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Neo watched as I processed what he was telling me, and my breathing became frantic. “Aria—”
“No. No, he’s—Neo, it’sSariel.”
I paced his living room, trying to rub some warmth back into my arms. Why was it so cold, anyway?
“Why do you think he’s an Archdemon?” I demanded in a rasp, knowing full well he was going to get whiplash from my panic attack—a panic attack that was silly since I knew that this was all just our combined paranoia, not based in reality.
“I don’t know of any other creatures that can mimic someone that well. A witch can play with the mind, and fae can glamor, but they can rarely do both—especially simultaneously. Plus…” He hesitated a beat before pressing on. “Honestly, Aria, I just feel it. Johnny has noticed it, too.”
Nausea hit me in a wave. Johnny would have told me, right? If he thought something was seriously wrong, he’d have brought it up. Surely.
“What do Reese and Marilyn think?”
“I haven’t brought it up to them. Reese seems happy as long as you are, and I don’t think Marilyn’s noticed anything weird.”
I nodded, reassured that two of my best friends weren’t buying into this craziness, at least. There's no way I wouldn’t have noticed Sariel being—beingreplaced. Even the idea made my knees wobble in distress, and I took a steadying breath.
“And Auren?”
“I was hoping to convince you to bring it up. We don’t exactly talk.”
His disdain for the youngest Ambrose was noted, then thrown away by my next heel turn, eyes focused on the ground in front of me.
Auren would have noticed even if I hadn’t. He was too perceptive, and if Sariel was bringing him fucking pizza for dinner and bargaining to leave the compound just to be his normal sweet self, surely that meant he was fine.
Sariel wasfine. I needed to stop humoring this conversation, or my bout of paranoia was just going to get worse. The bond was just flaring like Atlan suspected, and I didn’t know what to do with it because it was all so new to us both.
Yeah.
“Okay,” I gave Neo a brittle smile. “I don’t know if I believe it, but thank you for talking with me.”
“Aria…” Neo’s eyes shut, and he blew out a long breath. “Aria, just be careful, okay? Something isn’t right with him, and I don’t want you getting hurt.”
His voice had softened, and I could form a more genuine smile when he ran his hands down my arms and made me look at him.
My heart was in my throat. I was pretty sure I was going to puke, but at least I could put this all to rest.
“I’ll be careful. I know something is going on with him. I was just hoping that maybe you had some more insight after the other day.”
When I’d acted like he was completely insane and gotten defensive about Sariel’s change in mood, in other words. I made a point to apologize, and Neo brushed it off gracefully before sending me on my way.
Somehow, I beat Sariel back to our bed.
17
THE WEAKEST LINK
SARIEL
He showed me Heaven.
It wasn't what I’d been expecting when he’d walked in and beamed at me, but it was a nice change of pace.
Contrary to popular belief, it was full of color instead of white, and when I looked around, all I could see were trees. It was quiet; when I turned, I almost laughed upon realizing that I'd somehow conjured up the sanctuary I'd wanted with Aria, impossible to miss in all its blue-and-green glory.
I walked the perimeter just to take it in. When I’d looked my fill, I made my way onto the porch and eyed the swing, taking a deep breath just to smell the flowers around us.
"So this is your idea of peace? How strange." Lucifer turned to take it all in with a critical eye, and I couldn't help feeling defensive. "It makes sense, I suppose, with your gifts. Have you considered trying to sell your work?"
