As he reached down, I watched his face and hand intently. The moment his fingers wrapped around the handle, I waited for his scream, for the smoke as his flesh burned. Instead, he only grimaced, lifting it in front of him.
Fuck.
“Do you feel the burn?” I needed his answer—and to reinforce my grip on my shadows.
“A little.”
I clenched my teeth and glared into the glowing trees, breathing deeply.Gabriel, give me strength.I could almost hear his mocking laughter, feel the hard smack against my back as he joked about my shitty luck, then his grip at my nape knocking our foreheads together as he insisted we’d do it together. Whatever trouble, circumstance, or orders we found ourselves under, we’d do it together.
Maybe the reason I brought the pet here wasn’t just about fucking with his head, but because I knew I’d need Gabriel’s presence near me for this. Now I knew why they told me I’d never have a cordistella. The council had thought Gabriel had taken over that role.
Worse, the pet seemed to be right. The guardian bond was an angel-made cordistella bond forced upon its victims. Most likely the council engineered it to do their dirty work, perverting the original bond it was modeled after.
“That’s a bonded sword in your hand,” I gritted out.
Slow realization dawned on him.
“Your theory must be correct.”
Fake cordistellas.
I couldn’t even begin to process what that meant for all of us. Not just me, Lucille, and him, but the celestial world.
If Etan created the guardian bond, and if he was still using it, what did that mean? Was he creating subservient pairs? Had he already while he ruled over me? What exactly was happening outside Hell’s gates?
“More reason for you to kill me,” the pet said.
He really wanted to make my life as hard as possible.
“I’m surprised you haven’t done it yourself,” I taunted.
“I promised Lucille another day and night.”
I gestured toward the barely lightening sky. It was still dark enough to keep the Eternal Forest glowing until the hazy sun rose. “It’s past midnight. Your promise ended the moment you woke up.”
The pet considered my words, staring at my sword gripped tightly in his hand. His hesitation, the fact that he hadn’t gone through with it this morning, was enough to work with.
He raised my blade slowly, and I stepped forward, slamming my fist into his fucking face.
My sword went flying, and he sprawled onto the ground. I may have also added a little lusceler to my punch. Oops.
Blood streamed from his nose as he stood, and I punched him again. This time, he only stumbled back, taking it like a male. Better. But not good enough. I rammed my fist into his chin and drove my foot into his stomach, knocking him back down.
“Stay down.”
He stood. I sent him back to the ground.
“I said stay down.”
For a moment, he paused on his hands and knees, then pushed to his feet. Two combinations later, and I had him back on the ground.
“Why don’t you stay down?”
He didn’t answer.
Over and over again, he let me pummel him, then got back up.
“Why do you keep getting up?” I asked at one point, my fist twisted in his unearned Hell Squadron uniform.
