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I tip my head up and meet his glower. “You will go with me. You know you will. That’s why you’re acting like a shithead.”
Cassius aims his flaming sword at my chest, stopping a mere inch from my body. If I so much as move, he’ll stab me. “I don’t know what kind of devil’s work you’re doing, but Heaven help me if you think you can poison me or my brethren with the dark chains of your soul. I would never turn my back on the Higher Power.”
“You’re crazy. Your righteousness not only blinds you from seeing the truth, but your cocky, know-it-all attitude will be what pushes your brethren toward Hell. Your inability to see beyond your light will send you over the edge.” I should keep my mouth closed, but Cassius makes me so angry. I want nothing more than to prove to him I’m right. He will be responsible for his own downfall. Not me. “Is that what happened with Lucian? You couldn’t stand that he wouldn’t fall in line and would rather jump from Heaven and turn his back on the supposed Higher Power than spend even another second of his eternity with you? It’s sad when someone would rather go to Hell.”
Cassius’s features sharpen with his fury, and he stabs his flaming sword into the bathroom door a few inches from my head. The heat of the angel fire radiates from the blade, stinging my skin. I screech and jerk away, the pain not unlike the burns Andre healed on my hands from attempting to open the door.
“How dare you speak of things you do not know.” Cassius bows forward, baring his teeth with his leer. I never truly believed in avenging angels—never really thought much about them either—but Cassius is the epitome of all things divine out to destroy the unholy. And right now, it’s me.
“Smite me and fuck off,” I mutter, my body trembling. This damn fear will be the cause of my demise if I can’t get my body to cooperate. “Do it and see what happens. Even Andre knows that you’re an overzealous dickwad who refuses to see anything beyond his scope of knowledge. He thinks you act the way you do because you fear your brethren will abandon you once they realize you’re the true devil in disguise.”
“He would never,” Cassius says, flaring his nostrils.
Throwing Andre in front of Cassius’s wrath might be a bitch move, but I’m desperate. I need him to focus anywhere but me as I plan what to do next. Being locked in the bathroom is one thing. But being trapped with an angel, who will figure out how to send me to Hell, even if I’m not part of his mission or whatever, is basically a nightmare comparable to being a demonic slave.
I smirk, loving the sound of Cassius’s doubt lining his voice. “Then you obviously don’t know him. He told me so right before he said he wanted me to suck his dick. I bet he’s angry that you interrupted his desire for me to bring a piece of Heaven to this plane with only my mouth.”
“He what?” Cassius snaps, his features morphing, the light of his flaming sword casting shadows over his face. And damn. He looks a lot like Lucian in this moment. If he shaved his head and grew out his beard, they would be a spitting image of each other. Except where Lucian’s eyes are pure black, Cassius’s are otherworldly amethyst. It makes me wonder how much Lucian changed with his creation of Hell.
“You heard me. He let me touch his big angelic cock and loved it. He wanted to put it in my mouth and fuck my face hard enough to feel it in my soul.” My words both excite me and make me cringe. I never expected anything so twisted to come from my mouth, but the last few weeks with Kase and Dante let me find my psycho, monstrous side. “He would’ve if Zade hadn’t come back to warn him you were coming.”
If only my words could hurt his angel ears. I thought I wanted to corrupt Andre. But it’s Cassius. I never thought I’d ever find pleasure in damning an angel, getting them to jump from grace to join Hell’s Kingdom, but it suddenly seems like the best thing in the universe. I will bring this jerk to his knees instead. And when he’s down, I’ll enjoy taking his wings.
“You abomination!” Cassius shouts, curling his fingers into fists so tightly that light seeps from between his fingers. “Andre! Zade! Return to me.”
He tips his head back and looks at the ceiling. I take his small distraction and manage to twist the doorknob to fling it open. Cassius’s flaming sword flies from its place lodged in the wood, and I scramble toward it.
Light bursts through the air, and wind gusts around me, sending my midnight hair flying. I haven’t believed in miracles until this moment, because Andre and Zade’s arrival cuts Cassius off.
