“Who says I have anything to gain? Maybe I just want to give you a peace offering.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence. Your offering is also a convenience to you, or you wouldn’t be here. I want to know what it is.”
Raum made an impatient growl. “Raphael wiped my memories. He also cursed Asmodeus, as I’m sure you know. He threatened to kill me and someone I care about. He lied to Sunshine and betrayed her. He knows where we’re hiding on Earth, and he knows that Sunshine’s loyalties to Heaven are…divided. I need him gone, but it’s too risky to kill him.”
“So you want him permanently incapacitated.”
He nodded. “Sunshine was once held prisoner in Hell as a blood source, exactly like this. Raphael knew what happened to her and did nothing.” A rare smile curved Raum’s lips. “I’m just giving him a taste of his own medicine. It’s only fair.”
Now that was the kind of justice Murmur could get behind.
His thoughts raced as he fought to assimilate this new information. Raum had some kind of traitor-to-the-Realm angel on his side who was willing to bust him out of dungeons and chop off the heads of archangels. That made him a formidable enemy. Especially because Belial called him brother. It was in Murmur’s best interest to keep things amicable.
But the slight against him could not go ignored or it would make him look weak.
“Do you have plans to make a second attempt to steal my book?” he asked.
Raum’s mouth tightened. “I was bound by a contract. I had no choice.”
That was a deflection if Murmur had ever seen one. “If your angel wanted to come back and try again, would you accompany her?”
“Yes.”
Well, at least he was honest.
“I’ll make you a deal, crow. In exchange for your generous offering”—Murmur nudged the head with his foot—“I’ll forgive your trespass…this time. My agreement with Belial will hold. But the moment you cross into my territory to steal from me again, all bets are off.”
Raum nodded.
“I will consider a second trespass an act of war. I don’t start fights I can’t win. I will do everything in my power to make sure you and your brothers are defeated, whether by me, Lucifer, or an army of angels I conveniently point in your direction. Remember, I’m not the one who’s been breaking rules.”
Raum’s expression was murderous, but he didn’t argue.
“Tell your angel friend to remember that before she tries to steal from me again. And tell Belial he still owes me two favors.”
“I’ll accept your terms on one condition.”
Murmur cocked a brow. Raum wasn’t in a position to make demands.
“Raphael can’t go free. If you take him, you have to be prepared to keep him indefinitely.”
Murmur allowed his affront to show. It was highly offensive to suggest he wasn’t capable of holding onto a prisoner.
Raum cocked a brow. “Sunshine busted me out of your dungeon without too much trouble, so forgive me if I’m a little skeptical.”
Murmur’s tail flicked with irritation. “I have so many complex plans in motion, your mind would splinter if you tried to comprehend the magnitude of them. Your presence in my domain was an inconvenience I did not have the time nor energy to deal with.
“Once I got the information I needed from you, I planned to let you rot in that dungeon until someone came to claim you. Be grateful your angel didn’t make you wait long. But never believe I don’t know every single thing that goes on in my territory. If I’d wanted to keep you as my prisoner, nothing in this world could have broken you free. You escaped because I let you.”
The two demons glared at each other, Murmur’s tail flicking, Raum’s claws flexing.
Finally, the crow nodded. “You have a deal.”
“I’m the one who gets to agree,” Murmur said haughtily. “Not you. You presented the deal, and it’s my choice whether or not to accept.”
Raum just looked at him.
“Which I do,” Murmur added after making him wait a moment longer. “Shall we swear in blood?”
