There were people from all the kingdoms, dancing and laughing and beinggosh-darnjolly together.All following after their leaders blindly.No mind of their own, especially those Envies.
“We will rule Hell and Heaven soon,” Dani said, crossing one leg over the other and making eye contact with Raphaela across the room.“The three of us.”
* * *
When the party was over and Dani and Eros were both passed out on my bed, I walked out onto my balcony and into the cold.Breathing it in.Welcoming it.Rejoicing in it.I had felt cold for all my life, yet inside, the bedroom was warm with their body heat and with something more.
From up here, I could see all of Pride.The people down below.The lights flickering on in the town.The snow pummeling down on the crisp white walkways.It was bliss.I feltso much bliss.
Suddenly, someone banged on my door.Eros grumbled from the bed, opening his eyes briefly.They were a hazy black mess.I told him not to get up and hurried to the door before they could knock again.
As soon as I opened the door, a guard grabbed my hand and pulled me out of the room, rushing down the hall.“Commander, you have to see this.”
We walked down a few flights of stairs to the Chapel Room, and I stopped when I saw my two guards lying dead on the ground and the door wide open.
“What the fuck?”
I hurried into the room, my eyes growing even wider.
It was gone.
The Crucifix was gone.
My heart thumped against my chest.Those damn Envies.One must’ve died trying to steal it.Fuck, it probably burned through all of them by now.Only angels could wield its power, and yet not one angel resided among them.
The only angel close to being able to wield its power was Dani, but Dani would never steal it.She had no use for it.She was strong without it.
Unless …
Raphaela.
“Where the fuck is she?”I shouted.“Raphaela, get the fuck out here right now!Don’t you dare even think about?—”
“Commander, we believe this happened during the party,” my guard said, nodding.“Raphaela has been watched since last night.She would not have done this.She couldn’t have.”
There were quick footsteps, and Raphaela appeared at the foot of the stairs.Her hair all jumbled, her eyes tired.She didn’t look like she knew shit.My jaw twitched, and I punched the nearest wall.
No, it wasn’t like me to get angry.
But whoever it had been knew what they were doing.Setting a trap.Leading me astray.Taking things for themselves.So many names and people crossed my mind, yet I didn’t know who it could be.All I knew was that there had been one group of people desperate for that cross—Envies.
Forty-Six
“Luci,”Raphaela said, brushing her fingers against my back to try to calm me.
But I was anything but calm.Having her here was making me even crazier and more stressed out than I had ever been in my entire life.
Someone ripped Raphaela away from me.Dani slid her hand around Raphaela’s throat and pinned her to the wall.“What do you not understand about personal space, Raphaela?”she asked, drawing a finger down the column of her throat.“Lucifer asked you to stay away from him.”
Raphaela grasped Dani’s wrist, tugging harshly on it.“I?—”
“I don’t care.”Dani squeezed her throat harder until Raphaela’s pale, milky skin turned purple.“You angels may think that Lucifer is the most horrid fallen angel to ever live, but Luci letsmedeal with the things he doesn’t want to deal with.I get to clean up his mess in any way I want to.”
Dani placed a kiss below Raphaela’s ear, and Raphaela visibly shook.
“Dani,” I said, voice tight.“There’s no time for this.We have bigger problems than Raphaela.”
“She’s my only problem,” Dani said.“All these problems arose when she fell from Heaven … don’t you think that’s more than just a coincidence?”
