Ramiel stepped closer to her. He took her braid and wrapped it tenderly around his fist. He seemed to be studying the individual strands of her hair. “I rather think that depends on you.”
“I don’t understand.” She’d seen Ramiel in many different moods, but this was a new one for her, and she felt adrift as she tried to navigate it. Perhaps it was her own guilt about the secrets between them that made her view him differently. She had never kept secrets from Ramiel. Until now.
“You see, Haziel. I know you.” He tugged on her hair and brought her closer to him. Heat radiated from his hard body, but it didn’t make her want to press into him like it did with Wrath. She didn’t know what to make of that but the look in Ramiel’s eyes kept her frozen; half speculative, and cunning. “You cannot lie to me, so if I ask you a direct question you will be forced to give me the answer.”
“Please don’t ask it,” she whispered, her heart in her throat.
“And that, in itself, is an answer.” He looked at her with profound disappointment, dropping her braid as he stepped back. “There is more between you and Wrath,” he said. “And you are dangerously close to him.” He shrugged. “I blame myself for sending you on a mission with him. I didn’t think, however, you would be foolish enough to fall for a lout like him.”
Haziel burned to defend Wrath, but Ramiel’s unreadable mood kept her silent. She had fallen for Wrath, that much was true. But she had no idea how far or how deep.
“I will help the Nephilim.” Ramiel sighed and stepped back. “And in return you will leave this theatre on a mission for me, and not tell Wrath that you have gone.”
“Why?” She tried to glean the answer from his eyes. “Lucifer is still missing. The rebel demon hordes are growing. Our work in hell is not complete.”
“Yours is.” His eyes went emerald hard. “You will put distance between yourself and Wrath. You will go and investigate the stirring of the horsemen. And in exchange, I will help with his daughter.”
Haziel gaped at him. She had never seen Ramiel’s cunning streak turned against her. It felt like a kick to her chest. She was momentarily robbed of breath. “Why are you doing this?”
“Haziel.” He shook his head. “You are so naive and it falls to me to protect you. Do as I ask, and I will help his daughter. And once you are finished, you will return to my demesne and remain there. I gave you my trust, and you have not proven worthy.”
That hurt, and she barely suppressed a flinch. But Ramiel spoke only the truth. She had come dangerously close to betraying Ramiel in deed, and she had betrayed him in thought.
Then she thought about Eddie and the shock of seeing her lying drained and depleted in that bed. The horror Wrath had concealed from his daughter about her condition. The heartbreak written clear across Shade’s face. And as much as she wanted to remain here, there really was no choice. Wrath loved his daughter, and perhaps if she hadn’t delayed him in hell, they would have found Eddie sooner. If ensuring Eddie healed completely would spare Wrath the pain of watching her struggle, then that’s what she’d do. “When would you like me to leave?”
“Now.”
“I promised Wrath I would stay until he got back.”
Ramiel’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I will explain that you have gone.” He spread his arms. “The choice is yours, however.” He smirked as if he already knew her decision.
And for the first time in the thousands of years she had served him, Haziel did not like her archangel.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Eddie woke to her bedroom door creaking open. The hounds were bookending her, but Shade wasn’t there.
“The master has to attend the gathering,” Cronus said without opening his eyes. “But your hounds are here.”
“Eddie?” A woman whispered.
“This one smells like you, but is nothing like you,” Xerxes said.
“Eddie are you awake?” Rosabella slipped through the door crack. “It’s Mom.”
Her mother was here. Nobody had said a word to her about that. Easing herself into a sitting position, Eddie said, “Hi.” She couldn’t quite manage the mom and didn’t want to hurt Rosabella’s feelings by using her name.
It had to be weird that her first thought wasn’t joy about her mother being here, but more along the lines of what Rosabella wanted.
“Oh, Eddie.” Rosabella pressed a hand to her mouth. Her aqua eyes swam with tears. “You look awful.”
Okay, putting that one down to shock, Eddie said, “It’s been…rough.”
“I told my mother she shouldn’t get you involved in this guardian shit.” Rosabella perched on the side of her bed. “Look what it’s done to you.”
There were so many counterarguments to that statement, but Eddie didn’t have the energy. Some time in their brief interactions she’d given up on contradicting Rosabella’s version of reality. “I’ll be fine. Wrath and Ramiel have been healing me, and Shade says I need to rest.”
“What happened?” Rosabella patted her cheeks dry. “Nobody will tell me, and I am your mother.”
In the loosest and purely biological sense, that was true. “I don’t really want to talk about it.”
“Of course.” Rosabella nodded and looked stricken. “I shouldn’t have asked.” Her eyes teared up again. “I just had to see you to make sure you were all right.”
Flashes of moments when Rosabella had not been there went through Eddie’s mind—the time she had broken her arm falling off the stage, the time she had come home crying from the park because none of the children would play with the “weirdo from the theatre,” her first heartbreak. “I’m going to be fine.”
Cronus pressed his huge body against her. “You will be. The master and your hounds will make sure of that.”
“I don’t know what’s going on around here,” Rosabella wailed. “But nobody will tell me anything, and now there are archangels and hell princes all over the place.” She sobbed and swiped at her cheeks. “And they’re all meeting and waiting for the guardians, and they won’t let me attend. Of course, my mother is allowed to attend.” Rosabella’s face hardened. “And I don’t know why she’s allowed to attend when she isn’t even the guardian anymore. That idiot Daniel has taken over from her, and officially she wasn’t even the guardian before he arrived. I was.”
“Hmm.” Eddie kept it noncommittal. But she didn’t believe you could claim the title of guardian without having been near the hell gate in years.
“Anyway.” Rosabella heaved a big breath and squared her shoulders. “That’s nothing for you to worry about.” She patted Eddie’s legs through the covers. “You need to rest up and recover, and the last thing you need to worry about is me.”
Eddie’s head gave a dull throb, and all she wanted to do was go back to sleep. She didn’t have it in her to deal with Rosabella right now. “I am very tired.”
“I’m sure.” Rosabella squeezed her leg. “After what you’ve been through. I mean, after what happened to you…” She gave Eddie a look brimming with hope that Eddie would fill in the blanks.
