“Why are we here, Devil King?” he asked, his tone dripping with malice.
I snorted over the rim of my glace.“This is my bar.”
“No, asshole. Why did you invite Mel and me here?”
“Because you have something I want.”
His face contorted with anger.“If you’re talking about Jess—”
“No ‘asshole.’ I already have her,” I seethed through a venomous grin. “I’m talking about the sword. I need you to give it to me.”
The celestial looked at me with an unamused glare, like he was waiting for a punchline. When none came, his eyes slanted with suspicion. “And why would I do that?”
“Because you’ve been fooled into thinking you’re working for the good guys. Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’re not.”
“If this is supposed to be a negotiation, you’re doing a shit job.”
“I’m not negotiating with you because I’m not offering you anything, save for the gift of enlightenment. I trust Jessica likes you for a reason, so I’m going to go off on a limb and assume that you’re one of the smarter ones under my twin’s thumb. It’s time to wake up and smell the evil dictatorship with your coffee.”
“I don’t trust a single thing that slips off of that serpent’s tongue, Devil.”
“Oh fuck me, are you always this insufferable? This is why I don’t like speaking to my own kind.”
Gabriel scoffed.“We are not the same. You stopped being a celestial long ago.”
“We’re more alike than you’d probably care to think.”
“How are we at all alike?”
“Because we’ve both found our true mates. And we’re being persecuted because they aren’t what the bosses upstairs approve of. If it wasn’t their idea, then as far as they’re concerned, it’s a sin.”
“I’m not being persecuted.”
“Only because you were blackmailed, and by my brother, I’m guessing, to kill me in trade for him letting you keep your wings. All while getting the green light to keep bedding her. I don’t blame you. It’s a pretty damn good deal. But let me ask you something. For a ‘righteous’ being, do you think it’s right that you were only permitted to keep your ward and mate simply because you agreed to commit murder?”
“I agreed to kill Satan!”
“Yes, but why?” I sneered. “What makes me so bad?”
Gabriel faltered. “You–you—”
“Yes, we’re getting there. Iwhat?”
His shoulders fell, and his blue eyes were cast in the shadow of his shuddering grimace. “You fucked your ward,” he mumbled.
“Bingo.” I emptied the last of the whiskey, set the bottle down beside me and leaned back against the wall, steepling my fingers. “See? We’re not so unlike after all.”
“But if Eve was your true mate, why are you bothering with Jessica? Why pull her into your mess of a life.”
“It’s a terribly long story, I’m afraid. However, long story short, Eve was never my true mate. Jessica is. I’m going to marry her. And I’m going to get my wings back. You’re going to give me that sword so I can kill my brother. Then when that’s all said and done, maybe, I’ll tell you the full story over drinks.”
Gabriel cut the flames of the sword and tucked it in his belt. He leaned back against the opposing wall, folding his arms over his muscular chest. “If you want the sword, we’re going to change up the order of your plan there. You tell me the story first. And I’ll take that drink now.”
23
Ipulled my attention away from Siren’s as the limo rolled down Broadway, the old church slipping into the night. Turning from the window, I pinned my gaze on Lucifer, who’d fallen into a pensive silence after he recounted his conversation with Gabriel. “So he didn’t give you the sword?”
The celestial’s brow slashed with a scowl. “He wants to see my father give me back my wings first. Then he’ll hand over the blade. Naturally, I invited him to the wedding. I assumed you’d want him there, even if he wasn’t helping me off my brother.”
