Page 56 of Angel's Vengeance

“Drea,” Rhode said a bit more forcefully.

“I can’t believe you scared her like that, scaredanyonelike that, to be honest.I mean, it’s not like this den isn’t full of people with their own bags full of problems.I challenge you to find one person in here whohasn’tmade at least one questionable decision in their life.But you know what?Wetalkabout our shit—we talk, therapy up, atone if needed, forgive where we can, and move the fuck on with our day because life’s too short to treat people like garbage.”

“Drea!”

“What?”she yelled, then spun around to the room full of people with eyebrows scraping the ceiling.But those violet eyes didn’t truly widen until they finally got a good look at Neela’s appearance.Drea squinted, then lolled her head to the side.“Why are you wearing Rhode’s sweats?”

Neela was holding a sour cream and onion chip poised above her tongue when everyone’s focus shifted to her.Rhode walked over and, intent on answering the question for her, pushed down the cuff of the sweatshirt she’d borrowed—hissweatshirt—lifted her wrist to the room, and let his name on her skin speak for itself.

Silence wasn’t a foreign concept to Neela.If there had been a soundtrack to her life thus far, it would have featured one giant staccato stretch of her lone footsteps, punctuated here and there with video game scores and YouTube song parodies.But the silence that stole the breath of every single pair of lungs in that room was some truly blackhole-worthy shit.

Iron’s eyes flashed topaz before he blinked it away.“Excuse me.”Without another word, the massive angel chucked his beer can in the recycling bin—because, yes, apparently even immortal angels still recycled—and stormed off down the hall.

She barely had time to ask what was going on before the room erupted.Titan and Tungsten stood, exchanged some unspoken words of understanding, and, after seeing Rhode smile and kiss Neela’s tattoo, flew into a riot of back-slapping congratulations.Rose and Tammy, twin sisters and soul bonds to Titan and Tungsten, hugged each other, while Steel ran to the kitchen, grabbed a verdant-green bottle from a separate fridge, and started pulling down champagne flutes.Bronze and Brass went to the pantry.

Chrome was nowhere to be found.

Molly gave Neela the good old side hug and offered her the bag of chips.“You’d be surprised at how well these puppies pair with champagne.There’s something about the combo of high acidity and salt that just hits.”

“I hadn’t realized this was such a cause for celebration.”Neela grabbed some chips and quickly threw them into her mouth so she didn’t have to answer questions she didn’t know how to navigate.

Drea stalked up to Rhode, never once breaking stride as the prime sentinel and second-in-command parted for her like she was royalty.

Which, in a lot of ways, she was.Neela hadn’t realized it at first, but after knowing what Rhode had been through,whohe’d suffered through it for, and what Drea had to do to reach him and pull at least small parts of him back from whatever brink of despair they’d been teetering on was truly awe-inspiring.

It was a feat Neela had yet to accomplish, despite wearing the trappings of the soul bond title.

A hollowness bloomed beneath her breastbone, and she wished she could crawl into the chip bag for the surface-level comfort that would greet her there.Jeez, could she be any more of an imposter?A dupe adorned with proverbial diamonds who had been lifted onto some pedestal because of how she’d magically reformed the angels’ scarred seraph while—oh, hey, look—also turning out to be one of thenicedemons.

Meanwhile, Drea had been the true queen in all of this, and as Rhode gripped Drea’s elbow and whispered into her ear what Neela sincerely hoped was a whole lot of sentences that started withI’m sorry, she had to remind herself that this was right.This was good.Shewantedhim to have loving, meaningful relationships with his family.He deserved no less.

Then why didit hurt so much?

“Thank you, everyone,” Rhode said quietly, bowing his appreciation.“It has been ...”

Neela’s hand froze, suspended in the air between her mouth and the chip bag.It had been, what?Exhausting?Raw?Enjoyable and convenient?Whatwasshe to him?Did he even know?

Did she?

Ugh, all the questions were about to make her eyes twitch, and for the first time since these people had welcomed her into their lives, she wondered whether she wasn’t better off in her old life where all she had to do to combat her discomfort was sign off and close out a game.

Meanwhile, Rhode grabbed the back of his neck and seemed to root around to find the right words to finish whatever proclamation was obviously expected of him.

When he finally did find the words, Neela was reminded why she wished he hadn’t.

“It has been a journey, to say the least.One I am much further along on than hours ago, thanks to Neela.”Rhode grabbed her hand, and for a moment, she thought he was going to hold her fist high like she’d just won a knockout round in boxing.Instead, he slid close to her, rested a hip on the edge of the table, and threaded his fingers with hers.

Neela’s cheeks heated, and she tried her best to fade away behind Rhode.

Thankfully, Titan, ever the elder statesman of the group, wasn’t one to let festivities linger for too long without getting down to business.Neela didn’t know the angel that well, but she suspected he took great delight in wrangling the group back in.That and probably reminding everyone when last call was if they ever went out to get drinks among the mortals.Maybe even organized the bar tabs for the group.She wanted to kiss the angel for the much-appreciated change in focus.

“Unfortunately, we’ve lost the element of surprise when it comes to the charmers.Cyro knows that not only are we now aware of his location but also that Neela is with us.”

“He doesn’t know that I can command angel fire, nor does he know the extent of my metallic capabilities.”

Tungsten folded his arms across his chest.“I’m not entirely sure the rest of us know either, my friend.Will you share with us?”

The soft encouragement on the prime sentinel’s face was the most trusting comfort Neela had ever seen called into action.Dear Lord, he was like a golden retriever but one trained for service duties.If she ever had someone look at her with the sort of neutral hope Tungsten looked at Rhode with, she wouldn’t hesitate to spill her entire life to them, as well as come up with some bonus stories just to make sure the deal was fair.

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