Court of Sunder (Age of Angels #2) - Milana Jacks Page 0,24

tucked a bottle of something that smelled like alcohol into his brown overalls.

Richard pulled back his shoulders and stood at attention. “Welcome home, my lord. Please watch your step.” He moved to the side to reveal a pile of bodies.

Raphael walked right in.

I froze.

The House of Sunder appeared as a living thing, with paintings on the walls and windows on all three floors that were held up by pillars painted in gold and purple with delicate green and blue trim. A giant empty healing bath took up most of the foyer, but there were indeed bodies piled inside it and all around it, reaching to the first floor. I couldn’t move my feet. Fight, flight, freeze. I froze. I couldn’t flee because I had nowhere to go, and I couldn’t fight because I didn’t stand a chance.

Lord Raphael enveloped me in a hug and kissed the top of my head. “We soldier on, no?” He scooped me up. We flew through the house, above the bodies, to stop before a waterfall that seemed to disappear below the ground floor. The waterfall parted for him, and he flew inside to another place.

He set me down in a room with a smaller bath, this one filled with violet-blue water. Flecks of gold shimmered at the top. A large four-poster bed dressed in lavish purple and white silk sheets that spoke of beauty and luxury stood like an omen against the opposite wall.

“What is this place?” I asked.

“My quarters,” he said from behind me, so close that my body started buzzing. Fingertips brushed the back of my neck, trying to move my curls. He gave up trying and fisted my hair, then kissed my nape.

Goose bumps rose over my skin. “And my room?” I asked.

He chuckled, and his warm breath lingered on my skin like a brand. “This is it.”

“I can’t share your quarters, Lord Raphael.”

“My lord is how you will address me from here on out. Raphael is also an acceptable alternative.”

The heat of his body pressing against mine jumbled my thoughts. I was trying to wrap my head around the fact that he’d murdered his people. Momma always said archangels were named such because they were more ruthless than the rest, capable of terrible things when cornered or tasked to do things for the greater good. Things that Momma said sounded unforgivable to the rest of us. “Thank you. You placed mass graves inside your house.”

“I saved my people from a fate far worse than this one.”

“Not by their choice, I’m sure.”

“I need no permission from mortals to do what needs to be done.”

I spun around. “I’m trying to understand you.”

He smiled. “Perhaps with time, you will. For now, your obedience will do.”

“I’m not your pet, and neither were those people.”

“No, but you and they are mine to do with as I see necessary. You must trust me to make the right choices that are best for my Court and you.”

“Me?”

“I will feed them your blood, so they’re yours.”

“I won’t be…enslaving anyone into a life they didn’t choose.”

“You already have. Starting with me.”

Was he crazy? Had he finally lost his mind?

“Dear Father,” he said, and the walls pulsed. Unease, like a rock, settled in my chest. He would pray in front of a mortal? I could almost feel the divine presence in the room. My bones chilled.

“I am grateful,” he continued, “for the wisdom you granted me so that I could recognize the mortal soul that led me through the darkness and back home. Thank you for the courage I will need to restore serenity in my Court. Be kind to us all. Especially Michael. He will need it. Amen.”

The pulse of energy left my bones, the rock I felt in my chest dissipated, the walls stopped pulsing. Raphael bent and kissed my forehead, his lips lingering there. With his body so close to mine, I could feel the hardness between his legs. “What are you grateful for?” he asked.

“I’m grateful…” My mind drew blanks, mainly because of what I’d witnessed and now heard. I heard a promise of violence in the prayer, but felt like our bodies should dance naked right now. “That you healed me during the battle and spared my life now.”

“Had you not fed me in the keep, had I not taken you with me, your Court with all the mortals and angels alike would have joined the undead ranks by now. I’d unleash them inside the Court and have them drain whatever living things were left