Page 18 of Enchanted

Ididn’t leave my rooms for three weeks.

I knew I’d scared the Seraphim by arriving home covered in blood, muttering incoherently about finding my mate and about how he’d never be mine. They were worried sick, I knew that.

But it wasn’t enough to make me open the door to them.

All of them had tried. Micah and Ezekiel several times. But I’d ignored them all. There was no world-ending catastrophe happening that required my skills. For once in my damned immortal life, I was being selfish.

Wasn’t every day that you found your happiness and lost it all at the same time. I was entitled to some moping.

I stared at my ceiling, listening to the sounds echoing through the house. Evidence of life continuing without me. Everyone going about their routine as though things were normal. I guessed they were for them.

But not for me. They wouldn’t be ever again.

The bond thrummed in my chest. Ethan was always with me. I didn’t know if it was the lack of the full bond or the distance between us, but I couldn’t feel every shift of his emotions. I could only compare it to looking at people through a fogged-up window. The figures were there, but that was all I knew. I couldn’t see the nuances of their features or the expressions on their faces.

What should’ve been comforting was frustrating. I didn’t want a glimpse into Ethan’s life, I wanted a front-row seat. I wanted to be at his side, knowing precisely what was happening. The emotions that did come through were hardly reassuring. He seemed listless. Helpless.

Hopeless.

I hated it. More than that, I hated that I didn’t know how to help him without inserting myself into his life. God only knew what would happen if I did. I liked to think I wouldn’t fling him over my shoulder and fly him off to an island somewhere, that I wouldn’t keep him there until he finally fell in love with me and vowed to be mine forever.

I liked to think that.

But I knew myself better. People might believe angels and demons were leagues apart, but they forgot that we were once all the same. Truly, I think the main difference was in the colour of our wings. All the other factors—the selfish, obsessive, possessive natures—we shared those.

Angels just had better PR.

I tensed as footsteps drew nearer to my door. I wasn’t surprised. Barely a few hours passed without someone checking on me. The ward on my outer door informed me that it was Benji this time.

Fuck.

I’d managed to ignore him the first time he’d knocked, but it had been tough. Benji struggled with reading people and situations, but he had no issues when it came to addressing them. Trying to avoid him when he had his mind set on speaking to you was near impossible.

His knuckles rapped on the door, his voice following immediately after. “Rami? Open up.”

“Go away,” I groused, pulling my duvet up to my chin. “I don’t want to talk.”

“I’ve given you twenty-one days. That’s plenty of time to process what you’ve been through. Prolonging the processing period is not conducive to a good state of mental health.”

“Says who?”

“Google.”

I huffed. “Google can’t be trusted.”

“But I can,” Benji said wryly. “And you know I’m never wrong. Now you can either remove your wards and unlock the door, or I’ll do it for you.”

I debated making him do just that, but the mess it’d leave would probably dampen my mood further. Getting to my feet with a grumble, I let a tendril of power free, removing the wards. I unlocked the door to my bedroom before heading to the outer one and repeating the action. I didn’t open it though, just spun on my heel and returned to my bed.

With my duvet back in place, I glowered at the ceiling. Fucking angels. Why couldn’t they just let me sulk in peace?

“Because we care about you,” Benji said as he slipped into my room and leaned against the wall.

I turned my glare on him. “Did you suddenly learn to read minds?”

“No.” He smirked. “But Ez said you’d be pissed about me forcing my way in here. And he was right. Not bothering to open the door felt very passive-aggressive.”

“Didn’t stop you coming in.”