Page 58 of Redeeming the Angel

Del raised a brow.“An old friend shouldn’t feel the need to address me so formally.”

It was my turn to arch my eyebrow right back at him.“Arewe still friends?The last time I saw you before this Autumn was after Medicia was destroyed, and just like with Kerainne, you didn’t tell me Mephistopheles had turned you into the first vampire, in fact, youliedto me and told me you hadn’t seen Kerainne when she just told me last night that you did.And then—”

“And thenyoubecame betrothed tomyBride,” he finished for me.“May I come in so we can hash all that out and then I can talk to you about something of more significant urgency?”

It was only then that I realized that it was freezing cold outside and the frigid air was blowing on my bare toes.Not only that, but it was already after sunset, otherwise Delgarias wouldn’t even be here.

“Of course.Would you like some tea?”I paused after shutting the door behind him.“Are you able to drink tea?”

“I can, and would appreciate a cup.The rest of my kind can only have a few sips of a beverage.”

I lit the fire and filled the kettle, glaring at the dirty dishes filling the kitchen and my declining stack of firewood.

“I’m sorry I lied to you,” Delgarias said from the living room.“If you’d found Kerainne, you could have interfered with the Prophecy in disastrous ways.”

“But Ididfind her,” I replied, filling the tea infuser with the strongest blackest tea in my cupboard.

“Oh.”The shock and…some sort ofunderstandingin that small word puzzled me.

“You didn’t know?”

“No.”Delgarias’s tone remained odd and thoughtful.

“How do you think the Leonines and Jagwolfes of Luminista found out that Kerainne had been…” I couldn’t say the word, “…had borne Mephistopheles’s child?”

“I’d assumed they’d found her with those observatory spheres you people have up there.”Delgarias appeared in the kitchen, looking every inch a monster with glowing diamond-pale eyes and bared fangs.Lightning danced across his knuckles, making the hair on my arms stand up.“Thenyou’rethe reason why they betrothed you to Nik.And if that’s the case, why didn’t you make an effort to break the betrothal sooner?You claimed you never wanted to wed her, but you just sat there in your precious utopian world and let her be hunted for twenty-five years?”

The kettle whistled and I jumped.“As I told Kerainne, I’ve made many mistakes.I’m doing my best to atone for them.Do you want cream and sugar?”

“Just sugar.”The lightning vanished and the glow in the vampire’s eyes dimmed.“I apologize for my tone.Especially since that betrothal ended up helping me catch and hold Nik long enough to explainmymistakes.”

A demented chuckle escaped me as I filled the teapot and put the infuser inside.Though there was still something about this conversation that had me curious.“The way you said ‘Oh’ when you assumed I never found Kerainne.What did you mean by that?”

Delgarias opened my cupboard and retrieved two of my last clean mugs.“I thought her reluctance to see you again was due to self-inflicted shame about what happened to her.”

I nodded and removed the jug of now spoiled cream from the tea tray before carrying it to the living room.“And now you realize it was I who inflicted it.”

“What exactly did you do?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I said more defensively than I cared to.“At least, not with you.”

“That’s fair.”Delgarias poured some sugar into his mug, but waited for the tea to steep a little longer.“However, you mentioned atonement and that’s exactly what I’m here to offer.”

“I’m listening.”

“Shortly before you and Gabriel brought Xochitl back from Luminista, Jayden—your friend Razvan’s Bride—and I did a scrying spell.We not only saw a vision of one of the Evil One’s acolytes bringing an abducted luminite to the pyramid in Qua’ al-fán.”

My hands shook as I poured the tea in our mugs.“Mephistopheles is going to take another luminite?Is it Kerainne?”Fates, please don’t let it be her.She’s suffered too much at his hands already.

“I don’t know.”Delgarias frowned.“The vision was so obscured that we couldn’t determine a sex or size, much less hair color.It could be you or Gabriel for all I know.Or perhaps another.”

“And you let Nik and Kerainne battle against him the very next day?”

Delgarias’s eyes flashed like lightning.“First of all, I was trapped in my day sleep when the Evil One attacked Shalafi, so I couldn’t stop them.Secondly, I don’t know if you’ve figured it out yet, but you don’t letorforbid a Leonine from doing anything they’re set on doing.”

I took a deep breath through my nose and let it out slowly.“Point.Now, what’s this to do with atonement?”

“The Prophecy spoke through us again.”The vampire closed his eyes and recited, “The light bringers must descend from their stronghold to join those whom they’ve abandoned.If they fail to heed the call, darkness and destruction shall reign triumphant...”

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