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Xavier and I shared a glance before sitting in unison, the chairs scraping against concrete, the only sound. Vehicles didn’t pass or honk. The wind had stilled as if it, too, was afraid of the woman before us.
“How’s your day?”
This time I laughed. “Excuse me?”
She shrugged and tucked her hair behind her ear. “It’s brunch time, right? I never understood the need for breakfast this late. I think it’s more so for the alcohol, really.”
I nodded, Xavier and I remaining on alert. “That’s why you’re here? To talk about brunch?”
“No, I’m stalling, but apparently, I suck at it.” She sighed and plucked at her nails. “I know Samkiel is about two hundred miles away right now, and I need him a little closer.”
I swallowed the growing lump in my throat. “Oh, yeah? Keeping tabs?”
“Of course.”
“He’s been keeping tabs on you, too.”
Xavier kicked at my shin under the table, telling me to stop.
Dianna merely rolled her eyes. “Of course he is. How’s your stomach, by the way? Organs feeling better?”
“Yeah, thanks for that.” I took a sip of my drink. “We should have a rematch.”
She smiled, the tip of her canines showing. “The next time we fight, your light will dance across the sky.”
Xavier shifted, his aggression bristling.
“You would hurt someone that Samkiel cares about? Harsh. Is that how Ig’Morruthens show love?”
Her eyes flared a shade brighter.
“You know, I’m not good with threats or bargains, and I am even worse at negotiations because, above all, I have a temper.”
A bell rang, and my heart sank because I knew who was approaching. Xavier stilled, his eyes remaining on Dianna, ready for any sudden movement. My heart beat once, twice as the waitress made her way over. I saw a smirk grace Dianna’s face.
“I didn’t know you guys would have company. I am so sorry.”
“Oh, it’s okay.” Dianna smiled and leaned forward, clasping her hands.
The waitress smiled at her. “If you prefer to come inside and eat, we have room. It looks like the sky is going to fall any minute now.” She giggled to herself at her own joke.
“I was thinking the same thing,” Dianna said, the threat inherent in her tone.
Maybe baiting her had been a bad idea.
Twenty-Seven
Samkiel
“I told you and Vincent several times prior that a gathering is out of the question,” I snapped. Imogen trailed behind me. Logan had given her a tablet, and she was flipping through pictures of the ambassadors.
“And I told you they need it.”
I tossed my hands up and spun. The celestials we passed pretended not to notice any of us. “A gathering is ridiculous at a time like this.”
“It’s not. You need to build back a relationship with every ambassador here,” Imogen countered.
“No, what I need to do—”
