Page 38

“So you what, offered him a deal?” I asked, disgust rising in my throat. “Possession instead of death?”

“I offered him purpose,” Cassiel corrected. “A chance for his death to mean something. He accepted.”

“How generous of you,” I muttered. “But if this Michael is just some fallen angel trying to recharge his batteries, why all the drama? Why come to us instead of dealing with him yourself?”

“Michael is not the true threat,” Cassiel stated, his tone matter-of-fact. “He is merely a symptom of something far worse that approaches.”

“Then why bother mentioning him at all?” I pressed, frustration building. “Why not cut to the chase about whatever this bigger threat is?”

Cassiel's eyes narrowed slightly. “Because understanding begins with what you can grasp. Michael's actions are just the beginning—a ripple from a stone that has not yet been cast.”

I studied Cassiel, trying to see past the human face he wore to whatever lay beneath. “So you possessed Hayes to, what, warn us about this Michael guy? You could have just sent an anonymous tip.”

“I needed a physical form to intervene directly,” Cassiel replied. “And I needed to find you.”

“Me?” I asked, tension coiling in my gut. “Why me?”

“Because you are crucial to what comes next,” Cassiel said. “Because of what you are.”

My patience was wearing thin. “And what exactly am I, according to you?”

Cassiel's gaze seemed to look through me rather than at me. “You are not fully human, Sean. You never have been.”

The intensity of his stare was unsettling, like being examined under a microscope. “I'm nobody special.”

Cassiel studied me with those ancient, inhuman eyes, then answered, simple and absolute. “Because you are a Nephilim.”

The world seemed to shift beneath my feet, reality tilting off its axis. I took a step back, my breath catching in my throat. “What?”

“Half-human, half-angel,” Cassiel clarified, as if I might not understand the term. “A child of two worlds, belonging fully to neither.”

“That's not possible,” I said, the words sounding hollow even to my own ears. “I'm human. The Byrnes adopted me, but I'm human.”

“The family that raised you believed that,” Cassiel said. “They did not know the truth of your origins.”

I shook my head, rejecting the very idea. “No. No, that's crazy. I'd know if I was...” I couldn't even say the word. It was too absurd, too far outside everything I'd believed about myself.

“I do not expect you to accept this immediately,” Cassiel said. “But you must be aware. You must be prepared.”

“Prepared for what?” I demanded, struggling to keep my voice steady.

“For those who will come seeking you,” Cassiel replied. “There are forces gathering that will stop at nothing to find someone of your lineage.”

Cade was watching me now, concern etched across his features. “Sean?”

“It's bullshit,” I said firmly, more to convince myself than him. “Just another monster trying to get in our heads.”

“I do not need you as a vessel, Sean,” Cassiel said. “I need you to be aware of what lies dormant within you. Others will come. Others who will seek to use your nature for their own purposes.”

Cassiel didn't elaborate further on my supposed heritage. He just looked at me, waiting for me to process what he'd said. But before I could formulate a response, his gaze flicked to Cade, and something in his expression changed.

His face, until now composed, twisted into something colder, more severe. “And you... I was not expecting you.”

Cade raised an eyebrow, defiance masking whatever uncertainty he might be feeling. “Cool. Glad I could keep things interesting for you.”

Cassiel's voice dropped, becoming quieter but edged with something sharp. “You are an abomination.”

The words hung in the air like poison, and I saw Cade's smirk falter for just a second. A flash of something raw and wounded crossing his face before he masked it.