“I tried to conceal you.” She smiles. “But from the time you were little, it was clear you had your father’s nature. Battle-ready. Fearless. Drawn to demon fighting like steel to a magnet. You were always sneaking into Arena matches, keeping notes on different types of demons and how best to kill them.” Her brown eyes brighten with pride. “Your father cast the last demons from Heaven, you know.”

I smile. “Yes, I learned that in a dreamscape.”

Crouching back on my heels, I try letting the truth soak in: my father’s an archangel. That’s a mind blower. I would’ve been thrilled to meet an archangel in my lifetime, let alone be related to one. And now I’m the only child that Xavier has fathered in all of eternity. Whoa. Mom starts to speak, interrupting my thoughts.

“I needed to keep you safe. From Armageddon. From the ghouls. From everyone. I knew what they’d do if they found you.” Her hands tremble beneath mine.

I give her fingers another gentle squeeze. “That’s not going to happen.” Fear rattles in my stomach. Honestly, that could totally happen. Focus, Myla. Remember what the igni said. You need answers and sitting around scared won’t get you any. I refocus on my task, my brain whirring through information. “Besides you and Walker, who else knows I’m the Heir?”

Mom lets out a long breath. “Verus. She saw it in a vision.”

I bite my thumbnail. “Everyone calls Verus the oracle angel.”

Walker shakes his head. “Her visions don’t always come to pass. Sometimes she fights against a particular future. In other cases, she works to ensure it happens.”

Rising to my feet, I plunk into the high-back leather chair across from the couch, my forehead knit in concentration. With all my energy, I sift through everything I’ve learned. “I don’t get it. The angels attend Arena matches. Why didn’t they have me awakened and angelbound before?”

“The awakening part is fairly easy.” Mom forces a smile. “You breathe in angelic stardust and it’s done. But you didn’t get near angels very often, except for Arena matches. And Walker guarded you there.”

My eyes grow wider with understanding. “So that’s why you had a coronary whenever I was called to serve. If I got too close to an Angel, one could toss stardust my way and activate my Scala powers.” I picture the white cloud at the Adair’s Scala initiation ceremony. The air tasted so sweet. That was the moment I awakened.

Walker steeples his fingers under his chin. “On the other hand, being angelbound is incredibly hard to do.”

Mom nods. “You can’t fake your way around it with magic or angelic influence. The Heir must feel genuine, intense love for someone with angel blood. Most often it’s a parent.” She shoots me a sad smile. “But you never met your father.”