It wasn’t like it was some big secret, but she got the distinct impression trying to bring up her request with Shade would end up in charming and well-considered objections. As a female archangel, as well as being the most approachable of the supernaturals, Sophia was Eddie’s choice to take her request to. “I need her help with something.”

“What?” Shade looked a little hurt. “What can Uriel help you with that I can’t?”

“She prefers to be called Sophia.” Eddie sidestepped his question and stared at the hounds.

“She is in the basement,” Cronus said.

“Good.” Eddie headed off in that direction.

Shade followed.

“Look.” She stopped and turned to him. “I want to talk to Sophia. Alone. I won’t be in any danger, and I promise I will not leave the theatre without letting you know.”

The hounds looked at Shade, and Eddie got the sense they were having a private conversation.

She gentled her tone as she took Shade’s hand. “This is nothing dangerous. It’s more of a woman-to-woman thing.”

He searched her face for a moment and then nodded. “I worry, Eddie.” He cupped her cheek in his palm. “The last time you were out of my sight terrible things happened to you.”

Gah! This guy. He’d found her when she needed finding, taken care of her like she was the most precious being on the planet, and kept saying sweet things. And not once had he brought up their last conversation before Ashe had kidnapped her. She wasn’t remotely ready to talk about them, and he seemed to know that, but there was an endless patient quality around him that reassured her he’d suffered no change of heart. “I just want to talk to Sophia quickly. I promise I will tell you about it after I’ve spoken to her.”

“Then I shall wait right here until you are done.” He pointed to the floor outside the basement door.

“Right there?” Eddie raised an eyebrow at him. “Won’t your ass get cold?”

He flashed her the signature Shade smirk. The one that took her knees out in a twinkle of gray eyes and quirk to the side of his beautiful mouth. “You could always warm it for me.”

“Keep dreaming, handsome.” She patted his cheek and scurried into the basement before she took him up on the offer. Shade did have a spectacular ass. Actually, Shade had many, many things that could be described as spectacular, and she’d seen all of them.

“Hello, Eddie,” Sophia called as Eddie descended into the quiet gloom of the basement.

The archangel appeared out of the dark wearing jeans and a plaid shirt. A faint glow framed her, and Eddie was smacked in the head by the archangel’s beauty. Blond, blue-eyed, peachy skin adorning perfect bone structure, and if that wasn’t bad enough, Sophia was sweet and kind.

“You’re looking well.” Sophia smiled. “I didn’t want to bother you, but Shade has been letting me know how you were doing.” She glanced behind Eddie. “Where is Shade?”

“Waiting for me upstairs.” She jerked her thumb to the stairs. “I wanted to speak to you on my own.”

Sophia raised one of her sculpted brows. “Oh?”

Now that she was here, Eddie felt a bit silly, but she’d been thinking about this off and on since Shade had brought her back. “I need your help with something.”

“Really?” Sophia looked delighted.

“Yup.” Lying in bed recovering had given her all kinds of time to think, and all kinds of time to realize how vulnerable she was. “I wondered if you could help me with my powers.”

Sophia cocked her head. “I don’t understand.”

“To control them.” The few times she had used her power, Eddie had found it to be more of a battering ram than a precision instrument. But she’d watched the way Sophia, and Shade, and even Wrath could wield power like a finely crafted tool. How they knew what they were capable of. “To be able to use them effectively.”

Taking a seat on a plastic storage crate, Sophia patted the space beside her. “Talk to me, Eddie. Why?”

“When I was taken—” Eddie was still not comfortable bringing those memories to the fore. “I felt so vulnerable, useless. I keep thinking if maybe I’d known more, been able to do more, I might not have been so much at their mercy.”

“Oh, Eddie.” Sophia took her hand and pressed it between hers. “From what you and Shade have told me, I don’t think even I would have been able to free myself. They drained your powers, and that left you weaker than an infant.”

“I know, but…” And this was the reason she’d chosen Sophia to speak to and not Shade. “As women, we’re always aware of our own vulnerability. I don’t want to live that way for the rest of my life. I know there will always be times when I can’t do anything, but I want to know, that if I could do something, I would be able to.”

Sophia nodded and her gaze was gentle. “You know, your world is not so different in that respect to ours. We that identify as female archangels or hell princes, we share the struggle of human women to be treated with the same respect, and to be measured by a fair yard stick.” She shrugged, and her expression grew colder. “It matters not what powers we possess, or what acts we perform, we are always seen as somehow less than our male identifying counterparts.”

“But you’re just as powerful, aren’t you?”

“Oh, yes.” Sophia chuckled. “And in some cases, more so. You should speak to Ava about this.” She shook her head. “She has much to say about the patriarchy and her resentment of it.”

“Ava?” Eddie went through her mental files on supernaturals. “That’s Avarice, right?”

Sophia nodded. “Her real name is Mammon, but nobody dares call her that.”

“Who is her counterpart archangel?”

Sophia grimaced. “Michael, and he’s…a little backward in his attitude toward females.”

Michael hadn’t impressed her much when Eddie had met him. He seemed to do a lot of chest thumping and threatening.

“So.” Sophia squeezed her hand. “What would you have me help you with?”

“These powers I have.” Eddie rubbed at her chest instinctively. She didn’t know for sure, but her chest seemed to be the place they resided. “Help me understand them and use them.”

“I can certainly do that.” Sophia grinned at her, blue eyes dancing with mischief. “But I can do even better than that. Why don’t I teach you to fight as well?”

“Like fight, fight?” Eddie had sudden visions of herself dressed head to toe in kickass leather and handing out bitch slaps.

“Like that.” Sophia smiled. “You find yourself in a new reality, Eddie. And one where the stakes are incredibly high. It would be my honor to help you prepare for that reality.”

Eddie needed to get this straight before her imagination went wild. “When you say fight, you mean like you did with Shade that time?”

“That and more.” Sophia stood and brushed the seat of her pants. “Knives, swords, bow and arrow, whatever you like.” She leaned closer to Eddie. “When Wrath returns, you could ask him to help you as well. Don’t tell Shade I said this, but there is no finer warrior in heaven or hell.” She winked. “And whatever you do, don’t tell Michael. He’ll take it as a personal invitation to prove you wrong, and Wrath will hand him his ass.”

Eddie’s insecure little girl chose to put in an appearance. “Will Wrath help me?”

“Oh, Eddie.” Sophia’s smile was pure sweetness. “Wrath is desperate to be of use to you in whatever manner you will allow him. And he really is the best one to help you with your specific power.”

She hadn’t seen Wrath in a couple of days. “Where is he?”

“I’m not sure.” Sophia shrugged. “We’re not very good at keeping each other informed, but if I had to guess, I would say he’s gone to wherever Ramiel sent Haziel.”

“Really?” And who didn’t like a spot of tea. “Are he and Haziel a thing?”

“Not officially.” Sophia’s expression went mischievous. “But judging by the way Ramiel is looking like he wants to pee on Haziel’s leg, and Wrath disappeared shortly after she did, I would say there is something going on.”