Maybe Raum was right. Maybe an unbreakable vow wasn’t the answer. Maybe…they could learn to trust each other.
She straightened again and looked at Mist. “I know how to remove your brands. I only withheld the information before because I didn’t understand why Daniel wanted it. But I understand now, and you deserve to be free.”
Mist’s eyes widened.
“Any magical brand or binding can be removed by a consecrated blade, but that blade must be wielded by a full angel. A Grigori cannot do it. The skin must be cut from the body, removing all traces of the branding. When it regrows, the brand will be gone. It will be painful, but it will work.”
Mist seemed frozen with shock.
“I’m willing to do this for you once things are more…stable.” Her gaze flicked to Belial.
“Now, we’re leaving,” Raum said again, this time more firmly. He picked up his hoodie from where he’d dropped it on the floor and then held out a hand to her.
Figuring she’d pushed her luck enough, she took it and flashed them away.
They landed on the rooftop where she’d left Luna, and Sunshine called for her. As if sensing the danger had passed, Luna came running from her hiding place between two air-conditioning units. Raum scooped her up with one arm, and Sunshine flashed all three of them to her apartment.
The silence of the empty flat felt oppressive.
She released Raum and stepped back. He bent and let Luna go and then tossed his hoodie onto the sofa across the room. Luna’s tail wagged nervously as she glanced between them like she couldn’t understand where all the tension came from.
“You never had the book,” Raum said.
Sunshine shook her head.
“Can you really remove Mist’s brands?”
She nodded.
Silence reigned some more. Bored with the drama, Luna trotted away to explore.
“You’re hurt,” Sunshine said.
He shrugged.
“Let me heal you.”
“I’m fine.”
“It’s easy for me.” She took a step forward. “Let me.”
“Isn’t that against the rules? To heal a demon?”
“Yes.”
His eyes narrowed, but he didn’t move so she took that as a cue. As she stepped closer to him, her heart sped up. Would he ever stop affecting her like this? It didn’t help that he was so much bigger than her in this form. He wasn’t wearing a shirt, and she longed to know what his scaled chest would feel like beneath her palm.
She held a hand over the stab wound in his side and sent waves of healing energy into it until the skin stitched back together. When she finished, she glanced up and found his eyes on her. His wings flared briefly, and her heart skipped a beat.
Say something!she wanted to shout at him. She had just revealed her feelings in front of his brothers, and he hadn’t responded. The way he’d defended her to Belial and protected her from making an unbreakable vow warmed her heart, but it was hardly a confession.
For thousands of years—and longer than she could remember—she had solved everything by herself. She’d never leaned on anyone. She’d never willingly surrendered control. She’d never closed her eyes and fallen, trusting someone would be there to catch her.
What would it even feel like? To plummet into the unknown with complete faith that another would break her fall and protect her from harm?
A pang of longing struck her so hard she lost her breath.
But she couldn’t ask for it, not when it was something that had to be freely given. And Raum still hadn’t spoken a word.
