Dark Kings (Feathers and Fate #1) - Sadie Moss Page 0,29

find a way to close it permanently. Beckett said he needed backup? And that he would get you guys to help him?”

Remington takes my hand and squeezes it, and he does look extremely soft and sincere. I feel relaxed around him, even though I know I shouldn’t. “Wow. Beckett offered all that, did he?” He beams proudly at the man on my opposite side. “I told you a little friendliness wouldn’t hurt.”

Beckett rolls his eyes. “You’re my brother. Not my fucking therapist.”

“You’re right. Therapists get paid.” Remington looks back at me, pulling a face. “But I’m afraid I can’t just fling myself at a horde of demons, even for a lovely angel like yourself. So how about we make a fair trade? I’ll help you out, and you’ll owe me a favor.”

“She’s fallen, Remi. She can’t get you anything from Above.”

“Not right now, maybe, but the fallen can redeem themselves. I’m sure stopping a bunch of demons from terrorizing New York will get you major points with Above. And you’d love to get back home. So really, everyone wins, don’t they?”

Remington sounds like he truly wants to help me, like his heart is in the right place.

I can’t tell if it’s real or just a part of his sinful charm.

Ugh. I’m so out of my depth here.

I look over at Beckett, as if he’ll help me, but the cocky man just raises an eyebrow at me.

Yup. I’m on my own here.

I don’t know why I even bothered looking at him. Maybe because he’s the first sin I met and because he patched me up after I almost died, I feel a weird impulse to trust him. To look to him for guidance as I try to navigate this strange new landscape. But the truth is, it’s not me and him against the world. Just because he decided to do the right thing and close a portal to Hell, it doesn’t mean he’ll choose the side of good all the time.

But that’s my job—to make him become that guy. To make all of them become that guy. I’m starting to realize just what a difficult task this is going to be, and I groan inwardly.

Then I look back at Remington.

Shoot. What choice do I really have? I need to convince him to fight on our side, the side of good and right. I need to redeem him. To do that, I need him to be with me, I need to spend time with him. Which means I need him helping us. And to do that… I have to agree to this deal.

I take a deep breath and smile at the beautiful man with the red-brown hair. “All right. Deal.”

He holds out his hand, and we shake on it. I don’t feel any different as we do. No feeling of power or magic surges over me to seal our vow or anything. I’m not sure if that’s reassuring or not.

This isn’t according to my plan, but I can’t allow that portal to re-open. And now I have a second sin on my side, so… this is good, right?

Right?

Oof.

Chapter Eleven

Trinity

We have to drive far outside of the city to find Sloth, or Phoenix, the name he prefers to go by. Remington is all smiles and joviality as we get into Beckett’s car, while Beckett seems annoyed.

Remington lets me take the front passenger seat, and I admire the nature we start to encounter as we get farther away from New York. It’s stunning out here. The human realm is so beautiful, honestly. I love that about it. Even though I miss home, Earth is really lovely, and I wish I’d spent more of my time here traveling and appreciating all there is to see. The mountains, the forests, the Grand Canyon.

The drive out is quiet. Remington will hum snatches of songs here and there, but Beckett forbids him from turning on the radio, giving him the kind of glare I’m pretty sure he also gives to underlings who try to have thoughts of their own.

It’s hard to make conversation with someone if you’re in the front seat and they’re in the back seat, and besides, I’m not sure it would be smart to talk to him. Not after he… I’m not sure if I can say that he tricked me into making that deal, necessarily. I’m not sure how much of what Remington was doing was conscious. It felt like some of it was subconscious, just a part of his nature, and I don’t