There was one more message. It said simply,I already miss you.
Raum closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. This was what he got for getting involved with an angel. She was always going to make him look bad, wasn’t she? Her apology was so perfectly worded, she ought to be a press-release writer for half the politicians in North America.
He immediately started typing out some garbled, ineloquent reply, only to stop, delete it all, retype it, and delete it again. He rubbed his eyes. All the while, his brothers shamelessly watched him.
“You’re trying to apologize by text, aren’t you?” Meph said.
Ash whistled low. “Bad idea.”
“Terrible,” Mist agreed.
Raum looked up. “She went back to Heaven. I have to.”
“Don’t think there’s cell reception there, man.”
“I know that,” Raum said through gritted teeth. “She’ll see it when she gets back.”
“Not to be a downer,” Meph said, “but you realize you can’t date an angel, right? Talk about your doomed relationships. If you ever got found out, I shudder to think what they’d do to you.”
“Perhaps erase his memory?” Mist said with a lifted brow.
“I always thought that was a stupid punishment,” Ash mused. “You know how many times I thought about what I did over the years, thinking that if I’d just…notkilled those humans, then I wouldn’t have been cursed?” He blew out a breath. “Erasing your memory defeats the whole purpose.”
“But if it’s not about punishment and more about cleaning up a big messy mess, then it’s perfect,” Meph said. “Damn, that’s one hell of a scandal.”
“Why doesn’t the angel believe it?” Belial grunted. It sounded more like a threat than a question, but at least he was trying.
“She doesn’t have memory loss,” Raum said, slumping back into the couch. That was the one thing he couldn’t figure out. “I suggested that the angels messed with her head too, but she swears it isn’t possible.”
“So what are you gonna do?” Meph asked.
“I don’t know.” He scratched Luna behind the ears. “Wait for her to come back. Apologize for being a dick.” He winced. Apologies sucked, and most of the time he’d rather be loathed eternally than bother with one. But he’d do it for Sunshine.
And she wasn’t even mad at him—she was too goddamn nice. It just made him want to apologize more.
“Look.” Belial blew out a sigh. “I’m fighting my instincts here. I believe you believe the angel is trustworthy. But how can we know that for certain? She’s a fucking angel.”
“She told me how to remove the brands,” Mist said.
“She wants to cut your skin off with a consecrated blade. You’d be dead before you realized she’d lied.”
Mist looked at Raum. “I don’t believe she lied.”
“She didn’t.” Raum looked skyward. “I don’t have the energy to waste convincing you, Bel, and frankly, I don’t give a shit what you think either way.”
Bel dragged a hand through his hair. “Damn it, Raum. I’m trying.”
“Well try harder.”
Bel’s jaw clenched.
“Raum,” Ash warned.
Raum shot him a glare. Yeah, he was being petulant, but Bel had pissed him off.
“I know you’re mad I knifed you and tried to kill your girlfriend,” Bel said, “but—”
“You knifed him?” Meph cut in. “And I missed it?”
