“Mommy?” Lesya asked as we began to descend. “Angels here?”
“Do angels hear?” I asked in confusion. “Yes; they can hear very well.”
“Do you mean; Are zere angels here?” Kirill asked Lesya.
Lesya nodded. “Angels here?”
“Yes; some of Uncle Azrael's friends are here,” I said. “Why?”
“I fly!” Lesya started bouncing excitedly. “Angels!”
I looked at Kirill and grimaced.
“Vhy not?” Kirill asked.
“Kirill, they're the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” I whispered.
“And her uncle is Angel of Death.” Kirill shrugged. “Zey are good men; she'll be safe vith zem.”
“Fair enough,” I agreed.
“Fly!” Lesya screamed.
“Ugh!” I groaned. “Inside voice!”
“Sorry!” Lesya screeched.
“You're still yelling!” I yelled back.
“Mommy too!” Lesya screamed.
“Enough!” Kirill roared, and both Lesya and I went quiet. “Zank you,” he said with annoyance.
The elevator dinged, and Kirill opened the door for me. I gave Lesya a wide-eyed, chastised look as I carried her out, and she giggled.
“Fly,” she whispered to me.
“I'll ask them, but no promises,” I said.
“Promise,” Lesya nodded.
“And this is what happens when you try to reason with a toddler,” I whined.
“Which toddler?” Azrael asked as we strode into the room. “I don't see any toddlers here; only young ladies.”
Lesya giggled and launched herself toward Azrael. Azrael was thankfully very agile and caught Lesya as she fell from my arms, and then he swooped her up. As much as Lesya looked like her father—with ebony hair and ocean-blue eyes—she was similar in coloring to Azrael as well. They looked good together.
“Um, is there something you wanna tell us?” Ted asked as he looked from Lesya to Az.
“This is Kirill and Vervain's daughter; Lesya,” Azrael said as he shifted her to see the angels. “Lesya, these are my friends; Ted, Sam, and Ira.”
Three of the Horsemen of the Apocalypse suddenly turned into jello; they started cooing and waving at my daughter. Lesya is a beautiful child, and she instinctively knows how to work that to her best advantage. She waved back and giggled at the men until they were completely hers. Then—when she was assured of success—the little lioness pounced; verbally that is.
“Fly!” Lesya lifted her arms to the angels. “Fly, please!”
“I can take you,” Azrael started to say.
“Fly!” Lesya cried again as she leaned toward Ted.
Of course my daughter would pick the Antichrist to take her flying. Admittedly, he was the most attractive of the three. Azrael was the most handsome of the Horsemen, but Ted takes second place (yes, I'm biased; so what?). Lesya, however, had already flown with Az, and now she wanted someone new.
“It would be my honor,” Thaddeus declared as he took my daughter from Azrael. To me, he said, “I'll be careful with her; I promise.”
“Thank you, Ted.” I smiled confidently. “I know you will. But don't let her boss you around. Be firm with her when you're done or she'll have you flying her about all day.”
“Got it,” Ted said confidently as he headed out.
“He's doomed,” Kirill declared.
The rest of the Horsemen chuckled.
“She's adorable,” Sam said.
“Zank you.” Kirill held a chair out for me. “Ve are very blessed.”
“We have another possibility,” I said as soon as Lesya was out of hearing range.
“For what?” Sam asked.
“For the attack on Azrael.” Ira rolled his acid-yellow eyes. “Obviously.”
“Samael,” I announced.
The angels gaped at me.
“He wouldn't,” Azrael whispered. “He's been coming around; seeing Jerry's true nature. I think we really got through to him the last time we saw him.”
“The last time we saw him, Samael punched you in the face and called you a bastard,” I reminded Az.
“And I told you how much darkness he must deal with,” Azrael countered. “I can't believe that Samael would do something so dishonorable as to orchestrate an attack on me through others. He may be an ass, but he's an honest one; he would challenge me himself.”
“Honor is fluid,” Ira noted. “You can be honorable to one man while being despicable to another.”
“What he said.” I nodded.
“And if you really did open Samael's eyes to the truth about Jerry, he may think the honorable thing would be to remove Jerry from power,” Sam added.
“But this was an attack on me,” Azrael huffed. “It... oh.”
“Yep; anyone with sense in their head knows that Jerry will not win against the Prince of Hell. You have too many powerful allies; not to mention half of the angels,” Sam noted.
“Why mutiny against Jerry, when you could have the Devil kill him for you?” Ira asked. “Jerry would be dead, and the Throne ripe for the claiming.”
“No one would put Samael on the Throne,” Azrael said. “He doesn't have the disposition.”
“That's probably not his goal,” Ira said. “Samael may simply want to be rid of Jerry and get a few kicks in with you in the process.”
“It's brilliant,” I whispered.
“And difficult to prove,” Azrael concluded.
“We do a little recon and a little research.” Sam shrugged. “No biggie.”
“Samael rules the Fifth Heaven, doofus,” Ira huffed.
“So?” Sam scoffed. “We're the Horsemen; we can go anywhere.”
“That wasn't my point,” Ira said. “Makhon is where most of the Host lives; it's not warded. It is, however, full of angels... most—if not all—of whom are loyal to Samael. It's doubtful that anyone there will talk to us about him.”
“I've been there; it's lovely,” I murmured.
“You took her to Makhon?” Ted asked Azrael in surprise.
“To hear the Trisagion.” Azrael nodded. “Samael wasn't there, so Tagas invited us.”
“Though he showed up after the performance,” I muttered.
“So, if we can get Samael out of his heaven again, we could take a look around his home?” Ira asked.
