Grace and Glory

by Armentrout, Jennifer L.

  “Being able to shut down his plans is huge,” I told her, nodding empathetically just in case she needed the extra reinforcement. “You’re brilliant.”

  “That’s what I tell her.” Warmth filled Nicolai’s voice. “At least twice a day, and three times on Wednesdays.”

  I thought Danika might’ve blushed. “You need to make that four times on Wednesdays.”

  “That I can do,” Nicolai murmured.

  Energy buzzed through my veins, mingling with my grace. I slid from the stool and started pacing. “How much of it would we need? Those gemstones?” I asked, already forgetting two of the names. “Onyx and what were the other two?”

  “Black tourmaline and hematite,” Zayne answered, because of course he remembered.

  “A lot.” Danika twisted at the waist. “Like either several tons of tiny pieces or a really large chunk of the stuff.”

  Several tons? I folded an arm across my stomach.

  “Where would we even find it?” Zayne asked.

  “I doubt the answer is going to be Amazon,” I muttered.

  “Not if we want to make sure we have the real deal,” Dez answered with a grin. “Black tourmaline is mined in Brazil and some other places in the world, but most of it comes out of Africa. And no, I didn’t know that until yesterday.”

  “Africa?” I stopped for a second. “Brazil? How are we supposed to get our hands on that?”

  “I’ve reached out to a few of the clans in those regions to see what they can get their hands on and how long it would take to get it to us,” Nicolai said.

  “How would they get several tons or a large chunk to us?” I started pacing again. “I doubt that would be something you can put on a plane.”

  “I imagine they’d ship it.” Zayne looked over at Nicolai. “Right?” When the clan leader nodded, Zayne sent me a quick grin.

  I rolled my eyes. “What about the others? The onyx and...” Crap, I forgot the other one again.

  “Hematite.” Zayne reached out, snagging my arm. He pulled my hand and therefore my poor thumbnail away from my mouth.

  “Better news on that front. Hematite can be found in the States. Yellowstone, to be exact,” Danika leaned against the island. “We should be able to get our hands on that and black onyx since it can also be found in various states. How much is available is what’s up in the air. Hopefully we hear something shortly.”

  “Gideon has been on the phone with anyone and everyone who has access to any of the gemstones in the States while we wait to hear back about the tourmaline,” Nicolai said. “That’s what he’s doing now. The phone is practically attached to his ear.”

  “Do you think we can get enough?” Keeping my hand away from my mouth, I got back to wearing a path in the floor.

  “Gideon thinks it’s possible.” Dez tipped his head back against the wall. “The question is going to be, can we get what we need in the time we need it.”

  “The Transfiguration is in a few weeks. The sixth.” I started to chew on my thumbnail again, but stopped. “A Friday.”

  “What’s today’s date?” Zayne asked.

  “The twentieth,” Danika answered.

  Zayne frowned as his gaze returned to me. “So, we have a little over two weeks. Your idea of a few weeks differs from mine.”

  “A few is at least two,” I reasoned. “We have at least two weeks and some change.”

  “And that’s going to be cutting it close.” Nicolai crossed his arms. “Doable. But down to the wire kind of doable.”

  Doable was better than LOL, yeah, right.

  “If we are able to get enough of these gemstones in time, what do we need to do with them?”

  “That’s the simple part,” Danika told us. “Since the portal is smack-dab in the middle of the hub of ley lines, we just need to place them around the portal, cutting over the lines.”

  “The simple part?” I stopped, facing her. “I’m assuming you mean around the portal and not just the school?”

  She nodded.

  “There’s going to be nothing simple about that.” Lifting a hand, I straightened my glasses as they started to slip down my nose. “Besides the fact that our friendly neighborhood homicidal archangel has to have eyes on that school, the place is like a nightmare sandwich of very angry ghosts and wraiths as the bread and Shadow People as the rancid meat.”

  “Besides the really strange description, Trin is right,” Zayne said.

