Cipher (Demonica Underworld #8) - Larissa Ione Page 0,49
ash that had puffed out of the top of the one of the distant volcanoes. “Do you want out of here? Out of Bael’s realm, I mean. Out of Sheoul.”
He pivoted around to her. “Is that a trick question?”
It wasn’t, but trying to explain herself wasn’t going to be easy, and it took her a moment to put the words together. When she finally did, her voice sounded tired, as if she hadn’t slept in years. It felt that way, too.
“I fucked up, Cipher,” she sighed. “I don’t want any part of Bael and Moloc’s plans.”
“What plans?”
“All of them.” Her fists clenched in anger at the memory of what Bael said he wanted to do to the populations of Earth and Heaven. “I was so pissed off, so hateful after I lost my wings that I wasn’t thinking straight. I signed on with Bael and Moloc because I wanted revenge, but you made me rethink that.” At the skeptical arch of Cipher’s brow, she jammed her fists on her hips. “What, you don’t believe me?”
“I want to, but this could be a trick.”
Given Flail’s betrayal almost a year ago, she understood why he’d think that. “You’ve seen how I live. What life is like here. How Bael treats people. I have no reason to lie.”
“Saving your own skin is a reason,” he pointed out. “Revenge is a reason.”
A hot, stale wind ruffled his hair and made her long ponytail flutter against her neck. She watched as the breeze knocked a fruit to the ground, where a lizard-monkey snatched it before scampering up the tree.
“I chose the wrong team, Cipher. I should have remained an Unfallen.”
“I can see the appeal of entering Sheoul,” he admitted. He looked up, his expression thoughtful, his strong, masculine profile nothing short of majestic as he took in the sky made orange by volcanic activity. “As an Unfallen, most angels don’t have powers, and those who do got them through sorcery.”
“I still don’t.”
He turned his gaze back to her, and she shivered at the intensity of it. Sometimes he was super laid back, and others, like now, he carried an aura of authority that made her feminine side take notice in the most inopportune ways.
“You still don’t what?”
“Have powers.” She hated admitting this, but it was time to lay it all on the line. If she wanted out of here, he was her best hope, and he wasn’t going to help her if he didn’t trust her. “I mean, I have a couple, but they’re weak.”
“I saw your little vapor trick. That didn’t strike me as weak.”
“Today it came in handy, but it’s mostly useless. I can fit through small cracks and keyholes, but any fallen angel can get past locked doors and stuff like that anyway. Remember I told you never to reveal your unique power? Well, that’s mine, and everyone here already knows about it.”
She’d been so stupid, so happy to have any ability at all that when it manifested as her very first power, she’d shown it off. In her extreme naïveté, she hadn’t realized it would be pretty much her only gift, and that other fallen angels delighted in sharing fellow angels’ secrets. Acting on her desire for allies after losing her Heavenly friends and family had been so incredibly foolish.
“You’ve healed me several times,” Cipher pointed out. It was nice of him to try to make her feel better, but it didn’t do much good.
“The healing power I used on you? It only worked because your healing abilities were already powerful. I can’t set wards. I can barely swat a fly with mental strikes. The one unique ability I have is all but useless.”
“Must have been awful to go from being a Heavenly angel to a fallen angel with limited powers.”
She laughed bitterly. “You’d think. But I was a weak angel, too. It’s why I got assigned as a historian and researcher. You don’t need angelic powers for that.”
He seemed to think on what she’d said. “So you want to escape Bael’s clutches, and you want me to help. Is that what you’re saying?”
“I don’t deserve your help. But I’m asking for it.”
“And then what? You’ll want help to get your revenge?”
“I’m over that,” she said. “I don’t care anymore.” For some reason, her eyes stung, and tears welled up.
“Your tears say you do,” he said, as he caught a drop with his finger, his touch so gentle it didn’t even seem real. Not in a place like this. Not in