I lean my back against the wall behind me, my arms crossed over my chest as I watch Gabriel closely. He bites the inside of his cheek, shifts slightly on his feet, and discreetly threads a hand through his hair. His movements are minuscule and could be easily missed, but after years of interpreting his emotions through his body language, it's obvious to me that he's nervous and a little uncertain.

"In heaven, there is a rule among the angels that they are forbidden from having romantic relationships with humans. Any angel who breaks that rule will be stripped of their power, shunned, and forced to live the rest of their life on Earth." Gabriel starts grimly, his eyes glaze over as he stares ahead.

Silence fills the room, allowing his words to sink in and echo between the walls inside my skull. No one moves a muscle, staying still out of anticipation, and leaving the crackling fire to fill the heavy air.

"A very well known and powerful angel, named Kemuel, broke that rule sixty-three years ago," Gabriel says, inhaling deeply. "While on Earth, he fell in love with a young woman named Caroline. They were together, in secret, for two years before she found out that she was pregnant."

"She cheated on him?" Zeke questions, eyebrows knitting together and confusion evident in his tone.

"No," Gabriel answers, letting out a humorless chuckle. "The baby was Kemuel's. They created a nephilim, half human and half angel. They're extremely powerful and the chances of one being born are very rare, but not completely impossible."

Zeke's eyebrows raise in surprise and realization crosses his features.

"When Kemuel found out that she was pregnant, he... panicked." Gabriel's voice grows quiet, head bowed forward slightly.

My muscles go rigid and my anger sparks, making my eyes flash dark red.

"Don't sugar coat it, Gabriel," I hiss venomously. "He didn't want anyone to know about his relationship with her because he didn't want to lose his power. He's well respected among the angels and he wanted it to stay that way, so he broke up with her, and then went back to heaven. He figured that when the angels found out she's carrying a nephilim, they would kill her. He left her to die."

Gabriel winces softly at my harsh words, a sorrowful look etched onto his features. I know that he once cared for Kameuel, but nothing can justify the things that he has done, the things that no angel should ever do. The others look surprised at my slight outburst, watching me with uneasy expressions, but they stay silent and continue to listen carefully.

"The angels felt threatened by nephilims. The only other one ever created was killed before it was even born," Gabriel says after a hesitant silence. "I was on Earth and felt the baby's power only days after Kemuel left, so I found Caroline and told her who I was. I knew that the baby would be killed if I didn't help her."

Gabriel inhales sharply and turns to look at the fire while he speaks.

"I spent the next nine months hiding Caroline from the angels and protecting her. She truly was a wonderful person," Gabriel says, his voice heavy with emotion.

From the stories that Gabriel has told me during rare, heartfelt conversations, she was very similar to my mother due to her vibrant personality. I often wish that I could have met her at least once.

"Caroline knew that she wouldn't be strong enough to live through the birth, so she made me promise to care for her child. She picked the name Seraphina for her." Gabriel says, a soft smile gracing his features.

My heart constricts and my mind reels, just at the sound of her name. I swallow thickly, forcing down any strong emotions.

"Unfortunately, she was right," Gabriel says grimly. "She didn't make it, but I kept my promise to her and raised Seraphina."

"As she got older, Gabriel taught her how to hide her power and he raised her like she was any other human girl," I say looking at Gabriel, my lips pulling up into a sad smile.

Gabriel nods, glancing at me with a sympathetic expression that I loathe. Zeke's calculative eyes are moving quickly between us, trying to understand where this is going.

"When Seraphina turned eighteen, she wanted to be independent and live by herself, so she got her own apartment and went to college to study English Literature. We still talked at least every week." Gabriel says, eyes cast downward. "One day when I went to visit her, she mentioned a guy that she had been dating for a few months. She was head over heals for him, but she didn't want me to meet him yet because she wasn't confident that it would work out."

A tinge of anger seeps into Gabriel's tone, which is rare considering his kind nature. My thoughts are everywhere, as well as my emotions, yet my face remains stony and blank, not giving anything away.

"After a while, Seraphina got very distant and always made excuses for why she didn't want to talk or visit anymore. I thought that she was just caught up in being at college," Gabriel says, his voice turning soft and sad. "At twenty-one, she called me in a panic and told me that she was pregnant. She was crying, and kept saying that she needed my help. When I got there, she eventually told me that the guy she was dating had become abusive and would hardly ever let her leave. He took her phone, followed her around her campus, and even gave her a curfew. She didn't want him in the baby's life, she didn't even want him to know that she was pregnant. I quickly moved her somewhere safe and then went back to her apartment to confront the guy."

I can hear Gabriel's heart race as he prepares to tell the rest of the story.

"I recognized him the second he walked through that door. That's all he wanted from her, to get her pregnant so that she would bare his child." Gabriel sneers, his anger now evident. "He was my own brother."

Shock simultaneously crosses over everyone's features, beside mine of course. Like steel bars closing over my face, my emotions remain trapped just under the surface, virtually impossible to decipher. Zeke shakes his head, his face screwing up in confusion.

"He was another archangel?" Zeke questions, face set in a frown.

"He was a fallen archangel," Gabriel emphasizes. "The Original Dark Prince."

I inhale a sharp breath through my nose while the others glance between each other confusedly, clearly still not understanding.

"Are we supposed to know who that is?" Cayden questions, cocking an eyebrow as his eyes flitter between us.

Noah suddenly gasps with widening eyes, effectively attracting everyone's attention.

"Lucifer," he mumbles in disbelief, his eyes flicking to Gabriel's face, searching for confirmation. "The Original Dark Prince was Lucifer.