Michaela woke to dread washing over her, pressing in and clenching her throat. What had happened back in Heaven couldn’t be undone.

She groaned in pain and regret. She opened her eyes too soon; the world slanted, and her vision erupted with a dizzying fireworks display of flashing red and white lights from deep within her skull. Hot, burning saliva pooled in her mouth before her chest convulsed, and in a human and ungraceful manner, she vomited.

When the heaving stopped, Michaela weakly dragged herself to a clean spot of cold, rocky ground to rest her head. She dully registered the sound of water rushing in the distance above the consuming, bone-deep pain in her back where Molloch had stabbed her. The air’s dampness congested in her nose, mixed with the smell of wet earth. Her ribs ached, and bile ran down the side of her cheek.

She pushed her fingers through her sticky, clumped hair until she found the sore spot. A thick gold metallic liquid covered her hand. She was in human form, but her blood was still angel’s blood, which meant she had an angel’s strength and healing abilities. She also still had some of her telepathic abilities, but after the transition and Molloch’s wild ride to Earth, she was too weak to reach Gabriel.

Tentatively, she looked around; she was in a massive underground cave. All around her, huge rocks stretched high into the farthest, darkest depths of the ceiling, where thousands of clear, slender straws suspended in clusters, forming dangerous ice chandeliers. Finger-like stalagmites reached from the ground. Somewhere far above, a massive waterfall plummeted to a small pool and fed into a narrow, inky stream running the length of the floor, past Michaela, and into the shadows.

Flickering lights from old lanterns illuminated the cave, with a group of lights specifically shining against the wall behind the waterfall. Her eyes settled on an odd pattern of letters carved into the rock. Thousands of letters looped around and over each other, covering the entire wall.

She slowly got up. Her legs were watery and weak, and the cut in her back bit painfully down to her spine. The wound burned like a brand had been pressed against her skin, which meant Molloch had probably used a golden dagger, gold weakened angels—especially Archangels. Michaela shivered as blood trickled from the hole down her back.

Ignoring the pain, Michaela walked closer to the wall, gritting her teeth and using the rocks for support. As she drew nearer, the hairs on her arms stood on end; her body flushed hot then cold, but she never looked away from the letters. She pressed on, teeth clattering, forcing her feet forward, even though something was very wrong.

When Michaela was close enough to make out some of the ancient words, she only read a few before jerking away. The gist of the message and what it meant turned her spine to ice. For the first time, she realized where she stood. She had been here thousands of years before, and it was a place she hoped never to return.

“The princess finally decided to wake up. I didn’t even get to the kissing-you-awake part.”

Michaela’s surprised flinch sent waves of fire shooting down her back. Refusing to let her pain show, she turned to face Molloch. But Molloch wasn’t alone. Cassie, Asz, and the twins stood behind him. Asz tucked Cassie under his arm, but his face was tortured when he looked at Michaela.

Molloch stepped in front of Michaela. He wore jeans, but his chest was bare. His wings were molting, his white feathers shedding off as new, black feathers grew in to take their place. Soon his wings would be solid black, the trademark of the fallen.

Michaela looked around him. The others’ wings had tints of black, some more than others. She sagged against the rock, her body suddenly too heavy to hold up. She rubbed the skin above her heart again, certain the organ was broken. “Why did you bring me here?” she whispered.

Molloch grinned, his voice mischievous. “Seriously, Michaela, you didn’t think I brought you to just any old cave, did you?” He had to speak loudly over the noise of the falling water.

“I asked you why!”

Cassie shoved out from under Asz’s arm. “You don’t get to talk to us like that anymore!” she yelled. Asz reached for her hand, pulling her back to him. Cassie trembled with anger, her eyes scorching Michaela’s skin with obvious hatred.

Molloch went on like no one had interrupted him. “I’ve always secretly wanted to come here, you know…I wanted to see where you buried the almighty Watchers alive.” He grinned wickedly. “We are standing above them right now,” he whispered dramatically, eyes wide.

The Watchers. The words alone sent nausea bubbling in Michaela’s stomach. Once upon a time, the Watchers were angels of a high choir, powerful with their magic and secrets. They were responsible for helping the humans, to watch over them and the progress they made. But they watched forbidden things too, for too long, and the watching aroused them and failed to satisfy them.

The human women made the angels lustful. In time, the Watchers came to Earth with twisted intentions. They lay with the women, taught humans their magic, and even showed them how to make gleaming weapons. Worst of all, the women bore the children of the Watchers. The babies emerged, slimy and twisting, with red blood smeared across their angry, pink skin. They were called the Nephilim—half human, half angel. They were abominations.

“The Watchers lost their chance for forgiveness the moment they chose a different path than what was planned for them,” Michaela finally answered, her voice devoid of an ounce of sympathy.

