I hope I’m wrong. I hope it’s paranoia. But I haven’t been right about a fucking thing since this all started.
I knock on Louie’s door. When she doesn’t answer, I turn the knob and peek in. She’s in the pajamas I gave her the other night, curled up in a tight ball on the bed.
Sitting next to her, I run my hands through her hair in a sad attempt at taming it. The knotwork tattoos running up her neckand down the back of her arms are visible. They’re so detailed and so hauntingly beautiful, they seem to breathe beneath her skin.
When I push a strand of hair behind her ear, she rolls over and gazes up at me. Her eyes—one deep brown, the other split between brown and icy blue—are the same as in her hound form. But right now, they glisten with unshed tears, and the sight sends a jolt of pain straight to my heart.
“Are you okay, Lou?”
“Yeah, I’m alright. The himbo just gave me a fright is all,” she says, worrying her bottom lip with a fang.
“I’m sorry he scared you. And I’m sorry I put you in that situation, even if it was fun to have dinner withallmy best friends.”
I smile at her while wiping a tear from her cheek. She’s like the little sister I never had. And I’d set the whole fucking sky on fire if it meant keeping her safe.
“Thane knows what I am. He called me ‘Daughter’ this evening when he left. And before you lose your shit, he didn’t threaten me. He just said, ‘Be well, Daughter,’ and left. How would he know? He doesn’t seem dangerous. Plus, I swear his eyes glowed at the bar the other night. But maybe that was just the pain messing with my head. Ugh, I sound crazy.”
I lay back on her bed with a frustrated huff. Louie curls up next to me, allowing me to wrap an arm around her tiny frame.
“You’re not crazy, Aurora. I’m just pissed I didn’t see it the moment he walked in. I failed you as a protector because this stupid human body is fucking worthless. There’s so much sweating and, like,feelings. Every day I try to shift into a hound, and every day I’m disappointed. I know how to protect you as a hellhound, Aurora. But like this?” Louie gestures at her human form with disgust. “I feel useless.”
She sniffles, then wipes her nose with the back of her hand.
“You didn’t fail me, Lou. If Thane is something else, he hides it well because I don’t think Ezra knows he’s not human either.”
Louie bursts into a fit of hysterical laughter.
“That arrogant old sod’s so full of himself. But if someone that strong couldn’t see it, then I’d guess Thane only just stopped hiding what he is.” She shrugs. “Why now? No clue. Maybe he dropped some kind of cloaking spell, intentionally or not. Hard to say …”
Louie’s eyes glaze over, lost in her thoughts as her sentence trails off.
Loudly clearing my throat, I ask the obvious question that got lost in Louie’s rambling.
“WhatisThane?”
“He’s an angel, Aurora,” Louie responds, looking up at me through long, dark eyelashes. “Well, he’s afallenangel, but that doesn’t make him any less of a twat.”
“Thane … is a fallen angel?” The laughter bursts out of me before I can stop it.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
“Yeah. Don’t know why you’re laughing, though. Angels traditionally haven’t been supportive of Daughters. They don’t want to hurt you, but they’d also gladly stand by and watch you die. Fucking apathetic pigeons. Be careful around Thane. I agree; I don’t think he means you harm, but I think he’s here, in this area, for a reason.”
I wave a hand, dismissing whatever fresh hell just landed in our laps. “I guess I’m laughing because I invited a fallen angel to an ancient shadow creature’s home, then served him dinner alongside a human, a hellhound, and a Daughter of the Morning Star. You see? It’s funny in a ‘my brain might explode because I’ve had to rewrite my reality ten times in the last five days’ kinda way.”
Louie just rolls her eyes at my response.
We’re going to have to work on her sense of humor.
I’m clearly hilarious.
“Eve told me he can’t remember anything. Would that have something to do with it?”
Louie rolls away from me, then places her head on the pillow with a loud yawn.
“Yeah, it could. Some angels and demons fall by choice. Some get shoved. Either way, when they fall, it’s a violent, bloody process. Amnesia is traditionally a side effect of falling. If Thane’s memories are returning, it might explain his odd behavior and inability to hide who he is anymore.”
“Do you think he’s a danger to Eve?”
