"Hey, Lucas," Kathy greeted her husband as he entered their manor. "Long night?"

"Yeah," he said. "More than four hundred fae attacked an underground mage arena. Outside of the fae, there were around forty deaths, the appearance of a nephilim, and a kid mind mage who freaked out and sent out waves of mental energy powerful enough to knock out nearly everyone within three seconds."

"How many did they get?" Kathy asked.

"None," Lucas answered. "The mind wave happened before any of the fae left with people, and the few magicians remaining were powerful enough to take them out. Where's Kayla?"

"Doing her training," Kathy answered. "Come on, I was just getting ready to start breakfast."

"Make sure there's enough for all four of us," Lucas told her.

"All four of us?" Kathy answered. "Sweetie, I think you're a bit tired."

Lucas cleared his throat and jerked his head over his left shoulder. Curious, Kathy looked behind him, spotting Greyson clinging tightly to the back of his shirt, wearing his father's jacket over his hoodie, a backpack on his back.

"The person who's been taking care of him died in the fighting," Lucas said quietly. "When I showed up, he asked to come home. After breakfast, he's heading up to his room for some more sleep. The rest of his things are in the car."

Kathy smiled, welcomed Greyson back, then went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast. Greyson sat the table, not even taking off his backpack, and waited until his parents started setting the table to move again, answering his father's question of what he wanted to drink as milk and orange juice.

"I finished," Kayla entered the dining room, breathless, then realized Greyson was there. "Greyson!"

She went to hug him, only to find her father grabbing her and pushing her back.

"Dad!"

"No," he said. "You're sweaty and smelly, and Greyson had a long night."

Kayla sighed, then took her seat at the table, and the four of them ate breakfast, though Greyson barely touched his food. After they finished, Kayla began cleaning the table as Lucas took his son up to his room, making sure his son changed into pajamas and got into bed okay.

"Kathy," Lucas tracked his wife down. "We need to talk."

She nodded, following him into his home office. The walls were nearly completely covered with bookshelves that reached from the floor to the ceiling, most of which had tomes on them, nearly all of which were related to his job. Books on magic, on fae, on laws, and on other supernatural creatures.

The few bookshelves that didn't contain various texts either held small statues, bookends, wooden boxes, and on one shelf, a framed drawing of the family that Greyson made when he was nine. The art wasn't expert, but it reminded Lucas of his son. Kayla always destroyed her creations from school, so he didn't have anything from her to display, though he did keep their report cards in his safe.

A large, black rug covered most of the wooden floor, with a lamp in each corner, providing additional light on top of the overhead's. In front of his window, wrapping around against part of one wall, was his wooden desk, a tall-backed office chair sitting behind it. In front of the desk were a pair of chairs, and that made up all of the furniture in the room.

It was cozy, and eased his mind and helped Lucas stay focused when he needed to work from home.

Lucas closed and locked the door, then sat behind his desk and sighed, looking at his wife.

"Was you cheating on me a one-time thing, or did you get with someone more than once?"

"What are you talking about?" She asked. "I've always been faithful to you."

"Considering that neither of us are angels," he said. "And Greyson was the nephilim, there's clear evidence that's false."

"Greyson was that-" she began, then covered her mouth, taking a few breaths before speaking again. "Honey-"

"Just answer the question," Lucas said. "It took me nearly twenty minutes after Greyson woke up after having fallen asleep for several hours to calm him down enough so that he could unmanifest his wings, and after the night I had and information George gave me, I'm not in the best of moods. We've got at least two supernatural wars building in Tejina right now."

Kathy lowered her gaze, taking a few moments to compose her response.

"It happened several times," she answered. "Not anytime recently, I promise. Between the births of Kayla and Greyson, maybe twenty times? Thirty? It was mostly with the same two men, though there's one I slept with only once. He never gave his name, and he did have an inhuman beauty about him. I didn't think much of it back then, but he was probably an angel."

"And after Greyson?"

"Honey, I-"

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

"After Greyson?"

"A few more times," she sighed. "I'm sorry, honey. I promise, though, for the last decade, I've been faithful."

"You spent five years not being faithful," Lucas said. "Forgive me if I don't take that as honesty. We're not putting Greyson through the motions, he's manifested his powers, and apparently had before we scared him out. He's a blood mage with his roots in passive self-healing. While he's been gone, he's been learning how to heal others. And – according to witnesses from the fight last night – fight with the blood of others."

"Is he registered?" Kathy asked.

"Yes," Lucas answered. "Can you give me some space? I need to make some phone calls for work."

Kathy started to speak, but decided against it and left, and Lucas picked up his phone and dialed George's number as he wondered who Greyson had been receiving magic lessons from. He decided not to pry into it, as Greyson seemed to be fine. He did decide to ensure his son could continue to afford it and attend the lessons with the same tutor even though a cheaper one could be found through his agency.

Greyson trusted his teacher, and allowing him to continue seeing them would help him trust his parents again.

