Hi guys, an early update since I'll be home after midnight tomorrow. I've also reworked the chapter titles to make them fit better. Hope you enjoy and would love to hear your thoughts as always :)


She drifted in and out of sleep like before, except this time, her angel was always there, his presence comforting as he held her and coaxed her back to sleep. She'd woken up and slept some more, woken up and then slept some more. It was as though the horrors of the century had finally taken its toll on her body. Or maybe awakening her human side brought all the weakness that came with it.

Edvardiel seemed calm each time she woke, distracting her with soft kisses and 'I love you's until she wondered if she'd imagined his anger. If she'd imagined the gates opening. If she'd imagined the Apocalypse. Maybe it had all been a bad dream.

She drifted once more, her dreams disjointed. In one of them, a large, warm hand rested on her back.

"Time to wake up, darling."

The voice was gentle and distantly familiar. Her father, she realised. Her human father. She was in yet another memory.

"Adam." Issa recognised her mother's voice. "I told you not to coddle her."

"You push her too hard." Adam stood. "I don't care if you seduced Michael to make a weapon. She's a child."

Eve folded her arms and sighed. "Fine. Maybe I see too much of him in her. It's a good thing. But if I have to see his face one more time—"

"Then leave her with me. You go do… whatever it is that you do to get your head right."

Eve scowled. "Don't patronise me."

"Are things not going well with the other seraph you're trying to seduce?" Adam asked wryly.

"Oh, I don't have to lift a finger," Eve smirked. "Eden's already done that for me."

"Eden?" Adam raised his brows. "Wouldn't have expected it from her."

"Of course not. She loves him." Eve twirled her hair, looking thoughtful. "He reciprocates."

Adam shook his head. "Seraphs don't love."

"Samael did."

"Samael was an exception–his glory required it. And our Annalise was nothing if not biddable. Eden has a seraph's temper."

Eve shrugged. "I only care about the Nephilim child."

"You make it sound like they've already had one," Adam said.

Eve leaned against the doorframe, examining her nails. Adam stared until she gave in.

"He doesn't know," she said finally.

"And you're not going to tell him," Adam finished.

"It's not my secret to tell."

Adam lifted little Issa onto his lap. "Why do you keep meeting him if you're not trying to seduce him?"

Eve gave him a smile. "Oh, Adam. It's important to make friends. Heaven will need to crown a new king."

Adam didn't smile back. "You're playing a dangerous game."

"I'm not playing." A shadow crossed Eve's expression. "They bar us from Heaven and yet they dare come to Earth to do as they please. It's bad enough that they hunt down the Descended. But to hunt down the Nephilim? They're Earth-dwellers. Ours."

Adam's arms tightened around Issa. "I know. That's why I'm helping you. But if that seraph betrays you…"

"He won't." Eve sounded confident. "He owes me." She laughed. "Well, that, and Eden has him wrapped around her little finger."

"I find that hard to believe."

Eve's eyes shone, her beauty utterly mesmerising. "Then explain why he's still on Earth, two years after Eden banished him from her Garden."

Adam's answer was quiet.

"Revenge."

This time, when Issa opened her eyes, she knew that she could no longer go back to sleep. She sat up, feeling disoriented by the barrage of memories. There was too much happening—the flashbacks, the memories, angelfire and Edvardiel…

Where was Edvardiel?

The past and the present, the real and the imaginary, they were all starting to blur together. She was no longer sure what was happening in her mind and what was happening right now. She looked at the tray on her bedside table. There was the fruit knife, the apples and the tea that had long gone cold.

A single grey feather lay beside them, together with a note.

Will be back soon. Love you. - E.

It was the first time she'd seen his handwriting. She ran a hand over the words. Love you. He'd said it so many times while she'd lain in his arms. She'd felt it in their bond, she'd heard him say it, and now he'd written it down for her too. Now, she could read it over and over again.

She glowed.

