“What did he tell you?” I persisted when he didn’t answer. “What? Did he tell you I would die? That Gabriel planned to use my blood to basically create the back door into Heaven?”
A muscle flexed along Zayne’s jaw. “That was all he needed to tell me.” The glow in his eyes brightened. “It’s not going to happen.”
“You’re right. It won’t,” I agreed even as unease blossomed in the pit of my stomach. Something about this wasn’t adding up. Zayne had been given unimaginable power even though my father and the Throne had suspected that he would Fall. They allowed it so he could come back to me. Sure, he’d have to deal with Gabriel, but would the angels be that accepting of Zayne’s choice, that generous afterward? Nothing I knew about them would suggest so. Then what was the catch? The sacrifice? The cost?
Fear punched through me. What if after we defeated Gabriel, they’d come after Zayne? Hunt him to either strip him of his grace or entomb him? What if Zayne’s return was temporary?
Unaware of my complete panic spiral, Zayne said, “It took me a bit to get used to the grace, how to control it and deal with it.” He moved, placing his hand on his chest. “I’m still not quite used to it. Sort of feels like a—”
“A constant low-level buzz of energy?” I finished for him, pushing the panic back. Now, while we had an audience, wasn’t the time to ask what the cost was. I really didn’t need to have a complete breakdown in front of Cayman.
Zayne smiled that beautiful smile then, and I felt the catch in my chest. “Now I know why you have such a hard time sitting still.”
“That’s it?” Cayman asked, and I looked over at him. He’d set the box on the coffee table. “They gave you a superdose of grace and allowed you to Fall. Let’s be real. They didn’t do that so you could be with Trinity. Most of them don’t care about all your warm fuzzies for one another.”
Cayman was obviously thinking the same thing I was but with far less panic.
“You’re right. Most of the angels don’t care about Trin’s and my feelings for each other,” Zayne responded, and my whole brain zeroed in on the “most of the angels” part. “They let me Fall and remain as a new and improved version to fight Gabriel.”
“The Throne did tell me that none of the angels that could strip him of his wings and grace would come down here while Gabriel was here,” I said even though that didn’t answer what they’d do once Gabriel wasn’t a problem.
“You’re giving them way too much credit.” Cayman snorted. “Angels are self-righteous enough to try such a thing, no matter the risks. They’re not showing up to take his grace because he has all the power of an angel, but he’s not bound to angelic law.”
“Angelic law?” I twisted toward Zayne. “Like what kind of law?”
Zayne glanced at Cayman, his brow furrowing. “I think he’s talking about their law of combat. Apparently it’s forbidden for an angel to attack another.”
“Even in this kind of situation?” I asked, thinking that couldn’t be right. “Like even when one of their own is trying to end Heaven?”
“Yep,” Zayne confirmed.
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Disbelief flooded me. “That has got to be the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“They believe that to take up arms against another is lifting a sword against God,” Zayne said. “It didn’t make sense to me, either, but he said it was a pledge they all took after the war. Obviously they didn’t put a whole lot of thought into the pledge.”
By war, I was guessing he was referencing when Lucifer was booted. I processed all of that and suddenly a lot of things made sense. Big things.
Like why I was here.
“That’s why I was... I was born,” I announced, and yeah, it sounded way overdramatic to me, but it was dramatic. “There’s no way that a single angel didn’t see what Gabriel was becoming. They just couldn’t stop him, because of the pledge. They must’ve realized this was as good a time as any to bring back the Trueborn and I guess they just rolled the dice to find out who would be the baby daddy.”
“Rolled the dice to see who would...” Zayne shook his head as he processed what I said.
“Okay. Maybe not rolled the dice, but you get what I’m saying.” I swallowed hard as I sat back against the cushion. I really was created to be a weapon. That wasn’t breaking news or anything, but I guessed there had been this tiny, childish part of me that had hoped my father had seen my mother and fallen for her. That there had been some emotion behind my creation. But there really wasn’t. “I was a loophole. With my father’s grace, I could fight Gabriel. And Gabriel knew about me, and he tried to do the same with Sulien.”