Chapter 24
I'm three days into recovery from the envy purge when the wards scream.
Not literally, wards don't make sounds. But I feel it through the binding, a sharp spike of alarm that jolts me awake from where I'd been dozing in the library.
Croesus feels it too. I sense his immediate response through our connection: fury, territoriality, the cold calculation of a predator whose territory has been breached.
I'm on my feet and moving before I consciously decide to, following the pull of the binding through the house's shifting corridors. Servants scatter as I pass, their faces turning to track my progress. Whatever's happening, it's serious enough that even they're rattled. Which says a lot.
I find Croesus in the entrance hall, the one with the massive golden doors that lead to the mortal world through the vault. He's standing perfectly still, staring at the threshold with an expression I've never seen before.
Pure, cold rage.
"Croesus?" I approach carefully. "What's wrong? What’s going on with the house?"
"Attempted breach. Something demon-blooded is at my threshold. Trying to force its way in." His voice is clipped, controlled. Dangerous.
My heart stops. "Demon-blooded?"
"Weak. Demon. Blood." He tilts his head, listening to something I can't hear. "And apparently very determined to reach you."
Oh no. Oh fuck.
"Ash," I breathe.
Croesus's gold eyes snap to me. "The one you called."
It's not a question. He knows. Of course he knows, he probably felt it through the binding when I broke his rules.
"He's just worried about me."
"He's trying to break into my house." Croesus moves toward the doors with predatory grace. "That makes him a problem."
"Please don't hurt him. He doesn't understand the rules. Doesn’t live in this world except through me. And I already ended that."
"Then perhaps he needs to be educated." Croesus reaches for the door handle. "Step back, Raven."
"Croesus, please just don’t hurt him,” I plead, hating the whine in my voice.
"Step. Back."
It's not compulsion,. He promised me autonomy, but the command in his voice makes my feet move anyway. I retreat several steps.
He pulls open the doors.
Beyond them is a shimmering threshold, like looking through heat waves, and on the other side, barely visible through the distortion, is Ash.
He's standing at the boundary between worlds, one hand pressed against an invisible barrier.
His dark hair is disheveled, leather jacket hanging open over a faded t-shirt.
There are dark circles under his eyes, and his jaw is tight with frustration.
The red flecks in his eyes are brighter than usual, his demon blood reacting to the angelic wards.
When he sees the doors open, his expression shifts from frustration to relief to fear in the span of a heartbeat.
"Raven." His voice is hoarse. "Thank God. I've been trying to reach you for days."
"You're not welcome here," Croesus says, his voice cutting through Ash's words like a blade through silk. "Leave. Now."
Ash's eyes flick to Croesus, and I see him process what he's looking at. Not just an angel, one of the seven. His hand drops from the barrier and some of the color drains from his face.
"I just want to talk to Raven," he says, trying to sound reasonable despite the fear I can see in his eyes. "Five minutes. That's all."
"No."
"Croesus, please..." I start.
"You have three seconds to leave," Croesus continues, ignoring me. "Or I will remove you myself. And you won't enjoy that experience."
Ash's jaw clenches. His eyes find mine through the threshold. "Raven, are you okay? Are you actually serving him?"
"I'm fine," I say quickly. "I'm safe."
"Safe?" He laughs, bitter and sharp. "You disappeared. You’ve called once in all this time. Just talk to me. Please. Five minutes."
"She doesn't need your permission to be here," Croesus says coldly. "And she doesn't owe you explanations about her choices."
"Maybe not, but she owes me more than radio silence." Ash takes a step closer to the barrier, and I see his hand twitch like he wants to reach for me. "Raven, whatever he's told you, whatever deal you made, there are other ways. We can figure this out. You don’t deserve this."
Before I can respond, Croesus reaches through the threshold and grabs Ash by the front of his jacket.
Ash yelps in surprise as Croesus yanks him through the barrier like he weighs nothing.
The threshold ripples, resists; demon blood isn't supposed to enter angelic domains easily, but Croesus's power overwhelms it.
One moment Ash is in the mortal world, the next he's stumbling into the entrance hall of the House of Gold, off-balance and wide-eyed.
"What the fu—" Ash starts.
Croesus slams the doors shut behind him. The sound echoes through the hall like a death knell.
