“The arches are dealing with Ramiel.” Shade grinned. “And don’t call me Shirley.”

“And he makes crappy jokes.” And they still made her laugh.

“Hey.” He jostled her gently against him. “Leslie Nielsen was a comedic genius.”

“You’re so old.”

“You have no idea.”

She took a moment to bask in the tender warmth of his smile. And then it was back to business. “So what’s the plan now?”

“Plan?”

Yeah, if this thing between them was going anywhere, he needed to learn that she was on to his bullshit. “The plan you, Sophia, and Wrath have been whispering about for the past two days.”

Groaning, Shade dropped his head back and stared at the ceiling. “Eddie, why can’t you be like most of humanity and wallow in blissful ignorance?”

She poked his stomach to get his attention—and holy ab overload. “What are you three cooking up?”

“It’s unrelated to Haziel.”

Not good enough. “Try again.”

Shade’s eyes gleamed silver. “There are far more interesting things we could be doing than discussing this.”

Holy shitballs. She’d almost forgotten how powerful his lust thing was. It hit her in the core like a promise of Nirvana…but she was on to him, and she breathed deep and punched him. “Stop that shit and tell me.”

Later, she promised her rioting woman parts.

“Eddie.” He tugged her against him. “Please don’t ask this of me. Please don’t ask that I expose you to danger again.”

How could you simultaneously want to hug and smack a male? “I think the time for shielding me flew out the window when Ashe abducted me.”

“Exactly.” Shade drew back far enough to meet her gaze. “You suffered, and I would not have you suffer again.”

“I’m in this. I want to help.” She nestled against his chest, needing the connection. “I didn’t choose this, but it is what it is now, and pushing me to the sidelines hurts like hell.” She looked up at him so he could see her truth in her eyes. “And I’m tired of being a victim.”

His struggle played across the finely made bone structure of his face and settled in the silvery depths of his eyes. “I never want you to suffer again.”

“Then give me the knowledge that empowers me.” He needed to understand this, or there was no future for them. “Give me choices.”

Chapter Thirty-Three

Yesterday—who probably wouldn’t see tomorrow if Wrath had anything to do with it—had produced a date and time for a rebel demon meeting. Since his return minus Haziel from the horsemen’s resting place, he had thrown himself into activity. He didn’t want to think about the gnawing ache in his chest, so he drove himself to get to the root of what was happening with the demons and the seals. Still, in those quiet moments when he rested, sparkling green eyes, velvety dusky skin, and a sweet laugh chased him back into action again. She’d gone with Ramiel. Worse than that, she’d begged him to let her go.

And he, like the fucking idiot he was, had let her. When was he going to learn around females? They all fucking left sooner or later. The ones that made him feel things did, in any case. One glimmer of a silver lining in this whole clusterfuck was that his loss of Haziel had put in perspective any lingering fondness he might have felt for Rosabella.

She was constantly around, batting her lashes at him and pouting in a way that used to make him want to move hell for her. Now her heavy-handed attempts at ingratiation made him want to punch shit. Actually, he pretty much wanted to punch shit as a default right now.

Just when Wrath was warming up enough to Shade not to want to eviscerate him on sight, they stood outside the theatre with Wrath unable to believe he was looking at Eddie standing there beside Shade. And Shade would do as his first punching bag.

“She asked me to let her make her own decisions.” Shade shrugged. “To give her choices.”

“Choices?” Wrath spat. Choices that could very well get her dead. Haziel had made a choice, and it hadn’t been him. Rosabella had made that same choice. Now Shade wanted him to condone him sending his daughter right into the belly of the beast.

“Yup.” Dee slid out of the backstage door and joined them. “We all need them.”

And Wrath’s night slid into his top three worst ever. Fucking choices! This was the problem with humans. They always insisted on choices in matters they were woefully ill-equipped to make decisions about. For the sake of his budding relationship with his daughter, he kept the rancor out of his tone. “These are not matters that involve humans.”

“Beg to differ there, big man.” Dee thumped his shoulder. “This affects all of us. You go boom, and we all go boom.”

“Dee?” Eddie frowned down at her grandmother. “What are you doing here?”

“Me?” Dee’s eyes went all innocent and wide behind her pink zebra print glasses. “I thought we were infiltrating a secret demon meeting. That’s what I’m doing here.” She shrugged and grinned at Eddie. “But if we’re just going for a burger and a beer, I’m down with that too.” Hauling a heaven wrought blade out from under her sweatshirt, she grimaced. “But I’ll probably leave this behind if we’re doing the burger and beer thing.”

Wrath felt the growl building in his core, and he closed on Shade. They’d agreed—him, Shade, and Sophia—that they would handle this quietly and on their own. He refused to be like Ramiel and send others into danger. “Did you tell everyone?”

“Eddie forced the information out of me.” Shade grinned down at Eddie, his expression softening. “She can be very persuasive.”

“Stop it.” Wrath pounded his arm. He did not want to hear any of that about his daughter. “Don’t do that. Don’t think that. Don’t even imagine that.”

Eddie smiled and stepped closer to him. “There is nothing like that going on.”

“Yet,” Shade murmured.

Aaaand that was enough for Wrath. He threw a punch that sent Shade flying across the parking lot and into the side of the large trash containers at the far end.

“Satanus!” Sophia snapped and shoved his chest. “There is no need for that.”

There was every need. “You heard what he said about my daughter.”

“Standing right here.” Sophia glared at him. “And I told Dee about this outing.”

Wrath gaped at her, not sure he’d heard right, or able to make any sense of what she’d said in case he had heard right. She had been right beside him as they’d snapped the hold the horsemen had on his broken Haziel. “Why?”

“Because she’s the guardian.” Sophia smoothed her hair back into the braid she’d contained it in. “And she deserves to know.”

“Ex-guardian.” Daniel Lee stepped around the corner and made an apologetic face at Dee. “Sorry, Dee, but officially you’re no longer the guardian.”

Dee stiffened and glared at Sophia. “What’s he doing here?”

“The same thing you are.” Daniel winked at Dee. “Either we’re infiltrating a secret meeting or going for a burger and a beer. Personally, a cheese and bacon burger with fries and a micro IPA would be my vote, but I’ll go with the crowd.”

Wrath’s head felt like it might explode. He wouldn’t risk one more person he cared about. He couldn’t see another being that meant something to him damaged. Breathing deep, he forced the image of Haziel’s horrific injuries out of his mind.

Eddie put a hand on his chest. “Dad.”