“She doesn’t want to see you.” Sophia snarled.
“I will see her,” he bellowed, his wings ripping out of his back.
Raphael leapt between them, one arm at his chest, the other at Sophia’s. “Let’s all calm down. We have much bigger things to concern us.”
“She is keeping my woman from me.” Lucifer shoved Raphael.
Raphael shoved back. “You need to get yourself under control.”
Wrath snorted. “Nah! Let the stupid shit lose it. He’s on a losing roll. He lost Ashe, and now he’s lost Bianca.”
Lucifer saw red. On this day, his brother ended.
The clamor of giant things breaking reached Bianca as she was on her way to see Sophia. Leona was exhausted and in shock, her magic drained to a dangerous low, but the angelic healers had assured her Leona was going to be fine. All she wanted was to see her children, and Bianca had left Leona with Ethan and Emma cuddled beside her.
Something huge crashed, and the entire palace shook. Bianca turned to her angelic guide. “What is that? Are we being attacked?”
“No.” The gorgeous dark angel shook her head. “That is two hell princes fighting.”
A boom sent a plume of dust into the hallway. Afraid she already knew the identity of one of the combatants, she asked, “Which two hell princes?”
The angel stopped, cocked her head, and then rolled her eyes. “Wrath and Lucifer.”
“Shit.” She hadn’t wanted to be right. The ground shuddered, and she had to grab the angel for balance. “They’ll bring the palace down around us.”
“Maybe.” The angel shrugged.
“But…but…” Bianca motioned the beautiful hallways they were traversing. Light from floor-to-ceiling windows brought out the patina of the dark wood floors. Sophia’s palace was airy and spacious, and from what Bianca had seen, exquisitely tasteful. It would be a crying shame for it to be destroyed. And she refused to be worried about Lucifer. That prick could take care of himself. Even against Wrath.
The angel grinned and tugged her forward. “Raphael and Ramiel will step in before it comes to that.” She walked them in the direction of the commotion. “Besides, it’s hardly the first time two warring beings of power have razed a building.”
Beautiful rugs covered the floors. Priceless antique artifacts nestled in alcoves positioned along the creamy walls. It was no comfort at all that a lovely place like this had been destroyed before.
They rounded a corner, and the hallway opened into a large atrium.
Haziel was lounging on one of the cream and buff upholstered sofas. She waved to them. “Hi, how’s your friend?”
“She’ll be okay.” Something crashed behind the large closed wooden doors at the far end of the atrium. Trying to adopt Haziel’s insouciance, she said, “The healers tell me she’ll be fine. She’s with her children now.”
Haziel’s lovely face softened. “That’s good.”
Glass shattered behind the doors.
From the couch opposite Haziel, Sophia glared at the doors. “That better not be my Venetian glass.”
“Yeah.” Haziel winced. “I think you can safely kiss that goodbye.”
“It’s fourteenth century,” Sophia snapped.
Haziel winced. “Not anymore.” She pointed to a crystal carafe filled with pale gold liquid. “Have a glass of wine. We’re all going to need it.”
A thud and more dust followed.
One of the combatants bellowed and then there was a rhythmic thudding.
Bianca took the glass of wine from Sophia. “Umm…” The glass clattered against her teeth as her hand shook. “Shouldn’t we do something about that?”
Snorting, Sophia poured and handed a glass to Haziel. “They’re both so wound up, it’s best to let them get it out of their systems. They’ll be no good to any of us until they do.”
“Okay.” Feeling like the last sane person in Bedlam, Bianca perched beside Haziel. “You’re not worried about Wrath?”
“Wrath can look after himself.” Haziel waved an airy hand. “And Lucifer’s had it coming.”
Bianca ruthlessly suppressed the desire to come to Lucifer’s defense. Lucifer was a dick. Not so dickish that she wanted him to be seriously hurt, but still a dick.
A hard thump rattled the doors, and she jumped.
“He’ll be fine.” Sophia patted her knee and refilled her glass. “He’s pissed that Ashe got away, and then I told him you didn’t want to see him.” She held up a white porcelain platter. “Cake? Sandwich?”
Dainty pastel cakes decorated with spun sugar flowers were tenderly nestled between delicate finger sandwiches.
Bianca took a pale lavender cake sprinkled with perfect, tiny violets. “Thank you.”
That platter would tempt even the most jaded appetite.
“So.” Haziel helped herself to several sandwiches. “When did the whole you-are-Lucifer’s thing begin? It seems we missed quite a lot while we were rallying the armies in hell.”
Bianca almost choked on her cake. “He said that to you?”
“He pretty much bellowed that to the universe.” Sophia popped a buttercup cake in her mouth and licked frosting off her fingers.
Insufferable and arrogant asshole clearly had a hearing problem. “I’m not. His, I mean.”
“Hmm.” Haziel wrinkled her nose. “I heard the sex was terrible.”
Apparently gathering the armies of hell hadn’t stopped Haziel from catching that tidbit. “No.” Heat burned Bianca’s cheeks and she guzzled wine. “The sex was great. It’s the other parts that weren’t good.”
“Phew!” Sophia fanned herself. “It seems wrong for Lucifer to be a bad lover.”
“Right.” Haziel widened her eyes and nodded. “He seems like he would know his way around a female’s body.”
Wishing the conversation over, Bianca shoved a sandwich into her mouth.
Sophia and Haziel stared at her, eyes alight with anticipation.
“I’m not giving the details,” she said.
