“Yeah, but I couldhave—”
“Could have. Might have.” He shrugged. “But you didn’t. I forgive you, but I don’t think you need to be forgiven. So, are weokay?”
I nodded, but my heart still hurt. Uriel might forgive me, but I couldn’t forgive myself. Not yet, anyway. “Were you here the last time the portal gotopened?”
“I was.” He turned back to his boxes and stacked another on top of the pile. “It was absolute carnage. The demons were so excited to finally have direct access to humanity that things were not pretty at all during the first few months of their new reign. There were a lot ofdeaths.”
I sucked in a sharp breath. “Do you think it’d be like that againnow?”
“Honestly? Yes. That’s why we don’t have a moment towaste.”
* * *
Sailinga boat was something I definitely hadn’t learned in angel school. Why would they teach us about sterns and jibs and starboards when we would never (okay, almost never) have to use that knowledge? Angels have wings, and wings are a hell of a lot faster than a yacht. Luckily, the Order of the Fallen seemed to have a knack for this kind of thing, and they’d even rounded up some human crew members who were more than eager to get off the mainland. And the boat looked strangely better in the daylight. The dark red that had painted every surface seemed…faintsomehow.
I sidled up to Sam and gave a nod toward the human crew members. “So, your boat looks like shit, but not as much as it did in NewYork.”
“The men here cleaned it up for us. It’s not perfect. That would take far more time than we have. But at least she’s in decent shapenow.”
“Basically, we don’t have to sale for two weeks next to old blood stains.” I shuddered. “What do you think they weredoingon thisboat?”
Sam’s shoulders went tense, and he ground his teeth together. “What do you think they were doing,Erela?”
“Murdering humans,” I said softly, just as a hot tear ran down mycheek.
He gave anod.
I blew out a breath and blinked away the tears. Now was not the time to cry, as much relief as that might bring to my tightly-wound emotions. “Sam. Do you ever feel like, I don’t know, we’re just as bad as they are? We have that darkness inside ofus.”
Sam turned to me, and his fiery eyes matched the fear churning deep inside my gut. “No. Because all I have to do is look atyou.”
My heart clenchedtight.
Sam took my elbow and steered me toward the doorway that led down into the cabin area of the boat. I cast a glance over my shoulder at Ramiel, who stood tall, directing the crew members. “Why don’t I show you to yourcabin?”
My heart thumped hard. “Am I the only one getting a personaltour?”
A cheeky smile spread across his lips. “No one else is getting a tour. I know which cabins are the best, remember? I want to make sure you get first pick before the others swarm in and take itthemselves.”
“That’s sweet,” I couldn’t help but say with a shy smile. “But I don’t need the best room, Sam. I’d rather Ramiel have it. OrLizzie.”
“Ramiel will want the room closest to the door. If you and Lizzie want to swap cabins at some point, then be my guest.” He led me down a long, thin hallway before pausing in front of a sleek wooden door that sat at the very end, all by itself. “First, I’d like you to see what I’m offeringyou.”
Was he talking about the cabin? Or somethingelse?
I wet my lips. “Let’s see itthen.”
Sam pushed open the door, rolled back his shoulders, and ushered me into the cabin with a satisfied smirk on his face. And I could see why he thought the room was pretty spectacular. There was a large, king-sized bed with fluffy white bedding, sandwiched between two gleaming wooden tables. A soft lamp illuminated the space, the light glinting off the porthole that gave an expansive view of the ocean outside theboat.
“How did you manage this?” I turned toward Sam. “I thought the demons had destroyed thisplace.”
“Like I said, we’ve been busy.” He gave a shrug and smiled. “While our new crew members were working on the decks, I cleaned up down here. I took the bedding from Lilith’s house. I thought you’d like it if we brought a part of her along withus.”
“Oh,Sam.”
He grinned. “Does that mean you likeit?”
“Oh, I more than just like it. Some might say thatI…”
