“You don’t remember?”
Raziel’s gaze narrows.
“You were a servant. A nobody,” Rojun spits out. “I’d put in hours studying under Khalid. I trained day in and day out to be a part of his army. And you come in one day and take it all from me.”
Razzy’s brow lifts, and he turns his head to the side. “You were one of the three soldiers.”
I remember the story Raziel told me about his beginnings the night we made love in the sky. He said that he had gone to the general’s home to pass a message and three young soldiers had bullied him. He said the soldiers had been punished for their actions.
Raziel chuckles. “So this is your revenge for Khalid getting in your ass?”
“No,” Rojun shouts.
“He didn’t just get in my ass; he kicked me out of the fucking program. He sent us all back home. Told us we were cowards for picking on those weaker and less fortunate, and he didn’t associate with cowards. I had to go home to my parents and explain that I’d been demoted. They disowned me.
“I did everything I could to get back in his good graces. I thought I had finally made my way back when he gave me this position. Then he told me he was putting you in my territory so I could prove to be more than a coward. I did my part by keeping the others from killing you and ostracizing you.
“I sang your praises whenever you did right. And then, at this last meeting, Khalid had the audacity to look me in the face and tell me he was thinking of promoting you. He wanted to make you a fucking count, equal to me. I refused to allow it.”
His claw goes a little deeper, and this time a small cry comes out. Raziel’s eyes flip to me, and even though he doesn’t speak a word, I can almost hear his voice in my head.
“I got you. Trust me.”
I mouthed the word “Okay” and his gaze went back to Rojun.
“So instead of taking your dispute up with Khalid, you fuck up my work. Sounds like you’re still learning your lesson about being a coward.”
Plumes of black smoke bellow from Rojun. I’ve realized the smoke means they’re pissed.
“I guess the angel was wrong,” Rojun says. “You don’t care about your mate.”
He raises his other clawed hand out in front of me.
“Now,” Raziel shouts.
As Rojun brings the claw down to where it would have gone directly into my chest, Conah appears with a smile. One minute I’m standing in front of Rojun on one side of the room and the next I’m up against the wall on the opposite side.
“Noooo,” Rojun shouts.
But he doesn’t have time to focus on me. Raziel leaps through the air and onto Rojun. Their bodies move in blurs as they fight and slice into each other. Conah keeps me back. His body in front of mine.
At one point, Raziel slams into the wall to my right. His body drops to the ground.
“Razzy,” I cry out, trying to go to him.
“No,” Conah pulls me back. “He’s got this.”
Rojun runs toward him, but Raziel leaps to his feet and right into Rojun. They both crash into the wall making a hole. Rojun is on top of Razzy, raining down blows.
“You are nothing more than a low-life servant,” he shouts.
Razzy uses his legs and kicks Rojun off him. He goes flying into the opposite wall, taking half of my mother’s furniture with him.
Raziel flies over to him, lifts him off the ground and pins him to the wall using the talons on the ends of his wings. He rainsdown blow after blow on Rojun’s face. Rojun’s body slumps forward, his head down between his shoulder blades. For a second, I think it’s over, but he laughs.
“All of this for nothing,” Rojun says with a snort. He lifts his bloody head. “You have no authority to kill me. If you do, you sentence yourself back to the underworld where you belong.”
The air in the room grows warmer. Suddenly, a dark slit appears in the middle of the room. A tall, dark-skinned man steps out. Right after him is a guy with short dark brown hair and light eyes.
