She yelled against the sock in her mouth. Heart hurtling into my throat, I whirled just in time to see Rafael rush toward us with anger flashing in his eyes. I braced myself, wishing I had a damn sword myself.
Az slammed into Rafael’s back with a roar, knocking him down onto the concrete. Rafael rolled onto his back and launched a kick into Az’s chest, but Az leapt to the side just in time.
Rafael panted as he glared at the Prince of Hell. And then he vanished into mist.
29
“Mia!” Az rushed toward me, lifted me into his arms, and then squeezed me so tightly I thought my ribs might shatter. The scent of flames whorled around me as shadows pulsed against my skin. For a moment, I let myself give in to the steady, firm sensation of his body against mine.
He cares,I internally whispered.He actually cares.
But then I forced myself to pull back and climb out of his arms. “You can’t let him get away. He’s going to run straight to Lucifer and tell him everything. This was a test, to prove you’re saving souls. Now, he knows you’ve turned your back on Hell.”
“Shit.” Az ran a hand down his face. “I should have seen this coming. Rafael has always had it out for me.”
“He might not have gotten far yet, boss,” Phenex said, jogging toward us and hefting his glittering sword onto his shoulder. “We don’t know how far he can travel with his vanishing power. It might not be much. We should search the streets. See if we can hunt him down before he leaves for Hell.”
Az nodded and gave me one last squeeze. “I agree. You two wait here.”
The Legion thundered out of the warehouse, leaving me with Serena. I watched them go and then knelt back down beside her, gently removing the sock from her mouth. As soon as she had use of her tongue, she let out a muttered string of curses that would have made a sailor blush.
“I should have known not to trust a dumbass guy who seemed perfect on paper.” She ripped the ropes off her legs and tossed them across the floor. “Cute and nice. Kind to animals. With a ridiculous amount of shared interests. It was all pretend, the whole time. And you want to know why?”
I sat back on my heels and gave her a sad smile. “Why’s that?”
“Because I work at the law firm,” she spat. “Asmodeus is one of our clients. Noah…Rafael. He thought he could get access to some of Az’s private contracts. I caught him looking through my drawers a few times. Thought it was odd, but he always had a good excuse for it.” Growling, she shook her head. “I should have known. And dammit, I wish he’d tried this shit during a full moon. The things I could have done…”
“I’m so sorry,” I whispered. “At least you’re safe now.”
The watery look in her eyes shook me to my core. Serena never cried. “You came for me.”
I swallowed hard. “Of course I did. You think I was going to let him lay a fucking hand on you?”
“But you’re human. You could have died.”
“I don’t care.” I threw my arms around her neck and buried my face in her lemon-scented hair. “I would do anything for you, Serena. Anything.”
“Well, isn’t this a sweet reunion?” Rafael’s harsh voice rang out in the silence.
My heart hurtled into my throat. Tensing my entire body, I slowly unwound my arms from Serena’s neck and turned to face the fallen angel. This time, he wasn’t alone. Another figure stood beside him. Even without the mask, I recognized him in an instant. Tall, muscled, rippling with power. Twin pits of anger stared out of his sleet grey eyes, boring right into my soul. The killer from the alley.
I shivered.
Slowly, Serena rose to her feet and stood beside me. It wasn’t a full moon, but she’d still be strong enough to put up a fight now that she knew that we faced danger. Before, Noah-Rafael had likely caught her off guard. She wouldn’t make the same mistake of trusting him again.
Still, it wouldn’t hurt if a few of my demon friends decided to join the party.
How long would they search the streets before returning to the warehouse? We needed to keep these assholes busy and distracted until the Legion showed.
“I’mgladyou came back,” Serena said with a smile that showed the sharp points of her canines. She rarely liked to flash them around. It made it obvious she was not at all human. “Means you’ll get to experience what it’s like to face a very angry werewolf.”
Rafael rolled his eyes. “We’re immortal angels, little wolf. Your scratches will barely harm us, let alone kill us. Nothing can.”
I wet my lips and swallowed down the words that threatened to pop from my throat. There was actuallyonething we could do to stop an angel. Take his heart. Did Serena know?
“Why exactly are you here again? Don’t you have something better to do?” I asked with a faux bravado that would make Broadway proud. “I thought you wanted to run to Lucifer with your little news.”
Rafael and Michael exchanged grins. “I would never walk away from a chance to sacrifice two corrupt souls to Lucifer.”
