As she glanced up at Asher and added something in the celestial tongue, probably so I wouldn’t understand, the Channel filled with sparkling motes of lavender smoke, and then spiky heels clacked against the quartz as the waifish body of a woman with a river of black hair and eyes the color of summer grass materialized. I’d met this woman only once, at her daughter’s wing bone ceremony, but Seraph Claire was quiteunforgettable.
“The Ophanim of Guild 24 seem to be lacking at their task of instilling manners in our Fletchings,” she said, her feet coming within inches of my blood-speckledheels.
I’d always found Eve’s mother intimidating, but tonight, not much intimidated me. “I’m sorry my behavior offends you, but the Ophanim aren’t toblame.”
She folded her fine-boned arms in front of the gauzy white chiffon dress she wore cinched by a leather corset covered in the same translucent jewels that festooned her ears andneck.
“The sinner yourdaughtersuggested I help out has been unjustly ranked. Not only have I come to discover that he’s been placed in the wrong Ranking System, but I have also come to discover that his rank is frozen at a hundred because of a misunderstanding on the Ishim’spart.”
“It was no misunderstanding!” Asher boomed, and I swear the stone surrounding ustrembled.
I blinked but then shook my head. “Ask Jarod again, Seraph. Ask his nanny who was there. Or his guardAmir.”
“I’m not going to run around collecting biased testimonials.” A pulse point throbbed in his cordedneck.
I gasped. “Biasedtestimonials?”
“Both of you, quiet!” Eve’s mother snapped. “You are a Seraphim, Asher. Behave like one. And you”—she poked a manicured finger in my direction—“are a Fletching. Remember yourplace.”
I ground my teeth so hard I was probably chipping the enamel. How I ever considered being able to marry a complete stranger for status was beyond me. Jarod was right. I was a romantic, and there was no way in Abaddon or Elysium I would marry for any other reason thanlove.
I shifted my attention to Eve’s mother. “I’m not trying to get anyone in trouble, Seraph Claire. I’m trying to getoneperson out of trouble, and that person is JarodAdler.”
“For someone not trying to get others in trouble, you’re quick to name names,” she said. “The first thing out of your mouth when I showed up was that my daughter made you take on thismission.”
“You’re right. That was low of me. How I got here doesn’t matter.” Not anymore. Not in the scope of things. “What matters is what I do now that Iamhere.”
“The best thing you can do, for your sake and for all of ours, is apologize to my fellow Seraphim for the slanderous way you’ve handledyourself.”
I pressed my lips together, reeling. “I didn’t know that speaking the truth required anapology.”
“Don’t be a smart aleck, Leigh. Apologize to Seraph Asher before he asks the Ishim to remove yetanotherone of your feathers.” Her gaze dipped to the platinum feather at myfeet.
I straightened as though someone had skewered my spine with a metal rod. Even though I didn’t feel like apologizing, I realized it wouldn’t help my fight for Jarod’s soul, so I swallowed my pride and spit out, “I apologize for raising my voice, SeraphAsher.”
But I don’t apologize for letting it beheard.
Asher stared at me over the lilac fence of Eliza’s wings. I sensed he, too, was seeing a stranger. We weren’t the same people who’d ridden through the Channel daysago.
Jarod Adler had changed me. He’d removed the rose-colored glasses through which I saw our world and the people ruling it. Humans weren’t perfect, but we weren’teither.
“I accept your apology, Fletching,” hesaid.
Fletching?Relegating me to my status added another wall betweenus.
Seraph Claire turned sideways so that I was left staring at her aquiline profile. “Now that this situation isresolved—”
“Will you at least take my findings under consideration?” Iasked.
She twisted her head toward me, her black hair swishing over her platinum-tipped fuchsiafeathers.
“He’s the leader of the mob in this city,” Asher said. “Even if he didn’t murder his mother, his soul is far frompure.”
“Far from pure shouldn’t lock up his score.” I gazed at both archangels and then at the three angels in charge of ranking souls. “I’m not looking to cause an uproar in Elysium, but I am looking for justice, and the just thing to do, since his soul can’t be removed from the sinner system, would be to free him of hisstatus.”
Claire tipped her head to the side. “Does your plea to lower the sinner’s score have anything to do with my fellow archangel’s impendingnuptials?”
As color crept into Asher’s neck, I gaped, stunned she’d think I would be so self-serving.
