Ronen #2
But I had been young and didn’t realize at the time he hadn’t been talking about lying to those who only desired to hurt me.
He’d been talking about himself. Because earlier that day, I had lied to Gabriel about knowing the angel Etan wanted us to interrogate.
I had lied to keep him from taking my place in the brutal torture.
Etan would’ve punished him. I’d already seen him hung up in their dungeons once, unconscious, with blood dripping down his back from another time he killed for me.
So I lied to save him.
And all he wanted to do was save me.
I shook myself from the past, keeping my eyes on the ceiling as I uttered, “I’m scared.”
Alexei sat silent. When was the last time I admitted I was scared? Right. Never. At least never out loud. Opening up, talking about feelings, relationships—none of it came naturally to me. I supposed that was the result of being a slave and murderer for two hundred-plus years.
“Of?”
“History repeating itself.” I dropped my gaze to his. Heavy bags sagged beneath his eyes. It’d be easy to assume the ladies had been keeping him up; that’d be what he’d tell me, but I knew the pain of having my wings constantly exposed and slowly healing.
“Nothing’s going to happen to Lucille, Ronen.”
I wanted to believe him. But the bond had already shown signs of progression. I had felt its consuming control. I knew what was coming next for them. The thought had my shadows rattling inside my body.
Worse yet, we had no idea who placed the Guardian Rune on the pet or what their motive was.
“Have you noticed that the pet isn’t your average Seraphim?”
Alexei cocked his head. “I’d have to be blind not to notice the lack of wings and flaming skin.”
“Don’t forget the part about his mother.”
In the heat of the moment, I hadn’t questioned the fact that the pet had a mother. All I wanted was a plan to rescue Lucille. But now, with time to consider Oliver’s words and what happened, pieces were starting to align.
Alexei straightened. “Hells, he’s another born angel.”
I crossed my arms. “Yes. And isn’t it interesting that the only two born angels we know in existence are bound?”
“You think someone did this to them? But earlier, you made it seem like the rune chose the guardian.”
“I did. That’s what Etan told me. I just find it suspicious. The only facts I have about the guardian bond are from my experiences.”
Alexei continued fiddling with his jeweled dagger, his brows knit together.
“But you said previously Etan is corrupt. Who’s to say he wasn’t lying?
Say you’re right, and someone purposely bound them, planning to use the prince in their grand schemes while Lucy protects him.
They’d need access to an Archangel or Seraphim feather.
They’d have to know about Lucy. And they’d need a desire to keep the prince alive while having no issue using Lucy as collateral.
” He fixed his gaze on me. “Lucy already killed Lilith. Mystery solved.”
“You think it’s that easy?”
He stood, rolling his shoulders back and adjusting his dappled wings. “Can you think of anyone else who fits that profile?”
“Lilith seemed fully capable of keeping the pet alive without a bond,” I said.
“She wanted power, right? If she could force the bond on both of them, it’d be the perfect way to lure Lucy away from her mom and Earth. And if Etan didn’t lie to you and the bond picks the perfect protector, what better way to lure in a powerful source of magic than to rune a rare-born Seraphim?”
His argument was sound. It checked off every box and created no room for questioning, and yet I sat there, turning over the pieces of a perfectly assembled puzzle, trying to find the hole.
I rubbed my temples, and Alexei gripped my shoulder. “We have enough issues on our plate. We don’t need to go fishing for more.”
Weighed down by his unspoken words, I nodded. Our list of problems seemed never-ending, and some seemed impossible to solve. But the one that weighed on me the most could be solved—just not by me.
“You’ll help her get ready and stay by her side?” I asked softly.
“You heard.”
“No,” I breathed. “I felt it.”
Alexei gave me a solemn nod and wandered toward the door.
Her rejection and hurt stung more than the time I fought a Barbfiend and Gabriel had to pull more than two dozen poisonous barbs from my paralyzed body.
She didn’t want me around, and I understood.
I had hidden a life-altering detail from her and pushed her away for two months.
But that wasn’t the worst of it. I still hadn’t told her my other secret.
The one that felt like acid eating away at my chest and made me question my presence at Saraqael’s funeral.
Lucille still didn’t know I knew that using her powers was killing her mother.
I feared that if I told her, she’d hate me forever.
“Ronen.”
I jerked my head to the door, having thought Alexei had already left.
He placed a fist across his white sweater, thumping his chest. “Don’t worry. If anything were to happen to Lucille, I’d go to the circles or Heaven myself and bring her back to you.”
I pounded my fist over my chest and watched him leave, not about to admit my other worries. But they were always there, permanently stuck in my marrow like a slow-killing poison.
Inhaling, I stood and approached Oliver. The white sheets tucked around his torso matched his pale face. If not for the small rise in his chest, I’d be tempted to check his pulse.
He looked so much like his father. Their personalities were a bit different, but Gabriel would’ve loved him nonetheless. The fact that he never knew he had a son before he died had me mentally cursing this unforgiving world.
“I’ll do right by him, Gabriel,” I whispered. But first, he had to wake up. “She needs you, Oliver. It’s time.”
His quiet breaths were my only answer.
“We need you,” I amended.
Nothing.
I didn’t believe in miracles. Hell wasn’t the domain to experience such an extraordinary event.
But that starry gaze that had burned holes through my dark barriers made me hope for one anyway.
Now I’d have to go to her mother’s funeral empty-handed, standing as far away as physically possible, and act like the distance didn’t kill me.