“That’s a little harsh, Michaela, even for you. I mean, it’s just lust! Who could begrudge us a little desire in our miserable lives? So what if Watchers slept with some humans?”

“We are holy angels!” Michaela paused, understanding her mistake. Molloch smirked at her, but Asz looked sick, refusing to meet her eyes. “We were held to a higher standard. We were meant to be more, to help the humans, to give them more than this earth can. We were not meant to interfere.”

Molloch laughed, his eyes dancing as they roamed over her body. For the first time, Michaela realized she was naked. Beneath the leer of Molloch’s slinky black eyes, she swept her waist-length hair to fall across her shoulders and cover her exposed body.

“Ah, don’t be shy. That’s the best part about having you around down here even if you are so damn self-righteous,” Molloch taunted with a burgeoning evil that came all too easily for him. Seeing the darkness seep into his eyes, clouding over the bright light that once filled them, broke Michaela’s heart.

“What have you done, Molloch?” she asked shakily.

A sharp sting spread fire across the side of her face. Her knees buckled, and she hit the ground, tasting blood and seeing stars. Her eyes narrowed at Molloch, who already paced away from her, rubbing the palm of his hand.

Molloch whirled back around, and she covered her cheek protectively.

“Don’t hurt her!” Asz’s loud voice echoed in the cave.

“Hit her again!” Cassie’s shrill voice screeched across the rock walls.

“What have I done?” Molloch shouted. A wild fever coursed through him. For an angel coming to Earth, the change from celestial to corporeal was a hard, unstable transition to endure, especially when it was taken too fast. Dizzy and weak, Michaela’s breathing chugged shallowly at the top of her throat. Yet she was used to the change, and her body would quickly recover. Molloch was more heavily affected than she was, and in these moments, he was incapable of controlling himself.

“What have I done?” he yelled even louder, the words hurting Michaela’s ears.

More rocks, larger ones, fell around them. Molloch stalked toward her, his finger raised and shaking at her like she was an errant child. “You literally open the front door for us and then you ask me what I did? You have got to be kidding me.” He shoved his hands in his hair and yanked, letting out a long scream of frustration that died down to hysterical, bubbling laughter.

“Molloch! Calm down,” Asz said. Michaela looked at Asz. He shook his head at her, and she saw the apology in his eyes before he pressed them shut, bowing his forehead down to touch Cassie’s. The twins, Irin and Emim, stood behind Asz, watching Michaela with entertained grins, like she was an ant beneath their magnifying glass.

“Then why?” Michaela asked, getting back up so she looked Molloch in the eye again.

“Where do I even start?” Molloch paced in front of her. “Everyone has someone but me! You and Gabe. Zarachiel and Uriel. Cassie and Asz. Emim and Irin. Why can’t I have someone?”

“Raphael, Simiel, and Ophaniel don’t have—”

“Exactly! Why the hell not? It’s not fair!”

“Gabriel and I were created together. We share a special bond, like Uriel and Zarachiel, Cassie and Asz, and the twins. You and the others were created alone. It’s not about ‘having’ anyone, Molloch. That is not a part of our purpose.”

Molloch stopped, sneering at her with dark eyes pinned to her body. “You mean to tell me you and Gabriel haven’t had some fun? You two are so obvious. We all see how you look at each other. You tell me that’s not lust? So why can’t we get any, huh?” He kicked a rock, sending it catapulting to the other side of the cavern where Michaela heard it smash. “You keep us so pent up all the time, telling us how good we have it.

“Sex? No! We can’t even look or touch lest we end up like the Watchers. A day off? Forget about it! The freedom to walk around on Earth? That’s only for the humans! If we did that we are no better than the fallen angels and of course we don’t want to be fallen! Who would want to be free, to have sex, to do as they pleased without being judged all the damn time?”

“That’s not—”

“And why did I never get to come here? You sent everyone else but me! Why couldn’t I come here before?”

“Some angels can’t handle the transitioning, Molloch. It’s not that easy—”

“I’m strong enough! What’s wrong with me? Look, I did it! I could have handled it. You were always excluding me…on purpose!”

“Look at you. The change has already made you—” She caught his hand cleanly in the air an inch away from her cheek. In the semi-darkness, Michaela’s strength was returning from her transition. Her vision cleared. The dizziness lifted. An angry wrinkle formed on Molloch’s forehead when he realized it too. “—Insane,” she finished.

She released his hand. He took a deep and shaky, uneven breath and shook his head. This time his laugh sounded normal.

“I guess you are right. I do feel a little crazy.” His eyes cut back to her, like he was going to tell her a secret. “I snuck down here a couple of times. Did you know that? When Asz told me how good it could be, how different things could be for us, I had to see for myself.”

“You did this?” Asz shifted nervously at Michaela’s shocked tone. His hand clenched Cassie’s arm, but she shook it off.