She tucked the note into her angel dress. Someone had removed her bandages while she'd been asleep. Her burnt wrists were healed and all her aches and pains were gone. Issa slid down from the bed, padding over to the mirror. The scratches and bruises on her face had vanished too. She'd never looked better. She'd never felt better, or more human.

She needed to talk to Edvardiel. She needed to tell him what she knew, especially about the angel in her head. If Michael really caused the Apocalypse, they needed a new plan that didn't involve opening Heaven's gates. Issa looked in the mirror. Did she really need to tell him that she was Michael's daughter? The seraph was a stranger to her. It made no difference to her if he lived or died. But it could make a difference to Edvardiel. Maybe he wouldn't see her the same way. Maybe he wouldn't love her anymore.

The thought made her stomach drop.

Before she could mull it over any further, a furious voice echoed outside her door.

"You don't get to see her after what you did."

"It wasn't me, maman!" Alice bawled.

Issa pulled open the door.

Alice's eyes were red and Rosalie's hair crackled with glory.

"Angel—" Alice made as though to run to Issa, but Rosalie grabbed her by the arm.

"I told you no."

Alice started to cry. Issa reached for the little girl but Rosalie stood in her way.

"We're not rewarding her for bad behaviour," Rosalie said.

"What's going on?" Issa asked stiffly, resisting the urge to knock the woman out of the way.

Rosalie clenched her jaw. "She manipulated Tanya. She's the reason Tanya pushed you."

Alice's eyes filled with tears. "It wasn't me!"

"It wasn't you? You're the only guardian angel around here," Rosalie said sternly. "I saw Tanya's face. You suggested something to her."

"No!" Alice said, crying even harder.

"I know you wanted to help your angel get rid of her but that wasn't the way to do it." Rosalie glared.

Issa pushed past Rosalie and picked Alice up. At this point, she didn't care what Alice did, only that she wanted to comfort the girl. She tried not to glower at Rosalie as she shushed Alice and patted her on the back. "How on earth could Alice have manipulated Tanya?"

Rosalie made a noise of frustration. "Guardian angels have sharp instincts and powerful powers of suggestion. They can amplify intentions and turn them into actions. Tanya didn't like you but she's not crazy enough to push you out of the gates in front of everyone." She ran an agitated hand through her hair. "Look, I know Alice is young, but she needs to get her powers under control. Jacob wasn't wrong when he said that guardian angels are the most devious angels. Their powers are incredibly manipulative."

"I didn't do it," Alice sniffled. "It wasn't me."

Issa held the girl protectively. "She said she didn't do it."

"Then who did?" Rosalie demanded. "She was the one who called us there. When we got there, Eden's son was already fixing the gates. There was nothing for us to do. At least, not until Tanya pushed you." She scowled at Alice again.

"When Edvardiel's gates didn't close, Alice was with you," Issa said. "She couldn't have possibly done that."

"I don't know who sabotaged the gates but Tanya didn't push you of her own will," Rosalie said.

Issa remembered Tanya's dazed face and had to agree. She looked at Alice and rubbed her back as she hiccuped. "Alice, my dove," she said gently. "Did you do it? Tell us the truth. You know I won't let anything happen to you."

"No! It wasn't me! You believe me, don't you, angel?"

Issa looked at the girl's indignant, tear-streaked face and believed her. Doubt began to creep into Rosalie's expression as she gazed at Alice. The silence grew tense and Issa knew they were thinking the same thing. If Alice wasn't the one who made Tanya push her, then they had bigger problems.

The front door opened just then, and Paul hurried in.

"Look what I found near the gates." He held up something round.

It was cracked and blackened by ash, but the inscriptions carved onto it were unmistakably demonic. Upon closer look, Issa could see the faint blue glow with her acolytic eyes.

It was an orb.

It was one of the loathsome spheres she'd been forced to wear night after night so that Lilith could see through their eyes.

Issa's heart sank. "There's an Acolyte loose in Eden."

Two, in fact. Who was the second and how had they gotten in?