Was he trying to get me to look into the Soul Sorter? Why did he keep looking down?
“Once again, Ramel, you have failed. You leave me no choice. I was clearly premature in Lilith’s release. We will need to try again. This time, perhaps I will send her to purgatory with Rafael so he can work on her until she understands you are mine.”
I glared at Him. “You cannot touch her. She is a citizen of Hell and my bride. Even you must respect the sanctity of marriage,” I snarled.
“Imustdo nothing! I am Yahweh! The rules you follow exist because I make it so. I have the power to sever the marital bond and renounce citizenship if I so choose. If I wish to punish your little hell bride for her sins, then I will do it.”
I laughed. “You cannot remove her from Hell against her will.”
Mike shuffled again, shifting his eyes more and more urgently to our feet. Slowly, it began to dawn on me. He wasn’t trying to get me to look at the Soul Sorter. He was lookingdownto where Hell was. He was trying to warn us.
Yahweh gave Shem and me a cruel grin and chuckled.
“Oh, Ramel. When Rafael is done with her, she will leave willingly.”
My death magic exploded from me and rippled through the bright white expanse of Heaven, turning white clouds black beneath my feet, but it was Shem’s magic that forced the Soul Sorter to slow. The golden gears began to grate and grind against each other beneath the might of his fury.
Shem was not quick to anger, but once he snapped, there was no going back.
“If you touch one hair on that mortal girl’s head, I will fucking bring Heaven down to Earth,” Shem snarled, and Yahweh laughed.
I grabbed Shem’s arm, suddenly panicked.
“We don’t have time for this; we have to go back,” I hissed, and he nodded, still glaring at Yahweh like he wanted to unmake the creator.
I made eye contact with Mike, letting him see how grateful I was for his warning.
“I will not forget this,” I said. I was speaking to Mike, but it was Yahweh who responded.
“You will if I force you to, Ramel.”
Shem hissed, but I pulled him away. I would deal with Yahweh later. Right now, I needed to make sure my wife was okay.
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.”
—MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
Rafael was forcing my leggings down over my hips when the goat head ring Ramel had placed on my finger started to burn.
“Raf, please don’t do this,” I sobbed.
“Shut the fuck up,” he snapped, and I bucked, trying to shimmy away as much as I could. The ring on my finger burned hotter, and I cried out. What the fuck was happening!? Ithurt.
“You’re going to take this fucking cock just like I know you take Ramel and Shemhazai’s,” he snarled. He fumbled with his belt, and I flinched. I braced myself for him to violate me when there was a sudden pulse from my ring finger.
Rafael was blown off me with such force that he hit the wall on the opposite side of the room. He crashed to the ground with a moan, and I scrambled to pull my leggings back up. He was on top of me again in seconds, snarling in rage. Instead of trying to penetrate me, he grabbed my left hand, and I watched his eyes widen as he took in the ring.
“He fucking married you?”he hissed in disbelief, and my heart skipped a beat. What did that have to do with anything?
Suddenly, Ramel’s voice floated through the room.
“Fucking right I did, you piece of shit.”
Rafael whipped around, and I gasped. There in the doorway, looking sinister as fuck, were Ramel and Shem.
Ramel was in his full Reaper form. His decay-ridden hands gripped his scythe, and his hazel eyes were burning with death magic. Shem was leaning against him with his arm on his shoulder and the other hand in his pocket. They were both looking at Rafael with an intense mix of rage and something that looked suspiciously like hunger.
“Did you touch my fucking wife?” Ramel asked, his voice deadly calm.
