Days of New: The Complete Collection (Serials 1-5) by Meg Collett Page A

knew that was Lucifer’s laugh, he knew it with every fiber in his being.
    “You’re certain?” Zarachiel asked.
    “Yes! I know it!”
    “Okay,” Camille said. “Okay. Okay. Okay…”
    Her voice was worried—and rightfully so. The devil was supposed to be dead. They really, really needed him to be dead.
    “Did you actually see his body disintegrate in that fire?”
    When Clark had been in Hell, he and Lucifer had worked to learn the magic contained on Clark’s arms. During one incident, Clark had started a holy fire that grew out of control. The magic had coursed through him, taking control of him, using him. It had made that fire hotter and hotter, bigger and bigger. The flames had sung to Lucifer, like a siren to a sailor. The fallen angel had stepped into the heat, knowing what it would do to him. Lucifer hadn’t been evil back then; he’d just been an angel who’d landed on the wrong side of fate. He wanted it to end, needed it to. Clark couldn’t keep the fire from Lucifer as he’d walked into his death.
    “Most of it,” Clark answered Zarachiel’s question, knowing where the angel was going. “I didn’t think there was any way for him to survive that. The flames were literally tearing him apart. There was nothing left.”
    “But did you stick around to make sure?”
    Clark shook his head. “By then, the fire was so powerful that it was pulling me in too. The only reason I survived was because Gabriel risked his life to come in and get me. It exploded shortly after. And I blacked out.”
    Camille looked around him to Zarachiel. “What does this mean? Can Lucifer contest Gabriel’s reign?”
    Clark groaned, sinking his head back down again. He hadn’t even thought of that. “Shit,” he whispered.
    “He’s Lucifer. He’s going to do whatever he pleases,” Zarachiel said, the venom unfamiliar in his voice. “But maybe he’s not really alive. Maybe it was just his spirit or something.”
    Clark looked up. “Like I’m haunted or some shit?”
    “That would be a lot better than him actually being alive,” Camille said.
    “Gee, thanks.”
    “Can you imagine the havoc he could cause? If those rogue fallen angels and demons know their leader is still alive? Lucifer could start a whole new war. There’s no way we would all survive another.”
    Camille’s logic was horrifyingly accurate. “No, I know,” Clark said. “It’s just being haunted by Lucifer isn’t exactly what I had planned for my life.”
    Zarachiel’s mouth twitched. “And this is?”
    “True.”
    “We need to figure out if angels can…uh, haunt people, or whatever. Who would know something like that?”
    Clark sighed heavily. They all knew the answer already. “Probably the person who figured out how to kill an angel to begin with.”
    “Who’s also the Angel of Death.”
    “Michaela,” Clark said heavily. “So who’s going to volunteer to die so that we can get her attention?”
     
    * * *
     
    Clark dodged a well-aimed flick of holy water from the evil priest. The stooped man must have heard about Clark’s episode earlier today because the drop of holy water was more like a hose-down, as if the priest believed Clark needed an exorcism. Either way, the two men glared at each other, damning the other in his own way.
    “That man is sadistic,” Clark muttered to Liam when the proceedings were over and the members were shuffling out.
    “I swear,” Liam said, “he aims for my damn eye every time.”
    “It’s disgusting. Where the hell does that water come from? Medusa’s twat?”
    Liam almost choked on his laugh. His eyes watered from trying to repress it so they wouldn’t draw the attention of the other members, who were quietly talking amongst themselves as they filed out the door. The Nephilim and Ezekiel were notably absent from the meeting. Clark was relieved, but he knew it didn’t bode well.
    “You’re mental, man.”
    “Speaking of…” Clark trailed off, lifting his brows at the