“And left a voicemail.”
“Shit. I broke my phone.”
I raised my eyebrows at him.
“I threw it against the wall in the living room when I got sick of it ringing and not being you.”
“You know you could have called me, right? The phone works both ways.”
He groaned and lowered his forehead to my stomach. “I think we’ve established that I made a lot of mistakes over the past ten days. If it’s any consolation, I spent all ten of them utterly miserable.”
“Me too,” I admitted.
“Let’s never do this being-apart thing again, okay?”
I grimaced. “It might not be that simple.”
“Why not?” He looked up at me with a frown.
“I’m not human, Hayden. I live by a different set of rules. The only reason I’ve even been able to live on Earth for the past few years is because Micah okayed it.”
“Are you saying you won’t be able to stay?”
“I don’t know. I guess it depends on what happens when Micah and your sister get back.”
“Back? Where did they go?”
“Um… Hell?” It came out sounding more like a question than an answer.
Hayden gaped at me for a solid two minutes without saying a word.
“Are you okay?” I asked. “Hayden?”
“Is that normal? Is it because she’s part demon? You said she’s coming back—I did hear that, right?”
“Yes, they’re coming back. Maggie is helping try to save my brother Joriel.”
“So she doesn’t need to live in Hell or anything?”
“No.”
“Good.”
I didn’t say anything while I let him process the news. He’d had to deal with an unfair amount of new information in a fairly short period of time.
“What about your other brothers?” he asked finally. “They’re married and have kids. Why do they get to stay but you might not?”
“They’re… different. Some angels—very few—have mates. It’s a sacred bond, and no one would dare come between them. Sierra and Piper are my brothers’ mates.”
“And I’m not yours,” Hayden said softly, his aura dimming with defeat and resignation as he dropped his gaze.
“I honestly don’t know. I haven’t tried to test it.”
He looked at me sharply. “You can test it?”
“Yes, but I didn’t want to know.”
“Why?”
