Livelyhood / Book Four / The Life Series / Supernatural

Sympathy for the Devil

Sam and Dean had called.

The Apocalypse was starting.

Sam and Dean had been in the room where Lucifer had been let out of his cage. They had nearly died. But someone had magically put them on an airplane, saving them.

They'd also said that the prophet Chuck had sent a girl named Becky Rosen to give them a message about Michael's sword that the angels had lost and were trying to get it back. We were trying to get it first, even if Chuck's clue didn't make any sense. "A castle on a hill of 42 dogs."

Dad and I got to the Regent Inn Motel where they were staying, knocking on the door.

Dean opened it. "Hey, guys."

I wrapped my arms around Dean. "Good to see you boys all in once piece."

I pulled away, stepping further into the room.

Dad walked in.

I hugged Sam, pulling away.

Dean closed the door behind us. "You weren't followed, were you?"

"You mean by angels, demons or Sam's new super fan?" I asked.

Sam chuckled. "You heard."

"We heard, Romeo," I answered.

"So, sword of Michael, huh?" Dad asked.

"You think we're talking about the actual sword from the actual archangel?" Dean asked.

"You better freaking hope so," Dad told us, opening a book to a painting of Michael surrounded by other angels. In the painting, Michael looked like a winged woman. The other angels looked like naked babies with wings. "That's Michael. Toughest son of a bitch they got."

Sam flipped to another painting with Michael having a feminine face.

"You kidding me?" Dean asked. "Tough? That guy looked like Cate Blanchett."

"Well, I wouldn't want to meet him in a dark alley, believe me," Dad told us. "He commands the heavenly host. During the last big dust-up upstairs, he's the one who booted Lucifer's ass to the basement. Did it with that sword." He pointed to the sword in the painted Michael's hand. "So if we can find it..."

"We can kick the Devil's ass all over again," I finished. "All right. So, where do we start?"

"Divvy up and start reading," Dad told us. "Try and make sense of Chuck's nonsense."

Sam stood, walking toward a pile of books, looking at them for a long moment, not reaching for them.

"Sam?" I asked. "You all right?"

Sam turned to face us. "No, actually. Bobby... Ness... this is all my fault. I'm sorry."

"Sam..." Dean trailed off.

"Lilith did not break the final seal," Sam told us. "Lilith was the final seal."

"Sam, stop it," Dean told him.

"I killed her, and I set Lucifer free," Sam told us.

I took a moment to process in shock. "You what?"

"You guys warned me about Ruby, the demon blood, but I didn't listen," Sam told us. "I brought this on."

I looked at Dean, not knowing how to respond to that.

Dean didn't say anything.

Dad walked closer to Sam. "You're damn right you didn't listen. You were reckless and selfish and arrogant."