The figure charged forward, and the light hit the familiar panes of his furiousface.
Ramiel. My breath whooshed from my lungs, though I wasn’t sure I should be relieved or scared as hell. He’d been more than clear about his so-called Order rules, and Az and I had just ripped those rules to metaphorical shreds. And I’d do it all again ten times over. As much as I cared for Ramiel, and as much as I respected him as a leader, this was not the kind of thing he could command. I understood why he’d done what he did, but that didn’t mean I had to agree with it. We were stronger as a unit, stronger with this bond. I wasn’t about to throw that away, even though he was glaring at us like he might rip us both toshreds.
“Az, how could you?” Ramiel rushed forward and grabbed Az by the shoulders, shaking him so hard that I swore I heard Az’s neck snap back. “I told you to stay away from her. I told you to keep your hands to your damnself!”
I’d never seen Ramiel so angry. And, to be honest, it kind of scared me. He was the calm, controlled Ramiel, who wouldn’t even let himself get close to me for fear it would make him lose control over his emotions. And what’s more, I didn’t even understand why he was as upset as he was. Yes, we had disobeyed his orders, but it wasn’t like it was the end of the world. Besides, it wasn’t like this was the first time Az and I had shared a moment together. He was overreacting. Bigtime.
“Honestly, Ramiel. Stop it,” I said, frowning as he continued to shake Az like a rag doll. “This isn’tfair.”
“Fair?” He twisted toward me now, his rage coming at me in vicious waves. “Fairhas nothing to do withit.”
Sam, Uriel, and Lizzie all poked their heads in the door, but then quickly backed away when they saw what was happening. I couldn’t blame them. I didn’t want to be in hereeither.
“Then, what does it have to do with, Ramiel?” I asked, fisting my hands and propping them on my waist. “Because, I’ve got to be honest with you, you’re acting insane. Az and I had sex. Big deal. It’s not some kind of horrible evil thing that must be avoided at all cost. It’s natural. It’s normal. Stop acting like the Archangels and get agrip.”
Ramiel froze, and his silver eyes went sharp. He didn’t like that I’d compared him to the Archangels and their hideous rules about sexuality. But for once, I didn’t feel as though I’d needlessly put my foot in my mouth. The Order of the Fallenhatedthe Archangels. Part of that anger came from the fact that the Archangels tried to control every minute of an angel’s life, including who they could and couldn’t love, and the parameters of their physical contact beyond that. And now Ramiel was trying to do the very same thing to me. To Az. To all of us. I’d gone from one constricted life to another without evenrealizing.
Lizzie popped back through the door, shot me a look that was full of silent apology, and then turned toward Ramiel, who was still holding tight to Az’s shoulders. “I think it’s time you told her. Otherwise, you’re just going to make her hate you. And as much as you like to put on a big show, I’m pretty sure that’s the last thing youwant.”
I swivelled my head toward Lizzie, confusion rippling through me. “Lizzie? What are you talking about? Tell mewhat?”
She pressed her lips together and closed her eyes. What the hell was goingon?
“Please don’t get pissed off at me. I promised Ramiel that I’d keep my mouth shut. So that he could tell you himself. Of course, I assumed he would have told you by now when I made the deal. It’s not fair for him to keep it from you any longer, not when hiding the truth from you is clearly breaking yourheart.”
The sounds of the world suddenly seemed very hollow and distant. My heart thumped hard, and I whispered, “Whattruth?”
Az took that moment to jerk his shoulders out of Ramiel’s grasp. He crossed his arms over his chest and gave Ramiel a nod. “She has a right to know. Then, she can make her own goddamndecision.”
Ramiel’s face paled. “I didn’t want to tell you like this. Or in a place likethis.”
“Ramiel, just spill it,” I said, though a part of me knew that whatever this was, I didn’tactuallywant to hear it. There was something terrible going on, something that explained why Ramiel, why Sam, and why even Uriel had taken a step away from me. That something was so terrible that Ramiel hadn’t even wanted to tell me. Lizzie hadn’t either. But how could it be worse than not having each and every one of them by myside?
Ramiel let out a long sigh and began pacing the length of the small room. “Lizzie found something else in that book you two were translating, only this little tidbit had nothing to do with the world’s history and everything to do with the future.” He stopped suddenly, his face screwed up in pain. “It was a prophecy. About you, Erela. And it said that you would die in this war. In order to save the love of yourlife.”
* * *
At some pointafter Ramiel’s confession, I plopped down onto the floor. That was a whopper of information alright, and I didn’t even know where to even begin in order to process it. That crazy Old Enochian book held some kind of prophecy about me. Me, of all angels. And, I mean, that thing was old. Really, really old, which meant that there had been a prophecy about me for hundreds of years. That alone was enough to take my breathaway.
And then there was the thing about me dying. That part kind of sucked, no matter which way I looked atit.
Finally, I took a deep breath and looked up to see our entire pack huddled around me, silent, wary, concerned. Even Rourke seemed to understand the weight of this new discovery. Hell, he probably understood far more than I did rightnow.
“How do you even know this prophecy is about me?” I asked, turning my attention toward Lizzie. “Did the prophecy actually list my name? Doubtful. Maybe it’s about another Nephilimentirely.”
She pressed her lips into a thin line. “Actually, it did. Erela Michael, daughter of an Archangel and a half-demon. There aren’t many angels around with those precisequalities…”
Shitoodles. It was hard to argue against that. I’d expected this grand, vague prophecy where it was hard to tell who or who it couldn’t be about. I’d seen them before. They also hardly ever came true. This, however…well, this kind of had the markings of something that we couldn’t ignore. Of course, I would have chosen an entirely different method of protecting me than Ramiel seemed to deemnecessary.
“So, let me see if I’m understanding this correctly…” I slowly said. “Lizzie found a prophecy about me in this book. She showed it to you, and then you all decided that in order to stop it from happening, you would prevent me from falling in love with any ofyou.”
Ramiel’s jaw clenched, and he flicked his silver eyes away. “That was the idea, yes. If you don’t have a love of your life, then you won’tdie.”
I let out a hollow laugh. “It’s far too late for that, Ramiel. Far toolate.”
I loved them all, blindingly so. The question for me wasn’tifI had found the love of my life. It waswhich oneof my loves I would end up having to protect. Bydying.
Man, this really put a damper on my blissfully perfect night withAz.
