“Yup.” And how she wished sometimes she didn’t. “And don’t get me wrong.” She risked a step closer to him. In his current powerless state, he wouldn’t be able to hurt her too much if he lost it with her. And Wrath lost it a lot. Like most of the time. “I would love to be able to tell the odd half-truth, maybe a white lie, and there are definitely circumstances that call for an outright lie. This one being a case in point.” She shrugged. “But I can’t.”
“So no lies?” The corner of his full, sensual mouth quirked. Those bluer than a summer sky eyes gleamed. “No evading the truth either?”
“Eh.” She waggled her hand as a visual aid. “That’s more nebulous. More of a gray area.”
“Like?” He closed the distance between them and towered over her.
Goodness, he didn’t look this tall from across a room and from her usual spot behind Ramiel. “I can choose not to speak and omit the truth with silence.”
“Huh?” He ran a palm over his chin. “Let’s put that to the test.”
Why did this always happen to her? She’d lost count of how many times similar conversations had left her squirming. “I’d really rather not.”
“Why are you following me?” His pitiless blue eyes bored into her.
“Ramiel said he wanted me to keep an eye on you.”
His eyes flashed ire. “Why?”
“He’s concerned you’re going to try to find your daughter on your own.”
Wrath leaned closer to her. From across the room, she also hadn’t noticed that he smelled good. A sort of leather and tobacco scent that was intrinsically male. “You’re holding out, aren’t you?”
“Yup.” Fuck it!
“Why is he worried about me going looking for my daughter?”
“Because of your emotional state.” She cringed inwardly. He wasn’t going to like this next bit. “And because you have no power.”
Wrath straightened away from her. “Well, look at that. You weren’t lying.”
“I told you.” Just once it would be nice if beings got the idea before making her squirm. “Always speak the truth.”
He narrowed his eyes in thought. “What did you think of Rosabella?”
Oh boy, this wouldn’t go well. “She’s lying to you and manipulating your feelings. You’re still in love with her and she knows it.”
“Damn.” He grimaced. “Remind me not to ask you questions I really don’t want to hear the answer to.”
That he wasn’t ripping her head from her body seemed like a positive outcome. “What do you think of her?”
“I think you’re right,” he said. “I am going to find my daughter. But I’m not going to do so with you tagging along behind me. Go back to Ramiel and tell him that.”
Haziel stood where she was as he stalked away. If only she could, but she wasn’t going to let Ramiel down by failing to do what he’d asked of her. Ramiel needed her, and she wouldn’t fail him.
Chapter Four
Dee looked at her daughter and was forced to admit something that would shock other mothers everywhere; she didn’t like her daughter. Oh, she loved Rosabella and would gaze mistily at pictures of her as a child, but the woman she had grown into wasn’t someone Dee could respect or take pride in.
Rosabella was selfish, petulant, a user, and sitting in front of her shedding crocodile tears for Eddie’s safety. If Dee didn’t send her updates, Rosabella would have no idea who Eddie was or what was going on in her life. She’d left before Eddie was properly off the breast and blew in every few years—generally when she wanted something.
And right now, it looked like one of those somethings might be Shade.
Rosabella was sitting on Eddie’s bed as Shade gathered a few possessions and shoved them into a duffle bag.
Dee turned her attention to the being who had the best chance of finding Eddie. “Are you sure she’s on the earth plane?”
“No.” Shade grimaced. “But I have to start somewhere. I’m not so sure Wrath is right about Lucifer being behind this either.”
“Eddie’s very capable.” Rosabella laid a hand on his wrist. “Wouldn’t it be better to wait for her here?”
Dee managed to contain her desire to laugh. Rosabella was so transparent and so obviously barking up the wrong tree. She’d sashayed into the room a few minutes after Shade had come in. Dee had been sitting on Eddie’s bed, breathing in the atmosphere that was so full of Eddie it was comforting. Panic squatted like a hulking toad in her chest. And guilt sat right beside it. It was her fault Eddie was in this position. She should never have left on that cruise with Jean-Claude, never encouraged Eddie to go to hell after Shade, and never left Eddie in charge of the hell gate. In her idiocy, she’d reasoned that the hell gate was stable, had been stable for years. What could go wrong?
Everything and anything, apparently. “If Lucifer is not behind this, then who is?” she asked Shade.
“I don’t know.” Shade sank onto the end of the bed.
Rosabella edged closer and put a hand on his shoulder. “You’re so stressed.”
“The thing that keeps nagging at me is when Lucifer helped us get out of hell,” Shade said. “He had no reason to bring his chariot and get us out of there faster. He said it was to piss off Wrath, and he’s certainly made a career out of that over time, but why rescue Eddie?”
Dee had to admit that Shade made an odd kind of sense. “Or why not kidnap her then? You and Wrath were injured, he could have taken her without much resistance.”
“Right.” Shade nodded.
“You’re holding so much tension in your shoulders,” Rosabella simpered.
