“As death,” she replied. I’d already loved her more than life. Unbeknownst to her, she and Kirby were set to split my worldly possessions and lifetime of royalties down the middle in my living will. But watching her stare down a powerful soldier from Heaven as she stepped up to defend me brought me to tears. I watched them through a watery haze.
“I could have ended the war,” he said quietly. “Heaven would have won. None of this would have happened. I could have done that.”
Nia took a half step back.
His posture was rigid. “Has Marlow told you? Caliban owed me a favor. Anything in the realms. I could have asked for every angel to have free access to Hell. I could have asked him to kill his own bride. I could have requested anything. And I didn’t.”
Her bewilderment was palpable.
“Instead,” he went on, “I called in the favor by sending him to a town where no one else would enter to touch him. I gave Hell a fighting chance. And then I showed up for Marlow again. And again. If you can’t trust someone who protected her interest over the kingdom’s, then who can you trust?”
Nia’s lips parted in surprise.
“Um.” Kirby flashed their phone uncomfortably from the curb. “I’m sorry. This is so awkward. Our car is pulling up.”
“Go,” I tried to say, but nothing came out. I closed the space between us and threw my arms around Nia, crushing her in another hug. I nearly cracked her spine from how hard I crushed, and she met me squeeze for squeeze. “I love the hell out of you,” I choked out.
Kirby had already begun loading the carry-on bags of NYC spoils into the trunk of the car. I released Nia just long enough to give Kirby a quick hug.
“I’ll be back soon,” Azrames promised. He cast one final, serious look over my shoulder at the angel before sliding into the back seat with the others. To Silas, he added, “Keep her safe, angel. If she’s invisible to the realms, it means that if something happens to her, you will have been the leak. Return her with a single scratch, and you’d better hopeCalibanfinds you before I do. He’d smite you from existence. Me, on the other hand?” They stared each other down for three painful, throbbing beats. “I’ll make sure you suffer.”
Silas wasn’t given the opportunity for rebuttal.
The door closed behind Azrames as he left with the four most precious mortals in the world.
I watched the vehicle round the corner, leaving me completely alone with the angel.
“He’s pleasant,” Silas murmured.
“Yes, he is,” I said definitively.
He chewed his inner cheek for the barest of moments before saying, “I’m glad you have him.”
Yellow cabs whirred by. City folk jostled us on the sidewalk. I was left reeling once more.
Last time he and I had the world to ourselves, he had dragged me through my past lives and opened my eyes to things I often wished I’d never seen. Then again, it was how I’d learned he was the only entity in my life who wasn’t lying to me.
A beat passed before Silas broke the silence.
I guess I was expecting him to say something sweet, or sentimental, or even a smartass remark. Instead, he surprised me with his request.
“Now that it’s just the two of us: Let’s see the sølje.”
***
I missed my home.
I was so glad Silas had suggested we hide out here. I fully understand why he’d waited until the others left, as surely, it was not the wisest place for us to lay low. But it was warded, no one was tracking us, and god, it felt good to be back.
With the two of us traveling together, the jump had happened in an instant.
We still had twenty-five and a half hours before the concert.
I ran up to my floor-to-ceiling windows and told them that I missed them. Then, unable to stop myself, I went on a tour of the apartment. “I missed you, couch. I missed you, giant TV. I missed you, well-stocked bar cart. I missed you,amaretto-scented candles.”
“Are you almost done?” Silas asked.
“I missed you, high-speed Wi-Fi.”
