“What?”I asked, a sense of dread creeping into my chest.“What is it?”
When he didn’t answer, I rose on my knees and turned to face him.I couldn’t take the silence, and I needed to see his eyes.His gaze was distant and his face pale.
“Rathiel,” I pressed, my voice rising.“What’s wrong?”
He finally exhaled a slow breath and pulled his hand away from hair.His eyes met mine and he offered a wan smile, but I could see right through it.When he finally spoke, his voice was low and calm, exactly like how one spoke to a frightened animal.“That’s one of the memories I took from you.You shouldn’t remember that.”
I stared at him, unsure I understood him correctly.That hellish scene had been a nightmare and nothing more, right?
“Your dream,” Rathiel continued quietly.“The way you described it, that’s exactly how it happened.How he—” his expression shuttered—“punished you.It took all our resources to free you from him before he killed you.Few made it out alive.But that’s exactly how it happened.”
A chill ran down my spine and all the little hairs stood up on the back of my neck.“How…how is that possible?Those memories are gone.I’ve never had a dream like that before.”
“I don’t know,” he murmured.“Maybe the artifact is weakening?It’s been ten years, after all.Or maybe…”
“What?”I pressed when he fell silent.
Rathiel sighed and brushed his fingertips across my cheek.“It could be Calyx.”
My pulse skittered at the sound of his name.“What about him?”
“He’s a nightmare demon, and one of the fallen.This could be his doing.A psychological way of tormenting you.Forcing you to relive—remember—your worst memories.”
“But I don’t have a headache,” I countered.
“I don’t know,” Rathiel said.“I’m only speculating.He has the power to torment people in their dreams, though.Maybe because you’re not actively trying to recall it, you’re not experiencing the side effects?”
Excitement—and dread—bubbled within me.I wanted nothing more than to remember what happened before I arrived here, but a part of me also feared that.If these were the types of memories Rathiel scrubbed, what other horrors awaited me?
“What does this mean?”I asked.“Could he possibly unlock the rest of my memories?”
“Calyx was there that day.I suspect that’s the only reason he could do this—ifhe’s even the one responsible.It could be the artifact, for all we know.”Rathiel glanced away from me, his expression perplexed.I could practically see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to make sense of this.“Calyx is the only one with this kind of power.The only one who can access people’s minds.”
I shuddered, loathing the idea of a fallen angel mucking around in my already mucked-up head.
“It fits his personality,” Rathiel continued.“He would want to hurt you.To remind you of all the pain you’ve suffered.This is a game to Calyx, to all of them.Lucifer delights in causing pain and torturing people.His soldiers are no different.”
“You are,” I stated unequivocally.“You’re different.You’ve never been like them.”
His face twisted into a harsh expression.“As you so kindly pointed out tonight, you barely know me.You know what I’ve shown you.I’ve lived eons before you were born, Lily.You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
A spark of defiance flared in me, chasing away the lingering dread.I thought back to Gremory and the way I’d brought him to his knees, searing him with hellfire, showing him that I wasn’t some helpless pawn in their twisted game.I’d stood my ground, refused to cower in the face of my father’s forces.
I lifted my chin, meeting Rathiel’s intense gaze.“Maybe I don’t know what you’re capable of, Rathiel.But they don’t know what I’m capable of either.”
A glimmer of pride lit Rathiel’s eyes.His lips curved into a rare, genuine smile.“No, they don’t,” he murmured, his voice warm.“But they’re about to find out.”
I gave a feral grin.“Yes, they are.”
ChapterTwenty-Four
After a bit of sleep,I stumbled out of my bedroom and knuckled the sleep from my eyes.The apartment was oddly quiet—no maniacal imp dashing around, chasing a hissing cat, and no grumpy vampire clattering in my kitchen.All was silent.It was just me and the sound of my footsteps dragging across the cool floor.
Yawning, I glanced toward the living room and stopped short, blinking.Rathiel lay sprawled out on the couch, his figure too large to rest comfortably.His long legs hung over the edge and an arm dangled over the side.But that wasn’t the sight that stopped me.No, that honour belonged to Purrgatory and Vol.My cat had claimed a spot on Rathiel’s chest and was purring so loudly, I could hear him across the room.As for Vol, he’d curled up like a smug little gremlin in the crook of Rathiel’s arm, his hands and feet twitching every so often.The domestic image made me smile—a fallen angel, an imp, and a cat, all snuggled together.Awake, they loathed each other, but while slumbering, they almost looked friendly.
I watched the three of them, imprinting the image into my mind.My gaze lingered on Rathiel’s devastatingly handsome face.His usual tension and guarded expression had smoothed out in his sleep.He looked younger, softer—human, almost.For once, he didn’t carry the weight of centuries on his shoulders.
Sadly, this peace wouldn’t last.Not if Lucifer had his way.
