We’re all sickly full after dinner and go into the living room. The football game is on, and while I’m not a sports person at all, it’s another tradition to have it on in the background. Easton and Phil are both big fans of one of the teams playing and are getting really into the game.
The air gets that electric feeling, and I sit up, moving out of Lucas’s embrace on the couch. “Julian,” I say with a smile, just seconds before he appears in the living room, startling the nons. Phil and Abby are a bit more familiar with him, but this is the first time Easton and Melinda are officially meeting him knowing what he really is. “Yay! I’m so glad you were able to make it,” I tell him. “Do you remember Easton and Melinda? They were at our wedding.”
“Yes,” Julian tells them.
“This is Julian,” I reintroduce. “My cousin.”
“He’s an angel?” Melinda asks slowly, eyes going wide.
“Yes. I am an angel of the Lord.” Julian narrows his eyes, watching the football game. “Why are those men fighting over a ball?”
“It’s a game,” I explain. “Called football. I find it kind of boring, but others love it.”
“Interesting,” Julian says, watching the game for a few seconds. It cuts to a commercial, and I go into the kitchen to get some water.
“Is everything good in angel land?” I ask. It’s been a few days, and the last I heard from Julian he was going Alona to try and find a way to work Bael into the conversation without giving too much away.
“Yes. Another legion of demons has escaped Hell. The search for Lucifer is of utmost importance.”
“He said he’s broken out before.” I take a big drink of water and lean against the counter.
“Yes, several times.”
“And the last time wasn’t all that long ago, right? He told me around twenty-five years ago.”
“Correct.”
“How was he caught then?”
“I’ve been told he went willingly.”
“Really?” I ask, finishing my water. Other than the constant exhaustion, the only other pregnancy symptom I have is being thirsty all the damn time. “Why would he do that?”
“I do not know. I wasn’t assigned to the case then.”
“I’ll ask him next time I see him,” I only half joke.
“I have something from your father that may be useful,” Julian says and reaches inside his jacket.
“It’s not another blank piece of paper, is it?” I ask bitterly. “Not to be ungrateful, but that makes no sense.”
“This isn’t paper.” He sets a package wrapped in brown paper on the table. “Careful, it’s sharp.”
“Sharp?” I echo as I unwrap a knife with a curved blade. The handle is simple, with Michael’s sigil engraved in the silver, with a single blue gemstone inlayed at the top. “Cool.” I hold the blade up and slash it through the air. “But, uh, why?”
“It is his,” Julian goes on. “Being God’s fiercest warrior, Michael has an extensive armory of weapons. “He’s been wanting to give you something that will help against Bael but couldn’t take just anything without giving you away. This particular blade will hurt but not kill a demon. He took it under the pretense of using it to apprehend Lucifer.”
“Nice,” Melinda says, seeing me slash the dagger through the air again. She refills her glass with punch. “Karambits are great for disemboweling demons.”
I set the knife on the counter, pushing it back to make sure Penny can’t accidentally grab it. “Yeah, they are.”
“Can I?” Melinda asks, looking at the knife.
“Sure.”
She sets her cup down and picks up the knife. “This symbol,” she says, bringing it closer her face. “What is it?”
“It’s an archangel sigil,” Julian tells her.
“It looks familiar…kind of like the symbols we found carved into those dead women who had their hearts ripped out.”
“What?” I blink. Michael’s sigil was carved into dead women’s bodies? What in the actual fuck?
“It wasn’t this one, but it was similar,” Melinda says.
“Can you draw them?” I ask, spinning around because I can’t remember which drawer is the junk drawer. Why is this kitchen so fucking big?
“I can do even better,” she tells me. “I have the crime scene photos in the car.”
“Get them,” I rush out. “Please.”
“Yeah. I think Easton’s keys are in his coat pocket.”
“In the front closet,” I say and lead her through the front of the house, impatiently waiting as she puts her shoes on and dashes out of the house. Pandora comes down the stairs and rubs against my legs, able to sense that I’m doing my best not to panic. There’s no reason Michael’s sigil would be on a dead body. He has nothing to do with it…right?
I pick up Pandora and cuddle her against my chest, feeling calmer already. Melinda comes back in the house, stomps the snow off her shoes, and hands me a folder.
“There markings were kept from the public,” Melinda says. “When we saw the most recent police report, we went back and got the others. All three women have slightly different markings like this.”