“No. I did.” Cassie lifted her chin, her two-tone eyes sparking with anger. “The souls weren’t safe anymore. I had to protect them from you.”

“What are you talking about? I would never threaten the souls. Cassie, you know that.”

“Liar!” Cassie screamed. Her little voice barely echoed. Asz shushed her, tried to calm her.

“Michaela, please. We’re so sorry,” Asz said so quietly Michaela barely heard him over the noise of the waterfall. At his words, Cassie thrashed against him, but Asz held her tightly. Her frustrated screams were muffled against his chest. Michaela realized then it was Cassie who had decided to leave Heaven. Asz only fell because he would never part with Cassie.

“We plotted behind your back, and you had no clue. No clue! We had to stay down in the lowest parts of Heaven and even fly close to Earth a few times so our bodies stayed more human. You never sensed our intentions. We tricked you! The great Michaela was made a fool,” Molloch said.

Michaela shook her head. Even Lucifer’s betrayal had not stung as much as the Archangels’. She couldn’t listen anymore. She needed to get back. There was still time to fix this.

“Let me pass, Molloch, and I won’t hurt you.”

Molloch rolled his eyes. “I can’t believe we bought your crap for so long. I wish we’d done this sooner. I feel so free!” Molloch sprang into the air. He landed within a foot of her.

If his intention was to scare her, it didn’t work.

He smirked. This anger and evil had to have been growing inside him for a long time—long before he had made the decision to forsake his creation—and she hadn’t noticed the difference. After she had lost Lucifer to the very same disease, Michaela promised herself she would never let another angel lose himself to the battle for his soul. She had failed again.

Molloch must have read her thoughts, because he said, “You got so caught up in everything else that you didn’t even see your Archangels slipping from your grip. It’s kind of funny actually. You try so hard to be perfect, and you’re not even close.”

Her eyes danced to the water cascading down the far wall. She shook her head. In a way, Molloch was right. Nothing tilted or swayed beneath her except her faith in herself. “But why? Why did you choose Lucifer over me?” Michaela asked.

“Come on, Molloch. We need to leave before he gets here,” Asz said, but Molloch ignored him.

“We plotted against you. You’re so good at running a tight ship back upstairs, but you trusted us too much and took our loyalty for granted. Lucifer had been waiting for an opportunity a long time. With us on his side, he had one.”

Her anger rose from a place buried deep inside; it was an old anger, cold and bone-deep. Chill bumps spread down her arms. She regretted what had happened with Lucifer, but she still hated him for the sin and pain he’d brought upon them all.

“Molloch, stop.” Asz’s words were a hiss. He stepped forward like he wanted to intervene, but once again Molloch ignored him.

“We set the whole thing up. A mass fall of angels, including Heaven’s very own Michaela The Great. It’s fantastic really. Everyone thinks you’re fallen. All the Archangels are implicated, even if they didn’t fall. They will all be hunted like the dogs they are by your precious fellow holy angels wanting justice, and Heaven will be left in chaos.”

“No one will believe that. You have no idea what you have done.”

“We need to go,” Asz said, trying again. “He will be here soon.”

“Shut up!” Molloch shouted at Asz. He looked back at Michaela. “I know exactly what I’ve done.” His eyes grew angry again as he rode a new emotional wave.

“You will never win,” Michaela said calmly. The words were a balm on Michaela’s hurt heart. She was right. Honor and duty always won in the battle of Heaven and Hell.

More strength came with her resolve even though a part of her brain whispered Asz’s words over and over in her ear. He is coming. He is coming.

“You’re delusional!” The words snarled over Molloch’s twisted anger. “Even with five of the strongest Archangels on our side? How many more angels of other choirs will come to us once they hear Heaven is in free fall with no more Archangels left to run the place? No one can hide from this.”

“It will take a lot more than five fallen Archangels to take Heaven. Heaven will hold until I get back.”

Molloch threw back his head and laughed. Michaela stayed quiet and still.

“Who is left?” She forced her voice to sound level, but in her renewed strength she found a single fault line. If he told her Gabriel had fallen, she might crack.

“They don’t matter.” Relief shuddered through Michaela. Gabriel and the others hadn’t fallen. Everything wasn’t lost. “Like I said, they are all dead. But you don’t have to be one of them, Michaela. Lucifer wants you. I can’t understand why, but he does. I mean, yes, this female human form is quite…enticing. You look good, baby. You would be quite handy for other things, rather than bossing us around. So what do you say? Join us?”

Molloch arched his eyebrow. He smiled with an evil tilt to his lips. His eyes roamed over her exposed body, making her skin crawl. Her strength was back, and the ground at her feet grew hot, glowing ever so slightly. Her feathers hummed against her back. The air eddied around her, making her messy hair drift about her face. Michaela smiled back, because her human body was finally angel strong.

“I’m shocked you even have to ask.”