“That’s why I didn’t sense any demons tonight. Why?” I asked, wondering what else could possibly be going wrong. “What’s happening?”
“What’s happening?” His dark brows climbed up his forehead. “Are you serious right now? As if you don’t know?” He stepped closer, and I caught the scent of...burned wood? And his eyes, normally a golden hue, were now like heated coal. “What did you do, Trinity?”
I frowned. “Uh, yeah, I have no idea what you’re talking about. I didn’t do anything, and yet, here you are, in my personal space. Do I need to remind you that you’re afraid of me?”
“Yeah, you were one of the baddest creatures walking these streets and I was afraid of you, but that was until I met a certain freaking fallen angel rocking a Heaven ton worth of grace who apparently has amnesia and a sudden, extreme dislike of all demons.”
“Oh,” I whispered, tensing. “You’re talking about Zayne.”
“Oh? Oh? That’s all you have to say? Yes! I’m talking about Zayne, who just happens to be a very, very powerful fallen freaking angel, in case you didn’t hear me the first time around.”
“I did hear you. That’s why I’ve been trying to get ahold of you. I had no idea he was going to go after you or any demon, but I tried to give you a heads-up. You didn’t answer.”
His eyes narrowed. “I don’t like to talk on phones.”
“I texted you!” I shot back. “And I quote, ‘I need to talk to you. It’s important.’”
“And as I said, I was kind of busy trying to stay alive.”
I crossed my arms. “And how was I supposed to know that?”
“Did it occur to you to leave a message that said, ‘Hey, my favorite demon broker, Zayne is back. He’s a Fallen, so you better run for the freaking hills’?”
“I didn’t think that was something I should text or leave as a voice mail considering no one has believed me when I first told them that,” I reasoned. “And I had no idea he would go after any demon.”
“Of course he’ll go after demons!” he said like it was something I should’ve already known. “He’s obviously a recent Fallen. They go after any and everything that has an ounce of power in them, and they especially hate demons. It takes decades for them to get over the whole ‘I’m still better than you lowly demons’ attitude, which, hello, where do you think the Wardens got that from? Which is why not many of them joined Team Hell.”
“Wait.” I stared up at the demon. “You knew what the Wardens originally were?”
“Duh, Trinity. Duh.” He turned and walked into the kitchen. As he went, the lights turned on. “Running for your life works up an appetite, so I’m starving.”
“How in the world did both you and Roth know this and manage to keep your mouths relatively shut?” I trailed after him. “How have demons not been shouting this from the rooftops?”
“Not every demon knows this.” Cayman lifted his hand, and a box of Cheez-It Snack Mix flew across the room to his hand.
Man, I so wanted that talent.
“Only the oldest and the most connected with the Boss are aware of the true origins of the Warden. Shouting it from the rooftops would defeat that pesky blind faith thing, wouldn’t it? That would tick off the One up there and the one down below. No one has time for that.” He peeled open the box as he plopped down onto the couch. “And whatever Wardens have figured out their origins would go to their graves before admitting that they come from those who Fell,” he said, repeating nearly the same thing the Throne had. “It was the Wardens who rewrote what became of the fallen angels. They killed their own dirty little secret.”
“Okay. Great. You know all about the fallen angels, but you’re still wrong.” I dropped into the corner of the couch. “I didn’t do anything. Zayne chose to Fall.”
Cayman turned his head toward mine, and I wished I could tell if his eyes had lost the reddish black hue. “Do tell?”
I told.
I told Cayman all I knew, right up until moments earlier, when I realized that the Crone could be of help. “So, do you think what the Throne said was true? That my grace won’t kill Zayne but bring him back?”
“Honest? I have no idea,” he admitted, setting the empty box down on the counter. How he’d eaten the whole box of cheesy crackers was something I could relate to. “I’ve never known a Fallen to become anything other than a Warden or a really big player down below. And the ones who are on my team? Those who made it into Hell with their wings and grace still intact didn’t keep them long. Our Boss is not dumb enough to allow something nearly as powerful as Him to be occupying the same 666 area code. He stripped their wings, therefore taking their grace. Even then, those Fallen are still hella powerful. Not even Roth wants to mess with one of them. Lucky for him and all of us, they take way too much pleasure in their jobs.”