“Why did you allow me to get the advantage earlier? Why release Gabriel when you know Michael will retaliate?”
“Perhaps I’m sick and tired of his controlling ways.” Raphael shrugged and shot a moody glance his way before focusing on Nadia again. “Can she really decipher the text?”
Before answering, Luc exchanged glances with Gabriel, hoping to get a feel for whether he should reveal the truth. After receiving a sharp nod, he answered in the affirmative.
“I was hoping you’d say no,” Raphael replied with a solemness he seldom showed. “Maybe they’d leave her alone if she couldn’t.” He shrugged. “If you mate with her, you will put a target on her back not even you can protect her from, brother. You do understand that any child from your union will be too powerful to live.”
Luc growled low in his throat, gearing up to strike. “You would threaten my woman and my future child?”
“Not me,” Raphael swiftly clarified. “You know I care for Nadia.”
Mouth compressed against all the profanity threatening to spill out, Luc paced the ancient catacomb. “I must kill Michael.”
“Not a wise move. You gravely wounded him last time, and the resulting fallout was nearly catastrophic. Even now, he seeks retribution.”
“What would you have me do, Raphael? Leave her to the mercy of Michael and his followers?”
“You can trust that I will protect her, brother,” Gabriel said. “Raphael, fill him in on the plan.”
“I’m frightened to speak,” he replied dryly. “Lucifer is a bit hot around the collar.”
Gabriel’s violet-blue eyes lit with humor.
Luc didn’t find anything about the situation funny. “Typical Raphael, always worried about stepping on someone’s toes,” he sneered. “Tell me.”
“We cloak her with a charm.”
“Pfft. A charm will not keep her off Father’s radar, you fool.”
“A charm made of our combined blood might,” Gabriel said, strolling to where his brothers stood toe to toe.
“I wouldn’t trust any of you with even a drop of mine, if I could help it.” Luc shook his head at the absurdity of it all. “Who’s to say you wouldn’t use it to try to destroy her?”
“There are no guarantees, brother. You only have the word of those of us who admire and care for her. We would not see her harmed,” Raphael said.
Luc’s hand tightened on his sword. Hearing him profess any affection toward Nadia sparked untold fury. “How much of your blood is needed? I can assist with the letting.”
“Luc, she is my kin. I would see she is kept safe,” Gabriel assured him, all humor gone.
“And you would defy Father? Be cast out as I have been? I think not. You have been taking His orders for too many years.”
Luc’s eyes sought out the solitary figure by the altar. Nadia stood, thumbing through the pages. Where she’d been lovely before, she was now stunning. He hadn’t lied to her. Something had changed within him when they were parted. If one could label this intense desire to sweep her up, keep her safe, and hold her forever love, then he was head over heels. He’d been alone too long and only knew the briefest affection. Echoes of what he’d once considered love reverberated in his chest whenever the outside world was quiet, and he sat alone in his thoughts. But what Nadia had stirred in him was far greater than anything he’d ever experienced.
“Perhaps we should let her decide,” Raphael suggested softly. “It is, after all, her life.”
“No.” Luc never looked away from the woman he’d come to love more than his own existence. “She would not leave me. Not by choice.”
Raphael sighed in frustration.
“Who will you find to make the charm?” Luc asked after a heavy pause. “Can they be trusted?”
“I believe so.” Beside him, Gabriel gazed upon his daughter. “Will you let us help her, brother?”
“How much time do I have?”
“Very little. Knowing Michael, he is already gathering his forces to march on your army,” Raphael said.
“If the fight is inevitable, why should I let her go?”
