Page 33

Still, only a quick glance at me.

Pa shot me a glare over his shoulder before turning to my nephew. “We just need to speak with him.”

“I understand.” Rafael’s trembling fingers lifted to his face, pushing some graying copper hair behind his ear. “He does too. But he isn’t… He isn’t doing well.”

“Neither are all the people he killed,” Venark said.

Rafael’s eyes glossed over. He blinked the tears away quickly. “I know.”

“This isn’t a battle,” Pa said. “This is a conversation. Nothing more.”

Rafael’s face said he didn’t believe that. He opened the door, however, ushering us inside.

Lux adored opulence, and it reflected in his home. The chandelier overhead, glowing with balls of golden lightning, were framed in dozens of brilliant crystals. The marble floors beneath me were polished to perfection. Each wall of snow and ice twinkled in the glow of that lightning like jewels of their own.

The dining room Rafael led us to was just the same. Everything from the snowy white walls, to the black marble floors, to the chandelier that hung above the massive wooden table.

Lux sat at its end with his head in his hands. Around him, framing him like guards, were his sons.

Michael, Gabriel, Selaphiel, Uriel, Jegudiel, and Barachiel.

Michael, Gabriel, and Rafael were triplets, all mothered by Stella when she was Lux’s second wife. The other four of his sons—and the stars only knew how many others—had different mothers, most of whom I’d only met in passing.

Those seven, however, were Lux’s right-hand men. They never failed to show their support for their father.

Credit where it was due, I supposed. He was a good enough parent, and they loved him.

“Pa,” Rafael said. “You have some visitors.”

Lux looked up, as if noticing our presence for the first time. His pale cheeks were flushed, tears rolling down them. He swatted them away and swallowed hard. He didn’t speak, only looked at each of us and cupped a hand over his mouth to trap in a sob.

“Cut the shite,” Venark snapped. “We’re not going to pity you.”

Michael narrowed his gaze and stepped forward, opening his mouth to speak, but Lux lifted a hand at him. Apparently, that was signal enough for him to shut his mouth.

“It’d be best if you let us be,” Pa said to the boys. “We need to talk.”

“We’re not leaving,” Gabriel said.

“We aren’t going to kill him.” I walked past Pa and leaned over the table. “We just—”

“We’re not leaving,” Michael repeated.

“It’s alright.” Lux’s voice cracked. “I need to take responsibility for my actions—”

“And you can take responsibility while we’re standing here,” Uriel said.

“We’ll let you talk,” Selaphiel said, “but we’re not leaving you alone with him.”

I almost laughed. “I don’t think your father needs your protection when he has the power of billions within him.”

“Which I’m more than happy to hand over to you,” Lux said, swatting the tears from his face. “I didn’t mean to take them in in the first place. Once they were there, I didn’t know what to do with them, and it’s-it’s…”

“Their strength is frightening him,” Rafael said. “He can’t think right with it. He wants them out. He just isn’t sure what to do with them. The abyss requires balance, and there are far too many for him to dump into the afterlife at once.”

“It isn’t like it was before.” Lux’s eyes met mine, filling with tears. “The souls we created, the ones of our world, they didn’t mind being within us. These ones, they… they…”

“Want to live,” I snapped. “They were ripped from their bodies, and they want to live.”