Aethan snorted. “How did it even happen, an emotionless being falling in love?”
Lore froze. The words hit him like a sledgehammer straight in the chest.
He already knew he couldn’t live without her.
But love?
Is that what this is?
All these emotions consumed him, making him feel as if he couldn’t breathe at the thought of her not in his life—and that she could move on with bloody Zayn or that infernal Guardian, Race. Or when she’d dismissed those incredible, intimate moments between them as if they were nothing, it gutted him to the core. And why, when she cried, discovering his betrayal, the pain had been unbearable, as if someone had carved out his heart with a celestial blade.
Lore shut his eyes. Stars! He was…so deeply, desperately in love with her.
“Hell!” Aethan murmured, and Lore glanced at him. The warrior shook his head, his smirk dropping. “You’ll want the 411 fast. You need to fight for her, not let her walk away, man. Go tell her what you plan to do.”
These immortals had no idea what the angels had to endure.
“I cannot,” he muttered, and Michael inclined his head, aware of what he meant. “It’s better for her to think I’ve returned to the Celestial Realm.”
Aethan frowned, then swore, apparently realizing the truth of Lore’s situation. “That’s some fucked-up shit. Even when you leave, freedom still isn’t guaranteed.”
“Indeed.” Lore walked out of the study onto the darkened terrace. Instead of flashing back to the Celestial Realm, his feet were already taking him in the direction Nia had gone.
He shouldn’t, but he longed for one last look at the woman who’d claimed his heart.
The stars only knew how this would end.
Because not all angels survived the fall from grace.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
Footsteps crunched through the snow,stirring Nia from the pit of despair.
Lore? Her heart thudded hard as if it would escape her.
“Hey.” A hand gently pressed her shoulder, and Echo rounded the bench.
Nia’s heart sank to her belly. Why had she expected him to come after her? He was leaving. Hell, he was probably already gone.
“You okay?” Echo brushed the snow off the wooden seat and sat next to her.
“Okay as I can be.” Forcing a smile, she met her sister’s troubled stare. “I didn’t mean to rush out like that. I-I…” Nia didn’t know what to say, so she lifted her shoulder in a helpless shrug. “It doesn’t matter?—”
“Yes, it does!” Echo faced her. “You just found out you have a family. It’s overwhelming for me, too. This is all on Michael and Lore for keeping this from you, from us.”
Tears welled, and she tried to blink them away. “To be fair, Lore did try to tell me, but I was so mad at him, I wouldn’t listen…”
Echo pulled the ends of her sweater sleeves to cover her hands, her gaze skating over Nia’s face. “I still cannot believe this is real. I’m a twin. It’s like a miracle.”
“For me, too.” Nia’s smile wavered. “I’m so sorry for what happened to you and about your foster family?—”
“Don’t apologize. Blame those damn angels.” Echo’s mouth tightened. Her fingers released her sleeves, and she rubbed her palm with her thumb.
Nia frowned at the tattoo there and grasped Echo’s hand. “What happened?”
“This?” She grimaced. “You probably already know that we are the descendants of the Watchers. So, yeah…” She traced a finger over the pattern of some kind of stylized eye. “It happened during my studies about our ancestors. It’s an angelic rune. Lore calls it a locator sigil.”
