view. She snuggled into his chest as she dozed.

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