Page 34 of Angel's Vengeance

Rhode’s ire had finally begun to ebb, but he wasn’t entirely sure he was grateful for the relief.While his rage fled him, other emotions and observations filed in.Neela’s tattered tunic had been replaced with a hunter-green sweaterdress that seemed to cradle every abundant curve of softness with a whispered invitation written for him alone.Expertly brushed brown leather boots hugged each generous calf, enrobing her legs in a confection that left only a slice of ivory skin at her knees to tempt him, which was another test of will he hardly needed.

Just when in the hell had she gotten all of that?

And then he remembered the black SUV that had sat parked outside the animal shelter.Drea’s vehicle.

Did you expect her to stay in the same tattered clothes you found her in forever?It’s not like you offered to help her in that regard.

No, he hadn’t, on either front.Though he’d have been remiss to admit, even to himself, that he wouldn’t have experienced at least some small joy in ripping those tattered clothes off her.

Shit.No.

This wasn’t him.Whatever madness had him fighting with family and screaming at the only being who could help him was a new type of mental warfare.One he would make damn sure he demolished before another bout of rage got the better of him.

Rhode stepped forward and guided Neela’s hands away from the innocent produce.When she let him, thank the mages, he took it as the good omen he needed but most certainly didn’t deserve.Riding that wave of fortune, he slid his palms up her arms, appreciating the way her limbs felt when kissed by cashmere, and cupped her shoulders.Instantly, that now-familiar burn began to swirl within his core, filling his muscles with a tender recognition his body seemed to search out at every opportunity.

“I am sorry.It was shameful of me to behave the way I did.”

Neela sniffed, then tried to back away, but his fingers tightened on her shoulders.“No, hear me.I cannot find the words to honestly apologize unless you’re near enough to feel the truth of them.I was ...not myself.”

She reared back and lifted a brow, taking his measure as well as testing the veracity of his words.Her searching gaze pricked at parts of him that were still far too tender to suffer such scrutiny.Was she seeking out her own truth or searching for the bits of his that were so buried beneath the rubble that there was no hope of any such golden rays ever reaching them?

The truth—therealtruth—wasn’t solely that he hadn’t acted as himself just then but that ...

“I’m not entirely sure I know who my true self is any longer,” he confessed in a harsh whisper.

Those knowing eyes softened a tad.“Good.”

“Good?”He reared back slightly, equal parts confused at her remark and relieved she was still talking to him.

A tremor of fortification stilled her shoulders.“I think I can help with that, at least.”

He quirked a brow at her.“Oh?”

“Now that I know who you are,whatyou are, I believe I know more about what Cyro plans to do with the other half of the relic.”She stepped out of his hold, and that time, he let her, though she took a part of him with her as she chewed a fingernail and paced a small circle in front of the mountain of cereal boxes.“I think he might be using the relic’s magic to fuse remnants of your celestial DNA with parts of himself to create beings that can survive in the light and, therefore, breach the walls of the Empyrean.”

A chilling stillness choked off all movement to his limbs while words died on his tongue.

No ...

“And this time, there’s no reason it won’t work,” she continued before ticking off her fingers.“He’s got his dark magic, a powerful relic of the Empyrean’s gates, and your celestial DNA.The relic was the piece he hadn’t quite managed to figure out before you were freed.But now, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before he finds the right combination of all that and mashes it together to create some super charmer capable of doing what I failed to.”A remnant of pain tightened her vocal cords, but she managed to push her words through regardless.“Sothat’swhy you’re more integral than your brothers realize.That’swhy they’re wrong about you.”

Then a concerning pallor chased away what remained of the bitter emotion he’d put on her face.Neela dug her fingers into her hair, pulling so tautly at the hairline that even her brows seemed alarmed.When she lifted her face to his again, any glimmers of confidence that had originally emboldened her enough to drag a raging seraph from a room full of Empyrean warriors had receded.All that remained was the uncertain tight lines pulling her features into an expression of fear he’d last seen when she was trapped beneath the charmers’ net.

He liked it not at all, and his fire agreed, churning violently within him.

Neela’s lip quivered before she stilled it and lifted her chin.“And I’m about to take you back to the one place I finally managed to free myself from.”

Chapter17

Rhode followed Neela beneath the amusement park’s entrance archway, which proudly declared that they should allHave a Wondrous Day, and marveled at yet another element of mortal society that had evaded him: recreation.

The early afternoon sun was as deceptive and ineffective as any other ray of sunshine would be when tasked with warming frozen metal.The amusements all bore animal themes of one species or another, but no amount of fearsome mechanical menageries painted to look like serpents or sharks seemed either ferocious or, frankly, enjoyable when crusted with frost or tucked beneath weather-beaten tarps.

He tried to imagine what such a place would look like with children scurrying throughout the grounds and their parents, precariously balancing cell phones and melting ice cream cones in each hand, chasing after them.

There was a natural immersion practice he often did when he was alone and deeply entrenched in meditation.During those sessions, he would sometimes manage to make the outside world slip away fully.Walls would fade to open fields.The cold floor would fall away, until he was embraced by nothing but clouded cushioning that supported even the heaviest parts of him.In those deeply mesmerizing times, which were becoming harder and harder to visit, he’d sometimes imagine what it would feel like to live without the burden of what came before.To truly exist in an airy state of fulfillment, where it wasn’t hard to play the part the other sentinels enjoyed so much.

Devastated things weren’t free to stroll grounds such as these, but in those quiet and hard-to-attain moments, when he could truly bask in minutes-long periods where personal peace ran just as freely as gleeful children, well ...he supposed an amusement park was as good a place as any to fuel the happy thoughts.

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