“You must hate me for killing her,” Mia said.
Roumain looked up. “Mia, she was already dead. By you bringing her here, you saved her. If you had left her, she would have descended into Hell. Now she can walk the land in which I rule, and in time, she will be able to ascend. Who instructed you, may I ask?”
“My grandfather.”
“Émile or Orion?”
Mia shook her head. “You know way too much about me, Roumain. It was Orion.”
He studied her a moment. “How can you look upon me with a kind face after what I’ve done to you and Ted?”
“It never occurred to me to be otherwise,” Mia said, stepping back. “Brutal truths, bargains made, all for me to bring Violine home. Why can’t you beings just ask direct questions?”
“If I asked you to find this elemental, kill it and bring it here, you would have… how?”
“I don’t know, but I would have found a way. Now I’m stuck with these.” Mia sprung the wings out.
“Archangel wings. Tell me, do we have a Nephilim on the way?”
“No, give me some credit. What is it with you male entities? You think that we women are so damn weak that we will open our legs for a good set of wings? Damn, you’re a piece of work.”
Roumain looked at her. “You have broken the Cooper curse.”
“Yes.”
“How?”
“It matters not. You all have brought me so much pain. Did you enjoy it?”
Roumain had the decency to look guilty.
“Please, I ask this of you, release Beth Bouvier.”
“Why?”
“She was once a friend.”
“She wanted to destroy you and your child, Mia. She is no friend of yours. Ask me something else.”
“Then don’t use her against me. If you have a problem with me, come to me. Don’t use my family and friends.”
“Sariel made that clear.”
“No, not under the veil of a threat. I’m asking you this personally. I’m not too proud to beg you. The days that are coming are going to be hard enough without you playing your games.”
“You amaze me. Is it the human in you, the demon, the birdman or, perhaps, the angel that humbles itself before me?”
“It’s all.”
“I can see that even I have underestimated you, but I have never undervalued you.” Roumain picked up Violine in his arms, cradling her to his chest. He looked over at Mia and said, “For my part in your sorrow and pain, I am sorry. Thank you for bringing Violine home.”
Mia turned to go.
“Wait. I have some information for you.”
Mia gave Roumain her full attention.
“The Other was hired by the Cynosura.” He looked at her puzzled expression. “Tell Orion, he will explain it to you.”
Mia nodded.
“You know, Mia, Violine returning doesn’t stifle my feelings for you. Anytime you want to come and swim with me, I wouldn’t leave you to swim off your anger like Mr. Dupree did.”
Mia felt a chill move over her body. “The Native American is your spy, isn’t he?”
“Oh yes. I will remove him pronto. There are no bones to seek, just a trap.”
“The house?”
“Oh, the house is real, and you need to deal with it if you are to save Mark. Removing Violine is just one step of three that will turn Mark forever away from the dark.”
“Thank you for telling me.”
“It won’t make up for my interference, but perhaps these brutal truths have released you to find the real truths, Mia Cooper Martin,” Roumain said and disappeared into the mist. The ground resealed itself.
Mia drew her wings around her and thought about Ted and home.
~
Mia arrived back outside the trailer. Ted looked over and smiled. “I’m still here,” he said in a sexy voice.
Mia nodded, pulling the wings back into herself. She climbed into the trailer and over to the man she loved so much. She smiled down at him, bent over and kissed him tenderly. “Thank you.”
“Baby steps, Minnie Mouse, baby steps,” he said, drawing her onto his lap. “Want to see you in action?”
Mia nodded and lay back against him as he ran the footage of her quick battle with the elemental. She could see a faint shadow next to her. “That’s Timmy,” she pointed out.
“Who was the woman?”
“Violine Roumain. I delivered her to purgatory as Orion requested.”
“How did the judge take it?”
“With gratitude. He told me who sent the Other to collect me.”
Ted wrapped his arms around Mia as if he could form a shell of protection around her. “Who?”
“He said Cynosura. I have no idea who they are, but I got the idea they’re bad.”
“Did the judge say anything else?”
“He apologized and withdrew his spy. We won’t be bothered by the Native American anymore. It was a trap.”
“Why?”
“I’m not exactly sure. Roumain isn’t the most direct of men.”
“Sort of like Father Alessandro.”
“Oh, I have a bone to pick with him.”
“Why?”
“I figured out that he was the deliverer of the Judas Hex to me. If it wasn’t for my weak stomach for fruited wines, we may not be sitting here right now.”
“You know, I was so much in my own pain that I had forgotten that you too were consumed by the hex.”
“It’s over now. We survived. Maybe we are stronger for it.”
“There is no maybe about it,” Ted declared. “I found out just how lucky you are to have me.”
Mia lifted an eyebrow.
“And what a giving man I am to put up with feathers all over the house.”
“Gee, I remember it a little different, but please go on…”
“You have all this,” he said, waving his arms, “at your beck and call. And what do I get in the transaction?”
“Less and less, the more you talk,” Mia said, trying to get up.
Ted held on to her tightly. He turned the chair away from the console and stood up, still holding on to her.
Mia didn’t struggle. She was interested in what was going to happen next.
He turned her around and drew her upwards until they were eye to eye. “I promise on my life that I will always be
