Page 60 of Judge of Saints and Sinners

There was more of me showing now though, and with it something I could’ve only ever dreamed of seeing. The softest glow, the glowing power and gift of a soul mate. My connection to her, it threaded into my system, wrapping around my monster, my soul, and even my heart. Not as a leash but as an anchor.

My head snapped forward. My eyes glowed with my magic, casting a dim red glow across the room as I stalked to the window. My glamor covered me without a second thought, and I stepped out onto the ledge. My wings opened, the white feathers twitching and spreading as the breeze moved around me.

“I’m coming, little thief,” I whispered into the darkness, and then I sprang forwards, my wings catching me and thrusting me towards the nearly whole moon. My power throbbed through me, the monster inside screaming for vengeance upon anyone who had touched our mate.

For the first time in my existence, I agreed with it wholeheartedly. And as I turned my face to the wind once more, I let the tether she would forever hold on my soul pull me towards her.

20

Justine

“I want to know everything that you know.”

My brows rose, and I shifted in the chair.

He quickly amended his statement. “About the Fallen.”

The ties that kept me bound to the uncomfortable wooden seating bit into my skin with every breath. I flinched before I could stop myself then leveled another glare in his direction. Gregory was back, dressed in a posh tailored black suit, his tablet on his lap as he stared at me. He looked more like he was sitting in some corporate office then in this dingy, dark warehouse, talking to a prisoner.

“You know more than I do,” I answered simply, bracing myself for this reaction.

Lefty smiled, which immediately made me nervous, “Oh, come now. I’m sure that’s not true. We might know more about the Fallen and the Morningstar, but you know about the man behind the demon. Or at least the human portion that is left of him. Let’s start there.”

I remained silent, and he made a big show of sitting back in his chair, crossing one leg over the other. He was wearing chili pepper socks. What an odd choice.

I yanked myself back into the present. He was talking again.

“You must’ve had some kind of shock when he told you who he was.”

“What? No, it wasn’t a huge shock. He saved me, and we struck a deal.”

“You just accepted that he was a demon, and…what, went back to life?”

“Yeah, I guess we did.”

Gregory tapped something into his tablet, the glowing light illuminating more of his features as he did.

My tongue burned as I tried pulling my hands in closer once again. The ropes bit into my skin, and I muffled the noise by ducking my chin. “He’s a good person, you know. Just leave him alone.”

“Well, to start, he’s not a person. And I don’t think you really know that much about what he can do. Who he really is.”

Gregory shifted, leaning forward, his words coming out in an excited rush. “Did you fuck him? I know they are capable of reproduction, so there must be some kind of male aspect to him.”

Instant nausea. I recoiled, ducking my chin to my chest so that I didn’t have to look at him and reveal my truths. My heart ached as I did, images of our time together hurtling through my mind as I fought to keep my breathing even. “That’s none of your business.”

Gregory snorted. “He is a monster, a prince of Hell. The child of a witch and the Fallen. He’s not a morally gray villain in some love story, Justine. He is the bad guy, nothing outside of that.”

“If he’s the bad guy and you’re the good, why am I tied to a chair? Doesn’t that kind of mess up the storyline?”

“You are here for your own protection. And ours.”

I looked away, my chin jutting out.

“I’m sure he’s told you what happens if he retains his entire soul once more?”

I focused on the memories, those stolen moments. At my apartment, cooking scrambled eggs, holding hands on the street, his protecting me at the diner. I filled my mind with Nephesh, my chest aching more and more as I fought the urge to shout at Gregory. But then, he wanted that. He wanted me frazzled and upset.

“I’m going to assume that’s a no.” He sighed. “We have reason to believe that Lucifer’s firstborn is the most dangerous of all of them, not on purpose of course, but once they had him, well, he was the perfect weapon, wasn’t he? Together they tore the whole living world apart.”