And no, he wasnotpleased about that, thank you very much.
In that moment, he didn’t give two shits if his ass was dragged back to Hell and tortured for all eternity, or if Eva’s Grigori father chopped off his head with a consecrated sword. He didn’t give a shit about the fact that he’d inadvertently stumbled upon a live Nephilim, though they were supposedly extinct, and a tiny vial of their blood cost more than most humans made in their lifetime.
In that moment, he would have given anything so Eva didn’t have to spend her life looking over her shoulder, distrusting everyone she met and hiding behind wards.
Eva stopped her futile struggles and froze, the truth of what she was finally washing over her. “Oh, shit.”
They stared at each other.
“But... how? Wouldn’t you have noticed? Wouldn’tIhave noticed?”
He nodded slowly. Thatwasstrange. How the hell hadn’t he noticed? He hadn’t actually tasted her blood, but he’d gotten about as close to her as he could get otherwise, and he hadn’t detected anything angelic in her scent or energy, not that he was the best judge of what his crippled senses could tell him.
But still. There was no missing that. At the very least, his brothers should have sensed it. But none of them had.
“Maybe you’re not,” he said, hope rising. “Maybe you were adopted. Or maybe your mother got pregnant by another man.”
Eva’s eyes got wider, and he realized that wasn’t as reassuring to her as it was to him. Then her gaze shifted to the blood streaked all over his abdomen. “Are you okay? I can’t believe he stabbed you.” Her voice hitched a little.
Ash looked down at himself and realized he was still in demon form—red skin, horns, wings, and all. He looked back at Eva and didn’t see fear of him on her face, and something tightened in his chest at her acceptance of him. It meant something profound, but he wasn’t quite sure what.
Damn it, though, he needed to learn to understand this shit fast because Eva had said he needed to tell her stuff if they were going to make their relationship work, and he wanted it to work. The alternative was unthinkable.
Still, now wasn’t the time for contemplating feelings. Instead, he shifted partially, reverting to his human size and skin color. He thought this might help Eva calm down, but instead, it seemed to have the opposite effect.
“Oh my god, Ash!” She yanked on the handcuffs with renewed ferocity. He looked down at himself again, wondering what he’d done wrong, and then realized that with his skin no longer crimson, the blood from his wounds was more visible against his paler human skin.
“I’m fine,” he said quickly.
Unfortunately, his curse was still lifted and that meant he could feel the blood leaking out of him, unlike the last time he’d been wounded. It hurt like a bitch. Damn it, it really hurt a lot.
For the first time ever, he almost wished for a return to his black-and-white world. But then he looked at Eva, at that rich dark skin, those brown-black curls and tantalizing silver eyes, and he quickly changed his mind. She was a masterpiece meant to be viewed in color.
“Damn it, I’llkillmy dad for this!” She tugged again on the handcuffs.
“Eva, stop, you’re going to hurt yourself.”
“Argh!” She looked down at the sigil at his feet. “You’re really stuck inside that thing?”
“Empyrean magic is powerful. I can’t break this.” He cursed. “Damn it, I’m worried about my brothers. They have no idea he’s here.”
As in on cue, Belial’s great roar echoed through the forest.
Their gazes snapped together. “That did not sound good,” Eva said.
Bel roared again.
“Fuck!” Knowing it was futile, Ash threw his weight against the mystical barriers of the sigil in some vain hope that he might magically burst through. His brothers were in trouble. At the very least, Bel needed him to talk him down before he started a goddamn forest fire.
Unfortunately for Ash, he hadn’t been kidding when he said Empyrean magic was powerful. As soon as he touched the edge of the barrier, he got electrocuted like he’d touched a live wire and thrown backward.
He hit the ground, cursing the goddamn Grigori to Hell and back again.
Apparently, they couldn’t catch a break, because next thing he knew, Eva was freaking out again, and Bel was roaring, and he was busy being useless, stuck in a goddamn angel trap.
And then... he felt something in the air.
It was some kind of electricity, but not like the sigil’s kind that had knocked him on his ass. Something different. Eva was screaming his name, and strangely, her voice sounded amplified. Ethereal. Haunting.
