Page 27 of Grave Revelations

But it was silent, her magic cut off.

Chapter 17

Rebecca

Gabriel, or a man who looked like Gabriel, faced her. Her gaze slid over his winter white suit and stopped on a pair of cream loafers. A thick ivory scarf was snug around his throat, and his hat was pulled low over his brow. With his wings suspiciously absent and sunglasses hiding his eyes from view, he could almost pass for human.

Rebecca crossed the space, pulling expensive-looking sunglasses from his face. Swirling black and red eyes stared back at her.

“How?” she breathed.

“This is what you wanted. A man.” He waved a hand down his body. “In extravagant things.” He pressed a handful of garments into her chest. “Get dressed. I’ll take you to eat.”

She wrapped her arms around the clothing and turned from him, dumping them on the bed. She wanted to offer him comfort, but what could she say? If he could hear her thoughts, nothing she said would matter.

She stared down at velvet leggings lined in fur, a thick, black cashmere sweater, socks, boots of fine Italian leather, and a heavy wool coat with gold buttons. She lifted the coat to find thin, lacey strips of fabric underneath. “What are these supposed to be?” she scoffed, holding up the sheer scraps.

“Undergarments.”

He moved to the corner of the room, setting his hat on a table, and crossed one leg over the other. His gaze never wavered as he watched her.

She found a pair of leather gloves and a beret in the pile.“Did you raid the Fendi store?” She laughed nervously.

“These are the sort of things you are like, are they not? Overpriced material goods, made on the backs of the poor.”

Was he chastising her? For her expensive taste? It stung. Maybe she liked nice things, but she hadn’t complained once about being dragged through the woods for days in her dirty sweatshirt and leggings.

“Not out loud."

“Will you stop that? I’m allowed to have my own private thoughts.”

He arched a brow, saying nothing.

She wondered again what was going on in his head. But if there was some magical way to hear his thoughts, he hadn’t shown her. “Could you leave so I can get dressed?”

A feral grin broke over his face, and for a moment, she wasn’t sure he would go. A thought crept into her mind, but she crammed it down, praying he hadn’t caught it.

When he was gone, she dressed quickly, flushing as the sheer fabric of the unnecessarily sexy underwear slid over her thighs and breasts. As she stepped into the hall, Azazel held out an arm, and she took it.

Her thoughts had begun to race after he left the room and hadn’t stopped. Fear for Rhea, Sophia, and the witches plagued her; guilt crept in as she thought of all the time she’d wasted on a bath while they were suffering or dying.

Between those fears, thoughts of Simon slithered in, insidious, but she pushed them down, refusing to give them a voice. He would recover in New York with some of the world’s best doctors, and when she saved the others, she would find him and demand answers.

The smell of eggs, sausage, and spices hit her, wiping all thoughts from her mind.

They strode through the lobby, into the dining room, and stopped at a buffet table. Rebecca picked up a plate and began scooping food onto it. Azazel stood beside her, silent. She looked up.

“You really never eat anything?”

He glanced down. “No.”

He’d been quiet since he’d returned for her, but this was different. She wasn’t sure how to navigate the creature who had taken up residence in her life. And now, dressed like a regular man, he was even more discomfiting.

They left the buffet and found a table in a dark corner of the room. She bit into eggs seasoned with some delectable spice and looked up.

“This is my first time outside the US. I’ve never been to most places, actually. Rachel moved around a lot, but it was always a stop overnight here or there and a quick bite at a gas station. I never got to experience different foods and cultures.

“Boston was my first time living somewhere new and meeting people from other places. It’s silly, I know.” Rebecca had never been good at silence and knew she was babbling. She closed her mouth.

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