Page 51 of Angel's Vengeance

Neela lifted the sheet.“If you have to ask, then I didn’t do my job right.”

Again, her joke didn’t land, but at least he climbed in.Progress, not perfection.

And that was when she noticed the compact mirror in his hand.“Are you going to do my makeup?Because if so, based on your complexion, I’m not sure I trust you to get the contouring right.”

Neela waited ...and waited ...Please laugh.Smile.Freaking blink.Something to tell me you’re in there and you’re okay.

When his strong chest lifted, she held her breath, anticipating something that would set the happiest moment of her life up in flames.

“I saw your tattoo,” he remarked as casually as one would comment on afternoon storm clouds rolling in.

Oookay ...Notwhat she was expecting to hear.“Tattoo?”

“Behind your right ear.”

It was her turn to stare blankly.“Huh?”

Rhode gently turned her head to the left and positioned the mirror so she could see her ear.The soft glow from the nightstand lamp was enough to highlight the strange shimmering symbol that only seemed to appear when he moved the mirror at the right angle toward the light.

“What the hell is that?”Neela swatted at the back of her ear as though a family of mosquitoes had just taken up residence there, but she felt nothing.No raised bumps or indentations.Just smooth, warm skin.

“You’ve never seen it before?”

“How the hell is that even a question?No, I’ve never seen it before.I didn’t even know I had it.”

Rhode closed his eyes, inhaled slowly, and nodded before opening them again.“It’s a symbol of the Empyrean that only manifests in the light and can only be read by beings of the Empyrean, as it’s written in our celestial language.”

Using reflexes she’d never understand, Rhode snatched the uncapped water bottle from her hand seconds before it tumbled from her grip and soaked the sheets.

“Okay, back up several seconds.I need a shit ton more information, because what you said does not compute.Where did this come from, and why can’t I get it off?”

“Stop scratching at it or you’ll rub your skin raw and start to bleed.You can’t get it off because it’s a part of you.”Then he lifted her right wrist and turned it over beneath the light.“Just like this is a part of you now.”

As if calling down the secrets of the universe to explain himself, he rubbed a thumb over her wrist, which bore another shimmering symbol written in a language she didn’t recognize.

But that time, she wasn’t afraid.That time, she knew exactly what he was asking her to comprehend.

The soul bond.

“This says Axtar, doesn’t it?”Then she lifted a very insinuating, very condescending brow.“The name you yelled at me to never call you again.”

Thatgot a reaction out of him.Rhode lifted her wrist to his lips, enclosed her palm within his, and rested their combined fists against his warm chest.“I was not in my right mind, perhaps.”

“But you are now?”

He squeezed her hand, impressing what felt like earnest yearning into their embrace.“Without a doubt.I can no longer deny the soul bond any more than I can deny my own name.”

Whatever hope that had fluttered in her chest in anticipation of what he was about to reveal suddenly had holes blown into both wings.

For Rhode, it wasn’t a choice, just an eventuality that finally came to fruition.One that, yes, he’d been far from enthusiastic about in the beginning but had finally accepted.

Accepted but not desired, no matter how perfect he found her body or how well the two of them fit together.To him, their relationship—situationship?—was the mortal equivalent of paying taxes.

Neela nodded, suddenly feeling far too naked to have any further conversation that required her to string more than one or two words together.So she did what she’d done her whole existence: deflected as best she could and tried to sink into the background while he said whatever he needed to.

“The tattoos?”she reminded him, eager to get it over and done with, despite however gnawing her curiosity might have been over the new marks on her skin.

“Because of you, I can now access all of my power.”

---