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“No,” I stated firmly. “Uprooting the twins at a time like this would be a terrible idea.”
Sariel nodded his agreement. “Aria is in good hands.”
“I’m sorry if I’m not confident in your word, Mr. Ambrose,” she said, pointed.
Sariel swallowed and sat back in his chair. “I understand, but four people on the run makes for a pretty big target.”
“It would be five because Harry would want to come,” I said, then corrected myself. “Actually… Harry would never run.”
Rebecca’s silence once again confirmed that I was right.
“Now, put the twins on the line so I can say bye,” I repeated.
“Ari—”
“You don’t have much time. They could be tracking your calls right now,” Sariel interrupted, and I glanced at him gratefully. I didn’t think Rebecca understood the severity of my situation.
Still, she called for the girls, and I could give them a somewhat satisfactory explanation as to why they wouldn’t see me daily anymore. They didn’t understand, but with a bit of coaxing from Rebecca, they said goodbye and gave me the biggest, wettest kisses they could muster through the phone.
“Aria.”
Harry’s voice made my chest tighten. He’d always been like a big brother to me.
“Rebecca says you’re with Sariel Ambrose?” he continued. I almost smiled at his attempt to sound intimidating. “Is that a good idea?”
“Probably not,” I admitted. “But I haven't had a good idea in a few weeks now.”
He huffed a short laugh. “Take care of yourself, sweetheart.”
“Keep my nieces and sister safe, Harry.”
“I will.”
“Promise me,” I said, my heart suddenly aching at the thought of not hearing my nieces' little voices for a while, and not having wine nights with my sister when I desperately needed it.
“I promise.”
Rebecca’s cries encouraged mine, and when she took the phone from Harry, she could barely tell me how much she loved me through her tears. We got through it, though, and when I hung up, Sariel motioned for my phone.
I followed him outside to the back of the house, where a small tool shed had been erected. Inside it, he took a hammer to the small device until it was nothing more than tiny pieces of metal, which perfectly embodied the current state of my heart.
Shattered.
9
THE REAL SARIEL
Aria
Without Johnny as a buffer, Sariel and I avoided each other. Or, I avoided Sariel, really.
I’d heard everything he’d said to my sister. While it sounded fantastic to, in theory, have someone who would be able to anticipate Azazel’s or even the Upper Council’s moves, in reality, I didn’t trust Sariel enough to put my life in his hands.
And I could see the struggle within him, too. The way he flinched away from me when we were in the same room, sometimes, the way his nose scrunched up, either at my scent or something else.
In the back of my head, I was confident he’d turn me over to Azazel when I pissed him off, or maybe when he became sick of smelling me everywhere. I’d briefly considered asking Johnny for help, but Johnny’s loyalty was ultimately to Sariel. Not a half-blood who was taking up space in one of his homes.
So, I sat on the floor at the living area’s coffee table, holding a sheet of paper I’d torn from a blank notebook I’d found in Johnny’s guest room and a pencil I’d seen in the kitchen.Apparently, Johnny was an architect, because there were pencils scattered around the house in the oddest of spots.