----------------------------------------

As Lucas wondered about her identity, Elaine looked at the man who had entered her shop. Dressed in black leather pants and boots, a pair of black wings stretching out from his back, his torso bare of clothing, the angel walked with a lethal grace, his black hair stylish, his blue eyes sweeping over the store and taking in everything in a heartbeat.

It only took him a few moments to reach the shattered counter, and he looked at the intimidated mage only once he was in front of it. Elaine could tell that he had serious power – likely an Archangel of some sort.

Of course her luck won out in that she'd face down her thirteenth angel in a week. It seemed everyone was looking for the son of Ulrima.

"Elaine?" The angel asked.

"If you're looking for the son of Ulrima," she said. "I'm telling you what I told the others – I don't know who he is, nor where he is."

"I'm not looking for Ambrosius," the angel said. "I was looking for night stones and magic crystals three inches wide and eighteen long. From what I hear, this is one of the best suppliers in the city."

"Twelve angels have come since last Friday," she said. "Seeking out the son of Ulrima, and you're expecting me to believe that you aren't doing the same?"

"I know where he is," the angel stated. "My master has no care for the war, and nor do I. I do, however, wish to perform a summoning. One of the other angels in town trampled my garden, and I'd like to have a few words with his god."

When the angel mentioned his intentions, his heavenly aura became tinged with death, Elaine seeing images of it flashing through her mind and a sense of foreboding that her end was near. Immediately, she understood that she was standing before an Angel of Death.

Before she could tell him that it would be a minute while she grabbed what he was looking for, he turned his head to the side, the lethal intent in his aura fading. The angel walked off to one of the shelves and began examining the salves on it.

Elaine excused herself to grab the items he was seeking, meeting Suzanne, who was doing inventory.

"I need summoning supplies," Elaine told her. "There's an Angel of Death out there who's in a bit of a mood and wanting to summon a god."

"Which god does he serve?" Suzanne asked.

"Didn't say," Elaine said. "But it's either a very powerful god, or he's an Archangel, judging by how strong his heavenly aura is."

"The crystals are over there," Suzanne pointed.

Elaine walked over to the crystals and opened the boxes, selecting the one with the best set of summoning crystals, then located the night stones. With both boxes in-hand, she made her way back to the front, where the angel was examining objects on another shelf.

He looked over to her, holding up a small vial that had been within a locked glass case. Nearly everything in the shop was locked in a case, though she wasn't surprised that an angel that powerful might have a way to ignore that. It only supported the idea that he was an Archangel, since they were the rare beings who could learn a variety of spells outside of the standard ones for angels.

"This potion," he said curiously. "What's its purpose?"

"Three drops of it in a drink just before bed," Elaine said after checking the tag. "And it'll help soothe nightmares."

"Interesting," the angel said, then reached through the glass to set the potion back and returned to the counter, looking down at it. "I take it someone disagreed with your counter?"

"A god," she told him.

"Ah," he said. "I heard Bulfis had paid a visit here. And that a Cupid stopped him."

"You heard correctly," Elaine told him. "Though I didn't know who the god was."

"Ulrima was a tad bit unhappy," the angel said. "You won't have to worry about Bulfis returning anytime soon. His angels will still be recovering bits of his body for the next thousand years or so."

Elaine didn't comment on that and instead showed him the case with the thirteen crystals, apologizing for not having any for the five lone schools. The angel ran his hands over them, pulling out a reddish-orange crystal that was warm to the touch, a dark blue crystal that felt as if it were liquid despite obviously not being, a gray crystal with silver streaks through it, and a pale yellow crystal with a faint glow to it. They represented the schools of fire, water, enchant, and light.

"I already have pillars for the lone schools," he informed her after making his selection. "I've been wanting to summon a god for awhile. And the night stones?"

Elaine moved the box of crystals to the side and opened up the box of night stones, pitch-black stones flecked with gold and silver, reminiscent of the stars at night. The angel felt each stone, selecting exactly fifty-four of them.

With his items selected, Elaine bagged them, nearly giving the items to him free out of fear of being killed where she stood, only to find him pulling out a black wallet with a puppy design on it.

"How much?" He asked as he opened up the wallet, the first thing she noticed being the image of a golden retriever.

How odd for an Angel of Death, she thought to herself. They normally prefer horses over dogs.

"Give me one moment to add it up," she looked around for the laptop she'd been using ever since the counter was smashed, as the register had fallen and broken as a result and had yet to be replaced.

After charging the angel, who paid with crisp hundreds, Elaine handed him his change and receipt, and he left. Letting out a sigh of relief, Elaine returned to the back.

"That was the most unusual encounter with an angel I've had," Elaine told Suzanne. "And I just realized something."

"What?" Suzanne asked.

"He gave a name for the son of Ulrima," Elaine told her. "Called him 'Ambrosius'. None of the other angels so far have used a name for him, they always called him 'son of Ulrima'. He also said he knew where this Ambrosius was, too. The angel seemed more interested in summoning a god over some trampled plants than looking for the son of a High God."

"An angel in a city with a heavenly war brewing who isn't interested in the heavenly war?" Suzanne was stunned. "Are you sure that was an angel?"