All the air rushed out of Wrath’s lungs as he looked at her. He hadn’t seen her since he’d left the earth plane without her. “Rosabella.”
Chapter Three
Rosabella? The name resonated with Haziel as she lurked in the corridor outside the kitchen. To be fair, she hadn’t come upstairs with the intention to lurk. She’d been standing in the corridor outside the kitchen debating how to break it to Wrath that he now had a shadow—her—when the human had swept past her in a waft of roses and oranges.
She was a touch over medium height for a human woman, with a willowy shape draped in muslin. Shining honey brown hair reached her waist in a cascade of gentle curls. She’d moved past Haziel so quickly that she hadn’t caught a glimpse of her face.
The look on Wrath’s face held Haziel captive for a moment.
He looked like Shade had kicked him in the solar plexus.
Shade stopped beside the woman and eyed her as if he were trying to place her.
“Wrath,” the woman said. Her voice was soft and husky like she was whispering delicious secrets. “You look good.” She laughed and put a hand on his arm. “But then you always look good.”
“Rosabella,” Wrath croaked. He opened and shut his mouth a couple of times.
What Haziel wouldn’t give to be able to render a hell prince speechless. Rosabella, whoever she was, clearly had some human sorcery because she had two hell princes staring at her in stunned silence.
“You’re Eddie’s mother,” Shade said, and his expression hardened.
Oh, snap! The woman who had allegedly broken Wrath’s heart. Haziel edged closer, fully prepared to indulge her vulgar curiosity.
Rosabella turned to him, tilted her head and smiled. “You must be Asmodeus.”
“Must I?” Shade folded his arms.
Rosabella chuckled and mimicked his pose. “Uh-huh. Gorgeous, sex on legs and glaring at Wrath. Of course, you could be Lucifer, but he wouldn’t be caught dead in jeans.”
Haziel wasn’t totally following Rosabella’s reasoning. She was right about Lucifer and the jeans, but there were seven hell princes, and none of them were hard on the eyes. Then again, Shade did ooze sex, and not even angels were immune to that. Just ask poor Sophia. Rosabella’s profile resembled Eddie’s. They had the same straight nose and pointy chin. Same high cheekbones over peachy skin and full, gently curved mouth. Eddie kept her hair braided or in a ponytail, but Haziel was guessing they shared hair color as well. Rosabella didn’t look much older than midthirties.
“You’re here,” Wrath went ahead and stated the obvious.
He was looking at Rosabella like he’d been in a drought, and she was a cask of water. Apparently, this hell prince was still nursing an infatuation for his human lover.
“My mom called me.” Rosabella sashayed into the kitchen and closer to Wrath. She blinked up at him. “Mom said my Eddie has gone missing.”
“Your Eddie?” Shade looked ready to spit lightning bolts. And not even an act of creation would move Haziel from her prying spot now. “Was she still your Eddie when you abandoned her and left your mother to raise her?”
Ouch! And also poor Eddie.
“Wow.” Rosabella glanced at him and raised her eyebrow. “I must say, Wrath, I can see why you hate him. He’s a judgmental prick, isn’t he?”
Not entirely wrong, but Haziel bristled anyway.
“He’s also right.” Wrath moved his arm away from Rosabella’s light hold. “You have some explaining to do.”
Rosabella pulled a face. “Yeah. I suppose I do.” She glanced at Shade again. “Could we talk? Privately.”
“I’m leaving anyway,” Shade said. “Going to find my Eddie.”
“Your Eddie?” Rosabella chuckled, and it held a nasty edge. “Could it be that my daughter shares my fascination with hell princes? I should warn her about that.”
“Why don’t you do that?” Shade drawled. “But make sure you do it while you’re hurrying out the door. I hear that’s your power move.”
Bam! Shade shoots, Shade scores.
Shade strolled into the corridor. Straight for her hiding place, which was not so much a hiding place as her trying to make herself small against the wall.
It was too late to move, and Haziel held her ground. When he drew abreast of her, he stopped and lowered his voice, “You skulking now?”
“No.” Well, technically she was. “I came to find Wrath, and she arrived before I could.” Honesty compelled her to say. “So now I definitely am skulking.”
Shade chuckled. “Keep an eye on him. That woman is a fucking bitch.”
It seemed as if beings were tossing Wrath at her from all directions. “That’s what Ramiel wants, for me to keep an eye on Wrath, so that’s what I’m here to do.”
“And you always do what Ramiel wants, don’t you?” Shade’s gaze was gentle and empathetic as he looked at her. “He doesn’t deserve you.”
“You’re probably right.” Ramiel had certainly never encouraged her unfortunate feelings for him. “Then again, do any of us really deserve those we love?”
Shade dropped his head and looked at the floor. He heaved a sigh that seemed to come from the depths of his immortal soul. “True that, gorgeous. Fucking true that.”
Asmodeus, prince of lust and sexy times had called her gorgeous. Haziel was horrified to feel a blush stealing up her cheeks and had to repress the desire to giggle. Instead, she cleared her throat and tried to sound levelheaded. “Good luck finding Eddie.”
“Thanks.” He nodded and strode away.
