Page 41 of Grave Revelations (Prophecies of Angels and Demons #3)

Chapter 40

Azazel

Raphael’s visit had been a blessing and an unintended boon. The battalion of demon spawn preparing to converge would send the most noble humans to their knees in prayer. If Rebecca hoped to survive it, she must release her seraph side and gain full use of her magic.

Azazel stared expectantly at his outstretched hand, then at Rebecca’s narrowed gaze.

She crossed her arm over her chest. “Why are you keeping secrets from me?”

Nothing is hidden if you seek to find it.

She rolled her eyes, tucking her arms more tightly against her chest. “I have been lied to long enough. I want the truth. What isn’t Jophiel telling me?”

“My mind is open to you. It is yours to explore, but you must want it,” he explained. “Stop fearing what you will find.”

Rebecca scowled up at him. His beautiful, stubborn other half was digging her preverbal heels in. His lips twitched, and his soul pulsed. For the first time since accepting his new role, he nearly smiled.

Light, I would keep nothing from you .

Some of her stubborn resolve cracked before he said, “You’ll need to change before we go. ”

Apparently, it was the wrong thing to say. Rebecca slouched into the couch, a very un-Rebecca-like thing to do. It was something Allie would have done. Did she know just how much the last life had changed her?

And how much of it was because of him?

Azazel dropped his hand. “Ask your questions.”

“I don’t know what to ask.”

“Light, I have existed for thousands of years. The limit to your knowledge of me is unfathomable.”

“What would it mean if I unlocked my seraph side… for us?”

Straight to it then. “Your question is a complicated one. First, it would be better to explain ‘us’ in more detail.”

She nodded, her thoughts spinning together several theories about what it might mean to be his other half. Abruptly, they veered in a new direction, and before the words tumbled out of her mouth, he knew what she would ask next.

“Have you had other lovers?” Damn. Why did I say that? What’s wrong with me? she thought immediately afterward.

He chuckled both at the question and at her unspoken argument with herself. “No.”

Her face was a mask of indifference, but the string of affirmations she was chanting boosted his ego.

“What other questions do you have?”

Rebecca bit her lip, soft pink skin slid between her teeth as she considered her next question. And he watched that lip, imagining all the ways he would suck and bite it if it was between his teeth.

Her cheeks flamed, and he was sure she’d heard those thoughts.

“Why don’t you have fire magic?” The question sobered him, redirecting his thoughts from the obscene.

“I gave it up.”

Nonsensical answers, she thought before asking, “Why?”

“In exchange for the lives of the men in your line. ”

What? What does it mean? Men? Why not women? Her brows furrowed, scrunching over piercing blue eyes with a starburst pattern around the iris that matched his new eyes.

On the outside, he was frozen, a mask of calm. On the inside, he stumbled as if the realization had been a physical blow. How had it now dawned on him until now? The pattern in her eyes was a warning for him. A warning of the fate that awaited him.

“I don’t understand.”

Her question drew him from his thoughts, and he stepped forward, holding out a hand again. This time, she took it, letting him pull her up.

“I will tell you everything you want to know. But we have no time. Come, get dressed. You can ask your questions on the way.”

“Where are we going?” Rebecca asked.

“To the lance,” Azazel answered. “We need to open the box.”

Dina, who had been standing quietly, stirred. “Brother, you can’t.”

“We need it.”

Her wings twitched, but she said nothing more, following Rebecca up the stairs.

Rebecca stopped at the top of the fourth floor. “You haven’t answered my last question,” she continued. “Why the men? Why did you trade your gift for the men in my line, and who did you trade it to?”

Not waiting for an answer, she walked through the door to her room and closed it behind her.

Well?

Azazel stopped outside, leaning against the wood. Adalaide had two sons, John and Henry. It was the only way to keep them safe .

Adalaide. Your first soulmate.

My only soulmate. You are Adalaide.

No. Not true. Doesn’t make sense. I’m Rebecca. Her rushed thoughts jumbled together, tripping over one another.

I will tell you the full story when you’re ready .

Liar. Asshole.

The corners of his mouth tipped up, and he pressed into the door, the desire to be closer, to touch her, driving him as his body misted, and he found himself on the other side.

“Hey!” Rebecca spun around, holding a sweater up to her chest. “Get out!”

It hadn’t been intentional, but now that he was in the room, leaving would be excruciating. He strode to the chair by the vanity and sat.

She arched a dark brow at him, turning around.

His gaze trailed over her fair skin, leaping from small birthmark to birthmark. There weren’t many, but they spanned her back, forming a V, meeting at a point, and trailing down to form a U.

He tilted his head.

She pulled the sweater on, turning back to him, and her cheeks turned a lovely shade of pink.

“Your birthmarks,” he said. “May I see them again?”

Rebecca’s cheeks grew brighter. “Why?”

“I believe they mean something. Dina?” The door slid open, and Dina stepped through.

“Great. Now everyone’s here.” Rebecca crossed the room. “Where are they?”

“They are across your back.”

“Of course they are,” she grumbled, turning around and pulling up her sweater.

Azazel reached forward, sliding the sweater a bit higher to reveal the final birthmark, trailing fingers along her smooth skin. The ember in his chest pulsed happily in response to their connection. It wanted to be joined, to be one. Whole.

“Do you see what I see?”

Dina tilted her head to the side. “Hyades.”

“And?”

“Aldebaran.”

Rebecca turned, dropping her shirt. “So, what do my birthmarks mean?”

“It’s the Taurus constellation.”

“Great. The prophecy.” Rebecca slid by him, picking up a brush and running it through her dark curls. “Of course it’s tattooed across my back. In case I forget. ”

The sarcasm dripping from her tone did an excellent job of masking her fear, but it still wasn’t good enough.

Azazel moved behind her, touching her fingers lightly. “May I?”

Her gaze darted to his in the mirror as she handed him the brush, watching him warily.

He ran the brush through her hair, inhaling her scent. It was like ripened apples bursting with life and the darkest chocolate more bitter than sweet.

She leaned back, resting against his knees. The bond, flaring to life in his chest, purred at the contact. It wanted nothing more than for them to be locked in an unending embrace, skin touching skin, souls melded into one.

He watched her chest rise and fall, feeling every movement in his own as if they shared one breath. He slid the brush through her hair one more time, trailing his hand after it, fingers tangling in the coils of her curls, and handed the brush to her.

Their eyes met again in the mirror, and her gaze was suffused with enough heat to set the house ablaze. He stepped back, breaking contact. Her eyes shuddered, the heat banking, and he took a deep breath, working to get his own arousal under control.

No good would come of acting on those feelings. He was destined for an eternity in Primoria, and she would find reprieve in Alaxia when this life ended.