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My lips hovered an inch from his mouth. Desire scorched my insides. There was no denying how fucking powerless I was, even as hatred burned in my heart.
In a flash, the demon released me and stepped back.
I rubbed my jaw, focusing on the ground and reclaiming my breath. My magic begged me to reclaim the distance. Touch him, smell him, taste him—I smiled. It felt like a ray of sunshine bursting through my heart as I promised, “There is no way I’m helping you. Go to hell, Razai.”
I’d fight this desire. Tooth and fucking nail. He’d never get the satisfaction of my giving in again.
He rested a shoulder against the wall. “See, I thought you’d say that. But you might change your mind after hearing my little offer.”
“No way in—”
“I can help you become an angel.”
Chapter Sixty-Seven
My breath caught. “What?”
“I can give you the ticket you want. The one that will let you exist in Divine Territory as your fullest self. Hiding one’s wings and suppressing one’s power is a painful thing, Gray. No one should have to experience it.” He touched the talisman on his neck. “This little charm I wear? It’s connected to me, and me alone. But you could have your own. You can paint your beautiful feathers a blistering white. I can make that happen for you.”
A life flashed before my eyes. A fantasy. I didn’t have to hide. Didn’t need to cut myself off from the world because I was strange. No one would question my bloodline because of the pure color of my wings.
Azra and her family wouldn’t be in danger anymore for being connected to me.
My dad could even have a real relationship with me.
“I can give you that,” he coaxed. “I can give you a ticket to permanent safety, Gray. Just say the word.”
Here I was, again, stuck in the cafe with this terrifying man and forced to make a decision that any rational being wouldn’t make. “Stop using your powers on me,” I gritted out.
“I haven’t even tried. This needs to be you, and only you.”
“Fuck you.”
“You’re welcome to try. But I need an answer, Gray. You can fly the Volare with your archangel father, whoever it is. You don’t need to hide in a cafe in case someone notices your little power quirks. Sure, you’d have to keep your true magic a secret still, but take it from me. I’ve survived here without so much as a drop of suspicion sent my way. You can live a normal life. And honestly? You deserve one.”
When I didn’t answer, he went on. “I’ll likely die in a month, Gray. My future is a little grim, and I don’t exactly expect to make it through the trials. But with you at my side?” He stared past me. Into the future or the past, I couldn’t be sure. “There might be a chance.”
My heart twisted. “And if I say no?”
He shrugged. “I could threaten to reveal your identity.”
“I could do the same to you.”
“Love, I’m leaving Divine Territory. I could leave tonight if I wanted to, and no one could stop me. Just one little voicemail to D.C., however, and your life is mine.”
I gritted my teeth, ready to shriek at this pathetic excuse for a man and—
“But I won’t,” he sighed. “I’ve developed an annoying desire to protect you, Gray. Even from myself, it would seem. Maybe this will convince you that I’m not interested in forcing you to do anything. I’m only offering you what you want. The question is whether you want to thwart me more than you want a thriving life in Divine society.”
The anger caught in my throat. Why did he always do the unexpected? Just when I expected a degenerate fuck, he gave me a noble line like that.
Still, Razai lost my trust forever. If he thought a little offer like this changed what I thought about him, he was wrong.
“If I agree, I have conditions.”
“Name them.”
“You have to swear in every possible way—magical and legal—to not reveal my identity without my consent, to shield Azra and our family from danger, and to help me find someone.”
