‘I knew it was a lie,’ says Cyclone.

‘Thank you, Archangel,’ says a Watcher with a tuft of spotted feathers on his wing. ‘Thank you for sparing them.’

‘My orders were to kill the nephilim monsters,’ says Raffe. ‘Gabriel’s words exactly. I found the nephilim. I can’t do anything about it if none of them were monsters. I did my duty.’

‘But you stayed a long time, didn’t you?’ I ask.

Raffe nods. ‘If I went back too early to report on my mission, Gabriel could have clarified his order to just kill the nephilim and sent me back.’

Now I understand. ‘You were waiting until the nephilim blood thinned, until no one could identify one.’

Raffe shrugs. ‘Or until one of them turned monstrous. Preferably two. Then I could have come back and said that I killed the nephilim monsters as ordered.’

‘But that didn’t happen,’ I say.

He shakes his head.

The Watchers look like they need a moment. Some of them find a rock to sit on, while others just look away or close their eyes for a minute.

‘Why would Gabriel lie and make a rule that an angel who married a Daughter of Man would fall?’ asks one of the Watchers.

‘Maybe he didn’t want to taint the angelic bloodline with our human blood,’ I say. ‘Most angels think of us as animals.’ I shrug.

‘How long have we been here?’ asks Thermo. ‘Our children have great-great-grandchildren?’

‘From your perspective, I don’t think it’s been long since you fell,’ says Raffe. ‘But we’re from a different time. In our world, your fall is ancient history.’

The Watchers exchange looks with each other.

‘You have to get us out of here,’ says the Watcher with the spotted tuft. ‘Please, Commander. Who knows when Judgment Day will come.’ His voice cracks at the end.

There’s desperation on their faces.

‘It’s one thing to die in battle,’ says Beliel, ‘but to die in the Pit, or worse – to live eternally in the Pit . . .’ He shakes his head. ‘It’s incomprehensible. We’re being punished for nothing.’

‘Uriel says that Gabriel went insane,’ says Raffe. ‘That he hasn’t actually spoken to God in eons. Maybe never.’

Most of the Watchers stare at him openmouthed. A couple of them, though, nod as if they had been suspecting this for some time.

‘I have no idea if it’s true,’ says Raffe. ‘Nobody does, except for Gabriel. But it does seem like he was wrong about the nephilim. I’d been telling myself that it was a mistake. But now . . . who knows what else he was wrong about?’ He glances at me.

‘In the end, it doesn’t really matter,’ says Hawk. ‘Our loyalties are to you, whatever happens.’

‘Do you have a plan, Commander?’ asks Thermo.

‘Sure,’ says Raffe. ‘The plan is to bust you out, then you’ll help me take down Uriel.’

Everyone’s face changes. I’m not sure if it’s awe or disbelief. Maybe a little of both.

‘Don’t get excited,’ says Raffe. ‘We don’t know if we can all get out. And even if we can, we don’t know what’s waiting on the other side.’

He glances at Beliel, who looks excited at the thought of getting out. ‘Sacrifices will need to be made.’

42

The Watchers are sure there are more hellions in the direction where the first ones came from. We decide to split up to increase our chances of finding them.

‘Howler and Cyclone, come with me,’ says Raffe. ‘The rest of you, split into small groups and each take a direction. We’ll meet back here.’ He looks at the sky. ‘How do you tell time here?’

‘It’ll get hotter,’ says Thermo. ‘We can meet when we feel like we’re baking.’

‘That’d be now,’ says Howler.

‘We’ll meet when Howler feels like he’s burning and the rest of us feel like we’re baking,’ says Raffe. ‘Ready?’

‘Uh, can I go with Thermo?’ asks Howler.

‘Thermo?’ asks Raffe. ‘The last time I assigned you with him, you said it was dangerous to pair up with him because you were afraid you’d fall asleep on the mission.’

‘Yeah, that’s why he’ll be the odd man out, and if I go with him, I won’t have to go with you and your Daughter of Man.’

‘Good point,’ says Cyclone. ‘Can I go with Howler and Thermo? They’re helpless without me.’

Howler snorts.

‘What’s wrong with going with me?’ I ask.

‘No one wants to be stuck with love birds.’ Howler shakes his head.

‘Awkward,’ says Cyclone, already walking toward Thermo.

‘You think I’d do something to risk a fall?’ asks Raffe.

‘You can’t fall for anything you do here, Commander,’ says Thermo. ‘You’re already in the Pit, so technically, it’s equivalent to being in a Fallen state during the time you’re here.’

The heat intensifies in my cheeks, and I want to crawl behind a rock.

Raffe looks like he wants to be stubborn but then says, ‘Fine, but you’d better bring back a bunch of hellions, Howler.’

‘You can count on it, boss.’ Howler throws us a broad wink, and takes off into the air. Cyclone and Thermo fly after him.

The rest of the Watchers take off in small groups, each taking different directions. It’s a wonder that they can still fly on their mangy wings. I guess there’s nothing functionally wrong with the wings since they fly expertly. It’s just that they’re not pretty to look at.

Raffe watches them go, then looks at me. ‘Shall we go for a ride and see what the place looks like?’

I nod, trying not to look embarrassed.

I step closer to Raffe. I’ll never get used to stepping into his arms.

Instead of putting his arm under my knees, he holds me up with his arms around my waist, with us facing each other in a hug. With a couple of sweeps of his wings, we take off.

I have my arms around his neck, but my legs are dangling. I don’t feel as secure as I normally do when he holds me with his arms behind my back and below my knees. I instinctively slide my knees around his middle and squeeze for a better hold.

But that’s not enough. As we go higher, I can feel myself sliding just a little. His arms around my waist are firm, but as we rise above the Sea of Killing Hands, I feel an equal mix of excitement and fear.