Chapter 24 Galilee
Galilee
Gali woke up in a bed that smelled of smoke and cacao. Her hair was pressed under her cheek, and she was curled up into a
fetal ball under a heavy duvet, her hands clenched and her fingernails digging into her palms. Soft early-morning light poured
through the window.
She had dreamed of the vault with the hellgate; of Lucifer crumpling at her feet again and again and again, his face twisted
with pain; of the princes in their true forms, scales and wings and furious slavering mouths. She had dreamed of Deziel. Her
mother.
Looking back, it was clear to see how easily the angel had manipulated Gali until Gali was overtaken by shock and rage and
betrayal, by grief for Gifty Williams, until the stinging ache she’d always carried had turned her inside out and dissolved
her into fracturing light. Lucifer had paid for it, and Gali had felt nothing. She’d watched his power dim and dim some more, and all she’d done was dig more light into him just like he’d taught her
when he thought she’d stay innocent. All it had taken to change that was intent, and Gali had truckloads of that now—furious
intent, murderous intent, betrayed and heartbroken intent. She sat up slowly, every muscle stiff and painful, but it was her
heart that hurt the most, a throb that hammered against her ribs.
“You’re awake.” A silken voice interrupted her thoughts, and Gali snapped her eyes up. Leviathan was sitting in the window seat, his locs gathered at the nape of his neck, dressed in loose pants and a linen shirt.
Gali tried to say something, but her throat felt clogged with sourness. The prince of Hell stood and brought her a steaming
cup, lifting it to her mouth.
“Drink this,” he ordered, and Gali obeyed. It was hot ginger tea, sweetened with honey and spiced with cayenne.
She had no idea why she felt so cold. Her power should have been burning her up from the inside, but instead a chill had crept
deep into her marrow. Levi laid the back of his hand against her cheek and frowned.
“Your human form’s crashing from using that much power,” he explained. “You’ve been out for a few days, but perhaps you should
sleep more.”
Gali shook her head. “I can still feel it,” she said. “My power, it’s right there.” It was burning inside her, filling the
hollow she used to have. She couldn’t feel the stinging ache that had been her companion all her life, and that felt strange and foreign, to not be empty.
Leviathan’s eyes narrowed. “You feel like it might overwhelm you?”
“Nah, it’s fine.” It was resting, watching her with one wakeful eye, and Gali was grateful for that. When Levi had talked
her down in the vault, her power had been a beast of its own, and controlling it had taken everything she had. She’d let it
off the leash to close the hellgate, but Gali was beyond tired, beyond drained. She tried not to think too hard about what
it meant for her human body to fly apart into light and then come back together again. What it meant to be so finally, irrevocably
inhuman.
The pillow next to her smelled of smoke, and Gali smoothed her hand over it. “Lucifer was here,” she said. Her voice was still
hoarse and unrecognizable.
“He stayed with you as long as he could, but then Michael arrived.” Leviathan’s lip curled, and Gali’s stomach sank.
Michael. He may have helped create her, but he wasn’t her father. She’d rather choose the fisherman who Deziel had killed before she
chose the cruel archangel, and that would make her even more of a Kincaid, to be fathered by a stranger who wasn’t allowed
to stay on Kincaid land. Maybe Gifty Williams’s spirit would rest easy somewhere, knowing that the daughter he’d loved had
grieved his loss. But if Michael was here, then he had come to tie up the loose end.
“Is—is Lucifer going to turn me over to the archangel?” Gali had to force the words out of her mouth. She was terrified of
the answer, but how could she blame the Devil, after what she had done to him?
Leviathan looked mildly appalled by her question. “Of course not! Galilee, we would never let Heaven have you.”
She looked down at her hands. “I don’t see how you could stop them.”
“Hey.” Leviathan waited until she met his gaze again, then smiled. “Luci has a plan.”
Gali glared at him. “Yeah, I heard. But I didn’t give him my soul, and I’m not gonna.”
“Michael doesn’t know that.” The prince of Hell stretched out in the window seat. “When you tortured Lucifer, you ran him
through with your light. It left a . . . residue. Something an archangel can detect. Something the Devil can use to claim
a bond with you, proof of a deal for your soul.”
Her jaw dropped. “He’s bluffing?”
Levi shrugged. “What does Michael know of Hell’s deal logistics? Luci’s betting that he won’t risk the treaty by coming after
you, especially since the hellgate didn’t fail after all. Michael’s not in a great position to move against us right now.”
