Page 24 of Angel Lost

“Seriously. And Ican’ttell you.” He folds his arms across his chest and sits with a thud. I let several long minutes pass, expecting him to say more, to at least give me some kind of explanation. But…nothing.

“He can’t.” Zephyr’s words in the silent room make everyone start. “He can’t tell you, Lorelei. But I can.”

Kai glares daggers at Zephyr. “I highly doubt that, angel.”

Zephyr tosses his hair and stares hard at the ceiling. “He can’t tell you because he has the same thing I do.”

I glance around the table. Blank faces stare back. At least they’re as clueless as I am. A screech pierces the air, and I cover my ears.

Hewie. I wish he’d control that shit.

“What the fuck is he doing here?” Chano asks.

I stare Chano down. How did he not notice Hewie came in with us? It’s not like the banshee is ever quiet for long.

“He’s trying to tell you Kai is slave bonded,” Hewie grumbles, before edging away from Chano. “Note to self: Don’t annoy the demon—he’s scary. Also, stop talking in the third person. It’s weird.”

A muscle in Kai’s jaw ticks.

“It’s true,” Zephyr says, leaning across the table, staring at Kai. “When I had the vision?”

I groan.

“Rude,” Zephyr says. “Anyway, when I had the vision, I saw our bond?”

A chorus of groans drowns him out.

“I don’t know why I put up with this disrespect,” Zephyr grouses. “As I was saying, I saw our bond, but also a tangle of dark red energy containing Kai. It’s the same when I see myself in visions. He’s slave bonded.”

Kai’s fingers play across the whorls in the wood of the tabletop, then drift to the nape of his neck, to a small brand nestled at his hairline. Finally, he heaves a sigh. “There are workarounds. I can talk around it, not directly about it.” He lays his hands palms up on the table and stares at me. “Zephyr’s right. As much as I hate to admit an angel is right. It’s that I need help with, Lorelei. If you’ll take an oath to help break it, then I will show you how to hide your aether.”

How can I help break it? If it was that easy we’d have done it for Zephyr already. Farrell wouldn’t let him stay like that.

“More information, fae,” Chano snarls, his fingertips digging into my hips. “You need to give us more.”

“Information is power, hell-boy,” Kai fires back.

“He’s right,” I say. “Chano is right. I need to know more. Know you can do what you’re claiming—that your end isn’t an empty promise.”

Kai sniffs, hurt flashing over his face. “The solution is the same as Zephyr’s problem, the same as my problem.”

“What?”

“You’re slave bonded.”

“No,” Chano bellows. His horns explode from the top of his head and there’s a ripping sound as his pants shred. His tail pops through the hole in the back of his chair, lashing side to side, battering into the furniture. Hewie clutches at his chest, backing away into the wall.

Kai continues, nonplussed. “More precisely, the four of us bond you.”

Chano opens his mouth and I quickly press a finger to his lips. He bites it, a wicked glint in his eye. I yank my hand back and flip him off.

Kai’s mouth twists in a half smile. “When you two have finished flirting…”

Rolling my eyes, I give Kai a nod.

He moves around the room as he talks. “The four of us—Hewie excluded, no offense—will perform the slave bond. We can dissolve it after.”

“Dissolve it?” I sit up straighter. “If we can dissolve it then, Zephyr, you could—”

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