Wanted Angel - Sadie Moss Page 0,27

like how it’s usually a better idea to call an electrician than to try rewiring your house after watching a couple of YouTube tutorials.

Only in this case, the stakes are about a billion times higher.

So we’re going to go to someone the brothers know, a man who can help us get into Downstairs without unleashing the forces of evil on an unsuspecting mortal populace.

Again.

It means a road trip all the way up to the Canadian border, and we’ll have to be careful the entire time. We could be attacked along the way, even though it’s not too long of a trip.

We eat a quick breakfast and then get ready to head out, and I try to tamp down my nerves as the eggs I just ate churn in my stomach.

I’ve never been to Downstairs. None of my kind have—not since the war first started, way back before I was created. And I’m pretty terrified, to be honest. I know that the men will do whatever they can to help keep me safe, but there’s no guarantee of that. And there’s no guarantee that any of the sins will make it out alive either.

They’re powerful, sure, but are they powerful enough to stand up against any corrupted we may come across? I have no idea, especially if we wind up in a situation where we’re outnumbered.

I was also wrong about there not being a car big enough to fit all seven of the sins and me. Nix has a huge garage, and he leads us toward a massive SUV parked at the far end. I get the sense that the men don’t want to split up at all if they can help it, and I can’t help but be grateful for that.

What we’re about to do is scary as hell, literally. It feels less daunting when we approach it as a unit.

Ryland and Beckett take the front seats, with Beckett sliding in behind the wheel. I wonder if he and Ryland played rock-paper-scissors for who gets to drive or what. There’s no way Ry ceded that position without some kind of fight.

I end up all the way in the back, between Nix and Remi. That suits me just fine. They’re the most physically affectionate of all the men—although Sawyer has his moments, and Knight couldn’t stop smiling shyly at me from across the table this morning.

The car starts with a loud rumble, and Beckett pulls out of the garage, navigating us off the large property where Nix’s house sits. True to Nix’s “fuck off” landscaping theme, it’s a lot simpler to leave than it is to reach the house on the way in.

Tension fills the car, and although we’re all on edge, I can’t help but notice that most of it is coming from the front.

“What happened?” I whisper, watching as Ryland stiffly gives Beckett directions but they otherwise don’t speak. “Between the two of them?”

I don’t know how much Sawyer, Knight, and Ford can hear in the middle row, but if they can eavesdrop on our quiet conversation, they’re pretending they can’t. Knight is stuck in between Sawyer and Ford, probably in a futile attempt to stop Ford from reaching across and trying to hit or strangle Sawyer if Lust annoys him too much.

Luckily, Beckett and Ryland can’t hear anything.

“Shouldn’t they get along?” I whisper, glancing over at Remington. “They’re so similar, and they work so well together.”

He sighs, running a hand through his red-brown hair.

“They used to,” Nix mumbles, answering for him.

“Someone… came between them,” Remi says carefully. “They won’t really…” He sighs again, and there’s a heaviness to it that tells me as much as his words ever could. “Anyway. They’re both stubborn, which I’m sure doesn’t come as a shock to you. They each swore never to forgive the other, and so far, they’ve stuck to their vows. It’s been like this ever since.”

I wind a finger around my dark hair as I consider his words.

Someone came between them.

Given the bitterness and strength of their animosity, I’m going to guess a woman. It couldn’t have been just a friend or some random person or a client. The only kind of love that I know of that would tear two close brothers apart is a romantic one.

I’m a bit ashamed of myself, but I find myself feeling jealous of this woman, whoever she was.

Ryland seems to simultaneously hate me and crave me, and Beckett does everything in his power to keep himself at a safe emotional distance, despite