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But that was the takeaway from my encounter with Lucifer. It all but sealed for me that it really never was as clear-cut as black or white, good or evil. All I had to go on was whether I was doing the right thing. Stopping Belphegor from taking over the city – no, from dominating the entire world – that had been the right thing to do. And taking responsibility for the nephilim, finally stepping into the role Samyaza left for me – maybe that was also the right thing to do.
“All this princeling stuff we’ve talked about in the past. Maybe it’s time for me to look into it, you know? All this heir business.”
He nodded, still smiling. “I like the way you’re talking, Mason. But there’ll be time for us to discuss that yet. For now, let’s enjoy the afternoon.”
We sat there, watching the wetness of the world outside, the rain pelting the streets and sidewalks of this weird city that attracted so many of the world’s supernaturals. I busied myself by trying to count the raindrops, finding it mesmerizing, yet so overwhelming. How many of us nephilim were in the world? How many children had the Grigori fathered? Shrinking it down to a smaller scale, I couldn’t even imagine how many siblings I had by Samyaza. A hundred? A dozen? Thousands?
Raziel’s voice was distant as he studied the clouds. “I can tell you this much, Mason. Because of this bracer of yours, I may no longer be able to find you.” He turned to me, his eyes shining with his smile. “But we may yet find your brothers and sisters. And if the Morning Star is indeed telling the truth, perhaps we’ll find your mother, too.”
I smiled back, then finished the last of my coffee. Raziel did the same, savoring his newfound love of caramel. I was lucky to have a friend like him, to have a family that included an alraune, a gorilla, and a freaking goddess. Yet my thoughts kept going back to my own family, even stranger, to the siblings that I’d never even known.
Raziel and I had discussed them on more than one occasion. They were bound to be out there, scared and alone. I wondered if they felt as lost and as terrified as I did on the day my sigils burned themselves into my skin, the day the angels came to kill me. Call it bravado, call it a messianic complex, but I wanted to seek them out, to help them in some small way. If nothing else, they didn’t deserve to be alone.
I set down my empty coffee, the cup clicking against the saucer. “Shall we go?”
Raziel winked down at the bottom of his own cup, checking for any leftover caramel, then blinked up at me. “Where are we going? It’s still raining.”
“We can stand under the awning, enjoy the rain where we’ll be dry. It’s rare enough that it’s nice to just smell it, feel it a little.” I stuck my hands into my pockets to warm them. “Then who knows? Maybe we could explore the city, see the sights. And if we get hungry, hey, there’s other ways to enjoy caramel, too. On ice cream, or cake.”
Raziel beamed at me. “That sounds like a plan. I’d like that very much.”
We went out on the patio of Human Beans, protected from the rain by the awning, the air a thick wall of pleasant, cool humidity. It was a chill afternoon, literally, a nice day for a nap, but just as nice a day for staring out quietly into the rain with a good friend.
And then it stopped, going from a downpour, to a drizzle, to nothing. The last of the rain dripped from the rooftops, from streetlights and signposts, drops of water joining the thin ocean of rain collecting on the asphalt. It was overwhelming, thinking of finding the other nephilim, or even my mother. Not just looking for a needle in a haystack, but a single drop of water in an ocean.
Yet find them I would. I wanted to. I had to.
Raziel held his hand out, feeling at the air. “Ah. I think it’s finally stopped raining.”
I smiled at him, watching as the clouds parted, breathing in the fragrance of a world swept clean by the endless sky. The rain was over.
But my reign was about to begin.
END