  “We know,” Nicolai replied. “And that’s where we come in to help. There’s no way just you two are going to be able to move that kind of weight in there.”

  He was right, and there was no point in arguing against it. We needed all the help we could get.

  “But it will still be doable,” Zayne added.

  I nodded. “Yes. Totally doable as in you’ll probably need some intensive therapy afterward, because even though you won’t be able to see most of what’s in there, they’re going to make their presence known and then some.”

  “Can’t wait,” Dez said without an ounce of enthusiasm. “So if we’re successful in shutting down the portal—”

  “We will be,” Danika interrupted.

  “Okay. When we’re successful and we shut down the portal,” Dez began again. “That leaves Gabriel to be dealt with.”

  “That’s me.” I raised a hand. “And Zayne,” I tacked on before he could say it. “You guys can’t be anywhere near him. Not to be a downer, but he would kill any Warden in a heartbeat.”

  “She’s right again.” Zayne caught my arm again, but this time stopping me. He guided me over to a bar stool. “You’re wearing me out, and I’m just watching you.”

  “Not to doubt the awesomeness of a Trueborn and Fallen combined,” Nicolai said as I sat in the bar stool. “But are you two going to be enough?”

  “Apparently it won’t be just...” Zayne’s hands landed on my shoulders. “Wait. They don’t know, do they?”

  I pursed my lips as I tipped my head back.

  “Know about what?” Dez asked.

  Zayne met my gaze as he stared down at me. “You didn’t tell them?”

  “Didn’t exactly seem like a wise thing to do.” My eyes narrowed. “And it’s probably still not the greatest idea to share, Zayne.”

  “Tell us what?” Nicolai demanded.

  One side of Zayne’s lips curved up, and he had the same air of wicked anticipation as Cayman had when the demon told him about our plans. He drew his lower lip between his teeth.

  “Zayne,” I warned.

  “Too late.” He dropped a quick kiss on my lips before I could say another word. “Trin, along with Roth and Layla, came up with the spectacular idea to get backup.”

  “Backup doesn’t sound bad.” Dez sounded confused.

  “Oh, wait until you hear who it is,” Zayne replied. “And just so you know, I had nothing to do with it. This was when I was presumed dead.”

  I shoved my elbow back, but Zayne easily avoided the blow with a laugh. “I don’t know what you think is so funny.”

  “I’m starting to get concerned,” Nicolai remarked.

  Zayne squeezed my shoulders. “Tell them.”

  “I’m going to punch you,” I warned. “Later, when we’re not in front of people, so they don’t think I have an anger problem.”

  “Looking forward to it,” he replied, thick lashes lowering halfway. “Later, when we’re alone, so no one thinks I’m perverse when I get turned on by you attempting to kick my ass.”

  My eyes widened as a sweet hot flush moved through me—wait. Attempting to kick his ass?

  “Just FYI,” Nicolai interrupted. “You’re not alone right now, so...”

  Dragging my gaze from Zayne’s, I exhaled loudly. “Roth and Layla are currently trying to recruit Lucifer to help us fight Gabriel.”

 
The three Wardens stared at us in blank silence...or abject horror. One or the other.

  Then Dez pushed off the wall. “You don’t mean the Lucifer. Right?”

  “Is there another Lucifer I’m unaware of?” I asked, looking around the room. “Yes, the Lucifer.”

  “You can’t be serious,” Danika whispered.

  Dez stopped moving. “You’re totally serious.”

  “She is,” Zayne confirmed.

  “In my defense, Roth came up with this idea during the Zayne is dead phase of my life. Now whether or not that had anything to do with me agreeing with this potentially very bad idea is totally up for debate.” I lifted a hand when Nicolai lowered his head from the other side of the island. “And look, there is no way that Zayne and I can defeat an archangel—”

  “Well, we don’t know that for sure,” Zayne cut in. “Since there’s never been a Fallen and a Trueborn teamed up against an archangel. But YOLO, right?”

  My lips thinned.

