The enemy.
Mark swore and ran to the kitchen, grabbing a towel. “Daniel, why the hell did you have to lead with that?”
“She wanted to know the truth,” he said, with a stiff shrug. “Better she knows it right off the bat.”
“That’s impossible.” Her voice shook as she spoke. “I would never… demons are evil.”
“Surcy—” Mark began, but Daniel cut him off.
“That’s probably why you were kicked out of the angel-realm. Because you didn’t just love us, you saved us from the demon-realm.”
She felt sick. “I would never do something like that. Not even for love.”
Mark glared at the other man and touched her knee. “You didn’t save us because you loved us. You saved us because it was the right thing to do.”
Demons are evil. I’m not the one who decides right or wrong. Caine does. I just follow orders. That’s the job of an angel.
“Wh--why was it the right thing to save you?”
Mark spoke gently. “We should never have been in hell. They made a mistake. And you simply… fixed it.”
“I need to lie down,” she stated abruptly, standing and stepping around Mark who was cleaning up her spill.
He dropped the towel and rose. “Do you need—?”
“She needs time to think,” Tristan’s voice was calm, but she could feel his gaze burning through her.
As she walked back to her room, avoiding the happy pictures on the wall, a cold fist squeezed her heart. Demons shouldn’t be able to use their powers on angels. They shouldn’t be able to convince us to believe their lies, but somehow, these demons have tricked me.
I need to escape and return to Zudessa. The other angels will know how to help me.
8
Mark paced the living room. He wanted to punch Daniel in his damned face, because he knew exactly what the asshole had done. He’d tried to push Surcy away. Daniel was scared to lose her again, but that didn’t justify his actions.
Damn it! We just need a little time to remind her why she loved us.
Tristan’s voice was deathly calm. “Well, that was a shit show.”
Mark whirled toward Daniel, who lounged on the couch. “What were you thinking? Did you see how fragile she was? That was the last thing she needed to hear right now!”
After a long moment, Daniel spoke. “Do you two really think it’s a coincidence that after learning about The Immortal Ten she came back into our lives?”
Mark froze. They, and the other members of The Rebellion, had been searching for a solution to the problem of The Realms for some time. They had learned that Zudessa was the location of The Realm Creator, which was as old as magic itself. This was the place all people went when they died. There, they were judged for their sins and placed in either the angel-realm, the demon-realm, or had their souls destroyed.
The system had worked as fairly as it could under the guidance of The Immortal Ten. Until Caine had somehow taken it over. Now, their goal was to find The Immortal Ten and overthrow Caine.
Two impossible tasks.
“What are you saying?” Mark asked, frowning. Confused about the connection between Surcy and The Immortal Ten.
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. “I’m saying I think they wiped her memory of us and dropped her back on Earth to use her as a spy.”
A spy?
“Surcy would never do that!” Mark took a step toward him. He’d never been the violent sort, but if Daniel said one more bad thing about Surcy…
“Our Surcy would never do that," Daniel agreed, "but this isn’t our Surcy. They destroyed her, and now we have to be careful.”
Mark started to argue, but Tristan spoke instead. “Daniel has a point. We can’t gamble with the future of this world.”
Has everyone lost their mind?
Mark shook his head. “You agree with what he did?”
Tristan raised an angry brow. “No, he handled that like an absolute fool. But he’s right. We can ease her into this and still be cautious.”
Mark suddenly felt exhausted. Sinking into the chair by the fire, he stared at the flames. “And what if now that she knows what we are she chooses to leave again?" His question hung in the room like a ghost.
After far too long, Tristan spoke. “All we can do now is keep her safe. She’s a disgraced angel. If the other angels find her, they’ll kill her.”
He thinks we might have lost her too.
Daniel rose from the couch, looking frustrated. “You two are so damned emotional. Look, I’ll go talk to her. I’ll tell her we’ll explain it all in the morning.”
Like that will help. Mark waved him off. “You seem to know everything, so why not.”
Daniel swore and stomped through the house.
Mark leaned his head back and closed his eyes. I can’t believe we finally have her back, and we might already have messed up any chance of her loving us again.
After a minute, Tristan spoke, his words tense. “What’s wrong?”
Mark sat up and turned to see Daniel in the entrance to the hall, his face pale. Every warning bell screamed to life.
“She’s not in her room.”
“What?” Mark felt ice run down his spine.
“She’s gone.”
That’s impossible!
Tristan ran for the hall, pushing past Daniel.
“But where could she have gone?” Mark asked, his thoughts moving slowly as if stuck in mud.
Daniel sagged against the wall and put his face in his hands. “To the angels.”
No. She can’t have. They’ll kill her.
“I fucked everything up,” Daniel said, but Mark barely heard him.
What happens when a disgraced angel is killed?
His stomach twisted. He had heard tales. Horrible tales.
Caine won’t let her be reborn. He’ll destroy her eternal-soul.
Tristan raced back into the room. “We have to go. Now! We have to find her!”
Mark stood on numb legs. “She’s an angel. She could have teleported herself anywhere.”
Tristan punched the wall, sending plaster raining to the ground. “I don’t care! We found her once! We’ll find her again!”
Suddenly, Mark felt a spark of hope. “Daniel, what about Summer? She'd do anything for you? She did it before,
