“That would be a first.” Wrath wasn’t going to let that opportunity slip.
“To be honest.” Lucifer grinned at him. “This entire thing with him is out of character.”
“Demons are demons.” Shade glanced at him. “They’re not known for their loyalty.”
“But some are,” Dee said. She looked at Wrath. “I mean, you trust Vexia don’t you?”
“Yes.” He was forced to admit. Also; that Apassionata prick from Shade’s demesne had been straight up helpful and still in the palace long after the others had disappeared into the sunset. He allowed the possibility of what Eddie was suggesting to grow in his mind. He turned to Lucifer. “But Coal was one of your higher order demons as well.”
“Coal is a dumb shit.” Lucifer growled. “He’ll be a pleasure to end. Never did like the fucker. But Ashe”—his mouth tightened in a grim line that didn’t bode well for Ashe—“him, I liked. Trusted.”
“And tonight,” Eddie continued. “He seemed to work in the word master to his speech. It’s like he was telegraphing that information. Trying to tell us there was someone else in charge.” She scrubbed her face with her palm, and her shoulders slumped. “I don’t know. None of this sounds like anything relevant when I string it all together. I’m probably imagining the entire thing.”
Lucifer’s expression screamed that’s exactly what he thought, and Wrath was inclined to agree with him—not out loud, mind you. He’d noted a few of his own in that crowd tonight, and he was planning to enjoy teaching them the error of their ways.
“He also spoke about the seals.” Lucifer looked at Shade and then Wrath. “And from what he said about needing to keep the pressure on them, he inferred there is a way to repair them.”
Shade stiffened. “Eddie is not that way. She tried with Wrath’s, and the best she could manage was a partial repair. It took everything in her to do that much.”
Wrath shifted closer to them. He hated the glint in Lucifer’s eye. He was with Shade on this. If there was a way to repair those seals, Eddie wasn’t going to be the guinea pig.
“But you never tried her on Shade’s seal.” Lucifer never knew when to fucking quit.
“And we’re not going to now.” Wrath wouldn’t allow another female in his life to be used up and discarded as if she didn’t matter. The horror of watching Haziel in the horsemen’s grip threatened to overthrow his mind. “But if there is a way, we need to find it.”
Eddie took a deep breath. “I could try—”
“No.” Shade shouted her down at the same time as Wrath.
“There you are.” Rosabella stood poised in the doorway, one hand on her outthrust hip and the other on the doorjamb. “I’ve been looking for you.”
She wore a figure-hugging red dress that thrust her breasts over the top and ended well above her knees. Her hair was a tousled, sexy mess around her perfectly made-up face.
Lucifer straightened and stared.
Sophia growled, and Eddie shrunk against Shade.
Sashaying into the room, hips rocking like she was working for tips, she said, “Nobody has the right to take my daughter away without telling me first.”
“Everybody out,” Wrath snapped. There was a conversation that had been a long time in coming. He caught himself before Dee and Eddie reacted. “If you don’t mind.”
With a glare at her daughter, Dee left the room, and everyone followed behind her.
Rosabella watched them go with a smirk before turning to him. “Wrath,” she purred. “If you wanted to spend time alone with me, all you had to do was ask.”
“Stop it.” He stayed where he was, with his shoulders propped against the wall. Not too long ago, that look on Rosabella’s face would have had him crossing hell to find her; now, he couldn’t even be bothered to cover the handful of strides that separated them.
Cocking her head, Rosabella closed the distance between them and put her hand on his chest. “Come on, babe.” She pouted up at him. “You can’t stay mad at me forever.”
“You’re forgetting what I am.” Her hand on him felt like an invasion, and he took it away. “I am Wrath, getting and staying mad is my thing. And I have nothing but time.”
“All right.” She crossed her arms, and her breasts threatened a breakout from her dress. “Get it out of your system. I’ve been a bad girl.”
“No, Rosabella.” It was kind of surreal to see all that cleavage and not be even slightly tempted by it. To be honest, it was good cleavage. Rosabella had always had, and still did have, a banging body. But she didn’t have Eddie’s courage and strength, or Dee’s fortitude and determination. And her eyes for damn sure didn’t grow warm and soft like she was seeing the best version of him, unlike those clear, emerald greens of Haziel’s. But like Rosabella, Haziel had left him. She’d taken all her serenity and joy with her. And he fucking missed them. Missed her. “You haven’t been a bad girl; you’ve been an asshole.”
Rosabella gaped at him. Temper kindled in her eyes and tightened her lips. He cut her off before it could burst into flame. He wasn’t in the mood for one of her tantrums. “You left me, and that was your right.” The ever-present tightness in his chest was gone. “But you should have told me about my daughter.”
She scowled at him. “I—”
“Be quiet. I am speaking now.” He put a thrust of compulsion into his tone. Her justifications might move him to violence. “I lost years with her. And I know we have time now, but I’ve lost all her firsts, and there is no fucking way I can get those back. Her first word. Her first step. Her first day of school. Her first boyfriend.” He hauled his thoughts up before he lost it completely. “She is my daughter, and I barely know her.”
Rosabella’s face twisted into a grimace as she tried to fight the compulsion.
“And then you abandoned her.” No shade on Dee, she’d stepped up and done a great job raising and loving Eddie. “Dee was her mother and gave her all the love you didn’t, but that’s not a credit to you. That’s all Dee. She did what she had to do, and with all the love in the world. But still you left scars on my little girl, and I’ll never forgive you for those.”
Tears pooled in Rosabella’s eyes and slipped down her cheeks.
Wrath had seen it all before. Rosabella wielded tears like an onyx blade, deadly and irrevocable.
“Now, I’m going to do what I can to take those scars away and make her know that she is loved and wanted and the best fucking thing in this entire universe. Scars may fade, but they never entirely go away.” He leaned closer to her, making sure she got his meaning. “What you’re going to do is make sure you go away. You have no rights here, and you don’t belong here. You did that all by yourself with the decisions that you made, and you have nobody to blame but yourself. And if you don’t—” He gave it every ounce of menace he had, and that was a fuck ton. “You’re going to find out how Satan is the hell prince of Wrath, and there is no place you can hide from me.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Time passed differently in heaven, and Haziel lost track of how many days had passed on the earth plane. Her time became a blur of pain and healing and Ramiel. Always Ramiel, by her side and pouring his healing energy into her until he nearly depleted himself. Always Ramiel, sitting by her bedside when she woke, ready to give her whatever he could. Except for the thing she needed most, and that was a grumpy hell prince who had thrown himself between her and harm.
The pain in her body healed, but the gaping emptiness in her chest merely deepened. The trust she’d had for Ramiel was shattered, and no number of delicate treats to tempt her to eat or selfless healings could paste the pieces back together again.