  “I am...actually speechless,” Dez said, shaking his head. “I honestly don’t know what to say. Roth and Layla are seriously trying to recruit Lucifer? The only thing in this entire world that I can think of that is worse than an archangel hell-bent on destroying mankind.”

  For someone who didn’t know what to say, he sure had a lot to say.

  Danika appeared to blink slowly. “I think I need to sit down.”

  “You are sitting down.”

  “Oh.” She swallowed thickly. “All right, then.”

  Frowning slightly, I wondered if she was okay.

  Nicolai finally found his voice, which led to the same questions Zayne had when he first learned of the plan to bring Lucifer into the mix. Were we out of our minds? Would this kick off the biblical end times? How could we control him? All valid questions.

  “What will we even do with him once he’s topside?” Nicolai demanded.

  “Ehh,” I said. “Haven’t gotten to that point yet.”

  He stared at me.

  “Mainly because we’re not even sure if he’s going to be game to play,” I reasoned. “And because I’ve been kind of busy with this one.” I jabbed a finger in Zayne’s direction. “So, I haven’t had a lot of time to really think the whole thing through.”

  Zayne snorted from behind me. “Thinking things through would’ve come in handy, especially since Lucifer is also out looking for Trin. He sent Ghouls and an Upper Level demon after her.”

  Dez came forward. “That’s who sent the Ghouls?”

  I nodded. “What can I say? I’m popular.”

  Zayne tugged gently on the bun. “That you are.”

  “Why is Lucifer looking for you?” Nicolai demanded.

  “Not sure,” I said. “Maybe he’s just looking to expand his friend circle?”

  “I know I don’t have a whole lot of experience with demons,” Danika said. “But I cannot imagine having Lucifer looking for you is something good.”

  I sighed. “Probably not, and I don’t know if those orders are recent, like coming after Roth and Layla had spoken to him, or if they were issued before. I’m hoping they came before.”

  “But even if they came before Roth and Layla met with him, it’s still an issue.” Zayne’s hands returned to my shoulders. “That needs to be dealt with.”

  “It’s been added to the ever-growing list,” I murmured.

  Zayne squeezed my shoulders again. “I’m guessing we don’t know where Gabriel is hiding?”

  Nicolai shook his head. “We’ve been keeping an eye out for Bael or any sign of Gabriel, but there’s been nothing since the night at the school.”

  “There’s been no more Warden deaths?” Zayne asked.

  “No,” answered Dez. “There’s also been very little demon activity.”

  As they talked, my mind wandered as it often did, skipping from one thought to the next, starting with the horrible final moments under the school, when Zayne showed up and killed Sulien. My mind snagged on the other Trueborn. Had it been him who left the angelic weapon behind? Or Gabriel, since only archangels carried them? Either way, it was incredibly reckless of either of them, to the point it seemed impossible for either of them to have been responsible. The golden, luminous spikes were angel blades, capable of killing anything, including angels—

  Holy crap.

  I’d totally forgotten about the damn angel blades and the fact we had in our grasp a plan A and B this whole time.

  And that was one of the strange, marvelous mysteries of a random brain. No joke. Sometimes all the random thoughts served a purpose and were connected. Sometimes they didn’t and just led me to do things that were quite impulsive or nonsensical to most.

  “We need the angel blades,” I blurted out.

  Nicolai’s head inclined. “Angel blades?”

  “That’s what those golden spikes were.” I looked back at Zayne. “Remember when Roth saw the writing in the tunnels?”

  Understanding washed across his expression and his gaze snapped to Nicolai’s. “They’re angelic weapons used by archangels, and they can kill anything with angelic blood, including an angel. We need them.”

  Dez let out a low whistle as Nicolai nodded. “We’ll get them to you ASAP.”

  “Why would Gabriel leave them behind if they can kill him?” Danika wondered the same thing I had. “Or anyone working with him?”

