Champagne Problems
When we make it to the bottom of the steps, raised voices cease whatever feud they were just entangled in. Every eye in the room is on my and Luke’s joined hands.
Zeke steps forward, but before he can say a word, Michael thwarts his advance. “Now isn’t the time, Ezekiel. You can discuss your part in this after Victoria has been debriefed.”
Leave it to Michael to minimize the fact that each of these angels played a role in my fall from Heaven. People who were supposed to be my friends, my brothers in arms, and they’ve all deceived me.
“So get on with it, Michael. What is it that all of you know that I don’t?” I can’t keep the bite from my tone as I land my scowl on Zeke.
Michael steps forward. “Victoria, you were always meant to fall.”
He stops talking as though that’s some huge revelation.
“Yeah, I figured that part out. Is that all?”
A deep frown mars his angelic face. “No, that’s only a small portion of it.” His head shakes in frustration. “You were needed on Earth, but more importantly, you needed to learn who you are so that you could fulfill your destiny.”
“My destiny? What exactly is that, Michael? Since you seem to know more about my damn life than I do.”
He looks down before finally raising his head and looking me in the eyes when he says, “You’re the only living heir to the reaper kingdom. Queen Camille is your mother.”
“That’s impossible.” It’s all I say, because this is also not a huge revelation, considering Luke has already told me this.
It’s clear from Michael’s narrowed eyes that he was expecting more of a reaction from me.
“Sorry to disappoint, asshole.”
He flinches at my crass words.
Several pairs of eyes roam the room, looking anywhere but at me.
“It’s not impossible, Victoria,” Michael continues, completely ignoring my threat. “You are most definitely Queen Camille’s daughter.”
“How exactly do you know this, Michael? Did God himself impart this truth unto you?”
His eyes close and his hands at his sides ball into fists. I’m not sure what it is about his current state, but it chills me to my bones. I know without a doubt that whatever is coming next will warrant the reaction that he’s been expecting.
“I know because you’re also my daughter.”
My breath hitches and mouth hangs agape. That was the last thing I was expecting.
Luke’s head snaps to Michael, and Leeanna’s gasp rings through my ears, causing an instantaneous headache.
I stand stock still, stunned and disbelieving.
“Heaven has kept you safe at the request of Camille. She wasn’t privy to your location for your safety and as a punishment to her.”
“Her punishment?” Luke asks.
“For our … affair,” Michael explains. “For her part in it, she was cast from Heaven and tasked with the job of reaping souls.”
Luke laughs, but it’s humorless. “Let me get this straight—you both engaged in an illicit situation, and she was the only one cast from Heaven? What kind of boys’ club is God running up there?”
“This isn’t the time for you to slander, God, Lucifer. This isn’t about your issues with Him.”
I hardly register the back and forth that ensues between Luke and Michael as I try to reconcile how deep the lies run. Michael is my father?
He treated me like garbage when I fell, and this whole time, he himself had betrayed Heaven’s laws? Was that why he’d gone to bat for me before turning his back on me entirely?
“I … this can’t be true,” I say, mostly to myself. “I’m an angel.”
“It’s true,” Michael says, resolute. “You were born of two archangels.”
I look to Michael, then to Leeanna, and finally to Zeke. They’re all drinking Michael’s Kool-Aid. They believe it.
I’m two seconds away from a panic attack, for several reasons. I won’t allow it, though. Not in front of this crew of Judases. I shove it down, straighten my back, and try to process what this means. No, I can’t. This is too much.
“But … how? Angels can’t bear children.” Luke continues to ask the questions that I can’t even think up.
“Camille is Nephilim. Her father is a fallen archangel and her mother, human.”
“How did she end up in Heaven then? Nephilim aren’t allowed in Heaven,” Leeanna butts in, seemingly as perplexed by all of this as I am.
“She was the first of her kind. God wanted to keep it quiet. The last thing he needed was angels running around Earth, impregnating humans.”
“Maybe he should’ve had you all on shorter leashes,” Luke bites out.
“Or threatened a rotation as Hell’s keeper,” I offer as another means of punishment.
Luke nods. “Seems a bit extreme that my curiosity led to a lifetime of herding demons and torturing souls, while the lot of you get to run around fornicating with no damn consequences.”
“Now isn’t the time, Lucifer. She got her punishment and I got mine. After our affair, he cast her out of Heaven.” Michael continues to answer the questions, sounding detached and clinical.
“And your punishment?” I press, wanting to know why he’s still sitting pretty in Heaven while my supposed mom is stuck reaping souls.
