Page 102 of Bones

Marissa had always been materialistic. She ate and drank and splurged. Her house had always been filled with takeoutcontainers in the trash and stacks of unopened deliveries. She’d made her own money, so why the hell should I care what she did with it? I’d viewed it as a positive.

After living so long on my own in the dark, she’d been a strobing disco ball who loved life and lived it to the fullest.

Blinding me.

Disorienting me.

Not a steady light that guided me through the darkness like Aurora.

“My mate would never suggest any of that. Her own greed aside, she knew that wasn’t what I wanted or who I was. I went to confront her, and I was hit with this…” I rubbed my chest. “This void. Torn edges surrounded it, but the man no longer had a soul. I didn’t think. I knew my magicks wouldn’t hurt my mate or an innocent human, so I sent a blast into the room. They both turned to dust.”

Marissa’s had fallen with a heavy thud, the particles dense and black like the ones in Nate and Denny’s kitchen.

The man’s, though? It’d spread.

And then ignited.

“Wasn’t until I was staring at the powder that used to be my girlfriend that I figured out she wasn’t full of a soul. There was no spot for one because she wasn’t a human. Not a demon, either. That left angel. It also made me realize I’d never told her where I’d been before the curse.” I leveled a raised brow at Uriel. “Heaven’s having a loyalty issue.”

“We’re aware.” And his clenched fists showed what he thought of it. “What happened next?”

I lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Her soulless Absolve partner had torched my restaurant on his way out. I took that as a sign, finished packing, and headed up to Maine to hide in a cabin till the world ended, or I worked out how to die.”

Uriel sat back, stunned. “Your visions didn’t guide you back to your siblings?”

“What visions?”

“You’re supposed to have visions.” He stabbed a finger to the shelves at the side. “Light. Fulfillment. Prophecy.Visions.”

“You got me on fulfillment. I can easily sense when people are physically or emotionally full.” I thought about what Lilith had said about Aurora’s aura—how it was golden—and pride filled my chest. “But the light and visions are my mate.”

“Told you we should’ve summoned her,” Levi said with a dramatic swing of his churro that sent cinnamon across the white couch and carpet. “You robbed me of a reunion with my daughter.”

“You don’t have a daughter,” Uriel snapped.

“Not with that attitude.” He kicked his feet up on the table and sent the French press tumbling, adding coffee and soaked grounds to the cinnamon mess. “I’ll have you know, plenty of women have called me Daddy.”

“Are we done here?” I asked, impatient to get back to what I’d been doing before they’d forced me to beige hell.

Uriel stopped praying for Levi to get amnesia and leaned forward again. “I thought you’d be happier, Dubhloach.”

“I am happy. When I’m with my mate. Which is where I’d like to be right now.”

“In just a flannel shirt?” Levi gave a low whistle. “Between you and Lenuson, I’m starting to think you’re all more me than heaven sent. Why be an angel when you can be a sex god, amirite?”

“Get out of my head,” I gritted out.

Ignoring Levi completely, Uriel tilted his head. “But you love angels. Isn’t that what you always say? For the love of angels.”

“I said they’re loved. Not that it’s deserved.”

My irritation changed in a blink. A shudder rocked through me as fear—noterror—skittered over my skin. Crawled up my spine. Its tendrils wrapped around my throat until no air was in my lungs.

“Send me back,” I wheezed out. “Now.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

A KNIFE TO A MAGICKS FIGHT THIS TIME

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