  “They were found on Morgan,” Zayne said, referencing one of the Wardens who’d been killed. “Gabriel was the one killing Wardens, and I seriously doubt he would’ve left them behind.”

  “Unless he’s that arrogant,” Dez mused. “And thought we wouldn’t figure out what they were.”

  “Possible.” Zayne’s thumbs pressed into the tight muscles at the base of my neck.

  Arrogance could lead to some pretty stupefying decisions, but that? “Could it be possible that someone else did? Archangels are fast, and that camera feed was messed with.”

  “You’re suggesting that another archangel could’ve left the blades there?” Danika tipped forward. “Impaled them in the Warden after Gabriel killed him?”

  “That sounds really disturbing when you put it that way.” I wrinkled my nose. “But maybe it was the only way it could be done without anyone knowing who did it?”

  “Why would they be worried about anyone knowing they did it?” Dez asked.

  “Probably due to some stupid heavenly rule,” I muttered.

  “Actually, it would be against a rule,” Zayne said. “The agreement angels made to not raise arms against one another. You were that loophole,” he reminded me. “I’m a loophole. An archangel leaving those weapons behind could technically be considered another loophole.”

  “With those blades, do we even need Lucifer’s help?” Danika asked.

  “I think we’ll need all the help we can get,” I told them. “To use those blades, we have to get close to him, and he’s...he’s strong and fast.”

  “But Lucifer?” Dez repeated.

  “With or without Lucifer, we need to be able to actually find Gabriel—”

  “I know how we can find Gabriel,” I announced, the idea taking shape. “All we need is me.”

  “Going to need more detail there,” Zayne said.

  “Gabriel has sent demons for me. The imps? He sent them before, and I bet he sent the Seeker demons,” I said. “He’s not going to let me sit and chill between now and the Transfiguration. So, we set a trap—”

  “I know where you’re going with this,” Zayne interrupted. “And no.”

  The corners of my lips turned down. “Excuse me?”

  “You’re going to suggest using yourself as bait and I cannot get behind that.”

  “I didn’t know I needed you to get behind—” I squeaked as Zayne spun me and the bar stool around. I stared up at him, eyes wide. “That was
like one of those carnival rides. The kind with those little teacups that spin and—”

  “You’re not using yourself as bait, Trin.” He glared down at me, the glow behind his eyes intensifying. “No way. That’s too dangerous.”

  “Anything we are about to do is too dangerous,” I argued. “We need to be able to find Gabriel, and as far as I know, there’s no archangel private investigator we can hire.”

  “You’re right that everything we have to do is dangerous, so we don’t need to go out there with the mentality on how we can make this even more so.”

  “He’s not going to kill me, Zayne. Spoiler alert, he needs me alive until the Transfiguration.”

  The white light flared behind his pupils. “Death isn’t the only thing I’m worried about. Bael is most likely with him, and that is one demented, pain-loving demon.”

  “It’s not like I don’t know how to defend myself. I have grace and those angel blades.” I struggled not to get too angry since I knew his refusal to hear this out was coming from a place of love and fear. “I could easily be tagged with a tracer or something, and you can follow me to where he is—”

  “And what if something goes wrong? The tracer doesn’t work or they find it on you?” he shot back. With his hands still on the sides of the bar stool, he lowered his head so we were almost eye level. “What if I don’t get to you in time?”

  I took a deep breath and released it slowly. “Just a reminder—he needs me alive.”

  “And just a reminder, he can hurt you. Bad. He could hurt our—” He cut himself off with a sharp breath. “Death isn’t the only thing we have to worry about.”

  But he didn’t need to finish what he was going to say, because I knew what he was thinking of. Our child. Our possible child. My stomach dipped sharply. I hadn’t even thought of that.

  Which was yet another indication that child-rearing was not going to be something I excelled at.

  Like at all.

  God, I didn’t even know if I wanted a child, sooner or later. I didn’t even know if Zayne was really okay with the possibility of one or he was just being a good...fallen angel, but I didn’t want to hurt...it until I knew.