She laughed, harsh and cold. “One wants me dead, another wants me safe. The games you angels play with human lives.” She spun away to face the river. “Damn all of you!”
A stab of desperation shot through him. Even if she heard him out, she might never forgive him. For the first time in his immortal life, he faced losing what mattered most.
Chapter
Twenty-Four
Christ,Nia shut her burning eyes. When Lore appeared like an avenging angel and rescued her, hope had risen from the ashes like a phoenix, bright and blazing. Now, those sparks flickered and died.
Everything was true. And hearing it from him, even if he hadn’t acted on it, was like a stabbing wound in her chest.
Her spine straight, she faced him. “That day I was on the mountaintop, and I fell. Was that why you took so long to save me?”
Lore remained silent, but his striking eyes darkened with remorse.
Her throat hurt, raw with anguish and disillusion. “I’m so fucking stupid.”
“You are not,” he bit out, tone fierce. “I was under orders. When compelled by the Supreme Seraph, they’re almost unbreakable. While we do not have the freedom of defiance, for those like me, our names have sway. It’s why I asked you to call my full name when you needed me. When you finally did, the bind on me slipped away.”
“Why did you bother saving me?” she asked bitterly. “I was nothing but a curiosity for you?—”
“Don’t!” His eyes flared silver. “What happened between us was never mere curiosity but a force I could not resist despite my greatest efforts to do so. You caught my attention, and I could not let go. I did not want to let go. But you have to understand, I am still tethered to the Celestial Realm and cannot break away without falling from grace.”
And he wasn’t going to do that, was he?
Because she wasn’t enough.
Her chest cramped, agony swamping her, far too immense to move past.
Her sight blurred. She swiped her watery eyes with her fist, her gaze settling on the new twin puncture scars between her thumb and forefinger. A shudder rushed through her, recalling the snakes slithering over her. She shut out the thought, unable to handle the horror that would have her curling up in a ball and losing her mind to madness?—
Something else struck her like a punch to her belly. “The day you returned to the abbey from your realm, and I accidentally stabbed you. You were going to kill me, weren’t you?”
She remembered how cold he’d been, like a stranger.
A terse nod. “That was my order.”
She could barely swallow past the lump in her throat. “I see.”
“No, you don’t.” His eyes darkened. “When the time came, I had to provoke you so you would strike hard. They were watching; they always do when they suspect a subject is compromised. I could never hurt you.”
She wiped her damp face with her sleeve. “But you did… W-what you said in the abbey ripped me apart.”
“I know.” His face paled, and he shut his eyes briefly. “It was the truth bent, Nia. Words that implied. I had to protect you in any way I could.”
She gulped a shuddering breath. With the terror of her near death and the deep sense of betrayal still consuming her, sheneeded time to process. Her teeth clacked, and she shivered. “I can’t do this. P-Please, let’s just go. I’m c-cold.”
He gently cupped her cheek, startling her, and warmth seeped through her, along with a wave of longing. She yearned to lean into him, but there was just too much between them.
“Don’t.” She pulled back.
His jaw hardened. “We must talk.”
Nia shook her head. Every time they spoke, she was the one left hurting. She shut her eyes and tried to summon her ability to teleport, praying she could do it this time. Her body shimmered?—
“No!” He grasped her arms, and her eyes snapped open. “We’re in the Himalayas. It’s too far for you to take a chance.”
“Then y-your job would be done, wouldn’t it?”
