"We're not supposed to be able to find each other as humans," I said. "How did Gabe do it? How did he find me?"
Michael laughed. "We can always find you. Always have been able to."
Mary nodded. "That's a simple spell."
"So, he stole Luc’s powers. Does the spell explain how to get them back?" I asked.
She shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. It just specifies how to take them." She crosses her arms. "Let me consult with a colleague of mine in Mexico. He's a powerful Brujo. I don't spend a significant amount of time in his presence, as he tends toward the darker side of magic, but he is very knowledgeable."
We walked back toward the main part of Mary's home, and I realized I still carried her book on Nephilim. "Mary, I'd like to read this. Could I borrow it?"
She shook her head. "No. It can't leave this place. But I'd be happy to let you stay and read while I contact my colleague."
I nodded. "Thank you."
"Lilith, is this important right now?" Lucifer asked testily. "We need to rest."
I was pretty tired from the ordeal we'd been through. Normally, going from our Earth cycle back home was exhausting. We'd battled demons and traveled the world since then, all without a moment's rest. But something told me I needed to read more about these Cambions.
"Just give me a few, okay?"
He looked disgruntled, but he nodded. "Fine."
I walked back to the armchair and dug in. Time to see what the Nephilim could teach me about Cambions. It should’ve been a lot since I’d never even heard of them.
4
Lucifer tried to talk to me several times after that, but I became so engrossed in reading the book he finally gave up.
Several hours later, I finished it. Somewhere in the middle, I'd asked for a pen and paper and made several notes.
"Luc," I called as I looked through the apartment. I found him with Michael in Mary's kitchen. He had a plate of pasta in front of him and a speck of sauce on his chin. I couldn't help but chuckle. Michael turned from his spot across from Lucifer and grinned. "Hungry?"
"Now that you mention it, I'm starving," I said. "But the information I got from that book is very interesting." I pulled out a chair beside Michael. "Has Mary gotten in touch with the Brujo?"
"She's still trying to contact him," Luc said as he wiped his face. "He doesn't have any modern methods of communication, and she said the supernatural ones are difficult because of his wards."
"Well, check this out." I shoved my notes toward him. "Did you know about this?"
He peered down at my scratches and nodded. "Cambions? Yeah, why?"
"How did I not know about it?" I asked. "Do they still exist? Is it true that the Nephilim wiped them out?"
"I'd imagine with all the demons on Earth right now, we'll see quite a few born soon," Michael said. "But previously yes, the Nephilim saw it as their sacred charge to rid the world of the demon-human hybrids."
Luc took another big bite while Michael spoke, then added his two cents. "Nephilim don't differentiate between Angels or Fallen as sires. But they do when it comes to demons procreating."
"According to that book, Cambion aren't capable of human emotions or thoughts, and are nothing more than demons themselves."
Lucifer shook his head. "I've always doubted that. But if we'd gotten involved with the Nephilim wars, then the angels would've had to as well," he said.
Michael grunted his agreement. "True. And our experiences with the Cambion indicate it's true that they're pretty mindless."
I stared at them in complete shock. "How is this possible? How did I not know about an entire species that has been eradicated?"
Lucifer and Michael exchanged a look, but neither volunteered any information. "I have no idea, Lil," Michael said. "We didn't keep it from you. It just isn't one of those things we talked about widely."
Lucifer nodded. I trickled a bit of magic to probe their auras and found them both with an open and honest mood about them. "Okay." I accepted what they said and moved on. "Well, look here. The book mentions a school. Do you know about it?"
Lucifer looked lost, but Michael sighed. "Yeah, I know about it."
Luc's face went from curious confusion to irritation in a flash. "How is it I don't?"
I was wondering the same thing. How had I never heard of the Cambion or a school for Nephilim?
"They're pretty secretive, you know that," Michael said. "I'm not sure I could even get to it." He ducked his head and focused on the last of his dinner. "Again."
Something was off about his voice and demeanor. "Again? What aren't you telling me?" I asked.
The fork clanked against the plate as he sat it down and sighed. "You know we don't spend much time on Earth as Angels."
I nodded.
"Before you and I married, before we were even flirting..." He cleared his throat and tugged at his shirt collar. "I had a fling on Earth."
My jaw dropped, and I understood immediately. "You have a child?" Emotions washed over me. Shock, betrayal, and anger warred to be the one to display on my face. "What?"
He held up his hands. "I didn't know. Not until a little while before our last Earth cycle. I was trying to come to terms with it and figure out how to tell you when we were pulled into our cycle. Then it wasn't at the top of the conversation list once things went crazy."
I sat at the table and reeled. He had a child. "How? When?"
"The human got pregnant. Obviously, I never knew." He held out his hands, palm up. I nodded, recognizing that if he'd known, he would've said something, claimed the child, etcetera. He was a loving, caring person. He never would've been able to ignore a child of his own.
I glanced at Lucifer, who chewed thoughtfully. "How did you find out?"
Michael shook his head. “I was sent on assignment,