“Yes, Cass?” Andre says, squaring his shoulders. His gaze flicks to mine, but he remains expressionless. He obviously was eavesdropping and knows I threw him in front of Cassius to protect myself. How he feels about it? I guess I’ll find out.
“Tell me what the devil’s pawn told me isn’t true. You didn’t disobey an order and engage in despicable acts with the enemy.” Cassius radiates with bright light, hazing the room with his ethereal glow. “You have a duty to the Higher Power and she wants to destroy us.”
“Cassius, please calm down. Raven doesn’t want to harm us. She’s acting out because she’s lost and has been denied help. I have neither disobeyed orders nor did anything despicable. All I’ve done was give her a moment to help ease the pain in her soul,” Andre responds, his voice remaining even. “I was merely comforting Raven in a time she needed it. We’ve failed her, you know. If you would take a moment to see it, you will understand what I do. Her soul bears Lucifer’s mark, but she’s still so pure and good.”
“It doesn’t matter!” Cassius shouts, stepping closer to Andre. “What’s done is done. There is nothing we can do for this mortal except ensure Lucifer can’t continue to use her. We can’t risk it. Her soul isn’t worth more than every other one that would be affected if Lucifer’s plans come to fruition. I know it’s Micah’s duty to complete this task, but I’m afraid he’s been lost. She must end here.”
Fuck.
“Cass, what aren’t you telling us?” Zade says, finally speaking up from his spot across the room. He steps closer to face Cassius. “I know you work hard for the Higher Power, but if you don’t let us see and know what you do, how can we stand together? What happened with Micah?”
Cassius groans and scrubs his hands over his face. How he can go from asshole angel to pathetic puppy with wide eyes? I wish I knew. “I suspect Micah will not be returning to us. I haven’t been given confirmation, but there is no other explanation for his silence toward my calls. Even if the devils have him, he’d call. You both know this.”
Andre swivels and looks at me from over his shoulder. Without him saying the words, I can feel his silent apology in the weight of his gaze. He doesn’t agree with Cassius, yet he also isn’t as naïve as I thought. He knows his place and where I stand. I guess I shouldn’t have hoped that an almost-blowjob could knock him off his path. And damn it. I need better Angel 101. It might be too long since Kase and Dante fell.
Flexing his muscles, Andre turns around to face Cassius head on. “I don’t think that’s it. You know Micah. He will put everything into a mission. I’m sure he’ll—”
“Micah has lost sight of his mission!” Cassius yells, expanding his wings. “The Hell-bound soul being here proves it. If you think there is even a small ounce of hope for her redemption, you are gravely mistaken, Andre. Look how fast she had you convinced that she was unjustly put in this situation.”
Stepping forward, Andre tries to place his hands on Cassius’s shoulders. “Cass, please. Relax. I’ve touched her soul myself. I—”
“You mean the same soul who nearly ruined us a century ago? The soul Raven carries is the same one responsible for Elias’s fall! We lost him because of her.” Cassius shoots heavenly light toward the wall, shaking the apartment with his burst of power. “How do you think she was angel-kissed? This isn’t my first experience with this soul. It’s why I know she can’t be saved. Even if she was, she will keep returning to this plane over and over in a never-ending cycle that will only cause more damage in her wake. It’s best to just let Hell have her. We can’t handle any more losses. I won’t allow it.”
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
I have no idea what any of Cassius’s revelations mean apart from that I’m screwed if he gets his way. Andre and Zade stand in silence, their bodies rigid as they process Cassius’s words. If only the monstrous angel wasn’t ready to send me to Hell, because I have a shit-load of questions that he might be the only one with answers to.
Processing that I have an angel-kissed soul is one thing. Discovering that Cassius knows exactly who loved me is crazy. I can’t even fathom that there was an angel who fell because of me for something that should never be someone’s downfall. Love is supposed to save the world. It is supposed to push people to do better, to be better. But this angel’s love for me? It ruined him. Now here I am, on the verge of destroying the world because of his love.
