Page 31 of Angel's Vengeance

“So, what would you name him?The dog?”

As if some blatant understanding passed between him and Lucky that they were no longer blessedly alone and some more decorum was in order, the animal righted itself to where it sat upright.The dog assumed the calm, affable stance and expression that he’d no doubt always hoped would win him favor among potential adoptive families.

“Cerberus,” Rhode said before he could think better of it.

“Cerberus?”She moved closer, but he couldn’t bring himself to look at her.“The three-headed dog who guarded the Underworld in Greek mythology?Funny, I don’t see any snakes coming out of him.”

“You’d be surprised what true ferocity looks like and what lengths creatures will go through to conceal it.”He rose from his petting position, folded his arms, and leaned back against the wall, never taking his eyes from the dog.For some reason, it seemed far safer to keep his focus there.

“I gather it’s easier to talk to him than anyone back home.From what I hear, dogs have an amazing ability to listen without being judgmental assholes.”The words were as much of a proclamation as her presence there was to begin with.Touché.

“I would name him Cerberus because if he bore the name of one of the mortals’ famed mythological beasts, perhaps he wouldn’t be overlooked for his defect.Perhaps he’d command the attention and respect he’s so deserving of long enough for any interested parties to see that he’s not only worthy of being adopted but capable of being an invaluable part of any family.”

Neela moved about in his periphery, only to settle next to him with her back against the wall, arms folded in a posture that mimicked his mood.“Names are important.”

He snorted.“Yes, they are.”But when she didn’t pry more out of him, he took a deep breath and, lulled by the sonorous canine snores echoing off the cinder blocks, let free bits of a burden he somehow knew would be kept safe within those walls.“You called me Axtar when you first saw me in the mechanic’s parking lot.”

“I did.”

“You claim to have known me from ...before.”

An ominous silence was all that answered him, and the invitation to fill it was as inescapable as it was inevitable.

Despite the red carpet he’d laid out for her to speak, she took no bait.Only offered him a sharper hook to ensnare himself on: a single raised eyebrow.

Dammit.Very well.

Rhode took a deep breath and kept his eyes trained on Lucky.“After my time in Cyro’s camp, I could not bring myself to identify with the name I had once been called.As Axtar, I was a spy commander in the Empyrean’s forces.A celestial weapon that served a higher purpose.But when Cyro—” He swallowed thickly.“After, I took on a name that was as much a part of what I’d become as what I’d hoped to be.If I could become the thing itself, the thing he made me, not only in physical prowess and power but with an entirely new identity, if I could embrace it instead of hate it, then I’d somehow manage to cut the nightmares’ tethers over me.”

Neela shifted at his side but didn’t move to touch him.“Did it work?”

He scoffed.“What do you think?”

When she didn’t respond to the sneering jab he’d intended to rile her with, his anger and indignation had nowhere to go.By saying nothing, she assuredly cut his fuming off at the knees, as if she somehow knew, somehow reminded him, even, that those emotions were not welcome in a place such as this.The animals didn’t deserve his pity or anguish.They only deserved whatever peace they could find in the few hours of unbothered slumber.

Unbothered, at least, until he had shown up with his foul mood and heavy burdens.

Neela let her arms fall to her sides, and the soft brush of the cashmere cuffing her wrist grazed his arm.It was a shock both lovely and lilting, and his fingers couldn’t help but sway closer to enjoy the contact.Still, they both looked onward, keeping a watchful eye on Lucky as he curled into an obscenely large fur ball and started to doze off.

Mages, how he wished he could sleep so soundly.

Neela inhaled a soft breath.“I think I should have found a way to reach you long before I overheard Cyro mention your name.”Then it was her turn to shudder as the temperature, and their circumstances, plummeted to chillier levels.“After it was proven that I was officially no use to Cyro and also couldn’t be killed, I eventually earned enough default trust that allowed me to move freely around the compound and help in what way I could, provided I wasn’t in anyone’s way and wouldn’t interfere in any of Cyro’s affairs.Well, one such affair that I volunteered for was to oversee the basic needs of his prisoners.”

Rhode’s heart skipped a beat.

“I-I remembered you.Your name, your original name, at any rate, was all I ever knew of who you were.I didn’t know your history.My only job was cleaning your cell and making sure you were fed and watered.Beyond that, I had no context for anything about you, except the fear I felt when you had been rescued and I no longer knew what happened to you.”

Neela took in another bracing breath and stepped farther away from him, taking her faint heat and softness with her.“That’s a fear I can’t live with, and it’s why you made me realize that I can’t bring myself to let anything so terrible happen to another soul if it’s within my power to prevent it.So, yes, Rhode, as I said before, I’ll help you take down Cyro, but don’t think for one second I’m so easily discarded that I’m not worth including in this fight.”

She turned away from him and walked toward the back door he now saw was still propped open.In the parking lot outside sat a familiar black SUV with its taillights on, still running.Still watching him.

Still expecting him to fuck up.

As the door slammed shut and the push bar clicked into place, sealing him in with the asylum’s other inmates, a foreboding hollow clanged around his mind, resounding in his back teeth.

Neela had never meant to stay, only to stand her ground.

Chapter15

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