But she saw it once. And once was enough.
Standing beneath the desert sun… Rich bronze skin… Golden eyes narrowed in challenge… My enemy. There would be no rest until he was defeated.
The library returned, her fingers now clenched tightly around the book in her hands. She’d had no recollection of such a moment until right now, which could only mean one thing—
With hands that shook, she scanned the next page,needingto see what came next. But as she started to read, she noticed a rough edge near the spine. She peered closer and froze in shock.
A section of pages had been torn completely from the book.
It was done carefully, the tear so close to the spine it was nearly indiscernible. But there was no mistaking those rough edges.
The record had been defaced.
It was an atrocity to even accidentally damage any book from the Empyrean Library, but this was deliberate. These pages had been purposefully torn away to stop someone from learning what was recorded.
To stop someone…like her.
Heart racing now, Sunshine climbed to her feet. Her head spun, and she felt nauseous. She could feel her careful world starting to crumble around her as all the things she believed in shattered into pieces.Lies.How much of her life was a lie? And how deep did these lies go?
Fighting to draw a level breath, she returned the book to the shelf, and—
“Shamsiel.”
She yelped with surprise at the tall figure suddenly beside her. She’d been so lost in her thoughts she hadn’t seen his approach.
“Raphael!” She clutched her chest. “My goodness, you startled me.”
The archangel smiled sheepishly. “My apologies. I saw you arrive at the library, and I wanted to speak with you.” He nodded toward the book she’d just returned to the shelf. “I see you’ve been researching the infamous rogues?”
Her nervous heart picked up its pace all over again. There was no point denying it. She couldn’t know how much he’d seen before she noticed him, and lying would only make him suspicious. “I have,” was all she said.
Since she couldn’t hide what she’d been doing, she might as well make use of the situation. Maybe Raphael could help her find what she needed. “I noticed that pages of this volume have been torn.” She pulled Raum’s book from the shelf once more and flipped to the damaged section.
His eyes widened as he trailed his fingers over the rough edge. “Who could have done this?”
“I can’t imagine. Deliberately defacing these records is…unthinkable.”
“You should report the damage to the Tribunal. They’ll look into it, and I’m sure the culprit will be found.”
“Yes, I’ll do that.” She returned the book to the shelf and then smiled up at Raphael, shifting uncomfortably. His company had never bothered her before, but she couldn’t banish the feeling of unease that had arisen after seeing that mural of Asmodeus. And Raum’s words still echoed in her head. Why am I forced to fight on the losing side? What if I don’t want to fight at all? Then I’ll be hunted by fucks like Raphael.
“I sought you out for a reason, actually,” Raphael said just as she was about to excuse herself. “I was wondering if you would assist me with something.”
She exhaled and tried not to sound frustrated. “Yes, of course I will assist you.” Her past self would have been eager to help, and she’d couldn’t well refuse now without arousing suspicion.
“I will flash us, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course.”
He held out a hand, and she placed her palm in his. Her skin crawled with impatience, the need to return to Earth growing stronger with every passing minute. She desperately wanted to speak to Raum, to tell him what she’d found in that book and to make things right.
With her consent given, Raphael flashed them to a study that she recognized as being in his own domain. As a celebrated archangel, he was afforded a more luxurious space with bay windows and a panoramic view of the Empyrean City.
He seemed to be in the middle of a project of some sort. In the center of the room, a long table was covered in pages of notes and books. There was also a large Earth map with numerous colored pins in various locations and small notes stuck to them.
As soon as Raphael released her, she walked to the board to inspect it closer, her nape prickling. The unease quickly turned to dread as she realized just what she was seeing.
“This is…”
