Daniel chuckled and stepped back to examine the facade of the Paradise Theatre. “This is a nice change,” he said. “My last hell gate was in a gym.”

“A gym?” The question got away from Wrath.

“Yeah.” Daniel nodded and looked around the town. “They tend to put hell gates where the overflow of emotion won’t alert people to the presence of the hell gate. Gyms are packed with insecurity, aggression, competitiveness, and hormones.”

From what Wrath had seen of the Paradise Players, Daniel’s gym didn’t seem all that different. It was probably the longest conversation Wrath had had with a guardian outside of official business. “You’re here to replace Dee?”

“Deandra.” Daniel nodded and focused back on Wrath. “Deandra Ward, yes.”

“Huh.” Wrath let his gaze travel from the man’s head to his toes. “You’re not what I was expecting.”

Daniel flashed him a friendly smile. “I get that a lot.”

“I’m sure you do.” Was he actually kind of liking a guardian? He jerked his head at the door. “You better go inside. Although I wouldn’t get comfortable. Dee is not happy about sharing her home with a stranger.” He stepped closer to Daniel to get his point across. “And if you make Dee unhappy, then you make me unhappy.”

“Wow.” A boyish grin broke over Daniel’s face. “You really are as badass as they told me you were.”

Wrath struggled against his own smile. He rather liked that descriptor. “Just remember that.”

“Right.” Daniel gave him an assessing look. “I’m not here to piss anyone off.” That smile appeared again. “Unless I find a being where they shouldn’t be.”

“Then you’re definitely going to be pissing beings off.” Wrath took delight in telling him. “Because there are hell princes and archangels coming out the woodwork here.”

Daniel sighed. “Great.” He shook his head. “I knew there had to be a reason they sent me here.”

Squaring his shoulders, he opened the door to the theatre and went inside.

Curiosity had Wrath following.

“So, you’re my replacement.” Dee stood in the middle of the passageway outside the greenroom with her arms folded.

Daniel held out his hand in greeting. “That’s what they tell me. Daniel Lee.”

“This is my theatre.” Keeping her arms crossed, Dee tried to maintain her icy composure but in the face of the friendly smile she was getting, it was a pathetic attempt. “And I live above it. There isn’t a room for you.”

“That’s fine.” Daniel retracted his hand and looked around him. “This is an amazing building.”

Dee defrosted a mite more. “It’s been in my family for generations.”

“Beautiful façade,” Daniel said. “And this part must be where the work happens.” He smiled sheepishly. “I don’t suppose you’d be okay with giving me a tour?”

“The hell gate’s in the basement.” Dee jerked her head toward the door to the basement stairs. “That’s all you need to know.”

Daniel sighed. “Fair enough.”

“Hi.” Rosabella appeared on the stairwell from the living quarters. She’d changed into a flowy summer dress that clung to her curves all the way to her ankles. She looked fresh, and sexy, and beautiful. She approached Daniel with a coquettish smile. “Don’t mind my mother; she’s just feeling grumpy.”

With a groan, Dee turned to her daughter. “Stay out of this Rosabella. This is guardian business.”

“You’re always telling me I should get more involved in guardian business.” Rosabella blinked her sea-colored eyes at her mother innocently. “Why don’t I get Daniel settled?”

Daniel flushed to his hairline and stared at Rosabella. “That’s okay. I can show myself around. Like Deandra says, the only thing I really need to know is where the hell gate is.”

“Nonsense.” Rosabella gave him her husky bedroom chuckle and threaded her arm through his. “I’ll show you everything.”

With a triumphant glance over her shoulder at him and Dee, she sashayed away with Daniel in tow.

“Balls!” Dee watched them go with a scowl. “Whenever she appears, trouble is sure to follow.”

Wrath breathed deep through the jealousy burning his soul. Rosabella would hardly look at him, said he frightened her, but she’d gone off with Daniel—a stranger—without a second’s thought. “Why does she do it?”

“Oh, Wrath.” Dee put a hand on his arm. “I wish I had a dollar for every time I’ve asked that question.” She shrugged. “To piss me off. To piss you off. Because she can. Pick one. Pick them all.”

Yeah well, Wrath wasn’t about to stand around and watch Rosabella make a slave of Daniel Lee. He had better things to do, like find his fucking brother and exact some payback. Then he needed to find his daughter. And he was going to do all of that without the pretty little shadow Ramiel had assigned him getting in his way.

Chapter Six

Wrath waited until the theatre was busy for the evening. He couldn’t sense her nearby, but he didn’t want Haziel popping up when he didn’t need her. Auditions taking place on stage covered his exit as he slipped down into the basement and opened the door to the room with the hell gate.

“Wrath.” Daniel appeared out of the murky basement and startled him. He hadn’t even sensed the fucker near him.

He didn’t have time for guardian bullshit, and he wasn’t about to let some puny human stop him. “I’m going through,” he told Daniel. He might not have his power back yet, but he could still take out one human.

Daniel studied him with careful brown eyes. “You’re going to find Lucifer.”

“And beat out of him what he’s done with my daughter.”

“Fair enough.” Daniel nodded.

The silence stretched between them, and Wrath moved to edge past him.

Rubbing his nape, Daniel intercepted him. “The thing is, Wrath, what if Lucifer is not behind her disappearance?”

Of course Lucifer was behind Eddie’s disappearance, and this human was in danger of losing a vital body part if he didn’t move. “He is.”

“He might be, or he might not be.” Daniel held up one hand. “Just hear me out.”

This was not the direction Wrath had thought a conversation with the new hell gate guardian would take—actually, he’d been looking for no conversation—but he’d listen. “What?”

“Something doesn’t add up.” Daniel grimaced. “All signs point to Lucifer, but according to Chris’s briefing, Lucifer helped Eddie and Shade escape you. Why would he do that if he wanted to kidnap Eddie?”

It echoed what Dee had said to him. “Then who else?”

“I don’t know.” Daniel shrugged. “Lucifer just seems such an obvious culprit.”

Wrath was so tired of explaining his brother to others. It felt like he’d come into being with excuses and explanations for Lucifer on his lips. “It was his second that kidnapped Eddie. A second he trusts implicitly. He’s been missing since she has. And he would do anything to piss me off. Kidnapping my daughter would be an epic move on his part.” He stepped into Daniel. “He seems like an obvious culprit for all those reasons and because he’s a dick wart of epic proportions. He thinks he’s the king of hell.”