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“I found Asura. Well, technically she found me.”
“What happened?” He tossed the cloth on the table beside his piles of books and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his knees as he gave me his full attention.
“She spewed a bunch of bullshit about the law being unfair and how I didn’t have to live by Heaven’s rules.”
“And then?”
“And then she left, blended into the crowd.”
“So she’s still out there.” It wasn’t a question.
“I don’t think she’ll try anything for a few days.”
“And what makes you say that?”
“Because she wants me to meet her Sunday night. If she wants my help with anything, she won’t be pissing me off between now and then. It’s after I don’t show up that I have to worry about. I don’t think she’s going to take kindly to being rejected.”
“Hm.” He pulled a bottle of wine from under his bed and took a swig straight from the bottle. “Is Piper still staying with Nate and Sierra?”
“More like they’re staying with her. All of them showed up yesterday and are staying at the Amato house.” An image of Siren’s face popped into my mind unbidden, and I held out my hand for the bottle of wine.
Joriel passed it through the bars of the door, and I took a generous gulp that didn’t help nearly as much as I’d hoped it would. Joriel’s choice of alcohol had never done it for me.
“So what are you really doing sitting here with me?” Joriel asked, taking the bottle back from me.
“Am I not allowed to want to spend time with you before I lose you to Lucifer?”
He laughed without any real humor. “Allow me to rephrase. Why are you sitting on a hard floor outside a cell, drinkingwineinstead of warming Piper’s bed?”
The wine churned in my stomach. “We’re done with that. I’m done wasting her time.”
“I see. So you’re getting out of her way so she can marry someone else and have a boring, normal life.”
My hands clenched into fists at my sides. I didn’t want to think about Siren with someone else, sharing her bed with him, his name on her lips as she came.
I stood up abruptly. I needed to get out of this room, out of this city. Somewhere far away from Siren and the part of me that wanted to fight for her no matter what it cost me.
Twenty-Eight
Piper
I staredat the bubbles rising in my glass of champagne. Orlando’s engagement party was beautiful, and I wanted to be happy for my brother, but I wasn’t feeling very festive at the moment.
A part of me had hoped that Sam would come back or reach out. I’d considered and rejected the idea of texting him a hundred times in the past two days. I hated the way we left things. It wasn’t just about the sex. It had never really been about the sex. Sam and I were more than that no matter what we pretended.
“Hey.” Sierra dropped into the chair beside me.
At least she and Nate hadn’t abandoned me when Sam did. After hearing what happened, Nate called his brother an idiot and Sierra dragged me into my room with a bottle of wine and the baby. The three of us had had a makeshift girls’ day watchingGilmore Girlson Netflix. I’d done an embarrassing amount of crying that day.
“You’re staring at your drink instead of drinking it,” Sierra pointed out. “Trade?” She held out her daughter.
I took Nova and my heart melted as she rested her tiny head against my chest. This little girl was one of the main things keeping me going. She was adorable and so easy to love. It was impossible not to get lost in her little smiles and eyes that seemed wise far beyond her three months. The resemblance between her and her father was staggering. Other than her head of red hair, she was all Nathaniel. Speaking of her father…
“Where’s Nate?” I asked. I’d have expected him to be glued to Sierra’s side during the party. Between his dislike of people and his fierce protectiveness of his family, it seemed like a given.
“He’s talking to your brother,” Sierra answered. “I estimate we have about two minutes before he comes looking for us.”
“Are you still planning on sightseeing in the city?” I asked.
