"I mean it. There are ways to break angelic contracts if you're willing to take the risk. Dangerous ways, but possible. Wecould..." he huffs out a long breath. “I’d talk to my dad. For you, I would.”
"I can't. And you certainly fucking can’t..." I step back, his hands falling away. "I'm tethered to him now. To this house. Even if I wanted to leave, it’s impossible."
Ash stares at me. "What sort of binding?"
I explain quickly, the protective ritual with Wren, the permanent tether, the price I paid. His face gets paler with every sentence.
"You let him bind you to his house," he says when I finish. "Permanently."
"To protect me."
"You bound yourself to an angel." He takes a step back. "Forever. Even after you leave, you'll always be tied to him. Did you even consider for one minute he was just trying to secure his twisted claim on you? That it was a lie? Angels lie more than demons do."
"I know." And I do know.Would Croesus do that to me? Lie to me to keep me, to assuage his greed?
"And you did it anyway."
"I had to." Now I’m not sure if I’m convincing him or myself.
"Did you?" His voice hardens. "Or did he convince you that you had to?"
"It wasn't like that. He didn’t force me."
"Wasn't it?" He laughs, bitter. "You’ve been here for weeks, Raven, and you've already let him bind you permanently, stopped calling me, stopped thinking about leaving. Can you even hear yourself right now?"
"I'm doing what I have to do to survive."
"You're doing what he wants you to do. There's a difference." He moves toward the door. "I can't watch this. Can't watch you disappear into this golden cage and pretend everything's fine."
"Ash, wait, don’t..."
He stops, hand on the doorknob. Doesn't turn around. "I care about you. More than I should. More than you've ever let me." His voice is rough. "And watching you tie yourself to an angel, bind yourself to him permanently, it's killing me."
"I'm sorry," I whisper.
"Are you?" He looks back over his shoulder. "Because from where I'm standing, you made your choice. And it wasn't me."
"That's not fair. This isn't about you."
"I know." He opens the door. "But it doesn't make it hurt less."
Then he's gone, and I'm alone in the golden room with my heart in my throat.
Croesus is waiting in the corridor when I emerge. His expression is carefully neutral, but through the binding, I can still feel the jealousy, possessiveness, anger, hurt.
"He's leaving," Croesus says. It's not a question.
"Yes."
"Good." He starts walking, and I fall into step beside him. "What did he want?"
"To make sure I'm okay."
"And are you?"
I think about Ash's words. About forgetting who I was. About choosing this life, this binding, this angel.
"I don't know," I say honestly.
