“Don’t say anything yet. It still gets better.”

Her eyes rounded, but I plowed forward.

“Let’s say, for argument’s sake, I can stop the gods of Uzan. Let’s say I can stop Reyes if I have to, using this glass.”

“Stop him?” she asked, panic-stricken.

“If I have to,” I reiterated. “And let’s say Michael—you know, the archangel?—let’s say he lets me live.”

She paled further, but I kept going. Best to just get it all out there.

“Let’s say I can get Beep back, and we can, I don’t know, save the world or whatever we’re supposed to do.”

Cookie nodded, right there with me.

“There’s something even worse.”

“Than a hell dimension in a necklace?”

“Yes.”

“Than the fact that an archangel tried to kill you?”

“Only that one time, but yes.”

“Than the fact that your daughter is destined to battle Satan for control of Earth?”

“Yep.”

She shook her head, at a complete loss. She leaned forward and put a hand on mine. “Charley, what?”

“Reyes is paying child support.”

She stilled. Blinked. Furrowed her brows. “What?”

I fought the wetness springing between my lashes. “Reyes—my Reyes—is paying child support. I saw a receipt.”

“Okay,” she said, taking a moment, “let’s just say that, yes, Reyes paying child support is worse than all that.”

“I don’t understand your point.”

“Who is he paying? I mean, is it to an old girlfriend?”

“You think he has old girlfriends?” I asked, sniffing.

“Charley, you have old boyfriends, right?”

“Yes, but—but I wasn’t in prison for ten years. And he couldn’t have been terribly fertile going in. He was, what? Twenty?”

“Old enough to get a girl pregnant. Trust me.”

“But what makes you think he even knew any girls?”

“Have you seen that boy?”

“I mean, he was really shy growing up.”

“Because that’s such a chick deterrent.”

Damn it. She was right. Hot, sexy, shy guys? Like a blazing inferno to an ovulating moth. “How many old girlfriends do you think he has?”

“I’ll look into it.”

“Like, a guesstimate. Five? Ten?”

“I’ll look into it,” she said, but this time she had her soothing I’m-here-for-you voice on. It helped.

“You will?”

“Absolutely. Besides, there has to be an explanation. He would have told you if he had a child.”

“Maybe he just found out. He hasn’t been paying it long. Three or four months, I think. Either that or his other child is only three or four months old, which would mean he got someone else pregnant before I conceived Beep.”

“No,” Cookie said, shaking her head. “There’s no way. Charley, he is crazy about you. He crossed the badlands of a hell dimension just to get to you. He waited for centuries for you to be sent to Earth. He gave up everything, even his memories, to be born a human just so he could see your smile.”

“When you put it that way … but let’s face it, Cook. I’m not the easiest person to live with on a daily basis.”

“Like he is?” When I dropped my gaze, she added, “Charley, you’re amazing, and you know I think the world of you, but perhaps we should focus on more pertinent details of all this.”

“Right,” I said, straightening my shoulders. “Exactly. It’s not about when. It’s about whom. And did he love her?” I gasped when the next thought hit. “Does he still love her?”

“Well, I actually meant along the lines of the fact that Reyes is an evil god hell-bent on destroying Earth and an archangel wants to kill you. But we can start with that.”

I drew in a deep, cleansing breath. “No, you’re right. I need to just put on my granny panties and deal. We have a case. No more thongs for me.”

“We have a case?” she teased.

“A real one,” I said with a nod. “And according to Nick the Pri—Nick Parker, an innocent man could go to prison if we don’t figure out who really killed his girlfriend, Emery Adams.”

“See? It’s good to keep busy. Keeps your mind off all the other, total-annihilation-and/or-death-by-an-angry-celestial-being stuff.”