I sighed and leaned back in my chair. Another hope dashed. Another fight I’d sucked at. It would have been pretty nice if I’d had some special wing powers, but I wasn’t that lucky. The only good thing in my life right now was the Order. And the members of the Order. And the way Sam was now looking at me, as if he wanted to carry me to my cabin and show me hisscars.
Luckily, after the meeting, he did justthat.
Chapter Seven
Sam
After I’d shownErela just how much fighting ramped up my adrenaline (and my sex drive), I wandered into the galley to find some grub. Rolling around between the sheets always left me feeling more than a little famished. I found the boxes that contained our rations and began to rummage around for something that wasn’t specifically tailored to be soldier food. Something with a little flavor. Something that wasn’t puremush.
The door creaked open, and Ramiel stepped inside. I glanced up to see his fists rubbing deep circles around hiseyes.
“Can’t sleep?” I paused my rustling so I could hear hisreply.
“It’s been a rough week. I don’t think angels are meant to sail. Today’s fight didn’t do much tohelp.”
“Yes, it wasn’t our finest hour.” With a grin, I turned back to the foodbox.
“You seem pretty chipper for a male who just came face to face with the creature who changed all our lives,” Ramiel said quietly, after a moment of strainedsilence.
So, Ramiel believed me about the Hydra then. At least I wasn’t the only one who could recognize the creature for what—and who—she was. Not that I wanted to get into it now. Far too hungry for thatconversation.
“Yes, well.” I couldn’t help but grin. “Erela…well, let’s just say that she knows how to make me feelbetter.”
“You should be careful,Sam.”
With a roll of my eyes, I stood and gave Ramiel a look. “Why? Do you think that just because you are too tightly wound to give in to your feelings for her that none of the rest of usshould?”
Of course not.” He blew out a long breath. “We all need to be careful about what we do with our hearts. The success of the Order is at stake. If something were to happen that would cause a split between the two of you, would the Order survive that? Would you be able to stand being around each other? How would we fight against the demons if we are too distracted by the drama ofromance?”
“You speak out of turn, Ramiel.” I grabbed a soldier mush meal and slammed down the lid of the box. “My heart is mine to give to who Iplease.”
“I do not speak out of turn. I am your leader.” Ramiel strode up to me, and he stared down at me with narrowed eyes. His body radiated with pure power, the kind of power that could bring other angels to their knees. He rarely ever exerted his power like this. He didn’t need to. We all deferred to him, no matter what. But now…now things had changed. I would not refuse my heart. Ramiel might be able to push away his feelings, but I couldn’t. And I wouldn’t. Not even with an order from myleader.
“You speak for yourself. Not forme.”
And with that, I left him in the galley tostew.
Chapter Eight
Erela
ONE WEEKLATER
The boat limpedinto the docks. All the rest of the way to England, the water demons made knock after knock after knock against the hull, in between being chased away again by the Hydra, and a few leaks had sprouted up along the way. The poor humans were tired and hungry—half of our food supplies got soaked and spoiled—and they were more than a little bit grumpy. When we spilled out onto the docks, we headed straight to Lilith’s base. It was only a mile from shore and a welcomerelief.
I knew Ramiel wanted to go straight to Berith’s castle, and I did, too. But we owed it to these humans to find a safe space for them to rest. A roof over their heads. Clean clothes and food. Lilith’s home would provide that for them, and it would give us a base while we tracked down theamulet.
Lilith had many homes scattered throughout the world, one of which was located in a small village in the Devon countryside. Rolling hills spread out on every side of us, the farmland now transformed into fields upon fields of untamed bushes and grass. The village itself wasn’t much more than a few buildings clustered together around the High Street. A butcher’s and a post office, plus a pub that had gone out of business a long, long time ago. In fact, every single building was boarded up andabandoned.
Lilith’s house was a five minute walk from the main square. When we strode up the quiet English street, I was impressed to find a large three-story manor type house with a picket fence and a quaint garden full of herbs and flowering plants. There was a little hut just off to the left of it, and the door cracked open as we all approached, looking bedraggled and war torn. But the whole place looked…alive. Splashes of color were everywhere, and the wooden chairs in the garden looked homey and well-worn. A warmth settled over my bones. This place would do. It would very muchdo.
A short little man with a thin patch of reddish hair poked out his head and gazed our way. He took one look at the tired humans and then one look at us, and for a moment, I thought he would scream and run. But instead, a smile donned his face and he nodded. Wrinkles creased the skin around his eyes, the kind that showed he’d spent many days of his long lifesmiling.
“Ah, welcome. Welcome. I’ve been expecting you,” he said in a creaky voice that still felt warm and soothing like butter ontoast.
“Expecting us?” Ramiel strode to the front of our group, his hand rested tensely on the hilt of hissword.
“Aye,” the man said, his accent thick and lilting. “You must be friends of Lilith’s. I’ve spent the last ten years of my life here, tending to her home and her garden. We’ve got plenty of fresh vegetables here. No fruit, sadly. It hasn’t fared well in this dreary weather despite myefforts.”
