29 FOOLS RUSH IN WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
FOOLS RUSH IN WHERE ANGELS FEAR TO TREAD
S UNSHINE FOLLOWED THE CALL OF R APHAEL’S SUMMONS , and was surprised to find it didn’t lead her back to his study in Heaven.
The smell of mold and rot was the first thing she was aware of in her new surroundings. It was so overpowering, she recoiled. The sound of water dripping was the next thing she noticed.
She looked around as her senses acclimated to the scent of wet decay and realized she was in what appeared to be a warehouse. An abandoned one.
Where she stood, the walls were at least two stories high, the ceiling above covered in rusty pipes. The windows had been smashed out and boarded up. Everything was covered in graffiti. The ground was littered with broken glass, garbage, and rubble.
A plywood piece had been torn from the window frame in front of her, so she took careful steps over the debris to peek out. There was no mistaking the city skyline. She could even see the Ferris wheel in the Old Port. She was still in Montreal.
Raphael had summoned her to Montreal.
Raphael was in Montreal.
Her heart started to race as panic gripped her. How had he known to come here? She’d only just left him, and he hadn’t given any indication he was considering—
Unless … he’d followed her?
Angels could track others flashing by the energy traces they left behind. She’d once followed Daniel the same way, which was how she’d found Raum and his brothers in the first place.
“Shamsiel, is that you?” a familiar voice called, and she stiffened.
“Yes,” she replied, turning from the window, “but I’m unsure why you summoned—”
It happened so quickly. Raphael appeared before her, tall and imposing with his white robe and magnificent wings, sword sheathed at his side. Perhaps her past trust in him slowed her reaction time, because before she knew what was happening, he’d grabbed her arm.
A cold steel cuff closed around her wrist. Again.
She twisted and pulled out of his grip, throwing her guard up too late, but the damage was done. As he grabbed her other arm, she attempted to flash away and nothing happened. A second cuff closed around her other wrist.
She had seen these restraints before—in the Court of Ceremonies.
The manacles were connected by a length of chain about two feet long. The metal was a cool gray, and the symbols carved into them glowed the pale blue of Empyrean magic. They were reserved for the rare instances when an angel broke the rules and was tried before the Tribunal.
“What have you done?” she breathed in horror, staring at her bound wrists.
“The cuffs are just a precaution,” Raphael said, stepping back calmly as if he hadn’t just ambushed her. He offered a reassuring smile. “If you’ll follow me, everything will be cleared up shortly. You have nothing to fear.”
He flashed across the room to the entrance of a hallway and gestured for her to approach.
She stared at him, mind racing, a hundred demands rising in her throat. She decided not to voice them until she figured out how much he knew.
It wasn’t hard to guess, however.
He was in Montreal. He’d just bound her powers with cuffs used to punish rule breakers. There was no point trying to run—he’d flash and apprehend her in a second.
Oh god, she felt sick.
Maybe … she could reason with him. He’d always been kind to her.
If it was too late to sabotage his hunt, maybe she could convince him to see things her way.
It was obvious to her that Raum and his brothers were not a threat to humanity.
Maybe he would understand once she explained what had happened in her past.
Gritting her teeth, she did as he bade, feet crunching over rubble and glass as she headed toward the hallway.
There, the roof was lower, and the walls were lined with several metal doors. Graffiti covered everything here too, some of it old with water and rust stains, some of it fresh, the bright colors adding a hint of life to the gloom.
At the end of the passage, a pale-blue light emitted from a doorway on the left.
Raphael flashed ahead and then passed through it, so she followed. Stepping through the open archway into a low-ceilinged room—
Her heart stopped, and her stomach opened like a pit inside her.
Heavenfire burned in a small sigil in the center of the chamber, casting flickering shadows on the walls. On the floor in a half circle around it were three Empyrean sigil traps—for demons, angels, and any other paranormal creature.
Within the middle one stood a woman.
Standing at nearly six and a half feet tall, an uncommon height for humans, her eyes glowed an unearthly silver—the second indication she was a supernatural being.
Her skin was dark, and her hair was an abundance of tiny ringlets.
The top half of her curls was tied into two little buns, and the rest fell onto her shoulders.
She looked … sweet, especially with those little pixie buns. She also looked terrified.
Sunshine froze, staring at the woman in horror, knowing exactly who she was.
