With his entire being a desolate hollow at breaking his mate bond, Lore managed to easily shut out the hypnotic tone. “Indeed. Most deserved the punishment dealt to them. And I usually have all the facts first, as I made sure to do for this job, too.”
“Loráed.” His many wings fluttered, a display of power that would have once commanded Lore’s immediate deference. “You are being swayed by the fragility of humanity. Perhaps some time away from Michael would ground you, remind you of what we truly are, of all we must do to keep our Father’s realm safe and pure?”
“I am eons old, Chamuel.” Lore’s voice remained level, though every word felt like a blade against his throat. “There is no need to reiterate what it is we do. I have decided to leave the divine order and fall from grace, effective as of now. That leeway has always been open to us, has it not?”
For the first time in eons, a flash of alarm crossed Chamuel’s usually stoic features. “No, no, no, Loráed, you cannot succumb to a mortal failing. It is a known fact humans can tempt angels, especially those of the lower order. You are far superior to them. You always have been.”
Lore folded his arms over his chest, his gaze on the several falls some distance away, the cascading waters creating multiple rainbows across the glimmering surface.
Indeed. He might have been guilty of behaving as such once. “Regardless?—”
“No, Loráed, you do not comprehend. You are one of our most accomplished and formidable Powers. You will give up all you’ve achieved—your life here, your halo, your wings, even your divine powers—for some mortal who will be gone in a heartbeat. If you do this, you will remain forever immortalandpowerless. Bathe in the lake, be free of this mishap.”
Lore dragged in a deep breath, trying to still the ache in his chest at the lack of her warmth. For her, he’d lay down his life. “She is not a mishap. I have considered this decision thoroughly. I need her.”
“Loráed, it has been mere hours since you left for this job. You do not know what you say.”
Indeed, but he’d lived an entire life on Earth in those hours.
“Have you forgotten…” Chamuel’s tone dropped a notch to cooler, “carnal needs are forbidden to us?”
And there it was. The threat.
Indeed. He had committed an atrocious offense while still divine by sleeping with Nia, and Chamuel knew.
So be it.
Casting Chamuel an emotionless stare that belied the storm within him, he said, “I have decided.”
His words rang with finality, a death knell to his celestial existence.
Chamuel remained silent for several minutes. “As you desire then. I will oversee your fall.”
That’s it?
While Chamuel clearly disapproved, he conceded far too easily. There would be a reckoning. With the seraphs, there always was.
Lore didn’t care.
He would fall, no question.
But would he survive?
Chapter
Twenty-Eight
“So,you wanted me to see the beach?” Nia asked her sister, pulling on the smiling mask she’d perfected, not wanting to worry her newly discovered sibling any more than she already had.
But her broken heart wasn’t so easy to ignore.
Echo laughed. “It is beautiful, isn’t it? But no.”
Her twin had materialized them to a picturesque location. A forest stretched in both directions at their back. Before them, a wide shore separated the sea from the woods. The moon silvered everything, casting its shimmering light over the undulating water. Little waves gently hit the bank where a two-level boathouse was built.
“This is so pretty,” Nia said. “Tranquil.”
“I know. C’mon.” She hooked her arm through Nia’s. They carefully made their way down the slope, over the pebbly ground with pockets of snow, to the boathouse. A pier led into the water.
