both know no other angel would have done that. Not in a million years. His instinct to protect her goes far deeper than mere orders.”
Seth doggedly continued his tour of the apartment, turning out lights.
Samael persisted. “The soulmate connection—”
Seth rounded on the Fallen One. “She chose
“Is it? Then explain to me why you’re heading out the door to go to her when she has already returned. It’s all very sweet of you, of course, wanting to be certain of her well-being, but—”
“Alex is back?”
“She didn’t call? How remiss of her. She returned hours ago—safely wrapped in Aramael’s arms.”
The breath in Seth’s lungs turned thick. “You’re lying. She would have let me know.”
“One would think so, given the relationship you’re supposed to have with her,” Samael agreed. “But in this instance, one would be wrong.”
The Fallen One circled behind him in the cramped hallway. Tutted. “Look around you, Appointed. See where you are, what you’ve become. You’re the son of the two greatest powers in the universe, and yet you subject yourself to this, a few rooms shared with a mortal woman who has no appreciation for what you truly are? For what she has in you?”
“She loves me.”
“Your mother loved your father, and look where it got him. This is like watching history repeat itself all over again. It’s pathetic.”
Seth scowled. “You’re wrong. I’ve read the journals, and this is different. I’m not my father, Alex is nothing like my mother, and I’m
Samael stopped in front of him, inches away, and returned his scowl. “What you
“You’re wrong,” Seth repeated, but even to his own ears, the words lacked conviction. He reached inside himself for the confidence he’d woken up with that morning, the certainty he and Alex had at last found the connection that could see them through anything. Alex had told him she loved him and—
“You keep telling yourself that. Let me know when you start believing it.”
The rattle of keys outside the door drew both their gazes.
“The prodigal Naphil returns.” Samael drew back into the living room. “My cue to go—for now. There’s just one last thing.”
“You haven’t delivered enough poison already?”
The Fallen One shrugged. “Consider this an antidote. Because I’d hate to leave you thinking it has to be like this. Not when you could change everything if you take back your birthright.”
“I told you, I’m not giving up Alex.”
“But don’t you see, Seth, son of Lucifer? Take back your powers, and you don’t have to. Not ever.”
Samael disappeared, the front door opened, and a pale, haggard Alex stepped into the apartment.
“We need to talk,” she said.
Chapter 64
“So it’s true,” Seth said. “You’re back.”
Alex hesitated in the doorway. “How did you—?”
“Does it matter? I didn’t find out from you.”
“I’m sorry. Things were insane. I didn’t have time . . .”
Her gaze dropped to the overnight bag slung over his shoulder. “Are you going somewhere?”
“I was coming to Ottawa to see you. I was worried when I didn’t hear from you.”
Guilt slithered through her. “I’m sorry. I should have called. You saw the news?”
“I saw what Aramael did for you.”
Innocuous words. A flat delivery. And a powder keg to which she preferred not to put a match. She closed the door and twisted the dead bolt home. Seth set the overnight bag on the living room floor.
“I’m okay,” she said. “But Jen’s in the hospital and Nina—Nina’s missing. Lucifer has her.”
He took his coat off and dropped it on top of the bag, slid his hands into his pockets. “I’m sorry to hear that. I know you cared about her.”
She blinked back sudden tears. “
The word hung between them. Seth cleared his throat.
“Don’t,” she said. “Don’t say it.”
“You know there’s nothing you can do.”
“I can find her.”
“Why? So you can watch her die?”
She shrank from the bluntness but made herself square her shoulders. “If that’s all I can do, then yes. And hold her when she does. She’s just a child, Seth. She needs me.”
“Someone always needs you, Alex.” He sighed, taking a hand from his pocket and rubbing it over his eyes, then along his jaw. “How are you even going to find her? If Lucifer has her, she could be anywhere on the planet.”
Alex looked down at the floor between them. This was it. Her moment of decision. Speak the words and destroy the man she loved, or swallow them and condemn the planet. She crossed her arms over herself, knowing the gesture was defensive, needing the protection.
“You could help.”
Time itself stood still as a hundred different emotions flashed across Seth’s dark eyes. Sadness. Betrayal. Bitterness. Bottomless hurt. But not surprise.
“I see.” He didn’t pretend not to understand. “So you would give it all up. Everything we have, for the sake of a single girl whose life you can’t even save?”
“Not just for her.” She lifted a hand to the ache in her heart. “Your mother came to see me last night. She said—”
He cut her off. “Last night.”
“So you’d already decided to do this before you came to me. Before we made love.” Cold anger displaced all else in the black depths. “I waited for you, Alex. I was patient and understanding, I respected your need for time and space, and when you finally let me touch you it was because you felt
“I didn’t feel sorry for you—at least, not any more so than for myself.”
“But you’d decided.”
“I tried to tell you. I—” She stopped. He deserved truth, not excuses. “Love isn’t supposed to be like this, Seth. It’s not supposed to come with the responsibility for billions of lives tied into it. Last night—” Her voice broke, and she paused for a steadying breath. “Last night was about you and me, and having something to remember between us that wasn’t weighed down by choices and decisions and the future of an entire world.”
Leaving the support of the door, she crossed over to him, putting her hand out to his arm. “I know this is difficult, but—”
“Difficult?” Wheeling away, he stalked into the living room, smacking his open-palmed hand against the door frame on the way. “
