Page 6 of Grave Revelations

The room spun, the pressure that had been building since she awoke exploding in sharp spikes across her temple, making her see stars. In her mind, the words in that old leather journal rolled across the page.

She leaned back, pressing her hands into the wall behind her. “No,” she breathed. “You’re lying.”

Azazel moved, leaning into the wall beside her and placing a cool finger under her chin. “I tried to give you a chance at life. I would have waited an eternity to see you after your human life ended, but my brother has kept you from me for nearly two centuries. Gabriel would let you continue to suffer on this plane. To give you a chance to be human. I’m not so selfless.”

She shook her head, tears streaking down her face. “You’re lying. My other half is Simon.” She wiped her eyes, glaring up at him. “You probably let him die. He was with you in Primoria, and you didn’t help him there, either.”

“I could never lie to you, just as you could never lie to me. Your seraph blood gives you the ability to sense lies. They rest on your tongue, tasting foul. You’ve felt it. I’ve seen you sense them many times.”

Her throat dried. It was true. It wasalltrue. Somehow, when someone lied to her, she knew. She thought back to the day Simon had told her he didn’t already know she was dying. How she’d know with absolute certainty he was lying. And when Sophia had told her she was her coven’s Pythia, she’d known it was true.

Didn’t all humans sense those things?

She looked up, meeting swirling black eyes. “Then answer my question. Did you let him die?”

“I didn’t find him when I went to find the nasdaqu-ush.”

“That's not—”

“But if I had, I would not have saved him,” he finished, cutting her off.

“You’re a monster!”

“I may be, but I’m your monster. And unlike Gabriel, I would not have let that liar get between us again.”

Rebecca pushed off the wall, stalking away from him. She strode to the stairs leading off the patio and away from the demon at her back. She set her first foot on the top step, prepared for blinding pain to slam into her.

When nothing happened, she took another step. Still nothing. She glared back.

“You trapped me here!”

Without waiting for an answer, she stomped down the stairs, determined to put distance between them. On the fourth step, something uncomfortableburned in her chest. By the sixth, an invisible dagger had wedged itself through her sternum, and her breaths were coming in quick gasps.

Flapping wings sounded overhead, and Azazel was there, blocking her path. “We will not be parted again.”

Rebecca’s breathing steadied, and she pressed her hands into his chest, shoving.

He grabbed her wrists, trapping them against his body, and gave her a cruel smile.

She glared up at him. “You can’t keep me like a prisoner.”

“I can do anything I like.”

She huffed, raking her nails over his bare chest. Tiny white lines trailed over the swirling marks running over his skin and down his abdomen.

His dark chuckle vibrated along her palms as she screamed her frustration, trying desperately to free herself from his hold.

Rebecca’s eyes narrowed, and she swung her leg, kicking him in the shin as hard as she could. Pain radiated through her foot, and he released her as she fell to the ground, grabbing her injured appendage.

Azazel dropped to his knees, holding out a hand. “Let me see it.”

“Don’t touch me.”

“Don’t be stubborn, Rebecca. Let me see.”

“I don’t want you to touch me. Ever.” Rebecca twisted her foot experimentally as the pain receded. It would be sore for a few days, but she would be fine.

She met his gaze, working damn hard to avoid the eyeful he was giving her as he squatted in front of her. Her stomach squirmed, even with the lingering ache in her foot. What was wrong with her?

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