Chapter 333: Let It Come
Dawn came slow and grey, dragging pale light across the soaked rooftops. The storm had passed, leaving behind dripping gutters and scattered leaves stuck to windowpanes. The city below woke in pieces—lights flickering on in silent apartments, buses rumbling down slick streets, coffee shops opening their shutters to the faint morning chill.
Michael stood on the same rooftop, eyes closed, feeling the cold breeze brush his rain-soaked hair back from his forehead. His shirt clung to his chest, heavy with water. He didn’t care. He’d stood through worse storms.
He felt Raphael arrive before he heard him.
A gentle shift in the air. The smell of clean wind after rain.
Michael opened his eyes.
Raphael landed softly a few steps behind him, wings folding into his skin as he approached. His expression was calm, eyes tired but focused. Neither spoke at first. They just stood there together, watching as the city woke up under bruised clouds.
"It’s here, isn’t it," Raphael said finally, voice low.
Michael nodded once. "Somewhere."
Raphael sighed, rubbing his temples lightly. "And Lucifer?"
Michael’s jaw tightened. "Refused."
Raphael looked away, his gaze following a flock of birds slicing through the grey sky. "I see."
Footsteps echoed against the gravel behind them. Michael didn’t need to turn.
"Uriel," he greeted softly.
She stepped up beside Raphael, folding her hands in front of her. Her eyes were dark with concern, her hair damp from the drizzle still falling. She didn’t say anything right away. Just stood there, staring at Michael’s tired face.
"You look like you haven’t slept in a century," she said quietly.
Michael chuckled faintly. "Feels about right."
Uriel glanced at Raphael, then back at Michael. "Gabriel told me what happened. With Lucifer."
Michael didn’t reply. The wind brushed past them again, colder this time. Carrying with it something that made Raphael’s feathers prickle under his skin. An echo of a sound that didn’t belong to this world.
Uriel felt it too. Her eyes narrowed slightly, scanning the horizon.
"It’s close," she murmured.
Raphael clenched his fists. "Then we need to seal it before it anchors."
Michael shook his head. "We can’t. Not yet."
Uriel turned to him. "Why not?"
"Because it’s still learning," Michael said softly. "If we attack it now, it’ll adapt faster than we can bind it. We need to wait until it chooses a form."
Raphael frowned. "And if it doesn’t?"
Michael didn’t answer.
They fell silent again, listening to the city wake beneath them. Cars honked down clogged intersections. A dog barked at nothing in a distant alley. Neon signs flickered on outside corner stores opening for morning traffic.
Then another presence rippled through the rooftop. This one softer. Warmer.
Michael turned, his chest tightening slightly.
Exousia stood a few steps away, her hair pulled back loosely, damp with morning mist. She wore simple clothes, nothing that drew attention. Her gaze moved across the three of them, calm but curious.
"Exousia," Michael said softly. "What are you doing here?"
She shrugged lightly, stepping closer. "I was visiting. When I heard Lucifer was back... I thought I’d check on things myself."
Raphael raised a brow. "Heaven let you back in?"
"Privilege restored," she said quietly. "But I don’t stay there."
Uriel smiled faintly. "Still wandering?"
"Always," Exousia said, glancing up at the clouded sky.
Michael studied her silently. She always moved like a quiet breeze, never pushing, never dragging, just... there. Gentle and cold at the same time.
"You came for him?" Michael asked.
Exousia shook her head. "No. I came for the world he left behind."
Uriel stepped forward. "You want to help seal it?"
"If I can," Exousia said softly. Her eyes shifted to Michael’s. "But first... I want to talk to him."
Michael looked away. "He won’t listen."
"Maybe," Exousia said. "But it doesn’t matter."
Raphael frowned. "Why?"
She smiled faintly, sadness flickering behind her calm eyes. "Because they’ll want to know."
Uriel tilted her head slightly. "Who?"
"His wives," Exousia said simply. "In the God Plane. News like this... it doesn’t stay hidden long."
Raphael chuckled dryly. "The first wife must have known already."
Exousia nodded. "She has."
Michael sighed softly, brushing a hand through his soaked hair. "You’re going to tell them."
"I have to," Exousia said. "They deserve to know he’s back."
Uriel folded her arms. "They’ll come for him."
"Yes," Exousia said quietly.
Raphael glanced at Michael. "And what about us?"
Michael clenched his fists again, feeling rain drip off his knuckles onto the gravel. "We do what we came to do."
Uriel nodded once, stepping closer to him. "Then let’s not waste dawn."
Exousia watched them silently, her gaze moving across the city skyline. The clouds were breaking in places now, pale gold light bleeding through ragged tears in the storm. A quiet, almost holy glow washed across rooftops and glinted off distant glass towers.
"I’ll find him," she said softly.
Michael turned to her. "Be careful."
Exousia smiled faintly. "Always."
She turned and walked toward the edge of the rooftop, rain dampening her clothes until they clung to her skin. She stepped off without hesitation, her body dissolving into mist before her feet touched open air. The mist twisted and curled downward, weaving between buildings like pale smoke drifting through silent streets.
Uriel watched her go, silent for a moment. "She’s changed."
Michael nodded. "We all have."
Raphael exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. "She’ll come back before noon. Whether with him... or without him."
Michael closed his eyes, feeling the wind slip cold fingers down his spine. "Let’s hope she comes back with him."
Uriel reached out, resting her hand lightly on his arm. "And if she doesn’t?"
Michael opened his eyes. Black and empty. Tired beyond words.
"Then we seal it alone."
Raphael turned to the horizon, where gold light broke through the clouds in bleeding streaks across the dark cityscape. "We should prepare."
Uriel nodded, stepping back. Her silhouette blurred against the rising dawn, framed by flickering neon from below and the growing light from above.
Michael stayed where he was, staring out at the city. Listening to its waking heartbeats. Feeling the distant tremble of something vast moving between layers of reality, crawling closer with every breath it took.
He closed his eyes again, letting the wind carry the scent of rain and ozone across his skin.
Somewhere down there, his brother walked among humans like he’d never left. And somewhere beyond the veil, something waited to devour everything they had ever known.
Michael clenched his fists until his nails cut into his palms.
"Let it come," he whispered again.
Thunder rumbled softly in reply.