Angel Betrayed (The Fallen #2)(70)
Author: Cynthia Eden

“I said you were special.” Now Delia walked around her and studied Seline with an appraising eye. “It doesn’t usually happen this way. Angels are born here, not on earth, and your, ah, your blood line wasn’t exactly pure.”

Had the woman just called her a mutt? Seline glared at her. “Where’s Sam?”

“Sammael is where he should be.”

Yeah, that was a big, giant answer of nothing.

“Do not worry.” Delia’s voice was so carefully modulated. No emotion slipped in at all. “It will take some time to adjust, but soon you won’t miss your old life at all.” A faint shrug of her shoulders sent her wings sliding into the air. “It’s possible you won’t even remember it.”

There were sure parts she’d like to forget. Getting her throat ripped out by the hound. Rogziel. The bitter years she’d spent with him. But there were other parts . . .

Riding on a motorcycle with Sam, the wind blowing back her hair as she held him tight.

Listening to the low rumble of his voice . . . feeling his heartbeat beneath her ear as they lay in bed together.

No, no, there were parts she did not want to forget. Sam. “I didn’t ask for this.” The words shook.

Delia blinked. “No, this is your reward.”

Her gaze flew around the room. There had to be a way out.

“Your mother loved a demon. She turned her back on her duty for him. That was a crime.” Delia’s footsteps tapped lightly over the floor. “But not one she had to die for. Fall, yes, but not die.”

Seline stared at her. “My father . . . he didn’t kill her, did he?” A lifetime of hate had hardened her heart. Yet Sam had made her doubt. “It was Rogziel.” Her voice was more certain than she felt.

“From what I can tell, killing your parents was the first time Rogziel crossed the line and acted on his own.”

Fury had her gut tightening. “And so what? You—” She waved her hands to indicate the fancy room, and all the angels that were probably behind the walls. “You gave him a free pass because it was just an incubus and a Fallen who suffered ?”

Finally, some emotion showed on Delia’s face. “No.”

“Bull—”

The massive doors flew open. A man strode inside. No, not a man. An angel. With midnight wings, blond hair, and a lover’s face.

“Leave us, Delia.”

“Uriel, she’s not—”

“Leave. ”

And the chick left. Very, very quickly. Seline straightened her spine. She was aware that this Uriel had to be someone pretty damn important on the old angel hierarchy scale.

He didn’t speak at first. He circled her, and his gaze swept from her head to her feet. After a few moments, he stopped in front of her and said, “You feel too much.”

A choked laugh slipped from her. “What can I say? I’m a succubus . . . feeling is kinda my thing.”

“No.” Flat. “You were a succubus. You shed that coil when you left your mortality behind.”

Oh, she did not like the sound of that. Seline leapt forward. No, maybe she actually flew. Weird. She grabbed his arms and glared at him. “I don’t want this.”

“You do not want heaven? Paradise?”

Yeah, okay, maybe saying no to that did sound kinda—

“And you do not want the chance to punish the wicked? To follow in your mother’s footsteps? To show the sinners the error of their ways?”

No way. Who was she to judge sin? “I’ve had enough punishment and vengeance. I just want—” Sam.

She didn’t say it, but Uriel’s eyes narrowed, and she wondered if the guy had read her mind. Especially when he said, “You know what he’s done.”

She nodded.

“He can’t be redeemed. His future has been foretold. One day, he will bring hell to earth.”

“Y-you don’t know that.”

“Yes.” Absolute certainty. “I do.”

Her knees did a little jiggle, but her resolve didn’t falter. “I know what he can be. Sammael isn’t evil.”

“We shall see.”

She didn’t like this angel too much. “Rogziel was the twisted freak. Why did he get to stay in heaven while Sam fell?”

“Because Sam was given a chance for redemption. He lost his wings, but he kept his life.” His gaze actually seemed to see right through her. “No such concession was to be made to Rogziel. He would die, but not at the hand of another angel.”

“So what? Sammael was your executioner?” Let a Fallen kill him instead of an angel. Nice way around that whole not “another angel” bit. “You used him to kill for you.”

“It’s what Death has always done well.”

“He’s more than Death!”

Uriel exhaled on what could have been a sigh. “I do not expect your transition to be easy.” A faint smile curved his lips, though no emotion flickered in his eyes. “Though you are a first, angels are usually—”

“Born here, got it.” She waved her hand. “How did I get here?”

“Delia suspected the truth about you from the first. She could feel the power in you, and then when you linked with your hound, we could all see the possibilities.”

Oh, “we” could? The wings were a light weight on her back, one that felt strange. Wings.

“We realized that you would either die in that final battle with Rogziel or you’d evolve and become something more when your demon side ceased to be.”

Wait. Back up. “What do you mean, ceased to be?” She did not like the sound of that.

Uriel just stared down at her with that pretty face of his. “The Death Angel’s touch doesn’t work on angels. Not winged angels and not those who possess the pure blood of angels within their—”

“I have angel blood.” And she had a mental flash of that fire-filled room. A man had bent near her. Pale skin. Dark eyes. The scent of flowers had filled the air all around him. Her heart thumped hard in her chest. “A Death Angel came for me?”

“He came for your demon side.” Uriel’s lips tightened, then he said, “The succubus you were is dead. The angel that was trapped inside you . . . well, she is free now. Jeremian’s job was to watch you in your final moments, and then to ferry you back to the place you truly belong.”

Her wings trembled. “I don’t feel like an angel.” Too much rage. Too much need. Emotions stirred and fought within her.