Raphael was meant for better things. He is an archangel, after all. It was he who cast out Qayna, the first murderess, and inscribed on her flesh the name of her brother Abil that embodied her deathless curse. It was he who formed the Sons of Light, and it was he who was set to watch over Azazel in the well of his imprisonment in Dudael. And now, a failed rebel, Raphael wanders the heavy earth alone. The Sons of Light find him, though, and offer him another chance. Raphael is to Bear the Word again, to call the first prophet in centuries. Can Raphael find the appointed prophet? Can he reach him, across apocalypse-torn America? And when he does find his man, imprisoned by the Fallen Kokhabel, can Raphael and the new prophet both survive?