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“You never miss a thing, my sweet girl. Call me in a few hours, I should be done by then.” Her aunt turned her head toward a muted groan. “Oh shush down, drama queen, it’ll be over soon. Damn fertility spells,” she muttered as Jezzie cut the feed.
“Care to share what that was about?” Deus asked.
“Or where she is? I have a few questions,” Ramiel tacked on.
“Nope, to both questions. Now, moving on. Ramiel, what can we do for you? I can practically feel the curiosity and questions bubbling away under your skin.”
“Yeah, Ramiel. Why don’t you ask what you so desperately want you know,” Nithe practically spat as Jezzie moved to retake her place between him and Athon. She felt Athon shift his arm behind her to Nithe’s shoulder, whether for comfort or caution, she wasn’t sure. Either way, she had a feeling things were about to get messy.
Chapter 46
Nithe took a deep breath, centered himself as much as he could, and shackled the inner rage of his dragon as he focussed his attention on Jezzie. He needed to remain calm, to not allow Ramiel to see how much his betrayal still hurt.
It was obvious to him Ramiel was floundering with a lack of knowledge as to his identity. Maybe he’d been an insignificant blip on the angel’s radar. Maybe he was so used to betraying ‘family’ that they all blurred together. Maybe, just maybe, on the wing and prayer of a childlike, innocent hope, he truly was as dumbfounded and unaware as Balthazar believed. Nithe wouldn’t hold his breath though.
“You are obviously a very intelligent and observant young lady. I am not here by chance, nor was my visit on a whim. I have many questions, but I’ll start with the easier ones first. I’d like for both you and Nithe to, for the record this time, tell me about your interactions with Balthazar, and by extension Raum. As you may or may not be aware, Raum is currently in the custody of the Praesidium and our interrogation division has met a roadblock in uncovering more information. From what I gathered from your previous revelations I need to confirm and gather more intel about how Raum came to be incapacitated before Balthazar called me in to retrieve him.”
“What exactly do you want to know?” Jezzie hesitantly asked, while giving Nithe’s thigh a gentle caress.
“Everything. Start from the beginning. Leave nothing out.” Ramiel stared at him as if trying to see into the truth of him. Something he was suddenly aware the Angel of Justice might just be able to do. Corrupted or not.
He immediately felt Jezzie reach out to him as Athon’s hand shifted on his shoulder.
It’s okay, a stór. It’s time. I’m okay. Athon, hold on to your britches though. Things might get a bit wild, but I’ve got this. He sent the words along the link, hopeful they’d make it to both of them. He felt connected to Athon, despite the lack of an official bond. Their slight nods reassured him they’d heard him loud and clear.
He stayed silent as Jezzie told her story, including as much detail as she could remember . . . which was a lot more than Athon or the others had heard last time. He allowed his mind to focus on his own thoughts and the details he knew he was going to have to relive. Jezzie going first was both a blessing and a curse. They’d shared all of it before, so he wasn’t missing anything, but sometimes time to order and plan your thoughts made it harder to get them out, not easier. Still, he didn’t want to just blurt out word vomit either, which was the likely outcome if Jezzie hadn’t taken the lead.
It took a lot longer than he’d thought it would, since Ramiel kept interrupting to ask questions and try to poke non-existent holes in Jezzie’s truth. But when they reached the point of Nithe’s arrival to Demon’s Den Jezzie paused and looked up into his eyes.
Tears lined her lower lids, ready to spill. Not in pity, but in sadness, pride, and a pain that matched his own. A pain she felt because he felt it. A pain that would always live within him, just as it would live within her. A pain he needed to unleash, even as he wanted to bury it further within the graveyard of his brutalized past.
He knew he shouldn’t start his story where Jezzie left off. Too many questions would come from that. But he couldn’t start at the beginning, not yet. He needed Ramiel to feel his pain, to know his truth, see his scars, bear the burden of his agony before he revealed his beginnings. He needed to see his father’s truth as it was revealed, to see the heart of the man who’d chosen his fate, who’d sent his son into the lair of the foulest of Fallen to be the plaything of the beast.
“It might be best to keep Jezzie’s parentage under wraps a little longer. It’s an ace up our sleeve and with at least one traitor here, somewhere in your ranks, maybe we could use the information later, yes?” Ramiel asked with a lift of his brow.
“Agreed, though I want to shout it to all and throw a party I’ll wait until we have everything lined up. That okay, Jezzie?”
“Sure, I guess,” she agreed.
“Nithe? Your turn? Before you start you should know I had my people look into you and it seems you’re a ghost. Nothing came up. I’m very interested to find out why that is.” Ramiel waited expectantly, suspicion clear in his gaze.
Sure, Nithe thought, let’s do this. But first. “I don’t know. Maybe because you or one of your ‘people’ cleaned up the mess, but forgot about the elephant in the room? Probably because no one expected me to make it out alive? Though put me and my lady in a room with Esidriel and I’m sure you’ll get your answers once we make her squeal.”
“What are you implying, boy?” Ramiel gritted out, anger replacing suspicion, but Nithe just shrugged and started his story at a point where the bitter tang of bile and self-loathing were most manageable.
“Raum heard about Jezzie from a demon informant. He bragged about it, thinking I’d never have anyone to tell. I wouldn’t have, if not for Jezzie and Balthazar. We walked through the woods that hide his home and used a portal to travel to the field outside Demon’s Den.”
“Why’d he take you with him? And why . . . how were you with him?” Deus knew by the expression on his face he’d fucked up when both Nithe and Ramiel turned twin glares in his direction.
“Normally he wouldn’t. Raum has what can only be termed an unnatural hatred for the female gender. Infant, child, adult, or geriatric, it matters not. He hates them all. Considers them weak and inferior. Thus, he felt I may be a useful tool in breaking Balthazar’s ‘captive’. As to the how, it wasn’t because we were besties, but I’ll get to that.” Nithe heard his voice as if he were disconnected from it. His emotions hidden behind the wall of facts. This part was easy. Soon enough he knew it wouldn’t be.
His words flowed like heated venom through the room. The details of his journey from Raum’s hidey-hole of a home, up to and including Jezzie and him leaving Demon’s Den. He left out the part about Ramiel being his father, but not for long.
“So you think I sent you there?” Ramiel asked, looking offended.
“Is it so hard to fathom?” Nithe’s eyes bore into him, trying to discern his truth.
“It is a tactic we tried before, yes. But only with trained operatives who volunteered. Not civilians or other species. And not for a long time.”
