sighed. So cute. “Your baby is beautiful.”
She glanced at me at last and wiped her eyes. “Thank you. Did you have a nice breakfast?”
Great. Here we go. She was nursing and deep in thought, and probably hadn’t even heard half of what I’d said. “Yes.” I wrung my hands. I didn’t want to ask, but also did want to ask. “Have you seen Raphael?”
She tilted her head. “You’re on a first-name basis with the lord?”
I scrunched up my nose. “Not exactly.” I didn’t know why I tossed out his name in such a liberal fashion.
“He’s in the river.” Mary Ann rocked the boy. “It’s safe now. They’re resting.” She waved her hand to encompass the place and the sleeping patrons. I took a long hard look at the people splayed over the tables, drinks still in hands. Some even slumped in the chairs. They appeared pale and peaceful as if…as if… I walked to the man nearest to me and took the hat that fell over his face. Vacant violet eyes stared nowhere in particular. With a shaking hand, I touched his neck, felt no pulse.
“Mary Ann, are these people dead?”
“I don’t know.”
“What happened here?”
“Our good lord returned.”
“And?”
“Gave his people a chance to fight our enemies.”
“What does that mean?” Frustrated, I gritted my teeth.
“It means your precious commander will find us amiable opponents. He’s not the only one with power, and my lord shall show him power. Long live the Court of Sunder.” The baby unlatched, and Mary Ann tucked her breast away. She rocked the boy. “I’m a lost cause.”
“How so?”
“I dream. I remember.”
A cold shiver ran through me. I dreamt too. That was why I didn’t want to sleep. “What do you remember?”
“Something different, unlike this. All the Marked remember. That’s how they’re made.”
“Remember? No, Lucifer plagues their dreams and then marks them.”
“All mortals dream, girl. But have you never wondered how or why some people get marked and others don’t?”
“Their minds weaken, and they lose faith.”
Mary Ann shook her head. “I know the truth.”
Afraid she might confirm my fears, I braced myself. That man from my dream was real. I’d hurt him. I really had. But I’d made a deal. For as long as I fed the prisoner, Lucifer wouldn’t mark me. Did the deal still hold? I didn’t know. I knew Lucifer was a trickster and words were his weapon.
“It’s over for me,” Mary Ann said. “But the baby… He’s gonna live well and long and…” She stared at the entrance to the bar.
I spun around. Lord Raphael stood at the door, water dripping down his nude body. Wings peeked out from behind his shoulders.
Chapter 8
Buzzing with my energy and with a deep purple hue to her brown eyes, Nevaeh appeared rested and well. Pleased, I smiled, even as I noted her incomplete uniform. Where had she placed the scarf I’d given her? “Good morning, Nevaeh.”
“It’s not good, Lord Raphael. What happened here?”
She posed a question I didn’t want to answer. “Mary Ann.” I stepped away from the door, and she walked outside, never to return. I turned up my palm for Nevaeh to take. “The city awaits.”
When she didn’t take my hand, I wiggled my fingers.
“I thought you’d leave me in the Exile.”
“I don’t know what gave you that impression.” Perhaps I’d been inattentive. I should practice attentiveness.
She stared at the floor. “Did you kill all these civilians?”
“They were hardly what I’d call civilians.”
She looked up, eyes filling with tears. “The commander spares civilians whenever he can. We’re trained to protect them and fight for the realm and our Court. So excuse me”—her voice kept rising—”for not wanting to go anywhere with you until you tell me what you did!”
“Mind your place, soldier.”
Nevaeh clamped her mouth shut. I disliked having to silence her, but telling her I’d sucked the life out of the living so I could reclaim my Court was unacceptable. A mortal wouldn’t understand. The powers that played in this realm were ruthless, and if I and she and my Court were to survive, sacrifices had to be made.
“I left your Court’s keep and returned to my territory, defeated, beaten, and hunted by lesser angels than myself. There is no such thing as something from nothing. Even I can’t grow wings in a day from thin air. It takes months to reclaim that kind of healing power. Months I don’t have. I can’t fast-forward or alter time, but I can alter all the living things around me. Lucifer is coming, and I can’t