Daniel’s forbidden daughter, Evangeline. Currently shifted into her Nephilim form, which gave her the increase in height. As an angel-human hybrid, Eva would’ve been able to flash away under normal circumstances, but the sigil kept her trapped.
She opened her mouth, maybe to ask for help, but her eyes traveled down to the cuffs on Sunshine’s wrists, and the sudden flare of hope in her eyes bled to concern. The two women stared at each other.
“Go into one of the empty traps, please, Shamsiel,” Raphael said.
“Shams—You’re Sunshine?” Eva gasped. “My dad told me about you. But—”
Sunshine shook her head quickly. Her friendship with Daniel was unknown to anyone in the Realm—angels were not supposed to associate with Grigori—and that was how she wanted to keep it. Eva’s silver eyes widened, and she fell silent.
Sunshine longed to reassure her, to promise she would do everything to help her escape, but she didn’t dare in front of Raphael.
Nephilim were forbidden, and it was within Raphael’s rights to kill Eva simply for existing.
If Sunshine had any hope of talking him out of this, she needed to appeal to his reason and pretend she was on his side.
Still, she made no move toward the sigil. She wasn’t going to voluntarily trap herself either. She looked at Raphael. “I’m not sure what you think I’ve done wrong,” she began, “or why you’ve kidnapped an innocent person, but surely there is no need to—”
“We both know that woman is not innocent, nor even human. And I’ve brought you here because it is time for the lying to end.” For the first time that she’d seen, his eyes were hard, and his smile vanished.
Sunshine wasn’t confessing anything until she knew exactly what he knew. Any chance to maintain her fragile web of lies had to be taken. “I don’t know what lies you think I’ve told, Raphael, but I assure you there is nothing warranting this kind of—”
Before she could finish, Raphael flashed in front of the sigil containing Eva and unsheathed the powerful sword at his hip.
He held the white flaming blade in front of Eva’s throat but didn’t strike.
Eva shrank back to the opposite side of the sigil, but she knew better than to touch the edge of the circle, lest she get electrocuted.
The shock would likely send her forward into the path of the deadly sword.
“Step into the trap or she dies now.”
Sunshine’s thoughts ground to a halt and she stared in horror, unable to believe she was looking at the same Raphael she’d known for so very long.
Her gaze snapped to Eva’s. The Nephilim’s human side meant she didn’t have the same regeneration capabilities as full angels.
If Raphael followed through on the threat, she would die—permanently.
“Raphael, please!” Sunshine fought to keep calm. “Surely this is not the way to—”
“Step into the sigil now or the Nephilim dies.”
She had no choice. He would kill Eva; the intent was clear in his eyes. Eyes she’d once thought friendly. Eyes that now looked cold.
Stomach hollowing with dread, Sunshine slowly backed toward the trap to the right.
“Don’t do it!” Eva shouted. “Get out of here while you can. I can fend for myself.”
But she had no choice and they both knew it. Without her ability to flash, there was nowhere for her to go anyway. Any possibility of trying to disarm Raphael was too risky with Eva’s life on the line.
Sunshine’s foot crossed the line with her next step. Trapped.
Satisfied with her compliance, Raphael lowered his sword, the white flames licking against his robe though they didn’t burn it. The cold look in his eyes vanished, and he was back to his charming self once more. It was almost more frightening now that she knew what hid behind those friendly eyes.
“As you now know, I have been hunting the rogues for some time.” He spoke calmly, as if he hadn’t just threatened cold-blooded murder.
“It’s a good thing I followed you. Montreal was on my list of places to investigate, but I wouldn’t have prioritized it.
I’d just assumed the demons wouldn’t choose to hide in Canada.
” He shook his head. “I mean, demons in Canada? Seems a bit silly to me.”
That was why he’d shown her his research—because he’d known she would go straight to the demons to warn them. How could I have been so stupid?
“When I heard Adriel had sent you on an important assignment, I was understandably concerned, given your past. It’s not my place to question Adriel, though I can’t imagine what motivations he had in selecting you.
I would’ve been honored to undertake any task on his behalf.
” Raphael shook his head. “Hopefully this will help him to realize his mistake.”
The sinking feeling in Sunshine’s stomach deepened. Raphael was actually jealous of her relationship with Adriel. He evidently thought she didn’t deserve such a privilege, and he, as a decorated archangel, should have it instead.