Cipher (Demonica Underworld #8) - Larissa Ione Page 0,29

won’t.”

She’d had faith in her own friends and family once too. And, like Cipher, she hadn’t listened to warnings. “Like I said, you’re a fool.”

“Sounds like someone is a little bitter.” One blond eyebrow went up in a quizzical arch. “Betrayed by friends, I’m guessing?”

“Family.” She looked out over the scorched and cratered field of destruction Cipher had wrought upon the earth and vegetation. “But friends abandoned me too. It was fun. Lots of fun.”

At least none of her family had enjoyed watching as she was held down and her wings severed. They’d been devastated. Her sisters, even the one who had betrayed her, had cried. Her mother, wracked by sobs, had collapsed in grief. And her father, ever stoic and suffering from a perpetual stiff upper lip, had managed to scrounge up a tear to shed.

Although she couldn’t be sure if the tear was for her or for his reputation.

How could you, he’d whispered just loudly enough for her to hear as guards escorted her to the chopping block. She’d brought so much shame and dishonor down on her family, and all for a male.

But that male had been worth the risk. If not for her own poor judgment in confiding in her sister, no one would have found out that she’d fallen for a demon.

She’d played that day over and over in her head, wishing she’d never told Lihandra about him, and she definitely regretted arranging for them to meet. If only Lihandra could have seen the good in him, a champion for those who couldn’t get justice any other way. For those who couldn’t stand up for themselves.

And now he was dead, Lyre was disgraced, and her sister got to justify what she’d done by saying she’d done it for Lyre’s own good and that she hadn’t meant for Lyre to lose her wings.

Right.

As an angel named Lyresiel, Lyre had a contentious relationship with her older sister. She and Lihandra had never agreed on anything, had gone almost a century without speaking once, and had driven her parents and younger sister, Bellagias, mad with their fighting. But Lyre had never believed Lihandra hated her so much that she’d turn Lyre in for “copulating with a demon.”

Lyre hadn’t “copulated” with anyone, but that hardly mattered to the angelic council that presided over such matters. That she would have copulated with said demon was what mattered. Oh, yes, she’d admitted all the things she’d wanted to do with him.

I’d have let him take my virginity, and then I’d have ridden him until we both passed out. And then we’d have done it in our dreams, because he had the power to connect us that way, too.

Every member of the council had gone apoplectic. But her erotic agenda wasn’t what had gotten her kicked out of Heaven. Nope. They’d been willing to cut her some slack and write her dalliance off as a youthful transgression. Oh, there would have been some severe punishment, of course, but compared to losing one’s wings, it would have been a slap on the wrist.

No, she’d have gotten off easy.

If they just hadn’t gone and killed her demon.

* * * *

So Lyre had been betrayed by her family.

That had to suck.

Cipher, for all his faults, had been lucky enough to have a supportive family. Sure, when he’d fucked up and lost his wings they’d been disappointed, but neither his parents nor any of his twenty-two siblings had trashed him. A couple had even reached out to him during his time in Sheoul-gra, keeping in contact and relaying messages from his parents.

But that was before. When he’d been an Unfallen trying to earn his way back into Heaven. How would they react to his becoming a True Fallen? Was Lyre right? Would his friends and family turn on him? Try to kill him?

Lyre seemed lost in thought, her gaze going somewhere he couldn’t go. The weird thing was that he wanted to. Because as much as he figured he should hate her, he didn’t.

Maybe he just didn’t know her well enough to hate her.

Dammit, he wished he had access to the internet or demonweb. He’d love to do a little cyberstalking to find out more about her.

Guess he had to stick with the old-fashioned way. Ugh. Digging up dirt online was so much easier and less talky.

“So,” he said, taking the plunge. “How did you lose your wings?”

She jammed her fists on her hips, just above where her low-slung waistband sat. She’d flashed away at some