Reuelle’s smile turned devious as she sashayed up to Asmodeus. She wrapped her arms around his waist from behind and nibbled on his shoulder. “I know what I want . . .” Then she dropped her arms and sauntered toward me.

I froze.

She let out a deep chuckle and tapped that gold metal cage on her fingertip against my chin. “This one already did us a favor. We can give her a pass. Come, love.”

Asmodeus rumbled and then stomped after her, leaving me alone with Everest. I opened my mouth to speak but he cut me off by grabbing my arm and dragging me into his shadows. When the darkness gave way to light again, we were in Everest’s room, though it looked a little more bare than the last time I’d seen it. Odd.

“Everest—”

“What were you thinking?” He spun on me, his fingers digging into my arm. “Explain this to me, Sam. I thought I made myself clear the first time you summoned angels.”

I opened my mouth, then shut it. It took me another breath to get my voice calm so I didn’t reveal just how afraid I’d just been. “You weren’t here, okay? You left to go watch Frankie and I made a mistake. I was trying to hide from Astaroth and Mammon and accidentally wound up in Asmodeus’s room. Then I spotted a spell book, and inside it said to summon an angel and I thought . . . I thought . . .”

“You thought what, Sam?” Everest said through clenched teeth. He ducked his head to meet my eyes. “You thought you, Lilith’s granddaughter, could summon an angel from Heaven all by yourself?”

“We summoned fallen angels⁠—”

“Not alone!” He backed away and pushed his hands into his white hair. “It took three Coven members to summon Asmodeus, then he used Leviathan to summon Azazel. And if you recall, it took five of you to summon Astaroth, Soneillon, and by side effect, Mammon. You can’t just summon a Heavenly angel, Sam.”

“Why not?” I asked before I could stop myself. “They’re also angels.”

“They fell for a reason. The power required and the process is entirely different.” Everest took a deep breath, then pinched the bridge of his nose. “You cannot summon an angel from Heaven⁠—”

“Me in general or anyone⁠—”

“Anyone.” He put his hands on his hips and stared at me. “Only blood from Heaven can tap into the power from Heaven required to call upon another. Please hear my words, Sam. Do not ever try again. In fact, don’t summon anything unless you are forced to and your life depends on it.”

“I just wanted to help. I wanted to get them help⁠—”

“I know,” he said with a sigh that sounded exhausted. “But you cannot fall for their tricks. You don’t know what you’re doing out there.”