The crimson in his eyes scaled back, but only a little. “Do you know where she is?”

“No idea. Revenant flashed me directly to her lair, so I couldn’t tell where we were. But something funky is going on with her. Apparently, it’s the result of whatever the archangels did when they tried to swap her baby with Limos’s.”

Eidolon appeared to consider what she’d said. “What is this… funky? Medically speaking, funky isn’t all that informative.”

He could be a real smart-ass sometimes. “She looks like a zombie, and the hellspawn is twice the size it should be.”

“What’s she eating?”

“Demon younglings.”

He leaned back in his chair, his eyes returned to normal. “Pregnant fallen angels need a lot of untainted, young blood,” he said, and she so didn’t need the reminder that her own mother had probably dined on her fair share of young blood while pregnant with Blaspheme. How many lives had ended so Blaspheme could live? “That’s for a normal pregnancy. But a fallen angel carrying fucking Lucifer would require a shit-ton of the purest blood available.”

“I told her to stop eating infants and eat more vegetables.”

Eidolon blinked. And then, to her surprise, he let out a huge belly laugh. “Vegetables?”

“Leafy greens, to be exact.”

Grinning, he shook his head. “Between the lack of pure blood and the introduction of greens during a purely carnivorous diet phase, she’s going to be sick enough to kill a Gargantua demon.”

“That’s what I figured.”

“I like the way you think.” He sobered, but the tenseness in him was gone. Good, because she’d been afraid for her job for a minute there. “What else can you tell me about her?”

“Not much. I didn’t get the chance to do more than get blood and check vitals. The baby hellspawn nearly blew my skull apart when I tried to listen to his heartbeat.”

Eidolon nodded gravely. “According to Reaver, even without being fully formed, Lucifer is more powerful than most fallen angels. Once he’s born…”

“It’s going to be bad.”

“That’s one way to put it.” Footsteps sounded out in the hall, and he waited for them to fade before returning to the conversation. “Speaking of bad,” he began, “are you sure I can’t help locate your mother’s attackers?”

“Adoptive mother,” she corrected.

“Fine,” he said. “Adoptive mother.” Eidolon’s placating smile chilled her to the bone. She’d had a feeling that he didn’t believe she was a False Angel, but she hadn’t realized he’d put more of the puzzle pieces together.

He might not know the truth, but he suspected.

“I’m sure,” she said. “It was probably just a random thing. Angels attacking fallen angels happens all the time.”

“If you need anything, I want you to come to me. You can trust me, Blaspheme.”

“I know.” She’d been around long enough to know that Eidolon and all of his siblings were loyal as hell, but her life was at stake, and trust didn’t come easily to her. Plus, she didn’t want to drag innocent people into her problems.

He nodded decisively, the matter settled in his mind. “I’m going to fill Reaver and the Horsemen in on the events with Gethel. Let me know when the lab results come back. Will Revenant want you to see her again?”

You and I aren’t done. Not by a long shot. Revenant’s deep voice rumbled through her memory, and she shivered at the possessiveness that had both frightened and intrigued her.

“Definitely. I think I’ve convinced him that she needs an ultrasound, but I’m hoping he’ll bring her to me instead of wanting to take me to her.”

The doctor picked up a pencil and began flipping it across his fingers. “If he comes to you, page me. This could be the key to getting rid of Gethel once and for all, but I’ll handle it in your place.”

“Thank you. And if you could draw some amniotic fluid, that would be great.” At E’s questioning look, she added, “I need Lucifer’s mesenchymal stem cells. Since they can develop into multiple cell types, I think I can use them to heal my mother.”

A slow smile spread across his face. “Brilliant. The potential medical applications for stem cells taken from a being as powerful as Lucifer are staggering. Getting cord blood for hematopoietic stem cells would be priceless, too, but with any luck, he won’t be born at all.” His pager beeped, and he quickly checked the screen. “I have to go. But Blaspheme… be careful. And don’t hesitate to come to me if you need anything. Anything. I have resources at my disposal that you can’t imagine.”

Casually, habitually, she rubbed the tiny scar on her wrist. It was even smaller than it had been yesterday.

Well, Doc, got a False Angel in your pocket who doesn’t mind being sacrificed to maintain my cover? No? That’s what I thought.

Time was running out.

Seven

Revenant sat high above the city of Paris, perched on Notre-Dame Cathedral’s towering rooftop. He’d witnessed the construction of the ancient building, and he’d always been fascinated by it. From the French Gothic architecture to the winding city streets below, he loved the sweeping size, the awe of the people milling around inside and out.

Sudden pressure inside his skull alerted him to the presence of another, and he turned to see Reaver standing a few feet away, dressed in jeans and a blue Henley.