Azel wasn’t here, he didn’t know where they were, for now. “So when I wouldn’t go to him, when I was with the knights, what did he do?”
“He told me to find you or never return.”
It was a bluff. It had to be. “You can’t possibly want to go back to him.”
His brow scrunched. “Why would I not? He needs our powers for his cause. He needs us. And it was my failing that allowed the knights to find you, that they were able to destroy his house.” Ronan’s frown deepened. “That day, something or someone was able to get inside my head, they spoke to me. The shock of it…my block fell. It takes time to rebuild one that strong. I couldn’t do it fast enough.”
Eve. It was Eve who got in his head.
Luna hadn’t missed the tiny crack in her brother’s voice, could it mean something? Ronan was cold, emotionless, there was no missing it. He was the way she’d been for many years. It was the nature of the dhampir. But she had emotions now, she felt. It started slowly. Was the same thing happening to him? Was he feeling something? There had been a note of desperation in his voice when he spoke of being reunited with Sir. Was he aware of it?
Azel had manipulated her brother into coming after her. That asshole would be lost without Ronan, without both of them, but somehow he’d convinced Ronan it was the other way around.
She had to get through to him, and letting her new emotions lead her wasn’t going to work. Maybe she heard something in his voice, maybe not. But right now, her best bet was cold hard facts.
“The cause he’s had us fighting? Sir is on the wrong side. He’s on the side of evil, you must know that?”
His hands slid into the pockets of his trousers. “Both demons and demi are powerful. Humans are not. It’s only logical to assume Hell will eventually prevail, that Diemos will be released and take the earth. Sir knows this also.”
“It’s not a forgone conclusion, Ronan. There are good people, demi, the knights, fighting for what is right. Humans don’t deserve to die or be exploited because Diemos wants more. Demi don’t want to be under his rule, they want to defeat him.”
His stare was intense. “Impossible. The knights can’t win.”
She shook her head. “It’s not. We can fight, and we should. What Azel—”
“You dare use his name?”
She slid off the bed and moved closer to her brother. “Azel's not a demon, Ronan, he’s an angel. Did you know that?”
He stilled. “No, he’s a—”
“You’ve seen the scars on his back?”
A sharp nod.
“They’re from having his wings removed before he was stripped of most of his powers and thrown from Heaven.”
Ronan’s expression didn’t change, if anything, it now looked like smooth marble, giving away absolutely nothing. “How do you know this?”
“Lucifer is the grandfather of one of the knights. He confirmed it. Lucifer, Ronan. How can we not believe him?”
“Lucifer is known for his mischief-making. He could be lying.”
It was hard, but she had to keep her emotions in check, even when panic tried to fill her empty lungs and choke her. “His scars, how else can you explain them?”
“Battle.”
“Azel told me you were dead just before I was found, that your powers were given to someone else.”
He frowned. “Why would he say that?”
“Didn’t you wonder why we were kept apart?”
“I did query it.”
“And?”
“He said you were a distraction I couldn’t afford, that the work I needed to do was too important.” He shrugged. “I’m powerful. As a child, I needed focus and discipline to harness it. I was always close by.”
“I missed you, Ronan. I missed my brother.”
“I don’t understand such feelings.”
She touched his forearm, and he looked down and frowned again. “I know you don’t. I didn’t either. But I always had this ache, right here,” she said, touching her chest where her heart used to beat. “Something was always missing.”
He stared into her eyes as if trying to see inside her, and finally, he nodded. “I think…I think I experienced something like that.”
Was she getting through? Was she actually getting through to him? “He told me for years that you were locked away, that he’d hurt you or kill you if I didn’t do as he said. He lied to me.”
“That makes no sense.”
“I never forgot what he did to our mother. I didn’t need to feel or understand emotions to know that was wrong.