Gali was getting a headache. “I thought Michael could do whatever he wanted.”
Levi laughed. “Luci may act like a little brother, but he’s the King of Hell. In Heaven’s bureaucracy, Michael’s just an archangel. He’s got power, sure, but he answers to other ranks of angels.” The prince grinned. “Even an archangel can Fall.”
Gali huffed out a breath. “So I’m safe.” Even the words felt uncertain, like she was trying them on for size.
“We’ll see how their meeting goes, but I think this plan will protect you, Galilee. Michael doesn’t know that Deziel told
us about his involvement. He still thinks that his sins are a secret, that he is safe. We want him to keep thinking that.”
Dread was sludged at the bottom of Gali’s stomach. “He’d get desperate if he found out we knew.”
“Exactly. This way, he may not like that Hell has you, but it keeps his secret as far away from Heaven as it can get.”
Gali bit her lip. “This is all a big gamble.”
Leviathan laughed. “Would you prefer to give us your soul for safekeeping instead?”
“Fuck no.”
“Well then. Count your blessings, little demon, that an archangel won’t be taking your head today.”
Gali wanted to say something cutting in response, but she was too tired, and it all felt like a bit of madness. She looked
away, then caught a whiff of herself and winced—she was still wearing Lucifer’s tunic, and she smelled exactly like someone
who hadn’t showered in a few days. How long had Levi been watching her while her stink filled up the room?
“Why are you here?” she snapped.
Levi ignored her sudden hostility. “The other princes are incredibly pissed at how everything went down,” he answered. “Ironically,
I’m the only one Lucifer trusts not to kill you right now.”
He gave her a genuine smile for the first time, soft and open with no edges or games, and Gali stared as it lit up his eyes like a pair of suns.
He looked like a different person, like someone softer, even more of a stranger.
She had a vague memory of him in the vault, standing with his back to her and his sword bleeding out cold light, protecting her and Lucifer from the rest of the princes.
Gali didn’t know how to think about that.
“Real tired of people wanting to kill me,” she said instead, sliding out of the bed.
Levi’s eyes drifted to her bare legs before he dragged his gaze away. “No one’s going to hurt you, Galilee.”
Gali thought about Deziel and it tasted sour. “It’s a little late for that.”
The prince’s shoulders tensed, but he didn’t say anything.
She ran her hands over her tangled hair and winced as she smelled herself again. “Man, I gotta take a shower and get out of
these clothes.”
Levi leaned over and picked up a small duffel bag that was at his feet and tossed it to Gali. She caught it and slid the zipper
open, then stared at the folded clothes inside.
“These are mine,” she said.
Leviathan shrugged. “We picked up some things from your apartment.”
Gali raised an eyebrow, trying to imagine the princes running errands for her. “We?”
To her surprise, a faint flush slid into Levi’s face, coloring the dappled patches of his skin. “I went to your apartment
while Luci sat with you. I thought you might want something of your own.”
He’d gone to her loft.
She tried to imagine him stalking through the space, sliding drawers open, his hands sorting through her belongings. It was
strange. “Thank you,” she said. “Where’s the bathroom?”
Leviathan jerked his head toward a door on the left. “I can run you a bath if you’d like.”
Gali felt her mouth twitch up. “Who are you, and what did you do with the prince who was gonna kill me?”
The prince narrowed his eyes. “I changed, Galilee Kincaid.” He said it with a seriousness that Gali didn’t want to deal with, so she laughed briefly instead.
“Sure,” she said, heading to the bathroom. When she reached out for the doorknob, fear crept up her forearm and slowed her
hand. They still had no idea where Deziel had gone after the vault. She could be in there. She could be anywhere, full of
lies and promises and bloodlust. Deziel had been watching her even on Kincaid land, for years and years. It made Gali sick
to her stomach to think about it.
Leviathan reached past her and swung the door open. The bathroom was empty. “We warded the house against angels this time,”
he said.
Gali made a face at him. “How did you know?”
He stared down at her with barely any expression. “Makes sense that you’d be worried about her.”
Oddly, Gali’s first thought was of Nana Darling. She was going to have to tell her grandmother everything, the truth of what
Deziel was and what she’d done. Michael’s involvement. Gifty Williams’s murder. Celestial would want to find his bones, give
him a proper burial. All the Kincaids would be horrified. Gali had never really kept important secrets from her family, but
maybe they didn’t need to know every little detail, like Gali being washed in Gifty’s blood as he died. What good would that