“Wellll,” Meph drawled, “that was sufficiently awkward, and I’m going to hang up now before you’re not the only one puking on yourself. I’ll gather the troops and see what they think, and you try to find your girl. Report back.”
He hung up before Raum could even get out a goodbye, probably eager to escape the over-personal conversationhehad initiated. Dumbass.
29
Fools Rush In Where Angels Fear To Tread
Sunshine followed the call of Raphael’s summons, and was surprised to find it didn’t lead her back to his study in Heaven.
The smell of mold and rot was the first thing she was aware of in her new surroundings. It was so overpowering, she recoiled. The sound of water dripping was the next thing she noticed.
She looked around as her senses acclimated to the scent of wet decay and realized she was in what appeared to be a warehouse. An abandoned one.
Where she stood, the walls were at least two stories high, the ceiling above covered in rusty pipes. The windows had been smashed out and boarded up. Everything was covered in graffiti. The ground was covered by broken glass, garbage, and rubble.
A plywood piece had been torn from the window frame in front of her, so she took careful steps over the debris to peek out. There was no mistaking the city skyline. She could even see the Ferris wheel in the Old Port. She was still in Montreal.
Raphael had summoned her to Montreal.
Raphael was in Montreal.
Her heart started to race as panic gripped her. How had he known to come here? She’d only just left him, and he hadn’t given any indication he was considering—
Unless…he’d followed her?
Angels could track others flashing by the energy traces they left behind. She’d once followed Daniel the same way, which was how she’d found Raum and his brothers in the first place.
“Shamsiel, is that you?” a familiar voice called, and she stiffened.
“Yes,” she replied, turning from the window, “but I’m unsure why you summoned—”
It happened so quickly. Raphael appeared before her, tall and imposing with his white robe and magnificent wings, sword sheathed at his side. Perhaps her past trust in him slowed her reaction time, because before she knew what was happening, he’d grabbed her arm.
A cold steel cuff closed around her wrist.Again.
She twisted and pulled out of his grip, throwing her guard up too late, but the damage was done. As he grabbed her other arm, she attempted to flash away and nothing happened. A second cuff closed around her other wrist.
She had seen these restraints before—in the Court of Ceremonies.
The manacles were connected by a length of chain about two feet long. The metal was a cool gray, and the symbols carved into them glowed the pale blue of Empyrean magic. They were reserved for the rare instances when an angel broke the rules and was tried before the Tribunal.
“What have you done?” she breathed in horror, staring at her bound wrists.
“The cuffs are just a precaution,” Raphael said, stepping back calmly as if he hadn’t just ambushed her. He offered a reassuring smile. “If you’ll follow me, everything will be cleared up shortly. You have nothing to fear.”
He flashed across the room to the entrance of a hallway and gestured for her to approach.
She stared at him, mind racing, a hundred demands rising in her throat. She decided not to voice them until she figured out how much he knew.
It wasn’t hard to guess, however.
He was in Montreal. He’d just bound her powers with cuffs used to punish rule breakers. There was no point trying to run—he’d flash and apprehend her in a second.
Oh god, she felt sick.
Maybe…she could reason with him. He’d always been kind to her. If it was too late to sabotage his hunt, maybe she could convince him to see things her way. It was obvious to her that Raum and his brothers were not a threat to humanity. Maybe he would understand once she explained what had happened in her past.
Gritting her teeth, she did as he bade, feet crunching over rubble and glass as she headed toward the hallway.