“I was never told of your existence—until now—and I haven’t seen Camille since.”
I bark out a pissed-off laugh. “Like you give a damn! You lied to me,” I yell, finally finding my voice. “You treated me like shit!” I bellow, the words bouncing off the steel walls, causing a sound like thunder.
“I didn’t know, Victoria. God told me only when you were taken to Hell.”
“Too damn bad. I’ll never excuse the way you treated me. Whether you knew who I was or not. You turned your back on me.” I thrust my finger into Michael’s chest, not even close to being done with my long overdue outburst.
“What about you?” I round on Zeke. “How long have you known?”
He shakes his head. “I had no idea you were a reaper or Michael’s daughter. I was on assignment here to train the Nephilim, and all I was told was that you were special and I needed to guard you.”
I throw my hands up. “Just stop. I don’t believe any of you. You’re all lying.”
I’m marching toward the door to leave when Luke grabs my elbow. “No, Luke. Not now. I … I need some time.” I blink my eyes, trying to stave off the tears threatening to fall. “I need some time,” I repeat, and his face hardens, but he nods.
Without waiting around to hear more of their excuses, I rush through the barn door, out into the cloud-covered yard. I fall to my knees, banging my fist into the ground.
Thunder rumbles overhead, answering my erratic mood. Good. A storm is just what I need. It’s been too long since I’ve powered up.
Throwing my hands into the air, I call upon the wind to bend to my will.
It circles above me, forming a cyclone of energy.
Lightning streaks across the sky as rain pelts down in heavy droplets onto my head.
I raise my chin to feel the cool liquid hit my skin and fall in a torrent over my cheeks.
The energy shoots toward the earth, entering my outstretched hands and racing through my veins in a thorough caress.
The warming sensation starts at the tips of my fingers and runs down my arms, over my shoulders and straight to my core.
I’m burning from within, and I can hardly take the heat.
Toppling forward, I’m caught from behind and pulled into a firm chest as the spasms continue to work over me. It can only be Luke embracing me. No other being could withstand such powerful electrical currents.
“It’s all right. I’ve got you, love.”
My body tingles for what feels like hours as the spasms continue. I’m powered to the hilt and ready for whatever battle comes.
“There won’t be a need for that, Victoria. No fighting today.”
I want to argue. I want to push back and tell him I plan to take on every single one of the angels inside my barn, but the words don’t come. As my body relaxes and the power recedes, lying dormant under my skin, my rage settles and in its place is a deep sadness.
“Do you know what this means?” I let the words die on my tongue, unwilling to say them out loud.
“It means you’re betrothed to the reaper,” Luke says, as though it’s not a concern.
“You’ve known this whole time?”
“Yes,” he admits, and I only sigh in response.
I’m too tired to fight.
“It’ll never happen. Over my dead fucking body, Victoria. I won’t allow it.”
I hold on to that promise, knowing that as long as I have Luke, none of this truly matters. He’s all I care about. After several tense minutes, I exhale harshly.
“How could God lie to me like that?”
The question has been circling my mind for several minutes. How did God manage to lie to me all this time? Am I truly to believe that the one being who is above lies and deceit has deceived all of us?
Because the truth is, if the reaper queen is my mother and Michael my father, God has managed to keep one of the biggest secrets of all time.
“It’s not the first lie he’s told, love. When it comes to preserving humanity, it appears no lie is too much for our great and powerful God.”
His mocking tone doesn’t anger me for the first time ever. If anything, I agree with his sentiment. God doesn’t care for anyone except his precious humans.
A crack of thunder causes me to jump.
“He didn’t like whatever it was you were thinking.” He chuckles in my ear.
“Am I to believe that for the first time you weren’t prying into my head?” I ask, teasing.
“For once, I figured you could use the privacy. I know when to pry and when to allow you your space.”
I twist in his arms. “Glad to see you’re wising up.”
He laughs. “Are you ready to go in there and give them a piece of your mind?”
I blow out a breath. “Not really. I’m tired of the lot of them.”
“Want me to send them away?”
“Can you do that?”
He grins down at me. “That and more, love.”
“What deal did you strike with them?” I ask, remembering how he’d said as much.
His grin fades. “Do you really want to know right now? We can discuss it later. You’ve dealt with enough today, don’t you think?”
“Rip off the Band-Aid, Luke.”
He clicks his tongue before blowing out a breath. “I need to return to Hell and take back my throne. They’re going to help me do it.”