Lore’s mouth thinned. Still, he remained silent.
“You have nothing to say?” she demanded.
“What difference would it make? You know the truth?—”
“Today! Only today, I learned everything. Not fromyoubut from the angel sent to kill me!Youshould have told me.” The hurt she’d tried so hard to rein in broke free. “Fine. Go. Leave! I don’t care.”
Before her tears fell, she yanked open the French doors and hurried out into the night, inhaling trembling breaths. Once out of sight, she halted and shut her eyes.
Pain and embarrassment constricted her. How could she let her shields crack and reveal her emotions to everyone in the room? But she was aware, too, of the dead silence behind her.
Unable to bear Lore witnessing her utter devastation if he came after her, she hurried down the terrace steps and took off. The sobs lodged in her throat broke free. Tears flowed as she followed the footpath around the castle, cutting across the glaring, snowy grounds toward a body of water.
She neared an enormous lake and stumbled toward a bench, brushed off the snow, and sat. Choking back a sob, she dashedher wet face with her fist. She might have found her sister, but her heart was shattering into pieces.
He didn’t come after her.
Lore’s entire being shuddered as Nia dashed outside, the emptiness within seeping through every inch of him. But not by a twitch did he reveal his own anguish. Or how the need to pursue her ran hot in his blood. It was futile anyway. He couldn’t promise her anything when nothing was resolved.
“What did you do?” Echo demanded, looking so much like the woman he couldn’t live without.
He just shook his head. “I need to speak with Michael.”
“Is that all you have to say?” she snapped, looking like she’d stake him. “I will find out the truth, and God help you, Lore!”
“Hold on,” Michael told her. “I sent Loráed to protect her because of who he is—a Power. While his orders can supersede my request, I know he wouldn’t act without finding out all the facts. I trust him completely. AndIasked him not to say anything to your twin.”
With another glare at them, Echo stormed after Nia.
Aethan stepped onto the terrace but didn’t follow his mate, apparently giving the sisters time alone. Then he glanced back into the study, his troubled expression morphing to one of contemplation.
Guess I am having an audience for this, then. Lore faced Michael. “I need a favor. The seraphs haven’t rescinded the termination. There’s still a target on her. She stepped out of the abbey earlier today, and a throne abducted her to finish the job. They are watching the place. It’s why I had to bring her here.”
Michael’s eyes narrowed. “Is that so?”
“Keep her safe.”
Aethan straightened. “Any of those winged asses try and break in here for a psionic, we’ll send them back in a white light.”
Lore exhaled deeply at what awaited him now.
“Are you sure about this?” Michael asked.
He wasn’t surprised the archangel already knew what Lore had planned. With the charged emotions between Nia and him, even a blind man would figure it out.
But the distance between them ate at him like an unending wound.
He slid his clenched hands into his pants pockets so he wouldn’t punch something. “I’m not one for indecisiveness regarding something this important. I have hurt her enough, unable to give her a proper answer while I figured things out because of the laws that bind us,” he said. “I’ve made my decision, but I request that you not tell Nia anything.”
“Damn,” Aethan drawled, leaning a shoulder against the doorjamb. “Who would have thought this day would come, witnessing how the mighty has fallen.”
Lore ground down on his teeth. Yes, this was payback for all the times he and Aethan had words about his work schedule and especially his toughness on Echo.
“What happens if it takes ages?” Apparently not done tormenting him, Aethan cocked an eyebrow. “I mean, in the Celestial Realm, time’s irrelevant. A few days there might just be years here before you reappear. She could move on, start a life with someone else—wait, Race is unattached. And she is psionic. They’d be perfect together.”
Lore wanted to ram his fist into the warrior’s jaw, but he reeled in his ire.
“As long as she’s happy,” he said, tone flat. “Her happiness will always come first.”
