I’m so confused. It must show, because Gabriel cups my cheek, his thumb skating gently under my eye. “Zoe is a daughter of Seraphim. Reborn in a human body, but very much celestial. You can trust Sinclair. He is only part incubus. His other half is—” at Sin’s cough, Gabriel sighs. “He does not lie.”
“Yeah, and I’m sure if I’d asked her, Hannah would have said the same thing. She said she was human, and I believed her. I’m not making that mistake again.” This time, Gabriel doesn’t stopme when I wriggle out of his arms. The room only spins for a few seconds before I get my bearings. My feet ache. Where the hell are my shoes? Was I wearing them when I ran from his hotel room? I don’t remember.
“I believe she is part fae,” he says. Zoe stiffens, and a growl escapes Sinclair’s clenched jaw. “Her words affected me, but I was able to resist.”
Shit. Why does that make things so much worse?
Because if she can influence Gabriel—if it’s not just me—she can turn the whole world against me.
My gaze sweeps around the room. A long hallway with several doors to my right. A darkened fireplace to my left. Straight ahead…is that a kitchen? I blink hard. Yes. A large, stainless steel refrigerator stands tall in one corner. The front door must be in that direction. But with three people—beings—in my way, do I have any hope of escape?
“Willow, no one will harm you here.” Sinclair takes several steps away from Zoe. “Gabriel can be quite an ass, but neither of us lie. It is not in our nature. I believe I can prove this to you.” He shrugs out of his robe to reveal a sculpted chest covered in scars.
Fear steals all the heat from my body. Gabriel doesn’t move. A hint of a smile curves Zoe’s lips. Sinclair closes his eyes for a brief moment. A rush of air swirls around the room.
Huge, black wings beat softly, lifting him from the ground. “My mother was a succubus demon. But my father was an angel. Zoe is a daughter of the Seraphim. And the man in front of you is none other than one of the first chosen. You were saved by the Archangel Gabriel.”
THIRTEEN
Gabriel
If I were not so concerned with frightening Willow even more, I would punch Sinclair in the face.
How dare the demon stop me from revealing his angelic parentage and then do it himself less than two minutes later.
Sin’s feet touch the ground. Without ceremony, he hides his wings, shrugs back into his robe, and belts it tightly.
Willow’s full lips form ano.She darts a glance toward the front door. “This…isn’t real. I’m still stuck in the void. Or…dead. Or…”
I take a step closer. She calmed when she was in my arms, and I suspect she is dangerously close to hyperventilating. “If you were still in the void, I would not be able to sense your emotions, and I feel them all. You are scared. Confused. In pain. We cannot fix the first two, but Sinclair can ease your physical discomfort without affecting your mind.”
“Don’t incubi feed off ofsex?” she asks.
Sin takes Zoe’s hand. “I do. If I were desperate, I could also feed off fear, though I would rather drink battery acid. But Zoe is my mate. I do not take from anyone but her, nor will I for therest of our very long lives. I swear to you, I would not influence you in any way.”
Willow turns to me. “Are you going to ‘wing-out’ too?”
“Wing…out? No. My wings were recently damaged. No one needs to see the state they are currently in. Also, I promised I would not display my full angelic power inside this penthouse.” I meet her light blue eyes. “I could inadvertently…break things.”
“Like eardrums,” Zoe mutters. “Windows. Furniture.”
I offer Willow my hand. Disappointment weighs heavily on me when she does not take it. “Deliciae, if we wanted to harm you, we could have done so while you were unconscious. We did not. We removed that cursed device causing you so much pain, and Sinclair called in a healer to treat the wound.” I gesture to her shoulder. “See for yourself.”
She doesn’t move. I take several steps toward the hall—away from the front door—and urge Sin and Zoe to do the same. If she runs, I will follow her. But her fear of being trapped here is almost as strong as her fear of those two assholes in the cathedral.
Slowly, she creeps along the edges of the living space, her gaze darting from me to the door and back again. Only when she is certain she is close enough to escape does she look down at the reddened skin below her collarbone.
“There’s no scar,” she whispers. “How?”
“Healing magic has been around for centuries,” Sin says. “Your wound was not serious. The technology and magic inside the device, however, were. Why would someone want to lock your consciousness away in such a fashion?”
The edge to his voice is too much for her to bear. I sense the exact moment she decides to run. The front door slams shut, and though I could stop her easily—if I broke my promise to Zoe—the elevator ride to the ground floor will take her at least sixty seconds. If not more. I will have time.
“You could have been gentler with her,” I say.
Sinclair catches my arm before I can slip into the hall. “Be careful, Gabriel. If there is a fae involved, and she finds out what—who—you are…”
“I know. But as I am currently unable to ‘wing-out,’ there should be no danger of that. I did think you would know better than to casually reveal exactly who I am.” I shake off his hold, step into the hall, and let my power carry me to the lobby.
