“This really isn’t any different. Peanut did not cease to exist. He will always be there. I will always be here,” he said, and my breath caught. “This will not be the last time you see me. I can promise you that.”

Swallowing thickly, I nodded again. I got what he was saying. Peanut didn’t die. He was Peanut. I understood that. It was just time for me to move on.

“Besides,” he said, his warm hand flattening against my cheek. “You still have a purpose. Both you and Zayne. Sooner than you probably even expect.”

I zeroed in on that, sniffling. “W-what do you mean?”

An eyebrow rose. “My brother was very, very bad during his brief sojourn.”

“Oh,” I whispered, and then stiffened. “Oh, nooo.”

Michael nodded.

“Are we going to have to hunt down and kill an Antichrist baby?”

He stilled. “I do not understand how your brain connects point A to point B.”

“But—”

“No child, not even the one created by Lucifer, is without hope. He is the child of the people. They will decide what becomes of him.”

Hell, that didn’t bode well, then.

“There is always hope,” he repeated.

“Have you met people?” I asked. “People generally suck.”

He smiled. “People are amazing in their ability to change. Some are beyond that, yes, and they will answer for all upon judgment, but most...most can change. Most are already good, but if this child fulfills the destiny of the father, then, well, the great and final war will come.”

“Goodie,” I murmured.

“Either way, that is a while from now. Decades before the child will have to make a choice. Until then, live your life as bravely and tenaciously as you have so far. Live your life with purpose, my daughter.”

35

In a blink of an eye, I was poofed out of the bedroom, but not before my...my father summoned Lucifer to him. Which would’ve been a really nifty ability when Lucifer had gone missing.

But I wasn’t going to be mad about that right now.

Pretty sure my father had his hands full returning Lucifer to his rightful place. I was also sure that was going extraordinarily well considering how the first words out of Lucifer’s mouth had been, “So you’ve come to thank me for saving the Heavens in person. I’m honored.”

Lucifer hadn’t seemed all that surprised to see me alive. He was all like, “What up?” and then refocused on Michael.

And now I was standing in the middle of the...

“What the Hell?” I whispered, turning around slowly.

I hadn’t been sent back to the field, but sent to the...rooftop of the apartment?

My gaze skipped over the softly glowing string lights, the neatly lined beach chairs and bistro tables. Why had he sent me here? Zayne was nowhere near the apartment rooftop. He was at the field that reeked of sulfur and sickly sweet rot.