There had been a time when Lucifer would have trusted no one but the archangel he called brother, but he’d learned the hard way that Michael was loyal only to Heaven, nothing and no one else. It had been a devastating shock then, the betrayal, but it was familiar now. Michael might kill Galilee outright, but if he thought it would please Heaven, he’d easily take her apart and cut her into little pieces to find out where her power lay. He certainly wouldn’t give a fuck about Lucifer’s feelings on it, and yet, despite everything that had happened—the betrayals, the war, the Fall—Lucifer was still plagued by tangled emotions toward hisbrother, lifetime after lifetime, so old that they had fermented into a lingering hate edged with bitter grief.
The rooftop terrace was filled with flowers that Asmodeus insisted on growing where they could be seen from the sky. Michael was already there, broad and stocky as he walked through the blooms. His wings were nowhere in sight, and he wore no armor, only a loose shirt over cotton trousers. He didn’t have his sword on him. It was all a calculated insult, telling Lucifer that he had nothing to fear from the Devil or his princes. Lucifer landed and folded his wings, but Michael didn’t even look up. The archangel brushed his thick fingers over a tight calendula bloom and watched as it unfurled into speckled yellow and white.
“Asmodeus still loves these transient beauties,” he murmured, oceans swirling through his voice. “So weak, so fickle.”
“I didn’t see you come in.” Lucifer kept his tone bland. Michael would pick up on any fear lurking in his voice, and Lucifer would be damned twice again before he gave the archangel that pleasure. “Thought you liked to see the views.”
“I came straight through, but I’ll take the scenic way back,” the archangel replied. When he looked up, his coffee eyes were as endlessly calm as they’d always been, even in that horrible moment when he’d thrown Lucifer out of Heaven. Lucifer would never trust that calm again. “It really is quite beautiful here if you follow the river.”
It had to have been Galilee’s flare of power that brought him through so quickly. Lucifer circled the flowers slowly and made his voice cold and cutting. “What do you want?”
Michael sighed. “You’re never hospitable, Luci.”
As if he deserved a welcome. Michael was always unfailingly cordial, but deep in his gaze, there was a tiny ember of hatred burning there. Had it been there from the beginning? Had it flared into existence when Lucifer was named the Morningstar, when Heaven shuddered in awe of his beauty? Michael had watched with all the grace of a war hammer, Heaven’s tool, while they gazed at Lucifer for the sake of beauty itself.Had it been Lucifer’s questions? His adventures in the flesh? The banked resentment in his brother’s eyes was a slippery thing, but Lucifer trusted it far more than Michael’s charm.
“Why would I be hospitable? You always mean harm.”
“Harm?” Michael scoffed. “I’m an archangel, little brother.”
Lucifer spread out his palms and gave a broad dead smile. “I believe you make my point.”
Michael chuckled, and the sound twisted a knife in Lucifer’s chest. “I hear you’re having trouble with a hellgate,” the archangel remarked casually, his eyes sharp under his lashes.
“That’s hardly Heaven’s concern.”
“Mm.” His brother touched a dead bloom, and it resurrected in a splash of color. “It will be if the gate fails.”
There was a thread of malicious pleasure in Michael’s voice, like he was waiting for Lucifer to fail along with his gate, so Heaven could strike at him again. As if the Fall hadn’t been enough. They wanted pounds and pounds of flesh, into eternity, it seemed.
“Surely you have better things to do than bother with this?” Lucifer countered.
Michael gave him a sorrowful look. “All thishostility, Luci. Must we dance around each other so?”
“If you prefer me to be direct, then by all means, let me oblige.” Lucifer let his eyes go black as his voice layered over itself.“Fuck off, archangel.”
Michael laughed out loud, a cathedral crashing into the earth. “There’s my little brother,” he said fondly, creases forming in his dark skin as he smiled. “And to think, I came here to help.”
The untruth tasted foul in the air, and Lucifer couldn’t help but push back. “You don’thelp. You never have.” Michael carried out orders, he enforced the will of Heaven, he cut down anyone who rebelled against it, and he was terribly, horrifically good at his job. He certainly didn’thelpanyone, and his presence was unlikely to mean anything good forLucifer. “I assume you’re not here in an official capacity,” Lucifer continued, gesturing at his brother’s clothes.
“No, no. Heaven didn’t send me.” Michael laced his hands together in front of him. He almost looked like a priest if one had never seen him in battle, seen the multifarious glory of his true form, the zeal that transformed him. “Heavenisaware of the information I bring, though.”
“Ah, I see.” Lucifer gave a smile with no humor in it. “You’re all watching a game play out, and you’ve decided to interfere. Was it taking too long?”
Michael paused, and that alone was concerning.
“Why isn’t Heaven making a move?” Lucifer asked carefully. “Why come to me?”
“We’re watching for now,” Michael replied. “Much rests on a fulcrum.”
“Stop being so fucking vague,” Lucifer snapped. “Just tell me your side’s stake in all this.”
Michael was watching him discreetly, just like he always did, even when he pretended to be casual. The archangel was a general with razored eyes, always scheming and gathering data, always seeking reactions when he plunged his blade into his enemy. “It’s the angel,” he said. “The one who touched your hellgate.”
It took a moment, but then a disbelieving rage furled its burning arms around Lucifer. “It’s one ofyours,” he bit out in furious understanding.
“Alas.” Michael gave a small smile and spread out his arms. “Like I said, I’m here to help.”
“Bullshit. Going after this angel would be helping.Stoppingthem would be helping. I’m surprised you’re not punishing them already—tampering with a hellgate surely breaks your fucking code, and we all know how conscientious you are,brother.”
