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“We donot,” Uriel says. “They are a nuisance—nothing more. Annihilating them would be a waste of resources when we are engaged in warfare with the Infernal Legion elsewhere.”
Gideon grins. “And if we did it for you?”
Uriel’s lips curve, revealing a glimpse of black teeth. “Well…that would change things. But as I said, you do not have the resources.”
“Which is why we need allies andweapons.”
“The last time we gave you resources, you spat in our faces and stole them,” Uriel says. “Why should I trust you?”
“Because we want what you have to offer.”
“You expect me to treat with you—totrustyou,” he says, “when you’ve brought a traitor into your midst.”
The room stands still.
I swallow hard, knowing I’m the only one here who’s recently joined the pack. I want to glance around to see if Ephraim is in the room, but I’m fairly confident he hung back at the citadel…and now I’m starting to understand why.
Keep your mind clear, he said before I came here.
I didn’t listen.
The Angel turns around slowly, its black eyes trained on me.
“That’s right,” he says. “I presume you didn’t know many of us are clairvoyant, Javier Ortega. I see your intentions as they form in your mind…and I hear your secrets and sins.”
He glances at Gideon.
“You should catch him before he turns and runs off.”
But I’m already in the process, the panic making my transformation unstoppable. I snarl as men approach me from either side, alphas close to my size, ready to strike.
I feel Peaches’ panic on the other side of the bond; she can sense my dread, my fear.
I have to get back to her.
We have to runnow.
I slash my claws out at the man on my right and whip around to leave, transforming as I go. I stay just human enough to open the door with my hands, and I reach for the handle—but a wave of force pins me against the wall, knocking the breath out of me. I struggle to get up, my hand shakes, my legs are weak…
…and the next thing I know, someone’s hit me hard in the back of the head.
I go down, splayed across the floor with enemies closing in. The Angel’s power—however it works—weighs me down as his guards surround me, and the Gulf Pack’s alphas join them. The last thing I see is Gideon’s steel-toed boots, his eyes downcast.
“Oh Javier,” he says. “I had such hopes for you.”
And then his foot collides with my face and everything goes black.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
?
PEACHES
I’m adrift.
I burrow into my nest of Javi’s clothes, the bond wavering, my world collapsing in on me. I close my eyes and zero in on his location, but all I can get is a steady, slow pulse. At least I know he’s alive, but that’s cold comfort when I saw him go into the mess hall with a horde of alphas and an Angel.
I didn’t see him come out.