"You wanted in," Croesus says, circling Ash like a predator. "Now you're in. The demon-blooded interloper who's so desperate to reach what's mine that he'll stand at my threshold and beg."
Ash staggers, his eyes darting around the entrance hall. Taking in the impossible architecture, the golden surfaces, the servants watching from the shadows. He knows angels exist, has known for years, but knowing and seeing are different things.
"Jesus," he breathes. "This is actually..." He stops, shakes his head. Focuses on Croesus. "I'm not here to cause problems. I just want to talk to Raven."
"Then talk." Croesus's smile is all teeth. "I'm curious to hear what you have to say that's so important you'd risk entering angelic territory. It can be hazardous if you stay too long, demon, did you know that?"
Ash looks at me, and there's something pleading in his expression. "Can we talk alone?"
"No," Croesus says before I can answer.
"It's not your choice."
"Everything about her is my choice. She's mine for the next ten months.
Every breath she takes, every choice she makes, every person she interacts with, mine.
" Croesus stops circling, stands directly in front of Ash.
They're nearly the same height, but Croesus radiates power that makes Ash look small by comparison.
"So whatever you want to say, you can say it in front of me. "
Through the binding, I feel Croesus's jealousy like acid. Hot and corrosive and barely contained.
Ash's hands clench into fists. "You left," he says, eyes on me.
"You got those letters and you just left with no real goodbye.
You called me once over the last couple of months, and you hung up before telling me anything real.
" His voice cracks slightly. "I've been going out of my mind thinking something happened to you. "
"I told you I was fine."
"You told me nothing." He takes a step toward me, and Croesus shifts, barely perceptible, but placing himself between us. Ash stops. "You said you had to do contract work. I didn’t think..."
"What did you want me to say. You saw the letters yourself." I say.
"So you didn't try to even find another way?" The hurt in his voice cuts. "I've known you for five years, Raven. I've helped you through multiple purges. I know what you do, what you are. You think I wouldn't understand having to serve an angel?"
"It's not that simple."
"It never is with you." He runs a hand through his hair, frustrated. "I just wanted to know you were okay. That you weren't in over your head. That you weren't forgetting there's a world outside this place."
"She's not forgetting anything," Croesus says, his voice soft and dangerous. "She's exactly where she needs to be. Protected. Cared for. Given everything she requires."
"Everything except freedom," Ash shoots back.
"Freedom is overrated. Safety is much more valuable." Croesus tilts his head. "Tell me, demon. When was the last time you could offer her safety? Real safety, not the kind that depends on luck and wards that might fail?"
Ash's jaw tightens. "I've kept her as safe as she’d let me for five years."
"You've fucked her when she needed the lust purged." Croesus's voice is casual, but the words sink low into my gut like a punch. "That's not safety. That's convenience. Mutual using. Don't pretend it's more than that."
The temperature in the room drops ten degrees.
"You don't know anything about us," Ash says through gritted teeth.
"I know enough." Croesus leans closer. "I know she hasn't called you because she doesn't need you anymore."
"Stop," I say, stepping forward. "Both of you, just stop."
Neither of them looks at me. They're locked in some kind of dominance display, testosterone and supernatural power filling the air until it's hard to breathe.
"You need to leave," Croesus says to Ash. "Now. Before I decide that your demon blood would make an interesting addition to my collection."
"I'm not leaving until I talk to Raven," Ash says stubbornly. "Alone."
"Croesus." I put as much authority into my voice as I can manage. "Let me talk to him. Five minutes. Alone. Then he'll leave."
Croesus turns those gold eyes on me, and through the binding I feel the war inside him. The possessiveness screaming to say no, to keep Ash away from me, to eliminate any threat to his claim. But also the respect he has for me, the autonomy he promised.
"Five minutes," he says finally. "In the receiving room. I'll be outside the door." His eyes fix on Ash. "If you touch her, I will know. And I will remove your hands. Do we understand each other?"
Ash swallows hard but nods.
Croesus gestures sharply, and one of the servants appears. "Show them to the receiving room. Then leave them." His eyes fix on me one more time. "Five minutes, Raven. Not a second more."
He stalks away, and through the binding I feel his fury and jealousy and possessiveness all tangled together, barely under control.