“Control Lucifer?” Zayne laughed under his breath as he scrunched a hand through his hair. “That should be easy. He seems like the kind of guy who’d be easily manageable.”

I grinned. “Maybe he just has a bad rap?”

“Or he’s learned to be a calmer, nicer ruler of Hell through yoga and meditation?” He picked up my braid, gently tugging the band free.

“Hey, stranger things have happened.”

He snorted. “I have a feeling he’s going to be just like Roth but worse.”

Another grin tugged at my lips, and for a couple of moments, I got a little lost in watching him. He was slowly unthreading the braid. There was a lot we needed to talk about, but I started with what felt like the most important. “Did you get to see your father?”

His fingers stilled around my hair. “There wasn’t a lot of time for visitations. It took every moment there for me to get control of the grace.” He returned to undoing my braid. “The first time I summoned it, I blew a hole through one of the buildings. Was it like that for you?”

“I never blew a hole through a building, but I would have a hard time keeping it under control when I got angry or upset.” I touched his arm. “That means you didn’t get to see your father?”

Zayne shook his head. “I didn’t see anyone other than Michael, a few other angels and the Alphas.”

“I’m sorry.” I curled my fingers around his wrist. “They could’ve made sure you had a chance to see him—to see anyone you wanted.”

Letting go of my hair, he threaded his fingers around mine. “I would’ve loved to see my father. To see Sam,” he said, referencing the spirit who’d come back to warn us about what was happening at the high school. “But I needed to make sure I could handle what was given to me.” Thick lashes lifted. “I needed to get back to you. That was the most important thing.”

My heart gave a happy little dance in my chest, and for a moment, there was nothing but warmth and joy. It didn’t last long.

Because what was the cost?

Air snagged in my chest as the razor-edged panic resurfaced. I pulled back, slipping my hand free.

“What?” His eyes searched mine.

Suddenly needing to move, I rose, and the dull flare of pain in my shoulders and spine was nothing compared to the deeper pain of fear. “I need to ask you something and you have to be honest.”

“I’m always honest with you.” Zayne stared up at me as a half grin formed. “Well, mostly. There were a few times in the past I wasn’t completely honest.”

I almost started to ask which times he was referencing in case there was more than I knew, but stopped myself. “I need you to be completely honest now, no matter what the answer is.”

“Of course.”

Skin prickling, I started to pace in front of the TV. “I need to know the truth, Zayne.”

He moved to the edge of the couch. “Yeah, I’ve gotten that. What do you need to know?”

Swallowing the rise of fear-induced nausea, I forced the question out. “You came back to me without me having to barter or plead. You came back more powerful than even me, and yes, I had to do the thing with the Sword of Michael, and that was stressful and all, but you are alive after dying.”

His head tilted. “Yes.” A pause. “I am.”

“They wanted you here to help stop Gabriel, but them letting you Fall? Having no problem with you being with me? All of it seems too good to be true. There has to have been a cost to this. A catch.” I crossed my arms, still pacing in front of the TV. “I need to know if this is temporary? You being here with me? Are you going to be taken away from me once we defeat Gabriel? Are the Alphas and other angels going to come for you? Try to take your grace or entomb you?”

“No.” There was no hesitation there. “I feared that myself, and knowing what I do about angels, I didn’t trust that there was no catch. Them making this something temporary sounds like something they’d enjoy. I expected that to be the case, but this isn’t temporary, Trin.”

“How can you be sure?” I asked.

“Because your father told me it wasn’t.”

I stopped moving. My heart might’ve stopped moving. “He said you get to stay with me? He said those exact words and didn’t leave it up to interpretation?”

“Michael said I would remain by your side as long as you would have me.” Never taking his gaze off me, he bent to swipe a chip off the floor and tossed it onto the coffee table. “And then he thoughtfully tacked on that I would remain by your side as long as I stayed alive.”

“Really?” I whispered, too afraid to relax. “The ‘as long as you stayed alive’ part sounds like something he’d say.”

Zayne nodded. “This isn’t temporary, Trin.”

“But why?” I asked, walking forward and stopping in front of him. “Why would they do something so...so nice?” I knew how bad that sounded, but people thought angels were pillars of virtue and generosity. They were more of the teach people a lesson through loss and grief type, and yeah, I was sure there were fluffy and loving ones out there. We just never dealt with that kind. “It just doesn’t sound like them.”

“It’s not, but I think...your father had a lot to do with them allowing this. Actually, I know your father did.”

“Really?” I wanted to believe that but his history proved that he wasn’t the type of dad to get heavily involved.

Or to care.

“You know how I thought that Michael expected me to Fall? Even Cayman thought that.” Zayne’s hands reached out and settled on my hips. He pulled me into the vee of his legs. “Could it be because he realized I wouldn’t be bound to their rules of combat between angels? Sure. I bet that was what he used to convince the other angels. But I know it was more than that.” He stared up at me, the striking lines of his face more clear to me than they’d ever been. “The night he made me your Protector, he whispered something to me. I thought I understood what it meant, but I think he was telling me more than I realized.”