“Together,” she agreed, and the chain that bound us burned brighter, solidifying our promise with the fabric of the universe.
Alexa play: Broken by Isak Danielson
Istood before the Church of Seraphim as mass ended. The church, according to Luna, had appeared almost overnight, and it was a tall, garish building made of white, green, and red marble. The entire building screamedpowerin a sinister kind of way. Its roof was made of stand he raised red-rimmed eyes eep gabled spires, and the door to enter was nearly twenty feet tall.
It didn’t look like it belonged in Salem. It was a church that someone might expect to find on a trip to Italy—clearly inspired by the Duomo in Florence.
Considering Raziel, from my understanding, had spent the last several millennia whispering into the ear of multiple generations of popes in the Vatican, it shouldn’t have surprised me.
However, it was unnerving to behold, and even I felt off balance at the sickening wave of dread that the building seemed to exude.
Shemhazai was even more affected.
He hadn’t said a word to me that morning. His silence was disappointing, and as much as I wanted to comfort him, I needed to stand my ground and let him come to me.
I’d made mydemands clear. It was up to him now to decide if he was willing to bend to them.
So, I ignored him as he sulked beside me, hands in his pockets and jaw tense.
The dogs, on the other hand, were much more relaxed.
They had joked and roughhoused with each other on the way over here, and now they were looking up at the church as people—most of them ex-witches—filtered out of the building and into the street.
“What a fucking eyesore,” Fenrir snickered, and Sköll scoffed.
“Nothing quite screams ‘bow peasants’like a few hundred tons of marble.”
I smirked at them, oddly grateful for their banter and clear lack of reverence or trepidation.
“Well. Enough bullshit. Should we go in and meet the big bad angel?” Sköll asked, shooting me a cavalier grin.
They’d both gotten over the altercation at the club relatively quickly. I’d found that their personalities truly did resemble those of dogs. They were loyal to a fault and were quick to forgive.
Now that we were on the same team, I realized that loyalty extended to Shemhazai and me as well, and at that moment, I was grateful.
“Yeah. Let’s go in,” I agreed, spinning my scepter in my hand. I kept it in the open, wanting to make it clear that any demands we made would be enforced with violence.
This was a parlay of sorts, but I wasn’t above committing a war crime if necessary. Raziel needed to know that.
I led the way into the church, flanked by Hecate’s guardians. Shemhazai followed silently at the rear.
His mood was the darkest I’d ever experienced, but I couldn’t concern myself with it right now. I needed to focus on the task at hand.
He could handle his own shit.
I hoped.
We entered the church to even more opulence.
It was out of control. The ceilings were painted with detailed depictions of the story of Genesis, and I scowled at the beautiful frescoes, recognizing them for the propaganda theywere.
Hundreds of pews lined each side of the main aisle and led to a massive podium at the front, where a terrifyingly beautiful statue of an angel with six wings stood.
Two covered the angel’s face, two covered his feet, and two were spread in flight.
I glanced at Shemhazai, who was looking up at the statue with a stone-cold expression.
He was pale, and the pulse in his throat was thumping again.
