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When Brenden leans over to place the platter of pancakes and French toast on the table, he turns his head. “Don’t think I didn’t know you and Donovan were listening.”

My eyes shoot up to Audrey, who’s taking her seat, but she is talking quietly with her family.

“She doesn’t know, and I understand why you needed to listen. We’re going to be okay, Wraith.”

When Brenden goes to straighten back up, I grab his arm. “You don’t know that.”

“You’re right.” His smile is sad. “But I’m going to keep holding onto hope that we’ll all make it out of this unscathed—that we’ll eventually be able to work this out with Nex.”

I nod, releasing him.

Hope can be a dangerous thing, but it’s the only thing that’s going to get us through the next coupleof days.

“I know your answer, but I have to ask. Do you think the three of you can stay behind tomorrow?”

I bite back a laugh at Lucifer’s question, my eyes flashing to him, Audrey, Wren, and Ana. All three women roll their eyes as Lucifer slumps back into his seat.

“The Fates told me I have a destiny, and I think they were talking about this,” Audrey says, her voice soft as she reaches for Lucifer’s hand. “Everything in my life has been leading up to this moment, even if I didn’t know it. Wren’s too.”

“I’m sorry, Dad, but Audrey’s right. This is something we have to do.” Wren reaches for Lucifer’s other hand, tears shimmering in his eyes.

“You called me Dad.”

Wren grins. “Isn’t that what you are?”

Lucifer nods, turning his attention to Audrey, who snorts. “Yeah, no. We’re not there yet. Maybe one day.”

He beams at her before his attention falls to Ana. “And you?”

“If you think I’m letting my daughters battle a tyrannical angel without me, you’re sadly mistaken.”

Lucifer huffs but nods. He already knew what their answers would be, but I guess he had to try. It’s the same thoughts that have been running through my head, but I know better than to mention them to Audrey. She’d hand me my ass if I implied she wasn’t capable of taking care of herself.

“Well, now that we’ve discussed that. How’s everything going with the plan?” Audrey asks, pulling her hand from Lucifer’s so she can eat.

“The mortals are currently evacuating Leyton as we speak. There’s an old nuclear station that’s close enough to affect the city, so we made them believe it was still active and about to blow. All the cities and towns in the surrounding area are evacuating as well.” Lucifer eats a few bites of his food before continuing. “As they leave, we have our forces moving into their places.”

“And you’re sure the angels won’t realize what we’re doing?” Brenden asks, sounding unsure. “If they’re planning an attack there tomorrow, won’t they be watching?”

Lucifer nods. “I’m sure they are, but they won’t see anything we’re doing. Hecate, Nyx, and Erebus are in Leyton, using their powers to make sure the angels see what we want themto see. I’ll be joining them after we finish eating. I also recommend that you head there as soon as possible. We all need to be in place when they attack, and we don’t want the gods using all their power to keep up the illusions needed for too long.”

“As soon as we finish eating, we’ll head back to the academy. We’ll get all the students gathered and go to Leyton. I’ll send word to the reapers then, as well.”

“Good. Good.” Lucifer’s voice is gruff when he meets my eyes.

I can see how worried he is about the outcome of tomorrow, but it’s more than that. He just found his daughters, and he’s not ready to lose them. Something I can completely understand. I’m not sure how we’ll survive if we lose any of Audrey’s mates, let alone her.

Nope. We’re not thinking about that.

If I do, I won’t be able to do what needs to be done.

All I can do is hope everything works out in our favor, and at the end of this, that we’re all together.

It’s not a guarantee, but I’m damn well going to do what I can to make sure it happens.

A glance at Cassian, Donovan, Brenden, and Nex shows they plan to do the same.

We’ll do our damnedest to keep our mate safe, without smothering her.