“Protection against other angels.” Jason"s laugh was utterly without humor. “It seems the boy is still weak after all these years of existence. He"s survived this long only by tying himself to those stronger than him.”
“He chose his eternity, Jason.” Harsh, but true. No one who"d lived for five hundred years could fail to understand the cruelty engendered by age, the darkness that lived in the heart of so many immortals. If this boy had signed with Dahariel without doing his homework as to the angel"s proclivities, that was a mistake he"d have to live with—if he lived. “We can do nothing for him.”
Because Dahariel had only promised protection fromother angels.
Jason"s eyes met his, the pupils black against irises of almost the same austere shade.
“According to those of his household who"d talk, Dahariel takes great pleasure in torturing the boy with such slowness that it ensures some part of him is always healed, able to bear more.
They say he"s already lost in madness.” Raphael could see Jason fighting his rage, but his next words were icily rational. “The way Noel was beaten—it would fit Dahariel"s methods.”
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“Astaad won"t move against him for that alone.” Especially since it would mean admitting he"d fostered a viper in his midst.
“Maya"s continuing to keep watch. I"ve also got information coming out of Anoushka"s court.”
“Anything of note?”
“She emulates her mother, but she"s stopped growing in power.”
“So she knows she"ll never be an archangel.” It might be enough to push an already fractured personality over the edge. “Did she discover that recently?”
“No. A decade ago. And she displays no signs of disintegration.”
Acceptance or a mask, there was no way to tell. “The Guild Director was able to track the theft of a crate of Guild daggers to a warehouse in Europe two days after Elena woke.” It angered him to see Elena being stalked, but his hunter, he thought, could take care of herself. So, now that he was healing, so could Noel. It was the abuse suffered by Sam that drove them all. “Nazarach was embroiled in a hunt for one of his vampires at the time—a female who managed to cross over into Elijah"s territory.”
Jason nodded. “He"d have been distracted, unlikely to choose that time to orchestrate the theft.”
That was what Raphael had concluded. “See if you can pin down Anoushka"s and Dahariel"s movements.”
“Sire.”
“Jason,” Raphael said as the other angel turned to leave, “you can"t rescue the boy, but I can buy out the remainder of his contract.” Dahariel wouldn"t say no to an archangel, especially not if he was the angel behind the sekhem -linked violence.
“Dahariel will only find another victim.” Jason"s eyes were bleak.
“But it won"t be this boy.”
As Jason left after a small nod, Raphael wondered if the scars on the angel"s soul would ever heal. Most would have gone mad after a few years of Jason"s “childhood.” But the black-winged angel had endured. And when the time came, he"d given his loyalty to Raphael, harnessing his intelligence in service to an archangel.
If saving this boy would give him a measure of peace, then Raphael would deal with Dahariel.
And if the angel proved to be the one who"d hurt Sam, then Raphael would take even greater pleasure in tearing him apart one small piece at a time, keeping him alive so that he"d feel every burn, every break, every brutal slice.
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Because while angels might be predators, it was the archangels who sat at the top of the food chain.
28
“Have you come to play at last?” A smile tinged red. “You’re late.”
“Run,” a broken word. “Run, Ellie.”
The monster laughed. “She won’t run.” A satisfied smile as he lowered his mouth to Ari’s throat. “She likes it, you see.”
Something wrapped around her body, an invisible hand that touched her in her most private place. She went to scream. But her mouth didn’t open, her throat didn’t vibrate . . . because her body did like it. Horrified, she began to claw at her skin, trying to rip it off in a futile attempt to stop the insidious, terrifying pleasure. Warmth bloomed between her legs and her young mind couldn’t take it. Whimpering, she scratched harder. Blossoms of blood appeared under her nails as welts rose on her arms.
The caress—the scent—stopped. “What a pity you’re too young for that. We would’ve had such fun.” He wiped off a drop of blood from his mouth, held out his finger. “Taste. You’ll like it.
You’ll like everything.”
Reaching home as night fell, Raphael saw Elena standing on the cliff edge below his stronghold, her eyes on the tiny lights that dotted the caves lining the gorge. The wind raised her unbound hair off her face as she turned back to the view after watching him land behind her, the white-gold silver under the moonlight.