Then, flashing from the bed to the closet, she dug out a fresh robe from the back and donned it with a small sigh.
Truthfully, she detested wearing traditional angelic garb.
Angels did not suffer from misogynistic delusions, but as celibate beings, they respected each other’s efforts to remain chaste. The men dressed just as conservatively as the women, for it was well known that one gender’s identity did not determine their susceptibility to sexual desire. As such, their traditional garb was a gender-neutral robe that hid their body shapes, with subtle slits in the back for their wings.
Sunshine hated feeling like a shapeless sack. She felt most like herself when she dressed in Earth clothes that accentuated her figure. It empowered her, made her feel like her own unique person. Not just a tool to be used by the Realm.
Someone who belonged to no one except the one she chose to give herself to.
Hair braided and robe fastened up to her chin, she studied her reflection in the mirror, pursing her lips.An angel of the Realm once more.Looking at her now, no one would guess that she’d spent the night in bed with a demon, letting him ravish every inch of her body and loving it.
Loving him.
She swallowed the lump in her throat.Answers.She was going to get answers. The rest of her questions and uncertainty about the future could wait.
She took a breath and flashed to the Realm.
Back in the Empyrean Library, she climbed the grand staircase, heading straight for the wing devoted to chronicling underworld events. High above, sunbeams shone through the stained-glass windows, casting a golden glow over the murals painted on the ceiling.
She passed one of Adriel, his long hair streaming behind him, his palm held aloft. The artist had captured his serene face perfectly.
There was another of Raphael, dispensing heavenly justice as a demon wept for mercy at his feet. Wielding his legendary flaming sword, Raphael’s proud face appeared indifferent to the groveling creature’s pleas. The demon was red-skinned and horned, and Sunshine suddenly realized it was meant to be Asmodeus.
She winced, halting her steps to study the mural closer. Good thing Asmodeus would never see it, because he was sure to be offended. She doubted very much he hadbeggedfor anything, even when Raphael had bound his lust-demon powers and effectively turned him invisible.
As she gazed at the insensitive mockery of what was surely a traumatic moment for Asmodeus, she finally understood Raum’s point of view. Next time they talked, she resolved to approach the subject with more sensitivity.
Next time they talked, she vowed to have answers about his past.
Leaving the mural behind, she headed down the long passageway toward the area she sought, ducking under a stone archway. Here, the light seemed dimmer, as if the information contained within tainted the purity of Heaven’s air.
Sunshine perused the shelves, passing rows of texts chronicling such and such a coup for power in Hell, or such and such an uprising, or the rise of some King or Queen of Hell and the fall of another.
While the Empyrean Library was maintained by the Principalities, the angels who actually compiled the information were of the Second Sphere and never interacted with anyone from the Third. The separation was maintained so that the accounts would remain unbiased.
Only those who hadn’t tasted the excitement and confusion of the lower realms could be trusted to remain truly subjective. They had a way of muddling the thoughts of even the deepest thinkers.
She located the section dedicated to cataloging notable demons, and her heart quickened when she found the one she sought. Her hands trembled slightly as she pulled a volume from the shelf with nothing but a name inscribed along the spine:
Raum, Earl of Hell.
Feeling like she held something precious, she sank to the floor right there, crossed her legs, and opened the book in her lap.
Its pages contained more information about Raum than he probably knew himself. Immortals lost memories with time, and while Raum wasn’t among the oldest of his kind, he’d still existed long enough that his earliest memories would have faded.
The tales of his early years weren’t pleasant. She was exceedingly glad he’d changed since then because he’d really been quite terrible. She winced as she skimmed some of his notable exploits and decided she would rather not knowallthe details of his history after all.
No one should be defined by their past—she knew that better than most. She would not allow Raum’s demonic deeds of thousands of years ago to color her opinion of him.
She flipped ahead until she found the time period she was looking for.
Roughly seven hundred years ago—the beginning of Raum’s memory gap, she noted—he’d been given an assignment on Earth in Egypt, aiding rebels in overthrowing the current dynasty. Heaven had sent angels in to combat him, but they’d apparently lost that particular dispute, and a point was scored for Hell when they claimed the souls of most of the humans involved.
Funny, Sunshine thought. She thought she had a distant memory of being in Egypt around that time as well.
She turned the page.
As the parchment slipped through her fingers, an image suddenly flashed through her mind. Vanished as quickly as it came, it left nothing but a faint imprint in her thoughts.
