My fingers tightened on my scepter, and I gritted my teeth against the intense need to protect him.
I suddenly wanted to take him away from here.
Shield him from whatever was hurting him this much.
But I couldn’t. It was his choice to be here. I couldn’t make him leave.
“Welcome to the Church of Seraphim,” a booming voice echoed through the empty space.
I glanced back at the podium to find a real angel striding out from behind the massive statue.
He was tall, with a swimmer’s build. His hair was shot through with grey, and his face was more mature than most angels in their human form.
I’d been an angel for most of my life, and we were created with the appearance of human men, usually roughly around the age of twenty-five. It was odd to see an angel that looked close to the age of a man in his late forties.
This angel was dressed in white and gold vestments, and his eyes were so black they ate the light around him.
They were two burning black, soulless holes, and the moment his gaze met mine, I knew I hated him.
This must be Raziel.
Shemhazai stiffened next to me, and when Raziel’s soul-sucking black eyes landed on him, the smile that spread across his face put my entire being on guard.
I subtly stepped between Shem and the seraphim.
It didn’t matter that we were fighting. I would not allow this angel anywhere near him. Something told me that if I allowed him too close, I would never see Shem again, and the thought of that terrified me.
Those horrible eyes crashed into me, and my wings bloomed from my back without warning. I curled them around the front of my body in a dark, feathery shield.
This angel’s gaze had power like I’d never felt before. I knew instinctively that he could see through fuckingwalls,and the energy burned into my chest like he was trying to drill right through my body to get to Shemhazai.
However, my instincts proved correct. As I barricaded myself with my wings, I effectively cut off the beams of invisible yetpenetratingpower.
He couldn’t see through my wings.
His eyebrows rose in surprise, and his lip curled in annoyance at the obstruction.
I didn’t fucking care.
He wasn’t laying those fucking eyes into Shemhazai. I knew with certainty I didn’t dare question that I needed to protect him from this angel’s gaze, and I would die before I failed to do so.
“Raziel,” I growled, and the angel cocked his head to the side, staring at me with the look of a cold-hearted predator.
“Bold of a nameless demon to address me with such informality.”
I chuckled darkly.
“I am not nameless.”
“Enlighten me, then. Who are you, and why do you stand between me and my disciple?”
I narrowed my eyes on him.
“Shemhazai is not your disciple.”
“Ahh. I beg to differ,” Raziel said, stepping forward, those burning black holes beating fruitlessly against the shield of my wings.
Trying to get to Shemhazai.
